Read Me

Several years back, the shocking Malaysian statistic placed the average reading habit at around 2 books per year ( excluding textbooks and work-related material natch ). At that time, there was the usual hue and cry with ambitious politicians leaping up on their soapbox to decry the statement along with thousands of beautifully orchestrated plans guaranteed to turn the nation of seemingly illiterate couch potatoes into dedicated bookworms haunting the libraries of the nation.

Doubt that figure has actually changed much despite all the reading campaigns carried out sporadically. Sure, we do have a small clique of obsessive bibliophiles who devour the written material on a daily basis - probably the same folk crowding the giant bookstores in the weekends - but those are the same people tipping the scales on the far end. Almost embarassingly, I admit I swallow one book per day ( barring the occasional supremely dull novel where I have to plod on for two days at least ) which leaves me with very little else to read sometimes - practically have to select books randomly to find a new author to obsess over.

Sounds unbelievable but it's true. I read like a haunted victim of torture consumed by an unnatural obsession, forgoing food and water while I desperately scan through the written pages to reach the final shocking twist in the end. Doesn't have to be serious high-brow literature all the time - though I dabble in it occasionally - since even frothy, bubbly chick-lit can be endlessly entertaining. Seriously, it would nothing short of a devastating natural disaster to tear me away from an engrossing read.


Ooh. Good read...
And here I have friends who actually are part of the national statistic, reading only two books in a year - if not less. Ever the stubborn creature, Charming Calvin tries to read every once in a while ( after being prodded endlessly by yours truly ) but falls prey easily to his vaunted namesake, the Lord of Perpetual Yawn.

Calvin : I must read! I am reading.. *yawn* reading... *yawn* reaaaaading.... *snooze*

And then there's the bright-eyed broadcasting boy.

Paul : You should try this. It's a really good read.
Shane : Has it been released as a movie yet?
Paul : Yeah, but the book's better.
Shane : Bleh. Will catch the movie.

Typical :) Like I've said before, name me a movie that actually surpasses the written word. Not many but a small handful only I'm sure. How can any vaunted SFX possibly compare to the countless breadth of a man's imagination?

Unless the man be oddly unimaginative. And I have met a sad few.

But I digress. The first memory I have is not of a mother's smile but of her reading to me. In my mind's eye even now I can easily see Gorgons and Medusas raging as they are chased away by bronzed Greek heroes of myth. Hmm... Greek heroes. I can see how the germ of homosexuality took root here.

But again I digress. It's certainly a gift beyond compare so to repay that, I bought her a book today :) Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. Unbearably mushy but then, she likes mushy. After searching for hours, couldn't find a book for myself though so some good suggestions would be welcome.