I love reading, but…

…sometimes I find myself unable to manage my reading properly. I usually read while breastfeeding my daughter, lying down in the bed. Once when I got back from work, and next when I put her to sleep, about 10-20 minutes each session. This routine works well for me. Unfortunately, when I get hooked (usually to a fiction, rarely a non-fiction), I would sometimes spent unreasonably too much time on it (usually on weekends), eager to know what happens next. Then, the laundry can wait. The new recipe can wait. When my kids wants to read with me, I get them each a book and said “Jom kita baca buku sama-sama, Ummi baca buku Ummi, Along baca buku Along, Adik baca buku Adik” instead of reading with or to them! Worse, I tried to arrange for them to entertain themselves or for someone else to entertain them for awhile, so that they don’t kacau me. That’s so bad! I act as if I was back in student days, when the only things that worried me were homeworks and exams (and even then I didn't worry too much about them ;p), when I now have other responsibilities to attend to.

Sometimes, I’d get so involved in a story - I just need to know what happens next, and I would stay up after the kids fall asleep. I, who wouldn’t stay up to finish an overdue report, or to do an overdue house chore, or to do an overdue stock check, would stay up to read a (far from overdue) storybook. I wouldn’t even know how long I stayed up, because I wouldn’t look at the watch before going to sleep, thinking my brain not knowing the time would fool my body clock (yeah right). The thing is, I usually find it harder to fall asleep after my usual bedtime, and to add to that, I would still be thinking about the story I just read. And the next morning, I would find myself feeling tired from not getting enough rest, and even more dangerous, sleepy behind the wheels! In conclusion, I have to learn to control myself, and something that is inherently good, reading in this case, may not be good in totality when not managed properly.

And the book that had me staying up a few nights ago, was A Prisoner Of Birth by Jeffrey Archer. I’ve always liked Jeffrey Archer, and when I read Suraiya’s glowing review, I really wanted to read it. Luckily, I came across a blog selling secondhand books (but the blog no longer exist, somehow) advertising this book for RM18 only, half the original price! (By the way, if you know of any good secondhand-books-for-sale blogs, do let me know!) The blurb in the front page stated “His best in years” and I agree! I had read his previous work The False Impression a few months ago, and this is way better. I had fully enjoyed the story, despite the fact that some parts are too convenient to be true. I accept the work to be just a story, not necessarily a believable one. The story is about a man’s quest to clear his name from a crime he didn’t commit, and to seek revenge on the men responsible for framing him. The story is broken down into five chapters: The Trial, Prison, Freedom, Revenge and Redemption. The story is clever and witty, definitely something that I would read again.