Big Bad Wolf 2014

12th Dec 2014

Last year I cudnt make it to this annual exhibition, so this year I determine to go and see it by myself and buy myself the books.

 

Yes, there were a lot of people in the hall, but we still can choose the books at peace. Good thing is that the organizer has also provided basket for the visitors,so it saved us from bring our own trolley bag to buy masses of books at one go.

The price of the books are unbelievably cheap and I took my own sweet time to find my usual fictional books.

 

It was not hard to find the books of my favourite authors, well, I was over the moon. Picked up the books without seeing the price tag. And just to find out the cost is less than RM60 for all these books I chose.

This is heaven for book lovers. Must.come.next.year!

Reading marathon of 2013

Most of year 2013 was filled with work, work and work. I was stepping into my first year in new working arena. And to make it thriller to a newbie like me, a major shutdown at my platform was held for forteen days stretching through Eid Fitr.

I was having so little time to lay back and relax to do some reading like I always love to do.

However, come end of August when all mind-boggling responsibilities were over(for a while), the urge of having the world of reading all to myself erupted.

Just to get the ball rolling, I borrowed books from an officemate.

Due to work requirement, I went to KL and it was good time to grab a few more books from  Kunikoniya.

 

I was in the middle of discussion with Boss to relay my intention that has something to do with New Zealand . Boss was amused with my intention,  he shared his insights about New Zealand, and little that I expected, he offered me his book collection on the country. Coolio!

 

I was a big fan of this intellectual dai'e, Prof Dr Kamil who is currently lives in Madinah. The piece of him is a "must have" for a fan like me. Just so you know, of all books  that I ever read, be it fiction or motivational books,  he is by far the only author that is able to make me shed tears while immersing myself in his writings.

 

I went to Ausie late 2013 to meet Ju Zie, and she was kind enough to add more books for my collections. Nyums.~

Big Bad Wolf was happening in town, and my colleague was supportive enough to help me get a bunch of books from the sales. It was less than RM50 for these five pieces! I was over the moon~

 

So I started that to realize that I bloody need a bookcase to cater my so-called books obsession. So I eyed this nice book case from Ikea. I was requesting Ainul to buy before I picked it up while on my business  trip in KL, but I never imagined the book case length stretched the  whole of size of our cars. Thank God it fit well,and was safely "shipped" to Paka.

Sophie Kinsella-What's your number?

Whoa! It has been ages since I read the last book, (and now I barely remember the title). Even though we are physically separated by continents, it never stop me and JuZie to share books of our liking that is Sophie Kinsella with the latest book, What's your number? And the interesting part is that the book is in form of ebook that can be read via iPhone or Mozilla Firefox!

 

 

Now that the book is available in electronic version, reading book is not necessarily an activity on the bed before I doze off, but while traveling,  I also can kill time on the go. Great~

Array of Alex Potter's collections

After buying the movie tickets of Ombak Rindu,I went for a stroll at Popular book store to look for any new arrival of books.

Alexander Potter's book, Who's New Pussycat was listed as one of the best-selling items.

I asked the sales assistance if the book is still available. When she showed me the array of Potter's book, I was awestruck!!

I mean they are so freaking cute and the author is one of my favourite!







Oh well, for now it is just nice to see but not to have. Because I know, I wouldn't have time to read them all nowadays. Gotta save it until next month or so.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cathy Kelly- Homecoming

Cathy Kelly is another author of my likings whose books evolve around lifes of women in one place but facing different life conflicts.

Megan Bouncier, a rising starlet who has the world's attention to herself. Somehow she has decided an awful choices which has cost the destruction of other people happiness.She has no option left, other than looking for a place to hide.

Connie,has been her students' sweet heart over the years. Almost hitting 40's with a status of single. Her sister,Nicky is getting married and she will be all alone living in her flat. She has almost given up on love when she registered herself as a volunteer in a local charity.There are reasons of why she remained single even though there are chances of nice availalble man next door to be flirted with. What are they?

Rae, a loyal wife and tolerate daughter in law to an eccentric mother-in-law. She runs Titania's Tea Room, a place where people in Golden Square turned to for a cup of tea or companion of Rae's warmth and friendliness. Out of the blue, she received a letter that she has been expecting for ages. The letter unwrapped the bitter memories that she has been hiding from her dearest family throughout her life in marriage.

These conflicts were observed by Eleanor, a psychoanalyst.Ironically, her presence in the Golden Square community is not as a psychoanalyst per se, but as a vulnerable person who grieved over a loss.

Alexandra Potter- Calling Romeo

I figured that Alexandra Potter has always come up with book with fancy title like this one, Calling Romeo, not to mention its cute book cover, which is the reason why I started to hook with this author`s books. 

This book has a story about Juliet and Will who have been in relationship for quite a long years. Living under one roof over the years has caused them taking for granted about one another`s presence.

Being stood up at Valentine`s day in a fine restaurant, Juliet just couldn`t stand it anymore. And she was looking for the pleasure outside their relationship when she knew handsome bloke with poshy car who walked into her life, Syke. 

