So it’s New Year’s Eve! Another year has gone by, another new year is almost here, and it’s time to look back on this year and everything this year has brought. =)

Literary-speaking, 2010 was one of the worst years for me, unfortunately. I hardly read, and I had sooooooo many periods of downtime where I didn’t even have the mood to pick up a book! This is honestly the first year in my life that I’ve ever felt like this about books, and it’s a really weird feeling.

However, I’ve got really great reasons, because I got married in January this year, and all that nervousness and excitement for planning the wedding and everything was what got me too hyped to read.

I recovered after a few weeks(!) but then in August, we moved to Canada from Malaysia, and there was all that excitement and business with planning and preparing and moving and settling into a new place and etc… So I again got too hyped up to read.

And to be honest, I’m not quite settled yet, and there’d been so many adjustments in our lives that we’re still working out a lot of the kinks in our daily routines. Things are getting better, and I do still read, but it’s been hard to get into the “zone” that I used to go into when reading a *really* good book.

Probably because I have a lot more work and chores and responsibilities now than I used to have. I know that’s something that I’ll have to get used to though, so maybe I’ll get a new “normal” soon.

So yeah, 2010 wasn’t a great year for books, but it was an *amazing* year for life! I had a great time, I had so many great new experiences, and I am so looking forward to a more exciting 2011!

Have a great new year, everyone!! =)

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Predictably, I cried buckets when I read this. I’ve heard about this book a long time ago, but never got around to reading it until now.

When reading other people’s posts about it though, more often than not, they’ll mention how much they cried at the end, so being a sentimental sap myself, I knew I would cry too.

Dewey is an amazing story, and Dewey is an amazing cat. I’ve never had cats growing up so there’s a lot I don’t know about their behavior and characteristics, but it seemed to me that Dewey is really almost human.

Of course, he is one of a kind, and as Myron says in the book, not every cat can be a library cat, a library cat has to have the right personality. And Dewey did.

What I love most about the book is the stories about every person that Dewey touched, each life he changed, how much better and brighter a person’s day became just because they crossed paths with Dewey.

We all need a Dewey in our lives.

This is a wonderful, wonderful book. It touched me and warmed my heart and brought me to tears and made me realized just how big a difference even a small person or animal can make in the world. It is a must-read for any cat lovers, but really, I think everyone should read it.

I just found out about this site, Sell Back Your Book, and I wish I had known about it back when I was selling a lot of my books before moving here!

I still have some of the books I wanted to sell left, mostly textbooks and a few non-fiction; so I decided to check how much I might’ve gotten for them. They have a field on the front page where you can key in the ISBN numbers of books you want to sell, and they’ll quote you prices for them in seconds!

I don’t have the books with me now, obviously, so I couldn’t key in the exact ISBN numbers to get the exact price quote, but I got the ISBNs of the same books in different editions and I would’ve been able to get $101.44 for 3 of the books! Wow!

Ok, since the editions I keyed in are newer than the editions I have, the amount probably could be less, but even if I only got half the amount quoted, it’s still really good! Oh, how I wish I knew about this site earlier!

They even pay for the shipping with a pre-paid postage label that you can print out and just attach to your package, and they pay you for the books via paypal or check as soon as they receive and confirm the contents of your package!

The most important part for me, is that the company who owns Sell Back Your Book is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau with no complaints! Having worked for a company that was also an accredited member of the BBB, I know how important this accreditation is, and I have many times, trusted and chosen to use a company’s services simply because of their BBB status. 

I’m really kicking myself for not searching for a site like this when I was selling my books! I definitely could’ve used the extra money!

All My Patients Have Tales by Jeff Wells

Just a couple of weeks ago, I read a book called Every Patient Tells a Story by Lisa Sanders. Click on the title to find out more about it.

I was tickled when I found this book because of the similarities in the titles, and also because I was sure that a book about animals as patients would be really fun and amusing to read.

Well, it wasn’t a bad book, there are a couple of funny stories, but somehow it just left me feeling somewhat indifferent to it.

It’s probably not so much the stories as it is the writing style and the presentation of the stories, so in all fairness, I’m not criticizing his experiences or expertise in his practice, but the book itself.

With many of the stories, I found myself wondering what his point was. These are amusing anecdotes, sure, but they don’t seem to be worth spending money on to buy the book. It was a little disappointing as I expected more from it.

So I know Halloween’s over, and Christmas is coming, but somehow I’ve been in the mood for horror and ghost stories. Which is really stupid, because now that there’s only me and DH at home, and it’s winter and it’s dark by 5pm, and DH works most evenings and I’m home alone…

What’s *even* more stupid, is that I’ve borrowed books from the library about true ghost stories in ALBERTA! Which is where I am now.

Why do people scare themselves? =P

Normally I read books really, really fast, and it’s all short stories, so I *should* be reading them really fast anyway, but because of the timing; I have to only read the ghost stories during daytime and only when DH is at home, it’s taking me ages to finish.

Actually, it’s taking me ages to even start!

I feel like I should go to the library where there many more people other than myself and stay there and read until they close so I won’t be alone.

Hmmm….good idea, actually… except that I still need to cook and clean and eat. =P

I need a dog or a cat to keep me company. I miss my doggies back in Malaysia. =(

Every Patient Tells a Story by Lisa Sanders

Lisa Sanders writes a weekly column about diagnostic stories and is also a technical advisor for the House TV series starring Hugh Laurie.

