Michael David S. Sy (Author of Cries and Whispers)

Michael David rated a book really liked it Mind Your Mindset: The Science That Shows Success Starts with Your Thinking by Michael Hyatt (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
For those people who seek to understand more about cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) from a layman's perspective, this is an excellent starter book: the central thesis of this book is that we are transformed by the stories we tell ourselves, which is ...more
Nov 29, 2025 09:17AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Mind Your Mindset by Michael Hyatt. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Mind Your Mindset by Michael Hyatt <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Michael David rated a book it was ok Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time by Marc Zao-Sanders	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Timeboxing is dovetailing a to-do list with a specific date and time. That's basically it. I appreciate Zao-Sanders' effort in expounding about the nuances of timeboxing, but it also felt that the book was overlong. His writing is fluid, however, and ...more
Nov 23, 2025 07:21AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Timeboxing by Marc Zao-Sanders. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Timeboxing by Marc Zao-Sanders <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Michael David rated a book really liked it Radical Respect by Kim Malone Scott (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
As a reminder for inclusion, fairness, diversity, and equanimity, this book is a great guide.
Nov 23, 2025 01:12AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Radical Respect by Kim Malone Scott. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Radical Respect by Kim Malone Scott <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Michael David rated a book liked it Tableau: Encyclopedia of Distinguished Personalities in the Philippines by P. D. Aveo, Sr.	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I would look for book bargains time and again with the different book selling groups on Facebook and stumbled upon this work. It intrigued me because I always wanted to read about the who's who in the Philippines during the first half of the 20th cen ...more
Nov 14, 2025 08:13AM · 1 like · like · see review
Michael David rated a book it was amazing Deep River by Shūsaku Endō	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Deep River is a deeply uncomfortable novel for all the right reasons. It continues Endo’s exploration of the complex nature of faith and morality in Silence, but grounds this in a more modern setting. Like Wilder’s Bridge of San Luis Rey, the novel ex ...more
Nov 01, 2025 07:27AM · like · see review
Michael David rated a book liked it Women by Charles Bukowski	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is my least favorite Bukowski novel, as this is Chinaski at his most misogynistic and offensive. Perhaps if viewed as a nihilistic novel with sprinkles of humor it would be much higher rated, but in comparison with the more nuanced Ham on Rye or ...more
Oct 30, 2025 03:55AM · like · see review
Michael David rated a book really liked it Hyperfocus: How to Work Less to Achieve More by Chris Bailey (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 25, 2025 08:39PM · 1 like · like
Michael David liked Cheza OH's review of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness:
Oct 17, 2025 03:35AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Michael David rated a book really liked it Alchemy of Secrets (Alchemy of Secrets, #1) by Stephanie Garber (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Fantasy isn't my cup of tea, but there are potent forces like the Alchemical Heart (i.e. my girlfriend) that push me to explore books like these. I wasn't sold with Garber's world-building, but I appreciated how she maintained the suspense over the c ...more
Oct 17, 2025 01:50AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Michael David rated a book really liked it The church and its social involvement in the Philippines, 1930-1972 by Wilfredo Fabros	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I first bought a copy during a sale from the Ateneo University Press. This was the only copy left, and since it was published back in 1988, it was sold cheap. When I discovered that it did not feature how the Philippine Catholic Church interacted wit ...more
Oct 13, 2025 03:30AM · 2 likes · like · see review

Michael David rated a book really liked it

Mind Your Mindset: The Science That Shows Success Starts with Your Thinking
by Michael Hyatt (Goodreads Author)

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For those people who seek to understand more about cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) from a layman's perspective, this is an excellent starter book: the central thesis of this book is that we are transformed by the stories we tell ourselves, which is ...more

Michael David rated a book it was ok

Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time
by Marc Zao-Sanders

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Timeboxing is dovetailing a to-do list with a specific date and time. That's basically it.

I appreciate Zao-Sanders' effort in expounding about the nuances of timeboxing, but it also felt that the book was overlong. His writing is fluid, however, and ...more

Michael David rated a book really liked it

Radical Respect
by Kim Malone Scott (Goodreads Author)

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As a reminder for inclusion, fairness, diversity, and equanimity, this book is a great guide.

