Wednesday, September 30, 2009

13 Recently Bought Books! TT #27

I found out about the Penguin warehouse booksale on the final, final, final day of the sale! It was a Sunday, and I had planned to rest, and get some household stuff done, but it was the final day, and Penguin warehouse sales are the bestest!

If it was an MPH warehouse sale, or Paylessbooks warehouse sale, or any other warehouse sale, I could probably pass. But Penguin’s the best, and the last time they had a sale was in 2007 and I missed it!

You know why they’re the best? Coz they’re the cheapest. The other warehouse sales aren’t really sales at all… just more excuse for the organizers to make money. =P

So anyway….here’s what I got:

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Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

I forgotten exactly what this book was about, except that it’s about a Jane Austen addict. =P I bought it because I remember hearing about it a while ago and wanting to get it but not being able to.

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100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I recently read  Love in the Time of Cholera and I loved it, and of course this is another one of his famous books. I have to admit I don’t know a single thing about what this book’s about though. =P

3. image The Sushi Economy by Sasha Issenberg

The sub-title says, “Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy”. I like sushi, I’m interested in economy, and I love learning about the makings of everything, especially if it’s something that I eat.
4. image The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman

This book is about “the unstoppable power of leaderless organizations”, or how being disorganized can actually make you richer than if you were disorganized. A different concept from what we’ve been conditioned to believe in, and hey, I’m a terribly disorganized person, so I think I need this book!
5. image Surviving the Extremes by Kenneth Kamler

I took one look at the title and sub-title, which was, “What Happens to the Body and Mind at the Limits of Human Endurance”, and pretty self-explanatory, and decided I wanted to read about it.
6. image The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

I heard many people mention this book, I remember it because of the unique title, but I still don’t know what it’s about. =P I’ve only heard good things about it so far, though, so I don’t think I’ll regret this buy. =)
7. image Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

And yet another book I don’t know anything about, and just bought coz they were cheap!! =P This one was the cheapest at RM5. But again, only heard good things about it, so… =)
8. image The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie

I’ve been interested in anything with “labyrinth” in its title since David Bowie’s movie of the same name years and years ago. I bought this book coz of the title and because I vaguely remember hearing people talk about it.
9. image The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux

My boss read his first Theroux book a couple of weeks ago and now he’s in a Theroux phase (like I’m in my Stephen King phase), so this one was for him. =)
10.image Spontaneous Healing by Andrew Weil

Well, I don’t know how seriously to take this book, but I’m curious and I want to read it before making judgements. It’s a fascinating subject matter anyway, and since I’m interested in health of the body, mind, and soul, I think this book might have something for me.
11.image Ghost Children by Sue Townsend

I recognize the name, but wasn’t sure who she was. The book looks interesting though. It’s about aborted fetuses and selling babies to childless couples, and of course, the way it affects two particular protagonists.
12.image Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham

I read it online when it launched years ago, and I remember really enjoying it. I knew it came out on paperback but I didn’t want to buy it since I’ve read it online before. Finding it at the sale was a huge bonus!
13.image Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham

This was a huger bonus! =) Because I’m sure this is the sequel, which I hadn’t read online, so it’s a great buy! On a side note though, I remember hearing that Holly Denham is actually a man, or something like that.

I can’t wait to dig into these books! I’m buying them faster than I can read for sure! I think I need to take a break from the book buying and start reading them first! LOL!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

13 Reasons Why I Missed the Last 3 TTs! TT #26

I missed the last three TTs, after just 3 weeks of saying I’d try not to miss them again, because I’d stopped TTs for about 3 months before that. =(

I enjoy TTs, and I really rather not miss them because they’re so fun, but when I list my reasons, you’ll see why I might not be able to play as regularly as I would like anymore. =(

So here are my 13 Reasons Why I Missed the Last 3 TTs:

