This week I took the ferry out to Discovery Bay on Lantau Island. On the way there, a man was reading
Matterhorn:
A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes. Disco Bay is an expat enclave that looks a little like San Diego. People drive around on golf carts, and there's a plaza with a collection of chain restaurants, a Dymocks' bookstore, and an assortment of palm trees. The plaza was filled with Western kids running around in the safe, spacious environment. We had dinner with some friends who live on a houseboat with enough space for a small library. It was an unexpected side of Hong Kong that I don't encounter in my crowded, urban life. On the return ferry, I spotted a girl reading
The Hunger Games, which is becoming an increasingly common sight over here. I spotted a Chinese man on the MTR reading a hardback with a cover like a red-checked tablecloth called
French Children Don't Throw Food. I only spotted two Chinese books this week, plus one Lonely Planet guidebook to China.
What are people reading in your town this week?
I read Matterhorn last year. It's long and I have to admit that I skimmed some places, but I'm so inspired by his writing story (and his distinguished military career). When I was in a bookstore last week buying some gifts, a teenage girl came in looking for the People Magazine special Hunger Games edition. My 13 year old bought a bound magazine thing full of Hunger Games articles and photos.
ReplyDeleteHunger Games fever is definitely hitting Hong Kong. I'm planning to see it again myself this week :).
DeleteNo idea, you rarely see Italians reading in public. I am reading French Lessons by Ellen Sussman, a fun read.
ReplyDeleteDo you think there is a big reading culture in Italy? Is it there, but hidden? I started bookspotting because I felt it was so rare to see people reading anything besides their smartphones in HK. Now that I've started looking I see readers more often.
DeleteNot a huge one Shannon although there are a fair number of Italian Bookcrossers and Bookmoochers there do not seem to be many in the more rural areas! Italian visitors to our house are always amazed by the number of books we have in the house!
DeleteI hope you'll do a Walking Tour of Discovery Bay sometime; I'd love to see photos. It seems like the only books I see out in public these days are the "Girl Who Kicked a Hornets Nest" and the others of the same ick. I mean ilk.
ReplyDeleteI would like to do a Disco Bay tour, ideally with someone who knows their way around. I've seen a few Stieg Larsson books around, usually in the hands of expats.
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