Bookworming v2011

The man who does not read good books has
no advantage over the man who can’t read them.

–  Mark Twain

Absolutely true.  I hold the above quote close to my heart and it is mostly upon a loose sort of conviction that I choose my reads.  This post will be continuously updated right up till the last day of 2011.  I am hoping my 2011 list will look much healthier than 2010′s.

The list of books read in 2011 are:

1. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
2. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
3. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
4. Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer
5. The Faraway Tree series, Enid Blyton
6. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
7. Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
8. Heaven is for Real, Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
9. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
10. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami
11. The Missing Rose, Serdar Ozkan
12. Be the Pack Leader, Cesar Millan
13. Poirot Four Classic Cases, Agatha Christie
14. The Gift of Fear, Gavin de Becker
15. Cinderella, Henry W. Hewet
16. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón (reading)
17. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth (reading)
18. The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (reading)
19. Light of the World, Pope Benedict XVI (reading)
20. The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas (reading)
21. Dream Psychology Psychoanaysis for Beginners, Sigmund Freud (reading)
22. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo – planned
23. Twenty Years After, Alexander Dumas – planned
24. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Peter Hedges – planned
25. The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald – planned
26. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie – planned
27. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens – planned
28. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Lewis Carroll – planned
29. Belief in God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, T.J. Mawson – planned

Need to bring this post up before it gets buried.  I am making terrible progress and I am re-reading some children’s classics on my kindle, for example Cinderella.  Time to catch up, and hopefully the kindle will help!

Changed Reading Habit

Last Sunday when I met the hubby in Tokyo, I was exhilarated for several reasons, one of which was obviously the fact that we had been apart for close a month.  My kindle was the other reason.  It would be the very first time I met my white kindle.

My kindle was already loaded with the e-books I bought over Amazon because I had requested for the hubby to log into my account and load up the e-books for me.  So, I started reading the moment I received my kindle.

It took some getting used to, because I was so used to my touchscreen-ipad.  The hubby had to remind me – several times – that my kindle does not have a touchscreen.  And he had to spend a little time to guide me along, for example how to move on to the next page or how to go highlight a passage.  This guy obviously had quite a fun time exploring my kindle while in the States.  Unfortunately, even a new gadget didn’t manage to pique his interest in reading more books.

I am reading more because it is now so convenient to pick up the kindle any time I feel like reading some pages.  But I am most definitely not reading any faster.  I thought I was the only one who felt it, but obviously not, from the conversation we had last night while in bed.

Hubby: What are you reading? (peeped over) Oh, The Three Musketeers.

Myself: Yup, refreshing my memory in preparation for Kyuhyun’s musical.

Hubby: (in all seriousness) Darling, do you realise you read very slow nowadays?  You used to finish this book (in hardcopy, it meant) in about a day.  How many days have you already been reading this on the kindle?

Myself: Ya, I noticed it too.

I don’t know the actual reason for that change in my reading habit, but you can be sure I have been thinking about it.  And I came up with several possible reasons:

• I’m still not used to reading on the kindle.  Yet.
• I can’t concentrate like I used to, thus I read a lot less pages at one sitting.
• I lack the discipline to finish up reading a chapter before stopping because unlike with a book (where I like to stop and place my bookmark after completing a chapter), I can stop anywhere on the kindle and would still be able to pick up where I left off because I read more often in short bursts.

One thing’s for sure, I’m going to try buying less books because I’m seriously running out of space in the study.  And like everyone else, I should do my part in saving some trees.  I just hope I get used to reading on the kindle real soon.  If even the hubby has noticed that my reading speed has slowed, the change had to be rather significant.  But oh, I quite like the fact that I could put on some music on the kindle while reading at the same time.

Moving Along

… with the times, that is.

I’m not a typical representation of my gender in that I don’t care very much for apparel, accessories, shoes or make-up.  The only typical characteristic and stereotype I possess is probably my weakness for bags.

XX exclaimed that I should be able to save a lot of money since I don’t spend on the typical stuff women my age spend on.  And I shook my head.  In place of these, I have much more expensive indulgences since I’m a technophile and a hobby photographer.  She didn’t quite grasp what I meant until we walked into an Apple store.  Later on as we walked out of the store, she told me she finally understood what I was trying to tell her because my eyes lit up the moment we walked the store, akin to a child walking into Toys”R”Us.

