Courtesy of Emerson Asia Pacific

Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa is an avid reader.

Despite her busy schedule traveling the world to promote culture, education and international understanding, she always carries books in her luggage.

Verzosa said she could spend hours reading books in her spare time.

“I read so much. I read two or three books at the same time I love self-help books and business books,” Kylie said.

“I also have finished classic books such as The Hunger Games and Harry Potter,” she added.

Verzosa always brings her pen and paper to write notes if she finds something interesting in the books she reads.

As a pageant queen, Verzosa now spends most of her time as an advocate on mental health issues and suicide prevention. She believes that these issues should be taken seriously because a lot of people suffer from them.

“Depression is the cause of suicide. And now the number of suicides is rising especially among young people. I want people to increase their awareness about depression,” she said.

Kylie believes reading books can benefit people with depression.

“I also read a lot at night. It makes me feel better,” the Philippines-born pageant queen said.

‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’

by Robin Sharma

This is a self-help book that helped me through depression three to four years ago. It gave me a lot of tricks and tips. And it is by a well-published author. It helps me to see another point of view from a different person.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’

by Kevin Kwan

I like funny stuff. This book is so humorous and entertaining. It is funny because it talks about First World problems where there are very rich kids who think the world is going to end just because they cannot get a reservation in their favorite restaurant. To me it is funny and entertaining just to get a break from self-help books that I have been reading because they are so heavy.

‘Zero to One’

by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters

It is a business book that defines how successful startup businesses develop. It shows how to be good at a startup business. I really enjoyed reading this book because I am a business school graduate. This book also helps me and my family in running our business.

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