My Reading Journey in 4 Parts (Or, How a Kindle changed my life)

Part 1. The Undergraduate Years

When writing my personal statement for UK universities in 2009, I cited a love for reading as the main reason for why I wanted to do literature. When I first started my undergraduate literature course in NUS in 2010, I had 3 books for the introductory literature course and I thought, hey, this is quite manageable. Entering the second semester, though, I was faced with 20 full-length books to finish in 14 weeks, half of which were Classics and the other half were from the 20th Century. Staring at the stack of books, I did not think I would be able to finish even one book a week, let alone two. However, through the encouragement of my excellent lecturers, I persevered and managed to finish most of the books that semester. The next semester, I realised my reading speed had drastically increased. But I also realised, when my friend asked me for suggestions on books to read, that I no longer read books outside of school. I spent term time reading course texts, and my holidays reading up on course texts for the next semester. The only break in that was in the period before I left for exchange, in 2012, where I was not given a list of course texts, and instead I read books recommended by friends. I finally read The Hunger Games, which I found an intelligent read, follow by We have to talk about Kevin, Song of Achilles, and A Streetcar Named Desire. I was to later realise that even though I was reading leisurely, the books I had chosen were in fact course texts in their own right. The course texts on exchange included contemporary British plays by women, which made a great impact on me as I would have never encountered these texts otherwise.

Part 2. The Kindle Months

My last semester in school was spent focusing on the 3 main texts I was using in my thesis. As much as I loved those books, I was sick of them by the time I was done with my thesis, and keen to start reading books of greater variety. At least, that was what I thought. The moment my thesis ended, however, I decided I no longer wanted to touch books. At all. A month later, as I was leaving for Europe, I realised I would be able to buy a large number of cheap secondhand books from Amazon, and I was especially interested in the 20 book Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. After talking to a few friends about the viability of buying books and shipping them back, or buying books and selling them off again before leaving London, I decided the best, cheapest and lightest way would be to buy a kindle. And so I did.

My first stop in Europe was the beautiful city of Paris, where I walked around with my eyes wide open, went running down Champs Elysees or along the Seine, and stuffed myself silly with pastries. A day before I was due to leave for London, I bought the kindle. When I arrived in London, there it was waiting for me. (Yay Amazon!)

I bought the entire Vorkosigan Saga, saved the reading order in a note on my phone, and started reading. The Kindle Paperwhite is a truly magical device. I read it on the tube, while walking to the tube station, and in the dark before I went to sleep. I slept very little. I spent a lot of time with my hands glued to my kindle. I loved it, and I started reading at a ferocious speed, getting faster and faster with every book. 

I had planned to spend at least a month in Europe as part of my grad trip, with at least half of that in London, my favourite place in the whole world. Everyone asked what I would do for so long, if I would end up being bored, etc. No one really believed me when I said I just wanted to sit and chill, have nice artisan coffees and watch the world go by. But that is what I did. I had moments of pure serenity, basking in the sunshine without perspiring (no humidity - yay!), and I spent hours outdoors reading, looking up now and then to people watch and soak in the ambience. I have never loved reading so much, and I have never found a more intrinsic reason to read - I read simply because I wanted to. I had no purpose, no deadline, no stress. Just love.

Two moments will stay with me, as the highlight of the reading segment of the trip. The first, was when I sat at a sidewalk cafe in Barcelona and sipped Sangria while propping my Kindle against a pitcher of water. It was a movie-worthy moment. The second, was a moment of great epiphany. I walked to Green Park and decided to sit in the grass. I then loved the warmth so much I wound up rolling in the grass, and eventually found a nice position to read, where I was partially shaded by a big, beautiful tree. It was then I truly understood why reading under a tree was such a big deal. When I'm done with NIE, I hope to find time to go to America and find more reading moments worth remembering. 

Part 3. The NLB Saga

When news of the NLB Saga first started making its rounds on social media, I thought it was too ludicrous to be true. Soon, however, I realised the nightmare was quite real. I thought about how much the NLB meant to me, and that triggered a intense afternoon of self-reflection. I realised that the past month was the first time in a decade that I had just read, for no purpose at all. All through Secondary School and Junior College, and undergraduate years, I read very few books outside of what was necessary for lessons. It was only in Primary School, when my father took me to the library once a week after tap dancing classes, where I read a book a week. I remember, fondly, Enid Blyton, Catherine Lim, Philip Pullman, the Narnia series, the Princess diaries, the Alias series, and the Animorphs series. I must have read over a hundred books (maybe two hundred, even) over the years, and I would not have been able to buy those books, so I guess the library was perfect for me. The library was a safe, clean, beautiful space, filled with my favourite things, and I hope that I can help students find the library a desirable place as well, with a broad spectrum of things available to read. 

Part 4. Never Let Me Go

I have now had my Kindle for 106 days, during which I've read 35 books and am 27 minutes from finishing the 36th. I have about 200 books in my Kindle, and while I will be spending the next month reading a lot of books for NIE, I will take time to read some science fiction as well just to keep my imagination alive. I go to the gym twice a week and read my Kindle while I cycle, which is actually pretty fun. I love my Kindle very, very much and I'm excited about reading as a leisurely and fun activity, one that I can do anywhere, easily, while holding my ultralight Kindle. I keep track of the number of books I've read, a number I am proud of, and I am happy that books are available so cheaply on Amazon, and, best of all - I can buy 100 more books without having to clear a single inch of physical shelf space. I've already bought many e-books of stories I've always wanted to read, like The Glass Menagerie, I'm the King of the Castle, and Lord of The Flies. 

I look forward to finding more passages appropriate for comprehension or close passages, and in fact I have highlighted a few passages that are suitable already. By viewing these clippings online, I can quickly copy all useful material (passages, new words, interesting quotes, useful phrases) into word documents. I feel that my Kindle has enriched my life, but will also enrich my teaching, and thus is a key part of my reading biography. But of course, I have Dr. Susan Ang to thank, for introducing me to the Miles Vorkosigan saga in the first place, and to Lois McMaster Bujold, for writing such lovely books, and my dad, especially, for being the one to introduce me to reading in the first place.

--

P.s. Sorry this is so long. Got carried away. Am happy to rewrite a shorter version if necessary @DrLoh