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.

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

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.

The Four-Sided Tower : Tales From Penang's Underworld by Khoo Kheng Hor

I was blog hopping when I came across blog post by Nightwing on this book.

This book intrigue me. I have fell in love with this author's work since I first read "Mamasan" and later "Taikor". That was why when I was at Midvalley the other day, I pop-over to MPH to look for more of his books. I found two. One of which is this book.

There are 12 short stories in this book. It tells the tales of the people who somehow been 'invited' or come in touch with  "Four-Sided Tower".

It was very interesting read. There are some hint of horrors, humour and moral in these stories.

Stories are told in an easy going manner. The flow of the languge was prefect though Mamarazzi spotted two typo error in the book. It did not hinder the joy of reading this book.

Yes, this is a must read.

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.

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.