Fully Booked will be holding an upcoming book club session with Filipino author and Carlos Palanca awardee Jessica Zafra starting 4 January 2025.
The local bookstore chain announced its partnership with the famed media multi-hyphenate on its social media pages last 23 December. Zafra also took to Instagram to invite readers to join the six-month event.
The sessions are scheduled on the first Saturday of each month, to take place at the Hub at Bonifacio High Street, BGC, from 4 to 6 p.m.
Seven literary titles will be featured in the sessions:
January 4
Human Acts by Han Kang. This novel sheds light on the events during the student-led 1980 Gwangju Uprising in South Korea.
March 1
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. Set in 19th century rural England, the book narrates Michael Henchard’s misfortune after he drunkenly sells his wife and daughter and becomes the mayor of the fictional town of Casterbridge.
May 3
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by Jose Rizal. According to Zafra’s Instagram post, this May session will be co-hosted by fellow author and Palanca laureate Allan Derain, who will discuss the said novels’ conclusions and his new book, “Ang Landas Palabas ng Nobela.”
July 5
Accidents Happen by FH Batacan. A crime and mystery fiction that explores a series of murders, disappearances, and violence from the author of Smaller and Smaller Circles, which is highly regarded as the first Philippine crime fiction novel.
September 6
James by Percival Everett. A reimagining of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn told from the perspective of Jim, a runaway slave and friend of the protagonist in Twain’s text.
November 1
The Betrayed by Reine Arcache Melvin. A story of love and loss set in a post-dictatorship backdrop. The Betrayed revolves around the lives of two sisters who are torn by their love for one man, which threatens their support for their father’s leading of the opposition party.
Book club slots are limited and available on a first come, first served basis.
Zafra is a fiction writer, columnist and three-time Carlos Palanca Awardee for her short stories “Portents” (1991), “Bad Boy. Robin, Baad, Baad Boy” (1993), and “Black.” She is famed for her “Twisted” book series, a compilation of her essays and news articles from her previous column of the same name on books, film, music, travel and popular culture.