Another Exciting Series

Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero rocks!

Not only does he take us back to Camp Half Blood, he introduces the Roman aspects of the Greek Gods. How awesome is that?!

When I reached the end of the book, I couldn't believe how excited I was becoming as he tied several possible plots together and all of it was going berserk in my head. There are a number of ways he could spin this and I can't wait for the next book.

CAN'T. WAIT.

Strange Angels Kicks Ass!

OK, I must admit: I HATE Twilight. No, I started out loving it (just the first book) and then when I went back and reread it, I hated it.

I hate how mushy it is: Edward + Bella = major gag factor.

I hate what a complete bungling useless damsel in distress Bella is.

I hate the way the darned 'love triangle' is played out. Sam (werewoll) + Bella (human) + Edward (vampire). Makes Bella looks like an indecisive bitch.

I hate how noble Edward seems.

I hate the later plots; the story just gets weirder and weirder.


So after reading the series (shamed to say, I actually have all four books; I should just burn them or give them away), I went all out in search of other similarly themed books but with heroines who could kick ass because Bella just makes me want to slap her silly (though how much sillier and dumber she can get, I dunno).

I found other heroines who rose up to the task of kicking ass but I think none kick ass as well as Lili St. Crow's Dru Anderson. If you haven't read St. Crow's Strange Angels, go pick it up NOW. There's a heady mix of werwulfen, loup-garou, djamphir, nosferatu, magic and ammo, romance and angst (not the icky skin crawling, gag-reflex inducing Bella/Sam/Edward kind), suspense with some delightful Russian (Polish? East European?) endearments thrown in.

Dru's no Bella, thank gawd!  She's got her issues but next to Bella, her issues look way more realistic and one can at least empathise with her. And she KICKS ASS! Not just with ammo but with the touch as well. I just want to slap Bella upside on the head for being indecisive and wishy-washy. Oh, did I mention useless? Never met a more useless human being to appear in a book.

And Christophe? Aaaaaahh...he makes Edward look like a young pansy of a flower. Now THAT'S a MAN, or rather, djamphir. The foreign endearments help (moj maly ptaszku, moja ksiezniczko, etc.), the slight accent too. You could learn a thing or two from Christophe, Edward. Maybe like, not saving Bella's ass all the time. Girl's gotta learn to stand on her own two feet.

How can I not like a book which has a half-Asian Goth boy as the other leading man? In fact, Graves started out seemingly as somewhat of a doughboy but wow, did he turn out to be the most awesome, kick-ass, and dependable loup-garou. Score one for the Asian leading man!


The series is currently at book three and keeps getting better with each book. Sigh, and now I have to wait for the next book in the installment, Defiance, to find out what happens to all three of them. Sigh...more waiting.

In the meantime, those phrases are sticking in my head...

Library Haul

Am on a roll:

1. Lips Touch Three Times - Laini Taylor
2. Shannon Hale - Austenland
3. Girl In The Arena - Lise Haines
4. Crazy Beautiful - Lauren Baratz-Logsted
5. My Fairy Fair Godmother - Janette Rallison

Library Haul

1. Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe
2. Wanting Mor - Rukhsana Khan
3. A Map Of The Known World - Lisa Ann Sandell
4. Very LeFreak - Rachel Cohn
5. The Heart Is Not A Size - Beth Kephart
6. Sing Me To Sleep - Angela Morrison
7. The Spell Book Of Listen Taylor - Jaclyn Moriarty

Revisiting Old Friends

Hi again, my lovelies.

I've been distracted and away too long (blame it on that blasted iPod and its myriad addictive games). You've been gathering dust and been borrowed out from the library by everyone else but me. I've missed you.

I haven't thumbed through your pages in a long, long while.

Well, I'm back. I'm back to pore through the print on your pages, leaf through your crisp pages and include you in my bag on my trips out.

Hello, my old friends.

Hello, books.

A New Love

I love the library. And I like taking the bus there; after all, it's a short two stops away and the bus stop is right outside of our apartment.

I may have passed on this love to the little one when I first took her on the bus (her first bus ride!) to the library a couple of weeks back. She loves the novelty of being in a moving vehicle, having the opportunity to swipe my EZ Link card on the bus and looking out the windows and exclaiming at the trees and everything that passes by outside.

And she loves the library too. Specifically, at this point in time, she loves Ian Falconer's Olivia. We have a couple of Olivia books at home in KL but we don't make it a point to bring books from KL to Singapore and vice versa. So I thought it'd be a good idea to pick out some Olivia books for her since she likes them and she doesn't get to read them if she's not in KL.

