Q

One of the simplest, most profound joys in my life has to be picking out a book from the library from gut feel, instincts, temporal whim, what have you – and falling in love with it. The kind of trip and stumble that you seldom get from meticulous pre-planning and research. Read the first page and feel the rest of the world shutting down, not to surface again until you’re done with it.

In my primary school days i spent most of my time addicted to this joy. Every day i’d spend an hour at least (usually more) just browsing the fiction section of the school library. Everything i borrowed, i devoured. I don’t remember borrowing anything i didn’t finish. By my graduation, i’ve read almost every book in that section. An accidental achievement.

This is a kind of luxury i can’t seem to replicate in my adult years. It seems as if the selection of children’s literature just has better quality control? At the risk of sounding like a snob, there is really an extraordinary amount of crap fiction churned out by authors today. You know what i mean. The pseudo chick-lit sci-fi + any element that is all the rage currently (vampires, dystopia, marshmallows).

I’m pretty ashamed to admit that of all the books i’ve read, more remain half-abandoned than read. Most of the time, if i am determined to read, i’ll choose something i’ve already read before, or from one of my safe authors. It’s not like my taste in genres is limited too: i love everything from plotless to sci-fi to family drama and mystery. The only thing i’m averse to is overly American fiction.

Today morning i gripped my bookmark and swept through the rows of unfinished books on my desk, hoping to have something remotely appealing i can slip it into. Nah. It may be that i’m not trying hard enough, but it really shouldn’t be this hard to find a good read. That isn’t the generic nonsense Popular feeds everyone in their “best-selling” array. Ok i’m sounding v pretentious now so i’ll just see myself out. Lol.