Reading maniac

This is a memoir from the founder of Virgin Records, Airline, etc. and took about an hour to read. I give it one thumb down. It has all the same old positive cliches you'll find in every self-help book, the difference being that this one is entirely unrelatable, coming from a man so disgustingly successful in life as to lack any failures to write about whatsoever except the equivalent of a 9-year-old's lemonade stand.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but everyone has such good things to say about these books. Our school library happened to have it as well as many other unexpected literary classic and must reads, and there's not a chance any of the elementary students would miss it, so I borrowed it.

I really enjoyed the book and pored through it in less than a week, though it didn't live up to the hype I've read and heard regarding it. And I'm not sure if I'll seek out the other two books in the series. I want to see the movie, too, but more for Daniel Craig than any other reason.

Bundang book exchange

So the trip out to Bundang only took 30 minutes longer than I estimated, for a boring two hours total if you count the time it took to walk to the subway station and wait for the next train.

The post on theyeogiyo.com event calendar said 4 to 7 p.m. I arrived at Pub210 at 4:40 p.m. and the place was closed, locked, lights out. Cranky from such a long train ride, I was displeased to say the least. I figured the pub would probably open in a few hours, so I bummed around a bit.

I found a Kodak store and got batteries for my camera cheaper and of better quality than I'd found at Family Mart and grabbed a few extra rolls of good film while I was there. At least there's a developing place at the HomePlus next door to my apartment.

Then I hung out at Starbucks and worked on some scrapbooking from the Seoul Doll Fair. I don't know what Koreans don't get about coffee houses supposed to being chill places, but damn it was crowded and noisy in there. Unfortunately, there were only two other coffee places on the block, one too small and the other I don't care for. Pleased with the results of my crafting, I packed up, cleaned up my table, and headed back to the pub about 6:30 or so.

I walked in to find a bunch of tables pushed together right by the door piled high with books. I had only brought four with me and intended to only pick out that many to take home, assuming that's how book exchanges work. However I was soon informed that the same 20 people or so had been circulating the same 40-50 books, so I brought home 10. Ridiculous, I know, but they were eager to be rid of them. Many people are leaving Korea this time of year and trying to avoid packing the books, too.

Sure, it's four times as far as the library, but it's only once a month, and the company, conversation, and Costco pizza certainly made it worthwhile. The people I talked to thought my being a newbie to Korea was so cute. Lol. I look forward to next month's meeting and have already nearly finished The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews on the train home. I highly recommend it.

Here's the rest of my loot:
~The Bible
~Korea Calling: The Essential Handbook for Teaching English and Living in South Korea
~Before they are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
~Soon I Will be Invincible by Austin Grossman
~Slow Man by J. M. Coetzee
~The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick
~Journey To Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda
~Counting Up, Counting Down by Harry Turtledove
~The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran