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.

Book Lover by Jennifer Kaufman & Karen Mack

Dora is a divorcee who is currently separated with her second husband. She is unemployed and tend to drown herself in books whenever she is unhappy.

The only time she leave the house is to refuel in bookstore. It was during one of these trips which she met Fred, a Tennyson qouting Adonis. He seems to be the perfect guy. That is till tragedy strikes. He was not what he seems to be.

It took me a week to finish this book. I keep hoping that this will get better. Unfortunately it did not.

I find that Dora is a tad too plain and pathetic. Her ex-husband and sister tried to help her out. Unfortunately Dora was too into feeling sorry for herself that she ignored their efforts.

No doubt the main character is Dora, but the whole books seems to be about Dora, Dora and more Dora. Dora the pathetic bookworm, Dora the financially unstable, Dora the loser, Dora the lover and etc.

First divorce she blames the first ex-husband who was too immature. Second divorce she blames the husband who is a society climber. And now Fred, the uncaring man. Makes me think what about herself? She is the one who choose them for all the wrong reason. Who is she to judge them?

She doesn't seems to know what she want out of this life. At first a macho husband. Then when that does not work, maybe a husband with an ambition. And when that doesn't work, she runs away again.

It is very tiring reading how she moan about everything...about how some people read their books, about her financial situation, about what some of her friends did and about how heartless of Fred. It was like she blame everyone except for herself for things that goes wrong in herself and her depression. It was not written directly in the book but that was the impression that I get when I was reading it.

This is my personal opinion only. I am sure there are others who love this book. Each person taste in books are different.

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

Slumgirl Dreaming : My Journey to the Stars by Rubina Ali with 2 Others

I am not fond of biography as some tend to drag. I prefer memoir as it's less formal.

Saw this thin memoir selling at Bookxcess the other day. I had read the book, Slumdog Millionaire and watched part of the show. I love the book, Slumdog Millionaire very much. Hence when I saw this, I was curious as I recalled there was a scandal about this not so long ago.

It tells the story of young Rubina Ali who lived in the bleak of poverty in the slum in Mumbai. From young she thought everywhere else is the same as the slum she was born in. That is until she was old enough to watch Television drama which makes her dream of a live as an actress.

She was lucky as she was selected from among 500 slum children to be in the multi-Oscar winning film by Danny Boyle- Slumdog Millionaire.

This book tells the story how she lived before she was selected for the film and what transpired during the filming and the subsequent stardom.

At the end of the book she expressed some regrets and her disappointment on empty promises by certain people to her and her family. But life goes on.

I found that this is an easy read. Finished this book in two hours. Yes, very interesting.

The way she described her life in the slum and the aftermath was captivating.

In this book she seems to be more far mature for her age. This does raise some doubts in my mind. I am not sure whether this is true or it's just window dressing. Do we ever really know a person? Sometimes, we don't even know ourselves.

Nevertheless, there was a nice feeling when reading this. Who doesn't like the story of Ugly Duckling turning into a Swan?

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.

Terrific Photos From EOE Online

Still remember my post on trying out EOE Online last week? I received the photographs a few days ago.

Bought these two photos album from them at RM5 each. Each album can fit 80 pieces of 4R size photo. The front and back cover is made of plastic. To me, the price is reasonable.

The photos turns out quite good especially outdoor photos with a lot of greenery because EOE Online use FUJI paper to print.

 

The color turns out very good.

This is what happen when I can't make up my mind on which photo to print and wish to save some $$. I collage them all into a print. I was not sure what page format to use when creating the collage. Whether A4 or Letter Paper or others. Hence, I simply choose one, upload the photo and hoped for the best. Lucky for me the EOE Online staffs were very alert and adjusted photos so that it would fit the 8R size without having the head "chop" off.

Will I use EOE Online service again? Definitely a "YES".



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.