I was a little disappointed when Santa didn’t bring me a Kindle for Christmas
I almost got the Kobo at Chapters last October but in my analysis the cons outweighed the pros.
As an avid reader and lover of shiny new gadgets, I envisioned an e-book reader in my imminent future, yet just going out and buying one seemed frivolous to me.

These days I don’t read as much as I used to; one of my goals for 2011 is to read more – one good book a month at least.
While trying to achieve this, I came to the sad realization that I don’t have any time leftover in my schedule for reading.
And even sadder is not being able to account for my time productively.

I was home from work one day last week, taking refuge from annoying allergies.
I didn’t go online or catch up on my soaps, I read a book instead, two actually… and it felt wonderful.
Reminiscent of those days when I’d lose myself in a good book and nothing else around me mattered.
I have a list, collected on Goodreads, of books I’ve been meaning to read; I started the list last year and I’ve just begun the first book on the list.

I’m hopeful; the kindle is an incentive to read more, the change in medium, the ease and a portable library – perhaps I will read more.
I was hesitant initially; I’d miss the smell and feel of the pages in traditional books.
I couldn’t bear not having a reason to go into the bookstore, I love bookstores!

And after all that, the Kindle still doesn’t guarantee that I’d read more, when the newness passes and I’m still not making time to read…

I’m currently reading One Day… it’s been on my list for a while, and now I’m racing to finish it before the movie comes out.

I’ve never read (or bought) a self-help or relationship book in my life.
It’s not that they aren’t helpful, they probably are; I’m just too cynical to be helped.

I’ve been meaning to write about ‘What Do We Do Now?’ for months, but I guess life got in the way.
I bought two copies of this book mainly because of the authors; Keith and the Girl.
I gave the extra copy to my sister.
Keith and Chemda are hosts of the comedy podcast, Keith and the Girl; I’ve been listening to the show for close to four years now.

KATG is a very funny show, you should go download a couple and listen to them right now.
I was going to do a witty insightful review of the book, but I unfortunately have a cough and I don’t feel so hot right now.

So go read the reviews on Amazon instead and trust me when I say the book is good, it’s funny, practical common-sense, modern day relationship problems and advice.

I must confess; I’d never read a ‘style book’ before last Christmas!
Sure, I’d leafed through a couple and gawked at pictures, but I never really took the time to actually read one from cover to cover.

I got Amanda Brooks’ style book;  I ♥ Your Style: How to Define and Refine Your Personal Style as a Christmas present.
And I must say that I really liked it; it’s simple, communicative with basic helpful tips.
There are a lot of photos, and the styles are broken down in a way that makes them practicable.
I liked that it didn’t have a list of fashion dos and don’ts; rather it encourages developing personal style.

The text is simple, straight forward and classic, with many lovely pictures from various decades.
Six styles types are defined in the book; Classic, Bohemian, Minimal, Street, High Fashion and Eclectic.
With each type are pictures of style icons, and suggestions on how to make that look your own.

There are also tips on shopping from vintage to basic.

This book talks in simple terms how to find your personal style, make it interesting and love it.

It’s a short and easy read with nice classic and vintage pictures.

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On the exercise front; I ran another tiring five miles today.
If you wish to live vicariously through my miserable run, go here and hit play to see how I ran on a map – it’s pretty cool.

I first read about Mariatu Kamara in Chatelaine of all places. Mariatu, like Ishmael Beah is a young author who recounts her experiences as a child during the civil war in Sierra Leone.

I bring up Ishmael Beah because he wrote the forward to Mariatu’s book and also because one of the questions P. asked him when he was on his book tour a few years ago was why there weren’t any accounts of the experiences of the female/girl child during the war in his book. He said he had purposefully left those out because he didn’t think it was his story to tell. He later on mentioned half jokingly that maybe we could tell that story one day; I didn’t have the heart to tell him that my memories of Sierra Leone were not of the horrors and atrocities of war. But this is Mariatu’s story to tell and she tells it in her book (with Susan McClelland), The Bite of the Mango.

I’ve been meaning to write about this book for months, everyone in my family read this book months ago – but I just couldn’t seem to make time to read it.

My mom burst out laughing one afternoon while reading it – this was a little disturbing to me, “Why are you doing this? War is not funny” I said in mock horror.

Yes, this is a sad book, but it’ll also make you laugh, it’ll make you angry, it’ll break your heart and make you cry but above all, it’ll make you hopeful.

It’s Mariatu’s story told effortlessly about her circumstance and life growing up when the war reached her village.

There’s the barbaric and irrational act of violence that has left her without hands, a permanent physical reminder of the horrors she’s endured.

There’s her having a baby when she was but a baby herself.

It’s a tale of what is undoubtedly the ugliness of war and the hard journey to reclaim oneself.

It’s a little about forgiveness and going back home.

It’s quite an easy read for book with such a hard theme.

It’s a little about happy endings too.

Now twenty-three years old, Mariatu lives in Toronto and is a UNICEF Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, she also runs the Mariatu Foundation.