Books to While Away Time

Volume 2, Issue No. 57

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

 Our latest as of Monday, February 22, 2021 

~ Nothing short of wonderful is this acquired hobby being turned into an enduring part of one's daily routine in these most trying times of the coronavirus pandemic. Reading is as much of nourishment for the mind as food is to the body. As the virus and its variants continue to hold us captive, the choice of activity is constrained. One pleasant way to go around the stress and strain is to read books of poetry, history, autobiographies, non-fiction, current events, and what have you.

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'SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME'

Reading: A Way Through the Pandemic Era

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” ― Charles W. Eliot

TORONTO - Something I had missed since moving here from California eleven years ago is this wholesome hobby of reading books while taking a break from the daily routine of reporting the news and writing commentaries.

Since the coronavirus surfaced at about this time last year and took an unprecedented toll on human lives, everyone was mandated by health and civil authorities to avoid huge gatherings, shelter in place, quarantine, and practice physical distancing, including adhering to health protocols such as wearing masks and frequent hand washing.

The regulations are meant to keep us and others safe from contracting the virus which lately had brought forth variants that are just as infectious and deadly.

To shelter in place means to stay indoors, except for essential reasons, and that translates to having more time at home with family, more time with household chores that we had neglected, more time to do things in the comfort of home, and more time for reflection.

Those are inadvertent luxuries born out of the pandemic. And because we have so much time in our hands, we can indulge ourselves to do things we hadn't had a moment to undertake. I for one just happily embrace it.

With still fuzzy signs of abating from the daily news reports of spikes in confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID despite inroads in the development of vaccines, the choice left was to grin and bear it, follow a strict protocol, and hope and pray for the best.

Having those in mind weans one away from too much stress and worry. There are so many creative things waiting for attention. In my case, I chose to indulge in one of the things I love most - reading.

Reading takes me to ancient and contemporary times, to lands I've never been to, to places and cultures I never knew existed; it brings awareness to people and events; it provides insights into why, for example, political and military figures had acted the way they did and changed the course of history. 

It's a great way - and inexpensive at that - to reconnect back in the past and into the future. And to feel the currency of the present time.

I declined a suggestion to go digital, meaning read virtual books from electronic devices such as Kindle, preferring instead the old-fashioned way, which is reading from the physical book that I can hold and keep for as long as I want.

E-devices remove the clutter that comes with possessing books. For me, however, books are prized possessions, and having them handy requires space - space that over time grows into a small library.

That's what happened to me. Without meaning to, my collection has expanded more than a hundredfold, thanks to health protocols mandating everyone to stay at home unless there's an emergency or essential reason to go out. 

Sometimes I've grown tired of spending time in front of my desktop and laptop staring for hours at the computer monitor. Not only that. I thought I had developed carpal tunnel syndrome because of prolonged and repetitive use of the mouse for computer work.

In mid-December when COVID cases rose to their highest level in the Americas, it became evident that we're all in for the long haul. At the same time, there's a proliferation of new books in the market. A majority of those books are about Donald Trump and how he exploited the presidency for his and his family's interests.

The year 2020 and the many events that came to define it, particularly the November 3 US presidential poll which saw the election of Joseph R. Biden as president, and Kamala Harris as vice president, have significantly altered the course of history in North America if not in the entire world. 

The election loss of Donald Trump that had culminated from his defiance of laws and traditions has set off an avalanche of reading materials and insights detailing his excesses and declarations to stay in power for four more years. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2021/01/house-impeaches-donald-trump-second-time.html).

I initially bought two books online - Mary L. Trump's Too Much and Never Enough, and John Bolton's The Room Where It Happened. Then, to complete the picture, I got four more - Michael Cohen's Disloyal, Bob Woodward's Rage, and Michael Wolff's Siege, and Fire and Fury.

Those six books seemed not enough. So I purchased more - Vicky Ward's Kushner Inc., Craig Unger's House of Trump, House of Putin; Peter Strzok's Compromised, David Enrich's Dark Towers, The Washington Post's Donald Trump and His Assault on Truth, Jonathan Karl's Front Row at the Trump Show, Seth Abramson's Proof of Collusion, How Trump Betrayed America; Laurence Tribe and Joshua Matz's To End a Presidency, The Power of Impeachment; Neal Katyal's Impeach, The Case Against Donald Trump;

Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig's A Very Stable Genius, Donald Trump's Testing of America; Malcolm Nance's The Plot to Destroy Democracy, Andrew G. McCabe's The Threat, Laurence Leamer's Mar-a-Lago, Joshua Green's Devil's Bargain, and Alan Dershowitz's The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump.

Additionally, I ordered some bestsellers such as Jeff Kosseff's The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet, Barack Obama's A Promised Land, Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill, John O. Brennan's Undaunted, Frank Figliuzzi's The FBI Way, Lynda Lopez's AOC, Bernard Harcourt's The Counterrevolution, Gary J. Byrne's Secrets of the Secret Service, Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine, Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court; and Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik'z Notorious RBG.

It'll take an enormous amount of time to read them all, but with the pandemic practically inhibiting movements other than seating in front of the computer, reading is an enjoyable and edifying alternative. The past week, in fact, had been devoted to going over the books that provided deep backgrounds about Trump.

So far, I've finished Mary L. Trump's Too Much and Never Enough, Katyal's Impeach Donald Trump, Cohen's Disloyal, and halfway through Woodward's Rage, Bolton's The Room Where It Happened, Ward's Kushner Inc., Leamer's Mar-a-Lago, and Unger's House of Trump, House of Putin.

At this juncture when Donald Trump appears to be eyeing a political comeback, the volumes I now have about him would help in understanding why so many people still believe his lies and deceptions. For journalists, it is a big challenge to dig deep and know. (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).