I have just finished these three books. Read them concurrently. Funny, a week ago I didn't think I could fit in reading anything not related to work/VC/PE, but with just a bit of tweaking with Sasha's schedule, I can now read!! Not just occupational reading, but recreational reading. Yay. Let me explain.



Sash has issues with sleeping alone. Our fault of course as she used to sleep in our communal bed. Now she has her own bed, in her own room, and she no longer likes ours. But that doesn't mean she no longer likes sleeping with us. So we usually take turns putting her down. This used to be chore as it takes her ages to settle down. She will first want to drink a bottle of milk, then read a few books, then play with her lamp, then read some other books, ask for another bottle of milk (distractional request), then she will try and "sneak" out of the room (she is as yet unclear of the concept that even when she does not look at me, I can still see her). We used to have to lie down for an hour to 90 minutes with her in the dark, trying to stay awake, bored stiff and resenting the whole child rearing experience. Last week I figured that with the new kid coming along, things will have to change. So instead of lying down with her, I sit in the glider in her room and read while she settles down. She still sees this as a license to carry out the same sleep-avoiding tactics, but usually after the third time I pick her up screaming and shouting, dump her into bed and scream "DODO" (she is in a French daycare so we use some French baby-words), she gets the idea and drifts off to sleep. Mind you, we start this exercise at 9pm and she sleeps by 10.30pm, but this is much more tolerable with my being able to get in some reading.


I couldn't put Persepolis 1 and 2 down. Intriguing, enchanting, and it made me think. I think about the Iran that I know from the media,that I think I know. I think about the Malaysia that I know, and what is reflected in the media. Disturbing similarities. Both situations not even remotely comparable (yet), but any ghost of a similarity is disturbing enough. When a reference to the year 2000 came up in A Thousand Splendid Suns, it made me think about what I was doing on the days leading up to New Years Eve 2000. I was preocupied with what to wear to a party. The characters were starving. I sometimes wonder if my luck will run out..