By Pennie Azarcon-dela Cruz, Executive Editor
Sunday Inquirer Magazine

IT’S that time of year again when I feel I’ve died and gone to heaven. Once a year just before Holy Week, books, books and more books drop like manna from the sky, giving us staff an excuse to lounge around feeling like Tom Sawyer chewing on a blade of grass while studying the clouds. Except we’re popping our eyeballs reading the latest book releases so we can write reviews that, hopefully, will guide readers into picking the right titles to pack with their swimwear and goggles for the Lenten break. This is one time when we really get to say–with a dolorous sigh and buckets of crocodile tears, “Tough job, but someone’s got to do it!” Yeeaah, Momma!

Here are some quotes from five titles I’ve chosen for the diverse audience they address: “The Independence of Mary Bennett” for the hopeless (or rather, the hopeful) romantic, “The Mayor of Castro Street” for gays, gay advocates, social scientists and history buffs; “the Many Ways of Being Muslim” for the literati, Muslims, and anybody who wants a good read, “Cory: An Intimate Portrait,” not just for Coryistas but also those seeking another definition of leadership beyond tantrums at Malacanang, and “The Philippines Through European Lens,” for anthropologists, historians, senior folk and just about anybody who finds interesting the grainy but striking black and white photographs of Filipinos and the Philippines during colonial times. Ideal for photo buffs (and which Pinoy isn’t?), this last is the perfect foil for the flawless (thanks to photoshop) digital shots of the here and now.

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