Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg and Claire that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
I only borrowed one book when I visited the library last Friday - A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler. I've wanted to read this book for a long time after seeing several good reviews on it. Holly Schindler also has a new release, Playing Hurt, to be released in March and I'm glad to be part of her blog tour.
Onto a general topic, it rained the whole day yesterday, and it continues to rain when I left home for work this morning. I'm keeping fingers crossed that it wouldn't rain on the Chinese New Year days... Well I hope you have a great week ahead!
My reading didn’t start off as a bang this year, and I have to attribute that to my shortened journey to and from work ever since I had moved office. If you are a follower of this blog, you’d know I spend most of my reading time while I’m on commute. Besides the time saving issue, it is also good to find the time whip by quickly no matter how long the journey is, thus my 1-hour single trip always seems like a blink of an eye to me (unless I am in a rush.)
Anyway, I was saying that I only read three books thus far since the beginning of the year. In the past, the average number of books I read is one (sometimes two) book per week, but now it takes me about two weeks to complete a book. I don’t think it is a reading slump, just that I need more time to really sit down and read (I should probably cut down on the time I spend on the internet and also finding the time to read during my office lunch hour. I think the latter is tricky considering I need to find a balance between my reading and socialising with my coworkers. After all, lunch hour is the only time when we can really sit down and chit chat besides talking about office work, that is).
So as I said, the three books I read have been good. They are compelling, thought-provoking and one of them offers me great escapism through its beautiful story and not to mention the beautiful prose of the author. The Man from Saigon, the fourth book which I’m holding now is one of those books that attract me the moment I read its blurb when I picked it up from the library; I remember myself getting intrigued with the book because it has the Vietnam War setting and it reminds me a little of The Lotus Eaters. Unfortunately, I have to mark The Man from Saigon as a DNF book although I think it has a great premise about a female correspondent being held prisoner by the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. I tried giving it a second chance by reading a few more chapters, but regrettably it didn’t engage me as much as I felt there is a lack of emotional depth of the characters. I felt as if the emotions of Susan (the female correspondent) were being told to me by another third party as most of them are portrayed through her thoughts. There is nothing wrong with this and I understand each author has his/her writing style, however it doesn’t work well for me so that explains the DNF. That said, author Marti Liembach has written this book in a detailed manner and many readers had claimed they enjoyed this book the last time I checked on Amazon.
So do you have any book that marked as a DNF so far this year? What makes you marked a book as a DNF? Do share your thoughts with me as I'd love to hear them.
Last but not least, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Chinese New Year is just round the corner and I can’t wait for next week!
If you are friends with me on Facebook, you'd have read my status about my wish to know how to bake those delicious Chinese New Year cookies (CNY falls on 3th and 4th Feb this year). It all started when my coworker offered us her handmade cookies -
Double chocolate mint cookies and
Kueh Bangkit. I asked for the recipes and she is very kind enough to share them with me. I decided to spread the love by sharing them with you here, hopefully you will try them yourself if you are interested.
Double chocolate mint cookies
Ingredients
115g salted butter
180g Self Raising flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
80g castor sugar
50g light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tube of Polo mints**
1 cup of chocolate chips
Method
1. Crush polo mints in a bag, set aside.
2. Cream butter, sugar in a mixer till creamy.
3. Add egg to beat till well mixed.
4. Turn off mixer and fold in flour, chocolate powder, chocolate chips and crushed mint.
5. Lined a baking tray with baking paper.
6. Use a piped bag to squeeze out tiny spots on the paper
7. Bake in preheated oven 180 for 15 mins.
8. Remove and cool completely on wire rack.
Important Notes
** The most important ingredient here is the mint. Best to get Polo Mints. If you can't find Polo Mints (the famous tagline was "The Mint with a Hole"), then use any candy mint that are just hard mints not soft mints.
Don't attempt to use Peppermint Oil flavouring. It will make the cookie taste somewhat artificially 'plasticky'. You need to pipe it out on a sheet of baking paper. The raw dough should look like a tiny 5 cent coin. When it is baked, it will spread out a bit.