Michael David rated a book liked it

Tableau: Encyclopedia of Distinguished Personalities in the Philippines
by P. D. Aveo, Sr.

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I would look for book bargains time and again with the different book selling groups on Facebook and stumbled upon this work. It intrigued me because I always wanted to read about the who's who in the Philippines during the first half of the 20th cen I would look for book bargains time and again with the different book selling groups on Facebook and stumbled upon this work. It intrigued me because I always wanted to read about the who's who in the Philippines during the first half of the 20th century. As someone who reads about and respects history, I believe that reading about the prominent people in the Philippines would provide me an accurate snapshot of the time and would also reveal to me those who have endured in time. The gargantuan size of the book and its cover art made it all the more intriguing. I wanted the book, but its price had been prohibitive, and deservedly so: the intaglio of the book's cover was all I needed to understand that it was extremely recherche, even in 1957.

It would also be the book that would introduce me to my girlfriend. Long story short, we met because of Tableau and she has jokingly prodded me to read through the book because she had a difficult time bringing it.

And I had finally finished it over the course of two months. Tableau was indeed great for introducing to me the prominent personalities of the time and it was excellent for re-introducing historical characters as perceived at that point in time. However, one of its major flaws (two stars' worth, even) is that its structure was poorly realized. Rather than rewrite overlong descriptions and prioritizing succinctness, multiple entries referred to pages at the back of the book, which significantly decreased readability. Its fustian prose was contributory to this irritating back-and-forth which could have been altogether avoided with conciseness.

Despite this major flaw, the book made me realize how politicians are the ones that truly shape the evolution of history. Other than a few prominent names like Tambunting and Zobel (de Ayala), the most memorable individuals were those who left their imprint on the Philippine government and its politics, for better or worse. Those well-respected senators like Soc Rodrigo, Lorenzo Tanada, and Sotero Baluyut, presidents and vice-presidents like Garcia and Macapagal, and secretaries like Miguel Cuaderno persist in the intellectual spaces of historians and readers. Most businessmen and leaders of firms are no longer household names today.

It affirmed to me that we need to be better choosers of politicians. Through them, we are adjudged for our collective intelligence or stupidity. What they do will never be easily forgotten, and who enabled them to do good or bad definitely reverberates across time. ...more

Michael David rated a book it was amazing

Deep River
by Shūsaku Endō

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Deep River is a deeply uncomfortable novel for all the right reasons. It continues Endo’s exploration of the complex nature of faith and morality in Silence, but grounds this in a more modern setting.

Like Wilder’s Bridge of San Luis Rey, the novel ex Deep River is a deeply uncomfortable novel for all the right reasons. It continues Endo’s exploration of the complex nature of faith and morality in Silence, but grounds this in a more modern setting.

Like Wilder’s Bridge of San Luis Rey, the novel explores the lives of six or so Japanese people on a pilgrimage to the Ganges River, each of them looking for something different and each of them suffering.

Unlike Bridge, however, there is no central character like Father Juniper. Instead, there are vignettes that describe their pasts and how they were brought together by the Ganges River.

The linchpin of the novel is Otsu: similar to the protagonists of Silence, he isexcommunicated from his faith. Whereas the priests were forced to renege through external forces, Otsu ostracized himself by his belief that God is evident and manifest even in the other religions.

It is ironic, however, that he manifests his most Christlike self in his self-imposed exile: in helping other dying people reach the Ganges in their final moments, he echoes Jesus carrying the cross to purge the sins of mankind. He shows certain similarities with Prince Myshkin of Dostoevsky’s Idiot, where he understands that goodness is thankless and yet persists in realizing it. Both Otsu and Myshkin are undeniably marred by their final act of self-sacrifice, and yet both are extreme avatars of unwavering love.

One of the novel’s flaws is the inconsistency of characterization among the novel’s main characters: there are few, like Mitsuko and Otsu’s, that were masterfully crafted and written, but there are also Isobe and Numada’s, who were ultimately forgettable.

