Buddhaphish says he who reads is full of wealth.

Third person world.

2009-06-01T22:25:00.003+08:00

Buddhaphish needs to update properly soon. But Buddhaphish has been so busy at her new job, and is also very sad that there are no bookstores where Buddhaphish lives.

Buddhaphish recommends Wizard of the Crow by Kenyan author, Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

There, that counts as a semi-update!

Think of the children!!

2009-03-23T10:43:00.002+08:00

The funniest movie review I've read in a long while: Coraline

“Coraline” is a bad movie for children and a disturbing movie for adults. The horror of it comes not from the plot, which is common, but from its nihilistic attitude. This view sees human relations as power struggles which can only be resolved by an exercise of will, and it sees life as an existential wasteland that has no intrinsic meaning, but what we can give to it ourselves. As art, it is a diminished thing without light, while its truest love is of the darkness in all things. Some people may be misled by the bright tone of the voices in its real world to think it is an “uplifting” movie, but underlying that tone is a spiritual emptiness which inhabits the characters, the setting, and, it seems, the movie's creators.

I can't wait to watch it!

Apa khabar, pak/ibu?

2009-02-23T13:16:00.003+08:00

Greetings from Central Kalimantan, my new home for hopefully many years. :)

I brought less work-related books than I originally wanted to and I'm rather regretting it now No bookstores in Pangkalan Bun!! However, I tell myself, I'll be back home in about two months time for a visa run and there is so much to do at my new job that I think I would be more occupied than I thought.

Lovely town here and I doubt that I would be updating much books-wise.. Thinking of starting a new blog on my life here so we'd see what happens with this.

Already I am appreciating the laid-back vibe here and it feels great to be working with sane people once more..

Deconstructing KL.

2009-02-15T16:15:00.007+08:00

Has it been already a week since I last book-blogged? Time certainly flies. I'm back in smoggy Bangsar, trying to work on a research assignment. In the meantime, I'm currently reading Urban Odysseys: KL Stories, edited by Janet Tay & Eric Forbes for MPH Publishing. I bought the book a couple of days ago, despite the odds:

1. Poor display of books at MPH Midvalley (and MPH Bangsar). You'd think the bookstores and publishing would collaborate to showcase the book so that customers/browsers could easily pick it up.

2. Lack of knowledge from the enquiry staff at MPH Midvalley. Ok, so I couldn't remember the exact title of the book but I knew part of it was "KL Stories" AND that it was published by MPH. You'd think the staff would be familiar with books published by the very same company they work for. Not really. She had no clue, and was unpleasant to deal with. Frustrated, I walked away and wandered around the store until I found the book behind the cashier - not exactly standing out but hey.

I haven't finished reading Urban Odysseys yet but the stories so far are enjoyable. I particularly liked stories by Karina Bahrin, Joanna Chin, and Preeta Samarasan (I had jumped ahead to read her story first). It's a mixed yet interesting bag of authors: experienced, and newbies. My hat off to the young newbies; I enjoyed their debut and look forward to more of their work.

I had wanted to read the book because I am (was?) a new 'expat' to the city. Ever since I moved to the big city in the mid-2007, I have been surprised, and disappointed by the city. I moved from a smaller town thinking that I could leave certain prejudices behind, only to find out that KL really is a big 'small town'. I wasn't fazed by the pace, but I was surprised by how much petty politicking goes on, to actual work (and it extends to social circles too). In this town, it's really who you know (or to a lot of people, who you are related to), than what you know. And there are some dumb, lazy people on top but with very good connections (and/or bodek skills). Sure the same thing goes on back home, but at least I was able to avoid said people. Alas, I am not so lucky in KL.

That being said, I have no regrets in living here because I had a lot of great moments as well. However, if there is one thing I could impart to KL-lites, it's "remember katak bawah tempurung". Outside KL, no one else in Malaysia cares who you are. So please, save me your stories of who you know, who you hang out with, no I dont' give a fuck that you are a 'celebrity' or your daddy is blah blah yadayada snore zzzzzzzz....

