Brain Freeze

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The things that I read.

Sometime in June, Angel book-tagged me.
Heck, I was very pleased with it and spent 3 hours crafting a well-researched (!!) and well thought-out book tag. It completely disappeared. Yes, my Blogger- life was never the same again!
But, before we go to the tag, here's...

A brief history of my reading habits.
My reading habits are, in a large measure, hereditary. I am happiest when I have a book in my hand and I can read it in peace. Unfortunately, I get many complaints about "Shruti not paying attention to what happens around her."
My dad's younger days were spent lying flat on his tummy on the bed, and reading the book, which used to be on the floor. Informed 'sources' (well, my mother!!) inform me that the maid used to be very puzzled by the phenomenon and used to whisper about "Saab being sick". I have inherited the habit! Yes, it does sound very strange, but trust me, the distance from your eyes to the page is optimal for proper reading. That said, I read even by candlelight! Fortunately, my eyes haven't let me down yet ;)
My childhood was spent begging my sister to take yet another Noddy from our neighbourhood lending library at Secundrabad. But I was in LKG and the only thing I could understand from the books was Noddy was a rather nobbly little boy with a yellow and red car that went parp-parp (or was it peep-peep?). In time, I learnt to recognise Enid Blyton's distinctive signature on her books. Of course, I was still very young and thought the name was 'Gnid' Blyton.... But, I was still a Gnid fan of hers (or his, since I was still confused!)
Growing up, and moving to Trivandrum put me in the company of much older cousins. All of them were in their late teens and early twenties and the only notice they took of a little six year old scamp was when she went to them and pulled their sleeves shouting for "A story!! Please?" My sister and her unfortunate classmate, with whom I used to travel on the city bus had a pretty hard time trying to satiate a first-standard kid's curiousity to hear any and all stories they had. In fact, most of my neighbours remember me as the small little girl who used to trot behind her sister begging for stories rather than 21 years old and in the final year at college.
Coming back to my book history. Hmm, where were we? Oh yes, I was six years old and going strong.
The next two years were spent learning the language and going through all the 'Tinkle's and 'Amar Chitra Katha' series I could lay my hands on. I then actually graduated to READING all the Gnids I could. I spent many a day on the terrace of my house reading Famous Five, Secret Seven and all the school stories. Till date, my favourite Enid Blyton series has been that of the Five Findouters (and Dog!).
My reading became so voracious at a point, I used to drag my dog-eared copy of the Bible and peruse through the stories there. I even remember trying to explain one of the stories in Judges to an amused audience. There was some talk of a "doubled edged sword" and a "nail through the head". My imagination used to a step ahead of my experience, however, and I can't really assert the stories made much sense!!
Unlike most middle-schoolers, however, I scorned Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. Which is not to say that I didn't read them, because I did! But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what Nancy being titan-haired and pretty had to do with her solving cases. Three Investigators used to a firm favourite, however. Jupiter Jones and his idiosyncracies made for interesting reading. The guys seemed very normal to me, but the cases they solved were little short of amazing!
And... WHO can forget Sherlock Holmes? The Mystery of the Speckled Band had me hooked on to his adventures for life.
Having a sister who was doing her B.A Literature came in handy, when I discovered the wonderful world of G B Shaw and Jane Austen.
In seventh, I found myself in Elloor Library and in heaven too! All the books I ever wanted.
Agatha Christie, Archie, Alistair MacLean, Forsyth, Crichton, Wodehouse, Tolkien, Pratchett... my list grew as I grew up and out of my old likes.
I love reading magazines on a train, but it annoys me when the vendor hands me a Femina or a Woman's Era, when all I want is "The Week" or "Sportstar".... :D
Of late, I have discovered ebooks and the Project Gutenberg and am in the process of devouring old classics.
The saga moves on...

1) Number of books owned: Around 600 or so, counting all the magazines and itsy-bitsy books. It's enough to fill about 5 shelves thrice over. Do the maths!

2) Last Book read: The Class by Erich Segal, Thud! by Terry Pratchett, The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Breaking the Da Vinci Code by Darrell Brock.
Yeah, I am reading all four (e-books) simultaneously. The last BOOK I read would be Segal's Doctors.

3) Last book bought: Err, I am a penniless student! Kindly adjust. However, the last book I bought was Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. The last book I was gifted would be Desert Rats by John Parker.

4) 5+ Books that mean a lot to me:
Anyways, I am passing on the tag to...
DJK because I can!
Vijay a break from Vedanta, man!
Prashant Menon aka Undertaker Two in a row, Undy!
Girish because the fellow needs to announce his "taste" to the world!
Kaus because she reads so much!
Quinty Tit for tat, Ankush!
Senthil Get off your pictures, mister and tell us about Wodehouse!!

Copy-write Shrutz :: 6:55 PM :: 14 Sneaky Remarks:

What would you like to do?

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