I found this meme on Grace's blog at Sandier Pastures, and I thought it would be fun to do here. =)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you hadn’t done before?
Performed on the stage of Planet Hollywood with the amazing band, Redemption!

2. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, she used to be one of my best friends in high school, but although we keep in touch once in a while, we're not that close anymore.

3. Did anyone close to you die?
No, and let's hope I give the same answer every year. =)

4. Did you travel? Where did you go?
Yes, only within Malaysia, but it was a fun trip, to Ipoh, Penang, and Kedah.

5. Best thing you bought?
I can't help it, I always think books are the best things anyone could ever buy! And the best books I bought this year was my fiance's birthday presents! =)
 
6. Where did most of your money go?
Books. (Really? You need to ask?) And food.

7. What do you wish you had done more of?
Wrote, I wish I had written more.

8. What do you wish you had done less of?
Spend money on books. I'm happy I've got my books, but I still wish I didn't have to spend so much on them!

9. What kept you sane?
My fiance, books, and blogging about them.

10. What drove you mad?
My family, for various reasons. LOL!

11. What made you celebrate?
I had a lot to celebrate this year! But mostly, getting engaged with my fiance. =)

12. What made you sad?
Not much, really. I was pretty much almost constantly happy in 2008, except for little things that got resolved quickly most of the time.

13. How was your birthday this year?
My fiance brought me out for a really romantic, delicious and expensive dinner! And that was great, but I did feel a little bit weird about growing older. Ah well...

14. What political issue stirred you the most this year?
Well, in Malaysia, we had some really great election results in that the opposition won some of the states government, and while BN is still throwing hissy fits and making trouble for the opposition, they're fighting the good fight, and I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of change for the better coming soon!

15. Were you in love in 2008?
LOL! Am I ever!

16. What would you like to have in 2009 that you didn’t have this year?
A home of our own.

17. What date from 2008 will be etched in your memory and why?
I'm not really a person who remembers dates, unfortunately. My fiance's the one who keeps tracks of anniversaries and birthdays in fact! So while there were a lot of great things that happened, I can't remember the dates!

18. What song will remind you of 2008?
Jason Mraz's I'm Yours, because it was one of the most catchy and most played songs in 2008! (Although I'm pretty sure it came out before 2008, I've had the mp3 on my computer for quite a while, I think, and I remember listening to it a long time before it started playing on the radio...)

19. Compared to this time last year are you happier?
So so so sooooo much!

20. Biggest achievement this year?
Um...I can't decide! I really can't, I'm really proud of a LOT of things I did this year!

21. Biggest disappointment this year?
Not getting the house we initially wanted. =(

22. What is the one thing that would have made you more satisfied?
If our band could've gotten started much earlier.

23. Best new person you met this year?
Our new band mates! Three of them!

24. A valuable life lesson you learned this year?
You need to live your life the way you would if you were the person you want to be, and then you will be the person you want to be.

25. How was your health in 2008?
Good, except for some minor infections and some coughs which were annoying as hell, but I try to be as healthy as I can, especially with my diet.

26. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Not resolutions, exactly, more like goals.

27. What countries did you visit?
None in 2008!

28. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Didn't you ask this just now? I want a home of our own.

29. Did you suffer hardship in 2008?
Not hardship, but challenges.

30. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Lone's, what I love about him is that although he may make many mistakes or get some setbacks, he always pick himself up straight after a fall, and makes sure he learns from them.

31. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I don't want to say, they may be reading my blog. =P

32. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Avril's concert in Malaysia last year. And books in the mail! Oh...you must really think I have a boring life. LOL!

33. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? Same
iii. richer or poorer? Richer

34. How did you spend the New Year’s?
With Lone in the car, on the way back from a performance.

35. How many one-night stands?
Shhh.... I can't tell you, Lone may be reading this! LOL! None!

36. What was your favorite TV program?
Actually, I had a lot of fun watching Gossip Girl and Desperate Housewives!

37. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No, hate the same people as last year. =P Kidding! I don't hate anyone. Much.

38. What was the best book you read?
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper

39. What was your greatest musical (re)discovery?
Taylor Swift, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Alisha's Attic...

