35

One of the good stuff that exists in KL is the variety of bookstores to visit. Within Bukit Bintang itself, there's a Borders in Berjaya Time Square, an MPH in BB Plaza (accessible via Sungei Wang Plaza as well) and Times in Pavilion. Even if I've always thought that both of these MPH and Times bookstores here are less impressive as compared to Borders, it surprises me that most of the time I wander into it, I won't leave empty-handed. I even know a part of Times in Pavilion so well that I can close my eyes and walk myself to the literature section, with comics section (where I got my two Garfield comic books) right next to it.

A few blocks away from Bukit Bintang area is Kinokuniya in KLCC, the one I want to marry to. Not only because it's the biggest bookstore in Malaysia, but also because it's the only bookstore that offers jacketing service for books bought there. I always drowned in words in text as I visit it. Rows after rows of bookshelves, with patrons flipping pages after pages, I guess these contribute to the smell of books in it. I've always loved the smell of books published in recycled papers. And I love the unspoken culture of sitting wherever you like and start reading. Because stumbling upon an interesting book is like fate. One may even have not heard of the book or author before, but he or she may keep you turning the pages! Sometimes, all I want to do is have a little retreat in a corder of a bookstore and comfortably chew the words, be transported into the content of a book and undisturbed.

One After Another

I've bought it since 2009. Some time around second half of the year. I've taken it up and put it down for so many times that I barely remember if I've ever cried over it, even for once. I remembered clearly there were times my reading came to a point when I read just for the sake of finishing it. But Jodi Picoult is still so good that she made the phase less painful. It's just that, she is not that good in her Handle With Care.

I've been tempted to take a break from Jodi Picoult recently. Randomly bought and read John Steinbeck's Mice and Man. Boy, it's a very refreshing change. Impressive words and writing style. But nonetheless an awfully traumatising ending. I finished it around 2:30am one night, and I wondered if I would have night mare should I fall asleep. Yup, John Steinbeck. Nothing less than mind-blowing.

This weekend I'm going to borrow Dear John from Siaw Lin. Adele said it's good, and it's one of her favourite books by Nicholas Spark.

Really, sometimes, taking a break from something you love deeply can give you a refreshing new perspective as you take it up once again. But how to tell if you only need a temporary break, or a permanent leave?

Things have been changing in unexpected directions these days. Finally there are times when my decidophobia is not the reason of me keep changing my decisions. See, I did make those decisions. It's just that, things suddenly change, and hence I have to reconsider my decisions/ plans.

:)

From left:

1. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon

- Anyone can learn to write like Jodi Picoult, it's just that she is really good. But I guess no one can learn to even mimic Mark Haddon's style in catching one unnoticed. The writing style is quite different from Item 2, but it's nonetheless an enjoyable read. Wait, I think Roald Dahl was the one who's good at catching one by surprise. Hm..

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

- I bought this book because I needed to break my RM50 for Monorail. I thought it's better to buy something useful than some random stuff for this purpose. It was part of the 3 For 2 sales in Borders. But I bought only this book that time, hence paying its original price. It's the first time I did not fall into the temptation of discount *proud* After finishing this book in a week's time, I decided that it worthed the price I paid ;)

3. Songs of the Humpback Whale - Jodi Picoult

- It's the first Jodi Picoult's book I read. Can't say I adore it to the max, but it's still a good read.

4. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

- I cried like, so many times while reading it. A beautifully written piece!

5. Salem Falls - Jodi Picoult

- Interesting court cases, and points to ponder on. But I don't like the witch part. Sounds vague.

6. Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

- *ahem*checks calendar* When should I start reading this book..

7. The Pact - Jodi Picoult

- *still scrutinise calender carefully*

8. Handle with Care - Jodi Picoult

- Alas, fall into the temptation of Jodi Picoult, and bought this book. Half way through it. Her magics are still effective on me :)

9. The Prayer of Jabez - Wilkinson

- A gift from Jun Ling!

