The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint

I wrapped up the book in old newspaper in the absence of transparent cover. Since the book is not mine, I was extra careful with it. The owner has a good selection of reads, so I take care of the ones I borrow and try my best to return them in good condition so I could borrow again. =p

So here is The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint. I've finished this last month, but for some unnamed reason haven't gone around to writing about it.

Crow Girls. Manido Aki. The Dreamlands. Mabon. Newford. The World As It Is.

These are just some of the places Charles de Lint brings the reader to discovering. In this story set in the city of Newford's urban fantasy, we meet Jilly Coppercorn, the painter who is well-loved by her friends and Jillian May Carter, the troubled girl who overcomes her past and dares to change her life both of whom happen to be just a single person.

Jilly finds herself in an accident and is comatose, immobile and begins to retrieve into the dream lands, retracing her past and leaves her friends behind in The World As It Is. For every visit she makes to the dream lands, she leans into abandoning her physical body and chooses to live in the shifting seasons of Manido Aki.

Here, we learn about the origin of the world, its non-human inhabitants, creatures of old, and the cycle of magical beings. What goes on in the thoughts of the Broken Girl? Read. The answers might just be there.

"There's never an easy route to the things that matter."

Charles de Lint

 If I'm lucky, the next book I might grab from Charles de Lint would be Eyes Like Leaves. 

To Keep Reading in Check

To keep reading in check, my lola decided to be my book buddy. =)

And she is one absolutely fun book buddy! I don't call her lola, I call her Mama Lette, shortened for Loretto. Papa calls her Mamang. Grand kids call her Mama Lette, so do her nieces, nephews, and other relatives. She is mother to three sons, (Papa being the middle son) and two girls.

Mama Lette is a retired teacher who also served under the Ministry of Education, during Marcos's administration. She was in fourth year law school when she married Papa Choy, (my lolo) and took up a teaching career when she no longer pursued the bar exams.

Mama Lette and the grandkids (L-R: Jess, Mikee, Mama Lette, Kyla, Tita Bing and Jenica) taken last December during our family picnic

Perhaps the love of books run in the family, and she is very conversant when it comes to talking about books she read, her favorite characters, what she likes about the style, the plot and whatever it is that catches her attention. With good eyesight, she still reads books at night by the bedside.

I brought home a copy of The Help by Kathryn Stockett and she borrowed it, suggesting we exchange books after I read The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint. Mama Lette makes the perfect book buddy, because we can always exchange books and talk about them when I come home from work and when she has finally settled down in the evening from watching her favorite Koreanovela. =)

The book pile

Mama Lette's current occupation 

My current book for the 2012 Reading Challenge, and I'm not even close to half of it yet! 

Awaiting the arrival of Thoughts of a Blogger via Multiply

What books are you currently reading? Leave a comment below! 

=)