This is her first book and as the title clearly says, it’s about the art of diagnosing patients.

All the stories about diagnosing patients are very informative and interesting, and some cases are truly mysterious but very satisfyingly solved in the end.

Scarily enough, there are a few horrifying cases where misdiagnoses caused a lot of money, suffering, and in some cases, unnecessary deaths. A lot of times, misdiagnoses happen because the doctors are too busy to actually listen to the patient and diagnose them too quickly. Finding a doctor who will take the time to listen is important because the patients’ testimonies can give crucial clues to their condition.

The scariest thing I gained from reading Sander’s book though, is the knowledge that many doctors are too stubborn and set in their ways to learn from mistakes or to change with new knowledge. Based on this,  I feel that it’s important that we educate ourselves about our own health or illnesses instead of passively putting our health and our lives in the hands of other people.

With the internet being as useful as it is and with all the free information sharing online, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t educate ourselves and look for alternatives if we feel what we’re currently doing to medicate ourselves isn’t working.

I’ve always been interested in learning more about natural healthcare, and after reading this book, I’m glad that I decided to educate myself and take control of my own health rather than leaving it to other people.

Of course, in urgent cases and emergencies, there’s often no time to find out what I can do, but at least 9 times out of 10, I can rest easy knowing that there’s something I can do to make it better. I highly recommend reading this book!

Those of you who’ve been following my blog for a while know that I’ve wanted to be in a reading group for the longest time, so I’m happy to say that I finally got one!

Well, kinda.

It’s only just me and one other guy at the moment, but it’s a start! We’re looking for maybe 3-5 more readers to join us, but while we’re looking, we’re gonna go ahead and start with just the two of us, so I’m really psyched about it! =)

We’re gonna be meeting on the third weekend of every month, and we’ve already got our first two books picked out.

December’s book is Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy, and
January’s book is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

I can’t wait! The discussions are gonna be great! I hope we get more people joining us soon, but even if not, I’m sure we’ll have fun anyway. =)

My birthday was on October 14, but both DH and I were so busy that we didn’t get a chance to celebrate it in any way at all.

So I barely noticed my birthday passing by, and was very, very happily surprised when the DH gifted me a KOBO on November 5!

He’d mentioned about buying me an e-reader one day, but I’d always assumed that it wouldn’t be until at least a year later since we shouldn’t be splurging now, having just moved to Canada, and since I’ve discovered the library, I’ve got plenty of books to read!

I did show a lot of enthusiasm about getting an e-reader one day though, and I guess DH was smiling inside because he already knew I’d love my present before he even bought it. LOL!

So I *am* thrilled, and I’m loving it so far! It’s got 100 classic ebooks included in it, some of which I’ve read, some of which I’ve been wanting to read, and there are more free downloadable ebooks available online! I also have some PDF ebook files on my computer that I’m planning to transfer over to my KOBO, but I’m not sure if that works yet.

DH said reviews for the KOBO were the best of all the e-readers, but I haven’t had a chance to really play with it just yet. Last week was mid-term week, and I’ve still got a couple of projects to get done, but as soon as I have time, I’ll glue my nose to the KOBO! LOL!

Does anyone else happen to have a KOBO and can give me some tips on how to use it?

A new (to me) weekly meme! Yayyy!! =)

Hosted at Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

* What are you currently reading?
* What did you recently finish reading?
* What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

What are you currently reading?

Angela Carter’s Book of Fairy Tales. It’s a collection of fairy tales from around the world, some familiar, some not so, and many are quite sinister and gory. I’m really enjoying it so far! I think it’s a great read for fairy tale lovers!

 

What did you recently finish reading?

Well… I’ve read quite a lot of books since I touched down in Calgary, actually, but not all are good reads, so I’ll just mention a few of the ones I really liked:

Stephen King’s Under the Dome was great and one of my favorite reads of the year! It was so engrossing and I thought about the story and the characters long after I finished reading it. It’s similar to and as good as King’s The Stand, but it definitely has its own novelty. Loved it! Would recommend it to anyone who loves horror, thrillers, and apocalyptic stories!

L J Smith’s Dark Visions trilogy. I read this YA trilogy many times and many years ago. It was one of my favorite books as a teen, and although I thought now that I’m all grown up, it might have lost its charm for me, but I love it more now than ever.

The Secret of Ka by Christopher Pike. He’s one of my favorite authors ever since I read my first book by him when I was 11 years old. This is his newest book, which I liked, but I *loved* his older books a lot more!

 

What do you think you’ll read next?

 

Most probably Sheri S. Tepper’s The Waters Rising because I have it on loan from the library, but I might read some other non-fiction books I borrowed on herbs and gardening instead.




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

Well, I’m finally back posting on my bookblog!! I’ve missed my blog so much, I’m so glad to be back!

We’d been so busy with finding a place to live, buying furniture, getting a job, getting my school stuff done, basically just getting on from day to day, that I just thought I shouldn’t blog until we were settled… but we’ve been in Canada a couple of months now and I think we’re probably as settled as we’re ever going to be!

Of course, we still need to buy more winter clothes, and firewood, and I need a car!!! I’m enjoying walking and taking public transport, but not when it’s cold out and I’m freezing and carrying heavy groceries!

Other than those minor stuff, I’m really loving it here! The air is fresher, the people are wonderful, I’ve got everything I ever wanted! =)

And the library, oooooohhhh, the library!!!

