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Spring means Hope | Weekly Snapshot

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Hello you guys! I seem to have forgotten how to blog with everything going on around here. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Hope you all are coping okay?

Last week Things finally got to some semblance of a routine this week and I've been finally feeling better and in charge of my emotional faculties. I've taken over one of the upstairs bedrooms and set it up as my office-cum-homeschool room. In other words, the room is a big mess, but both my daughter and I are able to navigate the room fine as everything in the room has a meaning in our own brains. We're both very organized that way. I've been using a sit-stand desk for my work laptop and I'm a little glad that I got to try this system finally. When I'm not working, I'm helping the girl with her letters, numbers, or fun activities. Trust me, this is difficult but we worked through the system this week, and think we have it under control. My father-in-law watches my son during the day as the little ma…
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The Book Bag from Toronto

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Early Sunday morning, or as early as we could manage after a full day of driving on Saturday, the husband and I woke up to snow falling in Niagara. My phone's weather app had promised a day of sunshine and some clouds, but there wasn't any mention of any kind of precipitation. Somehow, we dragged ourselves out of the hotel into our car to see the Niagara falls from the Canadian side (photos coming later) and then cross over to the US.

Even though we woke up to 20 F degree weather, we reached home nine hours later to 62 F degree weather. The sun has been out ever since and I (someone who generally abhors summer) am super excited to see no more snow or fleece jackets. Two weeks in Canada was amazing but the weather wasn't the best. Toronto wasn't too cold, Quebec city could have easily left some frostbitten toes or fingers, while Niagara was more of a middle ground. I plan to post some highlights of my trip later this week (once I fully recover from the nasty cold I picked up at Quebec), and in the meantime, mention the books I purchased at Toronto's many amazing bookstores.

The entire stack

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I went to a total of 8 bookstores in Toronto, and bought books at 6 of them. The only reason I walked out empty-handed from the other two stores was because one was more of an art store than a bookstore while the second store had more strange or theory books plus the books cost way more than I was willing to spend. Once we reached home, the husband stacked all the books up for me and did a count as well to book-shame me. (He knows well that book-shaming doesn't work on me at all.) Honestly though, when I found that I had purchased 25 books, I did feel a bit sheepish. Who buys that many books in a week? At least, I am done for the next two years, as far as book shopping is considered.


Books I bought because "I've been meaning to read them forever" (or maybe not for that long)

The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson
The Walking Dead, Vol 21 by Robert Kirkman
The Accident by Ismail Kadare
The Walking Dead, Vol 22 by Robert Kirkman



Books I bought because I want to read this author but know nothing about his/her works

The Joke by Milan Kundera
The Black Album by Hanif Kureishi
July's People by Nadine Gordimer
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
I'll Steal You Away by  Niccolò Ammaniti


Books I bought because I had vaguely heard something good about these titles (though now remember nothing about them)


People Park by Pasha Malla
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes


Books for the husband

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Card
Gandhi by Kazuki Ebine
Phoenicia's Worlds by Ben Jeapes
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (not pictured)



Books I bought just because

NW by Zadie Smith
I Do Not Come to You by Chance by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
Yalo by Elias Khoury
A Woman in Jerusalem by Abraham B. Yehoshua
Happiness, like Water by Chinelo Okparanta


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Comments

Jules se livre said…
It's still freezing in Québec City this morning: 14 degrees!!! :)
March 25, 2015 at 7:47 AM
Kay said…
I think you should get a pass on the 25 book bought shaming. 5 of them were for the husband. So, really only 20. LOL


