On Becoming a Bookworm

If you have read the blog post I had last Saturday, you'd know that I shared a picture of the plastic bookshelf I have in my room. Some of the books in the shelf were Hanson books, there were a few cook books and self-help books, as well as the books I have already read (which you can read about here, here, and here). What I am sharing today are the rest of the books I have in the shelf.

Like what I shared in some of my blogs back then, I was never really a bookworm. Sure, I do read my text books, but I never really collected books, simply because times were rough while I was growing up and because we live too far from most commercial spots, we simply couldn't buy and read books that often.

I have always wanted to be a bookworm. In college, I have some classmates who would talk about the books they have read and I was jealous about that. More jealous I was when I met some people from Singles for Christ who would talk about books and authors for hours and time just wasn't seem enough for them.

Right now, I can say I am at a point in life that I can afford to buy books (especially that there are lots of Booksale outlets), but time has got to be the biggest hurdle. While I could sit in front of the computer reading Facebook updates, I found it difficult to find time to read. Well, certain events in my life turned out to be great blessings in disguise, so now I can say with conviction that I am certainly becoming a bookworm.


Books to Read - borrowed

These books (obviously) aren't mine, which is why I have to read fast. Sorry for the blurred picture, but the one at the top - "Everything Changes" by Jonathan Tropper - is my Aunt Julie's book; I was reading a book while in La Union and one day she handed me the book and said it has a good story. Since I only had two days left before I travel back home, I decided to take it home. I will travel back to La Union in January, so I better read this book before that.

The rest of the books that featured Alex Cross by James Patterson are the books I borrowed from my Uncle Pete. A few months ago, he messaged me telling he sent some scrapbook papers I should pick up at their house in Novaliches (he lives in the US with his family). While there, I got to see two huge boxes of books, and upon learning that they decide to sell it, I asked if I could borrow some before they sell it. There were a lot of books, but the one that caught my attention were these Alex Cross' books. They weren't in the exact order written by James Patterson, but I will read them one by one based on the year it was released.

Currently, I am reading "London Bridges."


Books to Read - Bought Books

The one below - "Meet John Trow" by Thomas Dyja - was a book I bought while shopping at Pure Gold Duty Free (Subic) with mom and her colleagues at work in 2010. They had a shelf for 2 books for 99 pesos and hoping to spark the bookworm in me, but I wasn't really able to read it. Now, I am hoping to finally read this.

The two Mary Higgins Clark books - "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and "Loves Music, Loves to Dance" were the latest books I bought. When I first read an MHC book, I found her way of storytelling very amusing that I wanted to read more of her books. These books, I didn't really plan of buying, I was just inside Booksale to kill some time, but when I found the first MHC book being sold at only 60 pesos, I told myself that if I see another MHC book, I will buy both books. I got the see the other one for only 30 pesos, so I bought them.

These three books are mine, therefore I can take my time in reading it. I don't know when I can finally get my hands on these books as I still have to finish the five books above before I can read these.


Books to Read - Old Books

I was cleaning my room when I saw these old, worn out books. At first, I didn't know how did we own these books, but slowly remembered that Aunt Bing took these here when she traveled back to the Philippines from Canada. These are such in bad shape on the outside, but the pages are still very intact, so I won't throw these out... I will read them then decide if I will donate it after (to make room for other books).

Oh, just for the sake of sharing... I did get to read the first 10 chapters of "The Client" by John Grisham, but since I didn't finish the book, I will just read it back to the first page. Although, like the other books I bought, these are already "mine," so there will be no pressure of reading the book.


Already Read Books

These were the three books that I got to read in the last two-three months.

"The Nature of Water and Air" by Regina McBride was the other half of the "Buy 1 Take 1" book I bought in Subic. Reading this book was easy at first, but because it was more narration and less conversations, I found it difficult to read and was always stuck at chapter 7. Re-read this book maybe three times, even wanted to put this one down and give up on it, but I don't want to waste the talent of the writer, so when I traveled to La Union, I took the book with me and pledge to finish it before going home...and I did. Halfway through the book, I finally found the thread that made it interesting, and I never really thought this book would talk about sex in a slightly graphic/taboo way. I don't wanna give any spoilers, but one thing I can say, I definitely felt bad with the outcome of events. The narrative may have bored me at first, but as I read more and more pages, it gave me an imaginative view of Ireland, and the author was really good in giving the readers the look, smell, and feel of the story. I may not like the ending, but all in all it turned out to be a good read.

Karin Gillespie's "A Dollar Short" was the first book I read off the books I borrowed from my Uncle Pete. It was a light read (not too much thinking or analyzing) and I could compare it to the Sweet Dreams books I used to read in high school and early college. Though light and somewhat a little feminine, it did have great lessons in the end.

"I Heard That Song Before" by Mary Higgins Clark is the first MHC book I got to read. Before reading any of the books, I would check the "Good Reads" website to get insights from other people who have already read it, and even if some would say this wasn't up to par with the other MHC books, I still loved the story of this one. Actually, I found it so good that I read 200+ pages of it in one sitting! That night, I was going to sleep early and thought of reading a few pages to make my eyes tired, but I was just so drawn to the story that it was already 1am when I finished it. Reading this book made me want to buy more MHC books, and I as you have already seen and read, I now own two more of her books.


By the way, I am using these Angry Birds magnetic bookmarks. These were given by Mr. Pipoy as his reward for me for losing weight (writing about this suddenly made me feel guilty) last year. I love using these bookmarks compared the conventional paper bookmarks because they are just user friendly. Very secured on the page, I can just leave it hanging on the page and wouldn't worry when I am about to turn the page. Well, given the fact that the bookmarks are vertical, I did have to flip one side up for me to read the words, but other than that, I am all praises with these bookmarks. It has two sides - the bird and the pig side - the bird side indicates the last page I read.

As of the moment, I don't have any plans of buying more books; I do have a lot to read, but if you're someone who wants to find a shelter for your old books, you can just give them to me. :) I will gladly take them and read them...but of course, I deserve the right to pass them on to other people after (if I have to).