Filipino Friday 2013 #1 What Species of Book Reader Am I? Definitely Azkal

Come to the Filipino Reader Con this coming November 9!

First of all, let me just give a bit of a background. I'm participating in this year's Filipino Reader Con preparations. As an avid reader, I'm very happy to contribute to the Reader Con's Filipino book blogger Fridays.

So today, the idea is a bit of an introduction but instead of using a conventional way of introducing ourselves, we need to use the reader classifications made by Laura E. Kelly (see graphic below).

I am definitely a mongrel reader. So, how do I love books? Let me count the ways.

1. I am a compulsive book cherisher.

• I am a book worshipper. I keep collecting and collecting books. I tried giving them away to libraries and reading programs....but I end up getting more books, anyway. 
• I am also a book hoarder. I collect but I don't necessarily read them all. This is related to my being a conflicted reader...but we'll get there later. 
• I'm also a compulsive book buyer. This is now related to my being a book rescuer because I'd definitely burn holes in my pocket if I just kept going for brand new books.

2. I am also a compulsive book abuser

• I am a book rescuer. Whenever I go do the groceries, whether I'm in Shopwise or in Pioneer Center, I end up in the secondhand bookshops there. I find some excuse and then I can't leave empty handed. 
• I am NOT a book underliner and scribbler but I wanted to take this up because my mother was certainly this type of book abuser. I'm glad she did it. And I love her for it. I cherish all those underlines and notes. 
• I am a self-confessed promiscuous reader. Sometimes I read three different books in the same day but in different situations (see situational reader later on). Or sometimes I abandon the other book or books I'm reading in favor of one that has become more interesting or un-put-down-able. 

3. I am a situational reader

• As a situational reader, I am an omni-reader. I read anything, even receipts and labels and food ingredients. Anything. When I eat breakfast, I am reading the nutrition table on the milk box. When I am stuck anywhere and I didn't bring my own reading material, I hunt around for something to read.
• I am also an app happy reader. Whenever I am waiting for my husband to pick me up I read a book on my iPhone. Whenever I am waiting, in general, I am reading on the most convenient form of book, the eBook. 
• I am a sleepy bedtime reader. I think this gets me into trouble because my reading time eats into my sleeping time. I also read somewhere that the glow from a digital device (even when it's in night mode) affects my sleepiness. So there. I am in the bad habit of doing this. The thing is, I can't help it. 
• I am a bathroom reader. Haha! That sounds gross. But it's been something that I've done since way back. I can't go into the bathroom to do you-know-what without a book. I have to confess too...I end up shouting from the bathroom to have someone pass me a book because I just can't do it without a book. Sorry, TMI. 

4. I am a social reader

• I am a book clubber. I can't do without my book club mates. There are some things I can only discuss with my book club. Although my book club is kind of delinquent, it doesn't stop us from reading outside of our reading list and doing Facebook shout-outs to each other about what we're reading. 

5. I am also a free range reader

• It's complicated for me. I read anything. I read YA and, as a mom, I read toddler books too. I read anything. But don't get me wrong, I'm also a resister (see below). 

6. I'm a conflicted reader too. I'm a self-confessed delayed onset reader and a slow starter when it comes to some books. Some examples of these books: Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns (now that I've read it, I can't wait to read his other books! And I can't believe I waited months to read his book). It took me a very long time to continue reading the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book too. It had to do with the format, I think. I'll explain in another post when we talk about eBook and print book reading habits. I remember that it took me a very long time to get start started with To Kill a Mockingbird. But when I did read it, I couldn't put it down and I was in tears when I finished reading the book. 

So there, that's me, the azkal reader. :-) Glad to meet you!

Infographic by Laura E. Kelly.

Visit Laura-e-Kelly.com for more about books, reading, and authors.