Thursday, June 5, 2008

A moment of rejoicing

I used to be in a book club when I lived in North Carolina. I was a completely devoted member and dutifully read the designated book for the month and once that book was done, read whatever other book I could fit in. Right before I moved, I had my fellow members promise me that they would continue sending me the monthly invitations to book club, because I stated I would read the book and be at the meetings 'in spirit'. However, I have failed miserably at my part of the bargain, although not to any fault of my own.
Surprisingly... or not so much, finding books in the English language, isn't an easy feat here. It's not that books in English are non-existent; the problem is the English section of the bookstores only consists of a few shelves, not leaving very many books to choose from. And Amazon, my once favorite online bookstore, won't mail to my address. So I have been left stranded in a sense... with no way to read the past 2 months books. The guilt has surmounted as the weeks have gone by as I have been forced to turn to the one British bookstore I had found when I first arrived here. I'm cheating on my fellow members! When they read "Bird by Bird", I read a few books based in England. While they read "These is my words", I've been reading a book based in Ireland. And although I adore the UK accents, music, dry humor, culture, and beautiful landscapes, their books just don't seem up to par with the ones authored by an American. I may just have had poor judgement in choosing books in the British bookstore, but I still yearn for the books of my home country. So imagine my joy, my exhilaration, my utter delight when I found "THE AMERICAN BOOK CENTER"! It is the European version of Barne's and Noble... and it couldn't have been a happier moment for me that day. Four stories of books, all written in English by American authors! As I walked around I could contain my excitement and had to take pictures. The other customers gave me quizzical looks, but I just kept snapping away at my camera. I now may be able to keep up my end of the book club bargain, thanks to the American Book Center. Item number one on my to-do list this weekend is to see if they have the book “The Goose Girl” by Shannon Hale. Count me in for book club this month.

4 comments:

jkribbit said...

I really like The Goose Girl (and the other two in the series - Enna Burning and River Secrets.) I hope you can find it and enjoy it!

Danielle said...

So you mean all of this time we thought you were reading the books but in reality you weren't. I can't believe it! I guess I am glad that you are now resuming your participation in the book club!

kelley said...

I'm so excited for you and your new discovery! I'm glad we can count you in for the reading this month! :)

Dynamic Chiropractic said...

The Goose Girl is such a good book I read it in just 2 days! Which means I neglected my family for a whole Saturday. I really want to read the other two, but I know I wouldn't be able to put the book down, and well, I do have four kids.... That is just down right rude that Amazon won't ship to you!