Just Books! (oh, and some camels)

One of the most devastatingly difficult parts of leaving home in Utah was packing up all of our books and leaving them behind in storage.  We did bring along a few books, especially for the kids, and three Kindles between the five of us provides good access, but it seems so strange to not have a house with full bookshelves.

So today we followed some good advice and checked out Just Books.  With no public libraries this Rent, Read, Return service is greatly appreciated.  We paid 4,000 rupees, about $75, for the top level "Avid Reader" membership which allows us to have four books at at time.  Their collection is also online so we can request books be delivered and picked up.

The collection may be small but it's member directed so they have a strong collection.  Just as the bookstores here, it's also great to see that they feature the best books from the States and the UK.  I got "Underworld" by Neil Gaiman.  H just finished the first "Lemony Snicket" that we brought with us so he was thrilled to find #2.  M picked up an "Asterix" and N continued her new fascination with the "Little Miss Sunshine" series by snatching up "Mr. Quiet."

 This is a picture of the area behind the building taken from the top of the stairs just before going in the front door (you can see the stairs on the left side of the building in the picture at the top).  Quite a contrast when you compare the modern building's sleek lines and bright colors with the makeshift structures in the back.

On the way home H spotted these camels and their passengers waltzing down the street.  We've seen this once before but it's still a bit unusual.  We passed one more on our way home.  We do love the contrast: just a bit farther down the street is a 7-11.  Our Tuk-Tuk driver was happy to slow down a bit in the busy traffic so we could snap a picture.  We also love to see the piles of bamboo in the background that are used to build scaffolding structures that resemble Dr Seuss illustrations as they climb up the sides of cement and cinder block construction projects.