  1. We found out that an employee was stealing money from us, and we confronted her.
  2. She denied everything, but then she ran away the next day, and we went to make a police report.
  3. A couple of days later, another employee ran away too, she was probably in league with the first employee, so we had to make another police report.
  4. But better news, my brother’s wife gave birth to fraternal twins on the 4th of September! =) Yayyy! Welcome Charlotte and Olivia to the world!
  5. Then hubby and I had to prepare for another pre-wedding photo-shoot with my father and his other amateur photographer friends. They get “free” models, we get “free” pictures! =)
  6. There were a lot of preparations involved; renting the gowns, buying the props, discussing ideas, etc.
  7. On the 10th of Sept, I got a phone call from a company I’d submitted my resume to, and had an interview with them on the 11th.
  8. I went for the interview and on the same day got the job! Yayyy! =) Had to start work on the 14th.
  9. During the weekend before starting work, I was really busy because of the photo-shoot, which was on the 12th and 13th, and also finishing up my other tasks before starting work on the 14th.
  10. My first week of work, from the 14th to the 18th, was crazy busy! I had so much to learn and do, and there were so many last minute tasks to finish! =( But I enjoy the work so far. =)
  11. Finally the weekend came, and even better, the 21st and 22nd are public holidays, so I got some reprieve.
  12. But I had a wedding performance on the 21st, and because there wasn’t time to practice when I started work, we did a lot of last minute practicing on Saturday and Sunday.
  13. I finally got some time on Tuesday, except there were still some small tasks to do, and Wednesday’s back to work again.

So you see, I’ve got great reasons for missing the last 3 TTs, and depending on how things are at work later on, I might not be able to TT every week. =( I will try though, but I may only be make the rounds later on Friday/Saturday. =(

I enjoy my work and my new job, but I’m missing my freedom already!



Monday, September 21, 2009

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I’d been wanting to read this book for a long time after seeing so many people loving and recommending it.

I had no idea what the book was about though, only that it was a utopian vs. dystopian world, or something to that effect.

Well, utopia and dystopia really quite describes this book. It’s about humanity’s quest for the perfect world; always stable, always enough for everyone, and everyone happy.

Unfortunately, it’s not quite so simple. To get this particular utopia, we have to lose our freedom to think, choose, and be different. So you’ll have to wonder, is this really utopia, the perfect world? Or is it a dystopia, a hell on earth?

This is a thought-provoking read, and there are so many things I could discuss about it. Foremost on my mind, is that we’re are already living in a sort of utopia/dystopia. Not as extreme as the one that Huxley writes about, but to a degree. That is, if we recognize it.

Books like these are scary, because they’re entirely possible. It could happen if we let it. This is definitely a book everyone should read and think about.

Monday, September 07, 2009

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

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The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

I watched the movie when it came out a long time ago, thinking it was a light-hearted chick-lit. Imagine how taken aback I was when I realize the somberness and tragic nature of the movie.

It made an impact on me, but perhaps I wasn’t ready to understand it yet.

Now, many years later, I read the book, thinking that maybe I’ll get more insights about it that I missed before with the movie and my young age.

Truth is, I still don’t understand much of it, but I think it’s not really meant to be understood. Perhaps Eugenides was trying to tell us how futile it is to try to put a label on the reasons for suicides. It could be any number of factors, even the person who commits suicide may not understand what compels them to do it.

I don’t claim to know anything about it, but still I wonder about it and strive to find reasons. We want to know why, even when we realize that we may never know the answer.

Suicide is a painful subject, especially for those left behind, but Eugenides tries to let us see it, in a roundabout way, from the points of view of the persons who commit suicide. We’ll never be able to see it, but still we try our best.

It’s a sobering and tragic story, but written very well. I think the most important thing about this book is that it forces you to think, and perhaps, talk, about a very painful subject.

The Shining by Stephen King

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The Shining by Stephen King

This is my year for King’s books! Having just read Gerald’s Game, which in my opinion is the most thrilling King book, The Stand, which is the most epic and my favorite King book, now I’ve just finished reading The Shining, which is the scariest King book!

While many of King’s books are scary in the thrilling sense, none of them scared me to the point of sleeping with the lights on. This book did.

Yes, I slept with the little light on, right after finishing it at 4am in the morning. I even woke my husband up so he could accompany me to the bathroom, which adjoins the bedroom!

I can’t help it! Monsters, serial killers, and apocalypses don’t scare me. Ok, they do, but not much. Ghosts, on the other hand, freak me out! Yikes, I can’t even write this review without getting the shivers!

Ok, very briefly now, this book is about a little boy who has the sight, called the “shining”. His father is hired to be the caretaker for The Overlook Hotel, and of course, as with every respectable hotel, it has its share of ghosts. However, The Overlook’s ghosts are a lot more sinister and dangerous than your average ghosts. So what do you get when you put a boy with the “shining” in a hotel full of malicious ghosts? A really horrifying story!

Although this was an amazing book, I’m not going to re-read it anytime soon, I can tell you that!

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