10. Bible

- NIV Backpack Bible for kids, hee hee

Favourite books which are not here:

1. Change of Heart - Jodi Picoult

2. To Kill A Mocking Bird - Harper Lee

- These two books, I borrowed it from library (1) and Kimberly (2) and loved them so much that I bought a copy each for myself.

3. For One More Day - Mitch Albom

- This book, I bought its hard cover version with 20% off, no regrets.

Books I'm going to buy next:

1. House Rules - Jodi Picoult

- I'm waiting for the smaller print of the paperback version. Azrul told me that it's only going to be here next year. Really? Sigh.

P/s: YES, Azrul is working in Kinokuniya! Azrul.IS.working.in.my.favourite.going.to.marry.to.largest.book.store.in.Malaysia! Azrul is working in... *faint*

Reading Month

As Yvonne's skilled hands efficiently wrapped my books with protective book covers, I couldn't help but to be awed. A few quick snippets, the plastic wrappers were sized accordingly. Then she folded the ends in, secure with cellophane tapes here and there. And Ta-da! Nicely wrapped books ready to be flipped from cover to cover, withstand multiple times of reading, anytime, anywhere! I like my books to be wrapped before I walk into the content of them :)

In the past week, I've visited a book fair in KLCC (Book Fest) almost everyday, even if it's raining cats and dogs after work. I need a new book shelf - that is how broke I am (how much I've spent) after the trips there.

Books which I have bought from KLCC Book Fest:

1) Prisoner of Birth - Jeffrey Archer (RM19.90)

2) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling (RM49.90)

3) Microtrend - Mark J. Penn (RM19.90)

4) The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in A New World - Alan Greenspan (RM42.40)

5) Guide to Smart Insurance Planning: Are You Really Covered? - Lee Yow Chuan (RM23.90)

6) Ultimate WordSearch Puzzles (x2 - one for me, one for Fea, hence the price is not to be revealed)

7) Wordsearch: Pocket Puzzles (RM3.00)

8) a purple Bros aluminium water bottle (Kevin's super advance birthday present *grin*)

Total entrance fee I've paid: RM10.00

It's a reading month :-)

Paper Work

Friends know that I'm always crazy over books, and I get excited to have new books to read, or just merely owning it :) Hence during my convo, Jerry and others bought me two books by Candace Bushnell. According to Wikipedia, the books which this American author and columnist based in New York City has written are: Sex and the City (1997), Four Blondes (2001), Trading Up (2003), Lipstick Jungle (2005) and One Fifth Avenue (2007). Trading Up and Lipstick Jungle are the two books on my bookshelf now.

Sometimes I still cannot help but to judge a book by its cover - especially when it comes to new author for me. When it passes the first level, I'd briefly flip through the book to scan the contents and more importantly, the writing style of the author. I always believe there are many ways to present an idea. But creativity sets excellent authors apart from the rest. I want to indulge in a book that will make me continue reading it.

Here is the very first paragraph from Trading Up:

It was the beginning of the summer in the year 2000, and in New York City, where the streets seemed to sparkle with the gold dust filtered down from a billion trades in a boomtown economy, it was business as usual. The world had passes into the new millennium peacefully, the president had again avoided impeachment, and Y2K had fizzled like an ancient bottle of French champagne. The city shone in all its magnificient, vulgar, and ruthless glory.

I.totally.love.it.

Thanks, people! =)

I Need More Space

I need more space for my books...

books...

and books...

and more BOOKS!!

In fact, I have to insert the two books on top of the other books. Sigh.

Of MPH Distributors Warehouse Sale and Paulo Coelho

I was over the moon as I read this *hula dance around in the room* :

But the problem is, I don't know the location mentioned in the ads. Secondly, it's during my exam >.< 

Special Offers:

1. The first 200 customers daily who spend RM200 and above will receive a special goodie bag for free PLUS if you are a DiGi subscriber or MPH Readers' Circle member, you will also receive a pair of exclusive shotglass for free.

2. Star Two readers will enjoy further marked down prices on 28 selected titles. Lookout for the highlights on 24th and 28th April in The Star. (D'you hear that, Pau? Keep the newspaper of that day for me!!)

