My favourite activity is to sit in Starbucks (or any cafe for the matter) with a cup of soy latte (or chai, or tea) and read novels. It’s a time for me to immerse myself in the plot, be it a murder in Aristotelian Athens, or a wild-goose chase for an ancient relic, or simply a plot where nothing much happens. It’s bliss to me. To just wile away time in my own world, occasionally watching the world go by … nothing makes me happier than this. When I read, I am often oblivious to the world, and I think there’s no better way to get away from the tosh of everyday life.
A couple of years ago before there was free Wifi at Starbucks, I’d see more books on tables than laptops, and it would bemuse me to no end trying to snoop at people’s book choices. Nowadays, I see more laptops on tables, leeching off the power supply at Starbucks, and I feel rather disappointed at not being about to look at what people are reading. This other day I was at Starbucks and I saw that one lady holding Atwood’s The Blind Assassin and I felt this insane urge to tell her that’s a good book. Alas, since I am not a socialising creature, I kept my silence and continued to read my murder mystery.
I really look forward to my next Starbucks reading outing.
You know, I’ve always wanted to get The Blind Assassin, but never got down to doing so. The only book by Margaret Atwood that I’ve ever read so far is The Handmaid’s Tale, and it’s one of my all-time favourite books! How would you define the genre of books such as The Handmaid’s Tale and 1984?
Anyway, I’m reading Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Lustre by Dana Thomas. If you’re as fanatical as I am about handbags, I would highly recommend this book to you. It provides an insightful peek into the world of luxury goods … how it has evolved from a rarefied world of tradition and superior quality to one that’s all about mass consumerism and profits.
- creepcake
GET THE BLIND ASSASSIN NOW AND STOP PROCRASTINATING! Haha. Like any Atwood books, it’s unique (compared to say thriller writers where the story gets kinda repetitive after a while). I think books like 1984, A Brave New World are called Dystopia(n) Literature. Dystopia versus Utopia – where Utopia is the ideal and Dystopia is about … the non-ideal, or even scary future?
Deluxe sounds nice, but I haven’t read a non-fiction since … Eats, Shoots and Leaves, haha. But I think this book is somewhat related to the thread on CC about buying fake handbags huh?
And HELLO from Hong Kong the supposed Asian luxury brand shopping haven. :p
Haha, I will get The Blind Assassin the next time Borders offers me a kick ass discount (for example, their 25% discount email coupons!). Oh wait. National Day’s coming up … I reckon there *will* be some discounts during that weekend.
I think books like 1984, A Brave New World are called Dystopia(n) Literature. Dystopia versus Utopia – where Utopia is the ideal and Dystopia is about … the non-ideal, or even scary future? >> Hey you’re right! Oh, there’s another book that I forgot to mention – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Anyway, thanks for defining the genre for me. I managed to google it and came across this great link to a list of dystopian literature: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dystopian_literature
Time to get more books! Since you read a lot, what sorta genre/s are you into?
Oh yeah, I have Eats, Shoots and Leaves somewhere in my bookshelf too. I’ve yet to read it even though I bought it about … a year ago? I have this bad habit of buying a new book even before I can get down to devouring the previous one. *sheepish*
Anyway, I wanted to tell you, you missed the annual great library sale at Sg Expo. I think the books were going at about $1 – $3 each, and all in good condition. Just to make you feel better, I didn’t go either, so that makes BOTH of us who’ve missed out on the good deals. :D
Yes, I’m a bag fanatic and I believe you would have seen my posts in the various handbags threads in CC. Hello to you over there in HK! Have fun in HK and remember to snag some great bargains! I hope you’ll update soon about your HK trip. :)
Yes, Borders discounts are always good. Look out for those in the newspaper as well, sometimes it’s 30% off 1 book. Yummy.
I read books from most genres, except Sci-Fi and Romance. I read chick-lit once in a blue moon, say, 1-2 a year or something, haha. Somehow just don’t really enjoy reading them, not because I diss them as frivolous or anything, just not my kind of thing. Currently I’ve been very into what I call Holy Grail/relic Lit, which I think is a trend sparked off by The Da Vinci Code. Nowadays there are many such books around, which might or might not be religious. I kinda like reading about their wild goose chase around the globe in such unbelievable manners. Haha!
The books were in GOOD CONDITION! Sheesh, I went a couple of years ago and only crummy books were available so I never went again. Oh well, I have too many unread books anyway, heh.
I’m back from HK by the way, will be blogging in the span of the next few days. Funny, I didn’t really buy many things in HK; spent most of my time walking around and looking at stuff. Not sure where most of my money went to! :p