<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1108" title="Street without a name" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/street-without-a-name.jpg" alt="Street without a name" width="120" height="175" />This week my first Amazon.com order came in.  First off, I love Amazon.com.  I mean that they will send me nearly any book I want in a few days...what's not to love.  And secondly, I love to read.  It was a good start to the week for me.

I ordered <a href="http://www.kapka-kassabova.com/books.shtml" target="_blank">Kapka Kassabova's new book Street Without a Name: Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria</a>.  I mean, how could I not given the title of the book and the working title of this blog which I've always thought of as something like Karolinka: Adventures in and around Bulgaria.  Anyhow, I read reviews of the book online this spring and was dying to get my hands on a copy but the book wasn't released in the States until July. (Even though I think that the book has been in print in Bulgaria for at least a year) Still a July release was perfect timing if you ask me.  Well, perfect timing for me.  So I put in my Amazon.com order the day before I left Bulgaria and my order got here slightly after I did.

I finished my airplane book (Eat, Pray, Love) yesterday morning and last night after dinner I picked up the Kassabova book.  I started reading and then couldn't put it down.  5o pages later I found myself thinking: this is exactly the book I wish I could have read before my first year in Bulgaria.  The book is funny and critical, it addresses some of wacky aspects of life in Bulgaria and it's easy to get into.  In fact, it's lots easier to get into than many of the dry or poorly translated history books that were recommended to me.

Moreover, I couldn't get over how many different passages I wanted to read out to my MoM or anyone who was willing to listen.  I think that this is because in the memoir th e narrator has left and returned to Bulgaria and as a result her perspective is different--somehow bigger.  Not necessarily better just bigger--maybe broader is better but she is looks at her country with a more critical eye (one that at the same time is tempered with nostalgia) than many writing about Bulgaria.

This said, I am in love with the book.  And I have a really hard time putting it down.  This said it's also one of those books that you like so much that you don't want it to end.  So this will be a short post because I want to get back to reading.  In summary, even though I haven't finished the book yet--hell, I am not even 100 pages in yet--I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Bulgaria before and after the changes in the 1990s.  Um and even if this doesn't get you excited you should still find a copy of this book to read because Kassabova is a good writer and story-teller.