Books in English – let’s trade!

All this talk on others’ blogs about fancy schmancy Kindles and other e-readers has me coveting your plain old-fashion (and perhaps now-abandoned) paperbacks (or sweet hardcover) books!

Plus I know that obtaining good reading in English can be a pricey enterprise here in Brazil.  Planning ahead, I brought well over a hundred titles with me when we moved.  In the final weeks before we shipped our things I remember browsing independent bookstores for the THICKEST books, and then deciding if they sounded interesting to me.  Lots of books on my shelf have more than 800 pages to them.

I’m currently reading “World Without End” by Ken Follett; follow up to his “The Pillars of the Earth” Oprah selection success.  It weighs in at 1,113 pages in hardcover.  My wrists hurt!  It’s an easy read, but the volume itself makes it attractive.

So what do you think?  Want to trade books?

Tastes vary.  I have a lot of non-fiction, political stuff e.g. “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy” – which is excellent, BTW. And some sociological takes on Brazil or historical fiction or biographies.  I also like human dramas, true adventure tales and many classics.

Others expats I have traded with enjoy murder mysteries, crime or courtroom novels, popular fiction and always a few classics.

If we were to trade I propose people post a list of what you have available and that those seeking to receive the books understand that they will pay for all shipping costs.

Before I comb through my shelves and type up a list, I thought I would send up a trial balloon and see if there is any interest in this idea.

Sound good?  Would you participate?  For logistical reasons I’m pretty much talking to folks who currently reside in Brazil.  Others could probably get the books locally for less than the shipping costs if we were to mail to the US or Europe, for example… right?  But books in English (beyond a few “airport novels”) are hard to come by and stupid expensive here (said airport novels can sell for R$22).

Let me hear from you all and we will take it from there.

And a special shout out to Musings’ Reader and GingerV at Flowers and More for your generosity sharing your books with me already.

What say ye expat bloggers?  Wanna trade? Whaddaya got?

It gets better - dang it!

For some of us, who struggled through tough times, it never gets old listening to others encourage everyone that IT GETS BETTER!

Upper Peninsula Michigan Deer Cam

All these expats visiting their families back in the chilly United States and Canada had me looking for some nostalgic images from Michigan, where I grew up.

Here's a good link.  This guy maintains a web cam in his WAY northern Upper Peninsula back yard focused on a deer feeder.  More often than not when I visit I see deer munching away.  Nice.

Stuffed cabbage rolls and tabouleh

Following up on an earlier post about Lebanese food in Niterói, I cooked up some stuffed cabbage rolls and tabouleh and sent the recipes and some photos to Danielle for her Cooking in Brazil blog.

You can check out the cabbage rolls recipe here and the Tabouleh recipe here.

Thanks Danielle.

Classic Julia Fordham

A friend of mine reminded me how much I love this singer.  She's not a Brasileira, but then, not everything revolves around Brazil.

Enjoy.



For a more "live video" take -- go here.

Who do you love?

360 degree images of favorite spots in Brazil

I've recently found this great website that has interactive 360 degree images of a lot of spots/events in Brazil.

Check it out:

The view from Corcovado.

An evening view around the MAC museum in Niterói.

NYE fireworks in Copacabana in 2009.

Living the life at a kiosk in Copacabana.

Be sure to click and drag your mouse to change the view, and you can turn off the sound by clicking the little icon in the lower left of the screen.

Cool stuff!

Buying wholesale in Rio

The banana guys

Residents of Rio should be aware of the wholesale outlet in the Ben Fica neighborhood that sells everything from booze to pots and pans, to groceries, to flowers – and everything in between: CADEG. The prices are generally great, although you can sometimes find things for less at other unique markets.

The pineapple guy

Here is a list of their stores.

But in terms of a one-stop-shop, I have yet to discover a better place.

We originally learned of CADEG when Luiz finally got a flower vendor to reveal where they bought their flowers directly from the growers.  (That was like pulling teeth from a tiger.)  Since then we have explored about half of the multi-story maze of vendor booths/stores.

The papaya and mango guy

On a typical visit to CADEG we buy flowers, buy floral design materials, buy garbage bags and party supplies, pick up some quality olive oil for less, buy good booze for less, shop in the kitchen wares store, then buy pot sticker and egg roll wrappers, oyster sauce and adorable mini Japanese eggplants at the Asian food outlet.

The Asian foods place

Then we pile our shopping bags on a few chairs and sit down to an incredible mixed churrasco lunch.

Happy flower shoppers

If you have an early morning free (many stores close by noon) go check out the wonders of CADEG.  I've posted before about the flower market - here.