But I digress, for this post should be along the line of moving along with times in terms of an e-reader.  In principle, I oppose to e-readers because I am a bibliophile more than simply a bookworm, except that the books that I collect are the ones I enjoy reading but not necessarily expensive, rare first print editions.  Yet in my heart, I understand why the bulk of us should move on to e-readers: saving the trees, cheaper, lighter in load etc.  It’s a natural progression.

I started seriously considering converting to an e-reader partially when the hubby returned from the States with a brand new kindle for a fellow colleague and suggested that I should look into it, especially the Nook.  The decision not to settle on my good old iPad for reading was quickly arrived at, because it really hurt my eyes to read off the iPad.  I have perfect eyesight by the way, and I’m not about to allow myself to become short-sighted at this age.

I did my own research on the differences between a Nook and a Kindle, and I’ve decided that if I’m to get an e-reader, it would have to be a white Kindle because it is the kindest on the eyes.

Up till this point, I am still undecided because it gets a little tricky to buy books off Kindle if one is an international buyer.  And most of the free books available are the classics as they are the ones with expired copyrights.  Part of the reason why I wish to convert to an e-reader is so that I could get rid of some of the contemporary books I have.  I still wish to keep all the hard copy classics I possess.  In this respect, I have not worked out if the Kindle could aid in my quest to declutter my bookshelves.

However, as the exasperated hubby rightfully pointed out (after being the one who planted the idea in my head!), things will get a little crazy when we pack for travel, because it meant that I have to bring along an iPhone (for communication), an iPad (for watching videos, listening to music and referring to the itinerary and maps), a netbook (to download the photographs taken and to blog) and a Kindle (to read).  On top of that, I have my cameras and lenses.  Now, how on earth are we ever going to find space for the more essential items like clothes?

A valid point.  Which is why I am still contemplating.

My Literature Texts

Still on the topic of books.  Because I climbed up the ladder to reach for the books for yesterday’s post, I decided to bring down all my Literature textbooks for a shot.

Yup.  I kept all the Literature textbooks and supplementary books I read from Secondary 1 to JC 2.  Some of them could still be at my parents’ home, because I vaguely remember a book on ‘Lady Precious Stream’, which was my very first Literature textbook.

These books are really old… some as old as 22 years-old, but I can’t bear to throw them out.  Well, now that I have taken a picture of them as keepsake, it might be easier to dispose of them the next time I need to make space in my bookshelves for other acquisitions.

I wonder if any of my friends kept all their Literature textbooks…

The 5 Most Important Books I’ve Read

A post inspired by The Daily Post.  We were told not to think too much into it and just go into listing 5 books.  Here’s my list, in order of importance:

1. The Bible – Need I even justify this, I was wondering to myself?  I started rather young, being exposed to reading a children’s Bible at the age of 5 or so.  I don’t always enjoy reading the Bible, but it is no doubt a very important book.  And the more I read, the more I comprehend.  Little by little.  Perhaps by the time I die, God’s mysteries would be revealed to me.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee – This book changed my life in so many ways.  I didn’t pick it up by choice then – it was my school Literature textbook back in Secondary 3.  And I am so glad the school chose this book.  It opened my eyes to how real racism and the KKK activities were in South.  More importantly, it taught me the meaning of true courage and that it could come masked in many forms.  And I idolise Atticus Finch!
3. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho – I received this book as a birthday gift from a good friend (whom I look up to in terms of depth of thinking) about a decade ago when our friendship was a little… antagonistic?  The book came at a time when I was at the crossroads of my relationship with the then-boyfriend-now-husband.  Although from Day 1 when I plunged into a relationship with him, I was certain he was going to be the man I would marry.  But when the time came for me to really make the decision, I hesitated, not knowing if that was what I wanted to accomplish in life.  This book helped put some things into perspective, so to speak.
4. Animal Farm, George Orwell – Oh, who could forget how the ‘Four legs good, two legs bad’ became ‘Four legs good, two legs better’ chants in this classic satirical novella.  This book, too, was introduced by the school in Secondary 2.  Why?  I don’t remember if it was an assigned Literature textbook or recommended as supplemental reading to the History lessons.  I enjoyed the book very much.  It was my Communism & Stalinism 101.
5. Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White – A very simple and endearing story of friendship and loyalty.  I love this book for its simplicity in narration.  Oh well, it’s a children’s book.  Nevertheless this book never fails to touch me whenever I pick it up again to read it.

