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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 Carolina
- What is your name? My full name is Fani Carolina, but you could just call me Carolina, or Olin for short!
- Blog URL? fictionologyst.wordpress.com
- Twitter handle? @fictionologyst
- Where do you live? Yogyakarta, Indonesia!
- 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! I believe we Indonesian doesn’t read much, we have no reading assignment in school like most country does, and our schools barely has any library. You’ll be considered as a nerd if you walk with books in your hand which I think very inappropriate and very uneducative. Most of my friends’ parents even forbid their children to read because they thought it was a waste of time. But I’m so lucky my parents are very supportive, my father is a reader and he really wants his children to love books as well, he literally fed me books since I can’t barely talk, he bought me so many books and encourage me to read, so that’s why I become a reader.
- What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? I really love fantasy and sci-fi books, sometimes I read contemporary too if I’m in the mood. I love both YA and MG books!
- Have you always been a reader? I am, as long as I can remember. I started reading picture books when I was a child, and I started reading comic and manga when I was a bit older. And now here I am, still obsessed with MG and YA books and of course manga and comic too!
- 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! Umm I did when I was teenager but not anymore, they’re mostly cliche romance, some are actually great though but I got tired of that genre a long time ago. I mostly read translated books back in the day, but now I’m confident enought to read in english, so I never buy anything again from local bookstores.
- 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? There is a public library where I live but the books are mostly non-fiction so I never go there.
- How prevalent are English published books where you live in bookstores? (For example, books printed by HarperCollins.) There are approximately three bookstore chains in Indonesia that sell imported books, they are really update with new releases but it’s kinda hard to get some old books there.
- 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?
I do use NetGalley, I’m still figuring out how to use Edelweiss because that one is so confusing! I’ve only used NetGalley for three months and I never got any YA book I want but I always got most of MG books I requested.
- Do you experience hurdles or barriers to access for the kinds of books that you read? Please explain if so. I was! When I was younger I could only buy them in the bookstores, and imported books come with a ridiculously expensive price. But now I have my own credit card and I could just order them online from anywhere I want, although the shipping cost is killing me!
- If you could make one change to the publishing landscape, what would you do? I really don’t know how to answer this question, but to have the major publishing houses in our country would be great. Or maybe they could do an annually Book Con to countries other than US, UK, ad AUS for starter?
- Help other international bloggers out… What resources do you use to obtain the books that you want to read? Book Depository has been my saviour, there are so many options and the shipping cost is none! They’re the best!
- Do you have any other experiences as a reader around the world that you would like to share? Being an international reader mean that we have to raise a lot of money because English books are imported and they’re so damn expensive. We couldn’t get ourselves an ARC because apparently the publishers only prefer the US, UK, and AUS. And we really need a Book Con here where we could meet our favorite authors but I guess it will never happen. What I love being an international reader is, my English improved so much ever since I started reading in English!
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! ☕
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Oh Carolina! So amazing to learn more about your wonderful self!
Love this series Kaleena!
Hi Maddie! Thank you so much love for you sweet words 💕
Thank you so much, Maddie!!!
Another lovely introduction to international readers! Your series is making me very aware of the privilege I have regarding books, reading & education by living in the US. I cannot wait for more in the series!
Thank you SO MUCH, I am glad that this series is being well received and helping to shed light on the privilege we experience just by living where we do. I honestly never thought about whether libraries were prevalent in other countries until someone brought it up – I definitely take a lot for granted.
Oh this was interesting. I am sorry people hate reading and consider it a bad thing!
I know, I was so surprised to learn that reading isn’t really part of schooling there!
This is incredible! Now I can’t wait to read more of these posts 😁
Awww thank you and I am so glad you like the series! Every Saturday for the forseeable future (through the end of the year and beyond so far) we will “travel” to a new country!
Thank you so much for having me Kaleena! I really enjoy this new feature of your blog! I hope you keep on doing this because I need to know what it feels like to be a reader in so many different countries!
Thank you so much for participating, Carolina, and I really enjoyed learning about what it is like to be a reader in Indonesia! And have no fear, I have scheduled weekly posts through the end of 2018 and still have more to schedule, so this will be going on for awhile!
Yaaay so happy to hear that! Looking forward to you next post! 💕
This is a really great idea!!! I loved all the questions and answers 😀
Thank you so much for stopping by!!!
This is such a fantastic series, I loved reading all of Carolina’s answers! I can’t wait to see the next one!
Thank you so much for stopping by, Ellyn! I am glad you are enjoying this series!
I love the idea behind this series! It’s nice to get to know book bloggers from all around the world!
Thank you so much for stopping by Kat, and I am glad you are enjoying this series!
Glad to know more about you. Keep on blogging and continue love your work. Visit my blog too https://iyahblogs.wordpress.com/.