Stealing Books With My Vise-Like Memory pt.1

One of my New Year’s resolutions this 2012 is to avoid buying books. Much as I prefer books over people, books are painfully expensive and stressfully space-eating. I threw out a pile of books recently. I realized that half of the books in my shelf were bought out of boredom, or if not, the result of impulsive hoards in Booksale Makati Cinema Square during spells of uneventfulness in my life.

So with this item on my list, I have devised a way to keep my passion for reading aflame without breaking the bank and losing scarce shelf space. It’s genius: Read the back cover blurbs and forewords of books that I want, but not buy them.

The other day during my evening stroll in Downtown Vancouver, I stumbled upon this quaint corner bookstore, Book Warehouse, tucked somewhere in Davie St.

Here are some books I stole with my vise-like memory:

Zen In The Art Of Writing | by Ray Bradbury

My favorite book on the art of writing, this is a collection of beautifully written essays by man-child Ray Bradbury. I actually have a yellowed, dog-eared copy of this one that I borrowed from someone and never returned. That copy, though, has been thumbed over to death so I need a spanking new copy. This edition looks fresh. It smells good too.

Hark! A Vagrant | by Kate Beaton

A graphic novel made by a Vancouverite! Being a Canadian at heart, I am truly electrified when I see Canadians shine in the comic book industry. This is a truly a funny book in the style of The Far Side. Kate Beaton’s riff on mystery-solving detectives and Nancy Drew book covers results in soft giggles.

99 Classic TV-Series For People In A Hurry

I love the years-long spell a TV show gives you. Small-screen fiction is an immersion that frankly I prefer more than the oh-so-short feature-length film. Here in graphic novel form are entire TV shows told in six or so panels. The writing is a good blend of snark and economy, perfect for ten minutes of great toilet reading.

How To Shoot A Feature Film For Under $10,000 And Not Go To Jail | Bret Stern

I am a big fan of books about guerilla filmmaking. Tomes like Robert Rodriguez’s Rebel Without A Crew and Lloyd Kaufman’s Make Your Own Damn Movie! are personal favorites of mine.

The thing I hate about filmmaking is that it is not an immediate art form; it just takes too fucking long to make. But hey, if one can play smart-ass and skip the pain-in-the-ass processes involved, then all is gravy. 

I will never get tired of the arcane topic of DIY filmmaking. Hey,it’s nothing less than sticking up one’s middle finger to pretentious art-house crap and glossy Hollywood garbage, with nothing more than family and friends, and loads of common sense.