Thursday, May 13, 2010

my fave five...or how literary sendipity surprised me once again

a flickr contact invited me to a group the other day named " 5 books"...or something like that ( i am teetering on the very edge of exhaustion right now, so details are really....just details...).

the point of the group is to take a shot with 5 books, no more, no less. i am not sure of the motivation behind the group, but being a bit of a book hoarder, it intrigued me enough to join.

oddly enough, in looking at the pile beside my bed last night, i had...5 books.
how convenient, thought i. that i should have exactly enough books in my reading queue to take a picture for this particular group.

well, the picture never got taken today. and will likely not be taken tomorrow as details keep getting in the way....like ailing children, achey stitchy legs, a party and photographs that need to be retrieved from the art gallery.

and this needed to be written, as i have promised myself to write at least three posts a week for myself. because doing anything three times makes it a habit. i have no idea where i read that this week...some parenting magazine i fear. in regards to forming the habits of toddlers.

so no picture of my waiting books ( well, one is partly read, but i am being slow about it which is unusual for me )...but i thought i would share my pile. it is a bit of a random pile, a mix of suggestions and rereads and, well, trash:).

at the moment, i am in the process of reading "the settler's cookbook" by yasmin alibhai-brown.
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/the-settlers-cookbook-a-memoir-of-love-migration-and-food-yasmin-alibhai-brown/
i am unsure of this one. it came ridiculously highly recommended...but i keep getting distracted with the recipes. i do not cook, i have very little experience with the particular ingredients and manner of cooking described for most of the foods...but damn, i am going to have to find some of these dishes just to satisfy the hunger they have created for tastes i do not even know exist yet. the story is one of displacement and journey and so far a lack of assimilation...but i am curious to see how it all plays out for the protagonist, with this being a memoir and all...

once i am finished with this cookbook;), "pride and prejudice" is up next.


i have not read any austen in years. i am happy to quote her and happy to become nostalgic over the use of her works in popular films...but i am having a little literary guilt and feel like i owe it to her to re read this one...

and then up comes..."the nanny returns". oh, stop laughing.
http://www.amazon.ca/Nanny-Returns-Novel-Emma-McLaughlin/dp/1416585672
 i bought it for florida, a beach read, but apparently i am slow, as that was two months ago...so it will be my first dock read of the summer. a little light reading to accompany my beer and sunshine ( and slathering amounts of sunscreen. sigh.)

"beatrice and virgil" will follow ( quickly as i do not anticipate nanny taking me too long to work my way through...hopefully faster than the movie sequel, for which i am sure this book was simply the screenplay for ).
http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307398772
 i never read "the life of pi", although the praise and accolades that followed yann martel were impossible to avoid. i have no reason for not having read his previous work. i happened upon a review not to long ago in he paper, describing this new work as something that would either be brilliant...or an abysmal failure, and that intrigued me. i love the idea of taking chances and apparently this book is one big risk in terms of idealogy and character and structure. i am curious...

and then, a random book purchase, the same day as martel's work. it was one of "heather's picks" at chapters...and the title was tempting.
"the happiness project" by gretchen rubin.
http://www.happiness-project.com/
(and for the record, i just linked this without even peeking at the web site;))
 i paid full price for a hardcover with absolutely no idea of what it is about. a total leap of faith...i  did not even read the back cover or the inside flap...or even the last sentence of the book for which i have been known to do...

but with a title like that, how can it not change my life?

so, those are my five books. there will be a photo.
i have committed now.
and as i finish each? i will be happy to share:).

(the pic above? my june 5th, 2008 365 shot. soon to be replaced by a shot with 5, not 4 books...)

oh! and the flickr group that brought this about?
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fivebooks/

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I too have several ideas for photos of five books, but not enough time (yet) to take them. Tonight, hopefully!

I was mildly disappointed with Life of Pi. It had it's moments, but it's not my style I guess.