The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Synopsis at www.goodreads.com

Death, a sardonic and articulate character who is afraid of humans, narrates this WWII coming-of-age story about faith, love, hope amidst tragedy.

Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands.

The child arrives having just stolen her first book –- although she has not yet learned how to read -– and her foster father uses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when she's roused by regular nightmares about her younger brother's death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayor's reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents.

Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesel's story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.

–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA

My Comments :

I picked up this book from Subang Jaya Book Exchange Programme(SJBEP). It's the community book exchange programme which is held every fortnight on the 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month at the USJ 2 Community Hall, Subang Jaya.

At the beginning I was a bit confused on the narration of the book. The Prologue confused me. Initially I didn't know who was "talking" on and on about meeting the book thief three times. The beginning sounded very depressing.

As the story unfolds, I was mesmerised. Story is told by Death and his description of the events was very captivating. If you do not have the heart for sad story, then this is not the book for you. The point of view was from the innocent by stander whose words seems very naive. Love the way Death describe Hitler.

Death have a sense of humour too for in page 470, Death said "It kills me sometimes, how people die."

It's War time and yet despite all the chaos in that era, the story was told in a very calm manner. At least that was how it felt for me.

I guess, you'll just have to read it for yourself to get what I mean.

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Please forgive me for I have not updated this blog for over a month. A lot happened during this time. I have read many books during this period and some I find that it's a waste of my time and space to blog about it here.

Anyway, I "encountered" this book titled "Shantaram" which I feel that I must note it down in this humble blog of mine.

I bought it from The Big Bad Wolf Sale 2011. In the beginning I was reluctant to buy this book as it has 936 pages. I was doubtful whether I have the patience to read it till this end. However, I bought it due to recommendation of a friend whose taste in books I trusted.

The story is about an escape convict, Lin, who managed escape from a maximum security prison in Australia and made his way to Bombay. Being a foreigner there, he was game to immerse himself to their culture. Hence begins his venture to the Bombay under world

In the beginning he was accompanied by his faithful friend Prabaker whom he just met. With Prabaker as his guide, they venture into the world of beggars, slums, prostitute and eventually Lin got involved with wars.

In Bombay, Lin also met the woman that stolen his heart.

I find that this story is very captivating with exception on the war part.

what kept me hooked to this book is the story of the author himself. He was actually imprisoned in Australia and he escaped. He spent 10 of his fugitive years in Bombay. The story of Lin is sounded very similar to the life story of the author.  I can't help thinking that maybe some of the events in the book are based on true story instead of fictional.

 I would recommend you to grab a copy for yourself if you can. It's that good!

Iron Fey Series : Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

Brief description of the book.

This is the last book of the series. Concentrate mainly on Prince Ash.

When he was a Prince in the Winter Court, any show of emotions or feelings is consider to be a show of weakness. Hence, he had to build a barricade around himself. And when his beloved wife died, its was like his heart had died. He only live for revenge.

That is until a girl, a half faery princess and half mortal, Meghan Chase, came into his life. She melted the ice around his heart and he starts to feel again.

However, destiny prevented their union.

In order for him to be re-united with Meghan Chase, he had to give up his immortality and to gain a Soul as all Faery does not have a soul.

This is his quest.

My Comment :

Although this book is not as emotional as the third book, and yet I enjoyed it very much. I love the light banter between Puck, Grimalkin and not forgetting The Big Bad Wolf. For we wouldn't want him to be forgotten and end up as a citizen of Phaed, would we?

As for Prince Ash, I don't think that he was that outstanding in this book but we do get a lot of insight on what he feels and things like that. I feel that he was being overshadowed by the supporting characters.

The part I enjoyed the most is when the came to the Temple and they have to go through a series of challenges.

I would like to comment that the author did a very good job in writing the part where Ash had to go through a series of test in order to become human. That part reminds me of the Chinese Story "Journey To The West" where the Monk and his disciple were face with challenges of the heart, mind and soul.

At the end of the book, there is a chapter in how to survive Faeryland which I found very entertaining. I can see the author's humour there.

Also another notable part is the Interview with the Author. There were two unexpected guests as well which make the interview more "colourful".

