'Stock taking'

Hi everyone,

It's a quiet Sunday morning at my end.

I woke up at 6.30 am and after my morning prayer I started preparing breakfast! Here's today's breakfast!

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Spinach monay and roasted potatoes! Of course the recipe for spinach mornay came from my cooking guru I remember I enjoyed eating mornay while in Tatton Park and Chester during my recent holiday in England.

After breakfast I started re-shelving my books - ahhhh, I need additional booksheves! While re-shelving, I get this idea of doing some kind of stock taking of books that I bought or acquired in 2008:

General interest/Memoir:

1. Scheherazade Goes West - Different Cultures, Different Harems" by Fatema Mernissi
2. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
3. The Cave of the Yellow Dog by Byambasuren Davaa & Lisa Reisch
4. The Road to Mecca by Muhammad Asad
5. Tree Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
6. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
7. Growing up in Trengganu by Awang Goneng
8. The Places in Between by Rory Stewart
9. The Garden of Truth – The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam’s Mystical Tradition by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
10. Perilous Power – The Middle East and US Foreign Policy , Doalogues on Terro, Democracy, War and Justice by Noam Chomsky & Gilbert Achcar (yet to be finished )
11. From a Persian Tea House – Travels in Old Iran by Michael Carroll (yet to be finished )
12. Alek Wek – The Extraordinary Life of a Sudanese Refugee by Alek Wek (yet to be read)
13. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop – A Memoir, a History by Lewis Buzbee (just bought this title, will begin reading it today)

It seems like most of the titles that I have been reading is either a memoir or a true story. I must admit that I am not so much into fiction. But I do read fiction and will continue reading it:

Fiction:

1. The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho
2. The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho
3. The Kite Runner by Khalid Hossseini (yet to be read)
4. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini (yet to be read)
5. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho (yet to be read)

It looks like I have only been reading fiction by Paulo Coelho! But not to worry I have two titles by Khalid Hosseini -in my waiting list - it's a Christmas gift from Herbie. It is Khalid Hosseini signed copy limited edition set! Thank you H!

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There are also few titles on gardening or plant but not much can be practised since I moved to the new condo which has no balcony! Due to that Herb bought me books on bonsai, but I am yet to really work on bonsai .... I think I nead a 'real' guru

Gardening:

1. Bonsai Master Classic by Craig Coussins (from Herb)
2. Bonsai School – The Complete Guide Course in Care, Training & Maintenance by Craig Coussins (from Herb)
3. The Complete Practical Encyclopedia of Bonsai by Ken Norman
4. A Guide to Common Plants of Ayer Hitam Forest, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia by I-Faridah-Hanum and Shamsul Khamis (from Herb)
5. Trees and Fruits of Southeast Asia – An Illustrated Field Guide by Michael Jensen (from Herb)

And the new subject that started to fill up my bookshelves are books about travelling or places of tourist attractions as well as cookery books.

Travel:

1. Ghosts of Spain – Travel Through a Country’s Hidden Past by Giles Tremlett
2. Andalucia (Lonely Planet)
3. Spain (Rough Guide)
4. 1001 Historic Sites You Must See Before You Die
5. Seeing and Understanding Andalusia
6. All Cordoba
7. An Easy Guide to Cordoba – Yesterday and Today
8. 100 Greatest Trips – From The Editors of the World’s Leading Travel Magazine (3^rd edition)

Cookery:

1. The One-Dish Bible
2. Around the World in 450 Recipes
3. Authentic Mexican – Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico by Rick Bayless with Deann Groen Bayless
4. Fast and Healthy by Flora Airey

So, those are the books on my book shelves. How about you? Is there your favorite titles that you have read in 2008 that you would like to share with us here? Please feel free to do so.

"If you cannot read all your books, at any rate handle, or as it were,

fondle them - peer into them, let them fall open where they will,

read from the first sentence that arrests the eye,

set them back on the shelves with your own hands,

arrange them on your own plan so that you at least know where they are.

Let them be your friends;

let them at any rate be your acquaintances."

(Sir Winston Churchill)

 

And not to forget, to all my Muslim friends "Happy New Year" 1430H. 29th December 2008 is the 1st Muharam 1430H in Islamic calendar (Muharam is the first month in Islamic calendar). May Allah bless us for the coming new year.

Love - Larra