Prelude

To Name a blog is like naming a new-born baby. After careful consideration, I’ve decided to name it Read, as this is what I do most of the time.

I looked up the definition of the word ‘read’ from dictionary.com, it turn out to have over 20 definitions, here are some of it, to look at carefully so as to understand the meaning of (something written, printed, etc.); to utter aloud or render in speech; to have such knowledge of (a language) as to be able to understand things written in it; to apprehend or interpret the meaning of (gestures, movements, signals, or the like); to make out the significance of by scrutiny or observation; to anticipate, expect, or calculate by observation; to foresee, foretell, or predict; to interpret or attribute a meaning to (a written text), a musical composition, etc.); to read the work of (an author); to learn by or as if by reading.

Now I see this is what I am doing all the time: to read and to learn.

I was browsing through Atria’s Big Bookshop Sale the other day and saw Joan Didion’s omnibus essay collection, Live and Learn, comprises her previous 3 essay collections: Slouching Towards Bethelehem, The White Album and After Henry . I grabbed it right away. The title really speaks my mind.

To blog in English, indeed, I consider as a great challenge to me, due to my broken English and likely grammatical error. Anyway, to improve my English is one of my 2007 New Year resolutions.

Oh yes, my TBR(To-Be-Read) challenge will be on the raod too. I’ll start by reading W.G. Sebald's Vertigo. Btw, here is my 2007 TBR list:

Where I was From > Joan Didion
Beyond Black > Hilary Mantel
26a > Diana Evans
The Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard > Kiran Desai
The White Teeth > Zadie Smith
Remains of the Days > Kazuo Ishiguro
Vertigo > W.G. Sebald
The Known World > Edward P. Jones
Kandahar Cockney > James Ferguson
Name All the Animals > Alison Smith
In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs > Christopher de Bellaigue
Mediterranean Winter > Robert D. Kaplan

Happy Reading!