E-books Or Hardcover Books?

Do you have a hard time choosing between e-books and the physical, printed book? Or do you like both equally, finding that they suit your needs at different times?

If you have ever wondered about how popular those two forms of reading have ever been, wonder no more! Check out the stunning infographics designed by Greg Vang of Coupon Audit for a comparison of e-books and the printed book.

Where to rent books online in Malaysia?

You know, life is full of choices. If it's not A, then it's B. If it's not blue, then it's red. If you're not gonna buy, then rent. Haha.

Oh yes, if you ran out of books to read (how could you anyway???) and you don't want to spend money to buy new novels, you can opt to rent books. Best of all, you can start renting books online. That way, you can choose which books you want to read from the comfort of your comfy couch/chair/sofa and your trusty computer.

OK. So far I've found three sites which offer online book rentals in Malaysia.

1. Reader's Shack

It claims to be Malaysia's first online book rental website. But yeah, they've been around for many years, even before I started blogging in 2006. I even opened an account with them in 2005 but never rented any books. I only bought a book from them two years after that. Anyway, they have romance titles, thrillers, mysteries, self-helps and other non-fiction books. You can even earn money by offering to rent out your books through their Netsellers programme.

2. Q'reazant

This is a recent discovery, as recent as 15 minutes ago. It's a neat blog with clear instructions all laid out for visitors. They have a variety of reading materials ranging from biographies, college textbooks, comics, young adult novels to magazines. And wow, they even rent out DVDs, VCDs and music CDs. Incredible!

3. Book Lover's Rental Shoppe

I found this website like 10 minutes ago. :) Lots of classic titles. It also offers chick lit, romance, teen, mystery and thriller, horror, politics and social economy and religious books.

***ETA: Oct 6, 2013

4. MyBookRental

Thanks to Pauline Jee for e-mailing me about her book rental online store which established just this year. Renting books is done online and they offer a wide range of books such as fiction, non-fiction, young adult fiction, graphic novels and children's books. Free shipping is available for a rental price of RM20 and above.

So there you go. Four online choices for you to pick if you want to try renting books. Do let me know if you know anymore of such book renting services. Enjoy!

Books from my childhood days

Today I had an idea to write up a post on some of my first books. Yup that's right. I'm gonna write about books from my childhood! The books I had when I was a mere pre-kindergartener, a kindergartener and the books I read when I was in primary school - from age 7 until 12.

Ages 1 and 2
Didn't think I read.

Age 3
I think one of my first books was about animals in the Ladybird talkabout series. (pic below)

Age 4
Not sure what books I had then.

Age 5
My mom bought me my first Ladybird Peter and Jane book. (pic above) The day she bought the book, she taught me to read it when we arrived back home. I think we were at a small bookshop together and she had asked me if I wanted the book! I must have nodded yes and she bought it for me.

Ages 6 and 7
Read more about Peter and Jane. :)

Age 8
More Ladybird books for me! At this age, I read Aesop's Fables and lots of fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Peter Pan, etc. I was also hooked on the Disney cartoon versions.

Ages 9 and 10
The start of discovering books by Enid Blyton as well as abridged versions of classics like A Little Princess, Dracula and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. My first Enid Blyton book: Billy-Bob Tales. My sister bought it from a second-hand bookstore. Then I went on to read Blyton's other stories on animals, pixies, goblins, toys coming to life and so on. I was so dying to meet a real pixie at that time.

My sister then introduced me to the Wishing-Chair and Naughtiest Girl books. After that, I also started reading Mr Galliano's Circus and Those Dreadful Children. I also read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, The Bear Nobody Wanted by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Dancing Peel by Lorna Hill and Three For Pack Holiday by Ailsa Brambleby. It's now difficult to get hold of books by the last two authors.

Age 11
I was on my way to becoming a voracious reader. I devoured more of Enid Blyton books: The Five Find-Outers series, Barney, Roger and Diana mysteries, and St Clare's school stories. (pic below) My sisters were the only ones giving me books. One gave me Enid Blytons and another one bought me illustrated classics.

