2011 BBAW Day 04: Reading

Book Blogger Appreciation was started by Amy Riley of My Friend Amy in an effort to recognize the hard work and contribution of book bloggers to the promotion and preservation of a literate culture actively engaged in discussing books, authors, and a lifestyle of reading.

The first Book Blogger Appreciation was observed in the fall of 2008 and occurs every September. The week spotlights and celebrates the work of active book bloggers through guest posts, awards, giveaways, and community activities. Book Bloggers are encouraged to register their participation for inclusion in a database of book bloggers.

Hello there! It is the fourth day of the 2011 Book Blogger Appreciation Week and I must profusely apologize for only posting today. No excuse could be given with my neglect since I've only been lazing around this week: chatting with housemates and answering riddles.

Oh! I've tried to come up with a coherent essay on the previous days' topics but the only things I come up are mush and I'd be horrified to let you read them. 

But then comes this day's topic... and I cannot not do it. So, curtains!

Readers:    Book bloggers blog because we love reading. Has book blogging changed the way you read? Have you discovered books you never would have apart from book blogging? How has book blogging affected your book acquisition habits? Have you made new connections with other readers because of book blogging? Choose any one of these topics and share your thoughts today!

Whenever the old folks and I get together, have a conversation, and the topic stirs to my reading obsession, my grandmother always would mention that I began my interest in reading when I was two years old:

My grandfather also loves reading and every morning he would sit in the living room and read the morning paper. I was little tyke then with no idea (and now, I have no memory of it) with what I was doing. I would climb on his lap, make myself comfortable, and also look intently at the strange lines before me.

And thus, they said, begun my love affair.

Over the years, I would discover books and read them. Some of them were given to me by my family, some I sneaked from my mother (hehe, those Mills and Boon romance novels) and some I would have picked up from the book store when we were in the city (there are no book stores in our town). But I kept to safe, familiar books that are not... all that. In other words, my range was limited and cocooned. Oh of course I read Harry Potter (the magic will live on!), Lord of the Rings (and other books of Middle Earth) and Twilight (this is another story) but I've only noticed them when they were so out there already (2001, 2003, 2008 respectively). So the amount of books I read in a year was pretty dismal.

Then, I discovered blogging... especially, book blogging.

I blog because I want to share things with other people whether they be random thoughts, opinions on certain topics, interests; to rant about life in general and idiotic things; and to just let all those writing angst out.

I book blog because I love reading AND because the bloggers in this community changed my reading habits and inspired me to share .

I discovered that there are more books out there than our local bookstore.

I discovered that it was okay to go beyond my comfort zone and try other books (I can't believe I'm saying this - Twilight helped me overcome my prejudice against vampire books. I swear I never touched one before since the topic was way too queasy for me); that it is also okay to read books that are not going to be made into a movie anytime soon.... okay not to follow the trend.

I discovered that it was alright not to like books all are raving about - each has their own tastes and opinions. 

I discovered that one could not have enough books as evidenced by my mountain of a TBR (sorry, I'm in a Harry Potter fanfiction phase).

And I also discovered that when it comes to blogging, it is alright to be you and not compare your blogging habits with others. You blog because you love to, not to compete with others.

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The only downside to all this business is that I spent the better part of a day immersed in a story or swimming in the internet. Of course it is not really good if and when you neglect other things. So, it is another thing that I discovered - actually, learning to balance everything that I do.