Abakada…Basa

Pansin ko lang… for the past few months – I have been spending longer time infront of the tv and surfing the net. Nawawalan tuloy ako ng panahon sa other finer things of life. Tulad ng Nintendo Wii! J And reading.

Nung unang panahon….. bata pa si Sabel…. nakabakya pa si Nena…. I used to read a lot. During those times pa naman wala pa akong pera to buy books. Kaya nagtitiis na lang ako sa panghihiram. And since beggars can’t be choosers …. I read anything that I can borrow. Wala nang pili-pli pa. I started with Nancy Drew mystery novels. I am a Choose Your Own Adventure book series fan as well. This series gives you the porwer (though limited) to change the story depending on the choices that you made. My cousins who use to live with us read a lot of Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High books. Pinatulan ko din ito… kaya kilala ko ang Wakefield twins at naintindihan ko kung bakit sila naiyak sa P.S. I love you hehehehe.

When we transferred to the province – mas pahirapan na ang books. I would sometimes borrow from the school library but the titles are very limited. I would also borrow from friends….. Dito ako naintroduce sa medyo mature pocketbooks like Harlequin Romances at Mills and Boon. Ito kasi yung mga binabasa ng mga parents nung mga kaibigan ko that time. Swerte na kung paminsan-minsan ay makahiram ng Stephen King. Pag talagang tagtuyot – pati Tagalog novels ay pinapatulan namin. During those days kasi - cable television and the internet access are not yet available to all. Dahil wala rin naming mapanood sa local channels – better na aliwin mo na lang ang sarili mo through reading.

When I went to college – lumuwas na ako ng Manila. My cousins are now into romantic historical novels. Yung ang mga cover ay si Fabio na naka-angkla sa babae na puro cleavage. I still don’t have the money to buy books … kaya nakikibasa pa rin ako. Johanna Lindsay and Julie Garwood are the writers that I can still remember. The Regency series (The Lion’s Lady, Guardian Angel, The Gift and Castles) and Western series (For the Roses, The Clayborne Brides and Come the Spring) of Julie Garwood at yung Malory-Anderson Family Saga series ni Johanna Lindsay ang medyo natatandaan ko pa. Nito ring mga panahon na ito nadiscover ko ang Recto — second hand books! Pag may free time – pumupunta ako sa recto at nagkakalkal sa mga tambak na second hand books.This paved way para makabasa naman ako ng iba genre at authors. Dito ko na nakilala sina John Grisham, Michael Crichton at Tami Hoag. Bukod sa mga manong at manang ng recto — natuklasan ko din ang Booksale at yung Merriam Webster sa Morayta. Dito na medyo lumawak ang aking pagbabasa.

Nung nagka-work na ako — medyo nagkaroon na ako ng budget to buy books. I still continue to look for good finds sa mga second hand stores… pero naintroduce na rin sa akin ang brand new books from National Bookstore at Powerbooks. I love Powerbooks in Arnaiz (Pasay Road). I used to hang out there — and read.. and read.. and read…. Tapos dun pa nagwork yung isa kong friend… kaya napadalas lalo ang aking pagtambay dun. It was in Powerbooks that I discpvered the books of Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife and The Hundred Secret Senses).

Dito naman sa Singapore — San Bookshop is a heaven sent. You can borrow the book – and after a couple of months return it. Let’s say I borrowed a book and paid SGD$18. After two months – I can return it and they will give me back SGD$13. SGD$5 lang talaga ang bayad for the rental. Since 2 months – we normally rotate the books among friends … before returning it. Kaya kadalasan 2 to 3 persons have read the book before it was returned. Tipid pa rin di ba? Borders, Kinokuniya and MPH are the other bookstores here in Singapore that has a good stock of titles. Dito ko naman sa Singapore nadiscover sina V.C. Andrews, Dave Pelzer, Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling.

Then cable TV and broadband internet entered my life. These 2 + work = no more time to read. Swerte na if I can finish a magazine in one sitting. I still go to booksales sa Expo pag mayroon.. I buy a few titles and store it at home – sabi ko pag nagkatime babasahin ko. Pero hindi dumating ang time na yun. When I was jobless — and nasa Pinas … I again started reading. Wala kasing cable sa province kaya I have all the time to read. Pero nung bumalik ulit ako dito sa Singapore … wala… backseat ulit. Sarap manood at maginternet e.

I still read magazines (GQ, Details, People, Entertainment Weekly, Entrepreneur, FHM) – pero novels… hindi na… Kaya couple of weeks ago – naisip ko that I need to read again. I asked a friend to recommend one title that can bring me back to reading. She suggested “Running with Scissors “ by Augusten Burroughs. I started reading it last Sunday (July and finished it the other day (July 11). What is it about? Ano masasabi ko? Hmm… maybe pag sinipag ako.. I might do a blog about it. Pero .. no promises… lam ko naman na mabobore lang kayo. Saka kahit namn nung nag-aaral pa ako wala ako tiyaga gumawa ng book report.

As for now – I need to finish reading “Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps” by Allan and Barbara Pease. I bought this book a month ago kasi a friend recommended it… I think it’s time to start reading and finish it real soon. J