Ruminations

There haven’t been many blog memes lately. I think they’re all on Facebook, or, to a lesser extent, Twitter. This is an old one but recently rejuvenated by Steve Lawson. It’s a meme and about books, so how could I resist? Also I don’t think I did it when it was popular, back in 2005.

I’m not sure if I will be able to think of 15 statements about me and books, but here goes:

1. I love books.  NB: This is not the reason I became a librarian. But that’s another story.
2. I don’t remember being taught to read, but I do remember the day I realised I could read. I was 4 or 5 years old and was gazing at the newspaper when suddenly I realised I was reading the day’s tv guide. That was the beginning of the beginning. This also meant that my first day at school was excruciatingly boring. I remember the teacher spelling the words k-e-r-u-s-i (”chair”), m-e-j-a (”table”) and c-i-k-g-u (”teacher”) and me wondering when we would do some real reading.
3. Growing up, we always had books at home - lots of Enid Blyton and the usual classics like Black Beauty, Robin Hood, Tom Sawyer, King Arthur and so on. I remember a children’s science reference collection, which was “precious” and kept on the top shelf of the bookcase, out of everyday reach. My dad also had an extensive (spanning many years) collection of Reader’s Digest.  I remember I used to keep track of and rate the books I read. I wish I still had my childhood diaries!
4. That big red book of animals that belonged to my dad had a number of pictures in it that used to give me nightmares.
5. A favourite treat when I was a child was a trip to the bookshop. We didn’t have a lot of money so we didn’t tend to buy many books. I remember my mother urging me to buy Malay language books, to encourage me to read in the language (and improve my language skills). I relish being able to indulge now.
6. Even now, going to a bookshop is special. Fun, relaxing and exciting all in one. (I don’t know why but I don’t tend to have the same feeling when I go to a library. As a librarian, should I be admitting this?)
7. I consider myself very fortunate in that I have always been able to read in English and Malay. An early enjoyment was reading Enid Blyton works in Malay translation, then comparing these with the works in the original English.
8. I will read almost anything. I have noted however that the genre I least enjoy in English, romance, I enjoy in Chinese. I don’t know why, particularly. I also enjoy horror in Malay more than I do in English. I suspect this has something to do with the cultural setting. (E.g. Pontianak don’t tend to feature in English language horror.)
9. I’m working on my Chinese language reading skills - I read very slowly in Chinese - but I fear this is going to be a lifelong exercise. My other languages have had a headstart.
10. Although I have a large collection of books, I don’t tend to care about first or special editions. For me it’s definitely the content that’s important.
11. Unlike some, I am not particularly careful with my books, even if I’ve bought them new. For me books are for reading, and the reading experience is all about comfort and enjoyment. If I have to be careful not to leave creases in paperback spines that detracts from the experience for me. I don’t dog ear pages though. And of course, if I am reading your copy of a book I do my best to treat it with care and definitely won’t read it while sitting in the bath.
12. A major highlight of any trips to Singapore or Sydney is my (numerous) visits to Kinokuniya. In Sydney Gleebooks is also a favourite. My favourite bookshop in Perth is Planet Books.
13. I usually write my name in my books. I also have a name chop that I sometimes use.
14. I don’t tend to scribble in my books though. I use slips of paper and or make notes elsewhere.
15. I can’t imagine ever giving up paper books. Mind you, this is probably just a deficiency in my imagination rather than anything else. I remember that when I started using a wordprocessor in the late 1980s I thought it was horrible and I swore I would never give up drafting things using a pen and paper. These days I haven’t given up on pen and paper but the bulk of my writing is done using a computer. I imagine that I will be reading a lot more novels and texts in electronic format in the near future. (See #10)

This was surprisingly tough to do and I had to think up the 15 things over a few days.