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Welcome to Reading Around the Globe, a series here on Reader Voracious Blog geared at fostering a culture of understanding in the bookish community about access to books in various countries around the world. Each post in the series highlights a full interview with one international reader. You can read more about this series here on the series master post.
An Interview with Nicka
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- What is your name? Nicka
- Blog URL? http://wanderwithnicka.wordpress.com
- Twitter handle? @wanderwithnicka (The account has been deactivated as of 2021.)
- Where do you live? United Arab Emirates
- Do you find that there is a culture of reading where you live? If not, tell us a bit how you came to be one! Right now, I have yet to discover the reading culture of UAE. But in the newspaper and ads on the street they are actually promoting to develop the reading culture here. I am amazed by this campaign that they are doing hopefully they won’t just focus on children literature but every age of readers out there.
- What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? I love reading Mystery and Psychological thriller it is my go-to genre and it keeps me motivated to read more books. Also recently I have been eyeing non-fiction books mainly self-help, motivational and inspirational books. It helps a lot to understand different aspects of life in general.
- Have you always been a reader? I think I was a writer before I was a reader.
- Do you also read books published in your native language/published locally to you? If so, tell us a bit about what kinds of books are published in your country! Yes I do read Filipino books. Mainly they are focused on history, autobiographies, biographies and romance books. Hopefully Filipino authors should publish about our mythologies and urban legends because those kind of books are the best!
- Are there libraries where you live? If so, what kinds of books can you find there? Are you able to get the books that you want? As I have seen online there is. Since I’m new here in the UAE I am very eager to visit their libraries. Can’t wait to visit the one near to our house.
- How prevalent are English published books where you live in bookstores? (For example, books printed by HarperCollins.) There are a lot of published English books around here. I must say that I’m pretty happy about it though the prices here are quite expensive compared to the Philippines.
- Do you use NetGalley or Edelweiss to request electronic galleys for review? If so, what kind of success rate would you estimate for you personally? Yes I do use both to request electronic galleys. Maybe for Netgalley my rate is a bit low since they made it hard for international readers to get approved. Edelweiss on the other hand I’d say around 80% since I’m an approved member of some publishers.
- Do you experience hurdles or barriers to access for the kinds of books that you read? Please explain if so. Yes when I don’t have the funds to support my cravings for books and also some of the book titles that I really want to read are not available locally. But when I was in the Philippines I had an easy access to any books that I wanted.
- If you could make one change to the publishing landscape, what would you do? I’ll publish more diverse books, literally. I’ll find a way to publish books that are easily accessible to every reader in the world.
- Help other international bloggers out… What resources do you use to obtain the books that you want to read? As a book blogger, I get the books I read from publishers, Netgalley, Edelweiss and our local bookstore. Though to be honest I have less time to read right now than before that’s why I don’t have any problem with how I can get the books I want to read.
- Do you have any other experiences as a reader around the world that you would like to share? Well, as a reader I understood around of things that I wasn’t aware of before. It opened my eyes to issues that deserves to be talked about. It also helped me step out of my comfort zones and meet readers around the world. I never expected that I would be talking to people who I barely know and now they are part of my everyday life.
Please note that all experiences reflected in the interviews are personal and are not meant to generalize what reading access is like in each country. If you are interested in participating please DM me on Twitter.
Read More Reading Around the Globe Interviews
Argentina
Consu @ papereyedgirl
Australia
Ellyn @ allonsythornraxxbooks
Greyson @ Use Your Words
Bangladesh
Maria @ mariahossainblog
Belgium
Inge @ Of Wonderland
Wesley @ Outsiders and Misfits
Canada
Catherine @ This One is for the Books (Toronto)
Kristina @ Books and Dachsunds (New-Brunswick)
Shania @ Book Princess Reviews (Quebec)
Chile
Maria @ bookish4life
Denmark
Catherine @ Bees and Books
Silje @ inkedbybooks
England
Clo @ Cuppa Clo
Olly @ Criminolly
France
Emma @ Mengueis De Livres
Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
Germany
Silvia @ Silvia Reads Books
Hungary
Veronika @ Reading is Dreaming with Open Eyes
Indonesia
Carolina @ fictionologyst
Petrik @ Novel Notions
India
Himani @ Books&Sstuff
Nandini @ Unputdownable Books
Prags @ The Inked In Book Blog
Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat
Suraj @ Books N Myself
Italy
Angela @ Books of a Shy Girl
Camilla @ Reader Attic
Kuwait
Devyn Jase @ devynjase.com
Mexico
Jossie @ thebookdragoncorner
Mozambique
A Restless Traveler
The Netherlands
Annemieke @ A Dance With Books
Esther @ Bite into Books
Luci @ Lunar Luci Books
Marco @ Barely a Blogger
Michelle @ Michelle Likes Things
Nigeria
Chinelo @ Booked_Unicorn
Norway
Julie @ StrixAlucoBooks
Palestine
Hamad @ thebookprescription
Pakistan
Nargis @ Literary Nerd’s Musings
Philippines
Aimee @ Aimee Always
Alexia @ Bookworm Daydreamer
Gel @ Whimsy Wanders
Justine @ bookishwisps
Kate @ Your Tita Kate
Rain @ Bookdragoninsm
Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea
Portugal
Marta @ The Book Mermaid
Rita @ Bookish Rita
Romania
Dianthaa @ Dianthaa Dabbles
Puerto Rico
Yani @ Read & Create
Rwanda
Annie @ Sunflower Bookshelf
Singapore
Taasia @ libraepaintspages
Slovenia
Para @ Other Worlds Reviews
South Africa
DB @ DB’s Guide to the Galaxy
Switzerland
Elisa @ bookishexpat
United Arab Emirates
Nicka @ Wander with Nicka
Zimbabwe
Sakhile @ Sakhile Whispers
Please note that all experiences reflected in the interviews are personal and are not meant to generalize what reading access is like in each country. If you are interested in participating please DM me on Twitter or send me a message on Discord.
💖 If you like the work that I do here at Reader Voracious, consider fueling my pumpkin spice latte and black tie addiction by buying me a ko-fi! ☕
Asha Seth says
Happy to read all about reading in your part of the world and that of your life.
Gayathri Lakshminarayanan says
Yay, Another book blogger from the UAE. I am gonna definitely check her blog out. And I agree with her on the prices of books being too high. Thanks Kal, for this awesome feature!
Kaleena @ Reader Voracious says
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope that you and Nicka can connect!
Phantom Paper says
I like Nicka’s honesty 😀 I joined a reading campaign, that donated the amount of books you read, while I was studying in Dubai(part of UAE). And yes, I did find the books there a bit pricey. It’s a good thing my school had a library!
Always fun to read this series, Kaleena 😄 Will DM you once things settle down 😜
Kaleena @ Reader Voracious says
I love reading campaigns that donate books, those are so wonderful. Thanks so much for stopping by, and looking forward to your DM when you have the chance!