Title: The Holiday Switch

Author: Tif Marcelo

Is a heart warming novel centered around two women, Lila and Elena, who decide to swap
homes for the holidays. As they navigate each other’s lives, unexpected challenges and romantic
opportunities arise, leading to personal growth and a deeper understanding of themselves. The
story explores themes of love, friendship, and the magic of the holiday season, creating a
delightful and festive read.

Title: Smaller and Smaller Circles

Author: F.H. Batacan
Smaller and Smaller Circles is the first Filipino contemporary crime detective literature set in the
Philippines. The mystery novel revolves around two Jesuit priests named Gus Saenz and Jerome
Lucero who happen to perform forensic work. There have been murders of young boys in the
slum area of Payatas. As the novel explores themes that deal with the corruption and inefficiency
in the government, they hope to uncover the mysterious murderer behind the serial killings in
Manila‘s slum area. In 1999, Batacan’s mystery novel won the Carlos Palanca Grand Prize for
English Novel.

Title: Gun dealer’s Daughter

Author: Gina Apostol
A young woman pieces together her troubled past in this story of rebellion and romance set in the
Marcos-era Philippines.
Soon after she leaves home for university in Manila, Soledad Soliman (Sol) transforms herself
from bookish rich girl to communist rebel. But is her allegiance to the principles of Mao or to
Jed, the comrade she’s in love with? Can she really be a part of the movement or is she just a
“useful fool,” a spoiled brat playing at revolution?
Far from the Philippines, in a mansion overlooking the Hudson River, Sol confesses her youthful
indiscretions, unable to get past the fatal act of communist fervor that locked her memory in an
endless loop. Rich with wordplay and unforgettable imagery, Gun Dealers’ Daughter combines
the momentum of an amnesiac thriller with the intellectual delights of a Borgesian puzzle. In her
American debut, award-winning author Gina Apostol delivers a riveting novel that illuminates
the conflicted and little-known history of the Philippines, a country deeply entwined with our
own.