A cliche goes: “Show me who your friends are and I’ll tell you what you are.” Another cliche: “You are what you eat.” Can a person really be defined based on his habits and associations? If so, then it is also true that we are what we read.
I always thought that what we read reflects our current interests. That’s why we outgrow some kind of books. As we grow older — and, theoretically, more mature — our taste in reading material changes.
On the other hand, our books of choice may reflect the direction that we wish to take in life. Take my kids, for instance. For the past year, Sam had been firm in her decision to become a professional photographer. Alex, on the other hand, wants to be a multimedia artist. I have already introduced her to Jonas Diego’s blog and she has discovered the First Academy of Computer Arts. So, what books did they buy on our last trip to the bookstore?
Alex asked her dad to buy her a copy of Eragon by Christopher Paolini. The operative word is fantasy. Eragon, The Chronicles of Narnia, anime, manga… those are the stuff she imerses herself in.
Sam, on the other hand, asked me to buy her The Magic of Digital Close-up Photography by Joseph Meehan. For that is her forte — macro photography. A sample of her work:
More of Sam’s close-up photography here, here and here.
So, are their choices of books reflective of their current interests or, possibly, their professional paths? Or both?
I think about the books I read in my teens and early twenties and, even today, I cannot see any discernable pattern. I read James Clavell and James Michener mostly. And the only common denominator is that they wrote about adventurers and pioneers. Maybe I admired their characters’ spirit and wanted to be like them.
Oh, and yes, I read my mother’s collection of Perry Mason books. I almost forgot that. 
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sasha 04.15.07 at 3:40 am
Hi tita Connie! Can I call you tita? (Oh well, already did pala hehe! Hope it’s ok with you). I love reading! And ang books na gusto ko are mostly thrillers eh. What does that say about me kaya?
Galing ng shots ng anak mo, tita!
Happy weekend!
Connie 04.15.07 at 1:30 pm
Hi sasha, a lot of bloggers call me tita or ate. i think it’s sweet.
Thrillers? I love them too. Guess that says we’re NEVER BORING. hehehe
And I love horror stories (love Stephen King) too!
Re Sam’s pics. Thanks. When her dad saw the bubbles photo above he said, “Kahit ano ibigay mo sa batang yan, nagagawa nyang maganda.”
andrea 04.15.07 at 1:42 pm
Aba naman, talaga ngang Samantha has an eye for photography!
It’s great if that’s what she really wants to be. I don’t know much about photography pero mukhang she has the talent for it. Pakisabi sa kanya at least di kailangan ng math. Hehe!
karen 04.15.07 at 1:54 pm
miss sassy, after i read this entry, i immediately looked behind me to check my book shelf. i read mostly fiction, majority ng mga stories sa nasa collection ko ay may murder na nangyari at may serial killer…if it’s true that we are what we read… :tiwsted:
at the same time i have books of jane austen, charles dickens, lualhati bautista, and a bunch of pugad baboy books.
btw, that shot that your daughter took looks great. i also like macro photography and i’m saving up for a DSLR.
pinayhekmi 04.15.07 at 2:05 pm
Have you tried reading Dean Koontz too? He’s not in the same league as Stephen King of course but he has some really great works that stand apart. Intensity, Dragon Tears, Odd Thomas.
I wish Mr. King would write a bit more. I know he’s devoted a lot of time on the Dark Tower series (which I’m not caught up on) but still…
Toe 04.15.07 at 2:25 pm
I used to enjoy going to National Bookstore or Bookmark with my parents and siblings when I was young. They would spend a small fortune on books for us kids so we were just given an allowance. Now, they do it to their grandchildren. I do believe that you are what you read. Nyek! I like chicklit… I guess that makes me really mababaw.
Connie 04.15.07 at 6:34 pm
T. Andrea, hahaha kaya din love ko photography, walang math hahahaha
karen, i have a lot of books with serial killers too… i have three versions of jack the ripper’s story
Pinayhekmi, no haven’t tried reading Koontz. Re Dark Towers, I found Books 2 and 3 in a book sale but didn’t buy because I wanted to start with Book 1. Maybe I should have bought them anyway…
Toe, my mother started me out with Barbara Cartland hehehe
annamanila 04.16.07 at 12:11 am
Well, we had our emily loring (or mills and boon stage) which is parallel to the sweet valley high stage at various levels of the later generation.