Taking things too deeply about Will`s behaviour despite his faithful relationship, she has decided things that have deferred several good years of her life in a marriage.

Light story to engross  especially in my stressful days, as other Potter`s books, and yet there are morals behind the stories to be learnt.

 

Marian Keyes-Rachel's Holiday

The story is about 27-year-old Rachel Walsh who lived in New York and took drug excessively to the extent of jeopardizing her life. She always thought that she took the drug for recreational but people around her absolutely didn’t see it that way.

Due to the incident, her parents resolved to send her to the rehabilitation center, Cloister. The funny bit was that she has fantasized that she would meet superstars and got to enjoy an exotic getaway in the center, which led her to agree with her parents` decision.

Her sweet dream turned out a nightmare from day one she stepped into the center, and ultimately when she learnt in a hard way about how people saw her bad behaviors- and worse-through her loved ones` point of view.

The interesting part about this book is that it doesn’t only serve the reader with a fictional story. There are many underlying messages and how our mind works when it comes to dealing with conflict in oneself. Somehow or other, it lies to us on how to maneuver the challenges in life  to be a positive outcome and stronger person.

Alexandra Potter -You`re the One That I Don`t Want

My favourite spot to go while I was waiting for friends at Mesra Mall is Popular bookstore. It is very rare that I walked out of the store without bringing with me a book or more, for that matter. Author, Alexandra  Potter is quite unfamiliar to me when I spotted her books.

They say,don`t judge the book by its cover. Being me, fancy book covers is one of the reasons when  choosing new books. Hehehe. But of course, the synopsis at the back of the book is utterly helpful when deciding any purchase, no?

So.! What story she has to offer in the book?

 

 Lucy and Nate met in Venice and instantly fell in love. So crazy in love, they kissed under the Bridge of Sighs after the bell rang at sunset, which according to the legend- will bring them together forever. Nevertheless, ten years down the road, they drifted apart and led different paths of life.

The said legend brought them back together when they met again. Ironically, the romance from reunion only lasted for a while and they decided to move on with their own lives. Nevertheless, they kept on bumping into each other when it was the last thing they would want it to happen.

The plot reveals on how they manage to break the spell and move on with their own life- for good.

Sandra Brown -Tough Customer

I have to admit this!I hate being on airplane for long haul journey, though I love travelling far far away.*wink*. Reason being, I will end up staring at the back of the seat in front of me wandering elsewhere until I dozed off- in the event I sat next to strangers. Knowing that our journey to Melbourne will take long hours to arrive, I brought a brand new book by Sandra Brown-Tough Customer that I bought months before and so occupied to read. Immersed myself in the book as Detective Beckett wannabe :p, I managed to start and read almost half of the book on the airplane on our way back to Malaysia!

The storyline started at a crime scene where a stalker was trying to kill his colleague, Berry. He managed to escaped, anyhow. Neverthless, the crime did not stop there as it was followed by mysterious murders of another female colleague and a decent kid.

Well, the story was getting interestingly twisted. Along the mission to track him down, the plot unleashed the secrets in family affairs, the betrayal in working environment as well as romance bits and eventually the ultimate motive behind the crimes. Interesting!

Lesson learnt : It might sound fictional in some circumstances, but bullying behaviour might cause homicidal. Protect the loved ones around you.

Marian Keyes- Last Chance Saloon

Author : Marian Keyes

Title : Last Chance Saloon 

The last chance saloon is defined as a situation considered being the last opportunity for success. The story inside this book was about Tara, Catherine and Fintan who have been best friends since they were at school in Ireland. Trying their luck in big city, they have migrated to London together to start a new life with different career path.

Tara, scares of being single at late 20s, thus choose to stay in relationship with her dorky boyfriend even if he constantly hurts her feeling ruthlessly.

On the other hand, Catherine is single and neat-freak, always being secretive about her romance history.

Fintan, comes from a happy family and having a relationship with his homosexual boyfriend, Sandro.

They were struck by the news of Fintan who was diagnosed of suffering from cancer. The news has altered the life of these best friends upside down. And to make it worse, Fintan has made requests to both of his friends, Tara and Catherine which might sound ridiculous, but the reasons were rational eventually.

Moral :

1) When you love someone, treat their loved ones well
2) We live our life just once, just enjoy the second of it with loves around you

3) It is heart-breaking to see that people we care is dying. No matter how painful it is, they need us around him to give support

TQ!! Feel free to visit my blogshop at her.shop.spot

Elizabeth Gilbert-Committed

Elizabeth Gilbert, is best known when her book Eat Pray Love was sold more than ten million copies worldwide and published in over thirty languages. In Eat Pray Love, she shared her life experiences while facing a terrible divorce and her attempts to get over the painful experiences via travelling to Italy, India and Indonesia, where she fell in love again with her new Brazilian boyfriend, Felipe. That was the end of Eat Pray Love.

Committed resumed the story when they resettled together in America, swore internal fidelity. But being a survivor of a divorce, each of them swore to stay together, but not convinced enough to get married again.

Nevertheless, they didn't live serenely that long when US government intervened into their relationship that they were forced to choose: either marry, or Felipe had to leave US, for good.

