Our 26 Favorite Filipino Books of 2023
.png)
We're decolonizing reading lists with titles penned by some of the most exciting Filipino authors here and abroad right now. From poetry, short stories, and essay collections to memoirs, comics, and novels, these works have been some of our favorite reads from the past year.
Pieces like these show us the most refreshing contemporary Filipino voices, exploring how such writers have reclaimed and even elevated languages. Each of them addresses a wide range of subjects—reflecting on the personal, political, cultural, etc.—that are as affecting as they are timely.
The books on the list come in no particular order, except for, say, some subconscious biases we may have had along the way. It's going to feel random and chaotic because, quite frankly, it is random and chaotic.
1| Snakes in the Grass by Patrick Everard
Publisher: University of the Philippines Press
Snakes in the Grass is a retelling of the Marcos dictatorship through the perspective of an orphaned boy named Saduj. Based on true events, the book is a fine piece of historical fiction. Each chapter is dedicated to the events that defined the late strongman's life, as well as the protagonist's own story. Through Saduj's narration, the reader is taken into the ins and outs of a conjugal dictatorship, from its start to its inevitable end.
2| Dogs in Philippine History by Ian Christopher B. Alfonso
Publisher: Alaya Publishing
Ah yes, Filipinos and their dogs. From Jose Rizal's Usman and Marcelo H. Del Pilar’s Dalmatians to Don Tranquilo Ruiz’s white Aspin and the hero dog of Zamboanga City Kabang, dogs have found quite a place in Philippine history. Ian Christopher B. Alfonso's book chronicles 4,000 years' worth of such cultural encounters. The book offers an interesting look at the nation's evolution, through some of history's most important canine companions.
3| The Man in the McIntosh Suit by Rina Ayuyang
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Filipino-American Rina Ayuyang’s The Man in the McIntosh Suit is a noir-styled graphic novel that explores the underlying melancholia in our diaspora. Set in Depression-era Watsonville, California, the story follows the journey of protagonist, Bobot, who goes from lawyer to strawberry picker, as he searches for his wife in San Francisco. There, he ventures into Manilatown and beyond. It's a book defined by an investigation of identities, obsessions, and, of course, longing.
4| La Tercera by Gina Apostol
Publisher: Soho Press
Arguably Gina Apostol's most ambitious and personal novel, La Tercera is not only a triumph of historical fiction, but of the Filipino literary language. Readers are taken through an assemblage of the Delgado families' memories, encompassing colonial and wartime tragedies. It's a novel that grows increasingly dizzying—revealing truths about the past through families, traitors, heroes, reactionaries, revolutionaries, and so much more.
5| Departures: Essays by Priscilla Supnet-Macansantos
Publisher: University of the Philippines Press
Priscilla Supnet-Macansantos characterizes the relentlessness of transitions in our lives in this collection of essays. It's a book about transitions, upheavals, and, err, departures. Here, the writer reflects on memories and thoughts gathered over the last two decades. Supnet-Macansantos meditates on things like the unrest of the early 20th century, war, Martial Law, and even the 2020 pandemic.
6| Sa Yakap ng Gubat at Dagat ng Palawan: Mga Ekosanaysay by John Iremil Teodoro
Publisher: Pawikan Press
Brought to us by the award-winning writer, literary critic, and creative writing professor John Iremil Teodoro, this book of essays tells the stories of environmentalists on the Philippines' “last ecological frontier.” Teodoro was said to have spent two years in and around the province in the '90s. From there, he would see the richness of Palawan culture, from dolphin-watching to indigenous practices and its development into an eco-tourism powerhouse.
7| Ang Itim na Orkidyas ng Isla Boracay: Mga Kuwento by Genevieve L. Asenjo
Publisher: University of the Philippines Press
An exemplary collection that marries style, complexity, and form, Ang Itim na Orkidyas ng Isla Boracay: Mga Kuwento showcases the author's mastery of storytelling. Readers are exposed to a diverse set of voices, characters, and themes here. As experimental as it gets for the genre, the book tackles the dynamics of liberation and self-determination, and how they shape both personal and collective identities.
8| Selected Short Stories by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
Publisher: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House
Selected Short Stories is comprised of 39 pieces of short fiction courtesy of the great Filipino-American author Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. With stories based in fictional Manila and Mexico, Intramuros and Acapulco, Ubec and Cebu, each piece is elevated by a distinct poetic imagery; all of which reinforce the writer's standing as one of the leading singular Filipino voices of our time.
9| Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista
Publisher: Penguin Random House
A journalistic tour de force, Some People Need Killing chronicles former Esquire Philippines writer-at-large Patricia Evangelista's experiences as a reporter, recounting how extrajudicial killings run amok in the country. She talks to and investigates police, vigilantes, killers, and survivors in what is an impeccable piece of literary journalism. The book delves into the erosion of democratic institutions and the grips of a culture of impunity during the Duterte administration.
10| How to Tame Your Tikbalang Without Even Trying by Alma Anonas-Carpio
Publisher: 8Letters
Blending Philippine mythology, romance, and erotica, How to Tame Your Tikbalang Without Even Trying doesn't shy away from dissecting local folklore and graphic raunchy detail. Readers follow the oddball story of Tala, a young Babaylan working at a Makati call center, and Buhawi, a banker-tikbalang-type, as they navigate the shadow world. It's a fun read, to say the least.
11| Even Ducks Get Liver Cancer and other medical misadventures by Wilfredo Liangco
Publisher: Milflores Publishing
Equal parts hysterical and tragic, Will Liangco's accounts of life-and-death decisions, agonizing patients, and other misfortunes within the Philippine General Hospital walls make this such a captivating read. These essays are gritty and blunt without compromising tenderness and detail. Here, readers are inducted into the dizzying lives of medical interns and fellows under the crushing weight of a tumultuous healthcare system.
12| Sa Antipolo pa rin ang Antipolo by Abner E. Dormiendo
Publisher: Librong LIRA
Abner E. Dormiendo's Sa Antipolo pa rin ang Antipolo is a poetry collection that reshapes language in the image of ourselves by way of the spaces that define our love and desires. It leads us to reimagine the physicality of objects, roads, and scenes, transforming them into something that resembles our humanity.
SHOP NOW
13| Unbecoming by Angeli Lacson
Publisher: Paper Trail Projects
Through some brief notes, Unbecoming manages to critique the quiet violence that lingers within a country in crisis. It borrows from literature, cultural theory, conversations, and reports to examine this tragedy. Traversing illness, pain, and disability, the book is a set of inquiries into the mundaneness of life—within homes, university classrooms, offices, and the like—under neoliberalism and a festering cultural decay.
14| Sa Ika-ilang Sirkulo ng Impiyerno by Miguel Paolo Celestial
Publisher: Balangay Books
Suffice it to say, Sa Ika-ilang Sirkulo ng Impiyerno is not for the faint of heart. The collection is a compelling take on the agonizing realities of queer expression, rendered in Filipino metaphors and realities, elevated to new fields of thought. Bold is an understatement here, as the poet confronts this surplus of perversion, longing, and desire, as well as the darkness and light that animates their presence.
15| Stray Cats by Irene Sarmiento
Publisher: Ateneo de Manila University Press
As far as speculative YA fiction goes, Stray Cats offers readers a compelling and thoughtful take on Filipino magical realism. Readers are introduced to eighth graders Elisa Paz and Raquel Madria, who undertake fantasy and folklore in their very real lives. When one of them goes missing, the other embarks on a journey with a talking cat. From there, our beloved monsters find themselves coming alive in and around the streets the kids walk.
ALSO READ:
These are the 16 Best OPM Albums and EPs of 2023
16| Tuwing Nag-Iisa sa Mapa ng Buntong-hininga by Paolo Miguel G. Tiausas
Publisher: University of the Philippines Press
Youth culture is, in itself, a central character in the poems in Tuwing Nag-Iisa sa Mapa ng Buntong-hininga. In this collection, Paolo Tiausas manages to carry the weight of these passages without being too moralizing or indulgent in their anecdotes. Readers are treated to images of a post-modern society that is complicit in the initiation of the young into depravity.
17| Strange Intimacies by Zea Asis
Publisher: Everything's Fine
Strange Intimacies confronts the conditions that young women today often endure. In nine riveting essays, author Zea Asis contends with womanhood in contemporary society by illuminating her memories of self-discovery, exhuming the emotional, physical, and intellectual. She takes readers into snippets of her becoming, reflecting on her mother's jewelry box, childhood, and desires; this, all the while lamenting the past lives she's lived.