As some of you know, I sold a lot of my books prior to coming, but I’ve also kept a lot of my treasured books which I left behind in Malaysia. I was thinking that I’d miss them so much, but the library is so amazing that I hardly miss my books at all!

I’ve got books galore, courtesy of the library!

Well, of course, I can’t keep them and I can’t bookcross them, but I’ve got plenty of books to read and more!

In Malaysia, I buy all the books I have because the libraries suck, but here… I’m in booklovers’ paradise! =D

Anyway, I’m looking forward to blogging regularly again! We’re still really busy with everything, but we’re settling as fast as we can! I’ve missed everyone in the blogosphere!

So the reason why I haven’t been blogging much lately is because I’ll be moving to Canada soon. This August to be exact.

I’ve been busy with preparations and stuff, and I’d also had to choose which of my books to leave behind, since I can’t bring them all with me. =( It was hard to let go of most of them, but it was necessary.

Anyway, I decided to sell them to make a little extra money. We are moving to a totally new place after all, and the extra money would come in really handy.

So take a look at the books listed and see if there’s anything you’ll like.

Books for sale! Cheap!

All prices are in Ringgit Malaysia.

Pick-up only, meaning you come and pick them up from me, unless you prefer me to mail them to you, in which case, you pay for the shipping and handling fees.

All fiction are RM5 to 10!

Reference books and textbooks are RM10 to 20!

Nothing higher than RM20!

Those who buy more than RM100 worth of books may get some free Bookcrossing books! (While “stocks” last. You can’t choose the books, but I’ll try to give you suitable ones based on your apparent reading tastes.)

I’m open to negotiating better deals if you buy more books, but please be reasonable!! I’ve spent a lot of money on these books, traded good books for some of them, have given away a lot of books for free, and I’m still selling these books for a really good price!

Email me at bettysbooks (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know which books you want. First email, first serve! Except for reference books and textbooks; if more than one person wants them, best offer gets them. 

Sorry about the bad pics. All the books are in very good to NEW condition! Some of them are old, but still in very good condition. Some have labels or names written in them. Some of them are NEW and have never even been read! (I have a book-buying addiction that makes me buy more books than I can read. =P)

Mass Market Paperbacks: RM5 each!

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom: (ALL SOLD!)

1. Women Like Us - Erica Abeel (Reserved)
2. Fire Along the Sky – Sara Donati (Reserved)
3. The Smoke Jumper – Nicholas Evans (Reserved)
4. Inheritance – Judith Michael
5. The Demon Lover – Victoria Holt
6. Striking Poses – Kate Thompson (SOLD!)
7. 2 in 1 book: Something Borrowed & Wedding Blitz – Martina Reilly (SOLD!)
8. The Friday Night Knitting Club – Kate Jacobs (Reserved)
9. Atonement – Ian McEwan (Reserved)

ALL SOLD!!

1. Impostress – Lisa Jackson (SOLD!)
2. Napoleon – Max Gallo (Reserved)
3. Hemlock Bay – Catherine Coulter (SOLD!)
4. Remember Summer – Elizabeth Lowell (SOLD!)
5. Red Beans and Vice – Lou Jane Temple
6. The Hundred Secret Senses – Amy Tan (Reserved)
7. Empress Orchid – Anchee Min
8. At Large – Lynne Murray
9. Larcery and Old Lace – Tamar Myers

ALL SOLD!!

1. The Other Sister – Frances Brown
2. Pandora – Jilly Cooper
3. The Secret Swan – Shana Abe (SOLD!)
4. Spring Moon – Bette Bao Lord
5. Hex and the Single Girl – Valerie Frankel
6. One Night Stand – Julie Cohen (Reserved)
7. Charlie – Lesley Pearse
8. Playing Away – Adele Parks
9. PS. I Love You – Cecelia Ahern (SOLD!)

ALL SOLD!!

1. The Women in his Life – Barbara Taylor Bradford
2. A Crowning Mercy – Bernard Cornwell
3. Gallows Thief – Bernard Cornwell
4. Reality Check – A. M. Goldsher
5. I Take This Man – Valerie Frankel (SOLD!)
6. Lost for Words – Lorelei Mathias (SOLD!)
7. Sweetheart from Hell – May-Zhee Lim (SOLD!)
8. Polo – Jilly Cooper
9. The Time of the Hunter’s Moon – Victoria Holt

ALL SOLD!!

1. Lily – Cindy Bonner (SOLD!)
2. Lethe – Tricia Sullivan (Reserved)
3. White Oleander – Janet Fitch (Reserved)
4. Spirit Willing, Flesh Weak – Julie Cohen (Reserved)
5. Forget About It – Caprice Crane (SOLD!)
6. Memoirs are Made of These – Swan Adamson (SOLD!)

ALL SOLD!!

1. He Loves Lucy – Susan Donovan
2. Play Dirty – Sandra Brown
3. Sunrise – Grace Livingston Hill
4. Always and Forever – Patrica Cavendish
5. A Kingdom of Dreams – Judith McNaught

ALL SOLD!!

1. The Game – Neil Strauss
2. Sam the Cat – Matthew Klam
3. Mrs. Mike – Benedict & Nancy Freedman
4. Night Mare – Piers Anthony
5. Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing – Gabrielle Lord (SOLD!)
6. Twisted – Sarah Thorp (SOLD!)
7. Sweetsir – Helen Yglesias
8. Throwback – Frank C. Strunk (SOLD!)
9. My Point, and I Do Have One – Ellen Degeneres (SOLD!)