However, am feeling a bit down too now. Finishing these 4 terrific books, it's like loosing a friend. The end of a chapter. Hopefully, I would be able get my hands on some more terrific books like these.

By the way, there are two more books to this series "Winter's Passage" and "Summer's Crossing" which I have yet to obtain. It's in the form of e-books.

Iron Fey Series : Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

In Iron Daughter, Meghan, the half human and half Summer Faery Princess kept her word. She followed Prince Ash back to the Winter Court. There, she sort of a "prisoner with some privilege" to Queen Mab. Nobody believe their words in the existence of Iron Fey.

To her dismay, Prince Ash attitude towards her had turn colder than frozen ice upon returning to the Winter Court and had frequently look at her with disdain.

War looms between Winter Court and Summer when the Scepter of Seasons when missing. Meghan was there when the Scepter when missing but nobody believed her, especially when she the claim that it's the work of the Iron Fey.

Without her power, Meghan could do nothing. She had to depend on her wit for survival and do the best she can to retrieve the Scepter to prevent war.

Offer to help came to her from an unexpected side. Who can she trust? One miss step would prove to be fatal. Could she believe the words of a seemingly traitor?

My Comment:-

Again, the author had me biting my nails anticipating the action and how the story would develop.

I don't know how she do it but she certainly have the talent to bring the story from one height to another. The chemistry between Puck, Meghan and Prince Ash were there. Some would compare them to Jacob, Bella and Edward. However, in my humble opinion, the former combination is better.

Certainly not to be missed.

However, one down side is that I don't think this book could be read without reading the first book in order to understand fully of the sequel of events.

Suitable for young adults and those that are young at heart. Not much gory.

Iron Fey Series : Iron king by Julie Kagawa

Brief Description :

The series starts off with Iron King. Meghan was turning 16 that year but she is not your normal teenager. There is something special about her.

She discovered the truth one day when her younger step brother, Ethan, gone missing. He was kidnapped. In his place, they left a changeling.

Thus, this is the beginning of her quest to Faeryland (Fairyland) to rescue her brother. Along her side was her best friend, Robbie, who happens to have a secret of his own.

In Faeryland, some secrets were finally revealed. Even though it was not her fault, Meghan made some very deadly enemies and had become pawn in feud between two Courts; The Summer Court who is head by King Oberon and Winter Court headed by Queen Mab.

What made it worse is that Meghan was strongly attracted to the handsome ice prince from the Winter Court, Prince Ash who would not hesitate to kill her in a blink of an eye in view of the feud between the two Courts.

However, some circumstances force Prince Ash, Meghan and Robbie whose alternate identity is Puck, to join force and journey together to rescue Ethan.

There they discovered a new race of deadly faery....Iron Faery.

They managed to rescue Ethan but not before Meghan was given something unexpected and lost something in return.

My Comment :

I was hooked from page one of this book.

As I read along, I had this dejavu feeling that the plots or stories feels familiar. Part of it was like Narnia. Some parts were like Grimm's Fairy Tales and most obvious was a  lot of it made me feels that I am reading a branch of The Never Ending Story.

For example, the Nevernever slowly dying. Poisoned by Iron. Iron from the dreams of modern society.  It is pretty similar to The Never Ending Story where the Land was being devoured by "the Nothing" and the characters/people/fairy in it will soon disappear as people in the mortal world no longer believe in fantasy.

In both books, the characters depend on people's imagination and memory to survive.

Please don't get me wrong. What I am trying to say is that I love this book as it is as good if not better than The Never Ending Story. The author have amazing talent to be able to churn out such a wonderful book.

When I read the first few pages of the book, I felt very "happy". The kind of happiness that only a fellow avid book lover would feel when they finds a good book. Have you ever had that kind of feeling? Guess, am doing a very bad job of reviewing this book as word just doesn't adequately describe the feeling.

Though this book is aim at young adults, but I am sure those who are young at heart would certainly love it too. I know I do.

I hope to be able to collect the full set of this series. However, I was told that for some reason unknown, hardcopies of this book is not available in Malaysia. This book is loan to me by a fellow book lover.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

Sorry for the long silence. Been rather busy with my hoard of books from the Big Bad Wolf Sale. Went there three rounds. Bought over 100 books. Getting book mad already

Here is a book that I got from the BBWS "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks. I finished this in just a few hours. Guess this speaks how much I like this book.

