This entry was taken from my old journal, written on 20 November 2003. Find out why I loveloveLOVE books.

Damnit! I was just complaining in my past blurty entry that I don't have time to read books and I still got 11...count them...11 books to read when I purchased 2 more books last night! Damnit!

I couldn't help it. I met up with my mom at a small high end mall where she works and decided to drop by the bookstore. Lo and behold, they had the paperback version of one of my favorite author's latest novel! I had to buy it. Just when I was about to leave the bookstore with my new book, I spotted a hardbound book for sale at a waaaaaay discounted price. I grabbed it and made a beeline to the cashier without hesitating.

You see, books are my weakness... Books are my first love. I used to hate reading. Never picked up a book when I was young. But when I hit fourth grade, we were assigned to do a book report on any novel of the mystery genre. My mom bought me several books. I picked my first book called THE HAUNTED HOUSE and I fell in love. Shortly, I picked up my first Sweet Valley Twins book and I fell harder. I aimed at completing the entire series.

I would walk the aisles of the bookstores every weekend, piling all the books I wanted to buy in my arms. I would buy 10 books at a time! Geek, I know. When I hit seventh grade, I started reading Sweet Valley High. I was in ecstasy, book heaven, when my mom's cousin gave me her entire Sweet Valley High collection, complete from numbers 1-50 AND all the special series. While girls my age went shopping for clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry and went out every weekend, flirting with boys, I spent my entire savings on books and spent my weekends cooped up in my room, lying in bed, hugging my pillow while reading a book. Sometimes, I'd sleep way late at night as I couldn't put down the book. Eventually, I moved to romance novels. The thick kinds. The one with half naked, muscular men with gorgeous women wearing loose dresses that practically fall off already exposing their breasts sprawled in their arms on the cover. And now, I'm starting to read grown up books... philosophical books like The Alchemist... but still, I don't get it. Halfway through it, I got lost. And yet half of the population in Friendster declared it their favorite book. Whhaaaa-- am I missing something? What's wrong with me? The last time I counted, I had over 500 books to my name. Unfortunately, lack of shelf space made me realize that it's time to let go of all of them and just leave a few. It hurt... it really did.

But what made me fall in love with books is it's ability to transport me to a different time and be someone else. When I read a book, I become the heroine. I experience the emotions that she goes through. When she laughs, I do too. When she's in pain, so am I. Yet at the same time, as a reader, I witness first hand all the sides of the stories. In a way, you got one-up cuz you know what's going on all along (for instance, you know what the hero thinks or feels whereas the heroine is still wondering what's going through his mind and heart...get it?)

In a way, reading books has made me gone through "experiences" that I could adapt and learn from though I never really did experience in real life. Though the stories are the heroine's, I could still learn from them so that when my turn comes to be in the same , if not similar, situation, I would know more or less what to do.

Sure, we'll definitely get more to learn from real life experiences compared to some fictional character's experience but you still learn a little from that. Who wouldn't want the extra knowledge?

When you think of it, our life story is one book in itself. We are the hero/heroines and we've got a partner. We've got a sidekick and an antagonist. We have all genres in our life story...comedy, romance, drama, horror and action. Each day in our life is actually a page in our book. Each dilemma or trial surpassed is a chapter closed. And who is the reader who knows every thing that's going on? It's gotta be God. :)

I started reading romance novels back in High School, when my bookworm of a friend, Glady, lent me "Until You" by Judith McNaught. I loved it so much that I bought my own copy and her other books so well. In fact, up to now, I re-read her books especially those novels whose plot is situated during the London Regency- era (yes, all those dukes, countess, courtesans, forbidden love and arranged marriages). Thus, my liking to Kat Martin whose stories also include British royalty and strong- willed and beautiful women who are ordinary members of society.

When "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coelho became everybody's favorite book, I checked it out too to see what's everyone raving about. I was amazed with the subliminal and substantial messages yet half way through the book, I got lost and couldn't catch on, subliminally. I tried once more with "Down By The River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept" and well, I think there's something really wrong with me.

The last genre I got into was Chick- Lit. Basically, they're stories of women, written by women. (Trivia: Now, there's a Dick- lit. Yup, you guessed it. Stories of men, written by men!) My first Chick Lit was "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella. I got into the chick lit bandwagon because I noticed "Confessions of a Shopaholic" peppered the 'Favorite Books' section of Friendster profiles. Curiosity got into this bookworm and here I am.

And if online journals are considered literature, I would say that this is also another genre I enjoy. There's nothing better than real life stories, especially stories of people you know. :)