ALL SOLD!!

1. Winter Solstice – Rosamund Pilcher (SOLD!)
2. A Cavern of Black Ice – J.V. Jones
3. Indelible – Karin Slaughter
4. Devil May Care – Elizabeth Peters
5. Samurai and Silk – Haru Matsukata Reischauer (SOLD!)
6. The Testament – John Grisham (SOLD!)
7. Gallows Hill – Lois Duncan
8. Ransom – Lois Duncan
9. Daughters of Eve – Lois Duncan (SOLD!)

ALL SOLD!

1. Lethal Guardian – M. William Phelps (SOLD!)
2. Panic – Jeff Abbot (SOLD!)
3. Hey Nostradamus – Douglas Coupland (SOLD!)
4. Do They Hear You When You Cry – Fauziya Kissindja (SOLD!)
5. Waiting to Exhale – Terry McMillan
6. Daughter of the Forest – Juliet Marillier (SOLD!)
7. Not Between Brothers – David Marion Wilkinson (Reserved)
8. The Innocent Man – John Grisham (SOLD!)
9. The Last Juror – John Grisham (SOLD!)

ALL SOLD!!

1. Stitch – John B. Spencer
2. Ghost Children – Sue Townsend (SOLD!)
3. The Hero and the Crown – Robin McKinley (Reserved)
4. People of the Wolf - Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear (Reserved)
5. Spirit of the Sea – Georgina Fleming (SOLD!)
6. The Fire Rose – Mercedes Lackey
7. A Sea Change – Lois Gould
8. The Bond – Lilly Sommers
9. Granny Dan – Danielle Steel

ALL SOLD!!

1. Fresh Blood
2. When Red is Black – Qiu Xiaolong
3. Immortals – Michael Korda
4. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov (SOLD!)
5. Bedlam’s Bard – Mercedes Lackey
6. Blazing Star – Marcella Thum
7. Chinese Cinderella – Adeline Yen Mah
8. Tears of the Giraffe – Alexander McCall Smith
9. Romeo & Julia – Annie Kimberlin

ALL SOLD!!

1. Occult Murders
2. Serial Killers
3. Hidden Forces
4. Divination
5. Strange Talents
6. Eternal Enigmas

ALL SOLD!!

1. How to Write a Love Letter that Works – Sidney Bernstein & Linda Tarleton
2. Do It! – John-Roger & Peter McWilliams (Reserved)
3. From Thought to Theme – William F. Smith & Raymond D. Liedlich (Reserved)
4. What Color is Your Parachute? 2007 – Richard Nelson Bolles

Trade Paperbacks: RM7 each!

ALL SOLD!!

1. The Poe Shadow – Matthew Pearl
2. The Bridges of Madison County – Robert James Waller
3. The Summer Garden – Paulina Simons (SOLD!)
4. The Stars’ Tennis Balls – Stephen Fry (SOLD!)
5. The Pilot’s Wife – Anita Shreve
6. Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul – Arielle Ford (SOLD!)
7. Swan Bay – Rod Jones
8. Following the Wrong Gods Home – Catherine Lim

ALL SOLD!!

1. Making History – Stephen Fry (SOLD!)
2. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards (SOLD!)
3. Shadowbrook – Beverly Swerling (SOLD!)
4. My Sister, Victoria – Charlotte Moore (SOLD!)
5. The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd (SOLD!)
6. Bee Season – Myla Goldberg (SOLD!)

ALL SOLD!!

1. You or Someone Like You – Chandler Burr (Reserved)
2. Wild Animus – Rich Shapero
3. Macbeth – William Shakespeare (SOLD!)
4. Saving Fish from Drowning – Amy Tan
5. Another Life – Michael Korda
6. Bad Girls of the Bible – Liz Curtis Higgs

ALL SOLD!!

1. Great Vampire Stories – Various Authors (SOLD!)
2. Great Horror Stories – Various Authors (SOLD!)
3. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister – Gregory Maguire (SOLD!)
4. Son of a Witch – Gregory Maguire
5. Spiking the Girl – Gabrielle Lord (SOLD!)
6. Sorceress of Darshiva – David Eddings
7. Somebodies and Nobodies – Robert W. Fuller
8. Protector – Laurel Dewey

Hardcovers: RM10 each!

ALL SOLD!!

1. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
2. The Daphne du Maurier Companion – Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, & Frenchman’s Creek (3 in 1)
3. Wild Boy – Jill Dawson
4. The Footprints of God – Greg Iles
5. Meditations on Middle-Earth – Various Authors
6. Walkers – Graham Masterton
7. Irresistible Impulse – Robert Lindsey
8. Five Hundred Years After – Steven Brust

ALL SOLD!!

1. The Dark is Rising – Susan Cooper
2. Young Wives – Olivia Goldsmith
3. A Murder of Quality – John Le Carre
4. Drowning Ruth – Christina Schwarz
5. Hill Towns – Anne River Siddons
6. The Kitchen God’s Wife – Amy Tan
7. Music for Torching – A. M. Homes
8. If Only It Were True – Marc Levy (SOLD!)

ALL SOLD!!

