My Small Kucing Blog

Thursday, November 24, 2011

My Great Picks From Big Bad Wolf Aftermath Sale at South City Plaza

Fuiyo!! Crazy man! Me and my friend  justgot home from the Big Bad Wolf Aftermath Sale at South City Plaza, Serdang.

Super great buys! All books are from RM5 and below.

Of course some books are slightly torn and damaged but we have expected it coz The Big Bad Wolf have already warned us about that in their website.

Despite the warnings, we found that it's not that bad. Most of the books are in a rather good condition. We managed to dug up quite a lot of books. I even managed to find a lot of titles which I missed at the 2nd Wave of BBBWS.

Gosh! I nearly fainted when I saw those hardcover Disney books going for RM5 each. Grabbed some which I missed the last round.

Here are some of the books that we managed to pick from the BBW Aftermath Sale.





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It's happening this 24th to 28 November 2011 at South City Plaza, Lot G-29 (20 Ground Floor), South City Plaza, Persiaran Serdang Perdana, Seri Kembangan.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi

Synopsis from http://www.goodreads.com/.

From the acclaimed author of A Breath of Fresh Air, this beautiful novel takes us to modern India during the height of the summer’s mango season. Heat, passion, and controversy explode as a woman is forced to decide between romance and tradition.

Every young Indian leaving the homeland for the United States is given the following orders by their parents: Don’t eat any cow (It’s still sacred!), don’t go out too much, save (and save, and save) your money, and most important, do not marry a foreigner. Priya Rao left India when she was twenty to study in the U.S., and she’s never been back. Now, seven years later, she’s out of excuses. She has to return and give her family the news: She’s engaged to Nick Collins, a kind, loving American man. It’s going to break their hearts.

Returning to India is an overwhelming experience for Priya. When she was growing up, summer was all about mangoes—ripe, sweet mangoes, bursting with juices that dripped down your chin, hands, and neck. But after years away, she sweats as if she’s never been through an Indian summer before. Everything looks dirtier than she remembered. And things that used to seem natural (a buffalo strolling down a newly laid asphalt road, for example) now feel totally chaotic.

But Priya’s relatives remain the same. Her mother and father insist that it’s time they arranged her marriage to a “nice Indian boy.” Her extended family talks of nothing but marriage—particularly the marriage of her uncle Anand, which still has them reeling. Not only did Anand marry a woman from another Indian state, but he also married for love. Happiness and love are not the point of her grandparents’ or her parents’ union. In her family’s rule book, duty is at the top of the list.

Just as Priya begins to feel she can’t possibly tell her family that she’s engaged to an American, a secret is revealed that leaves her stunned and off-balance. Now she is forced to choose between the love of her family and Nick, the love of her life.

As sharp and intoxicating as sugarcane juice bought fresh from a market cart, The Mango Season is a delightful trip into the heart and soul of both contemporary India and a woman on the edge of a profound life change.

My Comments:

I like this book. It's rich with Indian culture and  tradition. On one side, "Priya" was Americanise but her root kept pulling her towards obeying the family tradition. I can understand why she kept delaying or unable to tell her family about her American "fiance".

The plot had kept me in suspense throughout the book. Even at the ending, the author still managed to knock me off my feet by the secret that she revealed. The author have pretty good sense of humour too. At some parts I can't help chuckling at the jokes that she slotted in especially Priya's brother whom deliberately avoid the family gathering by giving all sorts of excuses.

To me, this book is a light-hearted sort of book. Not one of those heavy and emotional novel. There is no killing the bride for not being a virgin and stuffs like that. It portray a middle class family where they are starting to open up to modern days influence and even the family Patriarch is not excluded.

A gem find for me from the BBWS 2011.

