Sometimes, Santa just had enough of your constant demands and naughtiness.
Jokes aside, I couldn't resist pointing to this picture used on Boston Globe's The Big Picture blog. The original caption reads: Door Gunner Petty Officer Richard Symonds of the Royal Navy wears a Santa Claus outfit as he delivers mail and presents to troops around Helmand province in Afghanistan on December 25, 2010. (REUTERS/Sgt Rupert Frere RLC/Crown Copyright)
Click on the photograph to visit The Big Picture.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Vanilla Crescents
There's something special about these cookies. It's not only that they are commonly associated with the Christmas time, or that they are loaded full of walnuts, sugar and real butter, and therefore are sinfully fattening and irresistibly delicious. Meg, who never saw or tried them until my mom made them a few years back, became an expert cookie-maker. Her vanilla crescents, the very ones in the picture, carry her reputation far and wide, from our own neighborhood, where the neighbors coming from distant corners of the globe tried and enjoyed Meg's cookies, to our respective workplaces, where colleagues start asking after the cookies early in December. As I type this, fingertips sticky with icing sugar, I am glad to share in true Christmas spirit this picture of perfection. As for the real stuff--I'm afraid there'd be none left before this Christmas day is out. Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas and Bon Appetit!
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read the author's other book, "The Angel's Game," before I read "The Shadow Of The Wind," and I'm glad I did, because, although "The Angel's Game" was published seven years later, it covers the events that chronologically happen before "The Shadow Of The Wind." So, when the story opens with a boy Daniel and his father mourning the death of their mother and wife, the character who was never more than a memory in the book, I felt like I knew her, having read the other book in which she features prominently. Reading out of order was a fortunate mistake, because it reacquainted me to Barcelona I left in "The Angel's Game" and some characters I was already familiar with.
Zafon masterfully waves his spider net of intrigue, mystery, and old secrets which are being dug out, one detail at a time, by Daniel, the bookseller's son. There's love, passion and crime, but although there are hints to supernatural, everything was at the end clearly explained. The narrative is engaging from the first sentence and the characters come alive. I felt like I knew them personally.
One thing that makes me like this book less than it's sequel-prequel is the detailed histories of certain buildings where the plot was unfolding. Although it was interesting to read how a certain villa came about, it slowed the plot somewhat, and I found myself wishing the author would hurry back to the present time and continue with the several threads of the story he dangled before my nose like a carrot.
Overall, a wonderful bittersweet story that makes you wish to read it all over again the moment you turn the last page.
View all my reviews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read the author's other book, "The Angel's Game," before I read "The Shadow Of The Wind," and I'm glad I did, because, although "The Angel's Game" was published seven years later, it covers the events that chronologically happen before "The Shadow Of The Wind." So, when the story opens with a boy Daniel and his father mourning the death of their mother and wife, the character who was never more than a memory in the book, I felt like I knew her, having read the other book in which she features prominently. Reading out of order was a fortunate mistake, because it reacquainted me to Barcelona I left in "The Angel's Game" and some characters I was already familiar with.
Zafon masterfully waves his spider net of intrigue, mystery, and old secrets which are being dug out, one detail at a time, by Daniel, the bookseller's son. There's love, passion and crime, but although there are hints to supernatural, everything was at the end clearly explained. The narrative is engaging from the first sentence and the characters come alive. I felt like I knew them personally.
One thing that makes me like this book less than it's sequel-prequel is the detailed histories of certain buildings where the plot was unfolding. Although it was interesting to read how a certain villa came about, it slowed the plot somewhat, and I found myself wishing the author would hurry back to the present time and continue with the several threads of the story he dangled before my nose like a carrot.
Overall, a wonderful bittersweet story that makes you wish to read it all over again the moment you turn the last page.
View all my reviews
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books
The Bells
by Richard Harvell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love the books which transport me through time. With “The Bells” I travelled through 18th century from Swiss Alps to St. Gall, then Vienna, then Venice, in the romantic period when beautiful music could make people stop what they are doing and bring tears to their eyes. Along the way I learned about love, passion, pain and injustice. But, more than anything, I learned about the sound.
