A Malaysian who reads

The Guardian

2010-09-04T09:30:00.002+08:00

Julie's husband died of cancer and left her his final gift of life, a Great Dane puppy as her guardian and as a promise to watch over her after his demise.

Four years down the road and Julie is ready to get back to the social circle. Now that she has 2 choices to choose from, a handsome and rugged construction consultant, Richard, who everytime gives her over the top experiences while on their dates, and Mike, who has been a very good friend of her since the parting of Julie's husband. Mike and Julie's husband has been friends since they were kids.

While Richard has been sweeping Julie off her feet everytime they went out, Mike has been reassuring and easy to talk with, Julie is now torn between the two man. One part of her wanted the excitement with Richard while the other part of her wanted a stable companionship with Mike.

And the guardian, Singer, the Great Dane, has always been close to Mike and even closer to Julie, has not been a great fan of Richard. Growling everytime Richard's around, Julie takes a thought or two whenever that happened. Could it be a sign?

Mike who has been a good friend to Julie has fallen in love with her as days went by since Julie's husband passed on. Looking at Julie picking her life since the inevitable, Mike's heart grown fonder each day. However, not wanting to ruin the perfect relationship that they are having right now, Mike never take the first step to ask Julie on a date.

Richard, sensing that Julie affection growing distance starting to take hints that Julie is starting a relationship with Mike. Unknown to the townsfolk, Richard has a dark side and very disturbing history. Going out with Julie apparently has a hidden agenda.

Richard has gone crazier as days went by. He stalks Julie and even tried to kill those who protected her from him. But all things went well with Singer the Guardian protected Julie the very last minute.

The reader's review:
Interesting storyline with suspense. However, the author failed to highlight Singer the Guardian more as compared to the love story between Julie and Mike.

Overall: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars

A Bend in the Road

2010-04-04T12:18:00.002+08:00

Quoted directly from book cover:
Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. As deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina, he not only grieves for her and worries about their young son Jonah but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews, Jonah's second grade teacher. A young woman recovering from a difficult divorce, Sarah moved to New Bern hoping to start over. Tentatively, Miles and Sarah reach out to each other...soon they are faling in love. But waht neither realizes is that they are also bound together by a shocking secret, one that will force them to reexamine everything they believe in - including their love.

Written in 2 viewpoint, one from the killer-driver journal sometime further in the future and another as Miles and Sarah relationship progresses.

The reader's review:
Captivating storyline, kept on flipping pages. Minus half a star as predicted the killer driver with 4 chapters to go.

Overall: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars

The Lucky One

2010-03-04T12:22:00.000+08:00

A soldier who found a missing picture in the dessert decided to find the person in the picture. As told by his best friend in the regiment, that picture was his lucky charm. And it definitely saved their lives many times.

So Logan started his journey by walking through a few states. Then in North Carolina, he found Elizabeth, who was the girl in the picture, whose brother served in the war same as Logan but died in it.

Logan pursued Elizabeth but never told her the reason he was there. Elizabeth fell for him. But her ex-husband finds Logan suspicious and started to investigate on him.

A lovely love story.

The reader's review:
Sweet love story with some suspense in it.

Overall: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars

The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce

2010-02-20T11:13:00.001+08:00

The story started with Wilberforce being drunk and wasted his youth over a massive inheritance of a wine cellar. Then it slowly revealed how Wilberforce lifestyle changed from being a successful business owner to a wine cellar owner to a drunkard.

The reader's review:
Curios about the storyline at first, but eventually struggled to complete it.

Overall: 2.0 out of 5.0 stars

The Lovely Bones

2010-01-09T11:53:00.001+08:00

Susie Salmon was never found.

Susie Salmon was raped and murdered by her neighbour. She was never found. Not even her body. Written in the perspective of a murdered child, the story bring us around her family, how they passed each day, trying to look for the lost child, grieving and searching for more clues apart from the little evidence left by Susie Salmon.

As days passed, Susie watched her family, her sister, her friends, her parents and her murderer grew up, apart and getting away from the murder.

The reader's review:
Very good story. Never before a was told by a murdered person's view before.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars

The Beach House

2009-12-29T09:53:00.001+08:00

A group of strangers wanted to take a break from their busy lives, took a holiday in Nantucket beach house and somehow found themselves interconnected to each other by some kind of relationship from the past and the present.

Nan, the free spirited beach house owner who opened her house to strangers that summer in order to earn some extra money. Together with her long time helper Sarah, she renovated the house and opened some rooms for rental.

