I don’t know about you, but I always experience a certain thrill whenever I find a book that I have always wanted to read in the library. It’s even more exciting when the book is spanking new and smelling fresh off the press. Oh, I just love flipping through new books and smelling them!
I was at Chatswood (a big suburb in Sydney’s North Shore) this morning as I had to see the chinese doctor for a follow-up checkup. I have to brew more medicine. He’s trying to help me get rid of my sinus problem. Before going to the chinese doctor, I went to the Chatswood library. I love the fiction section there! The selection’s really good! I managed to find The Crimson Petal & the White (Michael Faber), Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf), Great Expectations (Charles Dickens), Possession (A.S. Byatt), Oxygen (Andrew Miller) and Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte).
None of them are spanking new books, but they are books that I have been wanting to read. I have been biding my time, hoping to get lucky and spot them in the library one day. This was especially so with The Crimson Petal & the White and Possession. The latter was made into a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Apparently it was a very good film which I unfortunately did not catch. Mrs. Dalloway was the book which inspired Michael Cunningham to write The Hours which was then made into a film and earned Nicole Kidman her Best Actress Oscar. As for Wuthering Heights, I’m giving it one more chance. I remember picking up the book ages ago, but never got to finishing it ‘cos I found it really boring at that time. Some people have voted it to be one of the most romantic novels ever written while some have also said it’s one of the worst books ever written. It’s obviously one of those novels where you either hate or love it. I’ll see how it goes this time.
Actually I borrowed several other books, but those above are the ones worth mentioning. The other books don’t really have much literary merit so I shan’t bother writing about them. Some of the other books I borrowed were children’s books meant for my Japanese students.
After seeing the doctor, I went home. When I got home, I discovered that I had forgotten my keys! Murphy’s Law sure knows when to strike! The only time I forget my keys, I get locked out! Anyway, I waited in the back garden for my aunt to return home. Thankfully it was a gorgeous day with lots of sunshine, so it wasn’t too bad waiting in the open. I made myself comfortable by putting up the hammock between the two maple trees in the garden and reading my book while lying it in.
It was lovely just reading, relaxing in the gentle sway of the hammock and looking up at the blue sky. It was all nice and peaceful in the garden with all the greenery around me. I had the birds which flew in and out of the garden for company. It was just me, my book, the birds, the blue sky, the gentle breeze and the greenery.
It was almost perfect except for the fact that I really needed to pee! Haha. My aunt returned home after about 2 hours of my being in the garden. If not for the fact that I needed to pee, I almost regretted having my perfect solitude interrupted. :p