The story is about 17 years old Veronica(Ronnie) who was "forced" to spend time with her father. Her parents was divorced and she was angry at her father. The out of the blue, her mom thinks its best that she and her brother to spend the summer with her father in North Carolina.

Her father was a former concert pianist and was her former teacher. He now lives in a small town by the beach. When Ronnie arrived there she rejected all her father's attempt to be her friend.

Unwittingly she got caught up with the town's gang headed by the scary Marcus. Marcus wanted her but he gives her the creeps.

Ronnie bumped into Will. He is the town heartthrob. Slowly, Ronnie let down her guard and fell in love. In doing so, she also got to know her father better.

This is a story of young love, friendship, love between parent and their child and most important of all is the love of God. How the love can hurt us and how it can heal us.

Some people may not like this book as it's not that realistic coz all the condition were very ideal to begin with. There were no grudged between the divorced parents; Ronnie and Will were sensible kids to begin with.

For me, this book leaves me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. It's like being young again with no encumbrance in life, bright future with a dose of uncertainty ahead and stuffs like that. When I read this book, I felt light.

I felt that in this book, the author had reveal more of his relationship with God than in any of his other book. There are many reference made regarding God's will.

As usual, be prepare for a hint of heart break at the ending though things are made stronger by it. I recommend this book for those who needs a dose of hope and to feel young again.

Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany

Same as his, The Yacoubian Building, this book have a variety of characters from all walks of life. Story is set in the campus of the University of Illinois Medical Center some time after 11th Sept.

Among them :-

-Graham, a professor who is having a relationship with an African-American woman

-Carol, Graham's girlfriend who is faced with racial prejudice

-Shaymaa an educated Egyptian whose chances of getting married in her homeland is low hence she came to America to get her PhD but found love instead

-Tariq is a good catch for all prospective brides except for a slightly deficit in him.

-Ra'fat, an Egyptian emigrate who is faced with tough problem in communicating with his Americanize daughter

-Danana- a despicable Egyptian state Security informant  who uses religious doctrines to get his way in life.

Marwa- Danana's suffering wife.

Nagi- an Egyptian student who came here to study in order to finance his literary aspiration but he seems to be in a fight with everyone that he met

I bought this book a few months ago but could not get through the first chapter coz the paragraph seems to be so long winded. However, I decided to give this book another chance after reading The Yacoubian Building which I liked. Am so glad that I did coz in my opinion, this book is even better than The Yacoubian Building.

Once I got through the first chapter, the rest of the book went well.

The plot is brilliant. The author would tell the story of one character and stopped at the right moment to keep the suspense high before going on to the story of another character. This kept me reading. Started reading this at 11.30pm last night and finished this book at 5am this morning.

Should you decide to read this book, do keep an open mind. It touches on religion. Some people maybe offended by the way some characters being portray.

It made me feel angry at the treatment received by of some women here. Being manipulated by the men. However, I won't fault the author as the ability of the author to evoke a range of feeling in his/hers readers for me is the mark of a good author.

I had a great time reading this book. Hope to get my hand on more of his books.

Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin

Book Description from Booksneeze.com

"Life is a battle, but you can't fight it with your fists. You got to fight it with your heart."

An internationally famous photographer, Tucker has traveled the world and seen both the serious and the strange. But when his brother escapes from a mental hospital and an old girlfriend appears with her son and a black eye, he is forced to return home and face the agony of his own tragic past.

Back in rural Alabama, Tucker comes to terms with the ghosts he left behind. Miss Ella Rain once loved Tuck and his brother like they were her very own. Hiring her to take care of Waverly Hall and to keep them out of sight was the only good thing their father ever did. And though Miss Ella has been gone for many years, Tuck can still hear her voice. And she keeps telling him, encouraging him, that by reaching out to this young boy he can redeem his father's tarnished legacy and pass on the good she brought into his life

My Comments

For me "Wrapped In Rain" is a powerful book. Emotionally charged and a page turner indeed.

