Booking Through Thursday – Tragedy or Comedy 4 Replies

Posted on August 8, 2013 in Books

All other things being equal (good writing, enthralling story, etc), which would you rather read—something serious, angsty, and tragic? Or something light, fluffy, and fun? Or a blend of both? (Since, really, isn’t that how real life works?) – BTT

I try to balance my reading to be both light and serious. I think it veers slightly more to the serious side these days especially with all the non-fiction. I like to escape to books, but I’m more willing to escape into something completely different albeit more serious than for the TV or Movies I choose (which are firmly more comedy/dramedy). I’m more tolerant of angst if it’s in the written form.

These last couple of weeks, I have been more in the mood for something light and fluffy. It all depends on one’s mood relative to everything else going on in life.

How about you?

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My First Filofax – Personal Malden 10 Replies

Posted on August 5, 2013 in Stationery, Travel

Filofax- Personal Malden in Vintage Pink

After many weeks of lusting, searching and obsessively reading Philofaxy and other FF blogs, I have finally bought my first Filofax: Personal Malden in Vintage Pink.

I have had a planner every year since I was 12 except in 2012. I realized when I did not have it, how much I missed one so I bought a 2013 Mead planner to hold me over. In the last couple of months, I’ve been thinking it’s time to invest in a serious planner.

This is the first post in my new Stationery category. I love pens, fountain pens, and stationary. I will be sharing my love of paper and pen in the blog from now on. I am traditionalist really and I actually think more people should at least have a good pen or two.

This was not my preferred colour. I would have preferred the Ochre, Purple or the Crimson. Of course, all of these are very popular and even looking for a Personal Malden took me through six New York stationary stores. Scroll down for my short review of the stockists.

In the beginning, I considered a Personal Finsbury, but the more I read about the Malden, the more I wanted one since it seems so well loved by the FF community. Some others have recently mentioned a hardness to their Maldens, but mine thankfully did not have this issue or any ring issues. When I opened it up and checked the rings at the store, it laid flat and snapped up well. Wonderful. I think my model was made in 2011 because it came with a 2012 diary, and the A. I. Friedman people had put in a 2013 one as well. I’ve started using the 2012 refill as scrap note paper.

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Sunday Salon: Looking for Fiction 16 Replies

Posted on August 4, 2013 in Books

Sunday Salon

Hello everyone!

This week, I finished Through the Children’s Gate and that’s about it. I’ve still not recovered my reading momentum. I have too much on my mind.

I’ve been trying to figure out which book to read next. I realized that most of the books I have from the library are nonfiction books. One of my goals this year was to read more nonfiction, and I’ve succeeded! However, now I’m less sure of which fiction books to read next.

Sometimes, you’re just in a mood to be taken away into a fictional world. Actually, that’s most often my mood, but I really need these days I think. I didn’t read much in July due to the trip, and what I did read was nonfiction.

Still not sure what to read next. I’ll consider it more thoroughly after I cleaned a bit today.

In other news, I got some more books a couple weeks ago. I said I wouldn’t anymore this year, but they were free! Someone in the neighborhood put them out. I took about most of the books (10ish) because we seem to have similar tastes. I got a couple works by W. Somerset Maugham which they obviously liked and I adored Of Human Bondage.

For space reasons, I had to sequester them away until I can find space for them. I really should start giving books away, but I haven’t read most of the books I own so can’t do that just yet. I also have just random piles of books. How do you make space for books?

Off to try and be productive for the the millionth time.

Have a good first week of August!

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Classics Club August 2013 Meme 4 Replies

Posted on August 2, 2013 in Books

Do you read forewords/notes that precede many classics? Does it help you or hurt you in your enjoyment/understanding of the work? – Classics Club

I rarely read forewords/notes before I read the book. I actually prefer to read classics and analysis after I read a work. It makes me appreciate the book more. That way, I can reread passages that the Foreword/Notes reference.

