Hooked On Bookz

Title/Author: Teohlogy: The Word According to Patrick Teoh Publisher: ZI Publications No. of Pages: 303 ISBN 13: 978-967-5266-15-7 Price: RM38 In a nutshell (Tiru-ed (copied) from back cover synopsis) With his trademark razor-sharp wit, Teoh in his aptly-named Teohlogy (Elaine, hats off to you! I thought the name was brilliant! :D) articles, previously published in the now defunct Off The Edge (OTE) magazine (I missed you :( *sob* Jason Tan, I thought you and your team did one helluva good job!) from the years 2005 to 2010, shares his views on Malaysian life, topical affairs and issues that concern the ordinary Malaysian, with a generous sprinkling of realism, humour and provocation. (TAKE NOTE! For mature audience only....) What I liked Firstly, it has to be the cover! I thought it was a pure work of genius. First, it's so 'Patrick' (to me and my hubby lah at least). Second, it sets the tone of the book. Third, creative :) I usually get quite turned off seeing the ...

Just recently, a colleague of mine came back from a one-week holiday in Korea. I asked her if she visited "those famous 'romantic spots' featured in their drama series." (Mind you, I'm not a fan. I came to know about them through my sister who's one) There are many other places that are made famous because of drama series and books, and have now become tourist trails such as New Zealand ( The Lord of The Rings ), Phi Phi Island ( The Beach ), and recently, Sweden ( Larsson's Millenium trilogy ). Have you visited any one of them? I hope to visit New Zealand one day :) "The Swedish capital Stockholm now has its own version, based on Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, as Carmen Roberts has been finding out. To watch the video, go here ." I have yet to read the novels, as I'm currently reading something on child development :) (Lots of non-fiction for me lately!)

Finally! After months of waiting, here's my interview (via email) with Cornelia Funke, the author of Reckless. Thank you Odelia from Pansing, for helping me arrange this :) Cornelia is a multiple award-winning German author of children's fiction. She is best known for her Inkworld trilogy (Read the first part, Inkheart. Loved it :) My brief review here . Inkheart won the 2004 BookSense Book of the Year Children's Literature award. Inkheart was followed by Inkspell, which won Funke her second BookSense Book of the Year Children's Literature award (2006). The trilogy was concluded in Inkdeath (published in Germany in 2007, English version Spring 2008, American version Fall 2008. Have you always wanted to be an author? No, as a child I wanted to be an astronaut as Neil Armstrong had just landed on the moon and I was obsessed with Star Trek. But then I found out you have to have military training and I abandoned that dream. I also wanted to be a pilot at some point- and man...

Title/Author: March 8: Time For Real Change/Kee Thuan Chye Publisher: Marshall Cavendish No. of Pages: 363 ISBN 13: 9789814328333 (Written for Malaysiakini.com) An inspiring chronicle of change Review by Jee Wan http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/152887 Jan 9 When we won the Asian Football Federation Suzuki Cup, our PM declared 31st December a public holiday, claiming to support the 1Malaysia concept of "People First, Performance Now". Hurrah, hurrah. But when our PM attended a Christmas celebration at the Catholic Church Archbishop residence, the PMO directive ordered the church officials to remove crucifixes and prohibit them from singing hymns and praying, saying it's to protect the prime minister's Islamic credentials. Here we are shouting 1Malaysia this and 1Malaysia that, but know not how to respect the tradition, culture and beliefs of another religion? What message are we sending out to the public and the world at large? That we are still immature even after...

Title/Author: Brothers/Yu Hua Publisher: Picador USA No. of Pages: 600 ISBN 13: 9780330452755 In a nutshell ‘Brothers’ is about two stepbrothers, Baldy Li and Song Gang, who were brought together by death. Song Gang’s dad married Baldy Li’s mom after Baldy Li’s birth dad died tragically in a grotesque and comical incident. In the beginning I was a little put off by some of these explicit scenes and the constant use of vulgar language (and not to mention also the detailed descriptions of butts!). But after putting up with all of that, I was rewarded by a very heart-rending story of the stepbrothers who grew up in Liu Town, a small town in Shanghai, during the Cultural Revolution. Baldy Li, crafty and crass, while Song Gang, his total opposite, honest and gentle, are fiercely loyal to each other until they both fell in love with lin Hong, the most beautiful woman in Liu Town. What I liked Definitely the humour and charm that made up for its vulgarity. There was this scene where a bunc...