Do I like KL? It's a mixed bag of emotions for me. However I appreciated some of the tender stories in Urban Odysseys. One thing for sure, KL-lites (and Klang Valley-ites) are very proud of their origins, and the rest of us who live here appreciate the opportunities it provides. KL is rather a bitch at times, but like a lot of bitches out there, we can't help but be drawn to it. Bitch power.

All the things I could do, if I had a little money.

2009-02-07T18:00:00.004+08:00

Today, I spent almost RM600 worth on books, and without blinking too.

It's easy to spend money when it's not yours.

I bought a bunch of field guides for work and it was a lot of fun choosing them. I ended up buying the following (after looking at the current list of what we have and don't have):

1. A Pocket guide of Lizards of Borneo by Indraneil Das (x 2)
2. A Field Guide to the Frogs of Borneo by Robert F. Inger and Robert B. Stuebing (2nd edition)
3. Panduan Lapangan Katak-katak Borneo (a Malay translation of the above)
4. Turtles of Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia by Lim Boo Liat and Indraneil Das
5. Slipper Orchids of Borneo by Philip Cribb
6. A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Borneo and Southeast Asia by Kazuhisa Otsuka
7. Manual Latihan Pemuliharaan dan Penyelidikan Hidupan Liar di Lapangan by Alan Rabinowitz
8. Man-eating crocodiles of Borneo by James Ritchie with Johnson Jong (I know, I know, trashy stuff but I couldn't resist especially after the recent fatal attack by a Tomistoma schlegelii in a river that I would soon be intimate with!)

At the same bookstore, I picked up The Soul of Malaya by Henri Fauconnier. This was originally published in French as Malaisie, and won France's highest literary award, the Prix Goncourt. It also has wonderful illustrations.

Then I came across Eda Green's "Borneo: The Land of River and Palm", which is not a fieldguide on river palms as I had thought but rather an early 20th century account of Borneo's people and its customs as well as a missionary description on 'converting the natives'. Accompanied with photos and intricate illustrations, this book (despite its irritating Christianity fervour but I do enjoy the appendices where Green discusses the 'study problems' of converting Dayaks) is definitely a useful reference.

A good haul today, and I haven't even finished!

Introducing Almayer's Folly

2009-02-06T23:13:00.005+08:00

I have just returned home from an underground bar (I kid you not - it has a lovely bar, with comfortable wide wooden stools and Iban rice baskets laid prettily all-in-a-row) where I had asked one of my companions, "if you could write a fictional story, what would it be about?"

His answer was about a mixed-race family in Borneo struggling during the Japanese era. He pretty much had it all figured out but hasn't written it yet. I think it's a story worth writing, and left inspired wanting to read more fiction based in Borneo.

A google search soon revealed that Joseph Conrad has written a book which is set in Borneo called "Almayer's Folly: A Story of an Eastern River", and published in 1895. Almayer's Folly is Joseph Conrad's first novel and centers on the Dutch trader Kaspar Almayer and his life in the jungles of Borneo.

Thanks to gutenberg.org, you can read it online. An excerpt:

"Kaspar! Makan!"

The well-known shrill voice startled Almayer from his dream of splendid
future into the unpleasant realities of the present hour. An unpleasant
voice too. He had heard it for many years, and with every year he liked
it less. No matter; there would be an end to all this soon.

He shuffled uneasily, but took no further notice of the call. Leaning
with both his elbows on the balustrade of the verandah, he went on
looking fixedly at the great river that flowed--indifferent and
hurried--before his eyes. He liked to look at it about the time of
sunset; perhaps because at that time the sinking sun would spread a
glowing gold tinge on the waters of the Pantai, and Almayer's thoughts
were often busy with gold; gold he had failed to secure; gold the others
had secured--dishonestly, of course--or gold he meant to secure yet,
through his own honest exertions, for himself and Nina. He absorbed
himself in his dream of wealth and power away from this coast where he
had dwelt for so many years, forgetting the bitterness of toil and strife
in the vision of a great and splendid reward. They would live in Europe,
he and his daughter. They would be rich and respected. Nobody would
think of her mixed blood in the presence of her great beauty and of his
immense wealth. Witnessing her triumphs he would grow young again, he
would forget the twenty-five years of heart-breaking struggle on this
coast where he felt like a prisoner.

