What a fun evening to have!

It was Tuesday. I finished work at about eight at night. I started reading the book the minute I settled on the seat on the train. 

The novel was exciting. The main character is on a beautiful island while the world is going through a pandemic. She was swimming along with a man in the ocean and pulled away by an undercurrent. The next page reveals that she is just waking up from a coma in a hospital. 

At that exact moment, I realized I missed my stop too. I got out to the next station to take the train back to my intended station in a hurry. Once out of the train, I realize my handbag is still on the strain seat. Now, I am out with no credit card or money. I know my husband will be waiting at the station to take me home. But my phone was not giving any signal to call. I hunch the bag will be given to the lost and found. I told a cleaner at the platform about the missing bag. He told me to talk to the collector at the booth. The collector asked to go to the terminal station, just two stops away. There, people will clean trains. So I may get it back!

I decided to go to the last station. The janitors on the platform directed me to the supervisor's office. They had the bag!!!! So, finally, I reunited with my bag.

Lesson learned: Read the book, but stop reading it before the actual stop to prevent this kind of incident again!!!

The people working on TTC were very kind and helped that night.  

Bindu

What a story!

Perdita Felicien, a former Canadian hurdler, Olympian wrote a memoir: "My Mother's Daughter". It is an intriguing title. When I told my daughter I was reading the book "My Mothers daughter", a memoir, she asked me if it was about the author's sister.

It is a story of resilience, courage and persistence.

Felician was born in Canada as her mom's third child. Her mom came to Canada as a domestic worker. As the story goes on, we learn how a single woman with so many responsibilities and a dream of better life became an immigrant to Canada.

Catherin, the mom, had to take refuge in a women's shelter to escape from her abusive husband. Working on low paid jobs, Catherine brought her kids to Canada and raised them here.

 

It is the story of a mother's determination to protect her children, raise them to have better lives amid the hurdles. That courage made her daughter succeed in life and represent her adopted country in the Olympics. 

The writing style makes me turn the pages. It made me teary-eyed a few times. 

The book reminds me how sheltered my life is! How lucky I was to get an education and a degree from my home country! 

It is a great book to read. Felicien gives a portion of the book sale to "The Denise House", a shelter for abused women and children. 

Will you be reading this book? 

 

Bindu

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They don't have a house!

I got a book from the Toronto Public library.  "Nomadland: Surviving America in the twenty-first century" by Jessica Bruder. It is a study about the life of elderly nomads in America. 

I loved the narrative style. It feels like reading a novel, yet it is not. The author studies the life and working conditions of these people who chose to live in their vehicles. 

I always thought the vandwellers are not educated to have jobs. This book is really an eye-opener. Many vandwellers have a degree and had good jobs before. Then, life happens, the economy changed and jobs vanished. There was no money to pay for the mortgage. They can't sell the house because the current price won't even cover the mortgage debt. They were forced to walk away from the house, they paid for years! Because of their age, they can't find good-paying jobs anymore. They hit the road and work whatever comes on the way.

The working conditions Amazon provide for the seasonal workers was shocking. How a rich company like that can treat their employees like crap? 

The book is not glorifying the nomadic lifestyle as a fun way of living.  It was amazing to find out the websites helping the nomads to find jobs and parking. 

The book made me find the movie "Nomadland" on Amazon. Rented it and watched it too. I loved the movie. 

The book and movie made me realize the blessings of everyday life. It also encourages paying off the mortgage faster and having a bigger emergency fund. It also taught me the realities of nomadic life!

What are your thoughts about living in a van and surviving on low paying seasonal jobs?

Bindu

Read a little

It was a week of boredom. 

I felt like I had nothing to write on the blog.

But there were many books. 

The Last Thing He told me" was a great suspense novel to keep me engaged. 

I finished reading "How a Woman Becomes a Lake" by Marjorie Celona. Then "The last Thing He told me "By Laura Dave.  

Both were very interesting to me. I started reading "Behold the Dreamers" by Imbolo Mbu. But, lost interest after a couple of chapters. "The Vanishing Half" and "The Good Sister" were keeping me entertained.  

The book "Y" by Marjorie Celona was a bit too much for me to read. The story of a child abandoned at birth, even as a book, is a bit too much. Anybody too sensitive to read a book, like me? 

The books waiting for me are "This Is How It Always Is" by Laurie Frankel, "Who Is Vera Kelly?" by Rosalie Knecht and "Clever Girl Finance " by Bola Sokunbi. 