We left the library with 3 copies of the exuberant little piggy that day. Of course, after we had our reading session at the library. I read all three copies to her while she excitedly exclaimed over some of the details in the books. Loudly. If there were a hearing-impaired person at the children's section that day, he would have had no problems hearing the little one.

I also assume that there is a no eating/drinking policy at the library (dunno if that's really true or not) so of all the things I had to teach the little one that day, I taught her how to sneak snacks into her mouth as discreetly as possible.

"Leave your snack cup in the Mickey bag, babe. Just take out your snacks one by one and pop it into your mouth."

It was either that or deal with a temper tantrum.

So that went well.

And we've been heading to the library, on average, once a week since then. With the exception of the library being closed for a function that one morning Sasha was here, we've enjoyed our trips to the library immensely.

She makes daily references to going to the library, reminding herself and anyone else who is willing to hear, about going to the library, taking the bus there, and how it was closed, or how we borrowed the Olivia books from the library.

This is one love I wouldn't mind cultivating in the little one. I just have to be ready to explain to her about the libraries (or lack of) at home in Malaysia when we're back there one day. Better yet, I'll just let her visit one herself.

Needing More Shelf Space

And here's more books to add to the collection:

1. This Lovely Life - Vicki Forman
2. Living Out Loud: Activities To Fuel A Creative Life - Keri Smith
3. 52 Projects: Random Acts Of Everyday Creativity - Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Books Bought

Have been on a buying spree lately. Books ordered from Amazon and also a splurge at Kino due to their 20% anniversary discount. All these were bought in batches, not all at once, thank goodness. This may give you an idea of where I'm headed at this point of my creative pursuits. Sadly, the library has not missed my presence much (life goes on at the library). I've missed taking the short bus ride there but am putting my fiction reading on hold for now.

1. Digital Photography: The Digital Photography Book, Vols. 1-3 - Scott Kelby
2. Layers: The Complete Guide To Photoshop's Most Powerful Feature - Matt Kosklowski
3. The Hot Shoe Diaries - Joe McNally
4. The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book For Digital Photographers - Scott Kelby
5. The Adobe Lightroom Book for Digital Photogtaphers - Scott Kelby
6. The Creative Family - Amanda Blake Soul
7. Happens Every Day: An All-Too-True Story - Isabel Gillies
8. Simply Sublime Bags: 30 No-Sew, Low-Sew Projects - Jodi Kahn
9. Bend-The-Rules Sewing - Amy Karol
10. Zakka Sewing: 25 Japanese Projects For The Household - Therese Laskey, Chika Mori
11. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts - Martha Stewart
12. Julie & Julia - Julie Powell
13. My Life In France - Julia Child
14. Not Quite What I was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs - Ed. Smith Magazine
15. The Cats Of Kittyville: New Lifes For Rescued Felines: Best Friends Animal Society
16. Cookie's Week - Cindy Ward
17. Twinkles, Arthur and Puss - Judith Kerr
18. Dogtown: A Sanctuary For Rescued Dogs - Bob Somerville

Small Indulgences

So these two books came from the same shop we bought Sophie's jack-in-the-box. It was with great restraint that I didn't stash more beautiful books, knick-knacks or toys into my hands.

Library Haul

1. Kiss of Life - Daniel Waters
2. Lucky - Rachel Vail
3. The Wizard Heir - Cinda Williams Chima
4. The Dragon Heir - Cinda Williams Chima

Books Bought

1. Eyes Like Stars - Lisa Mantchev
2. Click: What Millions Of People Are Doing Online And Why It Matters - Bill Tancer
3. Through The Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs
4. Work: The World In Photographs
5. National Geographic: The Photographs
6. The Photographer's Eye - Michael Freeman

Library Haul

1. How To Be Popular - Meg Cabot
2. Let It Snow: Three Holiday Romances - John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
3. Life On The Refrigerator Door - Alice Kuipers
4. Children Of Dandelions - Shenaaz Nanji
5. The Warrior Heir - Cinda Williams Chima
6. The Girl Who Threw Butterflies - Mick Cochrane
   
7. Looking East: Portraits - Steve McCurry

Library Haul

1. Being Nikki - Meg Cabot
2. City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare
3. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare
4. Ghostgirl - Tonya Hurley
5. The Black Sheep - Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout

Books Bought

1. Soul Enchilada - David Macinnis Gill
2. Wings - Aprilynne Pike

Library Haul

1. Touching Darkness - Scott Westerfeld
2. Blue Noon - Scott Westerfeld
3. Perfect You - Elizabeth Scott
4. City Of Bones - Cassandra Clare
5. How To Be Bad - Lauren Myracle, Sarah Mlynowski, E. Lockhart
6. Unwind - Neal Shusterman
   