My sister also gave me this beautiful book on stories by William Shakespeare, among her efforts to make sure that I read something else besides Enid Blyton. Really, I did not have many reading choices then. My mom rarely bought books for me since Peter and Jane! LOL.

But still, I managed to read a bit of this and a bit of that. I read some books in the Sweet Valley series, The Babysitters Club, one Nancy Drew book, one Hardy Boys book, a few from the Fear Street series and one Alfred Hitchcock's The Three Investigators. There was no such thing as reading the entire series of something.



These are among the books that I have read before:



Also not forgetting my favourite comics characters, Calvin and Hobbes who never fail to make me chuckle every time I read about them. They are definitely some of the best books to have on the bookshelves!

Age 12
An advice expert from one advice column in the newspaper suggested to one of the letter-writers (a student) to read a variety of story books. Huh! Back then, I couldn't think of reading anything else besides Enid Blyton. I was narrow-minded back then but luckily I managed to like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce and of course, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling! (pic above)

I was also heading towards my teenage years and my reading tastes revolved around teen books I thought were cool like Sweet Valley Junior High (created by Francine Pascal). Anyway, I don't think I read much that time as I had to prepare for a major public examination. Reading took a backseat for a while as I concentrated on improving myself in Science and Maths!

Well, this post is not a complete record of everything I read in my kiddie days but it's the most that I can remember. I've also given away many old books so they aren't around to remind me of what I read back then. If only I had kept a record somewhere but I don't think I thought that far ahead when I was younger!

I'm going to continue with another post on books I read during my teenage years. So look out for it!

***If you have your own post about your childhood books, do leave them in the comments section. I'd love to read them too!

Other childhood bookshelves: Ruz's Bookshelves, The Book Coop

Reading Marathon

Now that my holidays have just begun, it's time for me to read as much as I can! And I mean reading story books, not school books! :D

A few hours ago, I finished Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern. Click on the title to read my review.

It's a pretty good book with a different way of telling the story. Ahern used e-mails, letters, instant messages and other ways to tell the story of Alex and Rosie. Yep, fate just can't stop meddling with these two poor souls. They had to go through so much before finally getting together. And only when they're 50 years old!

All the same, I learnt two new facts:

1) Cecelia Ahern's dad was the Prime Minister of Ireland.
2) Cecelia Ahern's sister is married to Nicky Byrne, a member of Westlife.

Incredibly interesting!

I was searching on Google Blog Search for other reviews of Where Rainbows End but couldn't find complete reviews. Apparently a lot of teenagers and young adults have read and loved this book! Well, it is a love story after all. Even my mom read it halfway and she rarely reads fiction nowadays.

Anyway, most of the reviews I found were sweet and short ones. So if you're read and reviewed this book, do leave the links in the comments box. I'd like to link to other reviews.

So, what to read next? I have to start reading those review books that were sent to me since months ago. Perhaps I'll get started on Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer. Oh dear, another Georgette Heyer book... Frankly, I'm not looking forward to it but I need to review it! Hopefully it'll be better than Friday's Child.

Do Your Part For Darfur

Natasha over at Maw Books Blog is trying to create awareness about the war in Darfur, Sudan. I have heard of the war a few times before but I'm ashamed to say that I've not bothered to read more about it. Anyway, Natasha will donate a certain amount of money when you do your part to make her campaign a success. You can donate too if you want to!

You can put up the button above in your blog and link back to Natasha's blog for the whole month of September in order to spread word about this campaign.

For more information on Reading & Blogging for Darfur, please visit her blog.



Come on, wait no more! Do something good today! You can help make a difference for the people who are suffering in Darfur.

Missing Pages In Library Book

I was happily patiently reading 1984 by George Orwell last night. It's a library book. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at page 166. There was no page 167 right until page 189. It skipped right to page 190. So around 24 pages were missing. And it was already 10.30 pm last night. I couldn't go to the library because it's already closed!

The book's quite old already. It's been on the shelves since 1989. Lots of people have borrowed it because of all the 'Returned' stamps at the back of the book. But not one of them reported the missing pages to the librarian? Quite impossible. Just now I told the librarian that the pages in the book were missing and he said that it can't be borrowed. Well, I meant to return it anyway.

