My most favorite hobby has always been reading books. I have always been a “dreamy guy,” imagining myself in adventures whenever I finished reading a book when I was younger. I have always been an introvert and used to talk less. At night, after lying down and before going to sleep, during those waking moments, I used to imagine a made-up fantasy world where I had countless adventures. I’m in the process of writing all these adventures and publishing them as books, but it may take some time — they’ll probably be released in the future.

Stories have always fascinated me. My first big story was Dr. Dolittle in Telugu, which my cousin lent me. I grew up reading Chandamama magazines whenever I got the chance. After finishing school, I bought my first book — Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. My reading journey expanded from there.

My reading order of Harry Potter was all messed up. After finishing the first book, I read the third book in the series. Then I purchased the second one. Afterwards, my reading went in proper order. However, after finishing the sixth book (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), I went to a famous shopping street in Bangalore and bought what I thought was the seventh book. It turned out to be a fan-made book — not the original story — but I believed it was real for quite some time.

Eventually, I found out the truth and later purchased the original seventh book. I still have all of them, including that fan-made copy. I immensely enjoyed reading these books — even the fan fiction!

Then I moved on to the high fantasy genre. Thanks to a tip from my college senior, I bought and read The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The writing, storytelling, and the entire genre were completely new to me, and I was instantly hooked. I bought an abridged complete edition (all six books in one volume).

After that, I moved on to Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series. I can say this story was perfect for me in every way — dragons, magic, adventure, and a whole new world. I loved those books. Later, I heard about Dan Brown’s works, especially The Da Vinci Code, and bought it. Afterwards, I collected all of his Langdon series books. These books helped shape my personality — especially The Lost Symbol, which had a life-altering impact on me.

Later, I bought Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy. Thanks to the author, my respect and devotion toward Lord Shiva deepened immensely. I felt like I had rediscovered lost wisdom about Lord Shiva, and I’m truly thankful to the author for that.

I’ve also bought and read all the major Tolkien works such as Unfinished Tales, The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit. The Silmarillion especially blew my mind when I first read it. The sheer length, complexity, narration, and world-building both inspired and thrilled me. That book helped me shape my own world-building fantasies.

While strolling through a book street one day, I accidentally discovered Dragons of the Dwarven Depths. That began my fantastic journey into the Dragonlance world. I can proudly say I have completed reading more than half(100+ novels) of the Dragonlance series — I was completely immersed in it for almost an entire year.

My book list includes The Sword of Shannara series, Jules Verne’s works like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, A Song of Ice and Fire (though I haven’t finished it yet) by George R R Martin, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, The Elenium series by David Eddings, The Legend of Drizzt by R.A. Salvatore, and classic works like The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I’ve also enjoyed A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body by Bill Bryson, Indian epics like The Mahabharata, Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer, even autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, books by Terry Prachett and so many more…

Here’s a small collection of my books, other are stored in random places all over the house. I will organize them when I get time…

In my late twenties, after the untimely death of my father, I turned to self-help books. The Secret inspired me and helped me move through my grief. I also read and listened to Bob Proctor’s works, along with many other self-help books that supported me in my life’s journey.

I’m like a dragon guarding its treasure hoard — I have so many unread books waiting for me, but I know I’ll get to them someday. That’s why I call myself a bibliomaniac. One of my biggest wishes is to have my own huge library, filled with books from every genre imaginable. I do have small library as of now(some still unread). I prefer physical copies instead of e-books. But I do read e-books in my amazon kindle…

A strange fact about me: I try to read the same book as many times as possible because, with each reading, I discover new perspectives and meanings that make me appreciate the story even more. That’s partly why I’ve read relatively few books compared to how many exist in the world. Right now, I’m rereading The Lord of the Rings once again, simply for the pleasure of it.

Conclusion

Books are an essential part of my life. They’ve helped me on my journey of being human. I’ll always be grateful to God for that. Books have always been my companions, teachers, and guides. They shaped who I am today and continue to inspire me to dream, learn, and create.

Have you read any of the books I mentioned? What did you think? Let’s chat in the comments!