What's your favorite book?

When we were growing up, my father instilled in us the importance of reading books. We were fortunate that we had all his books in our home. Reading can take us to places we’ve never been to before, give us the knowledge we need and can entertain us! And even if we have Kindles or other e-book readers nowadays, holding a book and turning each page with our fingers gives us a different kind of happiness.

Karen Davila, ABSCBN news anchor, journalist

My favorite book has to be The Four Agreements and The Four Agreements Companion Book by Don Miguel Ruiz. It essentially opens our eyes to the truth that all we believe stems from what we have learned as children, which, positive or negative, are the agreements we hold within us.  They end up defining us and, many times, limiting us without our conscious knowledge. I love The Four Agreements because it simplifies four important truths we can remember every day when we are faced with challenges. The first, “Be impeccable with your word,” tells us to be careful with what we tell ourselves and what truths we believe about ourselves. The second, “Don’t take anything personally,” teaches us about detachment — whether we are praised or criticized. The third, “Don’t make assumptions,” tells us that we should have the courage to ask questions and ask for what we want — I find this the most challenging, since we all are built to protect ourselves. And the last, “Always do your best,” regardless of how you are feeling or where you are — this makes all the difference in our future.

Kenneth Cobonpue, industrial designer

Biomimicry by Janine Benyus. I read this book years ago, and the ideas behind it form parts of the foundation of my work. Benyus introduces us to pioneering engineers making technological breakthroughs by uncovering and copying nature’s hidden marvels like the strength of a spider’s delicate weave, the incredible energy-collecting mechanisms of a leaf, the “better than Kevlar” resistance of abalone shell. It reinforces my belief that nature is a vast source of inspiration, having been tested and formed over billions of years of evolution. Only today are we beginning to understand the impact and power of our biological world which actually has an influence over our lives in moreways than we can imagine.

Richie Lerma, director and chief curator, Ateneo Art Gallery; advisor, Salcedo Auctions

My favorite book is The Paper Museum: Writings About Paintings, Mostly by the art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon. It’s an anthology of his exhibition reviews which appeared in the British newspaper The Independent. I admire his dry wit and erudition, and am greatly inspired by his elegant writing style which is deftly precise, calmly persuasive, assertively opinionated, and unafraid to express an unpopular view.

Feli Atienza, president, Chinese International School

Am currently reading Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. It was given to me by a girlfriend with a short note attached: “This is the reason I was late for lunch!”  It’s about passion, indulgence, fantasy, sauciness... a racy, cheeky romp!  So, when is the next time you’ll be late for lunch?

Former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

At my age I now forget what my favorite book is. But am having my hands on Bill Clinton’s Back To Work. His intro fascinates me: “Work is…more than making a living, as vital as that is. It’s fundamental to human dignity, to our self worth as useful, independent, free people.”

Sarge Lacuesta, editor at large, Esquire Philippines, awardwinning writer

I must apologize for having three favorite books (can there ever be only one?): Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, The Stranger by Albert Camus and Prufrock and Other Observations by T.S. Eliot. Entry-level stuff for the avid reader or writer, but they were my respective gateway drugs to the short story, the novel and poetry. I’m afraid my selection puts a very large date stamp on me and my way of thinking, but as Eliot writes, “I grow old...I grow old...”

Olivia d’Aboville, artist/designer

My favorite book is The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss by Claire Nouvian. This book is brilliantly designed, probably the most beautiful book about the deep sea ever produced, but also a work of scientific substance, articulated by some of the best, most experienced deep-sea scientists of our time. It has inspired me for the past four years, I bought it after seeing the amazing exhibition in Paris bearing the same title. It features 220 photographs of creatures from the deep sea, some taken for the first time. It’s surprising how we know more about space than we know about the abyss of our planet.

Gang Badoy Capati, founder, Rock Ed Philippines, writer, educator, radio and TV host

What’s my favorite book? That’s a tough question. So many come to mind but if I qualify favorite as something I’ve read and still read over and over, then it’d have to be a tie between Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger and Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham.  Both books are narrations of lives of people who are (for the most part) torn between living within the lines of what is socially acceptable and choosing a life outside society’s lines to try to find happiness. The books certainly don’t so much condemn those who choose to live conventional lives — it merely opened me up to the possibility of exploring other options. I was drawn to the complexity and simplicity of how the characters came to own their decisions. I suppose a favorite book will always do that — somehow infuse itself into the reader’s daily life and (dare I say it?) influence his or her choices; and on the other hand in can just be a most lyrical form of entertainment. (And sometimes that’s all we need!) What a book can do to a reader is magical, really.  Your book choice can be a polygraph tip of where your truth lies. We read books on running when we take an interest in running, (like Haruki Murakami’s running book in the photo), we read mysteries when the mundane gets us preoccupied with grudge work, we turn to science fiction if that’s where we want to go, and so forth.  It is my most fervent wish that my nephews and nieces read  vigorously all the rest of their days. Books have saved me so many times in my life, and I think we can all use a little literature as salvation every now and then.