It made me sad reading the part about Tucker and Mutt's childhood. Having a rich and alcoholic father leaves them same as having no father at all. All the child care responsibility was pass to Miss Ella Rain. Though she have her own dreams and desire, but she sacrificed them in order to bring up the two kids.

Maybe some of the goodness of Miss Ella had rubbed off on Tucker as he too have similar characteristic as her.

The author indeed is very good with word play. Each sentence is beautifully phrase. Some may find this tedious and long winded but not me. For this enable me to enjoy the story to its fullest and yet feel the feelings that each characters were generating.

Kudos to the author for he not only tried to tackle the matter of alcoholism, abuses, faith in God but also the matter of  mental illness which is on the rise these days. He also many to draw vividly to the readers on how hard it is for family members to deal with that. All the heartache involved.

Yes, this is a truly good book to read. I give it 5 stars

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255  : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes (37 Short Stories and 1 Novel) by Arthur Conan Doyle

I missed the days where I go book hunting with my two crazy friends. Those were the days where PayLessBooks(PLB) stores were still around. PLB is still around now but now mostly consist of warehouse sale.

Last year went to a few of their warehouse sale and found that the books does not suits me. It's entirely my fault as I have bought so many from them previously that I found that I am in an awkward position. I already owned most of the books that capture my interest from their previous sales. Hence, I seldom go their warehouse sale anymore.

This is one of the books which one of my friends, Newton, spotted at one of PLB stall. He telephone me and told me I must get over the quickly. He said that he will ask the staff there to hold this book for me. I was reluctant at first because I have read most of Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. But he told me how nice this book was and the fine condition it's in. Well, that was how I end up buying this book. Mind you, it's not cheap. It was RM55-90.

After getting this book, it ended up in my storeroom under the piles of "Pending to be read" books.

My interest on this book awaken again after reading The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle by Russell Miller two weeks ago.

I found myself being captivated once again by the stories of Sherlock Holmes. And it's more meaningful now since I have read about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

This round, I admired not only the clever way Sherlock Holmes solve the cases but also I fell in love the proper English which this book was written. It's definitely different from many modern books. It's softer and refined.

There are 356 original illustration by Sidney Paget.Can you see the fine print? There were 636 pages in this book. That's the reason I took so long to finish this book, around a week. And I have skipped reading The Hound of Baskervilles. One fine day am going to come back to this book to read The Hound of Baskervilles.

For now, am happy that I have added this book for my collection. It's priceless to me if not to others

The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle by Russell Miller

Guess, there is no need for introduction when ones mention Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A mention of his name for avid reader will sparks a spontaneous respond "Sherlock Holmes?"

I was delighted when I saw this autobiography of Arthur Conan Doyle at the Non-Fiction section at Bookxcess.

It was a good read. To get to know the personal life of the man behind the famous Sherlock Holmes figure had indeed been very interesting.

Russell Miller did a splendid job on this book.

Sir Arthur family was quite poor when he was young. His father was an alcoholic and subsequently hospitalised for mental illness.

Despite all these, Arthur managed to do quite well in life. He married his first wife and had children but he then fell in love with another woman while his wife was dying with tuberculosis,

He become famous when the public fell in love with Sherlock Holmes. There was a public outcry when he decided to "killed" off Sherlock Holmes. In fact, an old lady smacked him with her handbag.

He had also championed many good cause. And later in life, he developed an interest in Spiritualism.

I think those who love "Sherlock Holmes" will find this book pretty interesting and eye opening.

Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao

The moment I saw this book on display at BookXcess and noticed the author's unique name, I said to myself "I've gotta have it".

Didn't even see the synopsis to check what's the story is about. Moreover, it's cheap at RM14-90.

When I came home I noticed it's a story written by Lan Cao, Vietnamese who left Vietnam and is now residing in New York

The story is about a young girl, Mai, who left Vietnam on the very day which Saigon fell. She was joined by her mother Thanh a few months later. Her grand father, Baba Quan was supposed to join her mother on that trip but for some unknown reason he did not made it.

This issue had haunted Thanh and Mai. Mai had tried several avenue to locate her grandfather. Through this effort she somehow dug up some dark secret of her family.

