About Us

About Our Blog

The Not-So-Literary Heiresses (that's us!) are two sisters and their cousin who share a passion for reading. We are nieces of multi-awarded Filipino author Jose F. Lacaba and the late Eman Lacaba, who is considered the only poet warrior of the Philippines (and whose biopic is being released late this year!).

You would think being related to literary geniuses would sprinkle a little bit of writing talent and ambition our way, but one of us is a bank executive, another one is a broadcast tech on a cruise ship, and another one works in the beauty industry. The one thing we've all inherited is an undisputed love for books. This blog is our way of sharing our passion.

Who We Are

Dia
I remember my mom forcing me to go out and play when I was about five years old. That was because I would have spent all of my time indoors reading books if I'd had a choice. When I was nine, my parent banned me from borrowing books from the library on weekdays, but I did it anyway and sneakily kept the books on the school bus so I wouldn't get busted.

Today, I still read about three to five books a week, even if you can't tell from my reviews because I'm too lazy to write about everything I read. Moreover, I'm happy to report that I turned out to be a relatively well-adjusted person who also spends time traveling, drinking at the corner pub, hanging out with friends, maintaining an LDR with my boyfriend, and participating in all manner of social activities, contrary to my mom's worst fears. I just completed my masters program, so I'll be a taxpaying member of society again too.

I like love stories, detective novels, stories that feature fictional actors and rock stars, biographies of successful business people, and marketing books.

DIA'S REVIEWS

Buona

I started out with fairy tales. When I was eight, I had to wait three hours for Dia's class to be dismissed and I spent that time in ballet lessons or in the library, reading and re-reading tales of princes and princesses, nightingales, emperors with no clothes, witches, leprechauns, freakishly long hair, poisonous apples, magic and the age-old battle of good versus evil. I knew not only Snow White, but Rose Red too and I kept the secret that the Little Mermaid never got to marry the prince. My sister could have stayed in class until 6pm for all I cared.

My repertoire slowly expanded to the fictional world of Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley, which also had a bit of magic on special Christmas editions. Our parents allowed us to leaf through books for hours at the bookstore in the mall on weekends, but would only buy us a book each sparingly, with a condition that it had to be a classic. Because of this, books were considered to be prized possessions and my absolute favorites were A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy and Pollyanna. When my real life friends ditched me when I was ten over a passionate game of Chinese garter, Anne of Green Gables became my best friend.

Then I discovered Dia's secret stash of illicit books: Judith McNaught and Mills & Boons. She forbade me from reading them because at twelve, she thought I was too young. Guess what I did? I sometimes locked myself in the bathroom, reading.

These days, my favorite genre hands-down is Young Adult. I read John Grisham and Dan Brown and all those other adult authors too. But really, I'm all about beginnings and self-discovery and tender feelings. This blog is great because it's an exercise for me in having an opinion and voicing it. I'm realizing more each day what I like and don't like and I'm so happy you're taking the journey with us.

Outside of reading, I'm currently living out happily ever after. I've married the guy of my dreams -- I could have picked him out of a romance novel. We laugh a lot and travel together. I love my career and I have a set of friends that can last me until I'm old and gray. And I have my books. Some day, I hope to have my name on one of them.

BUONA'S REVIEWS

Amir
I don't remember when I started reading full length novels. I think it's when Buona lent me a copy of Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess but it might also be when my mother got me a copy of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire because she thought my fascination with them is cute (I was 11). With my crappy memory, I will never be sure. All I know is reading is an addiction I will never get rid off...not that I want to. Aside from reading,  I'm also a bit of a TV couch potato...Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars, and Castle and Beckett (Caskett love!) are my all time TV heroes. I also enjoy traveling and I was lucky enough to be able to do that while practicing my field.

It's funny,  traveling all over the world was in my list of "things in my bucket list that's next to impossible". But seriously, I know I'm being cheesy here...but if you do put your mind into it and focus on your goal, you can achieve anything. And that's why as much as I love the dark, scary and the psychologically twisted...an epic happy ever after ending will always have a special place in my book list. Call me the hopeless romantic (well, sometimes). In between traveling and reading I also enjoy wine, mojitos and margaritas, preferably while hanging out with people I like...a.k.a. my awesome friends.

Favorite Authors: Lisa Kleypas, Gillian Flynn, Nalini Singh
Favorite Titles: As I have too many, check out my Favorites Shelf on Goodreads
Favorite Genres: Young Adult, Adult, Horror, Suspense, Thrillers, Mystery, Romance, Paranormal

AMIR'S REVIEWS