Around the World in 80 Books discussion

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I live in Toronto and we are just cleaning up from the first major snowstorm of the year, to be followed by record cold weather.
Is anyone else in a similar situation?
I am going to say upfront that I really don't like cold weather.

i am oumnia from algeria . i am 13 years old
i have a bad eng little bit .

 I do not care about age because we are good readers so I can chat with anyone
 

Hi, Oumnia. I like to read and talk about books too.

Hi Rosemarie, I live in the UK and we experience nothing in comparison to our North American counterparts in terms of 'snowstorms' although, we had a storm named "The Beast from the East" back last year that would probably be a moderate snowstorm category in North America.

The problem is in the UK, we are so badly prepared for bad weather, even a few inches of snow can cause chaos, with roads and public transport being severely affected, with people not attending work or children attending school.

Both, North America and Scandinavian nationals must roll their eyes in disbelief at our chaos in these circumstances, haha!

Also, I'm relatively new to Goodreads, so I am looking to make new friends via Goodreads to discuss books and comment on current affairs globally. Feel free anyone to add me as a friend.

I mainly read non-fiction, but also enjoy reading the books that are voted on every month through the ATW polls. Love learning and reading about new places. I currently enjoy reading and learning more about Africa.


Although, I have visited Uganda twice with University, I have not read a book from Uganda, but endeavour to read several (a research project?!).

I have a background in environmental studies, with both a BSc and a MSc in Geography related subjects, so I am very keen on environmental related literature, especially around disasters ,catastrophes and humanitarian causes & issues. :-)

The worst part of this storm was the mess it wreaked with public transit. The subway signals can freeze on the exposed portions of the track, which leads to real delays because shuttle buses are used instead.
And they didn't close the schools in Toronto, but I am sure attendance was down.

Rosemarie wrote: "I live in Toronto and we are just cleaning up from the first major snowstorm of the year, to be followed by record cold weather.
Is anyone else in a similar situation?
I am going to say upfront tha..."

I can't even imagine how much snow you receive in Toronto. We get little snow where I am (state of Georgia). We did get a big snowstorm last year that produced 12 inches (that is probably like one of your smaller ones). It broke hundreds of our flimsy local southern trees. I can't imagine going through that on a regular basis. We are ill equipped to deal with even the smallest amount of snow.

Regoumnia wrote: "i am oumnia from algeria . i am 13 years old
i have a bad eng little bit .

 I do not care about age because we are good readers so I can chat with anyone
 "

Hi, Oumnia!

The way our winters have been lately, we never know what to expect any more. December was lovely and warm, but not January. The worst thing about winter is having to scrape ice off the car. Brushing off snow is not that bad, as long as you don't get it in your boots.
I lived in Regina, Saskatchewan for two years. We didn't get that much snow because it was too cold to snow. Toronto is generally not nearly that cold.

Rosemarie wrote: "The way our winters have been lately, we never know what to expect any more. December was lovely and warm, but not January. The worst thing about winter is having to scrape ice off the car. Brushin..."

Scraping ice off the windows is the worst. I don't miss that at all.

Hi all, I am Bela from Mumbai, India . I am a private tutor for the past couple of years . Reading has always been a passion but I have rediscovered books since I joined GR a couple of months ago. I seem to have found an alternate universe out here.

We in Mumbai experience a moderate climate. So absolutely no snow ! In fact we always crave Fr snowfall ( it looks so magical in movies😜). But obviously the grass always seem to be greener on the other side. I can only imagine the distress you all must be facing.
For us to experience snow, we have to visit the hill stations in the northern part of India , near the Himalayas.

When I was on holiday in Lima, Peru, our guide told us that it never rains there. A friend of hers was very excited when she experienced rain for the first time.

How many people live in Mumbai?

Hi to all,

No snow here on Canada's west coast. In fact, we're suffering from early onset spring allergies. (I'm not saying that to gloat, Rosemarie...my nose is completely stuffed up.) I'm sure Rosemarie would rather that than huge snow. Keep warm! Like Georgia, Vancouver grinds to a halt with even a few inches of snow.

Hello Oumnia. What is your favourite book?

Hello Rhys, I'd be interested to learn more about your trip to Uganada. I've been to southern Africa but not to there. Why did you go and what did you see?

Hi Bela, how is life as a private tutor? I've done this part time (3 or 4 hours a week) but not as a profession. (I used to be an English teacher.)

It's good to get to know you all better. Diane, you're an awesome moderator :)

Hi Rosemarie, Mumbai is a huge metropolitan city with a population of nearly 20 million. It’s huge melting pot of cultures and traditions. People of different castes, races, religions make it their home.

Hi Storyheart,
Being a tutor is definitely not easy. It’s a challenging job with a lot of responsibility. The education system in India has become such that children hardly study at school. Private teaching is needed to supplement their needs.

I have just started teaching the past 3 years. Earlier I was a stay at home mom for my two daughters. But now that they are both grown up, I found myself with time on my hands and decided to take up tutoring kids.

Bela, I was a stay at home mom with two daughters and decided to become a teacher. I was a substitute teacher for 19 years and now retired. (Since 2012)
It is too bad about your education system. In Canada, kids generally learn a lot at school and have fun doing it for the most part.