It's really lovely to read how the story unfolds chapter by chapter. The author is brilliant in keeping the tale hanging till the very end.

The character, Mai, was very vivid. The way she portray the contrast between living in Vietnam and America is real eye opening. Somethings that seems normal to most people could be offensive to others . For example the part where Mai and her mother in a supermarket and the way the cashier summon them to a newly open counter. The cashier meant well, but Thanh thinks the gestures was rude. This is what makes this novel seems so real.

Love it

Sifu : An Unusual Teacher In The Turbulence of The Malayan War by Khoo Kheng Hor

This is another terrific read from the author Khoo Kheng-Hor which I have bought from MPH at MidValley

Story was set just after the Japanese Occupation. Mao Dong Po was just a small child when he witness the murder of his father by an overzealous British Officer who was determine to root out all communist and those who help the communist.

He was determined t seek revenge but even at his young age he knew enough that he had to learn more before he to execute his plans.

As fate has it, they were moved to a new village and subsequently his mother was force by situation to move again to stay with her brother who was a shop owner in Padang Besar. It is at the border to Thailand.

There he come across a Siamese man who subsequently become his "Sifu"(Teacher). The chosen profession? ....Assassin.

If this does not makes you sit up then...I have nothing else to say.

A very exciting book to read. It incorporated some of characters from his previous books. Don't worry. This will not hinder the story flow of this book. To me this is another MUST READ type of book and I love this genre of book very much.

Fragile Things ; Short Fictions & Wonders by Neil Gaiman

This is a collection of 31 short stories, some in the form of stories some in the form of poems.

This is the 2nd Neil Gaiman book which I have read and I can say that now I am a confirm fan of his writing.  It's extraordinary how he can come out with so many different stories...from Narnia type to Matrix type..to ancient Scottish type. I sense that he is impressive with Narnia as at least two of the story in this book makes reference to that.

Reading this books makes me feel that Neil Gaiman is playing and teasing the readers. Making the reader's brain work instead of following what's written down blindly. It's like duelling swords whereby words are his swords.

When I was reading "The Problem of Susan", I thought I caught what the plot of the story going to be at the beginning but  touché! he won again. The ending was not what I had expected.

Another story which I liked was "Goliath". It was something like the movie "Matrix" with a sinister plot.

As in most collection of short stories, there are certain stories which I won't claim that I caught on fully of it's meaning and wits. This is because my knowledge is not as wide as I would like it to be. Yes, I think for those who seldom read or those who stick to only on or two genre of books, they will not be able to understand what's written. Like what I have mentioned earlier, the stories here are linked to almost everything from Arabian nights, Sherlock Holmes, Narnia, Matrix, myth and legends to fairy tales.

Neil Gaiman is indeed a brilliant author and I look forward to reading more of his books.

Sidney Sheldon's After The Darkness by Tilly Bagshawe

Last week I went to Big Book Shop Moving Out Clearance Sale. To my delight, this book was one of those on sale. Got this for RM7-50 only.

I feel in love with Tilly Bagshawe's works after reading "Sidney Sheldon's Mistress of The Game", purchased from BookXcess last year.

Sidney Sheldon's After The Darkness tells the exciting story of Grace Brookstein, the young and beautiful wife of billionaire Lenny Brookstein. Her life is the envy of all her friends and even sisters. What is not to envy? She have everything that a woman wants, a loving husband, a charmed life, rich and surrounded by tonnes of "friends".

That is until the death of her husband in a tragic sailing "accident". After his death, it was discovered that billions of dollars were missing from the company. FBI suspected Lenny and Grace took the money and had prepared to run away before Lenny's "accident".

Grace's life took a drastic dive. Not only that she become penniless, all her "friends" and her "sisters" also deserted her. She become the most hated woman in the country.

She tried to clear Lenny's and her name, she was drawn into well planned lies and deceit which sole purpose to make her as the "'scapegoat". When she became "dis-Grace", there was someone who "helped" and stood by her. She thought she had found a true friend.Unknown to her, this friend was a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Grace was used and betrayed mercilessly.

There was a surprise ending which drove the knife of betrayal deeper into her heart. A Judas.

