books on the go

Lately I'm in bed a lot, with little energy to do anything but read (and when I'm nauseous reading goes out the window too since for some reason it makes things worse).

I just finished 2 great easy-reads that my friend Lydia calls "Chick-Lit" since they're novels basically about things girls care about: romance, clothes, the stuff that just washes over you like an episode of Friends or Grey's Anatomy.
Something Blue was actually a sequel to a book I hadn't read, but I chose it since I read it was about a woman who becomes pregnant at a non-ideal time in her life. I can't relate with the non-ideal part, but since I'm all about pregnancy these days it seemed good. Plus I found it at the Salvation Army in Newmarket, ON for $2.00. Can't beat that! It's a cute, easy read and I finished it super fast but it was fun and I'd recommend it. If anyone wants to borrow it, lemmie know!

At the same Salvation Army I found What To Expect When You're Expecting and What To Expect The First Year, also each for $2.00 each. These 3 books were the most fun because I bought them the week I found out I was pregnant.

Another book I recently finished was kind of a "Chick-Lit" with culture. Girls of Riyadh follows the lives of 4 women living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, present day. It interested me so much partly because I'm fascinated by the Middle East and Muslims Countries (such as those in North Africa that we're fairly invested in through work) and partly because I love seeing the human side of places so far away I'll probably never visit, like Saudi. It's amazing that in some places women can still be forced to marry men they despise, even if they are the most educated and elite women in that country. Imagine those who have less leverage. But what a great book. I have several friends living the same lives as these girls. Practicing Islam, being from or living in Muslim Countries that are quite conservative, yet still having a side to them that would surprise most westerners. Again, I'm done if you'd like to borrow it.

Finally, Now that I'm done the recent books I bought/received, I'm onto a couple I had begun sometime ago and never finished. The Arabs, Journey Beyond The Mirage is written by a reporter who lived in Egypt for 5 years while covering news for a major broadcasting company in the Middle East and North Africa. It's really interesting, and I'd bought it for our trip over to North Africa before Christmas but I was quite nauseous during that trip (read: pregnant but didn't know it!) and only got 1/2 way through. Can't wait to work on it.

In the same boat is French Kiss, Steven Harper's Blind Date With Quebec which I mentioned to Brad I'd wanted last year and he surprised me with one day. That's a HARD read (according to me) and is taking a while. Every page is laced with political background that I'm learning about as I read (and I used to say I was "into" politics! This book tells me I know nothing!). But it's educating and it's about the province I live in and love and the realm of politics which I used to think I loved and now just admire from afar...like really far.