I love reading. Even in the noisiest places, I can pretend there’s just me and my book, and easily lose myself in a good read. My heart breaks with every loss, my soul rejoices with every happy ending. The stories stay with me long after I have turned the last page, in the end shaping my own story.
I discovered my love for reading when my mother bought me five books of Karen Little Sister. It was the moment in life that I've learned to read all by myself. My first book was a picture book of ABC. Every night, my mother would read to us story from the Bible. It was our first Bible, somehow I lost it along the way. All I remember of its fate is that I borrow it to my grade school teacher, and she never bother to return it. My mom keep pestering me about it.
I spent most of my time reading books during my childhood. There were hundreds of books and magazines on the my mother's bodega, on the floor, in boxes, all gathering dust. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. There were books on history, food, places and people. In fact, I learned about the world from those books more than I learned in school. At 11, I knew what “incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial” evidence were, thanks to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drews series of investigative novels written by Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene. I also read Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hopes.
I was about to go to college in 2006 when I decided to leave my books behind.
My passion for books, however, was never lost on me; I brought it to my college life and to my first job. At 16, with instructions on a piece of paper and a bus ticket, I braved the dangerous city of Manila to study at a university. In school, I excelled in my studies, made friends, and learned to be independent. After graduation, I took up a job in a company.
At the same time, my book fixation evolved from Dixon, Keene and Hopes to Stephen King thrillers and finally to novels about cultures different from ours. These stories sparked a desire in me to see the world.
The fact is that, just like the books I have read, my experiences enriched me with different perspectives and ways to approach challenges.
My books taught me well.
I spent most of my time reading books during my childhood. There were hundreds of books and magazines on the my mother's bodega, on the floor, in boxes, all gathering dust. I felt like Alice in Wonderland. There were books on history, food, places and people. In fact, I learned about the world from those books more than I learned in school. At 11, I knew what “incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial” evidence were, thanks to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drews series of investigative novels written by Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene. I also read Bobbsey Twins by Laura Lee Hopes.
I was about to go to college in 2006 when I decided to leave my books behind.
My passion for books, however, was never lost on me; I brought it to my college life and to my first job. At 16, with instructions on a piece of paper and a bus ticket, I braved the dangerous city of Manila to study at a university. In school, I excelled in my studies, made friends, and learned to be independent. After graduation, I took up a job in a company.
At the same time, my book fixation evolved from Dixon, Keene and Hopes to Stephen King thrillers and finally to novels about cultures different from ours. These stories sparked a desire in me to see the world.
The fact is that, just like the books I have read, my experiences enriched me with different perspectives and ways to approach challenges.
My books taught me well.
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