sadya

You may feel as leery about it as you wish, we are all entitled to our own opinions. I'd rather not be hurt again by other people, thank you. Too often my kindness has been returned by nastiness. I doubt you would like people who treat you that way. Unless you are like them . . .

Hi, I'm from the Netherlands too. I haven't read that book though, sorry.

I have only read East of Eden. It was an epic book. Different from the movie and the series. I ended up liking the book more than both the movie and the series.

Under normal circumstances I don't care if they see what I read. However, I have been accused a few times that I carry certain books just to 'show off' and that I don't really read them. They said that I as someone from a foreign descent couldn't possible read those books. They just refused to believe I enjoy reading that material . . . I was just sitting somewhere by myself reading, no matter if I'm at work or in some public space, people often make these kinds of remarks towards me. So for a long time I began hiding what I read. Now I just read anything, and if they make these nasty remarks, I either ignore them or I start talking about books I have read and ask them what they think of the many theories and authors. A question people who makes these kinds of nasty remarks mostly don't know how to answer. After that they tend to leave me and my books alone. Books are the best company. If I could choose between a book and a human, I'd go for the book any time.

Arundhati Roy. She did write non-fiction in later years, but I'd love to read more of her wonderful poetic fiction. Sue Townsend. No amount of books she published was enough. Still miss her writing. And agreed about Tolkien and Austen.

Literary critics used to be no less than art-popes. Rough translation from a booklet by Dutch author and teacher Elsbeth Etty called 'ABC van de literaire kritiek' (ABC of literary criticism).

Yes, reading an e-book at night time is easier. Your arms won't hurt and no fuss with book lamps or book lights, whatever you call them and their batteries.

There are many classic and famous books I still haven't read. Some I never will, they don't interest me and others I've been planning to read for years, but the problem is there are also many many other titles I want to read equally as much.

I can't name one author. There are too many I love. At my age (38), of course I've read many books by now. Amongst my favourites are Sue Townsend, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, Susan Clarke, Elizabeth Kostova and many more. I'm naming the authors who have amazed me and written work I could reread without ever being bored.

'I hold Charles Dickens responsible for the death of my father.' Might not be accurate, as I've translated these originally English words from Dutch to English, because I'm reading a Dutch library book of John Boyne, This house is haunted. So far it's an exciting read, though I'm not scared (yet?), just curious to find out what is actually going on there. Of course it faintly echoes The turn of the screw, but it's still a different story and certainly worth reading so far. I've reached chapter 10.

I haven't come across this often, fortunately. I do remember Tolkien writing things like ' . . . he would regret that soon'. But the way he was telling the story, you still wanted to read on and find out exactly how and why.

I read both e-books and physical books. I don't have an e-book reading device though. I read online e-books on my notebook and I have some e-books on my smartphone which I read using adobe. It works fine. It's great to get e-books from the internet, because not all books are available in the Netherlands. And of course it's amazing to have so much reading material without having to carry the weight. However, I still prefer physical books over e-books. My book case is my favourite piece of furniture. I love seeing my book in it. I enjoy the sight of books anywhere. No e-book could ever really replace 'the real thing' for me.

I read it quite a while ago, and mostly remember how I felt after finishing it. Don't remember much of the story lines in it, there were several, the use of language was unlike anything I had read before. It was an amazing experience.

Our former Dutch prime minister was told by former American president he looked like Harry Potter. Not because of behaviour, but because of his looks. Not sure what to think about that.

Yes, same here, need the processing, but that doesn't stop me to start a new book meanwhile. While doing the dishes or before going to sleep or while doing my groceries or riding my bike, I process the book I still need to think about. A few years ago I started a reading journal. In it, I keep a note of everything I read, if a book is special and why, favourite lines from the book, sometimes how I found it too. While writing about it, if needed I analyse it, think about it more and that helps.

During my childhood in the 80s, popular in the Netherlands were 'Nijntje' books by Dick Bruna (Miffy in English?) and Winnie the Pooh. One of my favourites was the Paddington Bear series which unfortunately was less popular here. Very popular howere were also the Jip and Janneke series, loved the black and white drawings, somehow as a child, I forgot they weren't in colour when listening to the teacher reading their stories to us and then showing us the drawings in the book. Also loved in the Netherlands were the Ot en Sien series, those drawings are still lovely today, but I guess Dora and the Teletubbies have taken over everything nowadays. A more recent book I love for both the storytelling and the drawings is 'The very persistent Gappers of Frip' by George Saunders.

I've kept some books and am trying to find other books which I'd like to read or own again. My childhood wasn't always nice, I was bullied often for being a Pakistani in the Netherlands (there were very few in my town) and because my parents made me wear traditional Pakistani clothing for which I was additionally bullied for years. (which have become popular as 'western' fashion in the past few years in various designs, life is weird like that sometimes). Because of that my books mean more to me than just nice ways to spend time, they were an escape from the bullying and other terrible aspects of life. I don't reread or keep my childhood books to go back in time, it just wasn't nice enough to want to relive that time, I reread my childhood books for the joy and the escape they gave me from a nasty life. On a happier note, I've read some of those books to my children and they loved them too. It's nice sharing your childhood movies and books with your own children.

I have both bought and donated books to charity shops. We even have a special kind of free library/bookshop in Rotterdam called 'Leeszaal West', one can take their books for free and keep them. Anyone can donate anything, even in different languages.

I'd like to add: Mike Gayle: 'The To-Do List: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4700018-the-to-do-list E. M. Delafield: 'Diary of a Provincial Lady' http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249823.Diary_of_a_Provincial_Lady Anything by David Sedaris.

Yes, I sometimes missed messages and even funny references in books I read when I was a child, only to reread them many years later and then discover what else the text was actually saying. But it even happens now at my current age. It's not just missing a message sometimes, it's also having a different interpretation. I often read the reviews of other people after finishing a book and writing my own thoughts about it in my reading journal. Reviews aren't just fun because it's interesting to find out how other people feel about the same book, but they also tell me if I have missed something or they give a different view which is worth considering too.

'After they'd gone Eva slid the bolt across the door and disconnected the telephone'. - The Woman Who Went to Bed for A Year by Sue Townsend

My daughter and I both read a lot, perhaps equally as much. Because of homework, she does read less at times. I read less too sometimes when I'm too busy watching figure skating competitions or I have lots of work to do for example. Since the past two years, I've been mostly rereading a lot of my books. I also did that years ago, after rereading for a long time, I began reading new books again. I see similar patterns in the reading behaviour of my daughter.

It depends on my mood and on the book. I'm capable of finishing a book rather quickly, or so I'm being told by other people.

From everywhere. I read some books because they were mentioned here and on other forums. Sometimes I just happen to see a book in a shop or a library and it's subject or title will get my attention. Then there are various kinds of advertisements, either on tv or somewhere else. Our local paper has a small weekly section discussing one book, something like 'book of the week' sort of thing.

Yes, I'm Dutch too and read in various languages. I read French (with a dictionary!) sometimes and easy Urdu (Pakistani) every now and then. I think I read as much Dutch as English. If I can, I want to read in the language of the author to read the actual words the author used, but I don't mind translations and in some cases, it doesn't really matter. It also depends on availabilty. When I read Proust some years ago, our library didn't have all the volumes. So I ended up reading some in Dutch and the rest in English, both online and from the library.