3. FREE books up for grabs for the readers of TheSun and Malay Mail. Lookout for the write ups on 27th April. T&C applies.

On another note, I didn't know that one of my all time favourite authors has published a new book until a few minutes ago! I was very excited as I saw Paulo Coelho, who is loved for his mysticism and spiritual messages style of writing, embarks on a new direction: thriller! I love his previous works, as listed in my Flipping list. But none of it is any closer to a thriller than Obama and his Zero Nuke dream. Thriller is not my type of pastime, be it movies or books. But I'd like to give it a try :)

Presenting, the book:

The Winner Stands Alone

Till here for now. This is the 200th post for this blog, and I blogged about my favourite pastime, from my favourite author :D

Won a book, yay!

Arrggghhh my hands are itchy, I need to blog lol

Dad called. He told me that I won a Confession of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella from Mix.Fm. MUAHAHAHAHA~ Well, thanks to Mix.Fm, it's my first time actually winning anything from those contests. Not that I took part in a lot of contests like this, especially those require some creative slogan to complete the application. I've forgotten if that contest required any slogan. Even if they did, I've forgotten what I wrote though. Anyway, I really wanted to read that book! Even if I'd watched the movie with darling Fea, Jespreet, Jerry & Sek Kuan that day. In fact, any books by Sophie Kinsella is welcome on my book shelf :) 

I'll go to Kinokuniya for my last feast before I leave KL. Must! I'll miss the feeling of being surrounded by rows and rows of book shelves, and talk about the smell of those crisp pages! *sniff* ah.. stress reliever :)

of New Room and New Books

I've just checked in to my KTSN room. Same old location, but the room is not very same this time! :D

I was grumbling when all residents in my block, Block H (Yes, ONLY Block H) had to move out from their room during the last term break, unlike previously when we still can sort of rent a room and put our stuff in there so that we didn't have to bring all the stuff all the way back home. The reason being - the colloge wanted to renovate my block. We all knew that Pengetua wants to change all triple rooms into double rooms for juniors, and hence (logically thinking) some seniors room may be affected. Anyway, so there goes the renovation.

And TaDa~ my room remains a single room and I'll still be staying in the same spot, for 3 years in a roll! That is a good news, but a better one is - my room is also renovated! Well, at first I thought only the juniors rooms are affected.

They:
(1) upgraded my semented floor to tiles-covered floor;
(2) cleaned the spider webs from the ceiling and the dusts from the ceiling fan;
(3) and re-painted my room from pink to cream colour!

I am really thrilled by all these! Pink colour is fine with me. It is soothing and warm. But cream colour isn't bad either, as long as it's a bright colour. Besides, the wireless is back! Hopefully I still able to search for information starting next week when all the students are back.

New Books Targeted:
1. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
2. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
3. maybe the biography of Nelson Mandela
4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
5. The Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (Yes, I still can't locate the book despite the search system in Borders tells me that the book is in the store).

And since I found a lot of discount coupons for certain books in Kinokuniya and MPH, I'd also consider the following:
6. Evening Is The Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan
7. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella (my favourite chick lit author)
8. Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger (who is also the author of The Devil Wears Prada)
9. Sex And The City by Candace Bushnell
10. A Friend Like Henry - Nuala Gardner

Maybe it's a bit obsessive but that's what happened after a long break from the book stores!

List

Books I read since last month:
1. Shopaholic and Baby - Sophie Kinsella
2. Undomestic Godness - Sophie Kinsella
3. Uptown Girl - Goldman Smith (if not mistaken)
4. Cat O' Nine Tales - Jeffrey Archer

Books on Shelve to be read: (sequence not according to favourness)
1. Holy Land, Unholy War - Anton La Guardia
2. No Wonder They Call Him The Saviour - Max Lucado
3. The World is Flat - Thomas L. Friedman
4. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
5. Kane and Abel - Jeffrey Archer (Thompson's book)
6. A Tales of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
7. The Weather Makers: Our Changing Climate and What It Means for Life On Earth - Tim Flannery
8. Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? and 114 other questions - New Scientist

