Category Archives: Books

The (Dual) Patriot

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Topher

Are you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you? Am I patriotic? Somewhat, I might say. I am a dual national: Filipino-Aussie. Being nationalistic doesn’t mean gobbling only kangaroo meat or knowing the Panatang Makabayan (Patriotic Oath) by heart. … Continue reading →

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‘Fun under the Sun’

Posted on February 4, 2024 by Topher

List five things you do for fun. We all have our hobbies and interests. I recall the first Shohoku practice in the Slam Dunk anime series. Akagi, the incumbent captain ball, asked Rukawa of his hobbies. He mentioned eating and … Continue reading →

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Spring (2023) Reads

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Topher

For this season’s catalogue, I’ll consider three variegated reads. I begin with The Narrows. Though twenty years old, Michael Connelly, my favourite author, penned this. Secondly, I waded through Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk. An instant NY Times Best Seller, the … Continue reading →

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Three Magic Wishes

Posted on November 12, 2023 by Topher

You have three magic genie wishes, what are you asking for? Gotcha, the classic three wishes. To be honest, a trio of surefire requests is rather generous. It’s not quite the seven wishes that the devil grants Brendan Fraser in … Continue reading →

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My Stories and their Hallmarks

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Topher

For the most part, my favourite authors stick to their expertise. For instance, John Grisham writes the finest legal thrillers. He released a nonfiction book (The Innocent Man), but it bombed. Michael Connelly is the king of crime fiction. He’s … Continue reading →

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Warm Hat Reads

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Topher

This reading list coincides with the dropping mercury. It took me a while to conquer the first book on this catalogue. A full three weeks lapsed before I finally crested Jo Nesbo’s latest crime thriller. At 490 pages, Killing Moon … Continue reading →

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Fall (2023) reads

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Topher

Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle kicks off this year’s second reading list. At 607 pages, the latter was not the easiest but I persevered and got to the finish line. Chronicle has elements of magical realism, postmodernism, and even … Continue reading →

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More Vignettes from My Memoir

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Topher

For this week’s post, we dive into my first nonfiction title. I’ve attached a page from chapter three, ‘Writing 8.5’. As per the pic, as a high school frosh, I had a difficult teacher. She had her mood swings and, … Continue reading →

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From my memoir

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Topher

Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you. Today I’ll share an excerpt from my latest release, Topher Wins. Said title is an autobiography/self-help volume that was self published last year. This excerpt appears on … Continue reading →

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Summer (2022) reads

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Topher

The following post catalogues my reads from December 2022 through to early Feb 2023. The usual three books, one nonfiction title and two novels, are included. I began with Desert Star. This ebook forms Connelly’s latest release. A taut thriller … Continue reading →

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