Obviously they didn't have much choice other than get married. Felipe was forced to leave US while waiting for the residency was granted to him. And both of them wandered across Southeast Asia aimlessly while waiting for the ongoing immigration process.

While they were in Vietnam, Gilbert explored the subject of matrimony so that she (believe that) would be more ready to face her second marriage. It is interesting when she had a dialogue with Hmong old folks who sustain their marriage until they were very old.

Reading this book makes me feel like reading a blog, with a lot of messages to learn about the concept of marriage in modern world. Some are applicable to our daily life while some are depending to our own value and mindset to consider.

And this is a hard fact that I think is interesting for us to ponder

If you think it's difficult to talk about money when you're blissfully in love, try about it later, when you are sad and angry and your love has died.

 

TQ!! Feel free to visit my blogshop at her.shop.spot

Sushi For Beginners

Title: Sushi For Beginners

Author : Marian Keyes

The book is about three women, who led different route of life, were on the verge of happiness. For some reason, their life suddenly shattered into pieces and they went through a certain degree of depression to cope up with the relationship failure.

Lisa, was once a successful fashion magazine editor,found her life turned upside down when her long-separate-husband appeared into her life to file for divorce. Her life was just wonderful and glamorous,not until her husband emerged into her life demanding a happiness-shattering request.

Ashling, who was Lisa's assistant, almost hit 30s and still single. Being at the age and still unmarried,she was eyeing for a boyfriend until she met a comedian and they fell in love. Only to find out later that she was not that lucky in love when she found out true color of her new comedian boyfriend.

Clodagh, Ashling's bestfriend,beautiful woman married to hunky husband and gifted with two kids. Just a perfect life anyone could wish. On the contrary, she found her life as a mum to the kids was not fun,and always feel intimidated with Ashling and her single life. She met Ashling's  friends in a comedy gig and the choices she made afterwards has caused a catastropic disaster to her happy life.

 

I think this is an interesting book with multiple life conflicts and yet the story was well-plotted in light way.

Moral : Appreciate your life as it is because the moment you realize that you have been wasting your life not savouring them, it might be too late..

TQ!! My blogshop is just updated in her.shop.spot

Dictionary simply at our finger tip

Reading book has been my pasttime activities since I was little. It started from a book for kids with large pictures and little pages to novel as thick as Lagenda Budak Setan. Mind you, I have obsession in reading, but they were all in Malay. 

I have been quite passionate in learning English, but I have no idea why I never scored any 'A' for English from primary school even until SPM. Ahh.. so frustrating. Nevertheless reading English book was not part of  my learning initiative for I was quite sceptical whether I could understand the storyline if I read them. 

A few months before graduating in my final year, I had little classes to attend. Out of boredom, I borrowed a few books from the library. Too bad, there were not much interesting Malay books except for some educational books which was the last thing I want to read at that point of time. Haha. So, I picked up some English books from the shelves, read a few line, into few sentences, turned to pages, and now I'm hooked to English books.

And sometimes when I came across nice words and tried to figure the meaning , I wished that I had my thick Oxford dictionary beside me because there is no way I will remember to look for the meaning afterwards as soon as I closed the book. Until one day, Ju.Z introduced me this e-dictionary which can be installed in handphone. This is plain cool! I've been looking for this convenience for years, only now I get it.

The definition is elaborated, not only as simple meaning like a pocket dictionary that we used in primary school.

It is very handy and practical that I can simply browse the meanings just anytime! Even when I read an email from boss with complex jargon, there is no hassle to understand it anymore! Hihihi.. Feel free to browse this site to get this cool application.

The Time Traveller`s wife

Title : The Time Traveller`s Wife

Author : Audrey Niffenegger

Looking at the title of the book is enough to anticipate how complicated the story is all about. It is basically a love story of Henry who suffers a genetic disorder where his genetic clock periodically resets with his wife, Clara.  As a result, he will find himself suddenly thrown in his past or his future.

Clare and Henry met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and get married when twenty-two and Henry was thirty. It is an enjoyable reading,despite the confusing storyline throughout the reading.

To understand the story, I think it requires certain degree of wild imagination to immerse in the story and ultimately enjoy this passionate love story despite the uncommon disease Henry has been suffering.

This book was also featured in motion picture,and I watched the movie as well. It turned out as interesting as the book!

Ice-cream girls

Title     :The ice cream girls
Author: Dorothy Koomson

This is the first book by Dorothy Koomson that I have purchased.It is a story about two loner teenagers who involved in an illegal secret affairs with their psychopath teacher. The two innocent teenagers were so attached to the teacher that they even have let them being manipulated sexually, mentally and physically by the teacher. And worse, they know that they were cheated by him before their eyes!

Ultimate of the story was when they accidentally trapped into the murder scene of the teacher, and one of them was imprisoned throughout major part of her life.

Well,that was not the end of the story when she was released from the jail and the rest is a page-turning story that I hardly can put down the book, and even experienced minor depression while immersed myself in the story. Hehe, I know, over kan?

Brilliant writer, indeed! Gotta find other story of this Dorothy lady for it was sooo worth of buying and reading it!