I'm not used to reading e-novels however, it just feels like another damn long blog... Give me a book I can curl up to anyday..

Have books, need home.

2009-02-06T19:54:00.003+08:00

I returned home to Kuching a couple of days ago, only to find out that mould had attacked my room due to the floods - yikes! Much cleaning and Thirsty Hippos after, I was relieved that my books had escaped unscathed - except perhaps a couple of interior design inspired books on Amsterdam and Paris. I decided then and there that it was a good time anyway to spring-clean my Kuching personal library and perhaps sell, donate or give-away books who deserve owners who would love them more.

This incident left me with a personal dilemma because I have already packed up my books in KL, ready for shipping but I dread the next flood. Maybe next time, my books wouldn't be so lucky - considering my circumstances where I won't be there to save them! So perhaps, my books would stay in KL for the time-being... if I find the space for them. Dilemma, dilemma....

I want my own house/space with my own library!

Railway Raju and the Fury

2009-02-03T18:43:00.004+08:00

I am loving my new blogger template, courtesy of the talented suckmylolly. Initially I felt that the Owl and the Pussycat template was fitting for a book blog but I got really enamoured with the whale.. plus it fits with the buddhaphish theme.. or that's what I tell myself anyway.

The last week of January was a very slow book read week.. No more relaxation as I have to hoof it to make sure that I'm outtahere by the 15th of Feb.

I'm currently (bed-time!) reading R.K. Narayan's The Guide about the story of Railway Raju, a charmingly corrupt tourist guy who lives by his wits, ends up in jail and through a series of bizarre circumstances winds up as a one of India's great holy men. It's a delightful fun read so far.

I'm also trying to read Salman Rushdie's Fury but it seems to me a tad too smug.. no wonder it was in the discount bin for RM5??

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2009

2009-01-30T09:55:00.000+08:00

Eric Forbes has just posted the tentative line-up for this year's Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali.

I am really excited about the possibility of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie coming, and am interested in the following authors as well:

1. J.M. Coetzee (his book, Disgrace is on my NTBR (next-to-be-read, as in, I haven't bought it yet - not to be confused with not-to-be-read which also makes an interesting..) list

2. Vikas Swarup (I know Slumdog Millionaire is a movie that must be watched, but can it be the same for the book? I really want to know)

3. Laura Esquivel (because I have a soft spot for magical realism, Latina-style)

4. Llyod Jones (Mr Pip is also on my NTBR list!)

5. Geraldine Brooks (March is on my TBR list)

6. Hari Kunzru

Although I have a feeling that this Festival mostly caters to people in the book industry (festival reviews on Sharon's Bibliobibuli reveals that the more exciting stuff seems to happen backstage so to speak). If you are but a mere mortal (i.e. reader), you'd have to be content with book readings, and other organized events for the public... who am I kidding - still sounds like fun!!

Twilight review [Real vampires don't fucking sparkle]

2009-01-30T09:12:00.000+08:00

One of my favourite bloggers of all time, Kimli at delicious juice dot com (we are but half a world apart but I love her sense of humour, style and general awesomeness), reviews Twilight:

My brain was broken. It wasn’t so much that I was into the story – my inner logic poked a thousand holes into it; the characters were wooden and pathetic; the inner monologues and clumsiness of the main character I identified with a little too closely; holy fucking shit lady why don’t you project more of your issues and bizarre idea of what constitutes “true love” onto an entire generation of girls who can’t yet discern between concern and emotional abuse – but at the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I think I’ve finally realized what’s making me so angry about the whole thing: it’s the whole “I love you” “I love you too but I will leave you if you love me too hard” “that isn’t fair” “it’s for your own good” “oh look something happened and now I will leave you” “wah wah he left me now I am catatonic” “oh good here is a sexy werewolf to fill in the gaping hole my abstinent vampire left” “what she found someone else how dare she now I will come back and make her feel bad for getting over me” thing.