To get the cookie to be more flat and spread thinly, use more butter. Add 50g more. And you need to adjust the sugar content as confectionery chocolate (those you get from supermarkets) are already sweetened.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kueh Bangkit
Ingredients
500 gm. Tapioca flour
220 gm. sugar
250 gm. coconut milk
3 egg yolks
Pandan leaves - cut into pieces and dry it
Method
1. Dry fry the tapioca flour with pandan leaves for about 10 mins over low heat. Sieve and remove pandan leaves and leave to cool overnight. Can prepare this a few days ahead.
2. Warm up the coconut milk then add in sugar and stir till sugar melted. Leave aside to cool. Add in egg yolks and stir till well blended.
3. Pour coconut mixture into tapioca flour and mix into a pliable dough. Dough should be able to stand on its own and does not have a shiny look.
4. Roll out dough and cut with a cookie cutter.
5. Bake over low heat at 160C for about 20 - 25 mins. Cookies should be whitish in colour and not golden brown.
Note
If dough is too soft, add in additional flour and if dough is too dry, add in some coconut milk and egg yolks.
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!
I just started reading The Man from Saigon by Marti Leimbach on my way to work this morning. I wish I could say more about the book but at this moment let's just say I look forward to reading the rest of it. What are you reading?
Shall I take a photograph? Son asked her, nodding up at the chopper, at the scar in the metal that held her attention. It seemed so innocuous now, the bullet hole, like the head of a lion mounted on a wall.
(Pg 6, The Man from Saigon by Marti Leimbach)
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This month's Mailbox Monday is hosted by Rose City Reader.
Here's what I received last week (bought from The Book Depository):
1) Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (I've heard so much raves about this one, so of course I wouldn't want to miss it!)
2) Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers (Have read several good reviews about this book as well.)
What books came into your house last week?
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg and Claire that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! 
I didn't expect to borrow any books when I stopped by the library last Friday while doing my grocery shopping, but I found
The Man from Saigon by Marti Leimbach. It has a setting of the Vietnam War and I want to read more books that feature this after reading and enjoying
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!
It was the flowers that made it an herb beyond price, for their crushed petals, when mixed in specific proportions with vinegar and oak ash, produced an ink of rich hue, a splendid deep purple favored by kings and princes for their most regal decrees and beloved of bishops for the illustrated capitals in missals and breviaries. The capacity to produce a supply of heart's blood ink could make a man's fortune.
(Pg 25-26, Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier)
I have always wanted to buy some bookshelves for awhile; after all my TBR piles are piling high up in our storeroom, and a few of my books are stacked in my living room's TV console and coffee table as well. These may be a pleasing view for all booklovers, but I do wonder what other visitors might think should they step into our house and see books lying about almost anywhere.
Anyway, my husband and I had finally decided on buying from a furniture store which is within the neighbourhood. We bought our first bookshelf from them so we know the quality and the workmanship. Plus, the store owner is friendly and she did not charge us for the delivery fees.
So here is a picture of my bookshelves. I bought two shelves; one with two columns, and another with three since that's the most our study room's space could allow. This time around I bought the bookshelves without the doors as I think it is easier to clean and maintain, and most of all it resembles library shelves. I spent the whole Saturday afternoon cleaning the shelves and arranging my books onto them. I have never felt so happy doing chores, ha!
I apologise for the poor picture quality though since I took them from my mobile phone (I was too excited and I think downloading pictures from camera take up some time).
Tada! Most of the shelves are already filled up, and I have fully maximised the space by filling two stacks of books front and back in one cubbyhole. The first column on the left (from top to bottom that is) is where I put all the YA novels (the last cubbyhole isn't filled as I have more YA novels which I need to sort out from our storeroom), fiction are on the second (again I need to go through my TBR piles), and the third is thrillers, mysteries and romance. The fourth row is where my Chinese novels and manga are, and finally I left the last column for my daughter's school textbooks and some studying materials from my husband during his Master's Degree days. Those thick files which you see piled up on top of the shelves are his too. I can't wait to see all the shelves are nicely filled up!
So this is how I spent my weekend. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend too!
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This month's Mailbox Monday is hosted by Rose City Reader.
Here's what I received last week from the publicist:
1) Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald
2) Haunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee
What books came into your house last week?
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg and Claire that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries! I know I have committed to read books from my TBR pile this year, but when I did my grocery shopping two days ago I just have to step into the library, after all it was within walking distance, ha. I tried hard to resist from borrowing any books but I just couldn't say no to this one:
Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier. A love story with a magical theme set in medieval Ireland. I have started reading the book and am already loving it.