None of my favourite author’s – Jane Austen – books made it to the list.  I really enjoyed reading them, but they impacted me a lot lesser than the 5 listed above.

Utopia

Literature is my Utopia.
Here I am not disenfranchised.
No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the
sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends.
They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.

Helen Keller

I love getting lost in my books.  I know like my dogs,  my books don’t judge me, and tell me I’m living my life all wrong.  They don’t tell me that I’m letting my imagination run wild, and that I need to find a job like another other adult in the world.

My Utopia…

Project: Make Do with Space

I have never thrown a single book away in my entire life.  I find it a blasphemy to do so.  If I did, it was because I was forced to, by my mum, to de-clutter.  If I had things my way, I would have kept all my textbooks from primary school right up till college.  On hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t.  As it is, we are already having space issues without having the textbooks in the picture.

I hardly borrow from the library as well, although I now work in a building with a very well-equiped library.  The only books I borrow from the library are limited to travel guides.  Again, another habit cultivated when young.  I out-read all the books available at a community library near home and my parents had no choice but to start buying books in order to feed my ever-growing reading appetite.

In some way, I suspect my compulsion for buying and collecting books goes beyond what a normal bibliophile would do.  It resembles OCD behaviour more.

The study – where I keep my books on shelves – is messy and cluttered recently because I acquired several books recently through Books Kinokuniya and Book Depository and I don’t know where to place them.  Oh, you should check out Book Depository because they offer free worldwide shipping and I find their prices quite competitive.

In short, I am out of space.  But I am adamant about not throwing out any of my books.  Anything but my books.

The hubby noted my crabbiness recently and attributed it to the messy study.  Which is quite an astute observation, I must say.  I cannot function in a messy study and there are tasks I need to complete in that room including work.  So, he described what he thought was a good solution to my problem.  It requires some manoeuvring of the furniture we have in the study at present to accommodate one more two more book shelves from Ikea.  And it also involves completely removing his already meagre claim of the room in the form of a small study table.

‘We’re removing your study table?  But… but… I’ll feel bad,’ I exclaimed.

Silence.

‘You will feel bad one meh*?  I’m… speechless.  I don’t know what to say to that,’ he laughed.  ’In any case, I don’t need a study table.  I can get a mobile table instead, or I can work anywhere – on the sofa, the dining table or even your study table when you are not seated there.  You are the problematic child, not me.’

And I buried my face in the cushion on my lap in shame.

I am quite the bully at home.

* just some colloquial English aka Singlish.  Not much meaning to it.

The Twilight Saga

SPOILERS ALERT!

I am very late to the party, so to speak.  The euphoria and hype for The Twilight Saga had come and gone even before I caught on.  You see, we do not like jostling with the crowd just to catch movies in town during the weekends and only catch less than 3 movies (when they were screened in the theatres) in a year.  You could imagine how carefully we use the ‘quota’ – it is undoubtedly reserved for the very special movies with raving reviews.

For some reason or another, Twilight slipped through the cracks.  And when we don’t watch the first of a series, we don’t bother with the rest.

I am rather a cautious person where it comes to the selection of cult literature.  I don’t just pick up anything in the Bestsellers section, and most certainly not anything to do with vampires: I don’t have any feelings for them.

What motivated me to eventually pick up the books was the movie ‘Twilight’ which I caught on the flight from Tokyo Narita back to Singapore just recently.  The movie was rather good and I was immensely engaged for the better part of it.  Experience tells me that if a film adaption of a book is good, the book would invariably be much better (think: the Harry Potter series).

I was spot on again.  Reading the books brought on a new dimension which I thought was not adequately covered in the only movie of the saga that I watched – family ties.  The loyalty the Cullens showed to each other was nothing short of admirable, never mind that they were not the normal sort of a family unit we would usually think of.  And Bella’s awkward relationship with her dad Charlie vastly amused me because it reminded me so much of my own’s.

