Not quite a Bibliophile yet – A Meme

Got this meme of from Josh. Though it isn’t a tagged meme, (hope you don’t mind Josh!) I felt compelled to do it anyway 🙂  

Note : This is a back-dated entry 

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

I clearly remember starting to read (out of my own interest) at the age of 8 onwards. Yes I’m a late bloomer!

What are some books you read as a child?

As a kid, I started off with the family children’s encyclopedia and Enid Blyton classics. I also read books such as Famous Five and Secret Seven.  I also enjoyed reading the children’s version of some of Shakespeare’s stories such as Merchant of Venice anc Macbeth. However my love for reading reached new heights when I was in high school.  My school library had an entire collection of the Heinemann’s Guided Readers series and  I finished borrowing and reading their entire collection in 1 and a half years.  One of my favourite books from the Guided Series was I’m the King of the Castle by Susan Hill. Like any other teen, I also read those horror teen flick books by Christopher Pike and RL Stine.   

What is your favourite genre?

While during my younger years I enjoyed fiction, as I progressed toward my late adolescent and early adulthood years,  I began reading more non fiction work as I found them to be more interesting and knowledge-enriching.  Today, my favourite genres include primarily Business and management literature, religion, biographies and self-help. I rarely read fiction work these days.

Do you have a favourite novel?

No particular favourite novel per se, but I do have some strong favourites.  I loved Jim Collin’s Good to Great, Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat and Scott Hahn’s Rome sweet Home. I also loved Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning.

Where do you usually read?

Because of my full time work commitment, there are only few times during the day I can actually read; when I’m on the train commuting to work (that too if I can get a place to sit!) and before I sleep (which is the more common one). I also use the weekends to catch up on my reading.

When do you usually read?

Usually when I’m on my way to work (again if there’s a place to sit in the train) and before I sleep.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Yes, I tend to keep 3-4 books on my lampstand and I do rotate sometimes, however the downside to this is if I’m hooked to a particular one book, I end up ignoring the others until I’m done with the particular book and I find I have to re-read the others as I would forget what I had previously read.

Do you read non-fiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

I read fiction in a way similar to watching a movie. I make up the characters’s image and look in my mind and read the book as if I’m watching a movie. I tend to read non-fiction in a reflective and thoughtful way.

For example when I’m done with a particular chapter, I would put the book down and pause in reflection to think what the author is saying can be applied to my life, or how can I relate to what the author was going through with his own struggle.  That’s why I usually take longer to finish non-fiction books.  Taking notes is something that I do depending on what I’m reading. I do this frequently when I’m reading business literature. 

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

 The library in my country is below average ; most of the books that they have are often old and uninteresting to me, therefore I tend to buy a good majority of them. Most of my friends are not avid readers, and they too are “poachers” themselves.

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

Yes, most of the books I buy are usually expensive (a good number of them are above 50 – 70 bucks!), hence I tend to keep them.

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?

Although I don’t have children…yet, but when I do have a child of my one day, [robably I would read together with him or her the children’s bible. Though I didn’t get this from my own parents, I feel if there’s any book I would want to encourage my child to read, it would first be the children’s bible. I would also share with him or her those Enid Blyton books (if they’re still around!) ; they’re very appealing to children and it helps cultivate the habit of reading at an early age

What are you reading now? 

• The Lamb’s Supper by Scott Hahn
• Reasons To Believe by Scott Hahn
• Jesus of Nazareth by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
• Talent on Demand by Peter Cappelli

 Do you keep a “To Be Read” list?

Yes but I often do NOT follow it because my interests changes quite rapidly

What’s next to be read?

Either Beyond HR or Lord Have Mercy, however as I mentioned above, my interests are quite volatitle, so it really depends on my intellectual mood once I’m done with those that I’m currently reading

What books would you like to reread?

CS Lewis’ The Screwtape letters and Mere Christianity. Also, Fredrick Forstye’s The Day of the Jackall, and Robert Kanigel’s The Man Who Knew Infinity

Who are your favourite authors?

Scott Hahn, C.S Lewis, Joseph Ratzinger, Fulton J. Sheen, Adrian Gostick, Jim Collins, Thomas Friedman, Robert Slater and Chinua Achebe.