In the end, I looked for another 1984 book and borrowed it. I've already reached Chapter 3, there are only 3 chapters in it. Hope to finish reading it tonight!

What If I Don't Like The ARC That I'm Reading?

Sigh...I know that there's a reader's bill of rights but does that apply when reading Advanced Review Copies (ARC) sent by publishers and authors?

The Reader's Bill of Rights

Everyone has the right to read. Here's The Reader's Bill of Rights to help you make the most of that right: Readers have:

1. The right to not read.
2. The right to skip pages.
3. The right to not finish.
4. The right to reread.
5. The right to read anything.
6. The right to escapism.
7. The right to read anywhere.
8. The right to browse.
9. The right to read out loud.
10. The right not to defend your tastes.

—Pennac, Daniel, Better Than Life, Coach House Press, 1996.

*Taken from ALA | Tips to Encourage Reading*

What if I'm 'suffering' while reading it??? What if I prefer to be reading something else but then feel guilty because I have to read the review copy first so that I can review it soon. I have no desire to pick up the book because I just don't like it at all!

Guess I have to brave it out and continue reading until I finally finish it!

Which Section of the Newspaper Do You Turn To First?

Since I read The Star (my family's been buying this newspaper for as long as I can remember), I will take out the StarTwo section first. I find StarTwo more fun than the main section, don't you think so too? Usually, the main section is the last I'll look at. But if there's some hot topic going on or if the headlines stirred me up, then it's the main section first.

I guess I read the whole paper except for the Business section. Reading the whole newspaper can take hours. Therefore, when a lecturer said that reading a newspaper only takes up 20 minutes, I raised my eyebrows, looking at him/her incredulously. Well, maybe he/she meant reading the main section only, who knows?

I particularly enjoy reading the comics and sometimes my horoscope though I don't really believe what the 'stars' said. Once my stars said that I was going to receive a letter from overseas. Well, there wasn't even a letter that day. I'm not sure if the postman even came or not.

Oh, another section I like appears on Fridays. That'd be the Reading Room section. Now the writer for that section is Daphne Lee and when she introduces young adult books, I'm delighted.

Lastly, the one section that I never miss everyday: the TV Guide. :D

What I Read In May

Hmm, I think I only read 3 books last month! Yeah, I know it's pathetic but that's the most I could do. Last month was just simply busy and crazy for me, I'm surprised that I could even fit in 3 books. At least 3 sounds better than 0. =)

Here are the books that I read:

1. An Amazing Story by Carlo Gabbi
2. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
3. In The Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce

Gosh, I hope to do better this month though!

I have to leave a comment at It's Not All Mary Poppins who's hosting the Book Binge for May.

Read Before You Buy

What I like about LoveReading.co.uk is that I can download extracts of a book from their website. Yeah! You can now read the first few pages of a book if you are not sure if you want to buy it or not. You've got to register first before you can download extracts there. Registration is free and easy.

I've just downloaded extracts from 2 books: Un Lun Dun by China Mieville and The Ultimate Teen Book Guide. Not bad. For the Un Lun Dun book, I get to read until page 22 for free. Yeah, until page 22 but still, it's page 22! At least I get the idea of what the book is about.

Well, I actually prefer to read from a real book rather than staring at a computer screen. But, like I said, if you're not sure if you want to spend a few bucks on some book that you're not sure that you'll like, then it's a good idea to download extracts.

It's also suitable for those lazy people who don't go to the bookstores often. =D Or maybe for those who don't have transport to go to the bookstores to check out new books. Whatever....

The Un Lun Dun book has illustrations! Something which is missing from most books nowadays.

P.S. This is NOT a sponsored post. =)

I Read So Slow...

How long do you take to finish up a book? 3 days? 4? A week? Or maybe 20 minutes if you can speed read, though I find it is utterly impossible to finish a 200 over pages book in 20 minutes and understanding it at the same time.

I was just visiting other book bloggers' blogs and I'm truly amazed at how many books they can read in such a short time. Almost 200 books read in a year??? Wow, now that is a record. So, it's like 16 books a month, around 4 books a week. Where on earth did they find the time to read so much???

