Good Reads

When we were kids, our parents used to take my brothers and I to a book store once a month, on the 5th. They would give each of us Rp. 2,500 to spend on books. We had so many books that we used to lend them to people in our neighbourhood for a small amount of money. The money we got from the book lending would go into buying more books. Sadly some of our customers were either too lazy to return the books or simply had no plan of returning the books. After awhile, we had to stop our book lending operation because our book collection was getting smaller and smaller. Soon my brothers lost interest in reading and I was the only one who remained a reader among the three of us. When I was in middle school, my mother started bringing books in English from her work library for me to read. My English improved greatly because of it.

I don’t remember exactly when I stopped reading. I think it might be around the time I got an Internet access at home, some 10 years ago. My spending money was spent on the crappy dial-up connection, leaving next to nothing for anything else. And then after the Reformation, book prices were soaring. I only started reading again after my mother passed away because some of my lovely blog readers were kind enough to buy me books off my Amazon wishlist. Now that I’m married to a book addict and living in an apartment full of books, I read a lot, but in spurts. Last week there was a day when I finished reading 3 books in one day and there were days when I didn’t read any book at all. But still, compared to last year, I’ve read a lot of books this year. We’ve also found a couple of bargain book stores outside town that sell new books — even bestsellers — for $5 each, which is awesome.

I’ve been listing books that I’ve read and that I’m currently reading at Good Reads. If you read a lot or at all, please sign up (if you haven’t done so already) and add me as a friend. I’m always open for book recommendations. I read mostly fiction, and I try not to read chick lit if I can help it (sometimes I just can’t). I’m not a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy (I don’t read Harry Potter). I love reading young-adult fiction. Coming of age is always an interesting subject matter to read about.