The Children Act

This book is such a bore! This is my first McEwan and I was expecting something spectacular from him. After all, he wrote Atonement and I heard nothing but praises about his works. 

I have Atonement and Amsterdam in my shelves now, waiting to be read. I was keen but I am now skeptical. I don't want to spend my precious time reading boring literature. I classify him together with authors who "try too hard to impress with words selection but failed miserably". 

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

I yawned just after reading 2 pages of this book. Flanagan's prose was flat and it was obvious that he was trying too hard to impress readers with his vocabulary collection. Oh, this book also joined Murakami's latest book as Bad Sex in Fiction Award Nominee 2014. They are both equally bad in describing sex - they should be banned from writing any sex scenes! My heart ached because I thought that I had chosen a brilliant book. After all, it is the winner of The Man Booker Prize.

The only consolation that I have is that the horror war stories Flanagan exposed in details as he dedicated this book to his father (Prisoner 335) who survived the war. I am embarrassed that I was not aware about the Siam - Burma Death Railway built during the WWII. I cannot imagine the all the sufferings that the POWs had to go through. Hunger, cholera, dysentery, ulcers, vivisection... oh gosh, especially the vivisection. Who in the right mind could operate a vivisection?! I am truly disgusted that human beings can be so cruel to each other just because they want to uphold a certain belief.

War stories always make me ponder about life and humanity. I hate it when people are fighting, no matter how small the issue is. Can we all just share this world in peace?

All the Bright Places

This is my first YA fiction after Eleanor & Park. In fact, it has the same format as Eleanor & Park although this book is at the opposite spectrum of the mood.

Finch is suicidal and Violet is coping with the death of her sister. The whole book is about depression and life. I wonder why young adults these days have to deal with serious stuff like these. When I was a teenager, I thought of nothing other than schoolworks.

The Strange Library （不思議な図書館）

What a lovely book! I adore the book cover design; it gives the vibe of an old library cataloguing. 

As I am not a fantasy fan, the content doesn't appeal to me much. It was a fun read but I feel that the story was cut too short too early. It could have gone further a little bit more....

French Milk

French Milk is a comic journal of a 22 yo American girl, documenting her 5 weeks in Paris spent with her Mum. As it is my first comic journal, it was quite fun reading it - it's like reading someone else's diary. However, the story lacks substance and I'm glad that it was a fast read.

Sharp Objects

I saw a lot of 5 stars given to this book in Goodreads I wonder what's so good about it. This is also my second Gillian Flynn's novel after Gone Girl. Hmmm....

Overall, I prefer Gone Girl. This book is super creepy I still can't shake off the goosebumps even after I'm done with it. The one-liner summary is this: "A dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship results in the death of 4 girls." But, but, you gotta read how crazy the mother is, and how affected the daughters are. They should all go to separate mental hospitals, seriously!

Gillian Flynn, your mind is indeed crooked!

Everything I Never Told You

This is a sad book! Its gloomy tone reminds me of Alice Sebold's Lovely Bones. However, I like how Celeste Ng told the story. She has smart writing style; I don't think anyone can write like this. Each chapter reveals a new secret that it leaves the reader wanting for more.

It's a story about the Lee family after the death of the second daughter Lydia. Nobody knows what happened to Lydia, except for Lydia herself. I felt really sad for Lydia and all I can say is that parents really have strong impact on their children. Often, parents push their children to achieve their unfulfilled dreams without realizing that it may break them. On the other hand, children constantly seek their parents' approval; when there are discrepancies between what the parents want for them and what the children really want, things will break.

I am glad that my parents don't push me as hard. Of course, my Mum had the dream of having a doctor in the family but I made it clear that there's no way that it's going to happen. I am scared of lizards, for goodness sake. Doctors can't be scared of lizards. I am fortunate that Mum understands what I want and let me do whatever, however I want to. The same applies to my sisters. As I said in my wedding speech, our parents let us fly.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

A man walking fast down a dark lonely street. Quick steps and hard breathing, all wonder and need. A bell above a door and the tinkle it makes. A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time. 

Ooohh, I love love love this book! Reading this book is just like reading Famous Five and it brings back childhood memories.

I want to work for/shop at Penumbra's quaint bookstore. I imagine myself entering the bookstore, looking at the shelves, and then Penumbra would ask me "What do you seek in these shelves?" Even the thought has already made me happy.

This is a story about a secret literature society that involves members with nerdy fashion style. Their mission is to crack the codes left by Aldus Manutius (google him!) who was actually one of the first publishers back in 1500s. The slogan used in the book (Festina Lente) caught my interest and now I am into Latin language. Gosh, that's a new addition to my to-do list: to learn Latin!