What about me? Sorry! I don't have much time to even finish up ONE book a week let alone 4 books a week. I still have a number of new books on my shelves waiting to be read. Calling out to me to read them and review them. Hah! I don't need to buy anymore books this year 2008...though I'll try to resist buying anymore books! But I really want to read The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray. Really want to know what happens to Gemma Doyle and friends.

Also, I still haven't read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yet either. Am I terrible or what? Everyone has to be probably sick of the 7th book and here I am, still in the Dark Ages.

Ah, what to do, what to do...I guess the only thing left to do now is to read, read, read during my holidays!!! Haha! Happy Holidays and Happy Chinese New Year!

eBay Account Suspended!

Sad news for me. I got an e-mail from eBay saying that my account has been suspended. I've been an honest eBayer ever since I joined! All positive feedback! And I have to sent some reinstatement form along with a credit card statement bill or something. The thing is that I don't own a credit card! Ah, never mind. Looks like I'm not going to shop on eBay anymore. =(

Anyway, there are Borders and MPH and Popular! So, no worries. MPH Online is currently offering a lot of discounts. There are books sold at 30% discounts, so I guess you wouldn't want to miss it.

Since it's the holidays now, I can get more reading done! I've read A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, and A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks and I've diligently reviewed them all. Now, I'm reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Okay...no more eBay. No more browsing through those second-hand and few new brand new books again. Sigh...

What To Read For Halloween

If you're not out trick or treating this Halloween, why not sit down and read a really scary book to scare yourself out of your wits? I've done a little bit of research through Google and here are some links for you to choose what books to settle down with a cup of coffee and some chocolate cookies!

• The 10 Scariest Books to Read for Halloween
  
  
• Halloween Hauntings
  
  
• Great Reading For Halloween Time
  
  
• Ghostly Presence

Well, that's all then. Have fun reading!

Have You Read Them?

I was blog-hopping and came to Chasing Ray - Everybody's Favourite Coming-of-age Novels, Including Many You May Not Have Heard Of. Some award thing was going on and a few lists of books have been put up. They are the winners, I guess. Check out the ones that you've read and hunt for those which you haven't yet!

Books Girls Will Identify With Strongly

Say Goodnight, Gracie by Julie Reece Deaver (death)
The Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti (death)
Swollen by Melissa Lion (death)
Upstream by Melissa Lion (death)
Define Normal by Julie Ann Peters
Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Weiss (problem)
Born Confused by Tanja Desai Hidier (multicultural)
Figuring Out Frances by Gina Willner-Pardo
A Room on Lorelei St by Mary Pearson (problem) MULTIPLE VOTES
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen (death)
Pursuit of Happiness by Tara Altebrando (death)
The True Meaning of Cleavage by Mariah Fredericks
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (problem) MULTIPLE VOTES
Stained by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
So B It by Sarah Weeks
An Egg on 3 Sticks by Jackie Fischer (death)
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (multicultural)
The Alison Rules by Catherine Clark (death)
The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson (death)
Nothing But the Truth and a Few White Lies by Justina Chen Headley (multicultural) MULTIPLE VOTES
Camilla by Madeline L'Engle
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins (multicultural)
Not So Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen by Mitali Perkins (multicultural)
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engle (death) MULTIPLE VOTES
Good Girls by Laura Ruby
Zazoo by Robert Mosher (multicultural) MULTIPLE VOTES
Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci
The Queen of Cool by Cecil Castellucci
Beige by Cecil Castellucci MULTIPLE VOTES
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (problem)
A Brief Chapter In My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt (death)
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (death)
The Keeping Days series by Norma Johnston
Kalpana's Dream by Judith Clarke (multicultural)
The Geography of Girlhood by Kirsten Smith
Make Lemonade by Virginia Wolff
Celine by Brock Cole

