Randomness

Week of December 16: Happy Holidays Random Word Association

I say, you think:

1. santa claus
2. holiday carols sing
3. snow white
4. mistletoe plant
5. season greetings
6. candy cane peppermint
7. eggnog drink
8. presents gifts

Booking Through Thursday

Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? (Or . . . do you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking to?? (grin))

If not an online catalog, do you use any other method to catalog your book collection? Excel spreadsheets, index cards, a notebook, anything?

Yes, I'm a user of Library Thing and Shelfari. I like them because I think they helps me in keeping track of my expanding book collection. Another great thing about Shelfari is, I get notifications via email whenever someone added a book review which it happens to be on my bookshelf, and on top of that you are also notified whenever your friends have added any books on their shelves. It's fun to see what everyone is reading. Other than that, I don't have a habit of cataloguing my books but I do make a list of the books I read on my blog as a reference.

Camille Preaker had a troubled past and a history of self-mutilation, but she had put that behind her and gets on with her life working as a reporter for a second-rate Chicago newspapers. Everything seems normal but bland for her until her editor, Frank Curry hands her an assignment at her old hometown, Wind Gap whereby two young girls were murdered. But she has her qualms as she has not returned in eight years but Frank wants her to cover the story, thinking this would help in boosting the readership as well.

She meets up her estranged neurotic mother and a half-sister she barely knows yet intrigues her. In a way, she is grateful that her mother had let her stay at her house, although it is an icy welcome. She interviews the victims' families but couldn't get any clues from them, and the hometown police didn't offer any much help either. So she snoops around but as she digs deeper into the story and the case, she can't help feelling she is reliving her childhood trauma again, and the scariest thing is things aren't what they appear to be.

Sharp Objects is a page-turner, both intriguing and thrilling. Gillian Flynn's sharp writing style has hooked me starting with her great opening line and it continues to keep my attention till the last chapter and she doesn't reveals the murderer until towards the ending. Although I have somehow guessed who the murderer was, the truth behind it still blown me away.

Gillian Flynn has written a great debut with this book. It is no wonder this is a winner of the CWA New Blood Fiction Dagger; and Stephen King also quoted this 'A terrific debut, relentlessly creepy' on the cover as shown on the right.

Thank you so much, Alice! You are one of the sweetest friends I met at bloggieland.

And I would like to share this award with my fellow bloggie friends, and they are:

• Jennifer of From My Corner (Well, she's more than a blog buddy to me. She's my best friend!)
• Julia of Julia's Books Corner
• Wendy of Musings of a Bookish Kitty
• Kathy of *RittyRats*

This movie is about the battle of Thermopylae, led by King Leonidas with his small force of 300 Spartans against Persia's King Xerxes and his huge armies. Though the size of King Leonidas' armies was pathetic as compared to Xerxes', but all of his men were chosen and well trained from young to be the best warriors. They had nothing to fear, and they would continue to fight until their last breath was drawn.

This movie is rated 'R' for graphic violence and some nudity scenes. Frankly speaking, I didn't know about the rating since the hubs and I watched it on DVD, so I was both taken aback and put off by the violence scenes. Thinking that the movie would be somewhat boring (i.e. fighting and more fighting), I stopped watching and did a little reading while the hubs continued to watch. And it was until when one of King Leonidas' warriors was killed and his father went ballistic that I decided to focus my attention back to the movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sadistic, but that was because King Leonidas' warriors were supposed to be 'un-beatables', and the plot thickens when King Leonidas was asked to kneel before Xerxes and the consequences that follows when he said no.

Overall, I think this is a good action and war movies if you don't mind the gross scenes (although I understand this is essential to the movie but I'm a coward when it comes to this). The computer effect is great. And though this might sounds a little silly, I quite like the movie title as I find it very appropriate. After all, this is mostly about King Leonidas' and his brave 300 Spartans.

Booking Through Thursday

This week’s question is suggested by Island Editions:
Do you have a favourite book, now out of print, that you would like to see become available again? (I have several…)

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

I'm glad to say most of my favourite books are available, except the following:

Now can you tell I'm a huge fan of Anne Stuart? :-)

(Note: I'm fortunate to have a best friend who's living in the U.S. who managed to find Nightfall and Into the Fire for me. Thank you so much, Jennifer!)

A fellow participant reading out his NaNoWriMo excerpt.

What's a party without a cake?! And don't you think this cake is lovely?

Our Municipal Liaisons (Rozen and Sarahcoldheart) blowing off the candles on the cake.

Rozen (first left) and Sarahcoldheart cutting the cake while we looked on.

I was so thrilled that I won a prize for the "Opening Lines Competition"! I was shocked when Rozen called out my name. I love my prize, especially the $10 Kinokuniya book voucher, hehe.

Goodbye, NaNoWriMo 2007! By the way, the total wordcount for this year is 1098,496,066!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer
What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?
Probably the roller coaster (it's both fun and scary; and the great thing is, you get to scream with other people and don't have to feel embarrassed about it!)