1. Guinness World Records 2008
2. Assassinations – Readers’ Digest (SOLD!)
3. The Ultimate Joke Book Encyclopedia
4. Mandy Annual 2005
5. Bunty 2005
6. The Darwin Awards II

Wizard – Guide to Comics : Whole Batch, 16 editions – RM20

Wizard Magazines No. 12, 14-19

Wizard Magazines No. 27, 28, 33, 36, 38

Wizard Magazines No. 39, 40, 42, 43

IT Reference books: RM10 each!

1. HTML – Shelley Cashman Woods (SOLD!)
2. SAM’s Paint Shop Pro 5
3. SAM’s HTML 4
4. SAM’s How to Use Macromedia Flash 5
5. XHTML for Dummies
6. The Non-Designer’s Web Book

1. Visual Quickstart Guide – Macromedia Flash 5 (SOLD!)
2. Visual Quickstart Guide – Macromedia Fireworks 4 (SOLD!)
3. Visual Quickstart Guide – Photoshop 6 (SOLD!)
4. Visual Quickstart Guide – Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 (SOLD!)

Golf Books: RM15 each!

1. Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible
2. Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible

Psychology and Business Text and Reference Books: RM20 each or best offer!

Some notes in margins (things like “Betty Loves ____” and “Betty and _____ forever!” I’m sure these notes will be very helpful to you as well… =P), no CDs included.

1. The Business Communication Handbook – Judith Dwyer (Prentice Hall, 4th edition)
2. Developmental Psychology – David R. Shaffer (Brooks/Cole, 5th edition) (SOLD!)
3. Human Motivation – Robert E. Franken (Wadsworth, 5th edition) (SOLD!)
4. Marketing – Gary Armstrong & Philip Kotler (Prentice Hall, 6th edition)
5. Choice and Change – April O’Connell & Vincent O’Connell (Prentice Hall, 6th edition) (SOLD!)
6. Anthropology – Carol R. Ember, Melvin Ember, & Peter N. Peregrine (Prentice Hall, 10th edition)

1. Abnormal Psychology – Gerald C. Davison & John M. Neale (Wiley, 8th edition)
2. Theories of Personality – Susan C. Cloninger (Prentice Hall, 3rd edition) (SOLD!)
3. Sociology – John J. Macionis (Prentice Hall, 2nd edition)
4. Organization Theory and Design – Richard L. Daft (Thomson, South-Western, 8th edition)
5. Human Communication – Joseph A. Devito (Allyn & Bacon, 9th edition)
6. Philosophy – Manuel Velasquez (Wadsworth, 7th edition)

1. Introduction to Psychology – Rod Plotnik (Wadsworth, 5th edition) (SOLD!)
2. The Future of Business – Gitman & McDaniel (Southwestern, Interactive edition)

That’s it!!

Email me at bettysbooks (at) gmail (dot) com and tell me which books you want! I will reserve the books for you up to 5 days for you to make a payment or collect the books. If you haven’t made a payment by 5 days, I will sell the books to the next person who asks for it. 

Payment and collection details will be emailed to you. If you want a better deal, make me an offer and we’ll see what we can do!

Thank you!

I think I’m hooked on memes now!! Yikes!

Bold the books you've read & liked or loved
Strike the books you've read but didn't enjoy
Italicise the books you want to read
Put a cross (+) the ones on your book shelf.