I do not always read the Forewords though, but I am doing it more often with classics. They do make it more enjoyable.

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Booking Through Thursday – It’s Personal 6 Replies

Posted on August 1, 2013 in Books

Do you have a preference between “person” in the books you read? Do you prefer third-person to first-person? Or don’t you care?
And … why?? – BTT

Generally, I don’t have a preference because it depends on the writer to make it. I will say that I like when authors switch narratives best use with Third-Person Omniscient. I like knowing a lot characters.

I don’t care as long as it’s written well.

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Through the Children’s Gate by Adam Gopnik Leave a reply

Posted on July 29, 2013 in Books

Paris to the Moon is one of my favourite memoirs about a place so I was quite excited to read this book on New York before my trip.

I found this book difficult to get into. I really like Gopnik when he is being very personal about himself and family. The first two chapters did not have much about them. The personal stories intertwined with life and observations about New York are the best ones.

This book covered September 11th, 2011 as well, and it probably has a lot about the early aftermath mood of the city. As always Gopnik offers a lot of history of the place, but also observations about life. After witnessing a proposal at Rockfeller Plaza:

I love you forever really means Just trust me for now, which is all it ever means, and we just hope to keep renewing the ‘now,’ year after year. – p. 154

I am glad I read it mostly after my trip. I always feel more connected to a setting in books when I am in those locations or just after. Even though this book was written more than ten years ago, a lot of the work still applies and it’s funny to read about the fads and trends of children a decade ago.

There were a couple of chapters that I did not feel engaged with, but overall, I thought it was a nice personal memoirs and one about New York.

Read July 8-28, 2013.

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Sunday Salon: Return to Routine 2 Replies

Posted on July 28, 2013 in Books

Sunday Salon

Hello, world! It’s good to be back and blogging.

It’s a rainy Sunday which is great for a day at home reading, writing and relaxing. I’ve been very busy since I got back from my holiday in NY. I still haven’t gone through all my 1000 photos. I forgot how daunting it is to go through so many photos.

I am still reading Adam Gopnik’s Through the Children’s Gate. It’s going much more slowly than I thought. I hope to finish it today and move onto something else tomorrow.

This past week, I have been recovering and shopping too much. July has been a shopping month for me. I tend to be a binge shopper so hopefully August will have a bit of a reprieve. I am drafting up blog posts for the future, but not so much about books, more so about stationary.

I was reading a lot before my trip and now I’ve lost some momentum in the last two weeks. I hope I can balance my responsibilities, social life, and the hobbies again. Does coming back from a trip do that to you too?

July has been a good month, and I’m optimistic for the end of the summer. I hope to run again soon and read even more.

Have a great week!

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Booking Through Thursday – Moving Leave a reply

Posted on July 25, 2013 in Books

What kind of moving experiences have you had with your books? (Or, just in general if you’ve got good Moving Day stories–and who doesn’t?) Did having to pack and move your books cause any changes in your book-collecting habits? Make you wish you had everything on an e-reader? Feel free to discuss! (grin) – BTT

Since I’ve had to move internationally a couple times, I can say that moving with books is not easy. The first time I move back to Canada from abroad, I actually saved some of my things with a friend including about 5-10 books. In the end, I only brought back one of the books and it was the heaviest: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. I was taught a good lesson with that as I am still sad that I had to give up those books which I hadn’t even read yet. The second time I lived abroad, I was lucky to have access to two subscription libraries so I only bought a couple of books and gave them away.

All of this moving did teach me that A) Books are heavy, B) Books are difficult to give up, and C) I should get an e-reader which is what I did after the second move. I really like my Kindle a lot. I don’t use it very much because I’ve been able to stay in one place for the last couple of years and use a library. Worse, I’ve actually accumulated more books than I could possibly imagine. I think I have a hundred books now, and it’s going to be a headache when I inevitably move again. I’ll cross that bridge later.

