It’s been almost a month since I have been in Ireland.
Almost a month of wandering the city and finding little cafes and shops that I am storing and cataloging in my mind as “return to’s” and “must check out’s.” I really love Dublin.
It’s also been weeks of sending my CV out to what feels like thousands of restaurants and cafes and hotels and bars and feeling extremely worn out and somehow not qualified to serve a cup of tea and scone. It is making my mood match the weather — dreary. Can I repeat that I really love Dublin? I have a very limited (and dwindling) budget and not having a job will cut my trip so short. Unbearably short.
I will keep looking. And try to remain positive.
In the mean time, there are some really fantastic places to visit in the city. Just today, on our way to the zoo, did we stop in on a little sandwich shop that I insisted upon (because they wrote the menu on the tiles and I knew it was going to be good) and it was probably the best decision I made all day. If you ever find yourself in Dublin, please go check out Oxmantown. Not only was my sandwich to die for, but they make a real nice cup of coffee.
What have I, the unemployed with no money, been doing for a month, you might ask?
Well, that’s easy. Catching up on Pretty Little Liars and reading books like a mad woman.
I picked up What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty in one of the many airports I spent time in a month ago. I was losing my mind from the boredom and new that I had read a good review at some point and thought why not? It wasn’t the best book of the year, but it was definitely interesting. It was a quick read, which for me means that it held my attention long enough for it to become a quick read.
I found The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson in a cook little book shop in Dublin. One of those shops that the employees actually write reviews on their favorite books because it is a book shop run by people who like books. My favorite. This book intrigued me because the edges of the pages were black, making the book appear as if it had been burned (which isn’t surprising after having read the book), although I don’t know if the American copy would look this way. I have come to notice that books in Europe have different, often times more interesting, covers. I took my time reading this book, but still finished it within the week. I go from thinking I really liked it to being confused about my feelings towards it. It was dark. Definitely not YA fiction. It was also something new and refreshing after so many dystopian novels. I would recommend it to some but not all.
I purchased Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs on my Kindle (that my sister so graciously gifted me before my move) because I had read a few reviews on Goodreads and needed a book on the contraption so I could bring it around town and it wouldn’t be a hassle. Like The Gargoyle I spent about a week reading this one. It was definitely interesting, and at times the relationships were a bit creepy, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t read the sequel. Anything that involves and overseas adventure hooks me in at this point in my life.
Just One Year by Gayle Forman is one that I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for since I read it’s prequel. Like I said, anything with an overseas adventure… I gobbled this book up in a few hours and was just a bit annoyed with myself when it was over so soon. I have no self control when it comes to a book I have been waiting for. I loved it. I loved it because these characters are ones that you find yourself wanting to be. You want to experience all that they have and in the end you are jealous of these fictitious characters. Dangit.
I also read The Transfer, a short story that prequels the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. For those that got into the Divergent series (and everyone should get into them, let’s be honest), The Transfer is something that can tide you over until the final book in the trilogy is released this month. It was an extremely quick read (took me about thirty minutes), but it gave you insight into who Four was before he was Four (and who doesn’t love Four?). It’s only a dollar for the Kindle. If you have a Kindle, go buy it now.
I need a job, quite obviously.
kathleenwishes 