The book made me become aware of the sounds that surround me, of so many different shades of “noise” we live in. It made me long to hear all the wonderful sounds the author is describing with such emotions throughout the book. It almost seems as if the sound is another character in this tale of a few wonderfully imperfect characters.
There’s one thing that made me withhold the fifth star - I felt that Amalia, the love of Moses’ life and the main female character, wasn’t brought close enough. She featured as an object of Moses’ passion and adoration, but as a reader I didn’t get to know her nearly as much as I wished.
View all my reviews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love the books which transport me through time. With “The Bells” I travelled through 18th century from Swiss Alps to St. Gall, then Vienna, then Venice, in the romantic period when beautiful music could make people stop what they are doing and bring tears to their eyes. Along the way I learned about love, passion, pain and injustice. But, more than anything, I learned about the sound.
The book made me become aware of the sounds that surround me, of so many different shades of “noise” we live in. It made me long to hear all the wonderful sounds the author is describing with such emotions throughout the book. It almost seems as if the sound is another character in this tale of a few wonderfully imperfect characters.
There’s one thing that made me withhold the fifth star - I felt that Amalia, the love of Moses’ life and the main female character, wasn’t brought close enough. She featured as an object of Moses’ passion and adoration, but as a reader I didn’t get to know her nearly as much as I wished.
View all my reviews
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books
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Two Flash Mob Videos for Festive Christmas Holidays
Why is there never a flash mob when I'm in a mall, or any other public space? All I deal with are nervous shoppers. A bit of dancing and singing would do us all good in these hectic pre-Christmas shopping days. However, lacking the in-person flash-mob experience, I turn to YouTube. These two videos are my favorite for this Christmas season.
A flash mob Hallelujah choir surprises unsuspecting visitors at a food court in Welland, Ontario, Canada (near Niagara Falls):
This other video is much more high-tech, sponsored by T-Mobile and shot at London’s Heathrow airport with help of fancy microphones, but still - the idea is awesome, the sound is superb (especially considering there were no instruments used in recording) and the look on passengers’ faces is priceless. Enjoy:
A flash mob Hallelujah choir surprises unsuspecting visitors at a food court in Welland, Ontario, Canada (near Niagara Falls):
This other video is much more high-tech, sponsored by T-Mobile and shot at London’s Heathrow airport with help of fancy microphones, but still - the idea is awesome, the sound is superb (especially considering there were no instruments used in recording) and the look on passengers’ faces is priceless. Enjoy:
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
New York Marathon, behind the scene
This is part 2 of the NYC marathon recap. You can find Part 1 HERE.
When I submitted my text on NYC marathon for the monthly column I write at the National Post, it was too long. The editor and I decided to split it in two, because she liked the behind the scene description. However, too much time has passed since the marathon, so my “behind the scene” scenes are ditched. Since it’s now certain it won’t be published, I decided to post it here, so my writing effort wouldn’t go to naught:
I’m typing this entry carefully—my hands are sore from the snow shovel. I’m afraid there’s going to be a blister or two nesting in all the redness of my palms. Winter wonderland in Canada is back. Shoveling aside, I’m looking forward to my snowy run after work. It’s difficult to describe the feeling, one must try it for himself: muffled sounds of my own steps through the softened din of the neighborhood, as if the whole town is covered in cotton; early Christmas lights reflecting off the snow in the evening; the solitude and peace of being out in sub-freezing temperature, while everyone else hunkers in warmth of their homes; my breath trailing me in a cloud, like a steam-locomotive plodding through the fresh snow. And, although the signs of life are all around me, I’m the only person out alive, feeling like this whole white, sleepy, fairy-tale town belongs to me.
The problem with running through the winter is—it lasts too long. After the virgin snow turns into grey slush and ice creeps on the sidewalks making each step an adventure, the feeling of owning the world is quickly replaced by the gloom of it all. Knowing that there’s five months of it doesn’t help either. Some runners switch onto indoors mode and mount the treadmills and stationary bikes. I prefer the outdoors, no matter how grey it is. To help me through the winter blues, I set the goals for the Spring—’Around the Bay’ 30 kms race in Hamiton in March, for example—and I run thinking happy thoughts of the past races, like the New York marathon I described in the previous Black Toenail.
