My Passion for Reading

I was age 3 probably when I first placed hands on an alphabet book and familiarized myself with the shapes of letters corresponding to the shapes of figures which the first letter of the figure start with. But it would be only until 8 years old when I have reached that point when I started craving for books, as I have made a wonderful discovery that I like and would love reading. Based from the diminutive size of our home library supply of story books, I was limited to reading 50 year old Disney "almost-all-text and few pictures" which belonged to Lola, as well as the ancient encyclopedia set and dusty science set books. There were Ladybird books given to us by mommy (I can count the number with both my hands), and second-hand Enid Blyton and other big books that some of mommy's colleagues give to us as presents. Weird that one book that mommy picked for Toto one Christmas was Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. But my favorite one then was The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Snow White and Rose Red.

The best part of being in that Montessori school I enrolled at was that they have treasure trove of books- not a library with wall-full of books, but just small shelves where good books lie. The small library of our school then is not in a room actually, but in an alley outside the classrooms headed for the stairs. Not many students serve as clientele of our library that's why there is not much competition in borrowing the best ones (how did I know they were the best then? The best ones probably were Archie's at that time but sad to say they don't have Archie's or even Dennis the Menace comic books).

My selections from that library when I was ages 8-12 years old were Dr. Seuss, Berenstein Bears, Peter Rabbit and selected Ladybird books and then when I reached 10, my love story with Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew started. I would borrow and read with gusto as many stories as I can, then return them immediately so I can start with the next mystery. It was in my 4th grade that I started my obsession with Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High. High school was romance books and Sydney Sheldons, then shifted to Danielle Steeles and classics.

Until now, my love for books is endless, and like a void that doesn't fill an emptiness to stop. I've been courageously buying books for 20 years probably (college limits me to buy more as my pocket money is diverted to clothes I buy at MyPal). I have tons of books to read and I'm buying more...the sad thing is that I keep on reading and reading and there's no way of sharing to other people that stories and discoveries I read.