*whew* Finally I can put away Grisham’s A Time to Kill. I finished it off a few days ago, but haven’t had time to update my blog with my latest reading pursuits. I much preferred the book to the movie, despite the million years it seems to have taken to complete the book. I liked the fact that the movie’s saccharine sweet ending was a Hollywood invention. Sure, all ended well – but it wasn’t all due to the great actions and abilities of Jake Brigance.

My lack of reading this past week boils down to a scheduling conflict – not a lack of interest. Since I’ve managed to finish two new books in the last two days, I think I’ll be back on track soon. Figures, I go on vacation and finally have time to sit down and do some quality reading.

As for those two new books, I read Jay Russell’s Blood and John Grogan’s Marley & Me.

Russell’s Blood was a disappointment. The dialog was a filled with foul language and crazed ranting that may have fit the author’s mental picture of the characters but really made for difficult reading on my part. Some of the time I spent trying to figure out what the expression was supposed to mean and I found of a lot of it seemed more poised for shock value than developed to move the story forward. It certainly wasn’t the edge-of-your-seat thrill ride crime & horror novel that was advertised in the book reviews.

Grogan’s Marley & Me is a different story entirely (pardon the pun). A friend offered me her copy of this book about a week ago and her description its contents immediately drew my attention. As she put it “Marley was a really bad dog. He probably makes your dogs look like angels.” It’s hard to imagine that there might be worse behaved dogs out there than mine, but after reading Marley & Me I’m happy to report that Grogan’s dog Marley does make mine look like well behaved sweethearts. Grogan’s writing is open, heartfelt, and has a healthy dose of humour. Dog owners will love spending a few hours reading this book.

I’ve updated my Shelfari reading list to list all the books I’ve read so far – a dismal 7 to date. Hopefully I’ll manage to get a bunch more complete in the week I have off between Christmas and New Years.

Technorati Tags: read-a-ton, book, reading, John Grisham, John Grogan, Jay Russell

• The hubby and I buy a new Christmas ornament for the tree each year that we’ve been together. To date we’ve got 11 ornaments.

Soup: Who is the easiest person on your list to buy presents for?

• If I were on my own list, I’d say me. Hand me a gift certificate to any book store and you’ve made my day 😉 Actually, the hubby is pretty easy to buy for. I know what he wants because he drops hints all over the place. It doesn’t hurt that he tends to want many of the same things I do.

Salad: What is your favorite Christmas scent?

• The smell in the air just before it snows…

Main Course: If you could give a fellow blogger a Christmas gift, who would it be and what would you give them?

• I’d sent the Dust my Broom crew Red Friday shirts and stuff. I offered a t-shirt and baseball cap to Darcy for his doggie, but I don’t think he took me seriously at the time…

Dessert: What’s something on your Christmas wish list this year that you need (not just want)?

• Publication Manual for the American Psychological Association. It’s probably the only “need” vs. “want” on my entire list.

Technorati Tags: Friday’s Feast, meme

Welcome to the 10th edition of the screaming pages Thursday Thirteen.

I’m one step closer to getting to India and the Philippines today. This week’s Thursday Thirteen is a list of things I need to do to prepare for the trip.

Technorati Tags: thursday thirteen, t13, meme, travel, India, Philippines

There’s a good chance I’ll be travelling to India and the Philippines again in the new year and I’m currently running through the pre-trip preparation hoops – travel visa applications, visits to heath centres for shots and medications, investigating plane tickets and hotels…it’s been a busy few days.

I loved visiting Bangalore in 2003 and have been desperate to return to India ever since. This upcoming trip will be more of a whirlwind visit – spending approximately a week (each) in Gurgaon and Mumbai and a few days in both Pune and Bangalore.

After our tour of India, the plan is to head to Manila for about a week and a half. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to meet up with Eula, Pau and Paul when I hit the ground in Manila. I can’t imagine a trip to Manila without spending hours gabbing away with Eula. We’ve spent so many days and nights talking and sharing our impressions of the world around us that the conversation is as welcome as the escape from the Canadian winter.

Stay tuned for more details. As usual, I’ll do my best to blog during my travels, but will need to learn more about the available internet connections (I paid for access on a per day basis back in 2003) before I can promise daily updates while in India. Daily updates shouldn’t be an issue in Manila, as internet connectivity hasn’t been an issue in the hotels in the past.Â

Technorati Tags: Travel, India, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Philippines, Manila

I’m pretty disappointed with myself. Normally I read 5-6 books a week but this past week I’ve been struggling to finish a single book. Over the first few days of the read-a-ton I managed to finish off 3 books and I thought it would be smooth sailing after that – apparently my brain, body and work schedules had different ideas.

I’ve got about 100 pages left to finish in A Time to Kill and then I think I’ll put John Grisham aside for a while. I haven’t decided what to read next – I had a stack of Kathy Reich’s books on my bedside table – but I have so much to choose from that the decision shouldn’t be difficult. I’ll update my shelf on Shelfari as soon as I decide.

Technorati Tags: read-a-ton, John Grisham, Kathy Reichs, Shelfari, books, reading