Books Boys Will Identify With Strongly

Born to Rock by Gordon Korman
The Blue Helmet by William Bell (death) (Released only in Canada)
Autobiography of My Dead Brother by Walter Dean Myers (multicultural) (death)
King Dork by Frank Portman
Nothing But the Truth by Avi
Tyrell by Coe Booth (multicultural) (problem)
Funny Little Monkey by Andrew Auseon
Theories of Relativity by Barbara Haworth-Attard (problem)
What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Pum-Ucci (death)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky MULTIPLE VOTES
Hatchett by Gary Paulson
The Knights of Hill Country by Tim Tharp
Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings (death)
The Maze by Will Hobbs
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Jude by Kate Morgenroth (death)
Pool Boy by Michael Simmons
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher (multicultural)
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher (problem)
Megiddo's Shadow by Arthur Slade (death)
Amaryllis by Craig Crist Evans (death)

Boys & Girls Will Relate Equally

Shadow of a Hero by Peter Dickinson
Friction by ER Frank
Homecoming by Cynthia Voight (death)
Just Like That by Marsha Qualey (death)
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Toll Bridge by Aidan Chambers
(Also all books in the Dance sextet by Aidan Chambers)
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli MULTIPLE VOTES
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Lottery by Beth Goobie (death)
It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (problem)
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Giver by Lois Lowery
Bridge to Teribithia by Katherine Paterson (death)
Kimchi & Calamari by Rose Kent (multicultural)
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (death)
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotsen
A Thief in the House of Memory by Tim Wynne Jones
Catalogue of the Universe by Margaret Mahy
Side Effects by Amy Koss (problem)
All of the Above by Shelly Pearsall (multicultural)
London Calling by Edward Bloor (death)
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas

Books GLBT YAs Will Identify With Strongly

The Geography Club by Brent Hartinger (and sequels) MULTIPLE VOTES
Baby Be Bop by Francisca Lia Block
The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson MULTIPLE VOTES
Luna by Julie Ann Peters
Far From Xanadu by Julie Ann Peters
Keeping You a Secret by Julie Ann Peters
Kissing Kate by Lauren Myracle
Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
Rules for Hearts by Sara Ryan
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan MULTIPLE VOTES
Wide Awake by David Levithan MULTIPLE VOTES
Dramarama by E. Lockhart
My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci
The Realm of Possibilities by David Levithan
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
Totally Joe by James Howe MULTIPLE VOTES
M or F? by Lisa Papademetriou and Chris Tibbetts
In the Garage by Alma Fullerton
Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters
Absolutely, Positively Not by David LaRochelle
The Hookup Artist by Tucker Shaw
So Hard to Say by Alex Sanchez
What's in a Name by Ellen Wittlinger

Mysteries/Thrillers That Include Characters Coming-of-Age

The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin
As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Classics (Published before 1970)

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith MULTIPLE VOTES
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Just Above My Head by James Baldwin
The Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (death) MULTIPLE VOTES
Christy by Catherine Marshall
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield
White Boots by Noel Streatfield
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury MULTIPLE VOTES
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh MULTIPLE VOTES
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by EL Konigsberg MULTIPLE VOTES
The Outsiders by SE Hinton MULTIPLE VOTES
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Grass Harp by Truman Capote

Graphic Novels

The PLAIN Janes by Cecil Castellucci
Lost at Sea by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Black Hole by Charles Burn
Blankets by Craig Thompson

Science Fiction & Fantasy

The Bartimeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud MULTIPLE VOTES
Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman MULTIPLE VOTES
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer MULTIPLE VOTES
City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
Warriors series by Erin Hunter MULTIPLE VOTES
Siberia by Ann Halam
Valiant by Holly Black
Cats of Seroster by Robert Westall
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Attolia books by Megan Whalen MULTIPLE VOTES
The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander MULTIPLE VOTES
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana wynne Jones
Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones MULTIPLE VOTES
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Bulter (multicultural)
Corbenic by Catherine Fisher
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean
Magic or Madness trilogy by Justine Larbalestier (multicultural)
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (death)
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Beginning Place by Ursula K. LeGuin
House of Stairs by William Sleator

Adult Books With Coming-Of-Age Themes
(These were originally published for adult readers but many have been republished for YA readers now as well.)

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
Shadow Baby by Alison McGhee (death)
A King Must Die by Mary Renault (also SFF)
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (also SFF)
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (multicultural) (death)
Boys Life by Robert McCammon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow by Faiza Guene (multicultural)
The Girl I Wanted to Be by Sarah Grace McCandless
The Small Rain by Madeline L'Engle
Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn (death)
A Girl Like Che Guevera by Teresa de Caridad Doval (multicultural)

I've never heard of, like, 85% of the total of books listed above! Shows how little-read I am.

