Now reading: The Struggle by L.J. Smith & book fairs

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith

I'm actually reading the second book, The Struggle right now. I've already read and reviewed the first book, The Awakening in July. I've also finished watching the entire Season One of the TV show of The Vampire Diaries. This is one reason why:

Haha!

For fans of the TV show, you could check out this blog, Vampire Diaries Guide for all you need to know about the show. I just stumbled upon it and well, they have interesting stuff to offer fans. There are widgets such as calendars, banners, jigsaw puzzles (!!!) and picture makers among others.

Hmm, I would really like to watch Season Two...

Anyway, the Times Book Clearance is back in Island Plaza, Penang! 

And for those staying in the mainland, don't miss out on the bookstore Popular's Book Fair in Megamal Pinang.

The BookFair's Been Extended!

Good news for everybody! Or for people who simply love to buy books… =)

If you still don’t know, then now you’ll know that the Popular Mega Bookfair will be extended to 02 September 2007! It is deemed the largest bookfair in the Northern Region.

I totally forgot about this fair last week! Can you believe it? I blogged all about it the week before last and I did not even remember that it’s even happening. Oh, I’m such a forgetful person.

However, now I remember. Yes! And I hope that I’ll be able to join in the fun in buying books at discounted prices until the 2nd of September. Oh, it’s held at Midlands Park Shopping Centre. Hmm, it’s not extended at Megamal Pinang, I guess.

The Popular Mega Bookfair-North...Starting Tomorrow!

Cool! Another book fair for all bookworms to enjoy and take advantage of. The last book fair I went to was in Kuala Lumpur at the KL Convention Centre, where the BookFest was held. And the discounts were great! I like Popular because, well, of the discounts. Most bestsellers are usually given 20% discounts off every now and then for Popular card members.

All the same, this Bookfair will be held concurrently (the word used in The Star) at Midlands One-Stop Centre, Level 5 and Megamal Pinang (Level 2, above Pacific). It will go on until August 26, 2007. The longer, the better. It'll be open from 11.00 a.m. until 10.00 p.m..

Oh, it's the largest bookfair in the Northern region. Not bad.

So...sleep early tonight. There's going to be a big day(s) ahead. Have fun choosing your favourite titles and tell me what you bought, ok? =D

I Went to the BookFest@Malaysia 2007!

Ever since I got back home yesterday, I couldn't wait to write about my Kuala Lumpur trip. It was a long trip, slightly more than two weeks! Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it though I got bored sometimes.

Last Wednesday, my cousins and I went to the KL Convention Centre to check out Popular's BookFest@Malaysia 2007. The theme was appropriately called 'Joy In Reading'. I hope you do feel the joy when you read and not something else - like boredom, for instance! If you are bored with reading books, then it's either the book is boring or you are not reading books that REALLY interest you! Go figure it out.

I went to KL with my mom to visit my grandmother who was admitted to hospital. She's around 90 years old but she's still pretty strong! She's a wonderful woman.

Anyway, since I was already in the city, then there's no excuse why I should miss the BookFest. All the books were given discounts so, it's definitely a not-to-be-missed shopping trip.

Well, I only bought 2 books. The Devil Wears Prada and A Walk To Remember. My sis already has a copy of Devil Wears Prada but the print in her book is way too tiny for me. I like the words to be quite big (not very big!) but big enough so that I don't have to strain my eyes. And I bought A Walk To Remember because I've watched the movie twice and liked it.

When I went in the hall(s), I was like, 'Wow'....

It was really huge. The place, I mean. And there were so MANY books that I didn't know where to start first. I just wandered around first then I started from the right side of the hall where the English fiction books were.

There were 5 halls. Hall 1 is for all things China and Hong Kong, Hall 2 for Singapore and Malaysia, Hall 3 for sponsors, Hall 4 for Taiwan and finally, Hall 5 where the English books are with CD-Rama, stationery and goodies from One-2-Buy. Huge, huh? You'd be overwhelmed if you were there. Well, the BookFest ended today anyway. I'm sorry I didn't write about it earlier but unfortunately, I was deprived of Internet access when I was at my grandmother's house. I was also too tired and busy yesterday to blog.

One stall was quite popular as it sold and made beads jewellery. The kind of jewellery with small, colourful beads and even letters on them? Yeah, that kind. I just hung around and looked at the various beads available. The cheapest bead was RM1. Small and with alphabets on them. Nah, I'm not going to spend so much on the jewellery.

My cousin wanted to apply for a Popular card. While she was applying, I waited. Later when she told me that she got some free stuff after applying for the card, I also decided to apply one for myself. It's only RM5 for students, I thought, so I went ahead. Alas, I'm too old to be considered a student. You are only eligible for the Student card if you are 18 and below. My card cost RM10/year and I did get a plastic bag of goodies. The goodies were a box of tissues, a copy of the Pop Club magazine, an ink pen, and some Ayamas vouchers.

