November Books and Movies

I cannot recall another month where I actually watched more movies than read books, but this month that is exactly what happened!   Well, we went to France and Belgium. I don't read much while traveling by plane, but I did watch three movies on the 9.5 hour flight from Brussels to Atlanta.  They were

The Help

Admission (chosen because it was about 90 minutes)

The Breakfast Club (chosen because it was only 90 minutes)

When I got home I had to catch up on blogs and articles I missed while gone. Plus I was falling asleep around 8 every night and sleeping like the dead until 4:30 in the morning due to jet lag.  And now it's Thanksgiving and I've been doing stuff with pictures since Walgreens has had some free offers lately.  All that to say, I didn't read many books this month.  I only finished two.

Where's the Duck in Peking: Glimpses of China by Cliff Schimmels - The author went to China to teach for a year and shares experiences of his life there. I really enjoyed these aspects of Chinese life.  A few things I'd heard before, while others were new to me.  For instance he reports of a female student coming to class with nasty bruises on her neck.  He later found out that if the Chinese feel they are getting sick, they will often pinch their necks to help with healing.  He told other stories about names and the three or four different translations for "ma" depending on the tone you used while saying it. I loved the last chapter when he mentioned their leaving China and how 250 students lined up to watch them depart. 

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards -- I found this in a book exchange recently. Pretty interesting book. Fiction. I like that it takes place in an area of upstate New York that a friend of mine lives.