So the book, which is touted as a sexy romantic romp through every woman’s fantasy, is really not at all passionate or exciting or a good read. I’ve read STD pamphlets that were more arousing than this book that is admittedly meant for teenage girls which somehow makes it worse because there is nothing whatsoever healthy about Edward and Bella’s relationship.

Kimli has some advice for teenage readers:

I don’t think any teenage girls read my website, but if they do, I beg you to know that real relationships don’t go like this.

But admits:

Good god, that book was a steaming pile of crap.

That being said, I absolutely understand why people get sucked into it.

Thoroughly entertaining review and lots more - it was hard to choose quotes! Please read the lion fell in love with the lamb.

On the power of education

2009-01-27T20:01:00.001+08:00

One of my favourite authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has written a story on the power of education for guardian.co.uk:

When the bombing finally stopped, I walked down the street to the crowd gathered around the wounded, and found myself drawn to a body on the ground. A girl, perhaps 15 years old. Her arms were a mass of bloody flesh. It was the wrong time for humor but looking at her with mangled arms, she looked like a caterpillar. Why did I take that girl into my room? I don't know. There had been many bombings before that - we were in Umuahia and we got the most bombing because we were the capital. And even though I helped to clean the wounded, I had never taken anyone into my room.

But I took this girl into my room. Her name was Chinasa.

Neil Gaiman's "Blueberry Girl"

2009-01-26T09:28:00.000+08:00

Neil Gaiman's latest children's book, illustrated by Charles Vess who also collaborated with Gaiman on Stardust.

Reviews as posted on the Neil's blog:

Publishers Weekly

In a magical blessing for unconventional girls, Gaiman (The Graveyard Book) addresses the "ladies of light and ladies of darkness and ladies of never-you-mind," asking them to shelter and guide an infant girl as she grows. "Help her to help herself,/ help her to stand,/ help her to lose and to find./ Teach her we're only as big as our dreams./ Show her that fortune is blind." Sinuous, rococo lines-the flowing hair, drooping boughs, winding paths that inspired the pre-Raphaelites-spread their tendrils throughout Vess's (The Ladies of Grace Adieu) full-bleed spreads, potent mixtures of the charms of Arthur Rackham, Maxfield Parrish and Cecily Barker's flower fairies. An Art Nouveau-ish font in a blueberry color compounds the sense of fantasy. On each page a different girl-short, tall, white, brown, younger, older-runs or jumps or swims, accompanied by animals meant to guard and protect her. Fans of Gaiman and Vess will pounce on this creation; so too will readers who seek for their daughters affirmation that sidesteps traditional spiritual conventions. All ages. (Mar.)

Kirkus Reviews

A rich and beautiful prayer for a girl. "Ladies of light and ladies of darkness and ladies of never-you-mind, / This is a prayer for a blueberry girl." Three women in flowing robes-the appropriately mythological Maiden, Mother and Crone-float in the sky over a small, dancing child trailed by numerous birds of the air. Free her from "nightmares at three or bad husbands at thirty," let her run and dance and grow, teach her and help her find her own truth. The verse is lovely, sinuous and sweetly rhyming, piling on blessings. Vess's precise line-and-color illustrations fill each spread with velvet colors and the iconography of myths and fairy tales, a good match to fantasist Gaiman's words. Plants, animals, sun and meadow appear in elegantly drawn detail, their realism tempered by floating trees and magical flowers. The girl transforms from stanza to stanza and spread to spread, blond or burnished, child or nearly teen. There is nothing cute or cloying here, just beauty, balance and joy. (Picture book. 4-8)

In which Neil Gaiman talks about squishy pumpkin ideas.