I told you about the thrill of it, the rush of wind, the racket of the crowds, the sweet pain of the effort. But now, at Winter’s threshold, even the memories of the long hours leading to the starting gun make me smile and pick up my pace on the slippery sidewalk. Let me take your mind off the winter blues, and lead you behind the curtains of the world’s biggest race...
...It's 4 a.m. on Sunday morning November 7th, when my alarm clock screams its waking tune. I stumble in the dark, tripping over objects which always seem to be where they aren't supposed to be, and swallowing the yelp when the toe stubs the bed-frame. Slowly, blindly, painfully, I dress into my running gear. A goodhearted relative is giving me a ride at this ungodly hour to the Staten Island ferry.
The traffic doesn't exist this early. The city that never sleeps seems to have dozed off for a while. That changes as we approach the pier. Line of yellow cabs and cars crawls by, spitting out stumbling, half-dormant runners at the bottom of the stairway leading to the ferry building. They are promptly shooed away by the traffic cops -- my first glimpse of the organized chaos that is New York marathon.
The waiting area is already packed, half an hour before the departure of the first ferry. People stand, sit, and mostly lay sprawled all over the floor. I make my way tripping and stepping on a bag and a few limbs. My advance is followed by choice curses in a variety of languages. A short wait later the gate opens and the sprawling tangle of bodies comes to life, streaming through the gate and onto the boat. There’s little conversation at this hour, only an occasional excited exclamation, mostly in a foreign language.
Trip to Staten Island takes us by the Statue of Liberty, illuminated in the night by dramatic lights. Some runners get to their feet, the excited murmur grows louder in a stew of global dialects, cameras are drawn, pictures are taken. Soon after, the ferry docks and we pour out onto the buses which take us to the athletes' village.
In the village the wind is relentless, it blows the chill through the bones. A few tents with hot drinks and bagels provide no shelter and little comfort. The more resourceful among us take anything that can be wrapped around the body to preserve some heat: cardboard boxes, plastic wraps, garbage bags. I brave the elements sitting on the grass. Behind me a huge metal column of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge towers over us. Soon, we’ll be running across this enormous, double-decked suspension bridge connecting Staten Island with Brooklyn. Right now, however, my excitement is dampened by the chill of the morning. The dawn is grey, the sun still slow in rising. The time has changed over night from daylight-saving into daylight-wasting time, and while that gave me an extra hour of sleep, it also delayed the badly anticipated heat of the sun.
Near me, a group of Norwegians huddle together under the tarpaulin, gnawing on their bagels. A contingent of Mexicans make a quick shanty-town of cardboard boxes. Italians run around wrapping everything and everyone in Tricolore flag and taking pictures, laughing and bantering loudly. Lineups in front of thousands of port-a-potties grow steadily. I join one too, the lesson learned the hard way on one of the previous marathons - even if you don’t need to answer the call of nature, do it anyway, or the nature will catch up with you during the run.
Finally, the sun climbs over the shadow of the bridge and everything becomes warmer. Loudspeakers crackle with announcements, inviting us to leave our outer layers in the baggage trucks to be transported to the finish. We undress, shivering, and make our way to the starting corrals, still an hour before the start. Each corral is supposed to contain a thousand runners. They are separated by ropes, but the ropes are not an obstacle for some eager runners, who duck under to get into the faster, front corrals. With another bark from the speakers, the ropes are removed altogether, and we walk forward. The purpose of corrals is completely obliterated in the mix of the bodies pushing forward. It leaves me baffled -- why pushing forward at the start of a 42.2 km race? It’s not a sprint, a better start position doesn’t mean a thing on the long run. Besides, we all have timing chips tied to our shoelaces, and the time is measured from the moment our feet cross the timing carpet. Still, I’m pushed and shoved aside, where I bounce into men emptying their bladders at the roadside. So much about the thousands of field toilets being provided!
