I am Reading Again!

Thanks to my new job, for which getting to it keeps me underground for one hour every work day, I have picked up reading again after a long hiatus.

In the past, my daily commute could be entertained by either reading the free bilingual newspaper or listening to free-to-air radio or both, or simply by gazing at the passing scenery. Ever since I have gone underground, every glance out the window is reciprocated with either the dizzying blackness of the tunnel or the glaring whiteness of the train station. Without free-to-air radio, I am confined to the looping of 200 songs stored on my mobile phone, which is B-O-R-I-N-G! The change in working hours caused my daily commuting to be in misalignment with the newspaper distribution schedule. Bah!

Get a smartphone, I was advised. Perhaps on-the-go internet connectivity could make me more news savvy and always connected to the virtual community, or being engaged in Bejeweled or Sudoku could make me less susceptible to dementia and Alzheimer's disease. But, I have not been convinced that constant facebooking, MSNing, or internet surfing would be vaue-adding to my boring life, nor do I find joy in being a member of Bejewelics Non-Anonymous (think: Alcoholics Anonymous).

Thus, the joy of reading is refound! How refreshing it is to be lost once again in fiction land! What an enjoyment it is to be immersed in the world of beautiful words, witty phrases, touching storylines and exhilarating plot twists! The experience is akin to watching a movie, as both activities provide an escape from the dreary world.

I do not have a favourite author though. As I find it less economical to rent, so I go to the library to browse the shelves and pick up random books. So far, my choices have been rather entertaining.

The first book I borrowed was The Divorce Party by Laura Dave. I think it is innate in me to have an exit plan before I even embark on anything. Before I take up a job offer, I would have considered the when, why and how of termination. Before I plan my wedding, I read The Divorce Party. Funny.

I picked up Austenland by Shannon Hale simply because there was mention of Jane Austen. I have not read any of her books, but I have watched two movies about her: Becoming Jane and The Jane Austen Book Club. I shall get around to her brilliant works some day.

I figured that too much romance would make me somewhat air-headed, so I roped in a thriller to stimulate my brain a bit. The Associate by John Grisham was an engaging page-turner until I got to the disappointing anti-climax of an ending. But I must have been a genius to think that Shia LaBeouf of Transformers fame would make the perfect male lead for the movie adaptation (if any) of this story, because a quick Google search showed that he had indeed been signed on to star in Paramount's big screen adaptation of this legal thriller since 2008, before the novel was even published in 2009!

Four weeks into my new job and I have finished three novels and am starting on my fourth. Nice pace and I hope to keep it up!