The Reader

There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul! 

-Emily Dickinson 

When I visit malls, I have a very short and simple list of agenda:

1) Pay Bills

2) Withdraw/Deposit from/to my savings account

3) Visit a Bookstore (National Bookstore, Powerbooks, Fully Booked, Best Seller) and actually purchase a book

Agenda number 3 is the only agenda I get to do frequently. And as a twin endeavor to my Project 12 Stories, I am also into the project of reading at least one book a month. Again take note of the qualifier: AT LEAST.

Last December, I made non-stop visits to the Christmas Bazaar in UP where several stalls sold second-hand books still in mint condition. Some of the titles I bought are: Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, About a Boy by Nick Hornby, Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert and Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. What topped my 2011 Christmas wishlist is a book on Children's lit, Eloise: The Ultimate Edition by Kay Thomson. I have yet to read all of them but just the thought of having these books on deck, ready to make me close-to-Einstein-and-Plato smart make me feel...smart, already smart even without going through their pages just yet.

Current Reads!!!

In January, because it is the month of resolutions, I read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. In February, because it is the month of love, I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, thinking it is a light read on love but instead I got treated with history, philosophy, life and love. Currently, I am reading When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. I am thinking of reading more of his books. 

No, I won't be doing book reviews because I do not know how to and I simply do not want to. I keep a list of books that I read so I'll know which ones/type really capture my interest. 

Next in my reading list are the following:

1) Oh, The Places You will go by Dr. Seuss

2) The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner

3) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

4) The Lady and The monk by Pico Iyer

5) A Year in Tibet by Sun Shuyun

6) How to be Good by Nick Hornby

And the list will get longer.

When I get to build my own house, I hope to have a library and inspired by Fully Booked flooring which tiles are designed with excerpts from Machiavelli's The Prince (so cool di ba?), I will design mine with that one book which moved me. I have yet to find it but for now Eat, Pray, Love still tops my list.