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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 Alexia
- What is your name? Alexia
- Blog URL? https://thebookwormdaydreamer.wordpress.com/
- Twitter handle? @alexiacambaling
- Where do you live? Manila, Philippines
- 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! Not exactly. I’m more privileged than the average person so I’m lucky enough to hang out with people who also liked reading growing up. However, a lot of people I know also aren’t exactly big readers. I mostly became a reader because growing up, there isn’t a lot of things I’m interested in.
- What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? Mostly Science Fiction and Fantasy. I also enjoy classics from time to time.
- Have you always been a reader? I’d say so, yes. I’ve always loved reading.
- 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! Very rarely. We don’t have a huge YA Publishing industry here, but I do read Filipino romance novels from time to time. Unfortunately, I lost interest as I grew older. Mostly romance novels and Wattpad books are popular with regards to fiction.
- 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? Most public libraries are academic or not even well-stocked. The only libraries I have access to are those in my college. It has some fiction books, but not really ones I’m interested in. I only really go there for law books.
- How prevalent are English published books where you live in bookstores? (For example, books printed by HarperCollins.) Very prevalent. I’m lucky enough that in my country, a lot of people can speak English so most of the books in bookstores are actually in English. I sometimes do feel sad about this because our publishing industry isn’t as well-developed.
- 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? Haven’t requested from either yet. I do read books from the “Read Now” shelf on NetGalley.
- Do you experience hurdles or barriers to access for the kinds of books that you read? Please explain if so. No. I can thank privilege for that.
- If you could make one change to the publishing landscape, what would you do? I honestly just want to see myself in books more. I also hope for more Filipino authors to be published and for our local industry to grow.
- Help other international bloggers out… What resources do you use to obtain the books that you want to read? I read a lot of self-pubbed books and that’s partly because of TBRindr. It pairs up bloggers and authors so you can get books in exchange for reviews. I know some people are wary, but I honestly think the books are mostly good. For public domain works, I also use Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks (which has better formatting than PG). There are also free public domain ebooks from the University of Adelaide. For YA, Riveted Lit is awesome and offers free books you can read during a certain month.
- Do you have any other experiences as a reader around the world that you would like to share? Not much, although I can say that it does get frustrating when it seems like most bookish conversation appears to be Western-centric. Like, I just can’t relate? A lot of people talk about libraries and honestly, I really do envy people with access to well-stocked public libraries. I buy all my books with my own money, and because I rely on my parents, it can get expensive or difficult to get the more expensive ones. That’s why when the piracy debate always comes up, I wish people would be more informative and willing to educate pirates. I personally do know people who download books and not everyone who does that has money, some really are poor or have no way to buy books. Internet is cheaper than books nowadays and a better solution would be educating them or informing them of resources they may not know about.
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.
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Wow! What an eye-opener. I’m so surprised that most books found in bookstores in the Philippines are written in English. And libraries being not well stocked. Sad.
Thanks for this series Kaleena. I’ll definitely be looking out for more.
https://shesgotbooksonhermind.blogspot.com/
I know, I was actually surprised to find out that most books were in English! Thanks so much for stopping by, Adriana!
Thanks for sharing, I’m looking at Alexia’s blog now.
You’re welcome and thank you for stopping by!
Thanks Kaleena for this feature spotlighting readers from around the world. Hi Alexia, I am from the Philippines as well. I agree that publishing in our country is very different with publishing in Western countries. I can’t say if it’s not as well-established yet or if maybe they just have a very different business model? One of the key differences that I noticed is that they don’t rely on promotions via book bloggers. So it is sad that we can’t help them as much with promoting their books via our platform.
Jennilyn @ Rurouni Jenni Reads
Hi Jennilyn, thank you so much for stopping by and I am glad that you like the feature!