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Since reading novels have been one of my hobbies, I usually start the year looking at the top ten books of the previous year to check out those that I might have not considered. This usually happens if the book did not make the best seller list (especially on a year when a Harry Potter book is released) or did not make it to Oprah’s Book Club. There are several media organizations that come out with their own list every year. Each one seems to have their own criteria. Except for Rowling, there were no famous writers that came out last year like Ishiguro or Rushdie. So, I decided to take Entertainment Weekly’s list which was more lighthearted and seems to fit into a normal reader’s taste.

Entertainment Weekly critic, Jennifer Reese, honors the following books in 2007 which she believes is worth the read. I will provide details on the top 3 and just enumerate the rest.

The top spot goes to Lionel Shriver’s “The Post Birthday World.” This novel tells the story of Irina McGovern who discovers herself torn between two men: her serious, responsible and boring partner, Lawrence, a self-made intellectual who works at a London think tank; and their mutual friend Ramsey, a world- class snooker player, who is romantic, charming and self-absorbed. In alternating chapters, Shriver lays out Irina’s two futures: one in which she stays with Lawrence, and one in which she leaves to marry Ramsey. Shriver playfully suggests answers, only to snatch them back again. Which was the better choice for Irina — the steamy lover Ramsey or the steady companion Lawrence? Neither plot ends the way the reader — or Irina — might expect. Though I have never been a fan of romantic novels, it would be interesting to read something about the road not taken. Wouldn’t it be great if we can look ahead of our options to find out how each one turns out?

The first runner up is “Shakespeare’s Kitchen” by Lore Segal (not the cookbook). The novel is disguised as a book of short stories with the author explaining that in a good plot, nothing happens that is not a result of what happened before nor a cause of what happens next. The story revolves around a gregarious New Yorker Ilka Weisz who takes a job at a small-town Connecticut and worries she’ll never find new friends. But Ilka is quickly embraced by an insular clique of intellectuals who drink martinis, obsess over poetry prizes, philander, and gab about it all nonstop. It starts off as fizzy academic comedy. By the time you realize that you’re actually reading a novel — and that it’s profoundly sad — this sneaky, splendid book is over.

Next one on the list is Joshua Ferris’ “Then We Came to an End.” This dazzling debut consists primarily of the rumor peddling, flirting, and time wasting familiar to most white-collar drones. ”Every agency has its frustrated copywriter whose real life was being a failed novelist working on a small, angry book about work,” the narrators tell us. This is a large, generous book about work. The characters of the story cope with a business disaster in time-honored tradition which most of us desk-job workers understand: through gossip, secret romance, elaborate pranks, and frequent coffee breaks. This wickedly funny, big-hearted novel about life in the office signals the arrival of a gloriously talented writer.

Check out the rest of the list.

4. Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O’ Nan

5. A Free Life by Ha Jin

6. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

7. The Gravedigger’s Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates

8. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

9. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

10. The Terror by Dan Simmons

To all booklovers out there, which one catches your interest? I think I will try out number one first. Then maybe Joshua Ferris’ novel will help me look at my work in another perspective. Nothing matches a funny book that will make you laugh at yourself. As soon as I finish any of them, I will post my recommendations.

I have been working since I was 19 years old.  When I had my first kid, I remember staying at home for about a year till finances dictated that I leave my baby at home and start working again.  Now, with 3 boys, I know I can still use an extra job just to make life comfortable for us.  But at the back of my mind, there is always that little voice that kept asking whether I’m doing right by my kids.  I spend more time at the office than I do at home.  I try to make up with the much-abused “quality time” but it doesn’t seem enough.  I still have this gut-wrenching feeling I’m missing out on something.  What I wouldn’t do to work for a company that will allow me to bring my kids to the office whenever possible.  Here in the Philippines, that’s only a dream.  I think there isn’t even a handful of companies that provide day care for their employees.

You can just imagine my envy when I read that the newly established Parenting in the Workplace Institute in the US now has a database of more than 70 companies that allow babies at work.  Surveys show that babies in the workplace are not really distracting and even boost employee morale.  Don’t we all just feel a little happier and younger when there is a baby around?  I know that when a baby smiles or giggles at me, I just melt.  The word stress does not exist when you see a baby sleeping soundly or when it snuggles closer to your chest holding you tight.

I feel glad though, that even if it’s not in my part of the globe, somewhere out there, there are companies who value family time just as much as work time.  There is still hope that it may soon become a worldwide practice.  Maybe it’s time people realize that it is possible to spend time with your family just as much as we spend time at work.  It would be nice to think that when I reach the end of my road, I can look back and see that I spent as much breath on my family as I spent working.

I am gadget junkie. I love gadgets that make my eyes go wide with amazement when I see what it can accomplish. I looked through Time Magazine’s Best Inventions for 2007 just to whet my appetite. Everytime I look at inventions like these, I still can’t believe how amazingly intelligent and creative humans can be. Let me show you my favorites among all the amazing stuff humans have concocted in 2007.