Nice haul! And hope you feel better soon.
March 25, 2015 at 9:55 AM
Vasilly said…
It looks like you have some fantastic reading ahead of you! :-)
March 25, 2015 at 10:47 AM
Ti Reed said…
You made out like a bandit at the book shop! TWD comics! I have such a hard time reading them as I have the TV actors stuck in my head and the way they are in the comic throws me off and doesn't seem to fit. Finale this weekend! Can't wait!
March 25, 2015 at 11:24 AM
Nadia A said…
Wow! Look at all of those books! Awesome! I love Zadie Smith and have been wanting to read NW for quite some time, so I can't wait to hear what you think of it. And, I love The Walking Dead. I've never read the comics, but have been thinking about starting since I am HOOKED on the show. Enjoy all of your new reads!!
March 25, 2015 at 11:47 AM
Jenny @ Reading the End said…
Daaaaaaamn, look at all those! You will be reading on those for a WHILE. Isn't it brilliant to be away from home and feel free to buy books wantonly? As soon as I go on a vacation, I find I lose all restraint about buying books. London airport professionals have given me the evil eye for how absurdly heavy my suitcases are on return trips. (Foyle's!)
March 25, 2015 at 7:29 PM
Lisa Sheppard said…
Oh, that is a lovely, lovely pile of travel souvenirs!
March 25, 2015 at 10:12 PM
JoAnn @ Lakeside Musing said…
Just looking at that stack of books makes me happy - enjoy! Can't wait to hear more about your trip.
March 27, 2015 at 8:23 AM
Care said…
Fun! And you bought some books for the husband, very sweet. Shall we readalong Flowers for Algernon someday? It's on my classics 50 list. AND I sent you an email....
March 27, 2015 at 12:05 PM
Belle Wong said…
Wow! I love seeing all the books you bought - and you've inspired me to really get serious about visiting more of Toronto's bookstores!
March 27, 2015 at 1:29 PM
iliana said…
Now that's what I call a book haul! I love buying books when I'm on vacation too.
March 29, 2015 at 7:26 PM
Athira / Aths said…
I sure hope it get warmer there soon! All that snow needs to melt as well.
March 31, 2015 at 2:56 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Yes! Only 20 - that's right. Though I did buy 3 of the 5 books for the husband and he isn't going to take blame for them, lol.
March 31, 2015 at 2:57 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Looks like it! I hope I don't ignore them like I ignore all books I own.
March 31, 2015 at 2:57 PM
Athira / Aths said…
LOL! Bandit is right! The second store I went to - I spent 2 hours and came out with 8 books. The owner was like - are you sure you found what you want?

I try not to read the TWD comics when the show is running. But now that the finale is over, I can't wait to get back to the books. Some really nasty stuff had just happened - something I hope never comes to TV or maybe comes after many seasons.
March 31, 2015 at 2:59 PM
Athira / Aths said…
I'm hooked to both the show and the books! They are pretty similar to each other - at least with the plots - but there are characters in each that aren't in the other and the show introduces events that aren't in the books.
March 31, 2015 at 3:15 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Totally! What is a trip that doesn't involve buying books? I think being away from my crowded bookshelves enable this behavior too. I was struggling to put the books into my bookshelves. I still have some extra space but I have to move books around and rethink my cataloging system - grr!
March 31, 2015 at 3:18 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Book-buying is certainly a must when it comes to vacations. I am sure that if I had flown, I would not have bought this many.
March 31, 2015 at 3:18 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Thank you! I cannot wait to get started on these books.
March 31, 2015 at 3:19 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Certainly visit them! I enjoyed going to many of them, especially She Said Boom and BMV bookstores.
March 31, 2015 at 3:19 PM
Sue said…
Wow, what a trip, and that's quite the book haul! Nadine Gordimer is a good choice. Another title by her to look for is "the Pickup", the writing style can take some getting used to but it's a great story.
March 31, 2015 at 6:06 PM
Care said…
Later? I don't have it in the house yet, though I suppose the library might have a copy. Here's my lineup: finish Winesburg Ohio, read Good Lord Bird by James McBride, then Station Eleven because it won the Tourney of Books and then? I am hosting a readalong of King's Misery in June, fyi. But May is looking good? :D
April 1, 2015 at 9:21 AM
Athira / Aths said…
Yes May is good! :-) Gawd, I don't know why I thought I already replied to you. I may have done it in my head, which I do a lot, or I actually did reply but Disqus or my office internet swallowed up my comment. But May is good - just let me know when you will be ready to start and I will plan to get started around the same time. :-)
April 15, 2015 at 2:51 PM
Athira / Aths said…
Now that makes sense. That's probably what I did - comment on your
blog. Phew, so I am not going crazy, yet. I wonder too how the audio is.
Maybe too technical to listen to? Maybe not..
April 15, 2015 at 3:16 PM
Athira / Aths said…
I saw quite a few books by her and had a tough time picking one. I finally picked July's People because it sounded most interesting but I will look at The Pickup too - thanks for the recommendation!
April 16, 2015 at 6:37 PM
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