2010 Reading Project

One of the top goals I have for 2010 is to read more. My reading track record was seamless when I was still studying, but career and adulthood put reading at the backseat. It shouldn't be the case. A lot of prolific businessmen still read meaningful literature besides the daily newspaper. How come I can't seem to pick up? I might read books, but my pace is so horrifying compared to when I was a kid, reading two to three novels in a week. Now, finishing a good novel in three weeks is considered a challenge.

It's also been a while since I went to a bookstore and actually buy books. Take note of the plural term. My poor financial habits this year affected my purchasing power, believe it or not. I was more focused on buying extra curricular stuff like travel, gadgets and lifestyle membership fees. A part of my goal in 2010 is to be financially stronger and healthier, and hopefully this would also help me boost my reading project.

So for one last credit card swipe on the last day of 2009, Mitch and I went to Boni High Street to spend the last 2009 afternoon together and buy books. He knows how serious I am when times like these occur so he gave me all the time in the world. Luckily, the welcoming Fully Booked has a steady crowd with immaculately stacked and smelling books beckoning me, seducing me, enthralling me.

I took my time and hopped from one aisle to another. My mind automatically processes titles, intuition and mood in choosing books. I would read paragraphs to find a connection until I would naturally single out books. It depends on my budget if I would undergo optional paralysis.

Happily and grinning widely, as soon as I've decided, I went to the counter, took my ailing credit card and swiped one last swipe for 2009. All in all I bought four books and I walked out of the store to meet Mitch, ecstatic like a lightning could strike me and I could go to heaven. The feeling never changes.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards is a title I've seen for quite some time. I've reprocessed this book before and I have this repressed desire to buy it. The second book, which is a good 2-in-one-deal book is by Tracy Chevalier, The Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Fallen Angels. I am also familiar with the two books. I've seen Fallen Angels in the Recommended section of Fully Booked a couple of months back. It's a story about the connection of sisters, which is still a mystery to me. And I've always wanted to read The Girl with A Pearl Earring. Unlike some readers, I don't have any problems reading period pieces, in fact I prefer it sometimes. Give me Austen and Tolstoy and I'd gladly read it.



The last book I chose to buy was out of impulse. I grabbed the interestingly looking book in the Fresh Out of Box section. It's an impulse because I have never heard of the book before and it's considered a stronger gamble. But I always have faith in my intuition. This is how I bought Then We Came to the End , Artemis Fowl series and The Pillars of the Earth and the results were positive. Besides, the book that I bought is written by Jhumpa Lahiri and titled Unaccustomed Earth. The book made it the top spot of New York Time's Best Review in 2008, which made me more courageous.

So, here I am hyped and ecstatic. I have the whole year to catch up on my literature backlog, starting with Tracy Chevalier's A Girl with the Pearl Earring. In a few hours, I'll be the girl I once was, a non-stop chugging reading machine.