2013 End Of Year Book Survey

I took up the end-of-year book survey in 2011, missed it in 2012, and thought it would be a good idea to do it again in 2013. It is fun to do the meme, and a great way to remember and reflect on the books you have read throughout the year gone by.

So, here we go.

1. Best book you read in 2013?
Marlena de Blasi’s The Lady In The Palazzo. It is such a beautifully written book, one after my own heart.

I would have said The Book Thief, but I still haven’t finished it.

2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t?
Sarah Addison Allen’s The Sugar Queen. I had wanted to read this book for so very long, thanks to its very interesting storyline. I really thought I would fall in love with this book, but I didn’t. I ended up utterly disappointed, sadly.

A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka would be a close second in this category.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?
Michelle Moran’s Nefertiti. I read quite a bit of historical fiction this year, by my standards. Nefertiti was one of the first historical fiction books I read, expecting it to be complex and something I might not be able to relate to. I was very pleasantly surprised!

Paul Torday’s Salmon Fishing In The Yemen is another book that would fall into this category, for me. I wanted to read it, but was afraid I wouldn’t understand it at all. The book turned out so simply written and delightful that I hogged all of it.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2013?
Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. I think every single person should read this book. Really.

5. Best series you discovered in 2013?
I read the first book out of only one series in 2013 – Alexander McCall Smith’s The Sunday Philosophy Club. I can’t say it was the best series I discovered in 2013, but it wasn’t all bad.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2013?
Masha Hamilton (The Camel Bookmobile), Paul Torday (Salmon Fishing In The Yemen), Michelle Moran (Madame Tussaud and Nefertiti), Markus Zusak (The Book Thief)- I don’t know why I never read anything by them before 2013. Now, I can’t wait to read the other books these writers have penned.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Will Schwalbe’s The End Of Your Life Book Club. This was a difficult read for me on two levels – One, I am still not entirely comfortable with reading non-fiction, except for travel books. Second, it was not a great book to pick up soon after having a family member pass away from cancer. I persisted, though, and loved the book.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?
The Lady In The Palazzo, my best book for 2013.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2013?
I very eagerly waited to read The Sugar Queen  and A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian this year, only to be disappointed.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?
That of Michelle Moran’s Nefertiti. The lady on the cover looked so mysterious, so powerful, so beautiful, I felt myself drawn to the cover several times over as I read the book.

11. Most memorable character in 2013?
Helen McGill in Parnassus On Wheels. I loved her for showing me that an adventure is possible at any age, whenever you want to set out on one.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?
Miss Potter – A Novel by Richard Maltby, Jr. It is a beautiful and sensitive account about a beautiful person.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?
The End Of Your Life Book Club. I realised that all of us, me included, are living on the edge every single moment of every single day. Life is short, and anything can happen at any minute. We should cherish every moment of the life we have now, instead of waiting for it to turn 100% perfect.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?
Indu Sundaresan’s Shadow Princess. This book was so much in the news a couple of years ago, and I even bought a copy of it then. For reasons unfathomable to me, I waited until 2013 to finally read it.

15. Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2013?

We discussed the Lahiri characters as though they were friends of ours, or even relatives. Why didn’t this one say this, or tell someone that, or let anyone know she or he was so unhappy, so lonely, so scared? Lahiri’s characters, just like people all around us, are constantly telling each other important things, but not necessarily in words.

~ From Will Schwalbe’s The End Of Your Life Book Club

16. Book that you read in 2013 that you would be most likely to reread in 2014?
I don’t re-read books, usually, so I really don’t have an answer for this.

17. Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it? ( an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
This happened with all the historical fiction books I read this year – Shadow Princess, Madame Tussaud, Nefertiti, Shakespeare’s Mistress, The Empress Of Ice Cream, and Miss Potter. I was dying to share with the OH the minute details of court life, the dresses that the characters wore and the scale of grandeur on which they lead their lives (in case they were royalty), every day by the time he returned from work.

The End Of Your Life Book Club also provoked many discussions about life and death, and the way I want to lead my life.

18. Shortest and longest book you read in 2013?
The shortest book would be David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary. For such a short book, it is immensely power-packed.

The longest one would be Michelle Moran’s Madame Tussaud.

19. Favourite relationship from a book you read in 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc. )? 
The relationship between Nefertiti’s sister, Mutnodjmet, and General Nakhtmin in Nefertiti. Theirs is a very beautiful romance, in spite of their circumstances. It couldn’t have been easy to fall in love with the sister of someone so dynamic, powerful and overbearing.

