Big Bad Wolf Sale

My haul from Big Bad Wolf Sale Wave 1 + 2!!!! Went there twice and snagged all these back, a total of 70 books. Just in this sale, I have bought more books than I've had throughout the year, awesome eh? Spend about RM600++ (yes, i spent close to a thousand in just 2 visits).

But guess what, I just realised the sale added in new titles!! They have Roald Dahl and Tales of Beedle the Bard, and I spent hours during my 2 visits looking for them, and now they add it in when I'm not going anymore, WTH?!?! _)(*&^%$# seriously, I really want to scold bad words... Some of us actually purposely went early to try to snag the good titles, and they add it in later to try to coax you to go again and spend more =.= and well, people who goes later, are able to snag these titles without having to endure the agonizing first day sale. It's a little unfair don't you think? I've also read some people commenting that they came from out of the state to attend the book fair and you can't exactly expect them to come again isn't it? I'm pretty annoyed with them now. What's the point of the effort of rushing there early then? Late comers could actually get better titles than us. For me, it's a really cheap trick and despite being one of the largest book fairs and having cheap prices, I don't have much respect for them using such sales tactics. I was actually pretty psyche for the book fair and fully supported their effort, but not anymore.

Book Obsession

My mini little library :) And the top row has 2 layers of books! Talk about obsession. Been really obsessed with books lately that I buy a book almost every week. Just this year alone I've bought more than 50 books, and the year's not even half through! How I wish I have a library in the house.

Let me introduce some book that I've read recently :)

The Infernal Devices series. This is a must must read! It's the prequel to the Mortal Instrument series, but I have yet to read those yet. The story is trully gripping and keeps you eager to find out what happens next. Set in the victorian era with steampunk features, having mechanical beings, supernatural creatures and the main focus, shadowhunters, whom are humans with extraordinary abilities. The female lead is quite lovable and not to mention the 2 male leads! <3 I have found my replacement for Edward Cullen (infernal devices fans are gonna kill me for comparing it to twilight, don't get me wrong, this book is nothing like twilight, I just thought that the male lead here is sweeter and better than Edward Cullen :P) haha, ok, I'm getting on top of myself.

The plot is pretty unexpected and there are still much unanswered questions by the end of book 2. There are a total of 3 books in the series, Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess. The last one is scheduled to be released March 2012, can't wait for it to be released. In the meantime, I shall read Mortal Instruments, and there's a movie coming out for it if you guys didn't know :)

Another series that I've read is The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series. For Twilight Fans, especially Jacob fans, I think you're going to love this. Instead of vampire romance, we now have werewolf romance! However, this series didn't quite work for me. I find it rather disturbing at the beginning as it started off with the female lead being attracted to a wolf she always saw in the woods, and not just any normal attraction, she was romantically attracted O.O I mean, if she knew it was a guy, fine, but she knew nothing of it, but she just somehow fell in love with it, romantically.

The storyline was quite slow paced and nothing much actually happens. I didn't really see much growth in the plot as most parts are just how the couple spends their time. Even now sitting here thinking of it, I can't exactly recall much that happened, I guess because there aren't much to begin with. I'm done with the first two but have yet to start with the final one, I will eventually, but I guess I'll finish up some other books first before I do.


The next series is what I'm reading currently:

Fifty Shades of Grey. If you've heard of the book, don't judge me just yet. If you havent, well, don't judge me after you've found out what the books about :) I actually came across this book while going through the new york times best seller list, and the title caught my attention as it sounded mysterious. I googled more on it I saw that it's on several other best sellers list as well such as amazon, goodreads, etc. And after doing my research, I found out that it's actually some erotic BDSM novel, which made me go "wert...". Not long later, I started spotting them in bookstores and they're becoming best sellers even here! And apparently, the author started writting this story as a fan fiction for twilight! Yes, you didn't read wrongly, it's a twilight fan fiction that somehow got converted into a book and became viral and made it to the top of the best seller list. So, curiosity kicks in and I just had to read it.