2009-01-24T22:59:00.000+08:00

"Sometimes I think that ideas float through the atmosphere like huge squishy pumpkins, waiting for heads to drop on. I remember back in 1989 Terry Pratchett and I plotting a novel once about a serial killer who kills serial killers, and we had most of the pieces in place, and then both of us realised we'd have to actually write it, which seemed like less fun than making it up, and so we left it. I would have put him in the Serial Killer's convention in Sandman, but he just didn't fit. And I was pleased when I saw the Dexter books that that pumpkin had finally landed on the head of somebody else, who wanted to write them. Sometimes you're just lucky that the pumpkin lands on you first.

But the truth is, it's not the idea, it's never the idea, it's always what you do with it. I remember Jonathan Carroll telling me to "Write it new", when we talked about how I had thrown out a whole Sandman storyline on reading Bones of the Moon. And I'm pleased I went back and wrote A Game of You. Charlaine's Cemetery Girl, if she writes it and I hope she does, would be different in every way from The Graveyard Book, because that's how it works."

From: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/01/journeys-end.html (italics, and bolding mine).

Gaiman is referring to author Charlaine Harris who wrote the popular Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery series - about a young telepathic waitress in Louisiana who has to deal with vampires and shape-shifters. Alan Ball, creator of Six Feet Under, has turned this series into a very popular HBO tv show called Tru Blood (apparently it's HBO's most popular show since the Sopranos and Sex and the City). I have to admit, it's a pretty darn entertaining show and Anna Paquin (the main protagonist) shines. My Twilight friend bought the first novel of the Sookie series, Dead until Dark, and I was surprised that I quite like the writing.. hmm.. and the cover is adorable. Why yes, I sometimes do judge books by their covers, don't you??.. Perhaps this would be the first 21st century vampire book to change my mind!

As well, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is truly a scream, in a very good way. The title is a homage to the Jungle Book. In the book, a boy whose parents are killed is adopted by the occupants of a graveyard (as opposed to the animals in a jungle) and raised by them. The Graveyard Book has the usual Gaiman wry dark humour - he needs to continue to write more books for children!. And speaking of covers, while I do like Dave McKean's illustrations, I decided to go for the UK edition by Bloomsbury, with illustrations by award-winning Chris Riddell.

Today, I've packed up all my books and it's a sobering sight to see how many books I've collected over the year and a half during my stint here. Let's just say I have enough books to fill a Dell computer box, and two other smaller boxes.. I clearly have no control when it comes to buying books. Although I must say, yesterday I walked away from Payless Books WITHOUT a book, and today, Book Xcess WITHOUT a book. Boyfriend and Twilight friend are proud of me but little do they know, I was on recon. Sigh. Bad bad buddhaphish.

In which sin-eaters are created

2009-01-23T11:45:00.000+08:00

I once read a short story by Tim Waggoner, "The September People" and the following paragraph jumped out to me:

There's always one, the child who serves as a sin-eater for the others, a psychological dumping ground for all their insecurities and self-loathing. A child who, by becoming a pariah, helps the others belong if nowhere else, then at least to the group of those who Aren't Pariah.

It stunned me - a simple analysis on why groups turn on a person, and go completely bonkers over the smallest unintentional slight. It makes perfect sense to me because I've always wondered why some people in a group choose to follow the leader blindly, and why others choose to make up their own minds over the maligned person. It all feeds back into your insecurities - if you're an individual who is reasonably happy with yourself, there is really no need to join in the witch-hunt and wallow in grudges.

Waggoner's "sin-eater" varies from the definition of a practice that dates back to the olden times (of yore? Couldn't help myself) in parts of England and Scotland, and apparently survived to modern times in Wales. Traditionally, villages have their own "sin-eaters" who would eat the food and drink over a dying person, thus absolving the person from their mortal sins.

In The September People, the sin-eater is a middle-aged woman, bullied as a child, and trying to find her way back to the fairies. Myself, I am inspired to write a story on Waggoner's "sin-eater" with elements of its conventional definition; the threads of a story are emerging...