Reading a real book or from a screen?

Thanks to technology, now we can read our favourite books or classics from the computer. All we need to do is download and save the file and when we want to read it, we just switch on the computer and read it! With such e-books, we can keep as many e-books as we want in our computers or PDAs(I think) without taking up too much space in the house. Oh yes, e-books do help keep the house less cluttered.

But, for me, I don't really like e-books. I prefer to hold the real book in my hands when I'm reading. Wouldn't it be strainful to the eyes if we kept staring at the screen for hours? It can be tiring just staring and reading real books for a long time.

I don't mind if there are many books at home. I don't mind if they take up too much space. I'll just have to find more space for them then! With a real book, I can relax on the couch to read it. I can't curl up if I were to read from a computer.

Take your pick. The e-book or the real book?

The Ultimate Teen Book Guide - Very Ultimate!

Yesterday, while browsing through the bookshelves of Borders bookstore, I came upon a very interesting book, which caught my eye. Well, I simply plucked it out like I always did with most books. Wow, when I opened it, I was mesmerized. I love the book!

It's called The Ultimate Teen Book Guide, edited by Daniel Hahn, Leonie Flynn, and Susan Reuben. It has 448 pages filled with cool book reviews. Then, there are different categories of books, too, so the reader can find his/her way around the book easily. It's priced at a hefty RM85.95. I might buy it later when I have extra cash or when I strike the lottery.

This book is a guide for those blur teens who don't know what to read next or don't know which book to read. How would you know if it's an interesting book or not? What's the story about? Well, the book has reviews of over 700 cool books. And some of the reviewers include Meg Cabot, Jean Ure, Melvin Burgess, Anthony Horowitz and many more! Now, you know what your favourite authors love to read!

My Stupid Mistake!

Oh gosh, I made a huge, horribly huge, simply terrible mistake yesterday!!!

I’m currently reading Rebel Angels by Libba Bray and I was so excited to know who the baddie would be. Okay, Circe is the bad sorceress and I was wondering who would she be. Would she be someone Gemma, the heroine, knows? Or someone Gemma hasn’t met?

Augh! I really wanted to find out by reading the book myself but I was too curious! Yesterday, I was just browsing through Wikipedia and typed in Libba Bray for fun to see what’s written about her and also to see what’s written about the books she wrote.

First, I went to the page on her first book, A Great and Terrible Beauty. Okay, it was informative and I got a clearer picture of the story. Then, I had to click on the link leading to the page on Rebel Angels. Oh, I should not have done that! Totally shouldn’t have!

I read the page, that’s what happened. I could not contain my curiosity. Why, oh why did I read it all? When my eyes came to the sentence revealing Circe’s identity, I regretted what I’d done immediately. Now, reading the book would not be so fun and suspenseful anymore since I found out Circe’s secret identity.

Moral of the story: Never go to Wikipedia or any other website related to the book that you are reading. Ever! It will ruin your reading like how I disrupted mine. Of all the tragedies.

Sigh……never mind. I still have more than half the book to savour. It’s still quite full of suspense to me although the biggest mystery of it had been solved accidentally. There are still other mysteries to uncover. =)

Hey, I also did not know that there were a handful of fan sites for the characters in A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels. Both of the books are indeed popular. Besides that, the third book will be out in September 2007.

I can’t wait for it. And I certainly would not make the same horrendous mistake again!

Books I Want To Read

I would like to read the books listed below. I read about them in an article at the Hornbook Magazine website and I suppose they are meant for both young adults and adults. Have you read any of them before? If yes, do tell me how you find it/them, okay?

Postcards From No Man’s Land by Aidan Chambers

Feed by M. T. Anderson

America by E. R. Frank

Kit’s Wilderness by David Almond

A Step from Heaven by An Na

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

This Is All by Aidan Chambers

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M. T. Anderson

Traitor to the Nation by M. T. Anderson

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Choosing A Book

When you choose a book to read, how do you go about it? Do you pick the book because you like the author? Or you’ve read countless of reviews raving about the book? Or maybe you just like the look of the book’s cover? Maybe you are a ‘judge a book by its cover’ kind of person?

