hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

 

These are books on my TBR list, they are not all from Fall 2013, but they are on my Fall 2013 TBR list. =) If you’ve read any of these books, let me know if they’re worth reading or if they should be put back on the shelf. Happy Top Ten Tuesday!

 

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

My Education by Susan Choi

Mind Games by Kiersten White

Partials by Dan Wells

City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster

Not Drop To Drink by Mindy McGinnis

You are reading The Curiosity. You are enjoying the story so far, but you are fascinated with the author’s use of second-person narrative for one of the book’s characters.

You have never read a book that have done this, and you can’t help but wonder about the author’s reasons for doing so.

The character is an unlikable one, an arrogant man whose POV is told in the second-person, while all the other characters’ POVs are told in first-person.

You ponder on the author’s choice in using the second-person narrative for this character and how it influences your feelings about this particularly unlikable character.

You think that it is a very interesting writing method and you feel that it does contribute to your feelings about this character. This character, speaking of himself in the second person, remains distant and aloof to you. You do not relate to him, you do not understand him, and you do not like him talking down to you. You think the author is brilliant in his choice for using the second-person narrative for this character.

You have not finished the book, and this character is far from the main character, even though he plays a crucial role in the story, but nevertheless the story has kept you intrigued with what will happen next.

You will not talk about the book right now, as you did not intend for this to be a review of the book. You will review it when you have finished reading it, but for now, you are satisfied with sharing your fascination with story-telling in the POV of a second-person narrative.

I’m not completely back in the groove of blogging yet. I haven’t spent a lot of time on my blog or in visiting other blogs or anything a blogger normally does.

But I am posting, at least!

I have to force myself to post at least once a week, and having a book review to write certainly helps.

I’ve been really disorganized and struggling with getting stuff that needs to be done, done, but even if I’m not fully blogging yet right now, I’m still forging ahead with posting something every week.

It’s a start, right? =)

I’ve been really struggling to get back in the habit of blogging, or in fact, writing at all.

I used to blog all the time, anytime I had anything to tell, or every time I finished a book, but now I have to consciously remind myself to blog at least once a week.

Habits are hard to break, but once broken, they’re hard to pick up again too. =(

I do want to keep blogging, and reading everyone else’s blogs, I remember having so much fun with them, and especially all the blog memes. Those were my favourite parts of blogging; the community, sharing each others similarities and differences…

It might not come as naturally to me as it used to, but I’m going to keep on blogging at least once a week until it does.

Bear with me until then, please.

I haven't been blogging consistently for the last three years. I haven't blogged at all for the last year. I miss blogging, but I feel like I'd lost my voice somehow. Moving to a new place, meeting new people, learning a new way of living... I feel like I had left my old self back in Malaysia and have been spending the last couple of years learning who my new self is.

I'm still learning, but I'm finding more of myself every day, and I'm trying to embrace the changes and allow myself to continue growing. I feel like I'm back for good this time, I love blogging and I've missed writing my thoughts about the books I read.

It's kinda ironic because I've been reading more than ever. I read 114 books in 2011, and I'm at 167 books already this year and there's more than two months left in 2012!

Maybe I'm reading more because I don't take the time to think and digest the books, I just devour them one after another. It's Calgary's fault for having such an amazing public library! There's just so many books, I have too many choices and I can't stop reading!

It's kinda taking a toll on the housework too... but who cares? ;-)

I do plan to slow down on my reading though, savor the books more, and write what I think and feel about them. Sometimes I actually forget that I've read a book, the way that I've been going through them. If it wasn't for goodreads.com and listing the books I've read there, I might've read some books twice without even realizing it!

It still doesn't beat writing my thoughts about the books here though. I may list the books I've read there, but I don't remember how I felt about them or if I even liked the book. I rate them, but ratings aren't the most accurate way to remember a book.

So you see, I haven't got a choice. I have to blog again! =)

It's good to be back!

I’ve been getting monthly emails from Goodreads.com about new book releases and I’ve been adding so many new books to my wishlist that I really have no idea how I’m ever going to read them all in this lifetime!

I thought I’d list them here, partly as a list to keep track of and partly as a way to prioritize my reading list, if it happens that other readers comment on them and either recommend them highly or tell me not to bother with them. =)

So here’s this month’s new releases that caught my interest:

The Art of Forgetting
by Camille Noe Pagan

It sounds interesting; Marissa’s always been second fiddle to her friend, Julia, but Julia gets into an accident which affects her memory and her personality. Now Marissa has to take charge and help Julia recover her memories, which means dragging up a possibly painful history.