I rate this book 4 stars out out 5.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Two Lives of Miss Charlotte Merryweather by Alexander Potter



Synopsis from www.goodreads.com


From the "fantastically funny" (Elle), "sharp" (Salon) author of the international bestseller Me and Mr. Darcy, an enchanting drive down the road not taken, in the most surprising company

At age thirty-one, American Charlotte Merryweather has spent ten years in London pursuing personal and professional perfection. Yet her present-day success- heading her own PR company, owning a gorgeous apartment, planning a future with her devoted boyfriend- only heightens the shock of a visit from the past.

"Lottie," Charlotte's twenty-one-year-old self, drives onto the scene at the wheel of a rusty, orange Volkswagen Beetle identical to Charlotte's first UK ride. Charlotte pursues a friendship aimed to bestow upon Lottie a decade of wisdom. Yet Charlotte's prosperous polish proves a pale substitute for Lottie's innate, youthful graces- openness, passion, and kindness. Will the student become the teacher in this witty turnabout?

The clever plotting and winning characterization that made Me and Mr. Darcy a bestseller are on full display in these pages.

My Comments :

I finished this book in four hours.

This is a pretty easy read . Plot were rather smple. Not much surprise there.

Charatcher wise was pretty much ordinary. For the first part of the book, I find it lack of challenge. Nothing much to chew on. Things only git better when Olly the bartender was introduced.

However, the ending was rather clever. Love the twist that the author added there.


Friday, November 4, 2011

It's Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Craig Gilner is a 15 years old teenager who is highly ambitious. He had his life planned out. He wants to succeed in life. And this means have to get good result in high school, get into the right college in order to get the right job.

He managed to get into the  Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School. However, the pressure become unbearable. He could not concentrate and he stopped eating. Suicide thoughts were constantly in his mind. His friends thought he is weird for he always carries flash cards around him.

Lucky for him, he have an understanding family. When he told his parents about his depression, they very very supportive and got help for him. Sent him for psychiatric treatment. He was alright for some time till he stopped taking his med.

One night the pressure was so hard that he dialed Suicide Helpline and he checked into the Hospital by himself. This is the story of his stay in the psychiatric ward where he met new "friends", which includes a transsexual sex addict, a girl who scarred her own face and self elected President Armelio.

I find that this book was very insightful. Probably because the author had spent 5 days in adult psychiatric in Methodist Hospital, Park Slope, Brooklyn 29 Nov to 3rd Dec 2004. The way it is written was sensitive and the issue touched here are common issues faced by teenagers today.

What I like is that the issue were dealt in a sensitive and respectful way. Not overtly emotional. For example, Craig did not look down on Charles when he found out that Charles is a transsexual person.

Am amazed at the standard of the health care there whereby anyone, even a 15 year old,  who is feeling suicidal can check themselves into a hospital to get help. It's very unlike here were we have to get all sort of "certification" before we can get any psychiatric help...by then we might have been a goner already.

However, I find that the ending was a bit too tidy. All well that ends well?

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Starting Over by Tony Parson

George Bailey came from two generations of cops. He was happily married with a near adult son, Rufus, and a teenage daughter, Ruby. His wife, Lara had always care for him.

One day while chasing a felon, George suffered a heart attack. He was given the heart of a 19 year old. From that day onwards things started to change. He feels younger and more "open" as compared to previously patriarch figure.

He felt closer to his son and more relax to his daughter.

He sort of fell in love with his wife, Lara, all over again. Even went as far as getting a tattoo of her name on his body.

However, things was not all rosy and sweet. This new change brought disaster to the family. Without the stern-old school dad around, the family started to unravel. George had meant to do some good but somehow they backfired.

Pretty soon he was kick out of the house. The son dropping out of school, the daughter takes up with some unsavory character while his wife found herself with a new man.

For me this had been a difficult read. Many things in thing book were not straight forward. There was a lot of hinting and readers are to come up with their own conclusion. Hence some part things came up disjointed.

Scene seems to flash here and there. For example, his son Rufus, from a Comedian wannabe to suddenly dating a waitress and going to be a father.

I have read several of his books before this and this book is definitely not one of my favourite book of his.