Angela's Ashes

This book has joined my list of favourite books. One of the reviews of this books says it all.

"Every once in a while, a lucky reader comes across a book that makes an indelible impression, a book you immediately want to share with everyone around you... Franks McCourt's life, and his searing telling of it reveals all we need to know about being human" -Linnea Lannon

I stumbled across this book in the 2nd hand book shop. At first I was hesitant to buy it because there wasn't any synopsis on the book, only lots of great reviews so I had no idea what the book was about except that it's a memoir of somebody.

This book is absolutely beautiful, telling the story of the author's childhood of poverty in the slums of Ireland during the days of the Great Depression. The unique thing about this book is he writes it from the eyes of how a child views the world. The innocence of a child and how he sees the horrible realities of poverty sometimes in a humorous way.

When I read the Wild Swans, I become grateful that I do not have political propaganda brainwashing me. When I read A Thousand Splendid Sun, I become grateful that I have rights and freedom as a woman. Now after reading Angela's Ashes, I'm grateful that I have food and a roof over my head very night. I'm even grateful that I live in a country where it's hot and dry.

I've become a great fan of reading about people from other countries. It opens your eyes to the different cultures of the world. And it humbles you.

Falling Leaves

Weekend was great. Rested for 4 days. Met up with the fish. Lunch and dinner with a leng chai with rosy cheeks. Finished an awesome book.

I really do love this book. Thank you Shu-Yin for lending it to me. Falling Leaves is a true story of an unwanted Chinese daughter, how she had nothing and became something in life. Unlike the author in Wild Swans who endured the Cultural Revolution in China, the author of this book fled from China before the Communist took over. However, her childhood was so sad and I was touched by the story of her life. There were some parts of the book which reminded me a little about my own boogie family and I can totally relate to the pain she felt during the last chapter. I love the beautiful Chinese proverbs she used in each chapter which described what she was going through so well.

I guess there are a lot of boogie families out there huh. This book is a wonderful read. :)

10 books

Out of boredom on a Sunday morning, I decided to update my Library Thing with the books I've recently read. My last update was in February and since then I've read 10 books. That's almost 2 books a month (I'm so proud of myself).

And again, out of boredom on a Sunday morning, I'm listing all the books here.

1) The story of Edgar Sawtelle

I bought this book because Oprah was going on and on about how great this book is. And since the story is about a mute boy who grows up rearing their own special Sawtelle breed of dogs, I was thinking I would love this book. To my disappointment, the whole storyline of this books was pointless and the most frustrating thing about the pointless storyline was the pointless ending. The story was so pointless that I went online to read forums hoping to get some light on the ending. This is one of those books which has a lot of "isi tersirat" and it's up to you how you want to interpret it. Didn't like the book.


2) The Kitchen God's Wife

I was running out of books to read so I dug out some of my sisters old books. She is an Amy Tan fan but for some reason I was never interested in reading books about any Asian culture. Since young, all the books I've read was always by American authors and their American ways of life. With no other books to read, I choose this book.

The book is about the relationship between a mother and daughter. Mother came from China, lived through a lot of hardship and managed to migrate to U.S. later. Daughter, having brought up in the U.S. has a strained relationship with her mum because she cannot understand her mum's old conventional ways. The storyline then focuses on the mum telling her daughter about her life back in China digging up all the secrets hidden in the past.

After reading this book, I think understand why the older Chinese generation act the way they do. It kinda opened my eyes a little and made me realize that just because I've been brought in the modern world with my modern thinking doesn't mean I always know better. This book sparked my interest in reading books focus on other cultures thus I bought the next book below.

3) Wild Swans

I loved this book. Wrote a whole post for it here. The books is an autobiography of 3 generations in China, beginning with the author's grandmother, her mother and then herself. It tells of what life was like in China over the last century. Definitely a must read.


4) Starting Over

The book is about a middle age man who has a heart attack and recovers thinking he has a second chance in life. It makes him rethink about everything about life and decides to quit the job he finds meaningless, becomes a friend to his teenage children and a lover to his wife. However, things don't always go to how you think it would be and he may end up losing everything instead.

This book was an easy read, though I didn't like the ending. A story must have an ending, a conclusion, a summary to make all the hours I spent reading the book worthwhile. And when the book doesn't give me a satisfying ending, I'll not like it. After this book, I decided I won't buy anymore Tony Parsons books.

5) In Her Shoes

At this time, I found the 2nd hand bookshop that Shu-Yin blogged about here and I now only buy books from there. All books from here onwards are all from that little bookstore in Island Plaza. In Her Shoes is a story about 2 very different sisters. The older is a responsible plain woman with the prestigious college degree and career, where else the younger sister is a gorgeous hottie who jumps in and out of waitressing jobs always relying of her older sister to save her from any fix.

I loved this book. It's witty, it's funny and it shows that no matter how much your sister drives you crazy, she will still always be your sister (So Genny, I forgive you for stealing all my shampoo and conditioner).

6) The Pilot's Wife

I picked this book because of the "Oprah Book Club" logo. Decided to trust Oprah again. This book is about a woman whose pilot husband died when his plane crashed, killing all passengers on board. As the story unfolds, the devastated wife finds more and more secrets about her husband that she never knew. You think you know a person, but how sure are you? While reading this book, I repeated asked the hubby over and over again, "Are there any secrets you're keeping from me????" I enjoyed this book.

7) Chocolat

Boring book. I forced myself to read this book since I already bought it. Won't say much about it.

