The Exchange

This was because Monday was surprisingly stress-free and I wanted to curl up in bed with a Nancy Drew mystery.

This was a post by Hanna, who is gigundoly excited about her new books.

I began reading If I Stay immediately after finishing Just One Day but I got caught up with work and couldn’t find the time to write about it or read the next one. But after days of running on two-hour sleep and finally finishing what I have been working on for about a month, I decided to reward myself with sleep, chocolate, and Where She Went. I am really happy that I did because reading these books provided me with much needed catharsis.

(Dear Kubi, please read them as soon as you can so that we can talk about it and drown our sorrows in ice cream.)

This was a post by Hanna, who is listening to the plink of water drops and the gentle hum of Mick’s breathing as he sleeps.

It was a Saturday night and I wanted to take a break from writing so I took a peek at this book and never put it down since.

This was a post by Hanna, who really needs to get back to work but is in the middle of another book so good luck to her.

I began reading this to do research for school but I have become really fascinated by the ideas presented on the nature of love. I haven’t been reading any new books lately because most of my time is spent writing papers, doing research, and reading multitudes of texts but once in a while, I come across a brilliant piece of literature such as this one and the work becomes bearable.

This was a post by Hanna, who is taking an unscheduled break from work.

I tried to read one story at a time so that I could savor every sentence and let the images linger in my head. But of course I devoured all twelve stories in one sitting. Still, in true Gaiman fashion, each sentence was delectable and the images were seared into my brain. October is my month and it might be favorite tale, too.

This was a post by Hanna, who is collecting poems on a rainy Friday.

This was a post by Hanna, who is currently reading this delicious book while baking brownies and thinking about things.

Photo from: Style Discovery

It has been a circus lately and there was barely enough time to sit down. However, I did manage to squeeze in these delightful reads:

• The Diviners by Libba Bray
• Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins

The Diviners is a crazy sexy cool novel, which is the first in a planned series. A lot of research has been put into it and Bray does a remarkable job of transporting the reader into the world that she has created. It is heavily laden with references from the culture of the roaring twenties and it makes the reader feel as if he/she is actually there, witnessing the events and eavesdropping on the conversations of the characters, who are wonderfully diverse and multidimensional. Bray is a brilliant writer, as evidenced by the way she handled the narratives and different perspectives as well as the combination of mystery, suspense, horror, and history. It’s a hefty book and I felt like it still could have been trimmed down more but all in all, it was a good read and I enjoyed it.

Sailing Alone Around the Room is a collection of new and selected poems by Billy Collins. I have always been an admirer of his work because he has mastered the art of telling captivating stories that squeeze your heart dry and make you think or reminisce by using the simplest words and combining it with the most beautiful imagery. This anthology couldn’t have come at a better time in my life and I am just happy that these poems exist.

There is a multitude of things swirling about in my head at this moment and all I want to do is curl up in bed and sleep. However, I do have a new book (How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu) to keep me company and the world makes sense again.

This was a post by Hanna, who needs beautiful distractions and cake.

This was a post by Hanna, who is happily situated between a shelf of books and a hilarious little cousin. She is currently reading this book.