Now the verdict: I have no idea how did it manage to climb its way to the top of the best seller list. The plot was fine, I loved the love story in it, both of them really cared for each other, the guy's sweet and funny and cute (at times) and the girl, well, she's ok, I like it that she stands her ground at times despite having an over controlling husband, kind of a typical love story. But other than the little love story in the book, the rest of it is just plain 'blegh'. Some parts of it didn't make sense and if you were to take the erotic / love making scenes out, the book would only be half the size. Yes, that's how much scenes they have. You might think that love making scenes would make the book interesting, but too many of it makes it bland and tiresome to read especially when each and every scene are pretty similar, despite the variety of methods the author tries to put it, it's still the same old sequencing. And don't get me started on the writting. Gosh! I have no idea how did the writting even pass through the editor, must be a real terrible one if you ask me. Not only are there many, many mistakes around, the book seems as if she writes using a template. I have no idea how many times have I have read the phrases holy crap, inner goddess, rolling eyes, bitting lips, subconcious, etc etc. It seriously annoys me to the max that I skim through them when I see them, especially when she talks about her inner goddess and subconcious.

If you look carefully at the plot and characters, it does indeed resemble twilight a lot, but i won't really notice if I hadn't known that it came from a twilight fan fiction, so kudos on that. But I guess if you're a real observant person you just might spot the similarities even without knowing that it started as a fan fiction :)

Well, I wouldn't exactly recomend this book to conservative peeple, but if you're open minded to erotic BDSM scenes then go for it, the story aint that bad, just the writing and adundant love making scenes that ticks you of, put those aside and the plot is actually pretty interesting.

P.S. I just realised that I've compared many books to twilight, haha!! I don't know why but it's a very nice example to use. Maybe because most people are familiar to it? oh well...

The Hunger Games: A Book and Movie Review

After the long waiting period, I've finally watched the drama, and I was so eager I just had to go on the first day~

So my verdict: though it's cliche, but I'm still going to say it, it's NOT AS GOOD AS THE BOOK!! But, it's already kind of expected, so far I think the only movie that does justice to it's book is Lord of the Rings? Though I didn't read the books, but, well, no one could deny that the movie was splendid.


Book



Anyway back to Hunger Games, the books were awesome, for a slow reader like me who takes an entire month for a book, finished all 3 in less than 2 weeks, with assignments!! *bangga* (I know a lot of you out there would have done it in 1 day, but I'm a slow reader!! give me credits...)

The first one was the best, but it sort of slowly went downhill in the other 2, and the 3rd was a little...... how should I put it, different. It's sort of like the twilight series with the last book seeming like another author wrote it as the plot is just so different from the others (just an example, not comparing the 2 stories) and Katniss, the female lead, got pretty annoying as she suddenly became so useless as opposed to her strong character in the first 2, and it seemed like she and her sister, Prim, switched personalities as Prim became so strong and matured, kind of a waste she died at the end :(

Story is fast paced and plot is continuous, allowing you no time to even think of putting the book down. Many said that it's copying the Japanese novel/movie "Battle Royale", but I didn't watch the movie or read the book so I can't comment much. I guess I could try watching the movie to see how similar it is.

It's somewhat predictable at times, and I think the contestants died too quickly in the arena, was kinda expecting the games to last longer, and I would actually love to see what happens if the last survivors in the arena were people Katniss was attached too, how was she going to face them? But somehow they got conveniently killed off by some other contestants or some disasters. The love triangle developement was pretty weak as well, even after I finished the book it still felt like Katniss was just playing with Peeta's feelings, and I had no idea who she actually liked more, it's like she's just using both of them. Would love to see the 3 of them settle the triangle (I just love drama), but the author also conveniently posted Gale to some other district so in a way she only had Peeta left =.=

The ending's quite dark, everyone got killed off *sigh* but despite the dark ending I still think it's fine as it's realistic, I mean, I don't think there's ever going to be a happy ending when it comes to war does it? Of course, I would love to read an ending where everyone lived happily ever after, but that's not how things work.