18| Pasasaan by Jesus Calvario
Publisher: Balangay Books
A winner of the Best Book of Nonfiction Prose in Filipino at the recent National Book Awards, Pasasaan by Jesus Calvario takes readers into the madness that seeps through the cracks in our inner worlds. It's equipped with a delightfully candid perspective that mirrors the author's anguish. Interestingly, the prose even bleeds into music recorded by Calvario himself.
19| The Heart of Summer By Danton Remoto
Publisher: Penguin Random House Southeast Asia
Another triumphant collection from one of Asia's best writers, The Heart of Summer reacquaints readers with love and longing in both realist and fantastic modes. Encompassing legends, parables, fables, and more, the book sweeps readers with its cheeky narratives and venerable protagonists, done in varied and bold forms. Through the young boy and his sisters, a cyclical pattern emerges, where the past, present, and future are perpetually interconnected.
20| Song of the Mango and Other New Myths by Vida Cruz-Borja
Publisher: Ateneo de Manila University Press
Multi-hyphenated fictionist and artist Vida Cruz-Borja's second illustrated fantasy collection gathers some of her most important fiction. In 15 stories, readers enjoy a rich intersection of imagined realms, from the precolonial to the magical and more. Woven together here are classical myths, as well as folklore from the Philippines and beyond. Playful and innovative, the book champions the writer as a modern-day mythmaker.
21| Ang Buang ng Bayan: Mga Maikling Kuwento by Rowena P. Festin
Publisher: University of the Philippines Press
Traces of Rowena Festin's childhood memories are omnipresent in this collection. Coming from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, the author is well-acquainted with mysticism, evidenced by the inhabitants in these eight stories. Equally enthralling is how local women are portrayed in this peculiar town. Readers are introduced to San Jose's beloved "buangs," Narsing Buang and Sitang Buang. From there, a great unraveling emerges, one where customs, rituals, nuances, and traditions from various eras collide.
22| False Nostalgia: The Marcos “Golden Age” Myths and How to Debunk Them by JC Punongbayan
Publisher: Ateneo de Manila University Press
As lethal a weapon as any in the post-truth age, False Nostalgia is an indictment of Marcosian mythology. Here, the author looks into 43 of the most damning claims made about the alleged "Golden Age" of Philippine history. Each is debunked with a treasure trove of data and past studies, footnoted and referenced throughout. Here is a book that hopes to exhume the truths buried beneath this mountain of deception we all face in the world we live in today.
23| will you tell me what i look like? by Raphael Atienza Coronel
Publisher: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House
Featuring a riveting collection of image-text, traditional ekphrastic, and self-ekphrastic poems, will you tell me what I look like? shows the possibilities of verbal-visual experimentations. Atienza Coronel examines the nuances of life as a poet and painter, reconciling grief, distress, and all the other harrowing contemporary horrors in between.
24| Isang Dalumat ng Panahon by Christian Jil R. Benitez
Publisher: Ateneo de Manila University Press
Christian Jil R. Benitez's Isang Dalumat ng Panahon is an attempt to challenge Filipino notions of time. By sifting through texts like dictionary entries, poetry, and more, the book invents a different kind of language to articulate temporality. This extends to consider the poetic, historical, tropical, and material.
25| Aswanglaut by Allan N. Derain
Publisher: Ateneo de Manila University Press
A consuming novel that follows the story of the young Visayan native, Luklak, Aswanglaut is as transformative a piece of Filipino literature as any. Whether it's read for Luklak's glorious transition into an aswang or the rich prose, the book offers a myriad of ways to be interrogated. Driving the spirit of the book, of course, is the lushness of Philippine mythology and the texture of our local cultural identities.
26| 26: Dagli Diagrams by Jayson V. Fajardo
Publisher: Balangay Books
Balangay Books first launched Dagli Diagrams as a zine in 2016. Jayson V. Fajardo twists and bends our ideas of short story writing in a novel manner. He links and subverts a variety of sequences and scenes here, traversing experience, memory, materiality, time, and pop culture. It's a wonderful medley courtesy of a writer who understands how to map out the nuances and intricacies of universal phenomena.
(Note: some of these were published before 2023 and were republished this year, so we may have cheated a little bit).
