It's safe to say that in my family, I am the second person who reads physical copies of books the most.
And most times, people don't believe me when I tell them who the first person is. Because it doesn't fit his image and the way people saw him, but the truth is that he was a chronic reader. He had lots of books, even some from when he was a teenager.
And the person I am talking about is my dad. He had all kinds of books, and I am talking about the kinds that their bulkiness scared the shit out of me.
It's also safe to say he is the one I learned the habit of reading from. First, I started with just little stories like those from school and the mini stories in my English language textbooks. And I think once my father noticed, he pushed me further by buying me books.
When he would travel and come back, he would get little local storybooks for me and my siblings, but we all knew who they were truly for, as I was the only one who kept and read them all.
At one point, he started buying me books as birthday gifts. I remember the first one being a book about a house cat left at home with enough food, but the food was stolen by pack rats, and she had to go out and hunt. It's so old that I have totally forgotten the title, but I can never forget the book and the way it felt, the texture, the thick and unique wide pages, the drawings were like realistic paintings but with soft and very few colors, but still so beautiful.
It actually pains me when I try hard to remember the name but never seem to remember it.
I got Alice in Wonderland and the entire Measle series by Ian Ogilvy: Measle and the Wrathmonk, Measle and the Dragodon, Measle and the Mallockee, Measle and the Slitherghoul, and Measle and the Doompit. I read these books over and over again.
Although they didn't last as long as the others, because my siblings always carried them to school to show them off. In fact, the last one to go missing was measles and the mallockee, and it was the last one I read before it went missing.
So Measle and the Mallockee is a fantasy adventure about a boy named Measle whose baby sister, Matilda, is born with dangerous magical powers. At the same time, a terrifying creature called the Mallockee — a tall, armored monster that feeds on people’s fear — escapes from a painting made by his father. The more scared you are, the stronger it gets. In the end, Measle has to protect his family, and baby Matilda, using her raw magic, destroys the monster. The twist is that Matilda herself is also a ‘Mallockee,’ but a good one — born with pure, natural magic that has no need of speaking spells but casts them by just willing them, instead of evil power.
I sincerely don't know when next I would read a physical novel because it has been so long. Ever since, I have been reading just digital copies. But I am sure when I have the resources and opportunity to get physical copies of quality books again I wouldn't miss it.
Image generated by OPENAI