When we were done at the BookFest, my cousins and I walked to Suria KLCC in search of food! We were so hungry and we had to depend on the guide boards to find the eating outlet we wanted, i.e. the 1901 hotdogs. Well, I told them the hotdogs were nice so they wanted to try it too. We found it in the end and quickly ordered. I was right. It was absolutely delicious!

After that, we headed off to Kinokuniya. I brought along the Harry Potter cutout coupon from StarMag. I would get a 25% discount if I presented the coupon when purchasing a Harry Potter book. No, I haven't read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yet so I bought it.

I was also looking for New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. I totally forgot to look for it at the BookFest. But, I didn't see it anywhere at the BookFest or I would have bought it on the spot. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer was so interesting and I'm dying to know what's next.

Since I couldn't find it at Kinokuniya either, I asked for the help of the staff there. One of the staff was helpful. Well, I asked him so he should be the one finding the book for me. I had to wait for minutes when he came running back to tell me that the book was out of stock and he was very sorry for keeping me waiting for so long.

Guess I'll just have to find the book at Popular or at Borders.

Ah, it should be enough for now. Good night!

Borders Is The Best!

It’s official. For now, my favourite bookstore is Borders! Yes!

Yesterday, my mom and I went to Penang by ferry! Haha! She’s so adventurous until she said she’d rather go by ferry and then taxi to Gurney Plaza. The ferry ride was fabulous! Passengers who come on foot get to sit on top and the wind blowing was nice.

When we arrived in Penang, there were taxi drivers hanging around and asked my mom where we wanted to go. She said, ‘Gurney Plaza’ and the taxi driver asked his friends if any of them would like to take us there. One guy suggested RM12 and another suggested a preposterous RM15! I didn’t know taxi fees were so high. They did not even use the meters. It seems that the meter system has yet to start.

My mom took the RM12 one and off we went to Gurney Plaza. She wanted to look for shoes so we went to shoe shops first. Nah, I just looked around. I didn’t buy any because I’m broke! Haha! Maybe another day.

Finally, I spotted the MPH Bookstore and we went in. Yesterday was the second time I went to MPH as I don’t go to Gurney Plaza much. Anyway, there were so many books there! But I didn’t like the way the fiction books were arranged. In Borders, several books whose covers were displayed so that we can see them. At MPH, all the books were arranged like in a library so I had to read the titles on the spines. And the lighting there wasn’t as bright as Borders. Even Popular was brighter.

However, the selection of movies at MPH was satisfactory. Better than Borders. There weren’t many good movies available at Borders but at MPH, there were more interesting choices. I begged my mom to buy the Gulliver’s Travels movie. It’s only RM16.90. Pretty cheap for an original movie with English subtitles! I like VCDs that come with English subtitles.

At MPH, the bookshelves were quite close together and not much space to walk. I don’t recall seeing any sofa chairs there either.

Ok, I should stop comparing! I think that each bookstore is special in its own way. Borders for its nice atmosphere and good selection of books. MPH for its good selection of books and movies as well as discounts. Popular for its ‘just okay’ selection of books and great discounts!

There are a few more bookstores that I’ve yet to conquer. I hope I could go to Chowrasta Road and check out the second-hand bookshops there! Can’t wait!

And this is my 100th post! =D

New Books! New Books!

Wheeeeeeeee!!! I bought two new books today. Well, actually my mom bought them for me. I’m broke, you see. Anyway, the books are Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

I’ve read reviews of Twilight in other book blogs and the reviewers were raving about it. So, I thought I’d just buy it and give it a try. It’s about a vampire and this girl who fell in love with the vampire. Hmmm, should be interesting right? I certainly hope so. Howl’s Moving Castle already had excellent reviews. Plus it was first published way back in 1986! A year before I was born. And I only knew about the book now.

By the way, there were 10% discounts for both the books since I’m not a Popular card member. Members will enjoy 15% discounts though. Now, Popular is having a sale and some books have up to 70% discounts! Don’t miss it now! If you are a student, you can get the Popular card for only RM5. So, if you are a frequent buyer of books, then having the card would be advisable.

I bought so many books now and there is not enough place for them on my bookshelf. My bookshelf is very full. I have to place my new books on my study table temporarily. I might have to clear another bookshelf to make room for these new books. I have two bookshelves in my room. One holds storybooks and the other holds my schoolbooks and huge files for notes. Looks like I have to clear the study bookshelf but I don’t think it’s going to work since it’s practically full too.

There was the other blogger who said she stuffed her books into her wardrobe too! Wish I can do that but no, I would not do that. What if there were silverfish in the books? What if the silverfish were to crawl into my clothes? What would happen when I wear those clothes with the silverfish in them??? *shivers*

Don’t think too much now.

Well, the books just have to rest on my study table first before I find a home for them.