Happy reading everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful week!
ISBN-13: 9780241144251
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2009
341 pgs
Source: Personal Library
Eating Animals may sound like a dry reading material at a glance, but let me assure you that this is not the case. Jonathan Safran Foer wrote this book with a personal, memoir approach in an honest and straightforward manner (in other words - pull no punches) and I find the tone fitting to the subject.
Since his teenage years, Jonathan Safran Foer struggles with the decisions between an omnivore and a vegetarian. He also shares with us bits of his teenage years with his grandmother who had survived the holocaust and her perspective on food thereafter. While their opinions may not be the same, it has made him question on the meaning of food, the consumption and everything else that comes with it. It was only on the brink of fatherhood that prompts Foer to search for the answers to his questions instead of listening to myths and making assumptions.
Eating Animals is the end result after his several visits to the factory farms and through his extensive research (not to mention doing his own detective work and getting some workers' opinions from the factory farms and slaughterhouses).
His topics varies from the general aspects of the agriculture industry (all meat products such as cattle, pigs and poultry) as well as commercial fisheries, and how they attribute to the world global warming right down to the slaughtering methods and how the biological effects on the animals (feeding them with growth hormones, antibiotics even though they are not sick and so forth) will all affect us in return.
I understand that the facts are not pretty and they are totally mind-blowing, and while I am definitely not writing this to try to convince you to become a vegetarian or a vegan (though I’d be glad if you do) but I feel it is important that we should be cautious and pay more attention to the food we are eating, where they come from and how they are being handled (treated). I have been an omnivorous person in all my life until two years ago I decided to become a vegetarian, and reading this book has further strengthened my decision of becoming one.
Thank you, Mr Foer, for making this book an engrossing and an ‘eye-opening’ reading experience for me!
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!
Where shall I begin? There are simply too many thought-provoking issues in Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (the same author who wrote Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) that I wished I could share them all with you here. Anyway I chose the following extracts which I feel we should be well aware of, especially the first extract.
A University of Chicago study recently found that our food choices contribute at least as much as our transportation choices to global warming. More recent and authoritative studies by the United Nations and the Pew Commission show conclusively that globally, farmed animals contribute more to climate change than transport.
(Pg 58)
What does organic signify? Not nothing, but a whole lot less than we give it credit for. For meat, milk, and eggs labeled organic, the USDA requires that animals must: (1) be raised on organic feed (that is, crops raised without most synthetic pesticides and fertilizers); (2) be traced through their life cycle (that is, leave a paper trail); (3) not be fed antibiotics or growth hormones; and (4) have "access to the outdoors." The last criterion, sadly, has been rendered almost meaningless - in some cases "access to the outdoors" can mean nothing more than having the opportunity to look outside through a screened window.
(Pg 70)
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This month's Mailbox Monday is hosted by Rose City Reader.
Here's what I received last week from a good friend, Julia of Julia's Books Corner (Thanks so much for the gifts, Julia!):
1) Wild Notion by Cathy McDavid
2) Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag
3) The Summer We Fell Apart by Robin Antalek
What books came into your house last week?
Here is a list of books I read in 2011. They are sorted in alphabetical order by the authors' last name.
BHaunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee
CStay by Deb Caletti
DSlow Dancing on Price's Pier by Lisa Dale
The Matchmaker of Kenmare by Frank Delaney (DNF)
You Against Me by Jenny Downham
ISBN-13: 9780312611576
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: March 2010
400 pgs
Source: Personal Library
I didn't know why it took me awhile to read The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, after all I have seen lots of good reviews of it. Nevertheless, it is always good to be late than never and with a little push by C.B. James' TBR Dare, I figured this is a good chance for me to pick up this book and read it.
Helen Adams is not your ordinary heroine. While other women trembled and scrambled for their life with the war raging in Vietnam, Helen chose to pick up her camera and risk her life shooting pictures during this chaotic times. But aside from this, Helen's main reason for going to Vietnam is to find out more about the death of her brother, Michael; who had lost his life in the war. However, she didn't expect that she would find solace in love amidst the war - whether it is fellow photojournalist Sam Darrow or Vietnamese ex-soldier and Darrow's assistant Linh.
