Random books by random authors

Of late, the books I bought for myself were really random. The one I am reading right now is from Kinokuniya, titled Grace by Linn Ullmann. I remember I started this randomness with Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger. That was at least a year ago. Either it shows how little I've read since the last one year or I've begun to love this randomness. Or, the randomness allowed in my life has been pathetically reduced to only decision on books.

Forget about the last sentence. Two weeks ago, I was at Kinokuniya again, after a long break from bookstores (or any shopping malls). I couldn't help but to pick up this book which was on 25% discount if I also bought another item in the same receipt. It was already cheaper than average books even before its discount! Well, apparently this book was made into film, too - Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, directed by David Fincher, starred Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter and Edward Norton.

I've had Fight Club neatly jacketed and taken a peek at the first chapter. I know I'd love that book :)

Then yesterday, I was at MPH in Mid Valley. I stumbled upon some books at sections from local authors, and picked up two on the way out: Seeds of Love by Azizi Hj. Abdullah and Malacca: A Romance by Kamsiah M Bostock. I haven't started reading them properly but there's something about the way of their writings that prompted me to give them a chance, something I think I might not regret doing.

For the record, I have never heard of any of the books mentioned above before I bought them. And all of them are quite thin - not more than 220 pages with their size at most half of A4 paper.

Szuchen was amused at the fact that I could randomly pick up a book by an author I've never heard of. I guess the reason I like to do this is because I like the refreshing feeling every time I read from a different author, especially those who are new to me. Roald Dahl was the one who inspired me to pay attention to an author's personality and character via his or her writings. Though the stories may have nothing to do with the author's real life, it's still a form of communication between the author and his readers. Words are indeed powerful when it comes to revealing "messages". Of course, I should not relate a person's writing to his true self in real life. Again, every author has his own writing style and it's just amazing how stories are told via sentences of different structures.

The point of me writing this post is: I'd like to kindly suggest friends who know I love books not to buy me books as gifts. Of course, it's still the thought that matters and if you found any book that you think I might like it, bring it on! If not, I'd prefer to buy my own books for now. Besides, if you know me really, REALLY well, you'd know that I have even more books which I haven't finished reading *guilt* So you're just being a good friend not to indulge me in this bad habit of not finishing books.