State of Wonder
by Ann Patchett

Well, I don’t really know what this book is about, but I loved Bel Canto by the same author, and I’ve been looking forward to reading more of her books.

 

 

The Borrower
by Rebecca Makkai

A librarian helps a ten-year-old boy to get access to the books he wants to read when his overbearing mother disapproves. When he runs away from home and end up at the library, the librarian, Lucy, needs to make some difficult choices. How can I resist a story about libraries and books?!

A Need So Beautiful
by Suzanne Young

We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten...

I must it was the cover art that caught my eye, but reading the synopsis, I thought it’s just right up my alley. A young adult paranormal book, one of my favorite type of books!

The Day Before
by Lisa Schroeder

I’ve recently been seeing this author’s name a lot on Twitter, and thought to myself that I should read her books. I ended up seeing this book on Goodreads.com as a new release, so what better book to start with?!

 

Imaginary Girls
by Nova Ren Suma

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

 

I just realized that there are wayyyy too many new releases that I’m interested in. I might have to space them out in different posts by genre or something. For the moment, I hope these few books will pique your interest too. =)

I tried, I really tried, but I don’t know how to fix the glitch with the comments. After troubleshooting, it seems to be a Disqus integration problem. I don’t know how to fix it, so I’m going back to the Blogger commenting system for now.

I might or might not try again with Disqus. I do like Disqus and all their features, but it might not be worth all the trouble I’m going through with it right now. =(

We’ll see!

In the meantime, we’re back! =)

As you can see, I’ve given my blog a new look. Well deserved, after so long with the old layout. =)

There’s a problem with the comments though. There’s always something to fix every time I change to a new layout. Any wonder why I do it so little.

Anyway, when you click on the comments you don’t get anywhere, but if you click on the post itself, it will bring you to its own page and you’ll be able to comment from there. I’ll try to fix it within the next couple of days. At this moment I’m not sure if it’s a Blogger problem or a Disqus problem, so we’ll see.

Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience. =)

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!! =)

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. =(

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?

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 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 =)

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.

To make it easier on me, especially since it’s getting harder for me to come up with coherent reviews, I thought I should come up with a template of sorts for my book reviews. Sort of like a simple question and answer thing.

I’ve seen some people doing it before, so I guess it works, but I’m just wondering what questions I’ll be using. I’m considering just these:

What is the book about?

What did you like most about it?

What did you like least about it?

Who would you recommend it to?

Any additional comments?

I’ll try it for a while and see if it works.

Well, I haven’t blogged since last Christmas eve!!! OMG, I’ve missed my blog so much, and more importantly, my reading!!

There’s a *really* good reason for my hiatus, though. =) My wedding was on January 31st 2010!! Yayyy!!! Congratulations to me! =)

So I’m not the most organized of people, though that’s changing, I hope, and one month before the wedding, there was a lot of last minute details we needed to finalize, but that’s normal. What wasn’t so great was that there were also some last minute changes, coz of cancellations and conflicts, etc.

I’ll spare you the details, but suffice to say, I was very stressed out and busy for the whole month before the wedding, to the point where I didn’t even have the mood or the concentration to read!!!!

Can you imagine? Me??! The girl who *always*, and I mean *always*, has a book in her hand and never goes anywhere without a book, and in fact, never goes a day without reading at least a couple of pages no matter how busy she is.

I went a whole *month and a half* without reading!!!!

I lost my mojo, and I felt totally lost without it. That’s how stressful my wedding was! I have *never* in my whole entire life, gone so long without reading! And it wasn’t even that I wanted to read but didn’t have the time to, I totally didn’t even feel like picking up a book! When I did, I read the same page 10 times before realizing that nothing was registering at all!

OMG, I’m so glad I’m only ever gonna have this one wedding! If I ever marry again, I’m gonna elope! =P

After the wedding, I was so out of whack that I still couldn’t read a book! It wasn’t until only five days ago that I finally got into a book!

Luckily, I had things to keep me busy because our friends from Canada came for our wedding, and right after the wedding, we became their tour guides for 10 days before they went back to Canada. And after they went home, it was Chinese New Year, so I had that to keep me busy too.

I’m so glad I finally got my reading groove back, but let me tell you, I’ve never felt so un-me in my whole life! Betty isn’t Betty if she doesn’t read. =(

Well, I’m finally Betty again, and I’m finally reading again, and I’m finally blogging again! I can’t wait to get back in the blogging groove! I’ve missed a lot!

But I’m so glad to be back! =)