Love for libraries

One of the book blogs I'm following recently talked about libraries in one of her posts. It made me reminisce a little, about the days when I just knew what a library even was; I remember my mom telling me we could bring books home, and I was so shocked to know that we didn't have to pay for it.

The Popular bookstore at Whitesands was a huge part of my childhood, but then again, so was the library. It used to be an arcade, and I remember this because my elder brother and our boy cousin would always go there and drag me along.

That one day, when we saw it had opened into a library, they were devastated; I on the other hand, did not know what it was until my mother told me about how we could borrow books from there. It slowly became my favourite place.

My mom would read her Malay entertainment magazines while I read the fairytales. I remember the fairytale section, where exactly it was, and it was always the first spot I'd go to when we arrived, while the first place I'd always go to in a Popular was the Enid Blyton section xD

When I was in Primary 5, I became a librarian at my school library. It was a big one considering it's a primary school library, but not many kids came to read. Instead, they used the computers and I remember it was also when YouTube just started being a thing. That left all the books to me.

There was this series called The Boxcar Children that became my favourite during my librarian days, mine and my then best friend, who was the one who recommended me to the teacher librarian. Those days, while all the kids were happy to go home, I was so happy to get to this nerdy ass CCA after school.

I did have an up-down relationship with libraries. Sometimes, I'd go there once a week or more, while sometimes up to just once a year. Most of the time it's only because I haven't paid my fines and didn't have the money to. ...Well, I was just a kid in school ya know.

2012 was the year I read most library books. I didn't buy many books, only doing so when I received a whole bunch of Popular vouchers once. The year after that, believe it or not I didn't read much. I can remember just a handful of books I've read in 2013.

I believe 2014 was the year I became more invested in reading. I read more, heck I bought more. This was the year I started collecting books, and reading any chance I got. And then of course we all know where I am today.

This year so far is starting to become another library year. Of all the 19 books I've read so far, only 3 were my owned ones! Holy shit I just counted that on the spot and holy damn shit. But this new obsession with libraries is a good thing for my wallet and my goal of saving 10k this year, so how about that =D

Anyway, libraries are just the best. They are unappreciated, youths always going there just to lepak and waste their time, making noise for the ones who do want to read. It's a waste, but what to do. Let's just count on the rest of us readers to make sure libraries and bookstores never burn out.

How do I read so much???

So how do I read so much??? Honestly, I don't know.

I used to dislike reading on public transport, not because I'd get motion sick, but because I love looking out the window and watching the scenery go by instead. No matter how many times I take the same bus and go the same routes, I still get so amazed by the roads and the views that I see.

Okay, so recently yes I have resorted to reading on my bus trips to and from work, especially if I don't get a window seat, which happens when it's just a short bus ride and I'm too lazy to climb to the upper deck or if it's crowded.

My second point is the fact that my other half lives in Johore while I, in Pasir Ris. I hate being late, so I'm always leaving home early because I have a long journey from the East side to the North.

Because he's coming from Johore and has to go through the checkpoints, and there's almost always a jam in between, I'm always having to wait a while before I meet him. Sometimes hours. I've taken advantage of that, managing to read while waiting =)

Let's go on to the topic of work. I've been working full-time since July last year, in my most favourite place since childhood, Popular bookstore. There's no morning/afternoon shifts or anything like that, and I'm always working 3 days in a row before I have a free day.

Because we work long hours, we are given two breaks, one in the early afternoon for lunch and one in the evening for dinner. I'm always getting the third break slot, and because my dinner break ends an hour before closing, I take advantage of that to read and then only eating when I go home =) It really does cover a lot of reading!

On to my off days. I am an early bird, waking up naturally at 8 every the morning. I think that's considered really early for a 20-year-old person who is working full shifts nearly everyday. And instead of spending my time in bed using my phone, I lay out some pillows and find a comfortable position to read.