20. Best book you read in 2013 that you read based solely on a recommendation from someone else?
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen. I might not have picked this book up if it hadn’t come with a high recommendation from Mad Momma.

21. Genre you read the most from in 2013?
Contemporary fiction.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?
I don’t think any character captured my heart that way.

23. Best 2013 debut you read?
I didn’t read any debuts this year. All the books I read in 2013 were published at least a year before.

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?
The Lady In The Palazzo. I would love to see the world that the author lives in!

25. Book that was the most fun to read in 2013?
Salmon Fishing In The Yemen

26. Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2013?
The End Of Your Life Book Club

27. Book you read in 2013 that you think got overlooked this year or when it came out?
Most books I read in 2013 would fall into this category, because I read very few bestsellers. To name a few, I think books like The Lady In The Palazzo, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen and The End Of Your Life Book Club are under-rated. They are not as popular as they deserve to be.

This meme is hosted by The Perpetual Page Turner. Do feel free to take it up, if it sounds interesting to you!

On visiting ‘the ugliest building ever erected’

There’s something magical about visiting a church in the night time, around Christmas. The way the exterior is all decked up, and the bright lights from the interior filter out through the pretty stained glass windows is special, something you have to experience to know how it feels. The feeling of being witness to something magical, out of fairyland, is only intensified when the strains of music and singing from within the church reach your ears. You can’t help but loosen up, and soak in the wonder of that moment.

These were the exact sentiments of the OH and me as we visited the St. Marks’ Cathedral on 1, MG Road last weekend. I could only wonder why we never managed to make it to this renowned and beautiful place before. Sigh!

How can this view not inspire awe?

The main entrance, beautifully decorated. What’s to not love?

With construction of the church being completed in 1812, it is now over 200 years old. It has been modeled on the lines of the 17th century St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and was chiefly constructed as a place of worship for the British army soldiers and officials stationed in the Bangalore Cantonment in those days. The church, in its early days of birth, was quite a plain structure, and has been called ‘one of the ugliest buildings ever erected’ in writings about it. Much of the church’s original structure has been retained till date, but it is no longer an ugly or plain structure. There have been several additions to the church over the years – a marble pulpit, a large German pipe organ, candlesticks from Oxford, a grand cross and dome- which have made it the beauty that it is today. After a fire in the church in the 1920s, the interiors were revamped, lending to its prettiness.

The church apparently got stained glass windows in the year 1816, after they were blessed by the Bishop of Calcutta. These are the very stained glass windows that exist today, I am assuming, and are stunning in their intricate designs.

One of the stained glass windows of the church

Another colourful stained glass window

More stained glass

The ornate doors of the church and the carvings inside it are works of art in themselves. There are also several plaques within the church, commemorating various British army officers and soldiers.

I need a lot more visits to this church, probably in the daytime, to see all of it and to understand what it really stands for, in the hearts of regular visitors.

The one in which we spice and poach a pear

I always thought it was too hard to make poached pears at home. Whenever I saw them in photographs or on TV, they looked so fancy-schmancy, their sweet bodies grown fat, having gorged on more spicy-sweet goodness. I thought it was the stuff of high-end restaurants, that only top-class chefs can make perfectly. That’s why I never read the recipe for making some, whenever I came across it on a blog or elsewhere. I was so wrong!

A few days ago, I bought some pears at our local departmental store, and since, began noticing poached pear recipes everywhere. I ignored them a couple of times, and then read one out of sheer curiosity. It sounded so very simple – nothing complicated in it. I looked up several more recipes for poached pears on the net and, though all of them suggested a different way of doing it, all of them were simple. I can try it out, of course, I thought. They looked too delicious to not even give a try at making them. So, that is how we came to have a poached pear yesterday night for dessert, post dinner. It took me barely 15 minutes to make, and tasted beautiful. Proof that not everything that looks fancy-schmancy is actually fancy-schmancy.

I used bits and pieces from different recipes I found on the internet to come up with my own technique of making it. Honestly, there is no right or wrong way – there are hundreds of ways in which this can be done. The recipe I used was based on the ingredients I had readily available at home.

Here’s how I made my poached pear:

Ingredients:

1 large pear, peeled, with the seeds removed – you can either choose to keep it whole or cut it up. I cut it up into large pieces, leaving the stems on, so as to be able to eat them easily. Choose one that it ripe and juicy, but not overly ripe and squishy.

