Merry Christmas 2011!

Hi everybody! Here's wishing you guys a Merry Christmas! :) I know I've not updated this blog for several months now. I hope to try writing more here, and reading books too of course, soon.

Happy Holidays!

Day 4 - 30-Day Book Meme

This is the fourth post for the 30-Day Book Meme.

Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series

In Day 3's post, I picked the Harry Potter books as my favourite series. So I'll now pick Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as my favourite book of my favourite series.

Why this book? I guess it's because of the affectionate bond and relationship between Harry and his godfather, Sirius. In the beginning, Harry thought Sirius murdered his parents but realised after that that his allegations were wrong. It turned out that Sirius was Harry's godfather, making him the only other friendly 'relative' that Harry ever had. I guess that's about it about why I liked the book. I haven't read it in years so I can't elaborate more on it. :/

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Previous questions and answers:

Day 01 - The best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favourite series

Book Review: The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

I finished reading The Cardturner by Louis Sachar last week. I enjoyed reading it although the story revolves around the card of bridge, a game that I'm not familiar with at all! Even so, I give the book four out of five stars! :) Read my full review here on my book review blog.

Now reading: The Cardturner

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Journey.

Now reading: The Cardturner by Louis Sachar

Last read book: Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont

What I plan to read next: I have no idea! Any recommendations?

My trip to Logos Hope - floating book fair!

This afternoon, my mom and I made our way to go onboard the ship, Logos Hope, 'venue' to the world's largest floating book fair.

It's the second time that I visited a floating book fair. The last time was around 10 years ago when the Doulos ship (with books for sale!) came to Penang, Malaysia. I'm not sure what happened to Doulos but its sister ship, Logos Hope, is here in Penang right now.

It arrived at Swettenham Pier at Weld Quay on August 19 but opened its doors to the public on Aug 25.

According to news reports, there are over 5,000 book titles for sale on the ship, with prices ranging from RM8 to RM16 for paperbacks.

Sure, there might be lots of books because I wished there had been more space to move around on the ship!

Before going up the ship, we already had to queue up in a long line to register our names and Identity Card number. It is a Sunday today but I certainly did not expect a crowd to throng the fair. Well, it's not everyday that anyone can go onboard a ship at only RM1 for an adult and free for kids below age 12. Of course, shutterbugs took the opportunity to snap pictures away.

Once up the ship, I knew it was going to be hard to be able to check out every book displayed there. So I just inched and wormed my way around to check out the various titles.

There weren't that many fiction titles. Most of them I haven't heard of. But there were shelves dedicated only for Narnia books and those by Enid Blyton. There were Christian fiction and thrillers by David Baldacci.

Other general titles were also available such as cooking, gardening, health, family, spiritual, devotion, etc. Lots of books for kids too.

I finally bought The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer. It's a mystery/thriller sort of book about the murder weapon which Cain used to kill Abel and somehow Superman is also involved in it.

So I paid the cashier and walked my way out while following the journey of The Prodigal Son. It was a series of cartoon pictures of a young man who squandered all the money his father gave him.

Anyway, we could not leave the ship immediately as it was raining cats and dogs. We decided to stop by the International Cafe and ordered a pie, cake and drinks. And yes, it was crowded there too.

I think it'd be better to visit the ship on weekdays when it wouldn't be so packed.

Details to remember!
Logos Hope @ Swettenham Pier, Weld Quay, Penang
Open to the public until Sept 25
Time: 10am - 10pm (Tue - Sat) and 1pm - 10pm (Sun). Closed on Mondays.

Good news! Logos Hope will also make its way to other states in Malaysia:

Port Klang (Sept 29 - Oct 23)
Kuching (Oct 28 - Nov 14)
Kota Kinabalu (Nov 18 - Dec 4)

Enjoy your trip there!

Day 3 – 30-Day Book Meme

This is the third post for the 30-Day Book Meme.

Day 03 – Your favourite series

I've read quite a number of books that are part of a series but only managed to complete very few of them! But I'll proudly say that I finished the Harry Potter series (seven books), The Chronicles of Narnia (seven books), Gemma Doyle trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty) and ... omg, that's it. Guess I need to finish up other series so I can add more to the list!

