I had intended to do a lot more writing this past week, but then life got a little crazy, I didn’t get much sleep, and plans went right out the window. I’m hoping this week will be a little less nutty. My plans for this afternoon include cleaning up my apartment and going back through stuff and getting rid of things I don’t need. That’s partly why I’m watching Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things. It’s good to clear out the old things once in a while.
Around time, spring is definitely here! The grass is turning green and the trees are blooming. After the unseasonal 80 degree temperatures we had in February, I was afraid that the trees wouldn’t bloom, but they have. Redbuds, I have recently discovered, are not everywhere, so enjoy this picture of a redbud tree in full bloom:
In reading news, I finished a few books this week:
Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath- At last! I’m done with this! I’ve only been working on it since January.. Anyway. It’s a fantastic book, and it opened up my eyes to all these amazing women, most of whom I had never heard of before. While I would recommend it for teens and up, I’d be a bit hesitant to recommend it for children without previewing the individual stories. Porath has included ratings for each chapter, but you’ll want to read the individual stories before reading them to children.- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson- I don’t usually read self-help books, but the title was intriguing, and the first chapter was funny enough to keep me reading. I already follow Manson’s advice in that I don’t take unimportant things very seriously, but I realized that there are certain things I do need to take more care with, so I’ll be working on that.
- Walking the Nile by Levison Wood- This is a travel memoir about a man who walked the majority of the length of the Nile River, from its disputed source at a spring in Rwanda to where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, Egypt. It was an amazing story of a bafflingly difficult feat, and provided a clear-eyed view the various African countries, tribes, and religions that exist along the world’s longest river.
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro- This is a brilliant novel about the perfect English butler who has spent a lifetime trying to be the most efficient, detail-oriented, loyal butler he can possibly be and in doing so fails to see the affect his actions have on the people around him, and lets every opportunity to further his own happiness behind. I saw the movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson a few years ago, and both book and film are fantastic.
This week, I’m going to start reading a couple of the books on my April To Read list. The plan is to start on Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang and The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag.
Traveling in Books 
Will you possibly be writing a full review for Rejected Princesses? I am so curious about this 🙂
I hadn’t planned to, but I certainly could do so. I need to write something, since today was another crazy day, and I didn’t get to read anything at all! Maybe for Wednesday’s post….
re Walking the Nile, are the Egypt sections any good? This all seems to be about the Sudan, but I am only basing this comment on Amazon’s Look Inside, which of course is only an excerpt.
Wood had troubles in Egypt. There was a lot of red tape he had to get through just to walk through the country, and then government agents followed him pretty much every step of the way. It was an eye-opening section, though, especially when he was visiting the Coptic Christians in Cairo and discussing the pyramids. Earlier sections (Sudan or Rwanda, for example ) were more dramatic, but the whole book is interesting.
I can’t imagine walking up the Nile. Personally, I would sail on a felucca! Very authentic way to do it, and much less exhausting. In the excerpt I read, he goes in 2003 as a tourist (if my quick skim didn’t cause me to miss crucial details) to Baghada, right after the occupation? Odd, to say the least.
Definitely odd. He briefly mentions other events in his life that sounded both dangerous and perhaps not well-thought-out, so it doesn’t surprise me that he would go to Baghdad at such a time. He seems drawn to potentially dangerous situations.
Interesting what you say about The Subtle Art book. I’ve looked at it a couple of times in the bookshop but thought the title encouraged dispassion, when we need more compassion. But you can’t tell a book by its cover so maybe I should take a look after all.
You know, I barely remember reading that, it’s been so long at this point. I really couldn’t tell you anything about it now. I guess it’s impact is more short term than long term