The World of Make Believe

Let's talk about one of my loves - fiction! Being the cheapskate that I am, most of the books I own are either acquired free as gifts, or bought at bargain prices. However, the few expensive (this is a relative adjective) ones that I bought were purchases I never regretted - worthy investments, I would say.

Personally, I am so outdated when it comes to reading. In fact, I have a penchant for reading certain books over and over again regardless of its year of publication or popularity. When J.K. Rowlings' "Harry Potter" books hit the country many years ago, I started getting into the bandwagon about a couple of years late and after a lot of convincing. When the controversial "His Dark Materials" series (Philip Pullman) became a hit in America, I thought I would eventually be proud of being one of those who first acquired the whole set in our country (courtesy of my dear friend Cherrie Gow-Lim), but the hoopla fizzled out and didn't make it to our shores, thankfully - no thanks to that dismal movie version of the first book of the series, "The Golden Compass" with Nicole Kidman. And when some younger friends started raving about "The Hungry Games" (Suzanne Collins), I told myself that I should check that out before it becomes a movie and now I guess I'm too late. The only fantasy series I fell in love with in recent years are those of David Eddings and Frank Peretti. (Of course, I read the series of J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis as a young kid and I never re-visited them until the movie versions came out.)

So which fiction am I reading now? Frank Peretti's "The Visitation." I'll blog about it when I'm done. I'm also interested in getting myself a copy of "Caleb's Crossing" by Geraldine Brooks, because it was cited by Christianity Today as the best fiction of 2011. So here's to more exciting adventures in the world of books for this new year!