Whatever it is, the whole truth will be revealed once you start reading the book. The cover of the book may look nice or the book is hugely popular but after reading page 1, you just go, ‘Ugh! What a horrible book!’ Well, there you go.

I’ve read somewhere before that if you want your book published, your book has to pass the Page One Test. Meaning that the publisher will read only page 1s of all the drafts he receives and then he will decide which are good ones and which are merely wasting his time. So, aspiring authors would have to make an extra good impression right on page 1.

I guess that’s the way we buy our books too. When we see a book that strikes our fancy, we read page 1 first to see if we can go on to page 2. If you go beyond page 5, then it’s time to buy the book. Remember to hold the book properly, though if you’re not planning to buy it. Don’t vandalize the book. I’ve seen too many poorly handled brand new books in bookstores. Be considerate and think of the next person who might buy the book. We all like brand new books, don’t we? They should also LOOK like new, right?

Nevertheless, here is a list of recommended authors whose books that you might like. I don’t quite remember from where I got the list. Probably from The Star’s Tots To Teens!

1. Susan Cooper
2. Diana Wynne Jones
3. Garth Nix
4. Ursula Le Guin
5. Terry Pratchett
6. Brian Jacques
7. Alan Garner
8. Madeline L’Engle
9. Susan Coolidge
10. E. L. Konigsburg
11. Beverly Cleary
12. Elizabeth Enright
13. Sarah Dessen
14. Judy Blume
15. Patricia McLachlan

10 Books That I’ve Read and Can Definitely Live Without!

Previously, I listed out 10 books that I can't live without. See here. Well, now, I thought I'd list out 10 kinds of books that did not make a big impact on me. Books that I would not bother to save from any disaster.

1. Gossip Girl

One of the lousiest and un-educational books ever! It teaches bad values and bad examples to teenagers. It would not do anybody good if the reader takes the book to heart and follows the terrible lifestyles of the characters.

2. Harry Potter series

Sorry Harry Potter fans! He may be your hero but he’s not mine anymore. I used to be utterly protective of my Harry Potter books and thought I’d never be able to survive without them. Well, I grew out of it. They are just entertaining reads now. The movies were lousy too.

3. Sweet Valley series

That was also another phase I went through when I was a younger teenager. Anyway, at least the characters in Sweet Valley are less wild than the ones in Gossip Girl. I’d rather recommend Sweet Valley to teen readers. They are kid/teen-friendly that’s why.

4. Forever by Judy Blume

I’ve always wanted to read this book because of all the hype about the s-e-x in it. It’s supposed to be quite educational, too. The story was fine but I did not particularly like the ending. Katherine was too fickle-minded and disloyal to her boyfriend. Well, if she were to fall so easily for another guy, then she should not have promised ‘forever’ to her boyfriend. Nothing is forever, anyway.

5. Dawson’s Creek series

Oh! I’ve read 3 books in this series and they were so boring. Even my sis said they were boring. But, I expected that from her since she’s too old for the books. Haha! Not that old, though!

6. Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones

It took me weeks just to finish this book. Well, I was quite busy so I only read, like, one chapter a day. The whole story was just so complicated and too many details to remember. Luckily, I understand the story now after reading the synopsis and readers’ comments at Amazon.

7. Boys Beware by Jean Ure

This book would only be appealing to younger teen readers, I should think. It’s just too ‘crazy-for-boys’ kind of book. The main characters make as though they live for boys. Ugh, I prefer Ure’s other books.

8. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

The story was okay but I did not really like it. I don’t know why but I just don’t think it is that interesting.

9. Diary of a Girl in Changi by Sheila Allan

This book was downright boring from the start. I got it from my sis for Christmas about 3 years ago, I think. I never finished it though. It was too boring for me to finish it. Haha! My sis admitted it was boring too. It’s a true story and it’s really the diary of Sheila Allen when she was younger. But all there ever was in the book were stories about parties and concerts.

10. Fortunately, I can’t think of a 10th book. Perhaps you can fill it in for me?