Hooked On Bookz

Title/Author: Blockade Billy/Stephen King Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton No. of pages: 132 ISBN 13: 978-1-444-71619-1 In a nutshell William ‘Blockade Billy’ Blakely, a player from Davenport Cornhuskers, a minor league team in Iowa, was asked to replace a catcher for New Jersey Titans until a suitable replacement could be found. Billy "wasn’t exactly right in the top story”, as Granny described. He had a tendency to refer to himself in third person and echo back what others said. The players thought him a little bit odd too, but like Granny, they all took a liking to him, even the arrogant, competitive pitcher Danny ‘Doo’ Dusen, who later referred to Billy as his lucky charm. Billy became an overnight sensation with his uncanny ability to ‘block the plate’, that is to tag runners trying to score. However, beneath all that charm and talent, Billy hides a secret in his past, ‘a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today’. Granny noticed so...

Do you tend to scan a text or really read it? (I know someone who reads every word when reading a book! :) You know who you are *wink*) When was the last time you allowed the words from a book/text and your thought sink in? 'Cuz you see...seems like technology has kinda made us 'lazy' readers (not liking to read lengthy articles and generally just skimming/scanning it) and...well...'stupider' (kinda) This is what I found... "According to The Shallows , a new book by technology sage Nicholas Carr, our hyperactive online habits are damaging the mental faculties we need to process and understand lengthy textual information. Round-the-clock news feeds leave us hyperlinking from one article to the next – without necessarily engaging fully with any of the content; our reading is frequently interrupted by the ping of the latest email; and we are now absorbing short bursts of words on Twitter and Facebook more regularly than longer texts." and... "If you want...

Yes! Another one by Pay Less! Who's goingggg???? ;) PAY LESS BOOKS' Warehouse Sales @ 3K SUBANG JAYA Venue: Hotel Hall, 3K Inn, Jalan SS13/1, Subang Jaya. (GPS Coordinates: N 03.06819°, E 101.59369°) Date: 23 - 25 July 2010 (Friday - Sunday) Time: 10.00 am - 7.00 pm

Title/Author: Rojak/Amir Muhammad Publisher: ZI Publications No. of pages: 314 ISBN 13: 978-967-5266-10-2 In a nutshell Rojak is a collection of very short fictional stories (63 altogether, plus the extended versions), all of which tell of Malaysia and its culture. The author quoted our beloved late Yasmin Ahmad, saying "What is a nation without the stories it tells itself?" I couldn't agree more! (We miss you, Yasmin...) What I liked ... Definitely the cover design and colour, the illustrations (I thought Liza and Chin Yew did a great job!) that make the stories come alive, and definitely, the humour! There were many that I liked. My top favourites are 'Lipstick Babi' (first read it in City of Shared Stories Kuala Lumpur ), 'Correspond ence' (Both versions talk about the common junk mails we receive that offer a large some of money by some unknown sender. I don't remember laughing so hard reading a story!), 'Dorm Horror Story' (reminded me o...

Title/Author: Funny Boy/Shyam Selvadurai Publisher: Vintage No. of pages: 314 ISBN 13: 978-009-9459-21-7 In a nutshell The story is set in the seventies, during the tumultuous times of Sri Lanka, when the Buddhist Sinhalese majority and its Hindu Tamil minority were at war (Sri Lankan Civil War). It's basically a novel in 6 short stories, told in chronological order ( Pigs Can't Fly; Radha Aunty; See No Evil, Hear No Evil; Small Choices; The Best School of All and Riot Journal: An Epilogue ), that revolves around a young Tamil boy's life growing up in Sri Lanka while confronting his own sexuality. The novel also explores other themes such as love, acceptance, relationships, racism and politics (I particularly liked this in See No Evil, Hear No Evil (p138) when Arjie's mother found out her lover had been killed: ' "We must do something," she said, breaking the silence. "We can't just sit by and act as if nothing has happened." She looked at m...

Title/Author: Logomania: Where Common Phrases Come From And How To Use Them/Ellen Whyte Publisher: MPH Publishing No. of pages: 314 ISBN 13: 978-967-5222-47-4 Price: RM32.90 In a nutshell Like its title, in Logomania , you'll find out ' where common (and uncommon ones too, I find) phrases come from and how to use them '. The book is divided into chapters linked by common imagery. For example, in , 'Happy New Year', you'd find expressions celebrating things new, and in 'Bear hugs and bear markets', you'd find expressions related to the bear. (By the way, did you know 'the bear' is a nickname for Russia? *wink*) What I liked It's very reader-friendly. Not only it's divided into interesting chapters, you can easily find the words and expressions in the 'Index'! :) For each expression, is an example of how you can use them. This is one of my favourites: bee in my bonnet , which I'd use it this way: "I have a bee in my b...

Title/Author: Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder/Shamini Flint Publisher: Piatkus No. of pages: 295 ISBN 13: 978-0-7499-2975-6 In a nutshell Inspector Singh from Singapore has been sent to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to solve the murder of a Malaysian heir, Alan Lee. His ex-wife, Chelsea Liew is on death row for for this murder, but she swears she didn't do it and Inspector Singh thinks so too. However, he couldn't find any other suspects who have a stronger motive that hers: Alan was taking her kids away from her and he was having an affair. What I liked Making the murder of a Chinese-turned-Muslim as its main story is a tricky one, especially when it touches other sensitive issues in Malaysia as well. But Flint managed to weave in the political and racial issues in Malaysia very carefully. She chose them very wisely too. A great eye opener to those who aren't familiar with the 'Malaysian culture' or what's happening in the country at t...