Ink | Pen | Paper

Bought two books recently. Both books are all about things of wonder, something I really am fond of.

This one is for my dad, an avid cyclist...

"The Beautiful Machine: A Life in Cycling, from Tour De France to Cinder Hill"
by Graeme Fife


Really great book for cycling enthusiasts. I used to be an avid cyclist myself. My dad bought me my first bike when I was 10 years old. Later on, he bought me a road bike, and with it I participated in tours and local races around the Lanao area (Mindanao), from the early 1990's up til mid 2005. The bicycle is indeed one of the most beautiful machines ever invented by man.

This next book is for my girlfriend. We both love classic fantasy books...

"A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle


My girlfriend has read the other books in the series, but she says she has not read this one, so it was a good choice for her.

I remember this book fondly. Back in 1982, when I was in Grade 5, at the Christian School International, Los Banos, Laguna. we had an American schoolteacher who was participating in an "exchange-teacher" program. Her name was Ms. Tabor. Instead of assigning us to read "A Wrinkle in Time", she actually read it aloud in class, chapter by chapter, during each meeting, before we started our English lesson for the day. The book mentions about a "tesseract", or a "shortcut" in time/space. This was the first time I have heard of the concept, and it actually inspired me to go to the school library and encounter Einstein's theories for the first time (I was really young then so I had trouble understanding that big physics book!).

She also read to us "The Secret of NiMH" and C. S. Lewis' "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe". I credit this English teacher of mine for stoking my interest in these sort of books and for cultivating my mind with the power of imagination.

Books make you travel...from here to there, or from yesterday to tomorrow.

-RODION