At last the pushing stops, the elite runners are introduced—they include the World Record holder Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie—but I can’t see them in the ocean of people which keeps me far from the start line. The Star-Spangled Banner is sung. A few more seconds of shivering—I’m not sure if that’s cold or anticipation shaking my body now—and the starting pistol is fired. Human tide moves forward, slow at first, but picking up the pace quickly as the head of the line is released onto the bridge. My chip crosses the timing carpet about a minute after the gun-start. I start my wrist chronograph when my foot lands on the carpet, and off I go in this giant snake of people, this single living organism in which I’m but a single cell...
...as I dust off the snow and rub my chilled fingers, my eyes find the NY marathon finishers’ medal on the shelf. I smile, warmed by the memories.
When I submitted my text on NYC marathon for the monthly column I write at the National Post, it was too long. The editor and I decided to split it in two, because she liked the behind the scene description. However, too much time has passed since the marathon, so my “behind the scene” scenes are ditched. Since it’s now certain it won’t be published, I decided to post it here, so my writing effort wouldn’t go to naught:
I’m typing this entry carefully—my hands are sore from the snow shovel. I’m afraid there’s going to be a blister or two nesting in all the redness of my palms. Winter wonderland in Canada is back. Shoveling aside, I’m looking forward to my snowy run after work. It’s difficult to describe the feeling, one must try it for himself: muffled sounds of my own steps through the softened din of the neighborhood, as if the whole town is covered in cotton; early Christmas lights reflecting off the snow in the evening; the solitude and peace of being out in sub-freezing temperature, while everyone else hunkers in warmth of their homes; my breath trailing me in a cloud, like a steam-locomotive plodding through the fresh snow. And, although the signs of life are all around me, I’m the only person out alive, feeling like this whole white, sleepy, fairy-tale town belongs to me.
The problem with running through the winter is—it lasts too long. After the virgin snow turns into grey slush and ice creeps on the sidewalks making each step an adventure, the feeling of owning the world is quickly replaced by the gloom of it all. Knowing that there’s five months of it doesn’t help either. Some runners switch onto indoors mode and mount the treadmills and stationary bikes. I prefer the outdoors, no matter how grey it is. To help me through the winter blues, I set the goals for the Spring—’Around the Bay’ 30 kms race in Hamiton in March, for example—and I run thinking happy thoughts of the past races, like the New York marathon I described in the previous Black Toenail.
I told you about the thrill of it, the rush of wind, the racket of the crowds, the sweet pain of the effort. But now, at Winter’s threshold, even the memories of the long hours leading to the starting gun make me smile and pick up my pace on the slippery sidewalk. Let me take your mind off the winter blues, and lead you behind the curtains of the world’s biggest race...
...It's 4 a.m. on Sunday morning November 7th, when my alarm clock screams its waking tune. I stumble in the dark, tripping over objects which always seem to be where they aren't supposed to be, and swallowing the yelp when the toe stubs the bed-frame. Slowly, blindly, painfully, I dress into my running gear. A goodhearted relative is giving me a ride at this ungodly hour to the Staten Island ferry.
The traffic doesn't exist this early. The city that never sleeps seems to have dozed off for a while. That changes as we approach the pier. Line of yellow cabs and cars crawls by, spitting out stumbling, half-dormant runners at the bottom of the stairway leading to the ferry building. They are promptly shooed away by the traffic cops -- my first glimpse of the organized chaos that is New York marathon.
The waiting area is already packed, half an hour before the departure of the first ferry. People stand, sit, and mostly lay sprawled all over the floor. I make my way tripping and stepping on a bag and a few limbs. My advance is followed by choice curses in a variety of languages. A short wait later the gate opens and the sprawling tangle of bodies comes to life, streaming through the gate and onto the boat. There’s little conversation at this hour, only an occasional excited exclamation, mostly in a foreign language.
Trip to Staten Island takes us by the Statue of Liberty, illuminated in the night by dramatic lights. Some runners get to their feet, the excited murmur grows louder in a stew of global dialects, cameras are drawn, pictures are taken. Soon after, the ferry docks and we pour out onto the buses which take us to the athletes' village.
