About Sasha

 

Sasha, This Blog. Hello. My name is Sasha. This is a book blog. That is, I read books, and I write about them here. That is–I scribble on the margins of the pages of my books; occasionally, the pen manages to make it to my Little Red Moley. That is: this is personal, this is Sasha Being Inane About Literature But Oh So Trying, this is Sasha Loving Books, this is Sasha Abusing Capital Letters. This is, mostly, about marginalia. Also, of course, about words. This is also about Sasha’s Abominable Tendency to Refer to Herself in the Third Person.

That Avatar. That was me, chilling in the bed [where I rightfully belong!], during a vacation whose main agenda was to go out and explore the wilderness. Which rarely involves bed. I was reading. You cannot see it, but dammit, I was reading. It is cropped from a photo that was oh-so-stealthily taken by Maggie.

More On Sasha. Yes, Sasha. Sasha Martinez, for the Google-mad. No, I did not make it up. This is what I look like in real life. [Excuse the artsy-fartsy-ness, not to mention the side-eye.] I am 22 years old. I live in Katipunan, QC [most of the time], and go to Manila for an awesome job that involves, among other things, a desk that is too low for my lanky mess of a body.

Sasha Disclaimers. I took BFA Creative Writing in a little bubble of a university. I write short stories. Some of them have been published. Some people like them a lot. Among those, my mother. But yeah. There. [Fuck this modesty, buwahahahaha.]

Elsewhere. This book blog is on Twitter. I am also on Tumblr, and that blog is pretty much a testament to how enamored I am of shiny things. Some of my book thoughts can be found on The Philippine Online Chronicles, and I link to those reviews from this blog. And, as of December 2010, I am doing book reviews for The Philippines Free Press, a weekly publication here in happy ol’ Pinas. Oh, here and there.

Reading. I usually read literary fiction. And I really really really like short stories. I like novels, will always like novels, but I am all for short fiction collections. I read a handful of poets. I read memoirs and essays and interviews and anthologies about literature [this is the snake eating its tail]. Also, some obscure nonfiction books about obscure things [I once read a very thick book about the mandrakes, their biological make-up, the mythos that surrounds them, and their real-life uses]. I read romance novels, I read erotic romance. I read books about art and architecture, and I hope it’s not just for the pictures. A Dilbert book will soon enough find its way here. Wait, it has.

The TBR Land Mass. I’ve got a ton of books on the TBR Pile that has, over the years, turned into a land mass unto itself. It seems quite invincible from where I’m standing. And I know that eventually, it’ll swallow me whole. This blog will help me with that. I hope. When I feel like it, I shall post a Currently Reading post every week or so. Sort of.

I Am Broke. Might have to do with the fact that I spend a chunk of my money on books rather than, oh, say, food.

More On Ze Blog. This is not a traditional book-review site, because I will never be objective. Also, I will say bad words like diddly-doo and oh-cheesecake. This is not a site where I throw literary critique on ye unsuspecting visitor. This is about me reading, this is about me holding a book and getting lost in it — or, well, throwing it against the wall. It’s about the experience, I suppose, it’s about me sharing that. It’s a reading journal. It’s, well, it’s my little notebook of Books Read trumpeted to the intarwebz, and to anyone who stumbles across this.

More on Ze Books in Ze Blog. A smidge of the books in this blog are review copies from the publishers Harper Perennial, NYRB Classics, Oxford World’s Classics, and Peirene Press; as well as from National Bookstore — the books have been offered and/or provided with me knowing full well what books I like, ya know? As I post this [01 February 2011], most of you here know how I put up my book thoughts — this won’t change, of course, review copy or otherwise. That is, I will still say words like diddly-doo. Also, I will add a teeny-tiny note saying how I got my hands on a book. In the spirit of transparency, and all that jazz.

Contact. If you want me to review a book [see above for books I tend to read] / give me a piece of your mind that, for some reason, can’t be put in a blog comment, you can use email me at esashamartinez@yahoo.com, and I shall respond as best I can. Please and thank you. Also, please note that I am not currently accepting digital books for review. I do not have an e-reader, and you can’t make me read books on my laptop. If you’re willing to toss in an e-reader along with the e-galleys, why not? Huh.