I have been ready for as long as I can remember and I have loved it ever since.
I grew up seeing my grandfather flick through his novels for hours on end. When I was a child, I always wondered why something so serene could be so entertaining until I got into reading myself.
I started with what was available - local magazines, newspapers, old Readers' Digest issues, Tagalog pocketbooks and a few of my grandpa's books (that I never understood but read anyway).
After much thought and even without anyone asking I decided to list down my all-time favourite reads.
The book that opened me to fiction:
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl)
I went to a public elementary school and back then, we had no libraries. The closest thing we got to one was when we were in grade six and there were books donated and displayed on our school principal's shelf. That is where I discovered this little treasure. Back then, I had no idea this type of genre exists. I could only get my hands on magazines and pocketbooks. This was my first child fiction book and this definitely made me seek for more.
Now that I'm a few years older, I realise that the plotline of this book has some disturbing areas but it didn't do damage to my young mind so I still think it's still age-appropriate. Just be sure to reason it out well if ever you'll read this to a child.
The book that means the most to me:
The Princess Diaries: Sweet Sixteen Princess (Meg Cabot)
I hold this book near and dear to my heart not because of who wrote it and what the story was about but the story behind it. Back then, we didn't have much and books were quite pricey. I remembered asking for this and my father came back home saying he wasn't able to buy it. Little did I know, the book was already waiting for me in the room. Even until now and even if I don't have my copy of this book anymore, I still remember how it felt when I got it. It was my very first fictional book.
The story of the famous Princess Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi and her plans for a sweet sixteen bash. It's your typical bubblegum young adult novel. However, the plot is not cheesy at all and actually very entertaining.
My favourite romance book:
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
This book may not really follow the usual boy-meets-girl writing style in romance novels, but I think this surpasses all romance novels I have read in my lifetime and believe me when I say that is a LOT. The story is perfectly nuanced and the characters are written and developed so well throughout the book that they almost seemed real.
If you feel like you're losing faith in love or getting lost in trying to understand it, let this book unravel the mysteries through Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. You will never regret it.
“She would defend herself, saying that love, no matter what else it might be, was a natural talent. She would say: You are either born knowing how, or you never know.”
My absolute favourite book of all time:
The Godfather (Mario Puzo)
This is a blessing to human kind (or at least to me). An aunt recommended this to me way back when I was reading the Gossip Girl series. I was told that this book would change the way I read and so it really did.
Before I read The Godfather, I thought average books with average plots are already gems, but this my friends is the diamond. If you won't read this with an open mind though, you might find this too intense or strange.
The Godfather set the standards for all the books I read after it. I stopped reading books that are shallow or written for the age group that are way younger than mine. I also stopped reading just for the sake of reading or following the hype. Instead, I started reading for value and quality of the plot, the writing style, character development, etc.
I like to read because it leaves me with a special memory that even years after, I still am able to tell how I felt about a book. I may not read as often now, but when I get that craving to be someplace else or be in someone else's story, I know a book will do just that.
