Bookworm Princess

I was six or seven when my father asked me if i understood the content of the news mag i was pretending to read intently. I told him no but i surely admired its glossy pages. It was a Newsweek or a Times magazine (i couldn’t exactly remember which), my dad subscribed during his stint at the Ministry of Human Settlement in the Marcos regime, that brought me into the world of reading. He might have foresighted that i would become a voracious reader so he bought me a complete set of Grolier encyclopedia and countless of reading materials as i was growing up.

The kid thrillers of Nancy Drew were my grade school faves. During that time, i preferred reading books than playing chinese garters or marbles with my childhood friends. No kidding. Then, i graduated to Francine Pascal’s “Sweet Valley High” and “Sweet Valley University” series. How could one forget the celebrated twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield? I basically grew up with them. When my imagination increased to more complicated twists, i would secretly read my mom’s Mills & Boons in my mid-high days. Wow, i was indeed baptized with some erotic fantasies! One night, my mother caught me curling up with Daniel Steel’s “Kaleidoscope” (which i sneaked from her room) and she scolded me endlessly. Maybe she was just afraid that i would learn about sex at an early age. Haha. Then collecting novels became my hobby. I used to love Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham, Mary Higgins-Clark, Tom Clancy, Stephen King, and Daniel Steel.

In our family, i was known as a “cold fish princess” because i used to ignore everyone at home whenever i was holding a paperback. I simply loved to stay in my bedroom and get lost in the pages of the book i was reading. Now, i am not the "cold fish princess" anymore. They now call me "the bookworm princess"!