BEL, Yes!

Ever since I got back to Korea last Saturday, I've been feeling the need for some library time.  Unfortunately, jet lag made that impossible Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Call me a wimp, but going west-to-east kills me.  No, that's too dramatic.  Let's just say I always feel depleted for about ten days.

On Thursday, I thought I could stay upright long enough to visit the BEL, but I went to work first and after that, the library dropped out of the race and the contest was between going to Home Plus for essentials (TP) or falling facedown on the futon.  I did them both in quick succession.

Friday though, I would not be brooked.  Take a hike, I told my jet lag.  As soon as I left work, I checked my watch.  4 pm? No, it was Busan English Library time.  45 minutes and a couple of subway rides got me there.  Missed you much, BEL; did you miss me?

The first order of business was to find Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates.  The new Canadian-French movie of the same title is a much better adaptation of her novel than the 1990s version starring Angelina Jolie.  The girls look like real teenaged girls, the time frame is set properly in the 1950s and the mood is dark and jangly with that gouged-out feeling Oates' prose often has.  I saw it Monday evening and must go see it again this weekend.  Meanwhile, I wanted to reread the book.  It wasn't at the library.  Oh, BEL.

Going home empty-handed is never an option, (kind of a superstitious thing) so here's what I picked up:

1. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood.  I remember buying this book back when it first came out, and I remember reading it, but I don't remember finishing it.  That peculiar slice of Book Amnesia has stuck in my craw all these years.  Time to get it out.

2. Emily of Deep Valley - Maud Hart Lovelace.  I thought about Maud a lot this summer.  I wanted to go visit Mankato, Minnesota.  Maybe next year.

3. Hattie Big Sky - Kirby Larson.  This is a Newbery Honor book.  I had a slight case of Newbery burnout, but when I saw this was about a woman homesteader, that all went away.  Not only is Hattie a homesteader, she's a teenaged homesteader.  An orphaned teenaged homesteader.  During World War I.  What's not to like?

Now that I've finally been to the library, I'm starting to feel like I'm really back again and a little less depleted.  Thanks, BEL.