DBS Book Recommendations for 2022

Today is World Book Day. In line with that event, we at the Davao Bloggers Society recommend our favorite fiction and non-fiction books. The DBS BOT and officers have also prepared exciting activities for the org, like book-themed games via a Google hangout, with some of the bibliophiles in the org.

If you want to make reading a habit, the following book recommendations are diverse, so you’ll find something that’s for you.

Books from the Magical and Shocking World of Fiction

Whether they are magical, shocking, exhilarating, or relaxing, fiction books build and strengthen our imagination. Fiction books also improve our empathy towards others and help how we direct ourselves in the real world, albeit subtle in their influence.

Panchinko by Min Jin Lee

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite because there are a lot of books that I love and adore, but if there’s one book that I would highly recommend, that would be Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

Pachinko is a sweeping multigenerational saga about a Korean family who migrated to Japan in the 20th century. It is a story about love, war, survival, discrimination, and ambition. But above all, it is a lyrical narrative about a woman’s unconditional love and sacrifices for her family, especially for her children and grandchildren.

This book is a heartwarming yet poignant masterpiece that kept me reading page after page, chapter after chapter, and before I knew it, I was already shedding tears. It’s definitely one of the best books I have read in my life; one that I know I would keep thinking about for a very long time.

-Julie Alontaga of The Life Chaser

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk

They say that books bring us new experiences that we might not get to experience in real life or take us to places we’ll never be. That’s the reason why I have a fondness for transgressional novels and authors like Chuck Palahniuk, Irvine Welsh, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, and the like. It may not seem obvious when you meet me, but I devour books about junkies, criminals, punks, prostitutes, etc.

Among my favorite transgressional fiction books is Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. In a way, this novel stands out because it’s about women’s empowerment. Most novels like these are made for men and have men as the main characters, but in Invisible Monsters, we have two strong cis-women and one strong transwoman who plan to exact revenge on men who have ruined one of them. The book tells the backstories of the three women–how they came to be and how they cope with their current situations (some of them were in an accident, and one even lost her jaw).

Despite being a transgressional novel, Invisible Monsters gives us a lot of hope in navigating our own lives. Read it. It’s a friend you wouldn’t have thought you’d have.

– NeP-C Ledesma of The Pop Blog

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I love The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery because it has life lessons that everyone can relate to. It’s a good book for kids and even adults because it is full of lessons, and it reminds us about the important and meaningful things in life that we often overlook or take for granted.

-Miah Laborte-Ramos of Mama Miah Online

One of DBS’ resident bibliophiles, Sarah Andres of Sarwrites, has a lot of recommendations:

What is your favorite book? This is probably one of the questions that I find most difficult to answer. At a glance, this seems like a fairly simple question. But I have been reading since I was a kid, so you could say that I have read more than a thousand books by now. And depending on my mood, the phase I am going through, or the circumstances I am in, my favorites change from time to time. If I had to pick one favorite book to save my life, I’d be dead because I couldn’t.

But if you ask me for recommendations. I’ll be glad to recommend those that I’ve read over and over again, and those that made a great impact in my life.

Here goes (in no particular order):

1. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
2. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
3. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
4. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
5. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Now, let’s move on to Non-Fiction Gems:

Non-fiction books, whether self-help, instructional or bibliographical, help improve our lives and skillsets and embed us in a new (and better) worldview beyond our current perceptions and mindsets.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Atomic Habits talks about changing our routine for incredible outcomes. This book helped me so much in terms of self-awareness, self-will, and self-discipline. It’s amazing to know that by changing our mindset and habits we can achieve success and favorable results. I absolutely recommend this book!

– Irish Malgapo of Chibi Trips

Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy

Whether you’re looking to enhance your skills as a blogger, marketer, or copywriter, or want to be more aware of the products and brands you consume, or want to know more about advertising techniques and how they build culture and our choices, then this book is a must-read.

Ogilvy on Advertising helped me improve my skills as a copywriter, and that’s a given since the author of this book is the Father of Advertising himself, David Ogilvy, the founder of one of the top advertising firms in the world, Ogilvy. Even if the book is already old, the techniques and tips imparted by Ogilvy are still applicable in today’s world, especially when it comes to copywriting and all the psychological elements related to advertising or marketing yourself or a product.

If you’re not keen on being a marketer, the book will open your eyes to the real world of advertising and how particular products and brands are positioned in a way by advertisers. For example, Did you know David Ogilvy was the person behind the intended use of the Dove soap (way before its variants) and not the company owners and manufacturers? Yes, he was the one who positioned Dove as a soap for women. Otherwise, it would have been marketed as a detergent bar for men with dirty hands. The product can be used for both purposes, but Ogilvy chose to position it that way for it to be more profitable.

– NeP-C Ledesma of The Pop Blog and Nepushii

The featured photo for this blog post is a Royalty-free image by Florencia Viadana, and posted in Unsplash.