And I thought it was the English that love to chat about the weather! Here in the southwest in Devon we haven't had the snow that the higher and more northerly parts of the UK have been having. I live on the south coast of Devon and it's cold but bright sunshine and blue skies but only a few miles inland in Exeter this morning it was snowing (just), enough to keep some of my students from coming to class!

It's a favourite topic in Canada too.

I enjoy this group! The challenges I have done "take" me to places I would never imagined and expanded my thoughts.

I love the challenges too.

Hello from Arizona! It was 94°F (34°C) here today. Yay, Fall! However, we still have everything coming out in Pumpkin Spice flavor and the stores are filled with Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations. There's a joke around here that the only thing that changes color in the Fall is the license plates (from all the snowbirds arriving). :)

I just received two of the books for November's group reads in the mail (Do They Hear You and Broken Glass -- I am still waiting for House of Spirits). I got them from thrift stores selling books online, so it was about $4 each. The neat thing is Broken Glass has been signed by the author, both in her (I'm assuming) native language and again in English. I believe the only other author-signed book I have is 'These Is My Words' which was written by a local about her grandmother. (Sorry, I can't link books on mobile).

When I have some time, I'd really like to re-organise my Goodreads shelves. I only have them grouped by star rating and what grade level I was in when I read them. Pretty uninformative. I was thinking about doing setting locations and timeframes. What "shelves" do you guys like to use?

Most of my shelves are for different challenges I am in, also whether it is a library book or not. My goal every year is to read more of my own books, but I never seem to reduce my list.

We had brutally hot and humid weather, but today is a much more pleasant day.
My husband and I were on a holiday trip to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and then Montreal. The Cabot Trail on Cape Breton has breathtaking scenery.

Kristin wrote: "Hello from Arizona! It was 94°F (34°C) here today. Yay, Fall! However, we still have everything coming out in Pumpkin Spice flavor and the stores are filled with Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations...."

Having a similar experience weather-wise here in Atlanta. I took my son to the pumpkin patch and hiking yesterday. He wore a flannel shirt to get into the mood of fall which didn't work in the 92 degree heat.

In terms of shelves, I think I over-shelf things. It helps me find things easier, but any given book in my tbr has about a paragraph of different shelves.

Way cool that you found an autographed copy of When Broken Glass Floats. I have found a few autographed copies in thrift stores. Always an expected and delightful find.

hello all...

Just added my book on free promotion on Amazon, so if someone want to read about hitch-hiking in Bosnia and meeting local people, take a look...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08236ZXZG

if you are not interested, enjoy whatever you are doing and please forgive me for little spam. :)

Bosnia? That's on my bucket list - visiting the Balkans - loved the book Black Lamb and Grey Falcon

When economic thought objective is the benefit for the human been starting from each person in society anywhere in the world continuing to a small family then bigger and bigger society probably we can have better universal healthy living for everyone on the earth.

We all together in full humanity meaning could make the change of negatives in the world to positives starting with new economic thought “The Fourth Way: A Comprehensive Humanitarian Economic System to Save the World” By Canadian author Dr. A. Joseph Keryo

Four virtually identical self-promotional messages? Please stop. This isn’t chat. It’s spam.

Rhys wrote: "Hi Rosemarie, I live in the UK and we experience nothing in comparison to our North American counterparts in terms of 'snowstorms' although, we had a storm named "The Beast from the East" back last..."

I live in California, USA and anytime we get rain people come to a standstill! If we ever have snow, we just need to throw in the towel - it would be devastating!

I am so excited to receive the New York Times 'Puzzle Mania' and The New York Times Book Review'. I had to announce this to those who would appreciate these titles. Has anyone else have these publications?

I do the Times Crossword Puzzle but haven't seen Puzzle Mania. It sounds good!

It has a variety of puzzles such as cryptograms, sudoku, etc. It comes only in newsprint and is priced at $5; so of course, I had to get the book review ($50) to make it worth the shipping cost. I'm glad I did.

Sounds like fun,

I love NYT crosswords! Especially the bigger Sunday crosswords. I used to get the NYT puzzle books but haven't bought one in a long time.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Thank you, Diane, for keeping this group space nice and tidy. It’s a heck of a lot to organize and you are much appreciated.

Hi all,
Hopefully you can help me out! This year I'd like to read a book or trilogy written by Somalian author Nuruddin Farah. He has written quite a lot books and three trilogies! So it is hard to pick. Now I am leaning towards the Trilogy 'Variations on the theme of an African dictatorship, consisting of Sweet and Sour Milk, Sardines and Close Sesame. It wasn't a really well thought of decision, other than that it paints a picture of Somalia under dictatorship from several perspectives and the rather stupid reason that I was drawn to the titles which include food related themes...

What are your experiences with his work? Which is your favourite? Has anyone read the ‘African dictatorship’ trilogy or parts of it?

Carmaleeta wrote: "I am so excited to receive the New York Times 'Puzzle Mania' and The New York Times Book Review'. I had to announce this to those who would appreciate these titles. Has anyone else have these publi..."

No, but I’m addicted to Wordle daily.