Although the main focus of this story is on Helen, there is also a glimpse of Darrow and Linh's life as readers could read about their emotions and their struggles through Tatjana Soli's skilful writing. While reading this book, I felt there are so many issues are packed in this hauntingly beautiful story - relationships, ambitions, as well as loyalties. One could also feel a state of uncertainty as you can see from the following passage:
It was this way in Vietnam during the war - sometimes Darrow felt all powerful, felt he could ride fate like a flying carpet, like a helicopter, will it to do his bidding. Other times fate reminded him that he was only a toy, blown this way and that, swept away or destroyed on a whim. (Pg 249)
Through Helen's eyes, I see the cruelty of war and how this affected the civilians and the soldiers and all. I felt her struggle between duty and principle (which I'm sure many photojournalists will feel the same), and I also felt her happiness in love at times despite it falls under the most unfortunate circumstances. And because of
The Lotus Eaters, now I began to understand more about the Vietnam War (I also want to extend my thanks to a good friend,
Julia, for explaining the history to me.)
Despite the saddening mood and despair of the war and everything, I have to say I enjoyed this book immensely because author Tatjana Soli's prose and storytelling is simply wonderful. She has captured the essence of the wartime through research which what makes the entire reading experience so much enriching. I am sure The Lotus Eaters will be on my list as one of my most memorable reads this year. I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to see what the author has in store next.
Here are two February releases which have caught my attention and I thought I'd share them with you here.
Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald
ISBN-13: 9780451232144
Synopsis
A captivating sequel to the national bestselling novel
Veil of Roses.
Knowing she could never be happy in Iran, Tamila Soroush took her mother's advice to "Go and wake up your luck" and joined her sister in the United States. Now, after a spur-of-the-moment exchange of "I do"s with her true love, Ike Hanson, Tami is eager to start her new life.
But not everyone is pleased with their marriage, and Tami's happily- ever-after is no sure thing. With an interview with Immigration looming, Tami wonders if she's got the right stuff when it comes to love, American-style. Maybe her luck is running out. Or maybe she'll stand up for herself and claim her American dream.
Haunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee
ISBN-13: 9780425238714
Synopsis
A call from the past brings divorcee Jasmine Mistry home to Shelter Island to run her beloved aunt's bookstore, which has always been rumored to be haunted. With that knowledge, Jasmine embarks on a mystical journey, urged along by her quirky family, and guided by the highly emotional spirits of long-dead authors. Surprisingly, she finds herself moved to heal her broken heart when she falls unexpectedly in love with an enigmatic young stranger.
~~~~~~~~~~
What do you think of these books? They sound great isn't it, and I just love their covers! I read Laura Fitzgerald's Veil of Roses awhile back (here's my review) and really loved it so I can't wait to read Dreaming in English. Haunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee sounds like another good read so I will be sure to read this as well.
Which new releases have caught your attention lately? Do share!
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
- Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!
An older woman from the group, a mother or aunt, screamed and ran forward toward the alcove, and one of the soldiers shot her. Captured on film. The curse of photojournalism in war was that a good picture necessitated the subject getting hurt or killed. Helen blinked, tamped emotion.
(Pg 28, The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli)
This week’s musing:
How many books did you read in 2010? If you had a reading goal, did you meet it? What books are you most looking forward to reading for 2011 (either new, OR ones that have sat on your shelves for a while)?
It has been a long while since I did a Musing Mondays post; plus I really liked this week's questions so here we are.
I read 73 books in 2010. To be specific, I read 3 Chinese novels, 9 manga/graphic novels, 2 nonfiction and fiction as for the rest. I didn't read as many books as in 2009 (86 books) but still I think I had a great reading year last year in terms of quality and a few new-to-me authors whereby I enjoyed reading their books and will make sure to check them out should they have any releases out in the near future.
As for reading goals, I don't have any. I think simplicity is the way and my main focus will be reading as many books as I can from my TBR pile. However, I don't think it is possible to make a dent out of those piles at this point unless I make an effort to stop buying books, as my best friend always say to me. Unfortunately, I find this to be impossible since the temptation of books buying is too great, plus there are too many good books out there that I wouldn't want to miss. It would be a 'vicious' cycle, but at least I will be more choosy when it comes to buying the books I want to read.
Nevertheless, here are a few new books which I am most looking forward to buying (reading) this year:
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Marg and Claire that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
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