"Let's Get It On...."

Mum's here! There's going to be lots of places to see and visit with her, and lots of restaurants to be tried and shops to be shopped at! It must be that time of the year in Melbourne, I think, because I have bumped into so many friends and their families just yesterday alone.

I have just got off two tiring fourteen hour night shifts at the hospital, but I seem to be getting by with little random snatches of sleep instead of needing straight runs of it now. I must be growing (old) up.

This has been my little companion for the last week:


and I must say that it is one of the better reads I have had. It's a look at a 35 year old record store owner in a this-doesn't-look-like-the-movies relationship, which makes me cringe sometimes at how realistically flawed he is, but how we all figure things out for ourselves in the end. A good book for this stage in my life!

I have to watch the movie now! (Jack Black makes the perfect Barry!)

One of the signature lines in the book is all about lists, so here goes:

Top 5 reads of all times (so far):

1. Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. I have A to thank for this book, a really well written thinking piece on the issues surrounding having one child just to keep another alive. I promise to return it to you one day!

2. Any of the books of Alexander McCall Smith in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. I am a really big fan of this series, and the characters are vividly depicted in my mind already. All I need is to pull them out of my mind whenever I pick up one of these books, and I am lost once again amongst the open spaces of Botswana with the limitless sky above. I love how it injects hope and pride in Botswana, in an Africa which is oftentimes torn and hope-less.

3. Heavenly Man by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway. I remember sitting in a room, tears inexplicably streaming from my face as I read this book. A life changing read.

4. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. Finished reading it in one sitting, and watched the movie as well. Both are excellent!

5. Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. As above. Love in all its neurosis and imperfections. But love anyway, in the end.

Some of you have read this list and stopped reading after No.1. ('What? Jodi Picoult? You sell-out!') and I don't blame you! And I know that this list is probably far from perfect (ie. I would highly recommend 'I Love You, Beth Cooper' by Larry Doyle which reads like a teenage movie) but that's my list for now, and I would openly welcome any further recommendations.

' I've been thinking with my guts since I was fourteen years old, and frankly speaking, between you and me, I have come to the conclusion that my guts have sh*t for brains.'
- Rob Fleming, High Fidelity -

Haha!