Books on mind to be hunted down:
1. The Silent Spring - Rachel Carson
2. Espedair Street - Iain Banks

CD on mind to be bought:
1. Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur - various artists, compilation of John Lennon

for one more day

yup, it's a title of a book by mitch albom(ok, can't really remember the spelling). i get to have some lite reading last weekend, finally!! God, before this, i can't remember when's the last time i actually finish a book!

bought it from border book store, it costs some money, but i think this book worth it :-) i like what's shared by the author. if not because i needed to answer a nature call, i don think this book deserve a book mark -- u simply can't put it down!

it's about a son in great depair of his life meeting his late-mum at the minute he wanted to end his life. the author says it's a ghost story, because it involves a spirit of a dead person in the story. well, if so, i think it's the first and last ghost story i'm gonna read. personally, i very afraid of listening and reading ghost story, not to mention horror movie..no, i'd never allow it to happen to mebut for this book, in fact, i'm glad i bought it, knowing it is a ghost story.

that guy, Charley, people called hin Chick in the story( except his mother), had gone through several large downfalls in his life, continuously..he was a baseball player in World Series (his glory moment), but his team then keep loosing, so he landed himself in office work, doing sales, then lost the job, found another sales company, remained the same attitude, lost customers, fired. family? divorced with his wife, his daughter who used to love him much didn't even invite him to her wedding, informed him only weeks later after the ceremony, sad..that's the main factor that drove him to the idea of ending his life. he wanted to kill himself at his grown up place, his home. he drove all the night there, with a gun in his car, and several cans of beer. that's why, people, don drink and drive! although he didn't plan to kill himself on the road, he didn't care if he really died there.

the story begins here, after the accident on the highway. his body lying unconscious down the hill, but his spirit came out, without himself noticing it. now he even wonder whether he's a murder, because the truck which he banged into the minute before has no driver in the seat! then he had a vision about his mother comforting him, right at that moment,ha~

skip, skip...so, according to the story, it's because when someone is near the "end", he'll be meeting people from that "end" too. so u see how near he was already..

he spent a day with his mother. recalling all his childhood days at his childhood place. moments with his family, mostly with his mother. he even made a list of time his mother stands up for him and times he didn't stand up for his mother.. of course, the former touches my heart deeply, i'm touched by the way a mother can love her child this much..this is not a thick book, chick only spent a day with his mother. suppose he's died, but he spent this extra, meaningful day with his mother, that's where the name of this book comes from. for the mother, it's just an ordinary day, paying visit to her customers as a beautician. did i say his mother's died? yup, she was, and the people she's visiting were all near the end, too. the first customer of that day's going to end her life that very evening, her mum's just preparing the lady to meet her husband "later". the second customer's suffering from a cancer, not long to go too.. and the third, well, i can't remerber if she's suffering from any disease, but she's chick's father's wife, and she's not chick's mother. chick's father, Len, met chick's mother, Posey, first, then len left for war. he met this woman (forgot her name in this story though), and married her, with the idea of not going back home. it's not that he didn't want to, it's that he didn't know there might be a chance to come back. but hey, the war ended two weeks after Len had proposed to Posey! what's hapenning here? not really remember. but the fact is, Len and that women had a son. years later, Len wantedo pay his debt, he felt very guilty and sorry to that woman, so bought a house for them .when Posey found out, this caused them to split. since that day, chick's a mama's boy, instead of papa's boy, which he used to promise (to his father) to be.

i'm not good in synopsis writing, but i shouldn't miss the part of chick's life as a baseball player, because we can feel the craze of chick to baseball in the story. this craze was one of the factor making him not at home when his mother passed away.. he wasn't there when her mother was discovered dead too.. and he's feeling very guilty for that. who won't? hmm, that's all i want to talk about the craze, ha~so sorry, dunno how else to say it. just read the book la! chick was introduced to this game by his father, by the way.

i'm going to talk about my view about this book later la.

i think that's all for today la, going to leave this cc, yea, my KTSN cc.

still waiting for the vice canselor cup junior english debate report..