Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Friday, February 3, 2012

The Night Circus

The Night Circus is a fantastic novel written by Erin Morgenstern. It is her debut novel.  I highly recommend you read it. It stretched my imagination, made me think anything is possible, it invaded my dreams and all the waking minutes in between. I thought it would be rude not to share my find. Here's a synopsis:


The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des RĂªves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker
and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.


I went to Erin Morgenstern's website and discovered she posts a short story every week (Flax-Golden Tales). I read a whole bunch of them and they are all fantastical, she tells a mean story that girl. She describes herself as a "writer, painter & keeper of cats", lol what a quirkball. This one delighted me...

waiting for the light

I moved my chair so I can see the lamppost through the window.
I know I would probably be able to see the light from anywhere in the room if the lamp were lit, but I like having a direct view. It makes me feel more secure, somehow, to be able to glance up from a book and see it, stalwart. Still dark.
It’s really quite clever, a lamp that only lights when you’re near.
Now I can’t stop checking it, even though it’s been dark for so long.
If it turns on again, I don’t want to miss it.
In case someday, somehow, you come back.
I’ll have a warning.
I just hope it will give me enough time to run.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

how to be rich before you're thirty.

also known as: how not to be a poor ass loser in middle age.

i borrowed this clever little book from a friend who, after confirming i was well under thirty, leant it to me. he's more of a book on tape guy anyhow. i'm not sure if he has given up on the whole rich thing or if he is already well on his way and needs the book no longer. either way, i am always grateful to those who share their books with me. i have a book buying phobia. i get paralysis in libraries and book stores. too many choices.

you may not know this, but i am terrible at budgeting. shut up lisa, i know i'm cheap, but that doesn't mean i can budgert worth a damn. i spend carelessly in many areas and am frugal in others. i will hunt for the best deal on toilet paper and then spend 100dollars on dinner and drinks.

nikita [my super underpaid, but very appreciated financial advisor] and i worked up a budget/payment plan last year when i bought my car. i had nightmares for a week at least about not being able to meet my payments. and now i somehow own a condo. it's puketastic.

anyhow i will share here what i have learned in the book so far...

1. get a bank account and stop hiding money under the mattress.
2. be frugal [verbatim- this book loves the word frugal, more than i love the word verbatim)
3. you have to pay yourself becuase nobody else will. this is alluding to setting aside money from every paycheque into your savings or investments.
4. the book hints that i should get a roommate. unfortunately they give no pointers on the roommate hunt or how the hell i'm supposed to go about living my life with a stranger lurking in my second bedroom.
5. that being a millionaire by the time i'm thirty won't be good enough because inflation will cause my hard earned money to be meagre in the distant future. [wow bitter]
6. that no matter how rich or poor you are cookies solve everything. see here for the whole wheat oatmeal chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies recipe i just made. long title, great cookie. http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=258352

i am only half done the book. i just felt i should share what i've ALREADY learned just in case anyone else needs some help with their financial future.

just never know what you're going to get here at TheBlog.