Soup
How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?
I will try to look for some familiar faces and mingle with them, otherwise I will approach a few friendly people and start a conversation with them.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?
I guess this has to depend on whom I will be talking to. If it's family or close friends, probably a 9, otherwise will be a 6 or 7.

Main Course
Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?
Yes, I had one beginning of this year before I went for a vacation trip.

Dessert
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?
I hardly watch TV, perhaps only 2 hrs a day. I'd prefer watching DVDs than watching TV because I can choose what movies to watch.

Booking Through Thursday

Do you get on a roll when you read, so that one book leads to the next, which leads to the next, and so on and so on?

I don’t so much mean something like reading a series from beginning to end, but, say, a string of books that all take place in Paris. Or that have anthropologists as the main character. Or were written in the same year. Something like that… Something that strings them together in your head, and yet, otherwise could be different genres, different authors…

Well, there are times that I do read on a roll, and sometimes I just don't. And there are also times that I read books of the same genre in a row due to a certain theme of the reading challenges. However, I don't have any fast rules when it comes to reading because it depends a lot on my mood.

1. No surprise here, but I love to read. I started reading when I was in Primary One. Besides reading, I also love to write essays and draw. I submitted my chinese essays to the local papers when I was in Primary Six, and a few of them got published. That was the first time I received my 'earned' money, and was feeling very proud of myself. I remember telling my mom about it and she was so happy for me that she cried happy tears.
   
   
2. Asides from books, I also read mangas. Some people think they are for young children or teenagers, but I don't think so because I view them as another form of art.
   
   
3. I was a school librarian when I was in High School. This was my E.C.A. (Extra Curriculum Activities) and each student has to join at least one for the grades. And of course the best thing was I could borrow two books at a time instead of one.
   
   
4. I was also an Art student in High School. I remember the good and bad times during the Arts lessons. There was one lady teacher (we shared the same surname!) that left me a deep impression because she was so funny and she loved to mingle around with us as if she was part of us. She told us her favourite colours are red, white and blue. Not surprisingly, we used these colours in most of our assignments.
   
   
5. I am myopic. The world is a blur to me once I take off my glasses or lenses. I can't imagine what I'd do if I lose either one of them especially outdoors. Anyway, I prefer lenses than glasses because they are so much clearer, although I have to pay extra attention not to lose them while cleansing!
   
   
6. I love fruits. I can't think of any that I dislike, seriously.
   
   
7. I used to collect bookmarks (especially with pictures of roses) when I was a teenager, but now they are replaced by fridge magnets.
   
   

ISBN-13: 9780345464842
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 500pp
Pub. Date: May 2007

What would you do if you find your daughter met an obsessive stalker who wouldn't let her out of his life? And how far would you go to save her before everything is too late and someone will be hurt? You will probably ask these questions if you read The Wrong Man.

Scott Freeman thinks her daughter has a secret admirer when he first picked up an unsigned note that read: No one could ever love you like I do. No one ever will. We were meant for each other and nothing will prevent that. Nothing. We will be together forever. One way or another. Being a college professor, he always tell himself to be rational, but the contents of the notes made him uneasy, so he decided to seek the truth with the help of his ex-wife, Sally and her partner, Hope.

Before this, Ashley supposed to have a wonderful life. She is a beautiful and bright history art student, but she made a mistake of having a fling with an attractive blue-collar bad boy one night and from then onwards, her life becomes a nightmare.

ISBN-13: 9784770030429
Publisher: Kodansha International, 192pp
Pub. Date: May 2007
Translator: Louise Heal


As the title suggests, Yakuza Moon is a memoir of Shoko Tendo, who is a gangster's daughter. In this book, Shoko tells her readers about her childhood, and her life revolving around the yakuzas. Having a yakuza father is tough, aside from this uncontrollable fact she also has to endure the abuse she suffered especially when her father came home drunk in the middle of the night and creates chaos in the house.

Shoko later gets herself involved with the wrong crowd, and became a yanki (juvenile delinquent). During her teenage years, she ditch school, sniff thinner and gets high on speed. When she became older, she got involved either with gangsters who treated her badly or married men who treated her as a kept woman.

Finally, she told herself she wanted to be her own person again, and that was when she had her body tattooed, to symbolize she is being free. She has also became a stronger person after the death of her parents, and is not afraid to put her past behind and be a new person again.

There was a sentence she quoted which I liked:

"Now that I’m alone, do I warrant a full moon? Have I finally overcome my weaknesses and grown up? I’m heading along a new path in life, but if it turns out to be a dead end, I guess I can start over with the next full moon.”

• Travel to the U.S. and Europe
• Take up Creative Writing Course
• Take up Baking lessons
• Learn a foreign language (i.e. Japanese or French)
• Take up Graphic Design Course (which I did about 10 years ago!)

