October 11, 2009 at 6:29 am
I was in the bookstore yesterday browsing for a new read… lately my favorites are historical fiction so if anyone has any recommendations in that genre i’m interested. But these days, with the price of imported english-language books pretty steep*, thickness and word per page density are also important criteria.
The last book I bought was The Abyssinian Proof by Jenny White. Very enjoyable, linking the 1453 conquest of Constantinople with antiquities thefts and murders 400 years later, investigated by magistrate Kamil Pasha. Jenny White has some other similar books but the only one I found here is still in hardcover and thus out of price range.
Total of 455 pages @ 18 turkish lira price = equals 4 cents per page. Not too bad, and I made it last for a week when I can normally read a book like this in a couple days. But I decided I could do better, though it would mean a return to the classics.
That’s right, the master of long and dense (and entertaining!) literature, Charles Dickens. Actually, I can’t remember ever reading a complete C.D. novel, so it’s about time. Total of 554 pages @ 16 turkish lira = a miniscule 2.8 cents per page. Score!
*Actually, when you do the conversion, the prices are not that much more than retail book prices in the US. The problem is that in the US I often got books at libraries so I could read a much higher volume (and the things I truly wanted to read) without spending hardly any money. Here, despite generous sharing among book-reading friends, it’s hard to find specific books and libraries are practically nonexistent so we naturally spend more money to read. I’ve also adapted by intentionally reading slower!
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August 14, 2008 at 5:13 am
I’ve managed to shake off my listlessness and got myself out and about a few times this week. On Sunday morning (the first day of my weekend) I woke up around 9:30 and thought “I MUST GO OUT”, but couldn’t get excited about any particular place to go. So I left the house with a book and a knitting project but without a plan and wandered north. I ended up in lovely Çengelköy, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus between the two bridges. Here is the view I had for my book reading:
The nicest part was that the bench I found to sit on in order to look at this view had rather short legs, which made it much more comfortable for me than normal city benches. My feet easily reached the ground!
After reading my book (The Thirty-Nine Steps, by John Buchan) and soaking up the sun and view for a while, I continued my wander north and ended up meeting up with Emrah in Beykoz. We went for dinner at my favorite fish restaurant, the Beykoz Balikci Barınağı (basically a fishsellers area with a big grill and outdoor seating – short tables and little square benches). As far as I can tell, there’s just one thing on the menu: ızgara uskumru (grilled mackerel) served with arugula, parsley, onion slices and bread. Best of all – no forks, just dig in with your fingers! If I hadn’t been so hungry I would have taken a picture before we ate almost everything…
The next day we stayed home and relaxed for the most part, just wandering near the local seaside in the evening, people and animal watching. On Tuesday (a work day for me but due to cancellations I had a big chunk of the day free), we went to Büyükada and rented bicycles for a couple hours.
Eventually I did have to leave and head to work… but it’s nice that the adalar (islands) are close enough that I can spend a few hours even on a workday.
Finally, last night, taking advantage of another cancellation I was able to leave work just before sunset so again decided to go up to Çengelköy because I wanted to watch the bridge at night. After dark (these days around 9pm) it is lit up with lights that change color in interesting patterns. Also last night there was a lovely crescent moon (waxing) just above the bridge. As it sunk lower in the sky it turned a lovely orange color. I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera so no pics this time, but if you want to see for yourself, try this google images link. I plan to go again before too long, with my camera.
I finished The Thirty-Nine Steps rather quickly (it’s a thin book) and started another called Balthasar’s Odyssey by Amin Maalouf, a new author for me. Jenney lent me four of his books while she is away and this first one is very enjoyable so I’m looking forward to the three others to follow… Here in Istanbul it can be hard to find good books in English without spending a fortune so teachers (who tend to also be readers) do a lot of sharing. Yay for book sharing!
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May 18, 2007 at 12:29 am
The genesis of this bag was getting a large ball of beautiful lace-weight mohair as a gift from my mother. The first thing I made with it was a simple airy shoulder wrap, garter stitch knitting back and forth with increases at each edge and two in the middle. Well, I got tired of garter stitch after a while, so I bound it off and started wearing it, but the ball of yarn wasn’t quite used up. I intended for this lace pattern to be a matching scarf but – whoops, not enough yarn! – so I got creative and turned it into this bag. The knitting was blocked and sewn to a piece of leather using blanket stitch and the bag closes with a simple button. It’s currently holding school (teaching) supplies.
Current Thoughts: preparing to return to Turkey, saying goodbyes and hellos. wizard of oz the dvd download magicians download free divx miss pettigrew lives for a day
Current Read: No God but God, by Reza Aslan. An excellently written, educational, and balanced history of Islam. I have 80 pages remaining.
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January 16, 2007 at 11:06 pm
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Hi, good news! Some new pages on this site are photos license to wed dvdrip that are finally getting uploaded (I can hear cheers from the bleacher seats). For those who don’t know, I’m back in the US for a couple months of R&R before returning to Istanbul after Thanksgiving. More than just R&R, this has been an opportunity to catch up on a lot of loose ends that were just left dangling for about eight months because I was too busy working to tend to them.
Current Thoughts: how to have a sane and healthy life when I return to Turkey (time for email and yoga) · crazy dangerous christian zionists · buying a new mac (waiting for leopard, and a paycheck)
Current Read: Time and Again, by Jack Finney. A man from modern day New York is sent back to New York of 1882. Will he want to return to the 20th century?
Photo: peonies, Naples NY, in summer. dead buried divx online download girl interrupted free |
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January 17, 2005 at 4:55 am
I am reading and reading. And then more. Here’s a partial list.
The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. Historical fiction about the wives and daughter of Jacob. I would have read it in one sitting if I could have stayed awake. Written with elegance and warmth at a deliciously slow pace. An inspiration to appreciate being female and the strength of community that can exist among women.
Subwayland: Adventures in the World Beneath New York, by Randy Kennedy. This is a collection of columns Kennedy wrote about the NYC subway for the New York Times. Entertaining, educational and eclectic: just as the subway is itself. Makes me want to get my MetroCard back in action.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. Subtitled The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, this book had me giggling and snorting through paragraphs on improper apostrophe usage. It reassured me that I do use commas correctly after all — though, unlike most Americans, I prefer to eschew the Oxford comma — and encouraged me in the true usefulness of the colon (see paragraph above). A delightful education.
From Beirut To Jerusalem by Thomas L. Friedman. A slightly less delightful education, but exceedingly worthwhile. Friedman, an international correspondent for the New York Times writes about his experiences as a journalist amid the political happenings in Beirut and Jerusalem during the turbulent 80′s, with ample views backward and outward when necessary. If you’re American and trying to understand the Middle East, this book is an excellent start. Good luck to you, and please explain it to me when you’ve figured it out.
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