Music: A Thousand Years by Christina Perri
One cool thing about my school's library is that we can place orders for books that we want, and they will buy for us upon approval by the prof in charged. A few weeks back i requested for 7 books, all non fiction. 4 books have arrived and the remaining 3 have been ordered. This is pretty cool for someone who loves bookstores like a kid loves candy stores (aku la), coz english books are super expensive here. Moreover, the selection of english books here are dismal!! Granted i wont own the books, but its not big a deal coz i rarely read any book twice..in fact, the only books ive ever read more than once are those by Judith McNaught.. Hahahha.. And that was 10 years ago. Oh yeah.. And Harry Potter..
So far i've managed to read 6 books since august. All but 1 were borrowed from the library. Mostly based on real life stories written in a autobiographical but fiction with also some non fiction elements sort of way.. whoa does that even make sense? lol. I've written about some of them previously, but just to summarize..
1) Playing Cards in Cairo - Hugh Miles
This book goes into the personal lives of a few select women in Egypt.. Although i wouldnt generalize the stories and stereotype Egyptian women, it did give a glimpse of the culture there.. And some parts were quite shocking too. For Muslim women that is.
2) The Bang Bang Club - Greg Marinovich
The life of 4 photo journalists covering the situation in South Africa just short of being deemed a civil war starting from the release of Nelson Mandela to the first ever democratic election, is being recounted. Let me just say that this job can really fuck you up, if you're contemplating to be a war-covering journalist or correspondent. I guess thats inevitable when you have to witness brutal murders everyday, take pics, and cant do anything to help the victims.. Shit.
3) Battle Hymn of The Tiger Mother - Amy Chua
Personal story by author, married to a Jew, who decided to bring up her 2 daughters the so called Chinese way in America.
4) Fever Pitch - Nick Hornby
I only picked up this book coz of the author. Funny guy. I never knew that the English obsession for their football scene can be to that extent, and Hornby even claimed that he's not that crazy. Coz others are worse, or better.. Depends on how u look at it.
5) We Can Have Peace in The Holy Land - Jimmy Carter
Here the ex Mr. President talks more bulls about the peace process for Palestine. He sounds holy and sincere and all but..mehhhh. Cant believe any US president in this already more than half a century crisis.
6) Lttle Princes - Conor Grennan
An American who had a stint of volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal, only to find out that the kids are not actually orphans, but victims of child trafficking. He set out on a mission to reconnect these childrens with their parents who live in the most remote areas of Nepal (particularly the Humla region). Noble work. The story was personalized to what author felt and thought and experienced yada yada.. I really liked it though. Cried a few timrs too.. But i've learned to read these type of books with a pinch of salt after discovering the half truths if Greg Mortenson's Three Cup of Tea.. There's probably some embellishments here and there.. But nevertheless Grennan sounded more real and honest compared to Mortenson.
Ok, now i must aim to read those 7 books i ordered in a span of 2 months.. cant wait!! Text books can take a backseat hahaha.
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