#37 Follow Friday with book bloggers: XOX

2018-04-27 13:58

Hello Friday. Hello Friday with book bloggers. Meet a blogger who loves the paper books and long walks in the bookstores.

Follow XOX blog on BookLikes: http://xox.booklikes.com/

What are you reading right now? How do you like it?

Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. Liking it a lot so far. Steven Pinker put forth a reasonable argument that humans are progressing and need to be returned to the state of enlightenment.

Which book made you a book lover?

"The Vampire Lestat" by Anne Rice. I read this when I was still a teenager and it led me to discover a much bigger, stranger world of books. Before this book, I was still reading children and young adult fictions exclusively. I began to discover my own taste for books by trial and error. This book reading habit stays with me to my adult years. I like reading books and prefer it to a lot of other time-consuming activities.

How did your book blogging adventure start? What do you enjoy the most about it?

From GR, LibraryThing. I keep buying the same books because I'm not reading as fast as my book buying habit. So, I need to keep track on what I have already bought and that this led me to join readers' sites. I started it with a note basically reminding myself how I feel about a book. And now with Booklikes, I get to update even more often to have a snapshot of my reaction to the books I'm reading. I enjoy the interaction between readers on BL and I enjoyed reading other readers' blog. I see it as a form of exchange between readers who love books.

Your blog name is XOX. Can you tell us more about this phrase and why it’s your blog title?

XOX is an old screen name. It came from how I used to sign cards when I was very little. It then become my screen name. I also like the neutrality of it that helped to skip over the preconception people have on gender and race. I quite like it.

Which books are you most excited recommending to your followers?

Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams books. Their books are enjoyable, and lead readers to think while being humorous with a certain light-heartedness to it. Anyone could lecture readers in their books if they have something important to say. But telling readers something without lecturing at them, that take skills.

How do you find new books to read?

By going to the bookstores and see what's new. I'm a strong support of physical bookstores and prefer to buy every book in person. Sometimes I find books to read by reading book blogs. Readers honest reviews are wonderful introduction to new books, especially books that are not usually in the same genre I usually read.

Are you an adventurous reader picking up new genres or are you loyal to your favorite book genres?

Adventurous to a certain extend. In the fear of missing out on things, I would try to dip into a genre and see if could build a taste for it. I stay loyal to a certain genres because they are a joy to read. But venture out for balance, so I wouldn't miss out too much.

Reviewed Shelf

According to your BookLikes Read Shelf you’ve read over 2K books! How much time do you spend reading daily?

Every waking hours when I'm not doing something else. I always have a book with me, so that I could read on the train, or read while waiting for the food to arrive during lunch. When other people are scrolling on their phones, I would be reading usually. I would rather lessen my phone scrolling time and devote it to reading.

Do you review all read books? How do you write a book review?

I do now. I used to pick books to review. With this site, I reviewed almost all the books I read. My book review is very personal as I imagine me as a the reader. This is for me to read when I'm older and found a familiar book on the shelf, but could no longer recall what it is about. It would be good to have a detail book review on this book, regarding what it is about, who are the main characters and what I like or dislike about it. A book and a reader has a personal relationship that last the duration of the reading. At the end, what I gain from this short interlude, I wrote it down in the review.

What are your three favorite book covers?

Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Our Young Man by Edmund White.

Why reading is important to you?

Reading benefit me in a lot of ways. Reading non-fiction books let me learn about things that writers have spent years to master. I benefit from what experts have already known in their respective field. Reading fiction let me go into the minds of the characters and learn what other people/characters are thinking, and in turn, learn about myself and my own thinking. I grow with reading.

A paper book or an e-book?

Paper book. Strong support for paper books. As I said earlier, I like physical bookstores and the human interaction that comes with it. If I got an e-book, I might have to re-read it in paper form. As e-book still lack the certain something for me.

Three titles for a holiday break?
Macbeth by Nesbo Jo
The Fallen by David Baldacci

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande