MEComposing

My parents say that i've loved to read ever since I didn't even know how just yet.

But it wasn't like my parents also surrounded me with books. We had a lot of reference books (one of my favorite ones was this huge, heavy reference for diseases, the graphic pictures were exciting for me) and I even read the book "Where There is No Doctor".

So when I was in Grade 1 & 2 at Montessori, the library was my second classroom. And I guess since it was Montessori, and I had foreigner classmates, the books must have been mostly in English.

But I really became a bookworm in Grades 3 & 4 at Concordia. They had this really, really, really huge library. They had complete editions of Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (which I never touched). Instead, I immersed myself in American textbooks donated to the country by different libraries in the U.S. I even relished the fact that the books were hardbound but in mint condition, that my hands were the first to ever turn their pages, and my name is the first to be stamped in the library cards. For the two years I was there, I was in the top 5 borrowers. And always, i'd gladly finish one textbook through the night so I could borrow another one the next day. I wanted to finish shelves upon shelves of them.

That was how I got to know about Africa, and American pioneers, and American Indians.

And then, I was transferred to PCS by my Mom. They also had two sections of donated books that nobody ever goes to. There, I immersed myself in Greek gods and goddesses and faerie tales and Enid Blyton. And the American textbooks.

So although I never read other typical classics, I still spent a third of my childhood reading, getting lost in stories from a different time and place.

The catch, however, is that I prefer American prose over ours.

Anyway, I bought two such textbooks again today from Booksale. I love them all the more because they come with study guides and suggested activities or points for reflection. I tell myself, these will be handy when I start homeschooling my kid.

And am just waiting for the right date to start charging on our credit card because it's sale at NBS. And am looking forward to the Manila Book Fair. I plan to start shopping for Christmas gifts to nieces and nephews early. I am hoping OMF Lit books will be on sale as I intend to buy a collection of the children's books.

Sigh. Bliss. I spent some 5 hours at Booksale and NBS this afternoon.

Again, bliss.