its a common question that i've been getting since arriving here a few months back. its one of those basic things you ask a person to try to make conversation (or in my case, blackmailed into making conversation). my first answer always and will be reading but after saying that a couple of times to a couple of people, i realised that people tend to think its either boring or i'm lying. how unfortunate.

i've loved reading ever since i could remember. not even sure if my parents instilled that in me, seeing that they weren't around much and i doubt they read me to sleep but somehow along the way, i fell in love with books. although i wouldn't say i'm proud of my reading repertoire (mostly grew up with Enid Blyton), but i love getting lost in the worlds the books create. plus, i have a bad habit of not putting a good book down till i've read till the end.

 when i was in school, i used to borrow books from my friends and read under the desk and i would finish the book that day itself. when i read, i tune out the world. my friends used to get frustrated at me because i wouldn't pay attention to them or anything really. i would skip eating and sleeping to finish the book. it just wasn't easy asking me to put a book down. :D

reading, to me, has become more than a hobby. its not just something that i would do in my free time for pleasure but it has also become my means of escape and a place for solitude. it doesn't sound as bad as the way i put it, you know, i find lots of pleasure, of joy, of an array of feelings whenever i read but reading to me is like entering a different world. i get to be in a world where i'm not the most important thing there and my problems and burdens cease to exist.

its a safe world and because i get to choose the kind of book i want to read, i get to choose the kind of world i get to be in. a lot of times, i get really immersed in the book, its as if i'm there, i become one of the characters looking in from outside, i feel their pain, their laughter, their disappointments, their success. don't be surprised if you catch me laughing or tearing up while reading, it happens quite often.

nowadays, i find myself reading more of the romance genre, light stuff instead of the thought-provoking, possibly life changing kinds. i would read Jeffery Deaver's books if there are new ones but other than that, i'm reading the kind that ends with happily ever afters. (:

p.s. just something that has been on my mind. need to kick this SAD away.