This week I spotted quite a few English books around Hong Kong. While riding the MTR one day I saw a girl in a school uniform reading The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan. She was standing next to a boy reading a graphic novel. The next day, I stood by a young woman and happened to peek over her shoulder at her book. She was reading In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut and was on a chapter called The Lover. I saw two women sitting together and pouring over what appeared to be a Mandarin textbook for English speakers. They were practicing their characters on a notepad. In a coffee shop on Saturday afternoon, I saw a woman reading a book with a pretty cover and a forgettable title that I believe had something to do with summer and a guy reading a book whose title ended in the word lair although I couldn't see the rest of the cover. Today I walked past a man carrying an old paperback with the Mona Lisa on the front. Does anyone know what the book might have been? I saw a young man holding a tablet computer in an MTR station, and I could see that he was reading a book in English. Usually iPad and Galaxy Tab users are checking email or playing games when I see them, so this was noteworthy. I spotted two people carrying Hong Kong guidebooks this week, and I counted three books in Chinese.
What are people reading in your town this week?
I can't think of that book with the Mona Lisa cover, but I've read Damon Galgut's "In a Strange Room" and loved it!
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