In the village the wind is relentless, it blows the chill through the bones. A few tents with hot drinks and bagels provide no shelter and little comfort. The more resourceful among us take anything that can be wrapped around the body to preserve some heat: cardboard boxes, plastic wraps, garbage bags. I brave the elements sitting on the grass. Behind me a huge metal column of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge towers over us. Soon, we’ll be running across this enormous, double-decked suspension bridge connecting Staten Island with Brooklyn. Right now, however, my excitement is dampened by the chill of the morning. The dawn is grey, the sun still slow in rising. The time has changed over night from daylight-saving into daylight-wasting time, and while that gave me an extra hour of sleep, it also delayed the badly anticipated heat of the sun.
Near me, a group of Norwegians huddle together under the tarpaulin, gnawing on their bagels. A contingent of Mexicans make a quick shanty-town of cardboard boxes. Italians run around wrapping everything and everyone in Tricolore flag and taking pictures, laughing and bantering loudly. Lineups in front of thousands of port-a-potties grow steadily. I join one too, the lesson learned the hard way on one of the previous marathons - even if you don’t need to answer the call of nature, do it anyway, or the nature will catch up with you during the run.
Finally, the sun climbs over the shadow of the bridge and everything becomes warmer. Loudspeakers crackle with announcements, inviting us to leave our outer layers in the baggage trucks to be transported to the finish. We undress, shivering, and make our way to the starting corrals, still an hour before the start. Each corral is supposed to contain a thousand runners. They are separated by ropes, but the ropes are not an obstacle for some eager runners, who duck under to get into the faster, front corrals. With another bark from the speakers, the ropes are removed altogether, and we walk forward. The purpose of corrals is completely obliterated in the mix of the bodies pushing forward. It leaves me baffled -- why pushing forward at the start of a 42.2 km race? It’s not a sprint, a better start position doesn’t mean a thing on the long run. Besides, we all have timing chips tied to our shoelaces, and the time is measured from the moment our feet cross the timing carpet. Still, I’m pushed and shoved aside, where I bounce into men emptying their bladders at the roadside. So much about the thousands of field toilets being provided!
At last the pushing stops, the elite runners are introduced—they include the World Record holder Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie—but I can’t see them in the ocean of people which keeps me far from the start line. The Star-Spangled Banner is sung. A few more seconds of shivering—I’m not sure if that’s cold or anticipation shaking my body now—and the starting pistol is fired. Human tide moves forward, slow at first, but picking up the pace quickly as the head of the line is released onto the bridge. My chip crosses the timing carpet about a minute after the gun-start. I start my wrist chronograph when my foot lands on the carpet, and off I go in this giant snake of people, this single living organism in which I’m but a single cell...
...as I dust off the snow and rub my chilled fingers, my eyes find the NY marathon finishers’ medal on the shelf. I smile, warmed by the memories.
Labels:
running
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Oh Christmas Tree
To exhaust another old cliche, 'tis the season to pull out the Christmas tree from the basement--the evergreen, echo-friendly variety (meaning: plastic)--and assemble it in the living room. It conveniently has the lights pre-installed, all that needs to be done is put together the three segments of the tree and plug it in. Oh, and decorate it with dozens of balls and ornaments.
Meg is the resident designer and decorator. She believes I'm too clumsy to handle fragile glass decorations, and she just may be right. I certainly don't do anything to dispute this. Which is why I ended up watching her humming softly to the tunes from the stereo and circling the tree in search for the perfect spot for this or that colored ball.
What is with Christmas to always bring such a tide of melancholy? There are other, more convenient times in a year, when one could feel just as melancholic and downtrodden, but somehow it's always Christmas that floods us with memories, nostalgia and sadness. Each ball in Meg's hands flashes a scene from a Christmas of long ago: mom and I, a kid of 7, decorating a tree, dad laughing with us from the couch; celebration at grandma's and grandpa's when us kids found an unguarded bottle of chocolate liqueur and collective nausea that followed; first high school all-night Christmas party at my place and a memorable cleanup afterward; the trees from the past blend into the trees of recent years, with Meg at the decorating helm and me in supporting role.
Meg's smile stops the time machine in my head. She holds a small, silver ball for me. I take it from her fingers and hang it to the high branch she can't reach. We finish the task together, then take a step back to admire the creative kitsch we assembled. With her hand in mine I finally understand the scenes which were flashing through my mind--all of them lead us to this point and yet another Christmas we will share with each other.