Anyway, I'll say that the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling are my favourite series books. The first time I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was when I was 12 years old, I think. It spurred me to want to read the books that follow. The books are funny, clever and addictive. I do feel like part of Harry's world when I'm reading the books. I remember that when Book 5 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out, I spent a couple of weeks ignoring my Maths homework only to read the darn book. :)

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Previous questions and answers:

Day 01 - The best book you read last year
Day 02 - A book that you've read more than 3 times

Booking Through Thursday: Fluff

Here is this week's question from Booking Through Thursday:

You’ve just had a long, hard, exhausting day, and all you want to do is curl up with something light, fun, easy, fluffy, distracting, and entertaining.

What book do you pick up?

My answer:

Easy! I'd pick up any of the books by Sophie Kinsella. I used to dismiss her Shopaholic books as I wasn't really into chick lit back then. But now, I'm all for discovering any great books in this genre, especially those that are similar to Kinsella's books that can make me chuckle.

So far, I've only read all the Shopaholic books except the the last one, Mini Shopaholic. I also enjoyed Twenties Girl and The Undomestic Goddess.

What I would like to read next from Kinsella are:

Can You Keep A Secret?
Remember Me?

as well as the books that she wrote as Madeleine Wickham!

I would like to delve into other chick lit books too. If you know of an author that I might enjoy reading, do let me know!

Day 2: 30-Day Book Meme

This is my second post for the 30-Day Book Meme which I'm currently doing.

Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
(Read my review)

It was hard to pick just one book but anyways, I picked this one because I know that I definitely read it more than three times. I read it for the first time when I was in primary school, maybe I was around 9 or 10 years old. The book was enjoyable as there were cute illustrations in it. I like the ones with Charlie's grandparents!

The sequel is Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator but I prefer Chocolate Factory.

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Previous question and answer:
Day 01 - The best book you read last year

In My Mailbox (Aug 14, 2011)

I've got a good stack of new books so I'm participating in In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren.

I went on a book shopping spree recently as I've been given book vouchers from kind-hearted souls. :) Here's what I bought and received from a giveaway (the books are in no particular order):

1. Speeches That Changed the World by Emma Beare
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
3. Postcards from No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers
4. Paper Towns by John Green
5. Looking for Alaska by John Green
6. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
7. The Cardturner by Louis Sachar
8. Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
9. A Brief History of the Future by Stephen Clarke
10. The Help by Katheryn Stockett
11. The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad
12. The Writing Circle by Corinne Demas
13. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

I also bought Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella on my own.

A few days ago, I received two ARCs which I won at Lori's blog, Pure Imagination! Thanks, Lori!

1. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
2. Luminous by Dawn Metcalf

Whew! It's gonna take me awhile to finish all these books. 

Book Review: Beauty and the Beast

Do read this version of Beauty and the Beast that was written and translated into English way back in the 18th century. Be warned, there are no enchanted teapots or saucers or candlesticks in this story. Just Beauty, her father who is a merchant, Beauty's three brothers and two sisters and not forgetting the Beast. The book has around 20++ pages but I read the story on my Kindle. :) You can get the Kindle version for free from Amazon.

Check out my review on my book review blog!

ETA: I just watched the Disney cartoon. Really, really adore the library! Haha!

30-Day Book Meme

I have decided to participate in the 30-Day Book Meme. Its origins are unknown. I got to know about this meme when I stumbled upon Chimneys and Magic who is also doing the meme right now. It's for 30 days but I won't be posting every day to answer all the 30 questions in the meme though I'll try to be as regular as possible! :)

Day 01 - The best book you read last year

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (my review)

Some say that the main character, Holden Caulfield, is spoilt and repetitive, which is what he's like in the book. But it's just all the 'phoni-ness' of it that intrigued me and made me think that yes, that's how the world is right now.

This novel somehow left a huge impact on me after I finished the last page and I couldn't stop thinking about the story for days after.

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Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favourite series
Day 04 – Favourite book of your favourite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 06 – A book that makes you sad
Day 07 – Most underrated book
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favourite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote(s) from your favourite book(s)
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title(s)
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time

I was excited to read these books

This week's question from Booking Through Thursday:

What’s the last book you were really EXCITED to read?
And, were you excited about it in advance? Or did the excitement bloom while you were reading it?
Are there any books you’re excited about right NOW?

My answer:

I get excited to want to read different books from time to time. For example, I was really looking forward to reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I've yet to get a copy of The Graveyard Book though and I have Beautiful Creatures but I have yet to read it.

Yup, I had been excited about them in advance. BC because of its beautiful cover and Graveyard because of rave reviews by bloggers.

Right now, I can't wait to read Lost Voices by Sarah Porter because it's a mermaid story. :) I've also just bought Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. It's the last book in the Shopaholic series and I can't wait to read it.