Things I Love: #2. Books

Since D worked for a book publishing company for 27 years, it is no surprise that I love books too. When I was still a little kid, five or six years old, he would take me to his office, give me a book to read and leave me to do his works. I never cried if I was given a book to read, he said.

Whenever I asked D something, he would look to the books, pull one of them, and find the answers in it. Instead of going to amusement parks, he would take me to bookstores or book fairs for the weekend. He would give me books for my birthdays. Now I buy my own books. Oh dear, I am really a nerd. So uncool, eh?

I usually go to second hand bookstore for old school Japanese manga. Or to Kompas's employee big sale where they sell English book at between Rp 20,000 (US$ 2) and Rp 50,000. It's for employees only, but since we're sister companies, I can sneak in:). Sometimes I also borrow the books from my friends, my office's library or Kompas's library. Ahh, the joy of having Kompas newspaper as our neighbor:).

With the blooming of e-book, the iPads and Kindles are rising too. But for me, books are more appealing because I love the artworks/graphic/illustration on the cover. Also, looking to the screen for a long period of time is not good for your eyes.

I feel weird if I don't have a reading material next to my bed. Currently, I'm on the 900-something page of the 1,400-something page of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. It's been a struggle to finish Tolstoy. In fact, I made a post on this book last year! After that book, I still have a book by Naguib Mahfouz and Stephen King's Green Mile.

Unfortunately, not everyone I know share this love. Whenever I lent my books, they came back to me with stains, torn/folded pages and even graffiti. This is why I never lend books anymore. Call me stingy if you like, but the stingy one is, I think, the person who does not buy the books, borrows from other people, and refuses to repair/replace the torn and borrowed books. Books contain knowledge, respect them, please.