I went to the library the other day and returned my books, then, of course, I cruised the aisles in search of something juicy to read. I love grabbing non-fiction and fiction while I’m at the library. How-to books, cookbooks, and so forth… I like having one book that I’m reading for pleasure and then the rest are supposed to be… for pleasure? Except also helpful? I’m not sure since I really enjoy all books.
Lately, I’ve made a point to grab at least one meditation or one religion book. Specifically, Buddhism. That’s been my big one. I know a ton about Christianity. I was raised, Christian. But Buddhism and the art of Zen and Taoist just really interest me.
Growing up in the suburban hell of Misery Saga (a.k.a. Mississauga), Lizzie has never liked the way she looks—even though her best friend Mel says she’s the pretty one. She starts dating guys online, but she’s afraid to send pictures, even when her skinny friend China does her makeup: she knows no one would want her if they could really see her. So she starts to lose. With punishing drive, she counts almonds consumed, miles logged, pounds dropped. She fights her way into coveted dresses. She grows up and gets thin, navigating double-edged validation from her mother, her friends, her husband, her reflection in the mirror. But no matter how much she loses, will she ever see herself as anything other than a fat girl?
In her brilliant, hilarious, and at times shocking debut, Mona Awad simultaneously skewers the body image-obsessed culture that tells women they have no value outside their physical appearance, and delivers a tender and moving depiction of a lovably difficult young woman whose life is hijacked by her struggle to conform. As caustically funny as it is heartbreaking, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl introduces a vital new voice in fiction.
GoodReads
There’s another version of this sitting at the library called “How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew“. I’ll probably check that one out next, but I was curious about the Grandfather version first. The You Can-Do-Anything Guide is very appealing and exciting to me.
I’m still struggling with a lot of loss in my life. Not just death. So I was curious to see if this one would help me. I only thumbed through the pages a bit in the library. I can’t really explain how it caught my eye over all the other “grief” centric books on that portion of the shelf. Once I delve further into it, I might be able to explain better.
I want to learn Japanese for when I eventually travel to Okinawa! I took some brief classes on Japanese in college but did so terrible that it didn’t even stick back then. I did decently in German, and even worked in a German bakery at one point, but that never cemented in my mind either. This is the ONLY Japanese book that I’ve found at the two libraries in our county. I might have to break down and use a program to learn, but I hoped to at least try from a book first.
Babbel doesn’t even have Japanese so that’s not an option. I’m thinking that one day I’ll splurge for Rosetta Stone because it’s more affordable. The Lifetime membership would be great since I could learn Japanese, Filipino, and a number of other languages through it. Just not going to be able to drop $179 on it RIGHT NOW. Beyond learning a new language in school or college, have you ever picked up a new language? Suggestions are welcome.
Hope you enjoyed checking out my library haul. I’m probably going to stick with these books for the rest of the month. I won’t be taking any of them on my Christmas trip and hopefully won’t need to worry about these beyond renewing them at least once before December is over. I’m going to go bask in my bookworm high. See you guys, tomorrow~!
Atelier Whootique 