Sugar to taste

A few drops of vanilla essence

A pinch of salt

About 2 tablespoons of honey

A small piece of ginger, peeled and grated very finely

4 cloves

4 pods of cardamom

A 1-inch piece of cinnamon, broken into two

Juice of half a lemon

Water, just enough to cover the pears in a deep-bottomed pan

Method:

1. Break open the cardamom pods. Drop the cardamom, grated ginger, cinnamon and cloves into the water and heat it in a deep-bottomed vessel till it boils.

2. Add the salt, sugar and honey to the boiling water.

3. Drop the pear pieces into the water at this stage. Reduce the flame, and cook covered till the pears get soft. Keep stirring once in a while.

4. When the pears are almost cooked through, add the vanilla essence and lemon juice to the pears. Mix well.

5. Cook covered till the pears are fully done. The syrup will thicken a bit.

Serve hot or cold, depending on your taste, after spooning the syrup over the poached pears. You can choose to serve this with ice cream, sweetened whipped cream or chocolate syrup, too. We let it cool down a bit and ate it just like that. Gorgeousness!

Have you ever had a poached pear? Have you ever tried making it at home?

Just read

The End Of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

I read Bindu’s review of The End Of Your Life Book Club on her blog a few months back, and knew I had to read it. Little did I know when I expressed an interest in reading the book that Bindu would surprise me by sending over a copy! Thanks a ton, dear!

Mary Anne Schwalbe, the author’s mother, is dying of cancer. She has, at the most, a few months to go. The author finds a way to spend more time with her in her last days on earth – accompanying her to chemotherapy sessions and other doctor visits. One day, he asks her a casual question – ‘What book are you reading?’ This leads to a conversation that is so deep and satisfying that they decide to make it a regular feature of their lives. Slowly and gradually, over the course of a few more hospital visits, an informal book club of two is born. Amidst book discussions, a lot of things are discussed – from politics and social issues to life in general and reflections on time gone by. The book club becomes much more than  a book club, it turns into a way for a son to bond deeper with his mother. It is this non-fictional book club that the author writes about in The End Of Your Life Book Club.

As the book unfolds, you get to know what a wonderful woman Mary Anne Schwalbe was, her love of life, her belief in the essential goodness of people and her contagious enthusiasm for several world issues. The fact that she had cancer that was killing her did make her angry and sad, but didn’t deter her from the way she wanted to live her last days even one bit. I saw a lot of myself in Mary Anne Schwalbe, and a lot of the kind of person I want to become. I fell in love with her by the time I finished reading the book – I wanted to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her. If I could choose how to die, it would be in her way – living life to the fullest till the very last breath.

I loved the book to the core, though it was not an easy read for me. It moved me to bits, lodging a sense of sweet sadness in my throat. I felt it was a powerful read. I did, however, have the sense that a lot of bits and pieces of what might have been the original manuscript for the book had been chopped off – heavy editing, maybe? For this reason, the story appears disjointed and it seems as if the author has lost his spark in between paragraphs. It is not just me, there are many other readers who have observed the same, judging from Goodreads reviews. That said, the book still comes across as powerful. I cannot imagine what it would have been had its originality been retained.

The End Of Your Life Book Club is something I would heartily recommend to each and every one of you.

The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

The Sugar Queen is the story of Josey, the frustrated daughter of a deceased rich man, who was the hero of the small town she lives in, and an extremely overbearing mother. She wants to lead her life her way, but is unable to get away from the shadow of her mother. To make matters worse, she is in love with Adam, her mailman. Life, as she has known it, turns upside down when she discovers Della Lee, a waitress in a local diner, hiding in her closet.

I bought this book because it fell into the genre of magical realism, and I wanted something Joanne Harris-ish to read. I saw some great reviews for the book across blog world, too. Sadly, I was utterly disappointed with it. The story is oh-so-predictable, and the writing was not special either. There are touches of magic realism in the story, but quite awkwardly woven in, as if just thrown in for the sake of throwing them in. Every character is hiding secrets, which turn out to be not so interesting when revealed. Most characters seem to know exactly what they want in life, but do not go for it, sinking deeper into a quagmire every passing day. Josey and her friend Chloe seem especially clueless about how to do things that are right for them, which was very tiring for me as a reader.

Overall, this was not at all my cup of tea. I would want to read more books by the author, though, as they have some rather interesting story lines.

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith

I didn’t enjoy Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency at all, when I read it a couple of years ago. I was, hence, apprehensive about picking up more of his books. When I read about his Sunday Philosophy Club series, though, the premise sounded too tempting to not buy the first book immediately. I wasn’t too happy this time around, either, but was definitely not entirely disappointed.