40. What did you want and get?
Tickets to Avril Lavigne's concert!

41. What did you want and not get?
A house. =(

42. What was your favorite film that you watched this year?
Across the Universe, no question! It's a musical featuring The Beatles' music, and it is wayyyy wayyyyyy better than Mamma Mia. I was really disappointed with Mamma Mia because it looked like such a cheap and amateurish production with terrible renditions of Abba's greatest hits, and it felt like they were only relying on the casts' fame and popularity. Across the Universe, on the other hand, was beautifully done, the storyline and plot were great, and the cast were too, and their interpretation of The Beatles' songs were absolutely amazing!

43. What one experience do you never want to repeat from this year?
Working with a childish, tantrum-throwing diva.

44. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Simple and comfortable.

45. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Johnny Depp, I think he's amazing.

46. Who did you miss?
My friends in Philippines, Australia, and Canada...

47. Quote that sums up your year:
Follow your dream.

48. Was 2008 a good year for you?
Yes!

49. What was your favorite moment of the year?
So many! How do I choose?!

 

50. What was your least favorite moment of the year?
The middle part.

51. Where were you when 2008 began?
In a cafe.

52. Who were you with?
Lone

53. Do you have a new year’s resolution for 2009?
No resolutions, just goals.

54. What was your favorite month of 2008?
Most of them. =P

55. What was your favorite song in 2008?
Love Story by Taylor Swift

56. What was your favorite record from 2008?
Barcelona, most probably.

 

57. How many concerts did you see in 2008?
One, Avril's!

58. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2008?
None at all. =D

59. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2008?
None.

60. How many people did you sleep with in 2008?
I'm not quite sure, we had a huge slumber party... oh wait, that was 2007... hmm... I don't remember.

61. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year?
None that I remember.

62. What was the worst lie someone told you in 2008?
None, unless it was such a good lie that I still don't know it's a lie.

 

63. Did you treat somebody badly in 2008?
Some people, a little bit. Not very badly, but I didn't go out of my way to be nice.

64. Did somebody treat you badly in 2008?
Not intentionally, I'm sure.

65. What was your most embarrassing moment of 2008?
Probably many, but I tend to block these kind of memories out, so I don't remember. LOL!

 

66. If you could go back in time to any moment of 2008 and change something, what would it be?
Nothing... I enjoy every minute of my life, both good and bad, and I learn from all experiences, so I wouldn't change anything because if I did, I probably might not have learnt something valuable.

67. What are you most looking forward to in 2009?
Getting married! And everything else!

Happy new year to all readers! Let's have another amazing year of love, happiness, health, prosperity, friendship, and of course, good BOOKS!!

And because it's Thursday, here's my TT #5: 13 Things to be grateful for in 2008!

1. My book blog has been revived!

2. I've had a great year of reading and discovering new books and authors.

3. I've learned so much from the books I read.

4. I've got enough books to sustain me, and many great 'suppliers' too.

5. I get free books for review.

6. Bookmoochers and Bookcrossers are such wonderful and generous people.

7. I've met many wonderful book bloggers.

8. Who've also supplied me with endless wonderful book recommendations.

9. And great reviews for books I want to read.

10. I started an online monthly real-time book chat because I was unable to find a real-life reading group in my area.

11. I ended up finding a real-life reading group anyway, and we're meeting up for our first book discussion on January 10th!

12. And the book chats are going great too, with 10 participants signing up so far for the first ever book chat (Water for Elephants)!

13. I am so happy and thankful to be a part of this wonderful blogging community.

My other TT is here, it's for 13 things my SO and I have achieved in 2008. =)

Unfortunately, Beth and Carol have stopped the official Thursday Thirteen, Carol's granddaughter has been recently diagnosed with leukemia. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

I've decided I'd go on with TT anyway, and anyone who wants to is welcome to join me. Leave your links with Mister Linky below if you're playing, and remember to leave a comment too. Happy New Year and Happy TT!

 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

As I think is well-known by now, I've got an insatiable curiosity that can be both a good and a bad thing.

 

I read a basic synopsis about this book, and it said something about how Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are three of a very special group of individuals, and how Kathy finds out exactly why they're so special, when she grows up and learns more about herself.

 

So I wondered why they were special too, and I wanted to find out why really quickly, 'cause I was curious, like I said, and I ended up reading this book really, really fast, just to get to the part that tells us why they're special.

