Kabul Reads!

I haven't blogged in a few days, but I've been trying to keep my broke a$$ busy by doing as much reading/tv watching as possible. Here's what I've been up to:

I joined a book club! Yay for suddenly aging 10 years! But honestly, it's free, it's somewhat social (ok it's online so it's not like FACE TO FACE social or anything) and it is nice to pace my reading a little and actually think about what's going on instead of plowing through it.

Right now we are reading Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. I'm about 50% done so far. No spoilers but PSST: It reads like a Neil Gaiman book.


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I also just finished The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgeson Burnett. I even reviewed it on Goodreads!

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wanted to read this book because I loved the movie when I was a kid. I finished it in one sitting, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Reading The Secret Garden make me want to garden and run outside. I am seriously considering buying a jump rope. I am thinking about food from a positive perspective (i.e. nourishment) instead of a negative one (something to fear because it makes you fat).

This book is good for your soul.

Why four stars instead of five?
The whole magic and God business was a little much for me. I wanted Colin to pick up a book about health and the human body instead of blaming his recovery on magic.

Also, I felt that the whole book had a kind of plausibility until the end- there are Reasons that Mary and Colin change. But at the end of the book Mr. Craven just changes all of a sudden with nothing to cause him to do so. I thought it was weirdly rushed and too magical, with the explanations about the garden waking up and Mr. Craven waking up at the same time.


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I also re-read the Bloggess's Let's Pretend this Never Happened and Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. I'm a reading MACHINE.

So tell me, what do you do when you are broke and bored and in a foreign country where your entertainment options are limited? Books? Video Games? Wall staring?