8) Keeping Faith

I loved this book. And I'm now officially a Jodi Picoult fan. This book is about a seven-year-old Jewish girl who starts telling people she sees God after her parents divorced. Throughout the whole book, you'll wonder whether she really is seeing God, or is it part of her imagination.

9) Enduring Love

I bought this book because it's by the same author as Atonement and I loved that movie. However, I was disappointed with this book. Predictable storyline. Not worth the read.

10) Man and Boy

I know I mentioned that I wouldn't buy another Tony Parsons book, but a review of this book came out in the newspaper. This book has been translated into 38 languages wor..... it has to be good right? I just finished this book last week. Story is about this 30 year old guy who has everything. A beautiful wife and son, a fabulous career, and wonderful parents however he finds that he has reached a stage in life where he feels stuck. In just one night, he finds himself losing everything he has and the story goes on from there.

The book was okay. I'm not jumping up and down about it, but it was okay.


So there we have it, boy and girls, the 10 books I've read. I've just started the non-fictional The Bookseller of Kabul. Seems like a good book.

Any books you wanna borrow from me, just let me know. :)

Hachiko

Oh and I watched Hachi last night. I've heard of the true story of a dog in Japan waiting at the train station for his master who died to come back everyday day for 9 years, but I didn't know a movie was made out of it until I read chioju's blog.

I cried so so so so so badly during the show especially when Hachi was so old, he could barely walk but he still made his way to the same stop at the train station, still waiting for his master to come back after 9 years. I've never cried so much for a movie. The last time I cried this much was for Marley and Me (the book, not the movie, the movie wasn't that great).

The hubby thinks it's silly to cry for movies (in fact he thinks it's silly to cry for any reason) and I could sense he was doing everything within his will power to refrain himself from teasing me while I was sobbing my eyes out during the movie.

I suddenly wanna go and get an Akita now. I seriously doubt Russell would be so loyal to me. That dog will choose a hotdog over me any day. ;)

This is an article about the real Hachi.

Wild Swans

I finally finished Wild Swans. The book tells the life story of 3 generations in China. Grandmother, mother and then the author. I've heard of the Cultural Revolution in China, but I had not idea how bad and how much the people in China suffered, physically and mentally.

Image from wikipedia

While reading the book, I can't remember how many times I would stop, turn to the hubby sitting next to me and say, "I'm so so so so so glad that our fore fathers decided to migrate out of China". I truly feel more appreciative towards the country I'm living in now. China, back then, was really a terribly country.

A must read, especially if you're Chinese.

My Sister’s Keeper

My all-time favorite novels are The Time Traveler’s Wife, Marley and Me and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Joining that list today is, My Sister’s Keeper

 Image from wikipedia

I love love love love love this book. Was reading it until 1am last night. Brought the book to work today to finish the last few chapters (Don't tell the boss ya).


I'm too lazy to write the synopsis, so click here to read the synopsis. Else you can probably skip the rest of this post.

I no longer enjoy books like Sydney Sheldon or Dan Brown who are good at spinning a dramatic storyline, but the moment you finish the book it’s forgotten and done with hardly any memorable quotes.
Now I prefer books that touch the very basics of life. Books that after finishing it, it makes me ponder and think. Books that deliver a message to teach.

My Sister’s Keeper is a good book that makes you think. I hated the mother in the book, but I couldn’t help thinking… what would I do if I were her? I admire Anna’s decision to fight over the right of her own body, but I couldn’t help thinking… is that right so important that she’s willing to let her sister die? Jesse was such a messed up kid, but I also felt so sad for him for always being neglected. I adored the dad and how much he tried to makes things right. And I loved Campbell, the lawyer and Julia, his ex-girlfriend, who sometimes provide comic relief to a very depressing story line.

A wonderful beautiful heart-warming story that leaves you to think… what would you do if you were them? And just like what my sister said, after you finish the book, you’ll turn back to the first page and start wondering.

However, I also kinda guessed how the ending would be, even though I wasn't sure how it would happen. Because of that, I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I still love the book though. :)

And please, if you’re thinking of being lazy and watching the movie instead, the movie has a TOTALLY different ending and some characters were cut out. I always wonder why movie makers almost always change the storyline of a popularly received novel. And if there’s a briefly mentioned love interest in the book, Hollywood makers will blow it up, focus on it and throw in some added sex. Hollywood movies will always be Hollywood movies. Sheshhhh.

Anyone who wants to borrow the book from me, let me know.

2 books and a green tomato

Book 1: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

A story about a couple during the 60's. Husband was a doctor, wife was a typical wife of the 60's. Wife was in labour with twins and when husband saw that his baby daughter had Down Syndrome, he asked the nurse to take the baby away and lied to his wife that the daughter died. The story goes on from there.

I enjoyed the book, though I was kinda expecting a more dramatic ending.



Book 2: A Thousand Splendid Suns

I loved this book. ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I know I'm loving a book when I read it until late into the night, then wake up the next morning and continue reading it before even getting out of bed. The last time I loved a book so much was Marley and Me.

The Kite Runner revolved around the relationship between 2 Afghanistan boys and this time the author wanted a story about 2 Afghanistan women. The story resolves around two women with very different backgrounds who found themselves in a unlikely beautiful relationship due to the twist of circumstances. The book gives a picture of the sufferings of Afghanistan women living under the terrible Taliban era. Their pain, their desperation, their fight to cling on and survive.

All I can say, I'm glad I'm a woman here and not there. Read the book and you'll start counting your blessings as well.

And not forgetting of my precious growing green tomato. If the doggies want to live long lives, THEY BETTER NOT TOUCH MY TOMATO.