Yes, this books is about false sense of security and betrayal. It's a world where the naive and those with kind intention were fed to the dogs. Lenny and Grace had showed kindness to their friend. But when no benefit can be had with association with Grace, these friend become like "pea forgetting the pods'". There were so many Judas in this book.

Some may ask, with so many betrayal and will this book make sense? Yes, the book makes sense. The betrayal were not overly exaggerate. I may not have a degree in Psychology but I know something about human nature and the need of survival. During desperate time, self preservation tends to dominate.

I have to salute Ms Tilly Bagshawe. I found that this book is equal if not more exciting that some of Sidney Sheldon's novel.

There are many exciting twist in the plot. None were confusing nor unbelievable. She really makes my heart bleed for Grace. I love the way how she developed the character "Grace" from being a naive sort of personality into a woman with inner straight-like a bamboo bending but not breaking under strong wind.

This is certainly a very good book. I wonder if Ms Tilly's next book will be able to surpass this one

Reviving Local Dialect Cuisines by Pang Nyuk Yoon

I was the lucky winner of this recipe book from Veronica of Quay Po Cooks on her Mother's Day Give Away. Thank you very much, Veron.

This is a very useful book for me.  Those of you who know me well, you will know my cooking taste horrible. Maybe I can improve some by following the recipe here...but then...maybe not..It depends on talent too.

The book is written in two language, English and Chinese. It starts off with describing the food legacy and a short excerpt about the author.

This book featuring cuisine from 5 major dialects - Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka and Hainanese. Each part starts off with a bit about the dialects in Singapore and the heritage.

What I love about this book is each recipe the author would give the name of the ingredients in English and in Chinese for those like me who are "Banana Chinese".

For example, this 10 treasure Duck Soup. Root Poria is called Fu Shen and White peony root is called Bai Shao in Chinese. This definitely made it easier for me to shop for the ingredient from my local Chinese Medicine Hall.

Yes, this is an interesting cook book and useful too.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Story revolves around the life of two woman who are of different generation in Afghanistan.

Mariam was a harami (illegitimate child). From early on her mother have told her that the life as a woman is hard. Her mother warned her about her father but she still sided with her father more than her mother.

Then her mother pass away and her father was forced to marry her off to a man who is older than her by 30 years.

Laila  is the beloved child of an educated couple. Theirs were a love match and they brought up their children to be open minded.

When there was a war, Laila's two brothers were drafted. Her mother was heart broken and taken to her bed. Her father in turn pour all his love to Laila. He had wanted Laila to have an education.

Laila have a childhood friend Tariq. They are as close as two peas in a pod. one of Tariq's leg was blown off by a mine when he was a kid. Nevertheless, he was Laila champion.

All went well till a tragedy happen. Mariam and Laila were thrown together. Both their fate were link together.

This is indeed a splendid read. Yes, the story was sad but it was not depressing sort of sadness. It's more of missed opportunity type. Lives wasted.

Mr Khaled Hosseini is very good at bringing u the right emotion and reaction in this book. The story have ring of truth instead of fiction.

Taikor by Khoo Kheng Hor

I have been yearning to read this book ever since I read his other book titled Mamasan.

Taikor is a historical saga the life of Ya Loong from 1922 to 1982. He s the eldest son and have two younger brothers. He was born in Thailand but when his father pass away, his mother bring all of them to Penang to seek the help of her sister.

Later on, his mother caught the eyes of a rich man and she become his wife. He was a widower with three daughters.


Although Ya Loong was barely 10 years old, he was very matured. And because of this, he constantly loggerhead with his step father. His step father decided that he cannot control Ya Loong any more and decided to sent Ya Loong to China in order to learn a trade from his Uncle there.

Sadly, he got in to trouble in Shanghai and had to come back to Penang to help his step father. Things did not work out and from that moment on he was on his own.

He had gone through the Japanese Occupation period, the lawless period and seen the forming of Malaya. Throught out that time he slowly rise into the position of a Taikor in the Penang underworld. As he grows older, he tries to break from his triad activities but somehow, people would still come to him for advices.

