learn and feed

Here is a website that I think is absolutely genius: www.freerice.com
The creator initially set it up to encourage his son to study for the SAT's. For every vocabulary question that you answer correctly the site will donate 20 grains of rice to the World Food Programme. The rice is paid for by the sponsors who advertise along the bottom of the webpage. Twenty grains seems like such a tiny amount but it all adds up and it's better than doing nothing AND you can increase your vocabulary.

The Book Thief

My family and I were in Portland visiting some friends last month and this book was on their coffee table. I was encouraged to pick it up and read it, so I did. I only read a few chapters before we had to leave for home but I made sure to put the book on hold at the library so I could continue it soon. After a seemingly endless wait (I didn't want to even consider starting another book in the meantime), it arrived. My love for this book has completely overshadowed any desire I ever had to finish Eat, Pray,Love. That book now seem so tedious when compared to this one. I suppose it was good in a "the author is discovering herself and you might discover yourself too" sort of way but The Book Thief is more engrossing, less contemplative. And that is more what I am in need of, since I am pretty sure I know who I am.
I had never heard of this book until now, but it is apparently quite popular. It is written from the point of view of Death, who is portrayed as being quite human in his/her emotions. I like to think that Death is male, but I'm not sure what the author wanted it to be. Death is intrigued by a young girl who steals a book from her brother's gravesite and begins to follow her. It is set in Germany during WWII. I would like to talk more about it but I don't want to spoil anything. That is always the dilemma when recommending a book. All I can say is that I come across books that I enjoy this much very few times a year, often only once a year. And it is quite an easy read; I think the library has it catalogued in the Young Adult section.

USA

we're in the states for a couple of weeks now, so check out the travel blog:
www.travel-so-far.blogspot.com

and I tried to read a couple of books so far while here... A John Grisham; I couldn't get past the first chapter. I've always been curious about his books. They're so popular, but they just don't do it for me. So I picked up an entirely different sort of book, Under The Tuscan Sun, and this time I got past at least three or four chapters before getting bored of it. I have always wanted to read it though, so maybe I will try again later. I think it's hard to read while in travel mode. My brain is a little mushier. I could barely remember the name of that book and I don't even remember the name of the Grisham one.

The one book that I am looking forward to getting back to when I get home is Eat, Pray, Love. I'm on the eating part. I started it a few days before leaving but it was the library's copy and it was on hold for someone else so I couldn't take it with me. Maybe I wouldn't have been in the mood for reading it here anyway...

The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency

This series has been popular for a while and so I recently read the first book out of curiosity. It's pretty charming. Those that love this series LOVE it. It gives you a small glimpse of African life too, which is always a bonus for me.

Not Everyone Loves Raymond, But I Do.

This is actually Rus, I can't remember my blogger password (it's been a long time since I posted anything.)

After a conversation I had with Liz last night I felt inclined to write this. We've both lived in other small Alberta towns, and this place is what I call the "cream of the crap". At least there's more to do here than hockey.

Liam's in Judo, the girls are in Ballet and loving it - do they have that in pigeon lake or delburne?

Here there's a swimming pool, there's girl's rugby, a show choir, several live theatre shows a year. the climate is probably one of the best in canada, the roads are free of snow most of the year.

sure there are prima donnas, and jocks, there's plenty to hate, but there's alot more to love.

The Hindi Bindi Club

I've been wondering which book to write about for days now, I have not been feeling like writing about Harry Potter although I will someday.

This book came to mind

"The Hindi-Bindi Club" by Monica Pradhan.

It's not really anything like my usual fare, but I liked the cover and the title and ordered it for work, I thought I could try to sell it to the libraries.

To my complete amazement I could not stop reading once I started, so I took it home and devoured it on a sunny afternoon this summer.

It's a book about mothers and daughters, the mother are Indian immigrants in the US and the daughters are born and raised there. The author explores the cultural differences between the generations and educates you in Indian history and culinary arts at the same time. It does not feel like a lecture though.

Every chapter features a recipe of mouth watering Indian dishes so don't read it hungry.

I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it. I ended up buying the copy and giving it to my youngest aunt for her birthday and she was also taken with it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is spendid

Just when I thought I would have too wait forever until I read a can't-sleep-because-I-have-to-read-it sort of book, this came out. The author's other novel Kite Runner (which is being made into a movie to be released in 2008) is also really good. Yeah, I know "really good" isn't much of a description, but I'm not the excellent author, he is.