In the movie, I was rather caught up in the budding but subtle romance between Bella and Edward.  I would go as much to admit that it was part of the reason why I was keen on picking up the books.  However, the romance was played up so much it bordered on the tedium as I read on.  Really, it can’t be helped.  Who could expect a married lady almost twice the age of the protagonists to get all excited over Bella’s puppy love?  Hardly a plausible notion.

With much difficulty, I finally located and secured a copy of the final installment ‘Breaking Dawn’ in the same paperback format as the afore 3 books (I am so puzzled as to why they were sold out in all the branches of Kinokuniya).  In total, it took me 5 non-consecutive days to digest all 4 books amidst going about my daily life – might have taken all of 2 days if I didn’t have to work.  Very easy reads, I won’t lie on that part (just very long chapters, which somewhat irked me because it meant that I have to read more at one sitting before putting the books down).  After all, I found these books in the Young Adults section in Kinokuniya, which is indicative of the level of reading difficulty.

Twilight – the 1st book of the series and probably my favourite of the lot.  In many ways, Bella reminded me of myself in that we are both such klutzes and hated PE lessons (well… I really loved, and was good in canoeing though).  And her shyness and loathe to draw attention to herself.  Very familiar indeed.  But I really, really liked Carlisle and Edward.  And Alice too.

The author began writing Midnight Sun as an accompaniment to Twilight, except that the story was retold from Edward’s point of view.  Somehow the draft leaked, and she decided to make it available on her website.  It’s partially completed though, and I wish she would return to complete it soon.

New Moon – admittedly, I like this book lesser than the 1st because we do not see much of the Cullens, at least not as often as I would like to.  This book paid a lot of attention to the blooming friendship between Jacob and Bella.  I have decidedly less feelings for Jacob than for Edward, not that he is unlikeable.  His devotion to Bella is almost… godly.

But it was tedious to read about Bella moping around.  Excruciatingly painful.  I pressed on with the reading and kept wondering when she would come around instead of tempting fate and living life dangerously.  I thought this was the point where the plot looked like it was starting to come apart.

And, who else thought that Edward’s decision to antagonise the Volturis is exceedingly juvenile considering that he was already 109 years old?

Eclipse – I already liked this book better than New Moon, simply because the Cullens are back into the picture right at the start of the book.  But it was so tedious to read Bella’s indecision between Edward and Jacob.  And the way Jacob was pushing his way makes him thoroughly unlikeable, to me at least.

There is very little ‘action’ in this book, so to speak.  Mostly it still revolved around Bella’s yearn for immortality and Edward not relenting.  But insight on Rosalie and Jasper’s past human lives were revealed, and I found myself liking them better than ever.  See, the Cullens are decent folks through and through.

I’m actually half-minded about picking up Breaking Dawn but well, at least in this last book they are going to be married and have a child.  That’s a marked improvement.

Breaking Dawn – finally married, the both of them.  At least it could be said with some finality that Bella was committed to Edward.  The way she and Jacob went about it almost indicated that she was going to defect.  I cannot deal with fickle-mindedness.  Call me old-fashioned or romantic at heart, there is only one other person any one could deeply love in the world, not two.  It was infuriating how Bella went about wanting to have her cake and eat it too.  Greedy. Too greedy.  I’m starting to like Bella lesser and lesser.

I cannot understand the imprinting concept much.  It’s also laughable that Jacob imprinted on Renesmee, a mere infant who was no doubt growing at an astonishing speed.  Granted, Renesmee is the missing piece in the puzzle to end the whole saga on a happier note – she united the Cullens and the werewolves, and she solved the Bella-Jacob’s messy relationship.  A clever manipulation of the plot, that I have to give.

The way this book ended was a little open-ended.  I guess the author could write another sequel if she so wished to.  As for me?  I’m just glad it’s a happy ending.

I have a habit of re-reading the good books in my collection, but you know, I’m not sure if I would be re-reading The Twilight Saga anytime soon in the near future.  Pardon my impetuous frankness but there is only so much a good plot could carry a book, much less a good plot which seemed to have collapsed midway through and then picked up again towards the end.  But then again, I must learn and manage my expectations – not many people in the world, alive or dead, could write half as well as Jane Austen, my all-time favourite author.