I’ve been thinking a lot about the economics and ecosystem of reading, lately. Particularly in the age we live in, reading is becoming increasingly commodified. I used to really enjoy the various reading hashtags on various social media platforms but in a sense it also exacerbates this commodification I see. Your reading and your expression … Continue reading Notes From The Bibliotheca 02/06/2026
I have stacks of Book Depository bookmarks everywhere; once upon a time, ordering from them was a weekly occurrence. I was thinking about this recently and feeling really bitter about the fact that Book Depository was retired. I used to get not just novels, but academic monographs, sheet music for music exams, those paperblanks journals … Continue reading Notes from the Bibliotheca 17/05/2026
I was too busy reading up a storm on the last night of April to post updates here, so here’s a very quick roundup of my April reading before I go back to…reading! I fell into a Pern reread rabbithole towards the end of April while recuperating from Apocalypse Knee so I tore through Anne … Continue reading Notes From The Bibliotheca 01/05/2026
April has truly been “the cruellest month” for me*. It started with my lower back acting up, and then an extremely uncomfortable eye infection. Then, this week I gave myself a fright by falling down in the bathroom. It was my first spill after my spine re-injury of 2022 which led to my disablement. So … Continue reading Notes from the Bibliotheca 15/04/2026
Reading occurred at a leisurely pace for most of March; mostly because I was reading thicker books. I finished rereading Robert Jordan’s Path of Daggers after I got hooked on the story again. It’s really different rereading it this time because this is my first time systematically rereading all volumes of the Wheel of Time … Continue reading Notes from the Bibliotheca 31/03/2026
What, another post so soon? Well, I have THINGS I want to share and I might just explode if I don’t. I finished reading Tash Aw’s The South, also Strangers on a Pier. I’m just so haunted by the worlds within worlds he’s revealed in his fiction and by his compelling authorial voice. While I … Continue reading Notes From The Bibliotheca 6/03/2026
I’m half-awake right now, honestly. Nevertheless, I’m determined to do one of these posts a month so here’s my roundup of my February reading; my reading update also includes a chess update because I feel too bashful to have separate blog posts for chess given I’m really not that great at it even though I … Continue reading Notes From The Bibliotheca 28/02/2026
January’s been my best reading month since, well, December! I’ve read 12 books this month and all of them were most excellent. Some highlights include my Ursula K LeGuin reread, Nghi Vo’s Singing Hills novellas, Malka Older’s Infomocracy from her Centenal Cycle, Bethany C Morrow’s A Song Below Water and A Chorus Rises, Tash Aw’s … Continue reading Notes from the Bibliotheca 31/01/2026
For the past few years (since the pandemic began, really) my reading has not been the same. I used to average 60-80 books read per year even with a busy schedule but then other things took my time. For one, my supervision/teaching load increased and other factors included returning to formal music-learning and composing, language … Continue reading Notes from the Bibliotheca 18/11/2025
It’s the day after Deepavali and I’ve maximised the three-day weekend by reading up a storm; mostly because I’ve also been nursing some extreme fatigue so reading in bed seemed to be about the only productive thing I was capable of achieving during this period. This also means I managed to finish reading three books … Continue reading Notes From the Bibliotheca 21/10/2025