The Sunday Philosophy Club is the story of Isabel Dalhousie, a 30-something spinster, editor of a philosophy magazine, art lover and wannabe sleuth. When she sees a young man falling to his death at a concert that she goes to, she has the feeling that it is not an accident, as the police and media want people to believe. She doesn’t have any qualifications or experience as a real-life detective, but she has good connections in the small town of Edinburgh, where she has lived all her life. Slowly and gradually, she begins to investigate the matter of the young man’s death, in her own way. What does she uncover? Was it really an accident or something else? You need to read the book to find that out!

Isabel Dalhousie gives the impression of someone who is a tad pompous and conservative at times, but is extremely perceptive, understanding, flexible, modern and accommodating at other times. Her insights into the problems of the modern-day world are interesting, as are the doses of easy-to-understand philosophy scattered liberally throughout the book. These insights make the book slightly more drawn out than it would have been, had it been just another suspense thriller, but I felt they added a nice touch to it. They bring out the character of Isabel Dalhousie beautifully and, like most human beings, she has her own faults and foibles. That said, I did feel she was jumping to conclusions way too often, and adopting a very simplistic approach towards things in the course of her investigation. The end of the book disappointed me, honestly, but, overall, I liked the book.

I would definitely like to read the other books in the series, and get to know more about Isabel Dalhousie, touted by some readers as the No. 2 detective.

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts about them?

What are you reading at the moment?

And I join the bandwagon too…

What bandwagon, you ask? Well, The Kindle bandwagon. 🙂

This morning, when I woke, I found a parcel wrapped in shiny red paper near my pillow, with a note stuck on it, along with a bright red gerbera daisy. Apparently, the in-house Santa had an early Christmas gift for me, which he claimed I would love. I opened the parcel to find a brand new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, all mine.

We had been debating whether to buy a Kindle or not, for quite some time. I had been swinging between ‘I want one’ and ‘I don’t think I would like one’ for a long time. It looks like someone got tired of the constant back-and-forth. 🙂

At the moment, I have mixed feelings about being the owner of this super-sleek piece of technology.

I am excited by the possibilities it opens up for me – I can now read a romance on a beach or a fantasy tale sitting under a tree in a garden. I could do that with a physical book, too, but I never seemed to have the right book with me while I travelled. Now, I can carry my library with me wherever I go, and choose appropriately. Not to forget the fact that I don’t have to wait a fortnight for the books that I order to appear at my doorstep, and the prices of certain books that I want to read are far more reasonable for a Kindle version than a physical copy.

I am a bit overwhelmed, too – I still don’t know the ins and outs of the device, and if you know me, you know that I am hopeless with technology. The Kindle feels different when I hold it in my hands, as if I am holding something that is not mine. I need time to get used to it, I guess. In a little corner of my heart, I feel like a traitor, too – a traitor of papery, sweet-smelling physical books.

Luckily, the husband understands my sentiments and is helping me settle in with the new addition to my bedside bookshelf. Most likely, I will go on a downloading spree over the weekend, getting hold of all those books I always wanted to read but never did because I didn’t want to go bankrupt.

Wish me luck as I journey on this new path as a reader, will you please? I hope the Kindle will add new dimensions to my reading, help me grow as one, and make me embrace it, totally. I hope I soon have wonderful experiences to share with all of you, starring the Kindle.

Of glossy magazines and Persian cats

Who would think of the two together – glossy magazines and Persian cats? I never did, till I heard about this little store called Magazines on Church Street. A colleague told me about the place a couple of years ago and, intrigued, I visited it immediately. Since, the store was totally forgotten, till the OH and I decided to rediscover it one boring weekend. I’m so glad we did!

For those who are not aware, Magazines is tucked away in the basement of the Prestige RR Building on Church Street, quite easy to miss if you aren’t specifically looking for it. In spite of its location, the shop is far from dreary and dull – it is brightly lit, with rows and rows of glossies neatly arranged. Most international magazines are available here, fresh as well as backdated copies, at extremely reasonable prices. The main attraction of the shop, apart from the magazines, are the number of Persian cats that reside there. We spotted three on the day we visited.

