Shameless request for books

To everyone:

Thankyou, obrigada, terima kasih, grazie, gamsa hamnida and doomo arigatoo. I was just wondering how many languages I knew how to say thankyou in without checking – would have been seven but I can’t quite remember the Thai word.*

Actually I was trying to express how grateful I am to you all.

Now comes the shameless part. Quite a few people have asked me, is there anything I can do? It is extremely kind. But I didn’t know if there was anything I could really ask people to do or send from a distance, other than the little things (like earplugs, ha) which I ask various people to pop in the post for me from time to time.

But, then I did think of something anyone can do which I would really love:

Go through your books, pick out one or two that you think I might like (even if I might have read them before), and post them over to me. If you want them back, that’s fine, write your name inside the front and I will send it back; or if you want me to keep them that’s also fine. I will pass them on when I’m done.

Why this specifically? You probably know that I am a bookworm (a speedreading bookworm who can chew through books far too quickly). But Timor does not have a bookstore or a library. It has cafes, bars, banks, tailors, and really strange little shops which stock Indonesian and Portuguese textbooks. It has two book exchanges which are pretty poorly stocked – you pay $3 USD for a new book or $1 USD to swap a book.

But noooo booookstoooore iiiiit kiiiills meeee.

So books are a pretty precious commodity here. I’ve got nothing against new books (I just ordered a few) but it’s pretty expensive to buy me a book and then pay the hefty postage to Timor. So if you just send me something you’ve already read and think I might like, we’re being a tad more thrifty.

If you want suggestions, email me or message me on Facebook.