In which Allende sums up how to live life.

2009-01-23T11:08:00.000+08:00

Isabel Allende has a gift for the magical realism, Latin America fever, and being vulnerable in her memoirs. The Sum of Our Days is her second memoir after her beloved daughter's death, and draws the reader into her rich chaotic life. I admire Allende's spirit and passion however I wouldn't want to live like her, always seemingly on the edge of disaster and drama!

I take inspiration from her son. Her son, is apparently the opposite of her and he gets through life stoically, despite the untimely death of his sister (whom he was very close to, almost like twins), and his divorce from his previously strict (Opus Dei!) wife who left him for a close family female friend - by living through the following edicts:

It's not personal
People are responsible for their own feelings
Life is unfair

Sounds simple, doesn't it? Completely living through these edicts is probably a different matter. Although it helps remembering this from time to time, especially when people are dicks!

In which I review Iran Awakening

2009-01-22T23:14:00.001+08:00

Shirin Ebadi recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work for the poor and oppressed society in Iran. This memoir chronicles her journeys from being a young wife & mother, becoming a judge in her twenties (!!), to her passionate work that eventually led to her receiving one of the world's highest honours.

While a singularly remarkable woman of courage, Ebadi was also rather possessive of her platonic relationships, in my opinion. She recounts disowning her friends because she could not get over the fact that they were leaving the country for a better life - basically, she took their decisions to migrate very personally.

It would be hard to imagine what it is like to be Iranian, to love your country but hate the oppressiveness - mind you, some days I do feel that Malaysia is heading that direction and giving Islam a bad rep.

After reading the Iran Awakening, I have a better understanding of the issues that Iranians face. As well, being inspired to continue on my NGO work, with a stronger empathy of interconnected social issues.

In which I say if you like Dr. Who, you'd like.. [a quick book recommendation]

2009-01-22T12:40:00.000+08:00

Just before I head out the door, I'd like to recommend Witch Week, which is part of the Chrestomanci Series by Diana Wynne Jones (I promise to talk about other authors that I am keen on soon!), especially if you are a fan of the Dr. Who tv series. Think of an alternative world that is not supposed to exist, and secret teenage witches in peril. Crestomanci - mysterious, stylish and possible good-looking English sorceror - saves the day!

In which I discover a mystery book series of a Laotian doctor.

2009-01-22T11:19:00.000+08:00

I am a fan of Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I find the books fun, and light-hearted. Sure the mysteries are simple, and it always end in a happy note - it makes for a quick reading on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or great airline/lrt reading fodder (when you don't want anything too serious). For me, it's not so much about the mysteries (for I haven't been a mystery book fan since I was a teenager and was devouring Agatha Christie's works), but rather reading about the life of an unconventional Botswana woman (big fan of books set in Africa!).

Several days ago, a book with the blurb, "more engaging than 'No.1 Ladies

Detective Agency'" caught my eye. It was "Disco for the Departed" by Colin Cotterill, who has based a mystery series on a communist hard-working Laotian doctor. According to online reviews, Cotterill's Laotian mystery books have won favourable comparisons to McCall Smith's, with a significant note: the mysteries are much more darker, and intricate. I think I would like to read this series!

One hitch however: "Disco for the Departed" is the third installment in the Dr. Siri's novels, and while Popular Bookstore in Ikano has this book (where I first saw it), it doesn't have the first two. Neither have Borders, Kino, MPH or Times! How bizarre, or am I looking in the wrong sections?

In which I reveal my distaste for Twilight

2009-01-22T10:48:00.000+08:00

Bryan from Bryan's Book Blog has provided an illuminating chart on the reasons why people hate Twilight (see above). It made me chuckle because I think I do represent one of the multitudes that make up the Big Red.

