A house in Palawan

A new book calls for a celebration! In the age of AI, cell-phones and larger screens, there’s no solitary pleasure to compare with the lonely joy of reading a book.

- JULLIE Y. DAZA

A new book with its pristine covers and crisp white pages covered with words — what’s not to like? A book holds a promise. If the promise turns out to be a dud after the first page, what’s there to lose? Throw it away. But when a book keeps you going, long into the night, how could you switch off the light on your bedside table?

When a classmate from long ago invited me to her book launch, and after reading the blurb for Marichelle Roque-Lutz’ The House by the Beach, which its publishers describe as historical fiction, there was no need to convince myself: Go!