BOOKSHELF REORGANIZATION.
I decided to do something productive on the third day of my Christmas break. It has been two years since I last cleaned and organized my shelves. It was not because I didnāt have the time. I just lost the excitement because of D.
Hereās a little background story.
I started reading and collecting books in 2012. Prior to that, I was an ultimate ābook nerd hater.ā My friends and I insulted book nerds. We condemned books and reading. We thought reading was for nerds, one thing we didnāt want to be called, and it was nothing but boring.
I grew up surrounded by books. I know, I know, ironic, isnāt it? My parents made sure my siblings and I grew up bookworms like they did. I learned how to read at the age of five and if I remember it correctly, when I was kid, I couldnāt sleep without reading a book or two. I donāt know what happened when I reached fifth grade. Perhaps because technology and social networking sites have become rampant that reading books became the bottom of my priority list.
Then one day, a miracle happened.
Summer of 2012, we just got back from La Union where we had a mini reunion during the Holy Week. One of my cousins asked if she could use my PC because she needed to download something for her project (she was an IT student, sheās a graduate now) and then we found out that our router was having a malfunction.
My dad promised that he would have it fixed right away, knowing us who canāt survive one day without Facebook.
It took PLDT two weeks to respond. By then we were more than bored. I was already cursing PLDT because my cousins were leaving the next day and there was no internet and I was dying of boredom. So my cousins tagged me along as they went to check on books at the local bookstore. Theyāre avid readers, you see. I was very excited not because we were going to the bookstore but because it was located in SM and strolling around the mall was a breather.
I didnāt end up strolling.
I ended up reading a book instead. It was Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate. My cousins read books for almost two hours and because they asked me to wait for them which definitely bore me the heck out of me, I had to grab a book and check it out as well.
That started my journey with books.
I then realized the book I was reading was part of a series and it wasnāt the first book. I searched the shelf and saw Torment, which had a similar cover, and thought of buying it as soon as possible. I asked my dad a day after if I could buy it and he happily said yes.
There you have it. I bought Torment by Lauren Kate. I was rather stoked to start reading when I got home. I even grabbed a pencil to mark the words I didnāt understand and even underline my favorite lines. My mom saw me and told me about her bookworm habits when she was a teenager. She said I inherited that habit from her. She used to read anything and marked everything she didnāt understand. That was how it enhanced her vocabulary and now sheās an English teacher.
Itās funny because Torment isnāt the first book either. Itās Fallen. I discovered it only when I was already halfway through the book. After Torment I went back to the bookstore for Fallen. Unfortunately, Fallen wasnāt available at the bookstore yet. So I had to wait. But since I had nothing else to do and I thought I enjoyed reading, I bought Vampire Academy instead.
From then on, I spend my summers reading books. Actually, not only summers. I buy books every time I have free time even on school days. I even got scolded by my teacher in high school because I was reading instead of doing our thesis.
Who would have thought that a book nerd hater like me would end up as one?
I now own approximately three hundred Young Adult fiction books. Yup,Ā Iām one of those lucky kiddos whose parents support them when it comes to buying books. I also ran my own bookstagram in 2015 which inspired me to read and collect more.Ā
My books became my life. I almost lost them all when I joined a Born Again Christian organization in college. The previous church leaders took the Bible too literally they made us think my books, which consisted mostly of angel-demon-witchcraft-stories, āare a doorway of theĀ āenemy.āā [Yes, those were their exact words.]Ā Funny that I almost believed them and was on the verge of burning my books. Thankfully I didnāt. It turned out those church leaders were actually inhumane, hiding behind the facade of the church.Ā
MY FIRST EVER SHELF WAS ACTUALLY A LADDER which the interior designer painted black to go with my roomās theme. I kept bugging my dad to buy me new shelves as my collection grew. When we finally had the time, he asked his client to make me two huge shelves.Ā
I gradually and painstakingly collected hardbacks. Back then, buying books was only for reading. But as my pile of books grew bigger, my desire to start a collection only intensified. My dad was actually the one who suggested I collect hardbacks instead. Theyāre quite expensive though so Iām planning to replace all my paperbacks when Iām already a lawyer.Ā
I STOPPED READING AND COLLECTING BOOKS IN 2016 BECAUSE OF MY EX, D. I was still an avid reader at the beginning of our relationship but he was so petty heād get jealous of my books. Yup, pathetic, I know. He loved movies and TV shows but I preferred books. So every time heād watch, Iād bring out a book. But he would always grab the book and set it aside, insisting I should be spending time with him and not with my book. Added is the fact that I lost interest in my fictional boyfriends because I had my own boyfriend anyway.Ā
I tried reading again when we broke up but I just no longer had the heart to.Ā
My interest in reading fictional books was finally rekindled last November when my friends and I went to BGC as a sidetrip during our Bar Operations. I have been to BGC numerous times already but it was the first time Iām visiting Fullybooked. Lo and behold, the sight of V.E. Schwabās A Darker Shade of Magic collectorās edition welcomed me. Once again I was pulled in my own reverie at the sight of books. I was very much amazed I kept squealing! And as if it wasnāt enough, Ellie, one of my fellow bookworms, enticed me to go and buy some.Ā āBumili ka na, ang tagal nanaman bago tayo makakabalik because Law school.ā were her exact words. Demonyo talaga HAHAHAHAHA. So I bought three: A Darker Shade of Magic, The Raven King and The Crooked Kingdom.Ā
The sight of the books, the excitement of buying them, of holding them, it was a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling. I donāt know how else I can describe the pleasure of holding my new books. All I know is, Iām finally home.Ā
Iāve yet to post pictures of my second shelf. Coincidentally, my ipad ran out of battery when I was about to send the pictures to post.Ā
