Here are some items that are currently piled up on my bookshelf,  just yelling at me to start reading them:

1. Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi:  A story about the last 8 days of Satrapi’s great-uncle Nasser Ali Khan, one of Iran’s most revered musicians, who takes to bed after realizing that he’ll never be able to find an instrument to replace his beloved, broken tar (lute).
2. Anattitude Magazine Issue 3 The Old School Issue (this is probably the only magazine out there that exclusively deals with women in hip hop). The only place that sells this in Montreal is the Canadian Center for Architecture Bookstore (the staff at the bookstore are INCREDIBLY helpful).
3. Barefoot Gen Vol. 6 Writing the Truth. An autobiographical manga series about a boy surviving the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.
4. The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant. This is a historical novel set in early 1800s Cape Ann Massachusetts (this is the area I’ll soon be moving to).

And by almost there I mean almost done all the required paperwork that I need to send to the US Consulate in Montreal. It turned out to be quite the scavenger hunt. Find a translator who can notarize, get a police certificate from a police station that is in the middle of nowhere St-Hubert. In some ways I kinda like the challenge they’ve presented me but if I had a full-time job(and WAY more responsibilities) this would’ve been the hugest pain in the butt.

So now for my “recent favorite things list”:

• I’ve been loving these Swedish ginger-snap “vegan” cookies by Nyakers. You can find them at the Atwater market (not in the tin) for about $2.49 or even ikea perhaps? They have delicious flavors like Orange Ginger, vanilla ginger, lemon ginger, and just plain ol’ ginger cookies. They are very thin and are full of  amazing flavor. This website’s review says it all.
• Loose-leaf earl grey lavender tea from the Atwater market which sells for about 3.99/lb (pretty decently priced mind you).
• Carambar. These are candies (taffy-like bot not as sticky) from France that have amazingly delicious and creative flavors. The mango exotic one is too good for words. They even have incredibly cheesy jokes in the wrapper (similar to the ones from Bazooka Joe gum wrappers). I was able to find some Carambars at Atwater Market and at this little shop in the Metro Longueuil mall (so random).
• Paul à Québec by Michel Rabagliati, which is his sixth graphic novel. I love his autobiographical style and that many of his stories take place in Montreal or the Quebec countryside. When I lived in California I would read his books and it would really make me homesick but would also be comforting at the same time. His books are originally released in French but Drawn & Quarterly usually releases English versions of them later on.
• Warm montreal bagels! Even Tim who never really liked Montreal bagels agreed with me that when they come straight out of the oven they are truly and simply amazing. When I went to St-Viateur they were unfortunately all out of the poppy seed ones.
• Adele live in concert! Saw Adele perform live at Metropolis last week and her voice was so incredibly spot on! She sang for over an hour and it sounded better than on her recordings. As snobby as this may sound, few vocalists these days make the hair on the back of my neck stand but the moment Adele came onto the stage the feeling came back to me. That long absent sensation really surprised me, kinda felt like a phantom limb returning (as odd and impossible as that may sound).