Very excited to receive a package in the mail this week. The daughter has been busy divesting herself of surplus possessions and is returning all the DVDs and books she has borrowed over the past ten years. Unpacking the gift box was more exciting than Christmas, I have to tell you, except for the Eucalyptus flavoured fudge made in her home town. It was just as I imagined Vicks Vaporub, a topical ointment made of eucalyptus, camphor, and menthol, designed to unblock sinus passages, would taste. Though not a fan of fudge – hurts the teeth and the sugar surge produces headaches – it was a lovely thought, Cat Balou. Anyway, it feels good to have my Errol Flynns back in the fold.
Included in the parcel were a few recent novels to add to the Little Library for Valentines Day. Said child has been contributing to Blind Date With A Book for several years.
“The Book Ninja” by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus has an interesting back story.
In real life these lasses instigated Books On The Rail, a movement whereby books are left on public transport services around Melbourne and beyond to be shared time and time again amongst commuters. They call themselves Book Ninjas.
The novel, first published in 2018, is set in a bookshop in Melbourne where one of the employees, a woeful book snob with a penchant for the classics, plants books on trains in her search for love. Towards the end of each book she writes a pithy comment and includes her email address with the assumption that any single young man worth his salt will make contact. Thus, her dating experiences become the fodder for her popular blog. However, it is a young man who only reads YA Fiction who wins her heart – with all the tears, angst and drama you expect.
It is an easy read which includes blog posts, emails and text messages. I guess that makes it a young persons read though it does include book quotes and references which makes it an interesting book for all ages.
I finished it whilst overseeing pineapple and lime marmalade production on the stove top.
By the way, I’m no fan of pineapples – same tooth and sugar issue- and I have a pineapple story from years back not fit for public consumption. But our Australian pineapple farmers are currently doing it tough and opting to plough their crops in rather than harvest. There is something intrinsically wrong with this, so buy a couple of pineapples and help a farmer. End of rant.
Brizzy Mays Books and Bruschetta 