Orhan Pamuk

After so many years, I finally bought a brand new book for myself. It wasn't on sale, too, and one of those books on the new arrivals shelf. It was out of desperation, because the bargain books have so far failed to satisfy, and sifting through second-hand bestsellers can yield only John Grishams at best. So I went to a bookstore and read through summaries and first chapters, trying to ignore the artsy book covers because they don't really tell you anything about what's inside.

I finally settled on Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, 2006 Nobel Prize laureate, and chose his latest, "Snow." I was drawn into his world after a few chapters of Snow and another book, The New Life. It was either that or my long-time favorite Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies." Standing by shelves, I've read the first short story in that collection and it was just beautiful.

It's wonderful to be reading a brand new book again! Something I took forever choosing, and even longer pulling the money out of my wallet for.  (Bakit ba kasi ang mahal ng mga libro ngayon?! I guess that's what you pay for good conversation, and after so many bad ones, sometimes this is worth it.)