Overall, still love the book, and it just made it's way into my list of all time favourite books ;)


Movie


As for the movie, other than not doing the book justice, I still think that it's not properly done. There were many loose ends around and I think people that did not read the book might not fully understand what they're trying to do, or why certain things are happening. The scenes were scattered and messy, and definitely hated the shaky camera effect. I know they're trying to add to the war effect, but it gets annoying at times. A little too much close ups too.

The movie was flat in a way, many parts that should make an impact on you certainly did nothing. I would have expected more drama at certain point, e.g. when Katniss volunteered for her sister. It was really REALLY flat and seemed like just another scene. And I certainly would not understand why the crowd did the 3 finger salute if I hadn't read the book. The plot just sort of happen, and passes, leaving you with no feeling at all.

Kind of disappointed. I've already expected the movie to miss out parts of the book as I know they can't cram an entire 400+ page book into a 2.5 hour movie, so I could pardon them on that part, but they should have at least made an effort in making the movie a little more impactful and dramatic. It is cinematics afterall, it should be dramatic.

However, it's still worth the watch, and if you've read the book I think no matter how bad the comments are for the movie you'll still watch it, that's what I would do anyway :P

The Secret Series

As I'm still on holidays, and since I've wasted most of it doing NOTHING!! I think it's by time I do something a little more useful, like reading!!

I've thought of learning some programs like AutoCad or brush up on Sketchup or maybe even Photoshop. But, well, I'm not exactly the tech enthusiast type as I get very impatient when it comes to learning design programs, so, haha, guess I've failed on this thought.

So, I've picked up some books to read instead!! All my languages are getting rusty, so I guess I should at least preserve my English, and pray hard that my Chinese and BM won't go all the way down the drain~~

I've came to know of this series cause my bibi lent them to me and said it was interesting, and the cover sort of attracted me because of its colourfulness (I feel like such a small kid XD). It's called The Secret Series with it's first book called 'The Name of this Book is Secret'.

When I read the first few pages, the narrating style reminded me of Lemony Snicket's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'. The writer writes in a way that it is as if he is communicating with you, like he is conversing with you. It's interesting in a way, but at some points it does get annoying too.

Some parts of the story seems rather illogical, somewhat like a fairytale with a modern twist, or is modern fairytale the term for it? No, when I say fairytale I'm not talking about prince and princesses, but rather things that are surreal, like magic and talking creatures, and characters with eccentric personalities, written in a very child like manner, not such as teen novels like Twilight or Harry Potter, but such as novels like Enid Blytons. I'm sure many of you have heard of 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'? If you have read it, all the better, then you will understand what I mean.

The plot is pretty interesting and is a definite page turner. It's full of mysteries and suspense and you keep wanting to read on to know what happens next (I sleep at 6am because of this book, but also partially cause I'm a slow reader). And don't you find the cover attractive? It's so colourful!!!! aww~~ And not to mention it's shiny too XD I feel so immature....

Other installments to the series, Book 2 'If You're Reading This it's Too Late', Book 3 'This Book is not Good for You', Book 4 'This Isn't What it Looks Like'

I've just recently finish the 3rd book, have yet to buy the 4th book. I'll be getting it as soon as I get to a bookstore. But for now, I shall read other books first~~

Books

One thing that I have been doing ever since the holidays started, read.

It has really been sometime since I've touched those books on my shelf, and now, I can do something better...... pick them up!!! hahahaha, lame...........

As most of you know, the next upcoming movie for The Twilight Series, Eclipse, is going to be out in theaters soon. And as weird as it may sound, I have already read the last book, Breaking Dawn, but I haven read Eclipse (current read)...... haha, but this is not the first time I've done that, I've been doing the same for a few other series. Reason: because I bought the later one first, some by mistake, some because I couldn't find the earlier one.


