new book to the bin and let there be light ... while i read at night

The book on the left, the anthology The Solaris Book of New Fantasy (2007), edited by George Mann, has been sitting in the book rack of Fully Booked - Greenbelt for quite some time now, if I recall correctly, over a year. Now that's a long time for a book to stay on a shelf considering this was a bookstore not a library.

Just looking at its state -- yellowing pages, frayed edges of the cover, fading cover colors -- you know it has seen its share of look-throughs but no one has bought it. 

So, over lunch today, I decided to rescue it (although I believe Fully Booked should have given me a discount at least) and add it to my To-Be-Read collection. 

I've read the G. Mann-edited The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction Volume 2 earlier this year and was amazed by it. Hopefully, this anthology edited by the same fellow who did a splendid job with the sci-fi antho I read last summer will also be a great read.

But that's not the only thing I bought at Fully Booked today.

Since reading is an inevitable for me even before going to bed, it has become rather difficult to read especially when my bed-mates already wish to turn off the lights. What I've been doing was rigging the desk lamp near my side of the bed (I'm on the edge-side with no wall), light it up, and angle it in such a way that the light isn't directed onto the bed-side. Instead, it's me who angle the book while lying down (usually sideways).

Last week, the bulb of desk lamp went kaputz and I've had no chance to replace the specific bulb. For several nights now that I've wanted to read, I use the flashlight feature of my phone. Because the range of light is much shorter, there's no problem with waking up my bed-mates. It's awkward reading though because to get the correct light angle to read while lying down, I place the phone on my mouth-chin area, the LCD screen facing towards the open book some half a foot away.

So, today ... voila ... a reading light ... err, the cheap version. 

I was debating on getting one of them branded reading lights -- the P499 one which were a tad more handier than the bulky P900 ones -- when I espied the plasticky ones from Korea that was just one peso shy of a hundred bucks.

Since I was already buying a book for over P300, I had no second thoughts about getting this cheap (and yes, ugly) reading light. I think it'll be up to the task and the batteries are replaceable. The P499 one might be more professional-looking but since no one will be looking at how professional I read in bed so this cheap-o one will suffice for now.

Now, if someone believes that an esteemed reader of books such as myself believes  that I should have the more expensive and elegant-looking reading light in my inventory rather than this cheap one, I will welcome such a gift should it come my way. It will be a well-appreciated Christmas gift for sure.

For now, unless that Christmas gift of light comes, I'll be content. Really. Truly.