I think it's possible for one to read despite such a hectic schedule. Okay, maybe other kids have their assignments and stuff, but hey, you can always read during the times you can't do anything about homework. Like on public transport, right?

There's also this thing that a Booktuber does, reading sprints where for the next 30 minutes, you do nothing but read, read, read, and don't stop for anything. It's like a break, but for reading =)

My reading goal for this year was 70, and I've already read 18 books at this point. I have no idea how I did it, but I'm so satisfied with that =D

Station Eleven / Emily St John Mandel

The night a famous Hollywood actor by the name of Arthur Leander died, a flu pandemic kick-started its own life and that was how civilization as we knew it came to an end within a few weeks.

That marks the start of time being labelled Day One; up til Year Twenty, with Kirsten Raymonde, the 8-year-old girl who witnessed Arthur's death on stage, joining a group of travelers called the Traveling Symphony, who have dedicated what remained of their lives to maintaining the arts.

So this book. I went into it without expecting much, in fact I thought it was gonna turned out meh. But we all know books that we always thought was gonna be meh always turned out amazing...

That flu pandemic is crazy. People were catching it just by talking to the infected, who got sick just a few minutes ago by talking to another infected person.

We follow a few "main" characters, and we watch how they survived in the after-civilization, not just from the flu but from their own insanity. The chapters weren't chronological, but I loved how the stories from then and now intertwined.

The characters were real, and their stories of making the roads home, of making an airport a museum; it was all so interesting to read and think about. It did scare me; a world where the kids had never seen a lit up computer screen before; a world where it was impossible to think that such huge machines called airplanes could once fly into the sky.

I gave this a solid 5 stars, I love it so so so much. A little bit thanks to my low expectations of it initially, a little bit thanks to the way it scared me; whatever it is, this was amazing.

Graphic novel recommendations

I'm sorry I haven't been updating. I've been at my granny's place the past few weeks and I didn't bring my laptop there, so... *shrugs*

I've read 4 graphic novels this year so far, which is a lot compared to my past 21 years of my life. (unless you count manga because I've definitely read hundreds of those) They were all pretty great in their own ways, so I thought I'd share them with you =)

Just bear with me not giving a shit about my photography skills.

Nimona / Noelle Stevenson 

I had no idea what was going on when I started this. There's this girl who appears out of nowhere, tells this super-villain that she wants to be his sidekick, and turns into a shark. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON. I LOVE THIS ALREADY, my exact thoughts.

This was action-packed and the relationship between Nimona and Lord Blackheart was really cute and memorable, like a father and daughter (": Also, probably the only fantasy-ish thing I really enjoyed so far.

Seconds / Bryan Lee O' Malley

I find it hard to summarise a graphic novel because I always jump into them without knowing a single thing.... This one has a girl who owns a restaurant, and who was given second chances again and again under mysterious circumstances.

The artstyle in this is really cute and it reminded me of some children's manga, but with colour. The story was gripping, and although it was really funny it had its dark and deep sides; you'd not only enjoy it but it'll also make you think.

This One Summer /  Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki

Every summer, Rose and her parents go to this beach house for their holiday, where there's this other girl Windy whom she always hang out with. 

Well, pretty much that's it. I really liked the art in this, but the story itself was a bit off. It's supposedly about growing up, which I guess was represented properly in the mundane parts of it? The story or characters didn't leave any impact on me, not positive not negative, and that's kinda sad. 

Through The Woods / Emily Carroll 

5 short horror stories. That's all you need to know.

This was really creepy and it legit gave me goosebumps, and even my other half thought it was scary, which is something. The cliffhanger endings will leave you like "Whaaaaaaat?" and your imagination will run wild with all the possibilities.

Plus, the artwork is really beautiful *.*

And that's all for tonight. All the libraries and bookstores are closed for today and the next 2 days, which leaves me rotting out of boredom because there's no work )= but lucky I have an infinite stock-up of books to read! =D but I'm currently reading Station Eleven and if that happens in real life, I wouldn't have anymore infinity books.