Look what Susi made!

While we were visiting, Susi gave me this little crocheted cup cozy. People have already been eyeing it as I top up the water. That's when they're not eyeing and smelling my lunch. I'm getting a bit of a rep there for having the best lunches. Trust me when I say that isn't my doing.

I'm still not back on the workout train. There are still some vestiges of cold left in my chest. And my nose. I won't go into any particular detail what happened this morning when I blew my nose after shoveling the driveway, other than to say I badly needed to wash my hands after, and it took some doing, just to be clean enough to get into the shower.

Just a few minutes ago I finished this book.

I'm charmed! This is two winners in a row. First Night Circus, and now this. I pick books by being intrigued by the cover, and then liking some bits as I browse through it. The part I browsed had Allan meeting up with Truman during the atom bomb project. Yes, that Truman. It goes from there. I found it in a nice little book store in Vancouver called 32 Books. Many other nice books too.

Thats the problem with nice independent bookstores; I feel impelled to buy stuff, just to help out the staff, because I know their profit margins are razor thin, if they exist at all. I feel no such compunction at Chapters, or Indigo, or whatever they all themselves now. The most unlikely book I ever bought, was in the most unlikely place you could imagine. I bought the Oxford Canadian Dictionary, in an independent book store in Slave Lake, Alberta. Top that. The next book on my list is Turings Cathedral, purchased from Owl's Nest in Britannia.

Allan leads what could be called an adventurous life, starting from learning how to make explosives as a child by experimenting in the early 20th Century. Much like Flashman, he finds himself in one improbable situation after another, culminating in what happens after he climbed out the window on his birthday. At first I thought it was to avoid a party, but it's not. It's intricately plotted, to the extent I'm sure the author had to draw a diagram, and periodically look at a map.

The English translated from Swedish is slightly oddly flavored, which adds to the charm. The cast of characters, both after the window and before are amazing. Somehow, without trying, Allan is one of these people that shit happens to, and the results are hilarious. Go find this, and buy it. I'm not sure if it's available as an e-book, but I'm sure you can find out quick enough. It's well worth your time.