Festina Lente is an oxymoron that means "make haste slowly". Mr. Wiki states its meaning as "... activities should be performed with a proper balance of urgency and diligence. If tasks are overly rushed, mistakes are made and good long-term results are not achieved. Work is best done in a state of flow in which one is fully engaged by the task and there is no sense of time passing." Aren't we supposed to apply this to our lives to excel in whatever we do?

It gets more interesting when I did a bit search on Festina Lente. There are various emblems used to depict this slogan. The most famous is the dolphin and anchor, which was used by Aldus Manutius. The book also reflects this as the name of the bar (The Dolphin and Anchor) where the main characters gathered. ... There's a stack of books on the table and a metal cup with pointy pencils that smells fresh and sharp. In the stack, there are copies of Moby-Dick, Ulysees, The Invisible Man - this is a bar for bibliophiles.... Other emblems bore the images of a sail-backed tortoise, a hare in a snail shell, and a crab and a butterfly.

Everything about this book is fun. Its cover even lights in the dark! And the names, who on earth would have such funky names like Ajax Penumbra and Marcus Corvina. Oh my God, I'm dizzy with all the goodness.

FESTINA LENTE!

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

I bought this book in August 2014, read the first 100 pages of it, and lost any interest that I had in this book. My love-hate-relationship with Murakami continues. I specifically hate his description of the sex scene. Can he please not write any sex related stuff? It sounds awkward and weird, and why do most of his characters get wet dreams? Seriously?! It's as if the Murakami world is full of people with unsatisfied sex needs. 

When I was browsing this book, I found out that this Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki was selected as Bad Sex in Fiction Award Nominee (2014). Oh well, that serves him right. He should have won that award, really. 

Anyway, I decided to finish what I started in August last year and a few days ago I continued reading it. The last quarter of the book is not as disappointing as the start. Somehow I can relate to Tsukuru in his dealing with self-doubt. He sounds more real than Murakami's other characters. I guess his hard-core fans might be disappointed with this book as this is not the usual funky, surreal kind that he usually writes.

Still Alice

Wow, this is a good book! This is the first novel about Alzheimer's disease that I've ever read and it's such an eye-opener for me.

I put myself in Alice's shoes throughout this book and I felt terrified/frustrated/sad with her. Alzheimer's disease really sucks the life out of you. You are no longer yourself, and it's really painful experience for the loved ones.

I forget things. Sometimes I went to the living room meaning to get something, and the moment I was in the living room I forgot what I was supposed to get. I tried to switch on the air-con with the TV remote control, and once I broke a telephone because I thought it was a screaming alarm clock. There is no Alzheimer's history in my family so that's good news. Also good news that I don't really forget things recently. No, no, no.... I am going to train my brain to remember better!!!

I don't know what I'm going to do if I were in Alice's position. This book showed me her perspectives and that's what makes it a wonderful read.

American Sniper

I picked this book because I saw Bradley Cooper looking forlorn in the trailer. The media's praises on this Clint Eastwood movie has never stopped, and so I thought that this must be quite an interesting story.

I didn't want to read the book initially but I got bored at Soekarno Hatta airport. It was quite entertaining at the start but I started losing interest halfway through the book. Chris Kyle is not a writer, so that's probably why the story-telling is so erratic. Kyle is perfect for war - he is dedicated, skilled, and nothing scares him. However, any soldier has the same problem at the end. They are all scarred and they have to go through a lot of struggles to go back to normal life.

I struggled in finishing this book, especially the last 4 chapters. Every chapter tells the same story I lost interest after reading 2 pages.

PS: Whenever the word "ROE" comes up, I read it as "Return of Equity" instead of "Rules of Engagement". Every. Single. Time! Don't ask me why.

Update - 25 February 2015
As I browsed the NYT, I came across news about the court ruling for Chris Kyle's killer. What?! Chris Kyle died?! I can't believe that I didn't know this. Pardon my ignorance!

Apparently he was shot by a psycho at a shooting range back in Feb 2013. What an irony! After all the wars that he went to, he died at a shooting range.

The Glass Castle

Dark is a way and light is a place,
Heaven that never was
Nor will be ever is always true
- Dylan Thomas

Years ago, I heard about this book and its raving reviews but I never got the chance to read it. And also, I have my own rule that I don't read the story description on books that I'm going to read (what's the point?) so I still had no idea what it was all about until I started reading it. All that I knew is that it's a memoir.

And then, I read the first chapter and I was blown away. Wow! This is going to be an exciting read, I thought. I'm glad that I decided to read this book. The Dylan Thomas' poem above was the opening of the book, by the way. That pretty much sets the tone of the story.

I went through an emotional roller-coaster while reading this book. I was angry at Rex and Rose Mary Walls for being irresponsible parents. I almost cried at points when the children had to look for ways to survive, and eventually escape from that dysfunctional family.

The moral of the story is that "we choose the way we live our lives". Jeannette Walls' parents chose to be nomads in the early years, and subsequently to be homeless in New York. Their kids (except the youngest) chose to live better lives.