I will start off with Time’s Invention of the Year — the IPhone. I know. I was surprised too. How can this cellphone get the top award when it seems to be all hype? Time gave reasons why it was chosen and I will sum it all up as best I could. First reason is — it really looks good. I can’t argue with that. I love the colors of the screen and the design. The animations made by Apple on the interface is also cool. No other cellphone can top that. Next, it’s all touchscreen. It’s not the first time a gadget is equipped with this feature. But have you seen a cellphone with the whole interface controlled via touchscreen? Nope. And of course, it’s not just a cellphone — it’s a genuine hand-held computer inside an elegant glass and stainless steel case. You can actually install Google Maps where you really need it — on the palm of your hand. You can add so many nifty softwares in it with such cute and colorful icons. Finally, if this is just the first edition, can you imagine what the next upgrades will be like. I can’t wait.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an Apple advertiser. But my next choice also wowed me the first time I saw it. Steve Jobs really seems to know how to make your mouth open with his new gadgets. The first time I saw the IMac, I searched for a full 5 minutes looking for the computer’s CPU. It doesn’t have a separate CPU? Whaaat?! The entire system was squished inside the slim LCD monitor. The DVD writer opens on the right edge of the gorgeous monitor. The monitor/entire system is made of a single sheet of aluminum so you wont see any seams or screws except for a single compartment on the bottom that provides easy access to the memory slots. And the IMac is not all beauty. We all know that the Mac OS has improved in leaps that it claims to be even more stable than Microsoft. I can go on forever. Let me just say this — “I want an IMac!”

My next fave is for earth lovers. It’s Tata Motors’ air car. Tata Motors was contracted by French R&D firm, MDI, to manufacture compressed - air - technology vehicles. The cars will run on air and the only thing it emits is colder and cleaner air. Moreover, a built-in air compressor can be plugged in to refill the tanks within minutes. For those complaining about high fuel cost, you better hold your horses. The cars will be available by 2009 yet.

Then we have the amazing Digital Water Pavilion. MIT’s SENSEable City Laboratory will build the Digital Water Pavilion for 2008’s Expo Zaragoza in Spain. The walls of the structure will be sheets of water flowing from computer - controlled nozzles that shape them into endlessly scrolling words and patterns. Talk about cool advertising! Wouldn’t it be cool to have a room like this at home? Portion of the room that is meant to be a door will sense when you are about to go out and stop water flow in that area. This is what I call innovation.

There are several more in Time’s list like clothes that change color with your moods, the erasable paper that does not require ink and may be used several times over, Sony’s new HD handycams, and so on. For the inventors of those in the list, my hats off to all of you.

Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel depicts the visions and feelings of a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, who is brutally raped and murdered in Pennsylvania. It is a coming of age story where the principal character watches from her own heaven as her family and friends deal with her loss while she simultaneously comes to terms with her own death. Susie narrates as she watches her family torn apart by the tragedy and envies the life of friends she left behind.  The novel received critical acclaim in 2002 and became an instant bestseller.  The first time I checked the book’s synopsis, I thought it was a book similar to Mitch Albom’s 5 People You Meet in Heaven or a touching story that deals with the joys and pains of family life.  After reading the first few pages, I realized it was altogether a different story from the one I had anticipated it to be. The horror of Susie’s death touched me in a different way.

What is different from the book is that it did not prepare me for the violence of her death because of the casual manner that Susie narrated her story.  In the first few pages, I did not realize that her death was in any way brutal.  Even while she narrated her ordeal, it sounded like a normal tragedy.  But the pictures in my mind created by her words did not match the calmness of Susie.  It made me grateful that I had 3 sons and no daughter.  If I did have any daughter, I probably would have never allowed her to walk alone after reading the novel.  No 14-year old should have to go through what she did.  I can almost imagine the suffering her parents felt . . . the panic . . . the disbelief . . . the failure.

More than the tragedy of her rape and death, I felt the loss of her youth, the opportunities and experiences she would never have.  This you would feel as she watches her friends grow up and while she helplessly looked on as her family was torn apart slowly.  The book does not take into account any religious belief even while it describes Susies afterlife.  Susie merely existed in a world different from ours.  She did get a chance to live an adult life when she was transferred into Ruth’s body before the end of the book.  But even that was shortlived.  Only one thing was certain — Susie was dead and she missed out on a life robbed by a sick, lonely man.

Despite the tragedy, it was difficult for me to put down the book.  There was no browsing nor skipping of other parts.  I read every word on the book as I tried to understand all of Susie’s visions and feelings.  This is definitely a book I will always remember.

Interestingly enough, Peter Jackson (director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) bought the rights for the movie production of the book and is currently on location doing the film.  Peter Jackson is director and scriptwriter while Susie Salmon will be played by Saoirse Ronan (Izzie in “I Could Never be Your Woman”).  Jack and Abigail Salmon will be played by Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz as Susie’s distraught parents.  The film is scheduled for release in March 2009.

As year 2008 starts, we are all geared up again to refresh a life that we feel has not been up to par with expectations.  Most of us come up with a new year’s resolution list that we hope we can comply with year round.  Despite usual disappointments, we always look forward to the idea that this year would be the year — the year that turns around an unextraordinary life.  So, what’s your new year’s resolution for 2008?

Well, whatever you resolve to change this year, don’t be too hard on yourself.  Big changes come in spurts, not in one big dose.  Chances are, you wont be able to hold on to it if it is a 360 degree turn.  Taking small steps will make it easier to handle disappointments while you are on your way.  As for me, I focus more on avoiding the same mistakes I have already committed.  New ones are acceptable since I consider them lessons in life.

For 2008, may there be more blessings and fewer lessons for all of us.  Happy new year to everyone.