1. 1984: George Orwell +
2. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The: Mark Twain
3. Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The: Mark Twain
4. Agnes the Sheep: William Taylor
5. All the King's Men: Robert Penn Warren
6. Ambush Moon: J.R. Roberts
7. American Tragedy, An: Theodore Dreiser
8. Animal Farm: George Orwell +
9. Annie on my Mind: Nancy Garden
10. Appointment in Samarra: John O'Hara
11. Around the World in a Hundred Years: Jean Fritz
12. As I Lay Dying: William Faulkner
13. Athletic Shorts: Chris Crutcher
14. Atlas Shrugged: Ayn Rand +
15. Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The: Ernest Gaines
16. Bastard Out of Carolina: Dorothy Allison
17. Being There: Jerzy Kosinski
18. Bell Jar, The: Sylvia Plath
19. Beloved: Toni Morrison
20. Beyond Belief: Brad Steiger
21. Blubber: Judy Blume
22. Bluest Eye, The: Toni Morrison
23. Boy's Life: Robert McCammon
24. Brave New World: Aldous Huxley +
25. Breakfast of Champions: Kurt Vonnegut
26. Bridge to Teribithia: Katherine Paterson
27. Call of the Wild, The: Jack London +
28. Canterbury Tales: Geoffrey Chaucer +
29. Castle in the Attic, The: Elizabeth Winthrop
30. Catch 22: Joseph Heller +
31. Catcher in the Rye: J.D. Salinger
32. Cat's Cradle: Kurt Vonnegut
33. Catspaw: Joan D. Vinge
34. Cay, The: Theodore Taylor
35. Ceremony: Leslie Marmon Silko
36. Charlotte's Web: E.B. White
37. Chocolate War, The: Robert Cormier
38. Christine: Stephen King +
39. Clockwork Orange, A: Anthony Burgess
40. Color Purple, The: Alice Walker
41. Congo: Michael Crichton
42. Crazy Lady: Jane Leslie Conley
43. Cujo: Stephen King
44. Day No Pigs Would Die, A: Robert Newton Peck
45. Death Be Not Proud: John Gunther
46. Deliverance: James Dickey
47. Don't Call Me Little Bunny (ne m'appelez plus jamais "Mon Petit Lapin"): Gregoire Solotareff
48. Dragonslayers: Bruce Coville
49. Drowning of Stephan Jones, The: Bette Green
50. Education of Harriet Hatfield, The: May Sarton
51. Education of Little Tree, The: Forrest Carter
52. Egypt Game, The: Zilpha Snyder
53. Fahrenheit 451: Ray Bradbury
54. Fair Game
55. Fallen Angels: Walter Dean Myers
56. Farewell to Arms, A: Ernest Hemingway
57. Figure in the Shadows, The
58. Forever: Judy Blume
59. From Here to Eternity: James Jones
60. Funhouse, The: Dean Koontz
61. George's Marvelous Medicine
62. Giver, The: Lois Lowry
63. Go Ask Alice: Anonymous
64. Go Tell it on the Mountain: James Baldwin
65. Gone With the Wind: Margaret Mitchell +
66. Grapes of Wrath, The: John Steinbeck
67. Great Gatsby, The: F. Scott Fitzgerald
68. Great Gilly Hopkins, The: Katherine Paterson
69. Grendel: John Champlin Gardner
70. Halloween ABC: Eve Merriam
71. Handmaid's Tale, The: Margaret Atwood
72. Headless Cupid, The: Zilpha Snyder
73. How to Eat Fried Worms: Thomas Rockwell
74. I Have to Go: Robert Munsch
75. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Maya Angelou
76. I, Claudius: Robert Graves
77. Iceman, The: Chris Lynch
78. I'll Be Seeing You
79. In Country: Bobbie Ann Mason
80. In the Night Kitchen
81. Indian in the Cupboard: Lynne Reid Banks
82. Invisible Man: Ralph Ellison
83. James and the Giant Peach: Roald Dahl
84. Journey of the Sparrows: Fran Leeper Buss
85. Julie of the Wolves: Jean Craighead George
86. Jumper: Steven C. Gould
87. Keeping the Love You Find: Harvelle Hendrix
88. Killers, The: Ernest Hemingway
89. Killing Mr. Griffin: Lois Duncan
90. Kim: Rudyard Kipling
91. Lady Chatterly's Lover: D.H. Lawrence +
92. Last Mission, The: Harry Mazer
93. Learning Tree, The: Gordon Parks
94. Leaving the Fold: Edward T. Babinski
95. Lily: Cindy Bonner
96. Little Red Riding Hood: Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm
97. Lolita: Vladimir Nabokov
98. Lord of the Flies, The: William Golding
99. Lucy: Jamaica Kincaid
100. Maggie, Girl of the Streets: Stephen Crane
101. Matilda: Roald Dahl
102. Maurice: E.M. Forster
103. Minpins, The: Roald Dahl
104. My Brother Sam is Dead: Christopher and James Lincoln Collier
105. My House
106. My Teacher Glows in the Dark: Bruce Coville
107. My Teacher is an Alien: Bruce Coville
108. Naked and the Dead, The: Norman Mailer
109. Naomi in the Middle: Norma Klein
110. Naked Lunch: William Burroughs
111. Native Son
112. Night Chills: Dean Koontz
113. Nightmare: Marjorie Dorner
114. Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck +
115. On My Honor: Marion Dane Bauer
116. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
117. One Hundred Years of Solitude: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
118. Out of Control: Norma Fox
119. Phantom Tollbooth, The
120. Pigman, The: Paul Zindel
121. Point Counter Point: Aldous Huxley
122. Portnoy's Complaint: Philip Roth
123. Postman, The (Ardiente Paciencia): Antonio Skarmeta
124. Probing the Unknown: Stephen Tchudi
125. Queen of the Summer Stars: Persia Woolley
126. Rainbow, The: D.H. Lawrence
127. Return of the Indian: Lynne Reid Banks
128. Revolting Rhymes: Roald Dahl
129. Run With the Horseman: Ferrol Sams
130. Runaway Sleigh Ride, The: Astrid Lundgren
131. Samurai's Tale, The: Erik C. Hauggard
132. Scarlet Letter, The: Nathaniel Hawthorne +
133. Schindler's List: Thomas Keneally
134. Separate Peace, A: John Knowles
135. Short Takes: Elizabeth Segel
136. Sister Carrie
137. Skin Deep: Isaac Asimov
138. Slaughterhouse Five: Kurt Vonnegut
139. Sons and Lovers: D.H. Lawrence
140. Sophie's Choice: William Styron
141. Studs Lonigan: James T. Farrell
142. Sun Also Rises, The: Ernest Hemingway
143. Tar Beach: Faith Ringgold
144. Tex: Susie E. Hinton
145. Then Again, Maybe I Won't: Judy Blume
146. Tintin in America: Herge
147. To Kill a Mockingbird: Harper Lee
148. Tropic of Cancer: Henry Miller
149. Turn of the Screw: Henry James
150. Ulysses: James Joyce
151. View From the Cherry Tree, The: Willo Davis Roberts
152. Wayside School is Falling Down: Louis Sachar
153. When the Legends Die: Hal Borland
154. White Ninja: Eric Van Lustbader
155. Witches of Worm, The: Zilpha Snyder
156. Witches, The: Roald Dahl
157. Wizard in the Tree, The: Lloyd Alexander
158. Women in Love: D.H. Lawrence
159. Wrinkle in Time, A: Madeleine L'Engle

Hmm…I’ve read very few of these books! I should start reading more banned books! Though, I do wonder why some of these are banned…

I had such fun doing the last book meme that I went searching the web for more! I found this here, and liked it so much I decided to do it. =)

The rules are: Using only books you have read in the last year (365 days, obviously, since we're barely over the threshold of ought-ten), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. It’s a lot harder than you think!