"Choice" is such a powerful thing that we often change the direction of our lives without realizing that we actually chose to do so.

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Page 93 of 288

"I'm such an excitement addict!"

Page 129 of 288

Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more.

Page 144 of 288

"Everyone has something good about them," she said. "You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that."
"Oh yeah?" I said. "How about Hitler? What was his redeeeming quality?"
"Hitler loved dogs," Mom said without hesitation.

Hahahaha.... I almost fell of my chair when I read this.

Strange Weather in Tokyo

I don't really fancy love story but this book tells a story so subtle that the whole "I love you - I love you, too" process feels like a breeze. It's just a simple love story between a grown woman with her primary school teacher. I cannot imagine myself having a relationship with one of my teachers from years ago - that's just too absurd - but this story makes it sound romantic than weird.

I like this book but I feel that some of the translated words sound weird in English. When I translated the sentences back to Japanese, they sound natural because that's how Japanese communicate to each other. I think the translator decided not to change the context to keep its originality but she should have known better that not everything can be blindly translated into English. Well, more editing works could have helped make this book 'sound' better in English.

Literature is best read in its original language, for sure! I'm sure this book is so much more beautiful when read in Japanese.

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Page 49 of 176
Even a cracked pot has a lid that fits.

Page 50 of 176
"What they did with them in Siberia. Long ago, the chiefs of the indigenous highland peoples of Siberia would ingest the fly agaric before going into battle. Fly agaric mushrooms contain constituents that induce a psychoactive trance. Once eaten, the mushroom causes an extremely agitated state characterized by ferocity and short bursts of tremendous strength that can persist for hours. First, the chief would eat the mushroom, and the next-highest-ranking man would drink the chief's urine. Then the next-highest-ranking man would drink the second-highest-ranking man's urine, and so on, until the mushroom's constituents were coursing through the veins of all the members of the tribe.

"Apparently, when the last man finished drinking the urine, they were prepared to do battle," Sensei concluded.

I like this chapter about mushroom hunting, where Sensei, Tsukiko, and Satoru went to Tochigi for a hunt. Because of this chapter, I started digging out more info about mushrooms. Fly Agaric is one cute mushroom and it is my favorite so far :) One day, I want to go mushroom hunting in Japan.

Page 70-71 of 176
"The author Hyakken Uchida wrote something like this," Sensei began.

If I recall, there is a short story called "The Amateur Pickpocket". There's a fellow who gets boorishly rude and impolite when he drinks, and he always wears a gold chain that dangles from his neck. His rudeness itself is bothersome enough, but the sight of this chain becomes more and more offensive to another fellow, so he steals it. Just like that, he takes it. Do not assume that because the boor was drunk it was an easy thing to do - the one who stole it was drunk himself, so it was no mean feat.

And that's what inspired Sensei to steal the earring from a drunk guy who was rude to them.

Page 72 of 176
Physical pain inspires the worst kind of helplessness. 

Page104 of 176
I, on the other hand, still might not be considered a proper adult. I had been very grown-up when I was in primary school. But as I continued through secondary school, I in fact became less grown-up. And then as the years passed, I turned into quite a childlike person. I suppose I just wasn't able to ally myself with time. 

This is me! I took a U-turn some time ago and have refused to grow up. Growing up is a pain!

The Girl on the Train

If you like Gone Girl, you'd love this book. There are plenty similarities in the twists and turns of both stories; this might be the recent trend in modern crime fiction. I still prefer the classic style of crime fiction, though. Years ago Patricia Cornwell got me hooked into her Scarpetta series, and Sue Grafton still entertains me with Kinsey Millhone. These two don't use a lot of twists and turns, they are not trying too hard and yet we the readers get all the goosebumps throughout the plots. 

I admit that I couldn't put this book down. The author is smart in breaking down the chapters to short, fast-moving morning, afternoon, and evening sections, alternating from one main character to another. I really give it to her in describing the wrecked Rachel Watson. Heartbroken, humiliated, jobless, and alcoholic - she's just a hopeless case and is somehow irritating just because she cannot control herself. I had this strong desire to just shout at her whenever she's drowned in alcohol and never-ending self-induced sadness. 

I like the idea of train passengers observing the life along the train tracks. Don't we all do that? Well, I don't see anything interesting in Singapore but when I was in Melbourne, I enjoyed looking at the activities inside the houses along the train tracks. 

PS: I can 'hear' strong British accent throughout this book. 

村上さんのところ

Good news to all Murakami fans! The above site opens on 15 Jan and the famous writer will take any questions from his fans. 

Smart move! My fav author Sue Grafton uses Facebook to interact with fans but sometimes it just gets 'too crowded'. She really answers questions, though. She replied my comment about her funny description of a boy's face (I think it's from 'B is for Burglar'); she doesn't even remember the description anymore.