Vera Kelly is the one I am reading currently. She is mysterious. She is a spy. So, it is going to be more interesting!

 

Bindu

Book A week: Week 15

Last week I fnished the book, "A week to Midnight" by David Baldacci. I didn't know it was second in Atley Pine series. 

I loved the beginning and thought to give it a try. 

 The beginning is a bit confusing. Agent Pine beating the crap out of a pedophile, her supervisor let her to go and find who is responsible for the disappearance of her sister Mercy.

When her investigation regarding Mercy was going on, the story turns around. there were several other murders happening in the small town. When Pine solved the case and still cannot find the key information about Mercy's disappearance, I did a Google search. That is when I understood that it is part of a series. 

Now, am I going to find the next one and read it???? Good question: not right away. It has to wait. The writing style is not that great.  

There are some flows: especially the way FBI handles their agents! Why Pine was not given any punishment for beating the pedophile? It can be justified, yet, not believable. That is the fault of the author. 

Bindu

A Book a week: Week6

Hi 

Yes, I did finish reading another book last week. 

This time it "American Dirt" by Jeanine cummins. 

The story begins with Luca learning about bullets flying through their place. His mom Lydia, a book store owner comes in to the bathroom and they both hid there. when everything was over there were 16 bodies in the backyard. Every one, Lydia loved are gone. 

Lydia knows, it was her favourite customer, who did it. When her husband and journalist Sebastian uncovered "The Owl", she was not thinking about this massacre.

The story moves on with Lydia's decision to escape from Mexico and the watching eyes of  The Owl. There was no one to help her. 

The novel tells us about her journey to America. The hardships they encounters, the people they met and connected through their journey are explained really well. It made me in tears to know the cruelties suffered by the sisters in the story. Ever thought of good looks being your worst enemy? 

While reading the book, I thought, the author must be an immigrant herself. Later, over the weekend, I learned about the controversy surrounding the book. I am not the one to judge! i loved the style of the book. I can seriously tell you that it changed my view point about illegal immigrants and refugees. I wonder, what will be the story of the person mentioning that they came to Canada as a refugee. 

The novel ends with Lydia getting settled in the United States. Luca is back to school too. 

Bindu

A Book A Week: Week5

Hi

I am still continuing to read one book a week. Last one was "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng .

It tells the story of a mixed race family, their secrets and the challenges. The story begins with Lydia's death. The story reveals how James Lee and Marilyn got together and started a family. 

Marilyn wanted to stand out and James, son of Asian immigrants wanted to blend in. Marilyn had to give up her dream of becoming a doctor, because she got pregnant. She tried to fulfill her dream by forcing Lydia to become a doctor.

Lydia, who find it hard to live up to the expectations of her parents started pretending. When her brother is ready to go to Harvard, she finds it hard to survive at home. She started going out with Jack, thinking he will be her lover. But, Jack confessed to her he actually is in love with Nath. 

While Nath believed Jack was the reason for Lydia's death, Hanna finds out the truth. When Nath fights with Jack and fell in to the lake, he realized he will never understand Lydia's death. He was dragged to safety by Jack. 

Celeste Ng's other book was "Little Fires Everywhere" . I read that one before. 

Bindu

Book A week: week2

What is your soul is not ending with you? What if there is a databse of the souls kept by government? What if the scientists can find out  if a soul is reborn? what will happen your soul previously belonged to a criminal? 

 Soulprint dwell in to that scenario. 

As a part of my reading a book a week, last week I finished "Soulprint" by Megan Miranda. 

Alina Chase is held in an island for all her life. Why? Because her soul belongs to the whistle blower and blackmailer June. Alena is held there for her own protection, authorities told her. 

On her 17th birthday, she wanted to get out and wanted to have a normal life. Other three teens are trying to help her escape. 

June broke into the soul database and used it to blackmail people. That is what every one thinks. Everyone sees Alina as June. But, in her heart, Alina knows she is not June. She wanted to be different from June. She tried so hard for that. But everyone saw her as June.

Her rescuers wanted her to break in to the soul database. They all went through high adrenaline events. With all the tense circumstances, Alina started to trust Cameron. Eventually she fell in love with him too. 

Megan Miranda takes us for a ride with Alina Chase's journey.  Alina  follows the clues left by June to find out who was actually responsible for the black-mailings . That journey led her to find love too. 

I loved reading this book. For a person who was not a fan of sci-fi, this one was fun. 

 

Bindu