My father bought me my first book; it was a hard cover book by Enid Blyton which costs SGD3.99. It was quite funny, really, how we were just walking past the shop, and this particular book caught my eye and I insisted on having it. Thereafter, I was so hooked on Enid Blyton that I would save up from my daily allowance, and buy several of her books at one go. One of my favourites was The Naughtiest Girl in School series. I vaguely remember reading through the Sweet Valley High series...it got pretty monotonous after a while, but I thought it was fun seeing how the twins fought, then made up.
As a young reader, I chose books which title or cover caught my attention (like those of teenage love and relationships, and who can forget, Archie comic books!), and books which content interest me (like the entire Journey To The West series). I loved how each book was like a journey. You read the words, and you imagine up everything that is in the book according to your own preference. That was why I was a tad disappointed when the Harry Potter series was made into a movie. Yes, sure, the movies were all great...but it could never match up to what I had conjured up in my mind as I was devouring the content of the books.
I never had a liking for newspapers and magazines like National Geographic, Readers' Digest, Newsweek and TIME until I was forced to read them in secondary school during reading period. It was tough at first, having to read things that were not of my interest, but when I found myself having more general knowledge, and being exposed to issues and ideas that I never knew of before, it sparked that curiosity in me to want to know more about what was happening in the world.
In my university years, I grew to love historical fiction, ethnic american literature, south east asian literature and film. I was a Science student all along, and my perception of Literature was limited to only Shakespeare and...well, only Shakespeare. However, after having studied in NTU, I was exposed to a huge range of literature, some of which I hate, and some of which I grew to love. I also started to read other genres which I would have never thought I would be interested in. Frank E Peretti's Piercing The Darkness series, and Wendy Alec's Chronicles of Brothers series really captivated me, and if anyone asked me, I would strongly recommend these two series to them. Peretti's style of writing is off-the-charts amazing, and I'm still waiting for Alec to publish the next book of the series.
Looking back at my reading journey, I think it was quite cool to see how I grew to be the reader I am today, and I really hope to be able to pass on this love for reading to the students in the future.
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