Perhaps reading is one of the oldest hobbies in the world, other than collecting stamps, don't you think?
A fellow blogger started this Malaysians Do Read project for us to share our reading habits. So why don't we join this really good project and share everything about the book that we love etc. etc.
My mom said I started learning to read at the age of 3. The difficulties of acquiring a nanny to take care of me at that time, made my mom decided to bring me to her school when she worked. And the library was the best place to stash me, I guess. So, that was my first encounter with the habit of reading. After some time, my habit of reading didn't just consists of the normal reading, but also the activity of cutting the papers to really small pieces, that later landed me the nickname "Mouse".
However, no need to worry. I later grew up to be a very normal person who likes to read. My childhood favourite is Around The World In 80 Days by Jules Verne. I still love it. I admire Mr. Fogg (who doesn't?), the cool and debonair yet eccentric subject of the classic adventure tale. I also have another favourite back then, but here is the sad and cringing part....I didn't remember the title and the author, I couldn't be sure. Oh, dang...I have been squashing my brain all these years to track the novel but in vain. It's a Malay novel of 300-500 pages and if I'm not mistaken, has the word Hidayah in the title and the author could be Hasan Ali or similar to that name. I remember the protagonist of the novel, Mahfuz. Please, if anybody know about this novel, please contact me, I would like to read it again. The problem is, I couldn't find it in my parents' house anymore, don't know where it went....I remember finishing that book in 2 or 3 days with one day without sleep, because it's so good.
My mom used to subscribe to the Reader's Digest, and that means there's a lot of RD in my house, a lot for me to enjoy in my younger years. Then came the teenage years, I started indulging myself in Christopher Pike's and R.L. Stine's teenage horror flicks. It was so cheap at that time, maybe around RM5-RM7, then year by year, they escalated till about RM10-RM11. Now I don't know how much is the price.
When I was in college, I discovered Agatha Christie's crime novels at a second hand bookstore and I fell in love with them right away. I love to read how the old Ms Jane Marple solves a case, being a very observant and sharp-minded woman despite her age (that's what made the criminals oblivious of her) and also the weird Hercule Poirot, another master figure created by Ms Christie. I still love the books. After all these years, I still haven't finished reading all of her books, that's an excuse to keep buying it,eh?
After having a career, I no longer read consistently. It's sad, I agree. But starting last year, I started to read again, and by reading, I mean, finishing a novel or any kind of fictions. I wrote about some of them in this blog. How do I pick my read? By the size (easy to hold, and to keep inside a handbag), by the synopsis (crime, mystery, thrillers...or non-fictions with the topic that I would like to know about) and finally, by the price (affordable, that is). The author? Doesn't matter much, unless my sole purpose is to buy a book from a particular author. Book cover? As long as there's no naked person in front of it, I don't mind.
When do I read? One of the most hateful thing for me to do is waiting. So, I read whenever I have to wait at banks, service counters, clinics, commuters and LRTs (whenever I use them, and whenever it's not too jam-packed) and etc. etc. That means I always have a reading material with me wherever I go, be it books or magazines. I also read at home when I have a peaceful time to read.
Talking about reading in commuters, I remembered the time when I was in Japan. Commuting by train is as usual and routine as eating, and from my observation, the Japanese mostly do only two things inside the train among other things; sleeping or reading. Almost everybody would read, even in a packed train. They read mangas (comic books), newpapers, or any other kind of books. What's funny is that, when they read newspapers, of course, when there is enough space, they just fold the newspaper in two or three folds, and they read segment by segment, but when more people coming in and the space becomes tighter and tighter, so is the newspaper, its fold becoming smaller and smaller, and yet they are still reading it. What a sight to behold. So committed they are in reading, perhaps that is the only time they have to read it.
Ok, what else?
What can I say...? Reading is joyful when you pick up a very good one. A beautiful piece of work is the one that is able to bring its reader lost in the story and able to picture the story in the brain. And after the last page, you will feel so overwhelmed and sometimes wanting more that you keep reading you favourite parts again and again. So, pick up a book, and start reading.
A fellow blogger started this Malaysians Do Read project for us to share our reading habits. So why don't we join this really good project and share everything about the book that we love etc. etc.
My mom said I started learning to read at the age of 3. The difficulties of acquiring a nanny to take care of me at that time, made my mom decided to bring me to her school when she worked. And the library was the best place to stash me, I guess. So, that was my first encounter with the habit of reading. After some time, my habit of reading didn't just consists of the normal reading, but also the activity of cutting the papers to really small pieces, that later landed me the nickname "Mouse".
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After having a career, I no longer read consistently. It's sad, I agree. But starting last year, I started to read again, and by reading, I mean, finishing a novel or any kind of fictions. I wrote about some of them in this blog. How do I pick my read? By the size (easy to hold, and to keep inside a handbag), by the synopsis (crime, mystery, thrillers...or non-fictions with the topic that I would like to know about) and finally, by the price (affordable, that is). The author? Doesn't matter much, unless my sole purpose is to buy a book from a particular author. Book cover? As long as there's no naked person in front of it, I don't mind.
When do I read? One of the most hateful thing for me to do is waiting. So, I read whenever I have to wait at banks, service counters, clinics, commuters and LRTs (whenever I use them, and whenever it's not too jam-packed) and etc. etc. That means I always have a reading material with me wherever I go, be it books or magazines. I also read at home when I have a peaceful time to read.
Talking about reading in commuters, I remembered the time when I was in Japan. Commuting by train is as usual and routine as eating, and from my observation, the Japanese mostly do only two things inside the train among other things; sleeping or reading. Almost everybody would read, even in a packed train. They read mangas (comic books), newpapers, or any other kind of books. What's funny is that, when they read newspapers, of course, when there is enough space, they just fold the newspaper in two or three folds, and they read segment by segment, but when more people coming in and the space becomes tighter and tighter, so is the newspaper, its fold becoming smaller and smaller, and yet they are still reading it. What a sight to behold. So committed they are in reading, perhaps that is the only time they have to read it.
Ok, what else?
What can I say...? Reading is joyful when you pick up a very good one. A beautiful piece of work is the one that is able to bring its reader lost in the story and able to picture the story in the brain. And after the last page, you will feel so overwhelmed and sometimes wanting more that you keep reading you favourite parts again and again. So, pick up a book, and start reading.
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