 

Well, it's not that they don't tell you, because they do, but why are they special because of that? I wonder. I almost felt like I should have to extract information from Ishiguro painfully, the way he told us things. Evasive, unclear, hints to this and that, and I ended the book still confused and wondering what exactly happened.

 

Other than the fact that Ishiguro isn't very forthcoming with information, the book was a great read, and the premise of the book is fascinating, and really fires up your imagination. Perhaps that's why he doesn't want to tell too much, so that there would be something left to our imaginations.

 

It's quite a heartbreaking book really, and in some ways, scary, but I think it's a must-read, and it's well worth reading too.

 

This book is available for discussion on Betty's Book Chats.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My Teaser:

 

Because everyone seems to be enjoying teasers from this book, and because it's a long and 'heavy' book and I'm still reading it, here's another teaser from The Lucifer Effect.

 

 

"Group pressure from other guards placed significant importance on being a "team player," conforming to an emergent norm that demanded dehumanizing the prisoners in various ways. The good guard was a group deviant, and he suffered in silence by being outside the socially rewarding circle of the other guards on his shift." ~p.221, Philip Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil

 

 

 

 

And here's a teaser from another book I'm reading at the same time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Looking back now, I can see we were pretty confused about this whole area around sex. That's hardly surprising, I suppose, given we were barely sixteen." ~p.95, Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

The Demon Lover by Victoria Holt

 

Victoria Holt's name was familiar to me, but I've never read anything by her, and although I've had this book for a while, I wondered if I should read it or just give it away.

 

I decided to check Amazon.com's reviews, to get an idea of whether I'd enjoy this book or if it'd only be a waste of my time, and what I found was so controversial that I just had to read it, even if only for curiosity's sake.

 

I don't want to give away any spoilers, though you'd probably find them if you go ahead to Amazon.com and read the reviews for this book.

 

My own reaction, however, after finishing the book, is still quite confusing. Perhaps it's because I was forewarned by the reviews what to expect, that it didn't really shock me as much as it might have.

 

On the one hand, I did think that Holt's writing is great, and I'd probably read another book by her, since a lot of people mentioned in the review that they generally loved her books, just not this one. And other than that particular 'incident' in the book, I thought the whole story was very interesting and that it was very well-written.

 

That 'incident' does leave me a little confused though, I wonder about the need for it, and I wonder about the rationalization that allowed Kate to forgive the Baron, I wonder why he had to do it in the first place. As I said, I wasn't very shocked because I was forewarned, and in fact, Holt's narrator, Kate, seems to downplay it quite a bit too, which makes it seem acceptable.

 

I'm not sure if I like the book, and I'm not sure that I don't. It seems this book was more like an 'intellectual study' of the controversy it aroused, than an actual romance book I could read and relax with. Although I didn't exactly study it intellectually, ok I'll admit it, it was more for the sake of satisfying my curiosity.

My Secret Santa is Tarie from Into the Wardrobe, and she sent me a book from one of my favorite authors, Robin McKinley! I absolutely love McKinley's books! And she also wrote a very lovely note inside the Christmas card that came with it. Thank you so much, Tarie! =)

My gift almost didn't make it to me, because there was a problem with the mailing address; DHL mislabeled my address and left out a number, but Tarie was absolutely great with helping to fix the problem so that I could get my gift before Christmas. Thanks, Tarie! And Merry Christmas to you too!

I'm sorry that my post is a little late, I'm a singer in a band (ohh, I always wanted to say that) and Christmas and New Year's is always a busy time for us. Added to that, my father's birthday is on Christmas, so I had to celebrate an early birthday/Christmas with my family, in addition to practising and performing with my band, in addition to the other Christmas and New Year events with other friends...

Unfortunately, I'm not a very good time manager either, so it's always a struggle to know when to do what. LOL!

So anyway, I'll still be busy up until the 10th of January, that's when the first book chat will take place, and also the same day my real life book club is meeting to discuss our first book. I'm really psyched about both!

In the meantime, I'll be practising for my next performance on New Year's eve, having some belated Christmas dinners with some friends, doing some last minute shopping, registering for marriage with my beloved fiance, and meeting up with an old friend who'd been in Australia for the last 6 years!

I may or may not be able to post occasionally until then, but please do check back often because I will definitely miss you all!

A very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to all of Betty's Book's friends and readers! Enjoy your holidays!