This week I spotted a schoolgirl on the MTR reading a book called Mirrors. A woman on another train was reading a pocket-size Bible with red-edged pages. I saw a woman in Kowloon Park carrying a pink and purple hardcover book that was bigger than most textbooks. On Sunday I saw a group of women sitting on picnic blankets and swapping worn paperbacks. Today I spotted a young man reading a thick Penguin Classic when I was walking into KFC, but I didn't get close enough to see the title. I counted three Chinese books, one graphic novel, and one Kindle in various locations throughout Hong Kong.
In other news, I just booked a plane ticket to Shanghai! I'll be there during some of the Shanghai Literary Festival, and I'll tell you all about it in a few weeks.
What are people reading in your town this week?
I have had a poor week for bookspotting, I've spotted only a few English guidebooks. Then at Discovery Bay on Saturday, I saw a man and his son in Dymocks buying the boy a book then saw them again later in Pacific Coffee looking at it together. Not close enough to see the title, but they were both laughing.
ReplyDeleteI loved Shanghai, especially the older parts.
That sounds like a nice thing to see. I would love to know what they were reading too!
DeleteHave a wonderful time in Shanghai! There is such a great line up this year at the lit fest! I can't wait to hear all about it.
ReplyDeleteI went to a party last week and scanned the sparse bookshelf. The book that stood out was Jaycee Dugard's memoir. I'm not sure why I noticed that more than the others?
Thank you! I'm really looking forward to it, though I haven't decided which events to attend yet. I want to leave a little bit of time to see the city!
DeleteI am interested in reading Jaycee Dugard's memoir, but I think I want to pick a time when it'll be okay to be a bit sad afterward.
I guess you are going to the Shanghai Literary Festival at M on the Bund restaurant. They have a M Literary Residency which you might wish to apply. I have the list of the authors attending, but hopefully, some literary agents and book publishers will also be there.
ReplyDeleteYes, it'll be at M on the Bund. I'm staying with one of my writer friends who moved there from HK recently. I didn't know about the literary residency. I don't think any agents are scheduled to attend, but that would be a great opportunity. There were two agents at the HK Literary Festival last year, but my book was nowhere near ready at the time.
DeleteBookspotting. What a novel idea! I'm going to try this game.
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely try it! But look out: once you start bookspotting it's very difficult to stop :).
Delete