Filipino Friday: Introductions

As with every start of a weekly meme, we need to know a bit about you! Talk about your top 3-5 (or more!) favorite books of all time, the genres you read and would never read, the books that surprised you this year. You can also talk about how you became a reader and why you love it so much! And finally, if you were in the ReaderCon last year, talk about your experience too! If you weren't there, but you?re planning to go this year, then what do you expect for the upcoming ReaderCon?

Friday meme from Filipino ReaderCon

I got into serious reading when I was 12, but even before those years I was already reading stuff, though I couldn't finish up to the last page of the book. My moment of glory happened when I finally finished reading a Nancy Drew paperback novel back in grade school (can't remember the title, sorry)! It was a great thing to finish reading a book as a kid. I mean, it takes patience to really sit down and spend hours on it, and when you're a kid, the temptation to go out and just play is quite a challenge to overcome. So when I finally accomplished this task, I started reading more and more books. I finished all the Nancy Drew hardbound books in our library, then I got fixated with Sweet Valley, and the rest was history. :)

Here are just some of the things I love about the hobby.

Top 3 books:

Belgariad and Malloreon series by David Eddings
Yes, it's a series, but I'd be crazy to pick just one. Besides, you can't appreciate the entire lore without reading the entire thing.
 

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin
And another one! Seriously, this is by far, the best fantasy series (aside from #1) that evoked so much strong and violent reactions in me while reading. Anyone who's read the books would agree that GRRM trolled us all with his awesome characters and breathtaking plot twists.

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
I loved Showtime's The Tudors series, and I became an instant fan of Catherine of Aragon. Philippa Gregory's novel in Henry VIII's first wife was my first foray into historical fiction and I absolutely love her writing.

Genres I read:

Romance. I started out early with Sweet Dreams and Lovestories, then later on progressed to Judith McNaught, Jude Deveraux and Julie Garwood. Yeah, romance is a genre that is sometimes looked down upon by the "serious" reading crowd, but hey, as long as it got me reading, it's no big deal.
 

Fantasy. My first foray into fantasy was when I picked up a David Eddings book in the library (The Diamond Throne) and got curious if I'd like it. I liked Eddings's brand of fantasy and it was because of his books that I've started to "mature" as a reader and go for more books and genres outside romance.

Historical Fiction. As mentioned, Philippa Gregory initiated me into this awesome genre of British history, particularly her Tudors series. As an offshoot, I started reading other authors of the same genre, although admittedly, still about the Tudors. I still have to get a firm grasp of European history for me to appreciate other stories in that period.

Speculative Fiction. By this I mean all the other subgenres under this umbrella, all thanks to the Philippine Speculative Fiction anthology. I'm actually trying my hand into writing some stuff under this category, and I'm really liking it so far.

Genres I don't read:

Horror. Well, I haven't actually tried reading one book, probably because I'm not sure which author is a good initiator into the genre. I just got lucky with fantasy with Eddings, but I'm still a bit adamant that if I try to pick one and get burned, I might not pick up another one from this category.
 

Sci-fi. While I mentioned I read spec fic, sci-fi doesn't really appeal to me, probably because I find descriptions of highly technical  stuff boring.
 

Literary fiction. One word: nosebleed.