During the final few days of the Hong Kong Literary Festival I saw plenty of books at the events, and I saw a lot of books around town, too. After meeting so many inspiring writers I spent a lot of the weekend writing. There were people reading in the coffee shops where I sat with my laptop and my copy of Rhubarb. There were people reading at bus stops and even in the cinema, but it was hard to see the titles. I saw a schoolgirl reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami on the MTR. I saw someone else reading a book called December. I counted just two Chinese books in people's hands this week, plus two graphic novels and a few textbooks.
What are people reading in your town this weekend?
Wow, sounds like all of HK is getting their read on! Awesome! On my end, this week has been a better week for spotting readers, although there were no English books, I saw a young guy sitting on my street reading a 'novel of chivalry', an older guy sitting in the park reading a Chinese novel, a girl on the bus to Taipei reading what looked like a book about meditation and the man who sat next to me on the bus today was reading an e-reader called the Cube. No idea if he was reading in Chinese or English as he got a little disconcerted when he caught me looking with interest at his reader so I stuck my nose back into my own book - Someone knows my name.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is reading Journey by James Michener, set in freezing cold Canada during the Klondike. Very apt as we still have frost on the car in the mornings!Apart from that I've only seen newspapers being read this weekend.
ReplyDeleteWhile sitting in the park at our library I saw two people reading Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. I'd read the book and enjoyed it immensely. The book takes place during World War II in Seattle, Wa where I live. It's sad, tender and sweet and brings up a sense of outrage.
ReplyDeleteRegards - Mari
http://mariscamera.blogspot.com/
It's great to hear that there are so many books around this week! Thanks for keeping an eye out everyone. I haven't read those books, though I have heard great things about Bitter and Sweet.
ReplyDeleteI think I've been caught staring at people's books and e-readers too. It's a little awkward, but this is a big city so chances are I'll never see the people again :).