I love YA novels, I really do - I have no shame in being in my early thirties and enjoying a really good YA novel in public. I'm currently reading the second volume of Diana Wynne Jones' "The Chronicles of Chrestomanci" and my boyfriend and I read to each other at night, "The House of Many Ways". This month, I am rather on a Diana Wynne Jones kick, having read two other of her books in the last several weeks. I was also a fan of the earlier Harry Potter books. So why oh why am I not touching Twilight with a ten foot pole..

It's the tweeny gushing fans I tell you. Its the silly girls you know in real life who are rather bimbotic, and adore, ADORE I tell you, Twilight. And if you were to ask them, so why do you like the book? You most often hear it's because "vampires are SO cool, and so&so is so adorable, aiyeee!!" and nothing else about the writing or plot. I try not to be a snob about it especially since one of my dearest friends is a huge fan of Twilight - the book and movie. And I don't think she is silly ... most of the time. hee. (addendum: ok fine, I also have my moments too!)Oh heck, maybe I am bit of a book snob! There is so much of a worldwide craze, partly marketing surrounding Twilight that I do not want to be part of, particularly when I think of so many wonderful books out there that I have not yet read, and will never have the same attention.

Plus, me + 21st century vampire books = not a good mix. Now, if you truly want to talk about a good vampire book - pick up the classic, Dracula. I promise you, chills, CHILLS throughout the night! And a whole lot of good writing.

In which I would like to trade books with you.

2009-01-18T15:03:00.000+08:00

I'm moving out of Malaya (haha I'm stuck in the 50's) and amongst the other junk that I need to get rid of, I'd like to see the following books go to a happy home (in return of a book I'd like to read!):

1. 1001 ways you can save the planet: Practical ideas to heal and change the world.

2. Girl in hyacinth blue by Susah Vreeland

3. Haunted Ground by Erin Hart

4. Possible side effects by Augusten Burroughs

5. Eat right for your type by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo

6. Queen of Dreams by Chitra Divakaruni

7. Ines of my soul by Isabel Allende

8. The messengers of death by Pierre Magnan (an English translation of a French mystery novel - fun!)

9. Two caravans by Marina Lewycka

10. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

11. Year's best graphic novels, comics & manga edited by Byron press and Howard Zimmerman

12. Mosquito by Roma Tearne

13. Recipies from a Kitchen Garden by Shepherd & Raboff

14. Mi libro grande de las palabras - Learn Spanish via pictures!!

I know this book blog is new and its readership nil but it can't hurt to put this up and see who might be interested in the big cyberworld out there. So do drop an e-mail if interested!

Hello world [In which I talk about books just bought today].

2009-01-17T20:30:00.000+08:00

So I'm thinking that this blogger account could be used for a book blog because one can never have too many (secret) blogs/time to waste especially when one is currently on sabbatical, woohoo.

The Times Warehouse Sale at Plaza Damas has proven to be an irresistible draw where I bought the following:

1. Diana Wynne Jones - The Time of the Ghost (30% off)

2. Diana Wynne Jones - House of Many Ways (30% off)

3. Diana Wynne Jones - Fire & Hemlock (30% off)

4. Geraldine Brooks - March (RM12)

5. Rohinton Mistry - Family Matters (RM10)

6. Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre (RM12)

7. Mary Shelly - Frankenstein (RM4) <- great steal! I've been meaning to buy this classic for ages as well.

8. James Lovelock - The Revenge of Gaia (RM10) <- non-fiction; a recent environment consciousness classic.

It must be said that I haven't even made a dent (the reading kind) on the books bought at the first haul of this year's sale. At least I'm getting better at being more discriminatory on choosing books. At the last Times Warehouse Booksale, I got rather carried away and bought a whole bunch of books that I'm very ready to get rid of. But then again, I made good in getting the first seven or eight books of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series (I found one copy at Book Xcess too, it was a happy joy joy time) so I'm a happy camper when it comes to the warehouse booksales. And hey, don't knock the Ladies Detective Agency series until you've read them. Alexander McCall Smith has a light humourous touch when it comes to writing about feisty Botswana women and its culture. Thoroughly enjoyable writing.

Current dilemma: Hoping all my books would safely make the journey across the seas!