what are you reading now???

sure i am too busy to read anything except short stories right now. so tell me, what are YOU reading??? anything interesting. any new author whom you found to be extremely good. any short stories you would recommend. i am looking for authors who can inspire me with their writing style (fiction, of course). so tell me, anything, k. i will be waiting......

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is amazing. just when i thought, i had figured her plot out, she manages to sneak in a surprise.

lacy houghton is a midwife, who brings lives into the world. she did not expect her son to take them away. but that's exactly what he did. one morning, peter houghton, a prey in the eyes of bullies, walked into his high school with guns instead of books and he killed ten people.

along with the rest of the shocked and grief-stricken town, Lacy is left wondering when her shy 17 year old boy turned into a monster. and was it her fault?

this book is really addictive. once you start reading it, you cannot stop. believe me. i read finish this book while having high fever. well, this is the first book themed school shooting that i have read. i don't really know whether there are other books but if they are anything like this, i would definitely read them. the way Jodi Picoult narrates the story is superb. it keeps jolting our curiousity nerves.

she keeps revealing incidents that might turn the flow of events upside down. i get really excited over books that have surprise endings, and this is one book which i love the ending. it was really unexpected. the words, sentences, phrases, everything is lovely. i love the way she writes and her tone in this novel.

this is my second read in the Jodi Picoult's collection and it excites me to read her other novels. any suggestions?

the god of literature....

OMG. arundhati roy is one heck of a writer man. yes, i know that she only wrote one fiction and loads of non-fiction. yes THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS, is awesome. read it till morning 2 a.m. the book is that good. i just could not put it done. it is so addictive

yeah well, the first ten pages were quite draggy and microscopically detailed but the it got better and better until one point i just had to stop reading it because my mom was threatening to whack me (i was reading like a mad fool until i forgot to take my bath, hehehehee).

anyways the book is told from a child's point of view. it is extremely interesting to see the way she describes all the tiny details with expressions that are new and different. the plot of the story is twisted, spiralling into the lives of ammu(the widow-mother), rahel and estha(the children), baby kochamma, sophie (a cousin of the children), margaret kochamma, chacko and many more characters that will have you crying for and with them. okay, the book is not entirely sad but is quite humorous at times.

the award winning book (it won the Man Booker prize in 1997) is a great read. arundhati roy has painted a beautiful portrait that lives up to the superb praises it has received. this is definitely a must read. so go get this amazing book, guys and girls.

chicklit or guylit?

well, there is this brand that goes over books that have female protagonist. CHICKLIT. on the front cover you will either see a pretty girl posing or lipstick smudges. ergrrrggrgrghhhh. i think i am about to barf. i mean come on. books are books that are suppose to cater to all reader satisfaction. it does not need some branding (i refuse to call it a genre).

if you are going to tell me that this branding is going to give it more womanly appeal that will make screaming girls want to buy that particular book, i say BULLSHIT.

lady1 :chicklit? (in a very high, girly, girly (errrgh) tone)that is my favourite.
lady2: yeah. look at that book's cover. a gorgeous woman isn't she?
lady1: yeah. i am sure that book is fabulous.
lady2: yeah. this book is going to be great. the shirtless man beside her is quite hot too.
lady1: giggle, giggle,giggle
lady2: giggle giggle giggle.

HELLO. ever heard of the saying NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER (in this case literally). if it is about a depressed woman , it is chicklit. then what's next? if its about a guy playing footbal then it's guylit. (A GREAT BIG SIGH).

i am just trying to say that by creating a sub-genre like chicklit, it is only going to stop many others from reading the book (other than squeaky little girly girls). from the public's eye, if you are reading a chicklit, then you are a chick.(that sounded funny). of course chicklits are not as literary as some other books. but this kind of books might trigger some switch (in that clouded mind) to actually think more about LIFE , while giving you a laugh.

so people of the world, don't cage yourselves into one type of genre. read a lot type of books. guys don't be shy to read a chicklit because truly they are not only for chicks, they are stories about chicks. (you might even get hints on how to win a chick yourself, *wink* *wink*)

thats all people, bye.

