Reading...

So, nerd that I am, I watch the ABC's First Tuesday Bookclub each month, or rather, I download the vodcasts and watch those. I just finished watching the latest show and was so excited that next month they'll be reading Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Was I writing in this blog when I read Grapes this year? Too bad if this is just repetition. It's the book Nonno said was the greatest book he had ever read, and he used to read a lot, so that's saying something. Since I was 15 and first read Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men for school, Nonno had been on my case to read Grapes, but as soon as I saw its size I was immediately turned off. I'm so sad that I waited until after he died to finally read it because I would have loved to discuss it with him and tell him how fantastic the book was. Is it weird that often I love books that have torn my heart out and left me feeling desolate? Cos that's what this book did to me. But I basically judge a good book on whether it has left an impression on me, and this one totally did.

It's funny (not ha-ha funny, but ironic/strange funny) that I can see echoes of what happened in the book, set in the Great Depression, in today's uncertain financial climate. I was watching Deutsche Welle (because I'm weird and really enjoy this German news and business news programme) and they were saying how in the US over 500 000 people have claimed unemployment benefits for the first time.

Played a cute game called the Germanizer. Unfortunately, I'm just not German enough!