• Umbrella
• Wallet
• Cellphone
• Compact Mirror
• Tissue Packet

• Small amount of cash
• Credit cards
• Driving Licence
• Kinokuniya Membership Card
• A photo of the hubs when he was a toddler

• Reading (as always)
• Writing (as always)
• Blogging
• Watching DVDs
• Listening to CDs of my favourite artistes

The Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly

Ice Storm by Anne Stuart

Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

A Student Of Living Things by Susan Richards Shreve

Heart Stopper by Joy Fielding

Hunting And Gathering by Anna Gavalda

Note: I have been waiting for Matthew Reilly and Anne Stuart's books like for ages, so I was thrilled to find their new releases. And also, because of Wendy's great reviews, I have decided to pick up Sacred Cows and The Almost Moon. Thanks, Wendy! Now I can't wait to read all of these books!

Booking Through Thursday

Today’s question comes from Conspiracy-Girl:
I’m still relatively new to this meme so I’m not sure if this has been asked yet, but I’m curious how many of us write notes in our books. Are you a Footprint Leaver or a Preservationist?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Ah, this week's topic is easy to me. During my school days, I always scribble notes on my textbooks for easy reference (in pencil so that it's easy to erase if there's any errors), because I hate to write it on loose sheets and then fearing of losing them later.

As for novels, I hate to leave any marks on them. I don't even dog-ear the pages (I use bookmarks), so scribbling is definitely out of the question. The same applies to used books.

Dates: January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008

The Challenge: Choose one book from each of the following categories

1. A book with a color in its title
Blue Justice by Illona Hans

2. A book with an animal in its title
Cat O'Nine Tales: And Other Stories by Jeffrey Archer

3. A book with a first name in its title
Getting Rid of Bradley by Jennifer Crusie

4. A book with a place in its title
Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

5. A book with a weather event in its title
Into The Storm by Suzanne Brockmann

6. A book with a plant in its title
The Ghost Orchid by Carol Goodman

I had a sweet surprise when I stopped by Wendy's blog (Musings of a Bookish Kitty) last Friday and found out that she has offered this award to me! I feel both flattered and honoured to receive this award from her, not only her blog is one of my favourite book blogs but I also think she writes great book reviews too. I am glad to have her as my friend. Thank you so much, Wendy!

• Julia of Julia's Books Corner
• Alice of Hello, My Name Is Alice
• Kathy of *RittyRats*

Booking Through Thursday

Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less? Why?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

I would say I have definitely read more books as compared to when I was younger. During my school days, I relied a lot on the school library, and even if I could afford to rent a book at a used bookstore, I could only allow myself to borrow one, or at most two books because I was not given too much allowances (as long as it kept my stomach full).

And now that schooling is out of my league and I have a full-time job, money is not much of an issue as compared to during my school days! (Although I do tell myself not to overspend on books but sometimes it is hard not to do so.) And then there are always some good recommendations from my fellow book-bloggie friends, not to mention those addicting reading challenges that prompt me to read even more.

• Of, or relating to, conflict within a nation, an organization, or a group.
• Mutually destructive; involving, or accompanied by, mutual slaughter.
• Deadly; destructive; marked by slaughter.

Randomness

Week of Nov4: Random Questions

Well, let's answer a few of lifes important questions. Just post whatever comes into your mind first.

1. What's your view on peanut butter? Do you like it or is it just plain gross? I love peanut butter, especially the crunchy ones. I love it on bread, although I try not to have it daily as it will give me sore throat.

2. Aerobic exercising: good for you, or a tool of the devil? Any exercising is good, of course! And speaking of which, I haven't exercise for a long time since I left school. So does walking and/or shopping counts?! LOL.

3. Hanging out at the bookstore, is it nerdy or a fun time? Definitely a fun time to me!

4. Should your socks always match? Should you wear socks at all? Yes! But I seldom wear socks because the weather is so hot!

5. Is MySpace a great invention or just plain overrated? Well I don't visit MySpace so I have no comments.

till next time...

1. The Resort by Bentley Little
   
2. Prom Nights From Hell by Meg Cabot, Kim Harrison, Michele Jaffe, Stephenie Meyer & Lauren Myracle
   
3. The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson
   
4. The Doorkeepers by Graham Masterton

Booking Through Thursday

What with yesterday being Halloween, and all . . . do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping?

I thought about asking you about whether you were participating in NaNoWriMo, but I asked that last year. Although . . . if you want to answer that one, too, please feel free to go ahead and do both, or either, your choice!

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Yes, I do read horror. In fact, I enjoy reading horror although I can't say the same for movies if they have too much grossy/bloody scenes, because I know I will cover my eyes most of the times but I will ask the people around me what I have missed thereafter, hehe. (I know... such a dilemma! LOL.) Usually, it is the horror movies that stays in my mind more than the horror stories I read.

As for NaNoWriMo... yes, I'm joining again this year! It is fun, and you will be surprised at how much you will write from those peer pressures, haha!

Finally, all the best to my fellow NaNoWriMo participants! :D The race is on...