These are not your stick-thin, dirty cats that roam the streets, but well-fed and well-maintained balls of fluff. They are quite at home among the magazines, and seem quite accustomed to people coochie-cooing over them. They barely gave passing customers a look, but were ready to be patted and stroked by friendly hands. No wonder that most visitors have their favourite cats here, children especially, and drop by occasionally to say hello to them. 🙂

Magazines is owned by Yahya Sait, whose passion for glossies came from the small stall on the pavement that his father owned years ago. He calls the cats his ‘brand ambassadors’ and states that they came to the store quite by chance. Apparently, a few years ago, Yahya responded to an advertisement regarding the sale of two Persian cats. He bought them, and fell in love with them. He began bringing more and more of them into the store, and it worked as a great marketing concept, too.

Yahya’s friend, Amjad Ahmed, mans the store often, whom we had the pleasure of meeting on our visit. Quite a friendly and warm person himself, he was more than happy to help us make friends with the cats and encourage me to click some pictures of the cuties. The helpers in the store too were well-informed and helpful, we found.

So, the next time you are in the area, don’t miss visiting these beauties!

The voice

All the day’s chores done, I lie on the sofa in our living room, with my feet up, watching TV with the OH.

Suddenly, I hear a voice. It is the voice of a tough-as-bricks lady, who takes nonsense from no one.

‘Saumensch,’ it tells me.

I jump.

‘Saumensch’ – there’s that voice again. This time, I realise the voice is inside me, in my head. Rosa Hubermann.

I relax immediately and smile.

The OH asks what is wrong with me.

‘This is what happens when a book gets under your skin, creeps up your veins, and crawls into your brain,’ I tell him.

He gives me the oh-that-dotty-wife-of-mine expression.

‘You should read The Book Thief, too. It will crawl into your brain, too,’ I tell him.

**************************

This is non-fiction, starring the OH and me. For those of you who did not get the reference, please click on the link in the post.

Bringing home the beginnings of Christmas

Nothing puts me in the festive mood faster than roaming leisurely around the markets of the city and gazing at the gorgeous things on display. That is exactly what happened yesterday, when we shopped for new Christmas decorations for the tree at home at Shivajinagar and Safeena Plaza. I know a lot of people who tell me that these are not the best places to go to for Christmas decorations, but I loved the experience. I loved spending the afternoon hunting for pieces that were different from the other stalls, bargaining with the vendors, and splurging in general. Snowflakes, tinsel, silver balls and red berries were among the shiny, glittery things we brought home yesterday. We haven’t yet begun to do up our tree, but we are sure looking forward to it!

A stall selling Christmas decorations at Shivajinagar

Another stall in Shivajinagar

At Shivajinagar again – isn’t he cute?!

I wonder why I never visited Safeena Plaza before yesterday – everyone and their grannies have been shopping there, and it is one of the most famous places in Bangalore! I loved the place, with its stalls selling everything from Christmas decorations and artificial jewellery to clothes and handicrafts. I am surely going there again, with much more time on hand, and exploring the place at my own pace.

In fact, walks through Shivajinagar and Safeena Plaza have been added to our yearly list of things to do before Christmas, from next year onwards, if only to gawp at the decorations for sale. The OH and I have built up certain traditions over the years we have been together, a list of things that we do without fail, and these two things have been added to the Christmas-time list, which includes a visit to St. Mary’s Basilica, gaping at the decorations in the various malls of Bangalore, buying fruit cake, and visiting the annual cake exhibition (Have you read my posts on the cake exhibition in 2011 and 2012?). It warms my heart to think that we might have set in place something that will continue to be a part of our lives in the years to come, that we will do them with our children some day. It makes me feel like part of a family.

We also brought home a lovely plum cake, with just the right amount of sweet and notes of spiciness in it. The plan is to keep some for us and to divide the rest among the extended family. In the foreseeable future at least, there are going to be slices of plum cake after dinner. I am still following a trying-to-eat-healthy-and-live-healthy routine, but plum cake is something I just cannot scrimp on. I don’t like calling it fruit cake; plum cake sounds much more exotic anyway!

This year’s cake exhibition is on, at the St. Joseph’s College grounds, and I think it will be till the 29th. Next weekend, maybe.

Is it beginning to look like Christmas where you are, too?

Random things about me, and some quotes

So, this girl had tagged me some time ago to write 8 things about myself and 5 of my favourite quotes. I was looking for the perfect time to take up the tag, and it looks like that time has arrived.

Here we go.

8 random facts about myself:

1. I finally started reading Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, after having seen rave reviews about it all over blog world. I am just about 25% done with the book yet, and have loads still to go – it is a chunkster, after all! I am enjoying the book immensely, and want to take my own time with it. The writing is beautiful, simple and poetic, and I want to savour every bit of it. Plus, I want to take in all the many layers of information that the book packs in, at my own pace.

