I, (Reading) Robot

My first recollection of reading.... was of these tiny books on dragons. This was when I was in 1st or 2nd grade. Our library teacher required us to read a book, tell her the story and then get another book. I always prided myself on being able to read more books than most people!! For a geek like me... this was my area of excellence.

I have come a long way since then... and yet.. I dont think I have read as much as I could or should have. Throughout my childhood, my parents encouraged us to read. More of books than comics. So...I read. My school had a HUGE collection of books by Enid Blyton and I believe I read over half of them. My library teachers knew me pretty well as I would often go in between classes to check out a new book (We were allowed only one book at a time). After Enid Blytons, came a period of Hardy Boys.... and then...I got hooked to Asimov. Asimov has been my favourite science fiction author. So, now that the movie 'I, Robot', has been released here in the US, I remembered his book on which the movie has been based. I believe the story has been changed quite a bit... but then... thats what hollywood does, isn't it?? And then... I thought I should blog on my reading habits.

My sister also loved books... and has always been better read than me. She was the one who introduced me to a lot of the classics. We would go to every book exhibition we came across.. and in general.. buy a lot of books. At that time, I read a lot of classics... Robin Hoods.. and Treasure Islands... P.G. Wodehouses and all about Jeeves. One of my favourite books was Swiss Family Robinson. I always enjoyed the idea of living far away from society... making things by yourself. However, I tend to be too lazy to do anything by myself.

Later .. she diverged towards the more romantic kind of books.. which were not exactly my cup of tea (Milk?? Hmm... I dont drink tea). Well, anyway, I started reading more of science fiction. A few thrillers here and there... some more science fiction.Micheal Crichton... Robin Cook.. Robert Ludlum.. Jeffrey Archer.. John Le Carre.. Sidney Sheldon.. Mario Puzo.. and some others have been my mainstay here over the past few years.

I have also loved autobiographies. Havent read many... but prominent ones I liked include Lee Iacocca's, Mahatma gandhi's, Akio Morita's (The co-founder of Sony)...The story of Hilton...

However...I never thought I could read philosophy. Herman Hesse. The man changed my life. And so did the person who introduced me to him. You see, I have always felt that I was different from my friends. Somehow...I thought differently... had different views.. and different ways of approaching things. Both of the above showed me I was not alone in this world. There were others in this world.. who had similar ways of thinking.

Books.... ahh...Wonder if I'll ever get tired of them...