I had a shocking week last week. Work was hectic and as people fell victim to the current lurgy, my workload was boosted and added to. I had an important exam looming. I had presentations to give on completely different topics to audiences that were worlds apart. I was asked to give another presentation – with no notice, as the group was waiting! The traffic was shocking. Public transport seemed even more squished than usual. The door slammed and the handle hit me on the back. I received nasty emails, personally attacking me. My mandarin grew blue mould when I tried to eat lunch at 3:30pm. My friend was passed over for promotion.
Driving home in the dark, an hour later than usual, these first-world problems seemed endless. I was down in the dumps and considered putting the computer and internet in the bin. I didn’t want to expose myself any more than necessary.
When I finally reached home, there was a large parcel at the door. (Fortunately, I didn’t stub my toe on it. It was too tall.) It was from the very kind people at Bloomsbury Australia, sending me some books that they thought I’d like. Despite my near starvation (I didn’t eat the blue mandarin and I was in the wrong lane for McDonald’s), I sat down and analysed the packages. My mood changed instantly. A good book (or in this case, four) will do that to me. Thank you so much Bloomsbury for your generosity and for the fortuitous timing. Both the computer and internet remain out of the bin and I only banged my leg on a low table last night.
Here’s what was in my package:
Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding – one of the Orange Prize shortlist. Hope to read it before the winner is announced!
Abdication – Julie Nicholson I wrote earlier about how much I was looking forward to this, as I don’t know much about this time period. Going to attempt to read it over the long weekend (bank holiday) coming up.
I Am an Executioner – Rajesh Parameswaran Already started this one. Short stories that are incredibly powerful and leave you wondering about the protagonist’s fate long after. Great distraction from peak hour public transport.
The Prisoner of Paradise – Romesh Gunesekera Set in Mauritius in 1825 (another place I don’t know much about), this looks like it will fill more gaps in my history knowledge.
I hope you had a better week than I did! What did you receive in your mailbox over the last week?
Please do check out the other participants this week by visiting Reviews by Martha’s Bookshelf (our host for May). Be warned though, that you’ll leave with a long wishlist!
I’m planning to get back to more regular blogging and blog visiting in about 10 days, due to a busy workload and other work-related commitments (why do they all happen together?) A quick book suggestion from me in addition to those above is The Restaurant of Love Regained by Ito Ogawa – beautiful, happy and sad with some delicious food descriptions! Review later.