Meg is the resident designer and decorator. She believes I'm too clumsy to handle fragile glass decorations, and she just may be right. I certainly don't do anything to dispute this. Which is why I ended up watching her humming softly to the tunes from the stereo and circling the tree in search for the perfect spot for this or that colored ball.
What is with Christmas to always bring such a tide of melancholy? There are other, more convenient times in a year, when one could feel just as melancholic and downtrodden, but somehow it's always Christmas that floods us with memories, nostalgia and sadness. Each ball in Meg's hands flashes a scene from a Christmas of long ago: mom and I, a kid of 7, decorating a tree, dad laughing with us from the couch; celebration at grandma's and grandpa's when us kids found an unguarded bottle of chocolate liqueur and collective nausea that followed; first high school all-night Christmas party at my place and a memorable cleanup afterward; the trees from the past blend into the trees of recent years, with Meg at the decorating helm and me in supporting role.
Meg's smile stops the time machine in my head. She holds a small, silver ball for me. I take it from her fingers and hang it to the high branch she can't reach. We finish the task together, then take a step back to admire the creative kitsch we assembled. With her hand in mine I finally understand the scenes which were flashing through my mind--all of them lead us to this point and yet another Christmas we will share with each other.
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures: Stories
by Vincent Lam
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Well, what a mess. There must have been a storyline somewhere in this book, but it got lost in the jumble of medical terms and half-baked verbal polaroids of failed attempts at CPR.
What did I take from this book? That there are way more failures than successes in emergency rooms. That doctors take deaths as a marginally important daily occurrence, and that they regard having to perform CPR as a time consuming nuisance. All the doctor-characters in the book are interconnected, but they never develop into real persons. Except the brief romance at the beginning between Ming and Fitzgerald, they don't interact with each other, and their eventual connection is only stated in doctor-like brief statements through the book. The author uses their relationships only as props for much overdone ER scenes. The result is a shallow story with too much unnecessary medical jargon, which fails either to develop into a real story, or to glorify the medical practice, presuming either of those was the author's intention. The book reads with as much appeal as the Human Anatomy Atlas.
It's beyond my comprehension how was it awarded the Giller Prize. Must have been slim pickings for the Gillers that year! Doctor Vincent Lam shouldn't leave his day job for writing.
View all my reviews
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Well, what a mess. There must have been a storyline somewhere in this book, but it got lost in the jumble of medical terms and half-baked verbal polaroids of failed attempts at CPR.
What did I take from this book? That there are way more failures than successes in emergency rooms. That doctors take deaths as a marginally important daily occurrence, and that they regard having to perform CPR as a time consuming nuisance. All the doctor-characters in the book are interconnected, but they never develop into real persons. Except the brief romance at the beginning between Ming and Fitzgerald, they don't interact with each other, and their eventual connection is only stated in doctor-like brief statements through the book. The author uses their relationships only as props for much overdone ER scenes. The result is a shallow story with too much unnecessary medical jargon, which fails either to develop into a real story, or to glorify the medical practice, presuming either of those was the author's intention. The book reads with as much appeal as the Human Anatomy Atlas.
It's beyond my comprehension how was it awarded the Giller Prize. Must have been slim pickings for the Gillers that year! Doctor Vincent Lam shouldn't leave his day job for writing.
View all my reviews
Labels:
books
Friday, December 3, 2010
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
by Wells Tower
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is a collection of well written short stories. The problem is - I'm not a fan of short stories. It doesn't help that, more often than I'm willing to tolerate, the stories are left without conclusion. For a reader who likes well written prose, there's plenty to like in this collection of dysfunctional American family-drama snippets, but I'm glad I'm done with it, so I can move to a complete novel.
View all my reviews
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is a collection of well written short stories. The problem is - I'm not a fan of short stories. It doesn't help that, more often than I'm willing to tolerate, the stories are left without conclusion. For a reader who likes well written prose, there's plenty to like in this collection of dysfunctional American family-drama snippets, but I'm glad I'm done with it, so I can move to a complete novel.
View all my reviews
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books
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