The Twilight Series, one of the most popular vampire series of all times, also one of my favorites. Needless to say, most people are already aware of what the storyline is about, even for those who has not read the book, I'm sure that you have at least watched the movie. The twilight series, is indeed a very good read, popular especially amongst the girls, all fantasizing and wishing that they would have their own personal Edward Cullen. And as for the guys, all of them would want their own Bella as well. (But I find her annoying most of the time though)

All the four books are well crafted, with plots that would absorb you into the book, not allowing you to put it down. But the only book that I found a little odd, is the forth and final installment to the series, Breaking Dawn. The plot of the story is just way off and the style of the plot is very unlike the other three. But however, though the story is odd, it somehow appeals to you, and it is no where near boring, just odd, but never boring.

Another series that I love reading, and also my personal and all time favorite, is Harry Potter. Childish you might say, but the plot will never be the cliche typical book you read everyday. This is the very novel that got me hooked onto books. You can never predict what will come next, when you think this is how it is going to be, think again. J.K. Rowling could twist the story in ways you would never expect, leaving you wanting more.

The plot is fascinating, but the ending is somewhat disappointing though. I expected more action to it. But it somehow just...... ended. But no matter what, it will still be my favorite.


The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, a series that I came across by accident, and I do mean pure accident. Who says you cannot judge a book by its cover? I stumbled upon the second installment to the series, Spirit Walker, while I was browsing in the book store, and the book caught my eye because the cover was unique, and for some reason, I really really wanted the book, I do not know why but I do. And this series turned out to be rather addictive.

I'm still waiting for the final installment, Ghost Hunter, to be out in Malaysia. It has been out for quite sometime but I still could not find it in the bookstores. Even Kinokuniya failed me!!!! (how could you... I trusted you......) So, I'm still waiting, and waiting, and waiting..... and waiting......... *snores*


Besides series, I do have some other novels that I like. One of it is The Harmony Silk Factory, written by Tash Aw, a Malaysian author who is now living in London. I'm impressed that a Malaysian author could make it into the bestseller list *bangga* (the reason why I read the book). And I have to say, he did a really good job. The way he wrote it is beyond my expectations, and there is no way you could tell that it is written by a Malaysian. Though some people say that it is boring, because the plot is somewhat slow, and the beginning is pretty flat, but as it goes on, it gets better and better. A true master piece, written by a Malaysian!!!!


Another one, my personal favorite, is The Time Traveller's Wife. The plot is tremendous, utterly original. Most people might think that the story is about Henry, the lead male character, as he is the one who time travels, and thus, the story is telling about how he lives his life, faces obstacles, etc.... But the novel's main focus is actually about his wife, as stated in the title of the book. It's about how she copes with her husband's disorder, the sacrifices she has made, and the pain she has to endure. It is a touching love story that shows you the true meaning of love, making you treasure you loved ones even more.

I tend to prefer reading series instead of individual novels, partially because most fantasy novels (one of my favorite genre) comes in this form. Besides that, it is also due to the fact that I tend to grow onto the novels that I read. (I'm sure readers will understand what I mean) As you read a novel, you will start to fall in love with the characters and you do not want to let them go. Reading makes your imagination run wild, it brings you into their world and it is as if you are living in it. You become fond with everything about the book, characters, setting, plot, style, etc. Finishing the book is like parting with a good friend, leaving the characters, leaving their world. So if it is a series, there will always be an upcoming installment (though it will be dreadful when it ends), allowing you to continue.

All in all, you could say that I'm crazy over books, especially when there's a 50% or more discount (heaven~~), even if I do not read them, I like to just buy and collect the interesting looking ones, heheh..... but I'm low on funds, sad....... how I wish that books were cheaper......