Friday Meets - Another One Down the Drain

 

RIP Gene Wilder 1933 - 2016. We will re-MEME-ber you.

(Every time I eat a chocolate)

Another week, another month, another cellphone - down the drain. Yes, I really did drop my phone in the toilet. No, it does not work. It was made in China. My husband did forewarn me about that. Did I listen? Do I ever? So, whose fault is it that one now has to suffer the eternal agony of old-phone? Certainly not mine. Can't read cellphone. Can read book. Thank heavens for small mercies.

Meet me on Friday @ Friday 56 for a bit of Book Blogger Hop to kick-start the weekend with Book Beginnings.

Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice. For this date, you will need the following:

•  Grab a book (Yes, any book. But it might get you to your other Friday activities a bit quicker if you just grab the book you are currently reading)
• Turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader
• Find a sentence or two (your other Friday activities might determine this)
• Post it!
• Remember to post your link on Freda's Voice and to visit the other guys in the linky.
• And don't forget to list the title of the book and the author as well.

(With one click on the covers, you will be transported to the magical world of Goodreads)

Due to a couple of mishaps and a few things down the drain this week, I didn't read as much as planned. Still not finished with Autumn in Oxford by Alex Rosenberg. But it does turn out to be quite the intriguing read. I might lack more than a bit of background knowledge, but one is never too old to learn. Or to drop things.

I've started with the new novel by South African author Deon Meyer. Unfortunately it is currently only available in Afrikaans, so most of you will have no clue what I'm quoting. The title is Koors (Fever) and think The Stand by Stephen King here. Which I absolutely loved by the way. Koors/Fever is a post-apocalyptic novel set in South Africa. I've just passed page 56 and I'm quite sure that the following quote from the epic The Stand forms the basis of Deon Meyer's new novel: 

“Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home.”

 

Please may I be allowed to use that quote as my Friday 56? The English translation of Koors will be available early in 2017 under the title Fever.

Lets join Gilion @ Rose City Reader now for Book Beginnings. Share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading (or just take the one you grabbed for Friday 56) and share it. You are welcome to also post your initial thoughts on the sentence and your first impressions of the book. Remember to also post your link to Rose City Reader and to visit the other City Readers! If you use another book as the one used for Friday 56, remember to include the title and author.

Spring is finally here! Whooo hooo!! Thankfully. I don't like winter. I've mentioned it before, I know. I like puppies and rainbows and butterflies and chocolates. All things one associates with spring. Days of happiness ahead! 

Opening sentence(s): 

Allow me to tell you about the three most important days of my life. I wouldn't want any of the three to think I'm playing favourites, so I'll list them in strict chronological order.

What would you do if you knew you only had 100 days left to live? Lucio Battistini knows the three most important days of his life: the day he was conceived, the day his wife agreed to marry him, and the day he died.

As always, I will also be joining the Book Blogger Hop hosted by Ramblings of a coffee addicted writer. Every week they will pop a question that you need to answer. Post your answer to your blog, enter your post to the linky provided, make yourself a cup of coffee and go visit the other blogs in the list. 

Today's questions: Do you have books stacked in every room of your house or are you strictly a believer that books belong on bookshelves?

My answer:   Books and trees - The essentials of life. Funny how the one is born from the other. Let's look at the similarities in the context of the above mentioned question: 

• Trees and plants belong outside. That is where they live. Books belong on bookshelves. That is where they live.
• Many people however, believe in having small trees and various plants inside their houses. In every room. On every possible surface. There are proven health benefits of that (Treehugger):

1. They give an assist in breathing.
2. The help deter illness.
3. They clean the air.
4. They boost healing.
5. They help you work better.

• Thus: Books belong in every room of your house. On every possible surface. How do you expect to breath, or to stay healthy or to become the ultimate book blogger if you are not constantly surrounded by the essential things that allow you to do just that? Books. 

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Mareli

Thalk to me!

What are you reading over the weekend?

Do you believe in the power of books? Do you surround yourself with that power or do you stack it away neatly on a bookshelf?