1. Describe yourself: The Book Thief (This is me, alright! Except that I don’t actually steal books…)
2. How do you feel: Quirkology
3. Describe where you currently live: The Last Summer (Well, it’s always summer here, and I’m hoping it’s my last year here!)
4. If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Brave New World
5. Your favourite form of transportation: The Host
6. Your best friend is: Dear Enemy (something like that…=D)
7. You and your friends are: Finding Your Mojo 
8. What’s the weather like: The Mist (Not really, like I said, always summer here, but I didn’t have any better book title!)
9. You fear: Night Mare
10. What is the best advice you have to give: Handle with Care (Really good advice for everything, I think)
11. Thought for the day: Harvest for Hope
12. How I would like to die: The Most Wanted (in a good way, I hope!)
13. My soul’s present condition: Keeping Faith

I did this back in 2007, but I’ve since read more books and acquired some and changed my mind about reading some of these books, so I thought I’d do this again. =)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Bold the ones you’ve read,
Italicize the ones you want to read,
Cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole,
Put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and
Asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

+1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)

+2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

+3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

+4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) - and the sequel too!

+5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) - I don't plan to read the LOTR series, but I *would* touch them with a 10 foot pole...

+6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)

+7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)

+8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) - and all the sequels!

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

*10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)

+11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K Rowling)

12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

+16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)

*17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)

+18. The Stand (Stephen King) – loved it loved it!!

+19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling) - stop it with the Harry Potter already! Just becoz I read them doesn't mean I loved them.

+20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

+21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)

22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

+23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) - I read it and I had the book, but I didn't like the ending, so I gave it away.

+25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

+27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) - read it twice already, but don't remember it. I was very young when I read it.

+28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)

29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom) - I read this, but it didn't impress me and I wouldn't read any of his other books ever.

+31. Dune (Frank Herbert)

32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

+33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)

+34. 1984 (George Orwell)

+35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) - read it twice and loved it so much I went and got two copies! (by mistake =P)

36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

*37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)

+38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb) - really intense, not an easy book to read emotionally.

+39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

+40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

+41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) - and the sequels too!

42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) - I like her other books, but I won't read the shopaholic series.

44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) - Never ever ever!

45. The Bible - I want to read it just to know what's so powerful about it to Christians.

+46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)

+47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) - I love it! One of the best books ever!

48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)

49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

+50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) - another really intense book.

+51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

+52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)

53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

+54. Great Expectations (Dickens)

+55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

*56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)

+57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)

58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)

+59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) - really good book, food for thought.

+60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)

61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

+63. War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)

64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)

*65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)

66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)

+68. Catch–22 (Joseph Heller)

69. Les Miserables (Hugo)

+70. The Little Prince [Le Petit Prince] (Antoine de Saint–Exupery)

+71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)

+72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)

+73. Shogun (James Clavell)

74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)

+75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

*76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)

77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)

*79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)

+80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)

*81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)

82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)

+83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)

84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

+85. Emma (Jane Austen)

86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)

+87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

+88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)

*89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)

90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)

*91. In The Skin Of a Lion (Ondaatje)

+92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)

+93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

+94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)

96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

+97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

+98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford) - don't remember it though

99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Credits goes to Ugly Ogre Robert because he insisted that he wanted his name on my post, just because he pointed this meme out to me. =P =)

 

This week’s TT is based on a book I’m currently reading. Heavy Words Lightly Thrown by Chris Roberts is about the meanings behind the old nursery rhymes that we’re all familiar with.

I haven’t finished the book yet, but so far, there’s been many interesting revelations and I just had to share.

So this week’s TT is Meanings Behind the Nursery Rhymes:

 

1. Humpty Dumpty: Humpty Dumpty was actually a cannon, which broke apart and couldn’t be fixed by the king’s men. What I find funny is why everyone thinks it’s about an egg, when the rhyme doesn’t mention an egg at all.
   
2. Little Jack Horner: Apparently, “Jack” Horner was a steward to an abbot, who stuck his thumb into a piece of very lucrative pie, figuratively speaking, and pulled out a plum in the form of a title deed to a manor house.
   
3. Jack Be Nimble: Jumping over the candlestick without the flame going out is supposed to be a form of pagan sport which foretells good luck, fertility, and a prosperous year, depending on the results of the jump.
   
4. Sing a Song of Sixpence: Most probably about King Henry VIII and two of his six wives; Catherine of Aragon, and Anne Boleyn, who is the maid that got her nose snipped off (beheaded).
   
   
5. Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary: There’s a debate on whether the “Mary” in the rhyme is referring to Mary Queen of Scots or Mary Tudor, but if it’s Mary Queen of Scots, then the cockle-shells in the rhyme apparently refers to the cuckolds in her promiscuous court.
   
6. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep: One of the more straightforward rhymes if you’re looking for its hidden meaning, it’s quite obvious that it’s a complaint about taxes.
   