I love any novel that got to to with Malaysia. Of course I was delighted to read this book. It's full of historical events and happening. Although the author did say he changed some of the dates of the event to coincide with the happening in this book, I find that it is very exciting

Ya Loong is just such a powerful character and have vision for the future.

This book is the 2nd printing in 2008. Noted two typo errors:-

Page 141,  paragraph 3 "You think I'm a diety or something?..."

Page 240, Paragraph 4, " His scared member and jewels were cut off?"

Nevertheless, these two tiny error did not hinder my enjoyment of this book.

I would highly recommend this book for readers who wish to know more about the Malaysian history.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

Charley(Chick) Benetto had lost everything. He lost his career, lost his wife and finally lost the love and respect of his only daughter, Maria.

The crushing blow comes when he received a letter from his daughter enclosing two photographs of her wedding. He was not invited to the wedding.

He just can't stand the blow. Felt himself a total failure and decided to end it all.

For some weird reason, he felt compelled to go back to his childhood home for one last time.

Unexpectedly, the first person to meet him there was his mother welcoming him home as if nothing had happen. He was surprised beyond believe as his mother had died eight years earlier.

He was given one more chance. One day with his mother. The one day that might change his life.

Love this story. It spoke of regrets and things that perceive by one may not be the truth.

Sometimes things seems to be darkest during the night. Some times it just need somebody to understand and stand by you to help untangled things. To sort out the unhappy thoughts and find a way out

The plot is very clever. I did not know whether Chick was dreaming up the experience of that he had died and gone to heaven till the true ending was revealed in the end of the book. There is a special twist in the end of the story.

This is the second time I read this book. Yes, this book is for keeps.

Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom

This book is about the relationship between Mitch Albom and his mentor, Morrie Schwartz. And this book shall be their last thesis together.

You see Morrie have an incurable and terrible disease which eats him up bits by bit. It'sAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS). Morrie was Mitch Professor but they lost touch when he graduated.

One day, Mitch saw the news about Morrie and he contacted him. Henceforth this is the beginning of a journey by the two of them. Journey to learn about life and of course death.

This is the 2nd time am reading this book. The first time was when a friend presented me with this book when he got to know that am looking for this book. He is a fan of Hardcover book and have vast knowledge about book. He had collected quite a few copies of Tuesdays With Morrie, all in near brand new condition. He chase after Pay less Book Warehouse Sale.

The first time I read this book, it leaves me with a very strong impression. Shed some tears when Morrie dies.

On this second reading, I discovered something new. Page 92, Para 2 "This is part of what a family is about, not just love, but letting others know there's someone who is watching out for them. It is what I missed so much when my mother died - what I call your "spiritual security" - knowing that your family will be there watching out for you.Nothing else would give you that. Not money. Not fame."

In my opinion, this book is not to be read once only. This is a book that is to be read time and time again. It will give you insight when you read it at different stages of your life.

Definitely a must have in your bookshelves.

As I was getting my camera to snap a photograph of the book, I noticed a 3 legs spider crawling around on the table. Amazing. It's still alive and can move quite fast. I have not got the chance to focus the camera properly, it had disappeared.

Read and Share: Stories About Jesus by Gwen Ellis

This is a board book suitable for children age 5 to 7. In it there are 13 stories about the life of Jesus. These are The Man Who Ate Locusts, John Baptizes Jesus, Jesus Heals a Sick Boy, Jesus Brings a Girl Back to Life, Jesus Walks on Water, Jesus Loves the Children, Zacchaeus, A Blind Man Sees Again, Jesus Stops a Storm, One Lost Sheep, Jesus' Best Friends, One Man Says Thank You, and Jesus Goes to Heaven.

The story my son loves the most is One Lost Sheep. Because his aunt gave him a toy lamb when he was just a few months old and he have it till now. The sheep looks a bit like his toy lamb.

I like the hard board book as it is easy for my son to grip and it's harder for him to "destroy". Yes, he does tend to flip through all his books rather roughly. Board books are more durable.

At the end of each story there is a box with questions and comments for you to ask your kid. To make them think deeper. As usual with books related to bible, there is the scripture reference at the title of each stories so that you can refer to the longer version of the story in the Bible.

Yes, this is a good book to get for your kids and as a gift.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”