Read. Write. Speak. January 17, 2011

"I resolve to write, read & speak more this year."

That was something I promised myself I’d try and do more of this 2011.

READ – I love reading books.  I love buying books.  Unfortunately last year, it seems that I only did a lot of buying and not much reading.  I think I’ve only read a total of 2.25 books last year.  The. 25 count went to a book I started but I never even made it to chapter 5.  I’ve already started reading a new book last week and so far I’ve been able to read a few pages each night.  Good.  At least I’m on the right track.

WRITE – So far I think I’m doing well in this department.  It’s only the middle of January and I’ve put in 6 entries (7 including this one) already.  Not bad at all considering I’m always struggling to find topics on what I could write about.  There’s things that I always want to write about but then I’d figure, “Would anyone even bother to read them?”…even the 3, 4 or 5 friends of mine who do follow me?  Haha.  But I have to tell myself that the writing is for my own fulfillment and the fact that I can put it down on paper or on this page is an achievement in itself.  I’m happy to be able to share it.  If friends or other people get to read it and say something nice about it, then that’s an added bonus that I’m thankful for.

SPEAK  – Oh dear.  Here’s the road bump that I’ve been avoiding.  I’m not much of a talker.  I mean, I do talk and tell stories to friends and all but when it comes to sharing my feelings and giving opinions, I pretty much keep my mouth shut.  Maybe I’ll open up a little…but mostly I just take everything in like a sponge (“who lives in a pineapple under the sea!” haha).  I prefer listening to be quite honest.  Ultimately, it’s the possible rejection or judgement that I might get that scares me.  I’m not made of steel, so sometimes even the littlest thing can break me.  Friends tell me to leave my comfort zone once in a while.  I even have one particular friend who says she’ll “take out her hammer and bash me on the head with it” because I sell myself short sometimes…ok, most of the time.  This is something I really have to get rid of.

Like the heroines of the dramas that I watch, may I chant the word, “Fighting!” and really mean it.

2011, here we go.

 

 

Woe to the booklover in me! June 5, 2010

I am so frustrated and disappointed with myself recently.  I could literally kick myself…I suck!

Hey wait…Before you think of me as some negative person, allow me to explain…It’s already June and to date, I’ve only read one measly book so far this year!  Argh!  This is so not me!  Oh and that one book I’ve read so far?  Took me three and a half months to finish!  How pathetic is that?!  (It’s just like when I read Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road” last year…that one took me four months to finish…but I had different reasons back then.  Anyway…)  I’ll have you know that for the whole month of January 2009, I had already finished 4 books!

I don’t know what’s wrong with me now.  Is it because of work?  Is it because I’m lazy?  I can’t pinpoint a particular reason.  It’s making me feel incomplete that I haven’t been reading…because I love to read!

Yesterday I googled http://www.scribd.com/doc/13927089/list-of-101-Books-to-Read-Before-You-Die and http://www.listology.com/list/1001-books-you-must-read-you-die –I printed out the list and crossed off those that I’ve already read.  Here’s my tally:

Out of the 101 list, I’ve read 12:

1. Of Mice & Men – John Steinbeck
2. Perfume – Patrick Suskind
3. Atonement – Ian McEwan
4. The Catcher In The Rye – J.D. Salinger
5. Crime & Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevski
6. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
7. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy – J.R.R. Tolkien
8. Pride & Prejudice – Jane Austen
9. Siddharta – Herman Hesse
10. Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh
11. The Unbearable Lightness Of Being – Milan Kundera
12. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

Out of the 1001 list, I’ve read 23:

1. Atonement
2. Trainspotting
3. Perfume
4. The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
5. Interview With A Vampire – Anne Rice
6. On The Road – Jack Kerouac
7. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
8. Lolita
9. The Catcher In The Rye
10. Animal Farm – George Orwell
11. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint Exupery
12. Of Mice & Men
13. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
14. Siddharta
15. Tess of D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
16. Picture Of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
17. Crime & Punishment
18. House Of The Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
19. Wuthering Heights
20. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
21. Persuasion – Jane Austen
22. Pride & Prejudice
23. Sense & Sensibility – Jane Austen

Boy, I sure have a long way to go! Ok, I hope I can get out of my stupor very, very soon and start reading!  I’ve still got a few “pending” books at home so I’ll start with those first.  Has anyone read the works of Kazuo Ishigiro, Haruki Murakami or Kurt Vonnegut?  Their names always crop up on those lists so I’m curious as to how they write.

Oh, any suggestions on what titles I should read?  I’d love to hear them.