7. Ladybird, Ladybird: It seems that back in the days, it was popular to get rid of a witch in central Europe by telling her that her house was on fire. The rhyme may be a reference to that.
   
8. Georgy Porgy: There are a few theories to this rhyme, one of them is that it’s about George Villiers, who might have been King James I’s lover. The part about kissing the girls and making them cry is supposed to be about George ruining the King’s relationship with various women.
   
9. Rock a Bye, Baby: Of unclear origins, there are many theories to this rhyme ranging from it being a reference to baby Moses, to being about new Pilgrim settlers who used to suspend their cradles on trees.
   
10. Ding Dong Bell, Pussy’s in the Well: Surprisingly, this may be one of the more literal rhymes where the moral of the story is meant for children, teaching them not to be cruel to cats.
    
11. Jack and Jill: Very possibly about sex, going “up the hill to fetch a pail of water” may have been an euphemism for having sex, and “losing your crown” means losing your virginity.
    
12. Ring-a-Ring o’Roses: The most popular theory is that it’s about the Black Death, but another theory is that it’s actually about a children’s game that allowed young people to get around prohibitions on dancing.
    
13. Old King Cole: Two interesting theories with the pipe and the bowl; Old King Cole either really liked smoking cannabis, or the pipe referred to some kind of wind instrument, and the bowl was a kind of drum, and Old King Cole really liked music, especially with his fiddlers three.
    

I’m still reading the book and having lots of fun with it. I hope you enjoyed this week’s TT!

Recently I’ve been reviewing less books, mostly because these days I seem to be more in the mood for non-fiction than fiction.

Non-fiction, depending on the book, usually takes a lot longer to read than most fiction for me, so while I used to finish two books a week on average, now it seems like I might be taking two weeks or more to finish one book.

I don’t know why I don’t have the mood for fiction these days, perhaps it’s because I’ve been doing a lot of studying, reading non-fiction and textbooks, and really just feel like resting my brain during my study breaks, rather than reading anything.

Then again, I could probably get interested in lighter fiction, but I don’t have many of those kind of books because I don’t keep them, so find it a waste of money to buy them. I have a lot more ‘heavy’ fiction on my Mt. TBR, but don’t feel like reading them because they’re heavy.

I don’t know when I’m going to start feeling like reading fiction again, but hopefully it’s soon, because I really do need a little escapism. Maybe I’ll just read some trashy old romances I have lying around.

 

Today’s TT will be 13 characters from this book; Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin.

I enjoyed the book so much and loved reading and finding out more about these characters, so I thought I’d feature them this TT. =)

So…

 

1. Zeus: The king of the Gods who poisoned his father, Cronos, to released his brothers and sisters that Cronos swallowed, and led an army against Cronos to dethrone him.
   
2. Poseidon: One of Zeus’ brothers, the God of the Sea. It’s said that he created the dolphins to appease one of his lover’s jealous rage, and the horse to give to Demeter so that she would accept his pursuits.
   
3. Hades: One of Zeus’ brothers, the eldest, and the God of the Underworld. He kidnapped Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, to be his wife.
   
4. Persephone: She was kidnapped by Hades, and tricked into eating 6 pomegranate seeds. Zeus ruled that she had to spend a month with Hades in the Underworld for every seed she ate.
   
5. Arachne: She was a very talented weaver until she displeased the Goddess Athene when she said she could weave better than her. After she lost a weaving competition with Athene, she was turned into a spider, to weave her webs for eternity.
   
6. Echo: Trying to save Zeus from Hera’s wrath, she lied to Hera and when Hera found out, she cursed Echo to forever only be able to repeat the last words that anyone says to her. Until today, we can still sometimes hear her repeating the last words we say. 
   
7. Narcissus: He broke Echo’s heart when he spurned her, and because she was Aphrodite’s favorite, Aphrodite vowed that Narcissus will fall in love with someone who will never love him back. He fell in love with his own reflection by the river, and spent his days rooted by the river always staring at his own reflection.
   
8. Perseus: Zeus’ son from one of his affairs with a mortal woman, he slayed Medusa and saved his mother from a lecherous old king who wanted her as his wife.
   
9. Pandora: She was actually a gift given to the brother of Prometheus, who stole fire from the sun and gave it to humans. When she opened her wedding gift, a beautiful golden box that Hermes gave her, she let out all the evils that haunt mankind.
   
10. Midas: A greedy king who had more gold than he needed and wanted more, Apollo decided to grant his wish that everything he touch turns to gold. He was not as upset over his daughter turning into gold, as he was about not being able to eat because everything that touched his lips turned into gold too.
    
11. Theseus: The son of Poseidon from an affair with a mortal woman, Theseus was small but very intelligent. With his wits and using his enemies’ strength against them, he managed to kill the dreaded Minotaur.
    
12. Orpheus: He was a musician whose music hypnotized audiences. When his wife, Eurydice, died, he went to Hades to begged that she be returned to him. Hades was so moved with Orpheus’ music that he agreed on the condition that Orpheus couldn’t look back to see if Eurydice followed him.
    
13. Daedalus: Lesser known in the Greek myths, Daedalus was Icarus’ father, who made the wings that killed his son. They were trying to escape from their prison, the Minotaur’s labyrinth, which was also Daedalus’ creation on the request of the king.
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a lot of fun reading about the Greek myths, and I only wish there was more! I hope you enjoyed this week’s TT. =)