Every Day I Read is a collection of essays about reading and also about life. It’s written by Hwang Bo-Reum, who also wrote The Hyunam-Dong Bookshop. Unlike the fiction that gave me such a huge comfort last year, this book invites me to dig deeper into the meaning of reading. Early this year, I shared where and when I read the most, while last year, on how we read books in this digital age? And turns out, as readers we do share similar thoughts, struggles, and processes.
What do you read?
If I were being asked the question: why do you read? The simplest answer is: Because I enjoy reading and it can bring me to experience things that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Although the book is not cheap these days, it is way cheaper for me to read about Japan in a book than to book a flight and actually go to Japan. (not exactly the best example, but hopefully you get the gist of what I meant). And I think that always have been the reason I love reading.
Looking back on my childhood, I know for a fact that my mom likes reading. She read to me, and I have an okay number of books at home. (I mostly read books from the library back then). She didn’t exactly push me to read; it’s just that I was captivated by how a book can make me feel something. It can be sad, happy, curious, excited, or even touched – from words!
Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Famous Five, Mallory Tower, Goosebumps
The earliest memory I could recall is that I read the bible story picture books from the church library, also Franklin the Turtle and old classic books like The Country Mouse and the City Mouse. Those books were rich with messages, which shapes my foundation of integrity and companionship in life.
But in junior high, my school had a bigger book collection that I could read from – compared to my elementary school, and the top books were: Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Famous Five, Mallory Tower, and Goosebumps. I must say, I am a big empath and Chicken Soup for the Soul must have a huge impact on my life. The one story about pay it forward is like engraved on my brain and now has become my motto in life #SharingKindness. From the series I also learnt how life can be difficult for many and every person has their own struggles in life.
Whilst from Enid Blyton, I sharpened my interest in mysteries and adventure! I loveeee a good mystery, and the days I spent reading The Famous Five are always good ones! Can’t seem to put it down because I was curious on the case. On the other hand, Mallory Tower broadened my perspective on being a teenage girl on the other side of the world.
What is my goal in reading books?
Now, fast-forward to the present: while reading the essay collection by Hwang Bo-Reum, I reflect on my goal in reading books.
Definitely, because I want to become a better writer. I do write for work; I write for my blog and my social media. But of course, my ultimate goal is that I want to publish a book. And I know for sure that the first step of becoming a writer is by reading. Through this book I also reevaluating my book selections, and I think I can broaden my read so that I can find more things that I might missed out.
Ngl, in this busy digital days, even finding (more like fighting) myself to read is already a battle so I mostly choose to read the books that I know I would definitely enjoy it. But in this book, Bo-Reum also mention about the struggle of finishing a book. Often times, I feel bad of not finishing a book, but most of the time it’s either hard to read it or I just lost interest and kinda forget I was reading that book. But I believe that a book has their own time in my life timeline. Sort of like I will picked up the right book for the right time without even realising it – and it will helps me to go through my life a little bit easier.
Reading Multiple Book at Once
One of the things I learnt from my lecturer is that she shared with me that she reads more than one book. That way she can finish more book in the same time. When I first heard about that, I genuinely feel puzzled like how come?! hahaha. But then I started doing that and it actually makes sense! I usually read 2 books, 1 fiction and 1 non fiction to sort of balance it out. Or to just accomodate my moods so that I won’t have reasons on not reading hahaha. Other times, I also read more than 2 for examples when I need a smaller book that I can bring with me for commuting. In the essay, Bo-Reum actually mentioned she can read up to 8 books at the same time! Either way, I believe you can do what’s best for you!
My current reads are: ‘Tiny Experiments’ by Anne-Laure Le Cunff and since I’ve finished this one, the next on the list is a book written by my friend, ‘Setelah Aku Cut-Off Warisan Trauma Keluarga’ by Stefani Gabriela and I already prepare a mystery genre too: Teka Teki Gambar Aneh by Uketsu.
When commuting I like reading fiction because it’s usually more easier to digest than non-fiction. And since I like to annotate and take notes (for the sake of collecting quotes and reflecting on my self-growth) on the non-fiction I read, I read it before or after my journaling session at night. And I read fiction one (regardless of how many pages there is) faster because it’s more fun! Hihihi.
Reading the Uncomfortable Books
From some of the previous books I’ve mentioned, I think you can infer that I like easy-to-read books with heartwarming stories. 100% yessss – and that’s why I loveee Japanese books like the ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’ series and the Morisaki Bookshop story.
But in the spirit of broadening my reads, I’ve also read some books that weren’t easy to read like Vegetarian by Han Kang, and also Orang-Orang Oetimu by Felix K. Nesi earlier this year. I made a post about vegetarian here. In the essay, Bo-Reum also mentioned about this. Books that gives us the reality of life, even though it’s hard to read and uncomfortable. In the book, she tells the book about a school massacre. She cried after reading a few paragraphs, and it was hard for her to finish. But we do have to read these kinds of books, face the discomfort, and get a hold of reality.
Collecting Books
In one of the chapters, Bo-Reum shared how she organised her bookcase and reselected her book collection in order to keep it under 500 books. This got me thinking back on the idea I’ve had for quite some time now: that I rarely reread books because I want to read more new ones. I go back to some books when I feel like but that’s not often. So, I feel like it would be such a waste to only have the book and read it once – just like using a single-use plastic. (For context: I work in an environmental organisation so this kind of topic is kinda gets me deep). And once I realise that buying books is like single-use I genuinely feel SO BAD and thinking of making my collection into a library for my friends.
Just before I write this post, I make a draft notes on the system for the book lending. I will work on that in the next weeks and announce that here on my blog and on my instagram account. But in the meantime, I have many things to do, such as make catalogue of my books to choose from! I am so excited about this idea, so I will update more in the next few days.
VERONICAKUDO 
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