7. The Travel Writer's Handbook - Louise Purwin Zobel

Library Haul

1. The Last Wild Place - Rosa Jordan
2. Boy Proof - Cecil Castellucci
3. Tantalize - Cynthia Leitich Smith
4. What-The-Dickens - Gregory Maguire
5. Midnighters: The Secret Hour - Scott Westerfeld
6. The Andromeda Strain - Michael Crichton (for hubby)

Me No Eat Dog

Earlier in the month, I'd sent an email to Lauren Myracle after I'd read Bliss. One of her characters, Sandy, had said that in Malaysia, we eat dogs. So I wrote to her to tell her I wouldn't eat my pet dog, even though I suspected that she'd written that line in to illustrate just how crazy her character is. Just thought I'd be a little vocal and seek confirmation. Here's what she replied:


Oh, you sweetie, I was *absolutely* trying to make the point that Sandy is...well...a bit crazy! (And if you've finished the novel, you know that she's actually A LOT crazy...)

I am soooooo sorry if you were the slightest bit offended. Authors most definitely DON'T agree with everything their characters say/believe.

I'm glad you liked the book, though! (And sounds like you already suspect on your own that Sandy spoke for herself and not for me, so that's good.)

Cheers,
Lauren


Not bad, eh? Pretty cool, in fact. Me writing and her replying.

My first correspondence with an author. Wow!

Library Book Jackets

Since I've been borrowing books incessantly from the library, I've noticed and liked the way the books jackets are bound/covered/protected. It's a polypropylene cover and done in a different way that I normally bind my books and also from how Kino binds theirs.

I thought I'd figured it out and bought a roll to bind my own books here. It wasn't until this morning that I inspected the library books closer that I realized the library actually uses special library jackets from the US to bind their books: Gaylord Brothers library supplies.

Great, so I guess my figuring out the 'technique' was actually off by a mile. It's not a technique; they actually use specially designed lined book jackets to protect their book collection. Bummer for me. I'm not gonna spend US$40-50 (not including shipping) for a box of 100 lined book jackets.

Hm, I wonder if I can get some off the library? Probably not, knowing how kiasu the Singaporeans are. Oh well....

Singapore Is More Book-Happening Than Malaysia

I rest my case. I've always thought that Singapore was always more in-the-know and happening as far as books are concerned. Well, even the National Library has Daniel Waters' Generation Dead while I got no hits when I checked on Kino KL's database. And Kino S'pore has Meg Cabot's sequel, Being Nikki already in its database and on the shelves even though it was just launched on May 5. Cinda Williams Chima; Kino KL? Nada. Adrienne Maria Vrettos? Negative. Francisco X. Stork? Nope. The library has all of them. It even has Julie Linker, which of course, Kino KL does not. They should seriously think about replacing the person stocking or merchandising their YA section.

Need I say I couldn't find even a hint of Maggie Stiefvater's Lament when I was looking for it in KL last year? It's there now but of course, in the hardback version and not the cool paperback version.

I hope someone updated their online database coz I couldn't find Percy Jackson & The Last Olympian on it and I'd just bought a copy from Kino S'pore yesterday. If they don't have The Last Olympian there yet, then they are TOTALLY UNCOOL.

Generation Dead: Kiss Of Life is launching on May 12. I can expect KL NOT to have it on the shelves. I'm just wondering if I'll be able to wait till the library here gets it into their collection. If I don't, then I'll have to buy Generation Dead from Kino S'pore too. Sigh. And there I was commending myself on keeping my book spending in check.

Shucks, what the hell am I gonna do with the RM200 Kino KL gift voucher my sis got me for my birthday?!

The World Is Sophie's Sticker Book

There are some awesome sticker books out there and Sophia has quite a few of them. Some of the stickers are so pretty that I couldn't bear her sticking them on just any piece of paper, only to be thrown out once she's done with them. And I don't have any special mounting boards for her to display them on.

So I improvised.

So far, her farm animal stickers are all over Jack Prelutsky's My Dog May Be A Genius, quite fitting actually, since it's a book of Prelutsky's wacky poems. Seriously, the animals are dotted all over the front and back cover as well as the inside sleeves.

Her other, real-life looking stickers can be found on the inside of Alison Goodman's Dragoneye Reborn and most recently, Gayle Forman's If I Stay. How do you bring yourself to chuck away perfectly beautiful stickers of purple orchids, luscious red strawberries and jet-black cats?

You stick them on the insides of your book.