Reading Habit

I hated reading when I was a kid. I don’t recall reading much when I was still in Vietnam other than a few Chinese knight-errantry that were translated into Vietnamese. When I came to the States, I hated reading even more because I didn’t understand a word I read. Even through college, I never read any of the textbooks I bought. Trying to read philosophy books was just excruciating. Although people always said that reading is good. I ever saw the value in it. I thought it was a waste of time.

My reading habit only began to develop in my senior year of college when I had to read tech books. To my amazement, I was actually learning something from reading. I spent countless times at Borders and Barnes & Noble, drinking coffee and reading latest books on web and graphic design. At the same time, I probably picked up enough English words that could help me get through books. Then I began to read non-fiction simply because I felt like I might as well get something out of it if I am going to spend time to read.

Later on when I started the blog, I branched out to fiction and I paid more attention to the writing than the actual storyline. Some of the fiction writers have their way with words. When I got into jazz, I started to read books in addition to listening to the music. I enjoy reading jazz biographies and jazz criticisms quite a bit. Nowadays, I switch between typography to web design and development to jazz.

I don’t read that fast, but I try to read whenever I have a chance. I read when my kids sleep in the car. I read when I am in the car and I don’t have to drive. I read when I have to wait for somebody. I read before going to bed. Yet the best time for me to read is when I am on vacation. I am lucky that I live closed by George Mason and I am also an employee. I have the entire library within a walking distance from my house and George Mason is quite up-to-date with books on technology.