P. S. I LOVE THIS BOOK........

P.S. I LOVE YOU by Cecelia Ahern. well, this is not to say a must read but it is definitely a satisfying read. i stayed up late yesterday night, just to know the ending. there were some pretty big shocks at the end.

this book is about a woman(holly) coping with her life after her husband(Gerry) died because of brain tumor. she undergoes a lot of struggle and tries her best to block the outside world from her. then , comes along a parcel from her late husband. well, technically it was posted to her parents' house just weeks before he died. the parcel holds small messages from Gerry for each month of the year right (for a year). that's when the fun starts.

the book is really good. the language is understandable which makes it a fast read. overall i enjoyed the book very much. a lot of unexpected turnings which will make your jaws drop. the characters are lovable and Gerry's character is my favourite. he is really the MAN who cares for his wive and friends.

the book is definitely a nice read. it would be nice if you could read it as it brings a new meaning to the word LIFE.

stunning debut....

preeta samarasan. this young lady is so far the best (this time it's for real) author. really really really. this is definitely one of my all-time favourite books. the language is so beautiful. seriously, it is. the best of the best. above all that, she is a Malaysian. yes, you heard me right.

her novel, Evening is the Whole Day, is set in Malaysia. her style is reminiscent of other Indian authors like Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy but still manages to bring out some very interesting ways of expressing situations and surroundings. her prose is really really really amazing. she is a master storyteller.

this is some of the reviews for the book.

Samarasan represents the quiet emergence of new Malaysian writing in books such
as Rani Manicka's The Rice Mother and Touching Earth, Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory, and Tan Twan Eng's Booker-longlisted The Gift of Rain last year.

These writers have significantly broadened our understanding of the region earlier
seen largely through the gin-soaked, misty eyes of Somerset Maugham, the
Tiger-beer induced nostalgia of Anthony Burgess*, or the laconic fiction of Paul
Theroux.

He discusses the socio-political background of the novel : Malaysia permeates Samarasan's novel without didacticism about the country's identity politics. It shows the symbiotic and separate relationship between Malays, Chinese and Indians. Jo Kukathas, the gifted satirist, once joked that in Malaysia "the Chinese do the work, the Malays take the credit, the Indians get the blame". Buried within the quip is a stark divide, explaining the consequences of the May 1969 riots which formed the basis of Lloyd Fernando's 1993 novel, Green is the Colour. ... Those riots led to Malaysia's preferential policies, which benefited Malays over Chinese and Indians, so forcing many non-Malays to seek educational and employment opportunities abroad. and calls the story multi-layered, but feels that the plot gets rather complicated.

Francesca Segal in The Observer yesterday found the novel :
Vibrant, descriptive, and peppered with colourful Indian-Malaysian
dialogue, this is an epic that's informative without being worthy, and
engrossing but not frivolous.Indian reviewers seem perplexed by the novel - you
can almost hear them thinking How come this novelist of Indian heritage, clearly
influenced by Indian authors, isn't writing the kind of Indian novel we expect?

Check out Amardeep's review and the interesting debate in the comments at Sepia Mutiny.

You can find other reviews on Preeta's website

anyways, guys. i am not going to discuss the plot here. i am just going to leave you with all these information. i am hoping that you will go out and buy this amazingly awesome book which i love so much. this is a must read for every Malaysian. I'll be posting more about this book later. (but seriously go get this book)

review on Nicholas Spark's 'AT FIRST SIGHT'

i know that i told you guys that this blog is only for my short stories but i then decided that i should post my reviews here too. anyways, lets get down to business.

this book by the author of the well-acclaimed books such as, A Walk To Remember, Message In A Bottle and many more love novels is extremely readable. in fact, this is one of the best love stories i have read in years. you can really connect with the characters. they are extremely real and true. Lexie Darnell and Jeremy marsh. these names will seem familiar to those of you who have read his True Believer. yes, this is kinda the continuation of that. not really sure, though. i have not read the True Believer. i am sure that it is awesome. what is so special about this book?

well, it speaks in the language of love (true love) unlike other lovey-dovey unrealistic love stories. while reading this book , i felt a sense of truthfulness in the writing. all Nicholas Sparks books are a joy to read. my rating for this book is * * * * * * (5 star). so what are you guys waiting for? go get the book and read it. its wonderful. (RM 21.90 POPULAR Bookstores Malaysia)

here's a very, very, very short summary i found on http://www.nicholassparks.com/ enjoy.

There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he'd never do: he'd never
leave New York City; never give his heart away again after barely surviving one
failed marriage; and most of all, never become a parent. Now, Jeremy is living
in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie Darnell, the
love of his life, and anticipating the birth of their daughter. But just as his
life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, an unsettling and mysterious
message re-opens old wounds and sets off a chain of events that will forever
change the course of this young couple's marriage.