Of books, nail polish and (more) suitcases.

They say a coffee table is a window to your soul. Here's what's on mine today. As I was taking the picture above I couldn't help but notice that I tend to pick up books with two girls on the cover, though that was not the reason I chose these. I just finished Angeles Mastretta's last book: "La emoción de las cosas", which I found at the airport on my way back from Mexico without even knowing she'd just released it. I have for the most part really liked the books I've read from her: "Mujeres de Ojos Grandes"('Women with big eyes'), "Arráncame la vida" ('Tear this heart out', maybe you saw the movie?), "Mal de amores" ('Lovesick'),  and "Maridos"('Husbands').

 She has a way of describing mexican's society from a feminist point of view in a very acute manner: the hypocrisy of catholicism, mingled with a pseudomagic (or superstitious?) way of understanding the world (like knowing your dead grandma nods at you from the outer world and grants you miracles small and big when needed), vivid descriptions of the lovely landscapes of Mexico and the intricacies of its political life [for instance during the Revolution (in Mal de Amores / Lovesick)]. This was the most autobiographical of her books so far, it is more of a collection of memories and personal stories, I liked taking a peek into her life and feelings. And I also discovered she writes a blog, Puerto libre, which is a continuation of an online column she used to write for the Spanish newspaper "El País".  So much goodness.

I am now diving into "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi. I had been eyeing it for a while, and when I read this review at Worldette, I was totally sold. I am only in chapter 4, and I can't put it down. I'll tell you more about it when I finish.

In other news I am having tons of fun experimenting with nail polish. During high-school I was never into fashion or makeup. My sister, who's 6 years younger than me, was already better at it when she was 13. But lately, I have to say I like playing. Under normal circumstances, I had to be *forced* by my mom to put on transparent or very light pink / peach polish, so something so bright is really a (tiny) adventure out of my comfort zone. When I saw the bottle for 99 cents, I just thought I'd give it a go. Also, you may or may not have noticed that I'm obsessed with our new otomi pillow covers. In the photo you can also see little green meringues. I made those yesterday when I found some old egg whites abandoned in the fridge. They were begging to be turned into something fantastic. I'll share the recipe soon.

 Oh, and yesterday night we went to pick up some more vintage suitcases that the boy intends to turn into speakers... apparently this one was just a prototype. What I know is that I like the look of them in our living room, they give me the feeling that we are ready to go somewhere far away at any moment. If he does not pay attention I will have to take one of those and fill it with scraps, old train tickets, newspaper cutouts...