I must say I had a fling with pulp fiction (a long one) — puzo, robbins, krantz, king. Fortunately, I managed to read )and fall in love) with Steinbeck and Hemingway and Rand and Austen and Dickens in between. Isama ko na din si St. Exupery and Gibran.
Then there was this long stretch — about 10 years, i got tired with fiction and went for the inspirational/pscyhological/philosophical — gaardner, scott peck, covey, the chicken soup for the soul series, the te (taoist) series, the conversations with god series.
Now I am having what I call my women writer stage — si marilyn french, alice walker. Where the action takes place within, not without.
For me, it really goes with how my person evolves. Pero di naman very distinct stages yan. Siempre may overlap.
Also reading Bienvenido Santos, NVM Gonzales and Kerima Polotan lately — so proud of them. Also enjoying Bob Ong. So … may pagkagulo din ano? Parang fusion.
chris 04.16.07 at 8:07 am
Sas,
Eragon is a horrible book. The dialogue is full of cliches and makes me feel that the author is full of himself. I’m a big fantasy novel fan and you may want to ask Alex to try Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. I wish I still had my books, I’d give them to her.
I’m glad Sam is getting into Photography, it is an awesome medium and there is so much more ahead, esp in digital photography. I’ll try to dig up my old photography mags, she may enjoy them.
Connie 04.16.07 at 11:06 am
annamanila, since you liked judith krantz, i presume you like novels with strong female characters… you tried Barbara Taylor Bradford and Howard Fast?
One of my all time favorites is Taylor Caldwell. Captains and the Kings and Testimony of Two Men, especially.
Sadly, Austen put me to sleep. So did Hemingway except for The Sun Also Rises. All time sleeper for me was F Scott Fitzgerald but maybe its a culture issue. Never could understand the mentality of his crowd.
I enjoyed the Bronte sisters though.
Chris, talaga? And I was planning on reading Eragon after Alex is through.
The magazines will be great! Thanks.
rhodora 04.16.07 at 11:55 am
My daughter at one time spent so much money in buying fashion and teen magazines - Meg, Candy, etc. I told her she needed to start reading other materials with more substance. Then I handed her a copy of ‘Wuthering Heights’ for a starter, since I knew this book was commonly prescribed for book reviews in high school. From then on, she learned to love books, kaya lang magastos. Imagine how much paper backs now cost!
You know I have always liked Sam’s photography, especially those micro shots she did before, the ones I cannot forget are her shots of rusty chains and locks and the fishbone!
Connie 04.16.07 at 3:15 pm
rhodora, magazines these days do nothing but glorify consumerism — the wrong kind pa.
I love Wuthering Heights. I’ve read it so many times and there’s always something new to appreciate every time. Even when Carlitos Siguion Reyna adapted it into “Hihintayin Kita sa Langit”, beautiful pa rin. What a story!
Juned 04.16.07 at 3:42 pm
How about an omnivorous reader? Books from A-Z. In all sizes and shapes, except those really expensive ones. Hardbound preferred (especially if in good condition and second-hand), but not averse to buying the pulp book or download any work from the Gutenberg project when available.Favorites include Eric Blair, Samuel Clemmens, Quijano de Manila, Ayn Rand, Isaac Asimov, Edgar Allan Poe, Neil Gaiman, and even Joe Quirino to mention a few. I guess, I really like to read.
ben 04.18.07 at 12:22 pm
Sassy i think Sam is ready for the big leagues in photography. But tell her to read more about places and cultures in the world, starting with our own. I’ve always believed that being well-versed or knowing what’s around you makes for a better photographer and better pictures. She’ll do you proud.
Connie 04.18.07 at 1:59 pm
Joe Quirino, Juned? Interesting… What does he write about?
Ben, re culture: yeah, we’re trying to travel as much as we can. No malls as much as possible. We’re going up to Baguio again in a week or so. This time, I want to make more stops along the way for photography.