Hey, everyone! I am back from my holiday but I’ve been very busy. I have not been reading. I didn’t do so on my trip either. Furthermore, the trip was tiring and I have to go through my hundreds of photos. I did some bookish things though and I’ll try to read at least one book this weekend so I can blog more regularly again.

Have a great weekend!

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The Last Train to Zona Verde by Paul Theroux Leave a reply

Posted on July 10, 2013 in Books

I enjoyed Theroux’s Dark Star Safari some years ago. Whenever I encounter his travel writing, I do like it. I don’t always necessarily share all his political views on Africa, but he does have some valid concerns with foreign aid. I really like his writing because he is a traveler and has an exploratory spirit.

He was 70 when he did this tour which is probably his last travel of Africa. This last travelogue has him travelling through South Africa, Namibia, a bit of Botswana, and finishing it Angola. He writes about how Africa has changed in the fifty years since he first stepped on the continent.

The book has a fascinating anthropological bent especially when discussing the Bushmen of Namibia. Africa is not always a happy or light topic. Theroux is an honest and candid author this way, but this book was a bit dispiriting at times. After he reached the almost inhospitable Angola, Theorux would ask himself “What am I doing here?” Not a question any traveller should ask themselves often when travelling really.

Overall, I would recommend Theroux’s writing to someone who really wants to read about contemporary Africa. It may not be an easy read, but his experiences on the road says a lot about the continent world. It definitely speaks more than the news (or lack there of) we get about it.

Read July 6-7 2013.

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Cooked by Michael Pollan Leave a reply

Posted on July 8, 2013 in Books, Food

I was excited for this book because I was a big fan of Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Pollan and I have a similar view and philosophy regarding food. In this book, he explores the history that humans have with four processes of cooking: roasting meat (fire), boiling/braising (water), baking bread (air), and fermentation (earth).

I loved this book at its introduction:
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Sunday Salon: Holiday Prep 4 Replies

Posted on July 7, 2013 in Books

Sunday Salon

Hello, everyone!

This week, I posted my review for Son by Lois Lowry and read Cooked by Michael Pollan (review up tomorrow). I started Paul Theroux’s The Last Train to Zona Verde yesterday and will finish it up today so I can start Adam Gopnik’s Through the Children’s Gate.

It’s been hot and humid these last couple of days. I’m not working these days which is not ideal, but I have free time. I am also going to on holiday to New York City later this week. The blog will be a bit slow in for the next two weeks. I doubt I will be reading much on holiday.

I’ll be taking a lot of photos. I also bought the NY City Pass which means hitting up to 4 museums on my fiveish days in the city. I’ll be catching up with an old friend in the hot NY summer. I don’t think I’ll be eating or sleeping very much. I also have to be careful because of the urges to shop.

This holiday is necessary. I have not traveled on my own in three years.

Will you be going anywhere this summer?

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Son by Lois Lowry Leave a reply

Posted on July 3, 2013 in Books

I studied The Giver in school. I really liked it, and have since read the sequels, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and now, Son. I was not as impressed with the sequels as I was with The Giver. I still think that is one of the best Young Adult books from the late twentieth century. I fondly remember the moment when Jonas the learns about the colour red.

I’d forgotten a lot of the previous two books when I started Son, and I liked that this last instalment of the series goes back to the original community. I liked the protagonist Claire, and the moments of maternal love were very moving. Lois Lowry lost her own son, and this yearning for him comes through Claire. I like Lowry’s style which is simple, but still expressive. She is a story teller.

I am not completely in love with this Quartet though, and it’s become increasingly supernatural with most of the characters displaying powers. This is fine except it it’s hard to balance with the focus on dystopian culture. I understand why there is an element of Good vs. Evil, but at the same time, I wish the books were more analytical about the nature of human authority. In any case, this is a rather minor quibble since I was satisfied with the ending.

This is a good end to the Quartet overall, but I do think that it is not necessary to read the sequels as The Giver is in itself, a great stand alone novel.

Read July 1, 2013.

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