Reflections : “Even bad books are books and therefore sacred.”*

One habit I wish I could drop:

I can never leave a book unfinished..no matter how shallow, stupid, silly or boring it is; If I 've started it, I shall finish it..and that is that! So many times I have wished I'd never started a book..because a few pages in, I'd already made my decision thats it's not worth my time, and yet, I'd keep on going..

I am getting better though..sometimes, I can get myself to scan through the final chapters and read miscellaneous paragraphs from here and there..not the whole thing..so maybe there is hope for me after all!

But, once again, I am stuck!! We were in Sharm el Sheikh, and in the hotel, they had a book stand filled with books left there by customers..mostly russian books, and I was able to find just one english book..a romance novel in the name of Summertime, by a Charlotte Bingham:
Raw characters, shallow plot, expected events, a bit of Jane Ayre, a bit of Rebecca, a bit of Little Women, mixed up to give this new novel..and I just can't leave till I'm done!! I still have a hundred pages to go, but it is taking me forever because I am FORCING myself to do it!! I went through the trouble of asking to take it home with me after the vacation was over because I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO FINISH IT!!

But I can't say this has been totally worthless..with every book one reads there is something new to learn..so far I learned that during some periods of Britain's history, a man could send his wife to a mental institution if she could not answer six questions prepared for her by his doctor!! Interesting, but don't know how accurate though!!

However, I know what I will be reading next:

Abna2 Al Qal3a, Children of the Citadel, maybe Residents of the Citadel would be a better title. A capturing book that I'd read a couple of times already. It's not about the characters or about the events, it's about the city..people's lives reflecting the evolving of this city, and tracking their lives makes you feel like you're living there and then. The author, Ziad Al Qasem , just passed away yesterday, and reading about that made me sad..he has offered us a great book, that I feel has not got the credit it deserves..I found the book enchanting, and haven't met one old Ammani that did not think so too, yet! As is the case with most Jordanians, they get more credit after their death than during their lifetime..so maybe now this book will get its worth of attention. I've read another novel by the same author ( Al Modeer Al 3am: The General Manager), which did not seem to impress me much, but this book..I highly recommend.

* Gunter Grass: German author.