2. In a fit of inspiration, I painted my nails purple today morning, in spite of having several chores lined up for the day and being sure that I wouldn’t have enough time for all of it to dry up. As expected, the nail polish is all smudged and patchy now, but it did look pretty while it lasted. At least, I made an effort, eh?

3. I had ragi vermicelli for lunch today. Store-bought vermicelli cooked at home in 10 minutes flat. Healthy and delicious.

4. It’s time to unpack our little Christmas tree and set it up. I need the cheer and the lights and the romance of it all. However, I do need to buy some new ornaments – I am tired of unpacking the same box of decorations for the last 3 years and doing up the tree in exactly the same way. I need a change of scene!

5. I skipped my morning walk today, and the change was refreshing. And to think that I wrote about enjoying my morning walks so much just yesterday, on my blog!

6. I am loving the weather in Bangalore today, totally. It is cold and overcast, with not a hint of sun!

7. As part of my (home-grown) tradition to read something Christmas-sy during Christmas-time, I started reading David Baldacci’s The Christmas Train. My first Baldacci. Good in parts, cliched in parts, but I am not too far into the book to really make a judgement about it.

8. I really need to work on being less scattered, to quit trying to be here, there and everywhere at once. I need to re-learn to focus on one thing at a time, savour each moment before rushing on to the next. I am sucking at that, at the moment.

Now for the 5 quotes.

1. “I told my husband I was getting married for specific emotional and physical reasons. If I had to make a purely financial decision, it made more sense for me to stay single. If I chose to be a wife, I wanted to be treated as one. I wanted a husband who would look after me. I wasn’t about to write my own cheques and live like a flatmate. That too, a flatmate without equal rights and with a sexual duty to perform. Sorry. That wouldn’t have worked for me.”

– From Spouse – The Truth About Marriage by Shobhaa De

2. “If you take a book with you on a journey,” Mo had said when he put the first one in her box, “an odd thing happens: The book begins collecting your memories. And forever after you have only to open that book to be back where you first read it. It will all come into your mind with the very first words: the sights you saw in that place, what it smelled like, the ice cream you ate while you were reading it… yes, books are like flypaper — memories cling to the printed page better than anything else.”

– From Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

3. “My daughter is seven, and some of the other second-grade parents complain that their children don’t read for pleasure. When I visit their homes, the children’s rooms are crammed with expensive books, but the parent’s rooms are empty. Those children do not see their parents reading, as I did every day of my childhood. By contrast, when I walk into an apartment with books on the shelves, books on the bedside tables, books on the floor, and books on the toilet tank, then I know what I would see if I opened the door that says ‘PRIVATE–GROWNUPS KEEP OUT’: a child sprawled on the bed, reading.”

– From Ex Libris: Confessions Of A Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

4. “If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me? I owe it so much.”

– From 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

5. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

– By H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Most of the bloggers I read have taken up this tag already, so I’m not tagging anyone. Feel free to take it up on your blog, if you feel like it!

Morning boosts of energy

I saw three things of note, on my morning walk today.

A little girl of about 5, all dressed up in her school uniform, super cute, hugging her little brother of about 2, her bag dangling on her shoulders. ‘Byeeeeeeee,’ she was telling him in that lovely, singsong voice that kids of about 5 have, a voice that can melt you.

A grandfather holding his grandson captive within the circle he had made with his legs, combing the little boy’s hair and readying him for school. ‘And then what, Thatha?’, the kid asked. Thatha started on a long-winded story, and I watched the boy slip his head into his school tie and his feet into his boots without even noticing it.

A father taking his little son to school on his bike, the kid waving to his mother at the gate and their dog on the balcony of the first floor of their house. The dog watched on, tail wagging, till the bike turned the corner and went out of sight. Then, running to the very edge of the balcony, he lifted its legs up to the railing to crane his neck and try to see if his little friend could still be seen.

Three very different expressions of love, but expressions in which the love shone through, all right.

Three precious moments snatched in the midst of the busy beginnings of a day.

Three things I was fortunate to notice while passing by, which brought a smile to my face.

Three things that warmed the cockles of my heart, and added wings to my tired and bored feet.

Such moments are what keep me going on my walks every single day. This is why I prefer to get out of the house every morning to walk to the nearby park, instead of riding on a stationary bicycle at home, in spite of not wanting to get out of bed most winter mornings.