Of Habits and Pet-Peeves, As a Reader

My sleeping partners. Yep, partnerS.

1. When I like a particular book by a particular author, I would try to read ALL of her/his works.

2. When I like a particular book by a particular author, I would be afraid to read her/his other works due to high expectations. This started when I read "An Amateur Marriage" by Anne Tyler after "Digging to America" that has left such a huge impression. I have been assured that Margaret Atwood's other works are equally as good as "The Handmaid's Tale" but I'm still scared.

3. After I read a few books by a particular author, the plot gets predictable so I move on to the next book/author.

4. I used to go shopping for tonnes of books at a time, but now I prefer to limit myself to one or two titles every time - if I'm lucky. It gives me excuses to go on regular book-shopping sessions.

5. I am a very picky reader. It's a norm to spend two straight hours in a bookstore and to walk out without purchasing anything.

6. I do not like dark stories such as books by Stephen Kings (except for The Shawshank Redemption), Carol Joyce Oates and Ryu Murakami.

7. I think Asian literature about Asian girls finding freedom and liberation in the West (or by the norms of the Western standard) is SO YESTERDAY.

8. I try to read the books first before going to the cinema to see their silver screen adaptations. I stayed up almost all night to finish "The Golden Compass" before seeing it the next morning when I was supposed to be studying for my Drilling final.

9. I read more and faster when I travel.

10. I am considering installing a small bookcase in the toilet because I like to read when taking care of the take-a-while bathroom business. Whenever I take a book with me and walk in the direction of the bathroom, my housemate would start rolling her eyes. Just a little habit I picked up in the US ;)

11. I think books are the perfect gifts for any occasions (or the lack thereof), but it turns me off when the recipients do not read them, not because they do not like them but [insert excuses here].

12. I love my books, and my kain pasang and my shoes and my handbags. After all, I'm only human.

13. I think it is funny that some people would go to book fairs/bookstores once or twice a year and boast about their purchases.

14. There is such a thing about the right book at the right time. I thought I was alone, but a bookseller in Golden ensured me that is a mutual thing among avid readers.

15. Finishing a great book (great is subjective, of course) feels like saying goodbye to a good friend. I sometimes would postpone finishing a book just because I'm not ready to move on. Recently happened when I was deeply engrossed with "Burnt Shadows" by Kamila Shamsie.

16. Rereading a great book after a few years, when some of the details have escaped my memories feels like visiting an old dear friend and animatedly talking about fun things we've done together.

17. It ticks me off when people say books are expensive. Duh. Knowledge isn't free, but it's cheaper than a shopping spree in, let's say, Bandung.

18. I now read on the one flight of escalator to the mezzanine floor where the elevator would take me to the office. And in the elevator as well. It triumphs staring at the floor number display, especially if I happened to ride in the perkhidmatan ke tingkat lain car.

19. Whenever I feel like I cannot write, then I know that I have not been reading enough lately.

20. I cannot live without books.

21. I do not, and have never had a goal of how many books I must read in a predefined duration of time. The most important thing is that I CONSISTENTLY read.

22. When people buy fridge magnets in places they've been to, I buy books, preferably from indie bookstores so I can ritually sign it with my nome de plume, date it and write where I bought it. And also keep the receipt of purchase in between its pages.

23. I prefer having a messy, disorganized bookshelf than an immaculately arranged one.

Of clothes and of course, most importantly, BOOKS.