My bookshelf
Reading is probably one of the core hobbies that I've continued since childhood. I was reading before I learnt to play the piano, before I was introduced to programming and before I could play any sort of video game.
Throughout primary school I enjoyed reading fun adventure series like Zac Power, Geronimo Stilton and The Ranger's Apprentice. These provided fun worlds in which every book explored in a self-contained story. They were perfect for a young me looking for some light-hearted entertainment.
In high school I began to have less time to read, especially as I entered my senior years of schooling. Earlier on, however, I still had time to read a couple of books/series that I still remember enjoying. First was Magician by Raymond E. Feist. This book introduced me to epic fantasy. I honestly don't remember much about the plot now, but I have a distinct memory attached to this book of being enthralled by Pug. Not of his fate but his journey and how he navigated his new, un-fairytale-like, situation. Second was Asimov's Foundation series that fed my desire for science-fiction. I was absorbed into the impossibility of Hari Seldon's "psychohistory" and amazed by how Asimov built upon the concept of a "Foundation" at the edge of the universe. By being a story taking place over centuries, I was given a unique perspective of seeing the creation of legacy that I have never found in any other book. Finally, a friend recommended the The Final Empire from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and thus brought me into the Cosmere (Sanderson's meta universe in which many of his books take place), although I was unaware of this at the time. The detailed power system of Allomancy grounded me in the novel. Vin's discovery of the secrets of her world pulled me to the end of the first three books.
The common thread I among these, I have learnt, is my enjoyment of stories set on grand stages. I am enraptured by the fates of nations and continents. The most important feature of these epics for me is the careful planning and placement of key characters and plot points that give the reader marvelous "aha!" moments when all is revealed.
But now I don't simply value books for their grand scale and subtle foreshadowing. Towards the end of my secondary education I was required to read A Gentleman in Moscow and Emma as part of my Advanced English subject. From the former, I learnt that authors can create wonderful experiences without needing a riveting plot. That when compared to an intrepid adventurer exploring unknown depths, the day to day of a person is as rich, if not more, with thoughts and emotions. From the latter, I learnt to appreciate an author's mastery of language to explore what it was to be human. That words not said could reveal more about a person than the dozens of words the do choose to say.
To me, the best books are not simply ones that entertain for hours or even tens of hours.
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the intrigue of a good who-dunnit and the romance of an adventure to save the world from some greater evil.
But the best books? They draw you into the people. They make you experience being human in ways you never knew.
In ways that I cannot adequately describe.
In ways that you can only know from reading the best of books.
This page was last updated on: 12/02/2026