Despite this unevenness, Endo’s commentary on the persistence of evil notwithstanding religion remains potent and poignant. The few good men are washed away and perish in iniquity (like Tsukada and Otsu), but religion also bears the hope that allows these good men to exist (Jesus in Christianity, and Chamunda in Hinduism).

Endo again engages the complex nature of faith and morality in this novel, and despite its flaws, the novel is an excellent read for those who struggle with their own faith and the dearth of goodness in this world. ...more

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Women
by Charles Bukowski

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This is my least favorite Bukowski novel, as this is Chinaski at his most misogynistic and offensive. Perhaps if viewed as a nihilistic novel with sprinkles of humor it would be much higher rated, but in comparison with the more nuanced Ham on Rye or ...more

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Hyperfocus: How to Work Less to Achieve More
by Chris Bailey (Goodreads Author)

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Michael David liked Cheza OH's review of The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness:

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Michael David rated a book really liked it

Alchemy of Secrets (Alchemy of Secrets, #1)
by Stephanie Garber (Goodreads Author)

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Fantasy isn't my cup of tea, but there are potent forces like the Alchemical Heart (i.e. my girlfriend) that push me to explore books like these.

I wasn't sold with Garber's world-building, but I appreciated how she maintained the suspense over the c ...more

Michael David rated a book really liked it

The church and its social involvement in the Philippines, 193... by Wilfredo Fabros

The church and its social involvement in the Philippines, 1930-1972
by Wilfredo Fabros

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I first bought a copy during a sale from the Ateneo University Press. This was the only copy left, and since it was published back in 1988, it was sold cheap. When I discovered that it did not feature how the Philippine Catholic Church interacted wit I first bought a copy during a sale from the Ateneo University Press. This was the only copy left, and since it was published back in 1988, it was sold cheap. When I discovered that it did not feature how the Philippine Catholic Church interacted with the Marcos dictatorship, I skimmed it and then forgot about it.

I had another opportunity to obtain a copy 17 years later, and I finally decided to read it more closely. Fabros, despite a man of the cloth, pulled no punches in describing the shortcomings of the Philippine church as it tried to grope its way toward effective social action. In the 1930s, it first appealed to the educated collegians, but effected tenuous and transient change. It did not try to question the current social order, and offered a weak alternative to the rising tides of Communist ideologies then. This ineffectiveness persisted until the Jesuits created the Institute of Social Order. At first it focused on creating credit unions to serve the underprivileged and marginalized, but eventually widened its horizons. It helped toward the establishment of unions such as the Federation of Free Workers and its rural counterpart, the Federation of Free Farmers. While nevertheless functioning within the then-current social order, it effected a greater change and tried to introduce ways to protect the common laborer from untoward and unjust manipulation by landowners and corporations.

The positive changes that it had effected, however, were receded by the hierarchy's response to the UST strike in the 1960s. It showed that the Catholic Church was fragmented and hypocritical, advising to create unions to protect the laborers but condoning one of its universities to do union busting. Members of the Institute of Social Order were forcibly silenced by the Philippine Catholic hierarchy, which showed inconsistency in its words and deeds.

However, a more cohesive response from the Church would be attained from the First Quarter Storm henceforth. With the abuses and excesses of the Marcos presidency manifesting, the Philippine hierarchy slowly adopted the theology of liberation that would spread across the world. Sadly, the positive changes that would have been effected were cut short by the declaration of Martial Law. A few priests who imbibed and embodied liberation theology chose to fight against the oppressive and corrupt dictatorship, while the bishops eventually gained more and more solidarity within themselves to finally stand up to Marcos and empower the 1986 People Power revolution.

Fabros does not conclude on a high note: the inequality and fragmentation within the Philippine church persist. However, the trend toward more active and civil-minded priests could now be seen: important Church figures call for accountability and transparency in the flood control project controversy, and more and more of them are now vocal against the marginalization and immiseration of the poor. ...more

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