From a bookworm to a book-walker

A hobby she picked up when she was only six years old, Valerie Yan talked about how she live, breathe and sleep books. She talks to Ameera Fawzee about her obsession for books.

On a bright, sunny Monday afternoon in January, Valerie went out of the classroom holding a black chic notebook in one hand and a phone in the other, and took a seat beside me. Placing her treasured possessions on the white table in front of her, she brushed her hair to one side.

“Excuse me,” Valerie says as she scribbled some notes into her notebook. “Need to craft some questions for my interview later.”

Chuckling away, she pauses for a split second to peer at the laptop that was already placed in front of her before she continues to scribble.

“No, don’t get me wrong, I like to write but what I love the most is reading,” she says as she closes her notebook and crosses her legs.

The sparkle in her eyes gleam and there is a hint of excitement in her voice. “I get really scary when I read, it is obsessive” she says with a laugh.

She don’t really know how she got into reading. She remembers her first books being little orange books that her parents bought. Living quite near the library, she shares about how much time she used to spend in the library every day. She will be there from the time the library opens till it closes.

“My dream job was to work in a book shop or the library. I thought of Kinokuniya but I ended up working in the library,” she says with disgust.

Shuddering at the memory, she shared how she had to work long hours with really short breaks and the pay was just too low the pay. “It was so bad that I quit the job after two weeks.”

Playing with the hem of her pullover, she starts to reminisce about her primary school days. She wasn’t a prefect in Fairfield Methodist School but she was a common face at the staircase when it comes to recess time. “I was training myself to walk down staircases without lifting my eyes of the book.”

How did it go?

“I trained myself every day. If I had a good book, I wouldn’t stop reading until I was done with it but when I’m done with the book, I get so mad,” she laughs.

That is not the only thing she gets mad about. She gets mad at movie adaptations as well, especially the Harry Potter movie adaptations.

“Dobby was my favourite character but there was barely any Dobby inside,” she says with a sad smile. “I have to read books before watching movie adaptations because I never understand them. Plus point, there’s always more in books.”

Briefly touching her notebook, she looks at me and smile. “I don’t have a favourite book but let me tell you a super good book,” she says as she jumps excitedly in her seat. “An Ember in Ashes, that’s really good.”

Will she ever write a book?

“I can start a story just fine, but I never seem to end them. They’ll just go one forever,” she laughs. She pauses for a while before shaking her head. “I came into Mass Communication thinking I would but after two years, I changed my mind.”