Micheal, Nan's son, who was having a fling with his boss, came back to get himself in order somehow got romantically involved with another holiday maker Daff, who recently divorced, and having some rough time with her teenage daughter coping with the divorce.

And there's Daniel, a husband and a father, who recently came out of closet, trying to make up family time, where his wife, Bee taking summer break in Nantucket.

Here in Nantucket, all of them found love and lost love among themselves.

The reader's review:
A holiday story book.

Overall: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars

A Prisoner of Birth

2009-12-28T17:07:00.003+08:00

A twisted fate, and a twisted side of truth caused Danny Cartwright to be sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment on the act of murdering his best friend, Bernie Wilson. It all began when Danny chosen the wrong day, wrong time, wrong pub and wrong exit to propose to his girlfriend, Beth Wilson, sister of his best friend, to celebrate with Bernie about the engagement, to avoid a confrontation with a bunch of drunkards, which happened to be the key witnesses to the murder.

The four drunkards happened to be Spencer Craig, a lawyer, Lawrence Davenport, a popular actor, Gerald Payne, a successful broker and Toby Mortimer, an aristocrat, who were such involved in then but then whose stories managed to convince the court to sentence Danny to 22 years of jail life.

Perhaps Danny was really innocent until the prison officers decided to do him some good to place him the same cell as (Sir)Nick Moncrieff and Big Al. Things changed when Danny begin to appeal for his case and managed to get new evidence, but due to some techicalities, the new evidence cannot be presented to court.

Spencer Craig did not let go of the incident so easily and ordered an insider to clean up the job by killing Danny Cartwright. By a twisted fate, Nick was instead killed, by an open opportunity, Big Al managed to change their medical records and by luck, Danny looked almost like Nick. Their position got swapped and Danny was released earlier by imposing as Nick and lead a life as Nick.

Living as Sir Nick Moncrieff did not come easy as the family inheritance problem was hanging by the thread. Danny had to clear Nick's family matters before starting to plan for his revenge. Little by little by using Sir Nick's influence, Danny managed to get close to the actual killers and almost got them but somehow, as close as it got, Danny was caught imposing as Sir Nick and was charged in the high court.

As the court drama continued, more revelation were disclosed and the court overturned the charges on Danny. Instead the killers were caught redhanded in the court and charged as accordingly.

The reader's review:
A suspense thriller that make pages turned faster than ever.

Overall: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars

Handle With Care

2009-12-17T12:05:00.001+08:00

Another great battle of childcare from Jodi Picoult. Willow was born brittle. Exactly, brittle. A slight fall will caused her to break bones more than what one's parents could have imagined. By the time she was 5, she had broken bones in almost most of her body.

Charlotte and Sean, their daughters, Amelia and Willow planned for a Disney trip for a vacation. Amelia who is several years older had never been to any vacation due to her sister's health. She was really excited and already planned which rides she wanted to go for. But the trip was cut short. Willow had a fall, and her bones break.

Charlotte, who had many heartbreaks with her child condition decided to sue her doctor for wrongful birth action. But then again, the doctor was her best friend. Now with everything at stake, her child's health, her husband's concern, her best friend's relationship and her dwindling bank account, she raised the filesuit and headed in strongly.

Written in a few characters perspective, the story unfolds slowly. But eventually it ended with a heartbreak.

The reader's review:
Another great battle of childcare. The book reader is a Jodi Picoult's fan. :)

Overall: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars

Leopard Rock: Love Goes On A Safari

2009-11-21T23:51:00.003+08:00

A Kiwi journalist won a trip of her life when she won the first prize of a wildlife video competition. Her story "Too Fat To Fly" was about albatross chick caught the attention of the famous wildlide filmmaker, Wyk Kruger.

Roo (nickname for Oriana) was estatic when she won the prize, a one-month fully paid vacation in Leopard Rock, South Africa to make documentary with under the tutelage of Wyk Kruger. But her excitement was cut short when her current job (a top end fashion magazine) boss squeezed in a modelling shoot into the vacation. So Roo had to play the role of an assistant in her vacation which left her totally drained out for any safari trip. Plus Wyk was really pissed off when he knew there was a whole bunch of people coming instead of just Roo.

But both of them cannot denied the spark kept arcing between them. So Roo and Wyk got closer, but Wyk had a hidden secret that burst out suddenly that caused Roo to left him high and dry after that one month apprenticeship under Wyk.

The reader's review:
An easy read. Completed overnight. Speaks a little of safari adventure which is a nice change apart from the love between the two lead.

Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Rumour Has It

2009-09-30T21:49:00.002+08:00

Rumours spread incredibly fast. Especially if it's in a small town.

Tilly Cole quit her job, moved to her best friend's small town called Roxborough where good-looking men were scarce. Jack Lucas was the one man that every woman in that small town would love to spend the night with.

And Tilly Cole isn't one of them, well, she tried hard. Until Jack Lucas focussed on her. Then Tilly couldn't let her mind off him. Especially when her new boss, Max Dineen (who was gay btw) was Jack's partner in an interior design company.

Jack had a reputation in that small town where every women seemed to satisfy with his "ahem" performance in bed. As Tilly pressed on to know about his reputation in their courtship, Jack always said he'll never tell on his dates or women he scored with.

But Tilly has a way to get to know the truth. Women just couldn't spare from spreading rumours. As the title went "Rumour Has It", Tilly started to spread rumours on how she never spend the night with Jack to her best friend in the ladies room (best place to overheard rumours btw) and it happened that some other ladies who went out with Jack never had sex with him ever. Just that they wanted to keep their reputation and Jack's so they boasted about how good he was in the bed. Turned out that Jack was just another hopeless romantic.

The reader's review:
First half was interesting. But the second half was plain torture to get to the end.

Overall: 3.0 out of 5 stars.

The Stolen Child

2009-07-18T11:32:00.002+08:00

Henry Day = Aniday?

Who still believes in fairy tales, goblins, elves and such?
This story is about a hobgoblin community who steals a child and swapped themselves to be the child and lives the life forever, where the child becomes the hobgoblin.

Henry Day was swapped with a hobgoblin when he was 7 years old. From then on, the hobgoblin continued his life. However, the past of the hobgoblin continued to surge as he started to play the piano like a professional. The new Henry Day cannot let go of his past and continued to search for his past, where he found out that he was a German boy in the 1800s and was swapped by another hobgoblin when he was five years old.

The original Henry Day became Aniday as known to his new community. He continued to learn how to write so that he will not forget his origins and each time as opportunity arises he tried to find his family although his memory of them gradually diminished as time passed.

The reader's review:
Very intriguing read. Completed the book in 5 hours straight!

Overall:
4.0 out of 5 stars.

Rise and Shine

2009-07-18T08:57:00.002+08:00

Tales about two sister who lives a life 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

Meghan, the older sister lives a glamorous life as a presenter of a morning show called, Rise and Shine. Brigdet, the younger sister works as a social worker in the Bronx dealing with single mothers.

Too many things happened in the book.

The reader's review:
Just a story about 2 sisters and how they cope with the difficulties in their life.

Overall:
2.0 out of 5 stars.

A Place Called Here

2009-06-20T11:24:00.002+08:00

After PS, I Love You, am tempted to read another Cecelia Ahern book.

Ever wondered where all the lost things go?

When Jenny-May Butler went missing, Sandy Shortt always wondered where all the missing thing go? And she kept trying to find them until finding became her job. Fast forward to present day, Sandy Shortt opened a missing person agency after quitting her job at the police department.

One day, she got a call from Jack Ruttle who wanted to find his missing brother, Donal. They planned to meet up, but Sandy went missing. Jack Ruttle was determined to find Sandy in order to find his brother.

Sandy was really missing or lost. She came upon this place called Here, where all the missing persons, missing things were. She came upon Helena, Bernard, Joan and Derek who were missing for 30 over years. In the place called Here, there were multiple nationalities, it's was a place where there were no sadness, no worries except when things went missing from Here. Sandy found alot her missing persons list staying in Here. And it's in the place called Here that she found Jenny-May Butler again.

Sandy Shortt didn't go missing for long. When her watch starting to go missing from Here. It's already a sign that she will not stay for long. Eventually, Sandy found her way back.

The reader's review:
A intriguing book to start, but eventually can guess the ending.
PS, I Love You still the best.

Overall:
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Sundays at Tiffany's

2009-04-30T22:42:00.002+08:00

Borrowed the book from close friend. Attracted to the synopsis.

What if your imaginary friend was your one true love?

Seven year old Jane Margaux was living a life of a rich life but alone with her self-obsessed mother. Thus a imaginary friend, Michael, a handsome, thirty plus year old man became her best friend. However, when Jane turned 8, Michael had to leave her and Jane will not have any recollection of Michael's existance as she grow older.

Twenty years later, a grown up Jane now worked in her mother's company and was overworked, undershadowed and often undermined by her mother. But one day, Jane caught a glimpse of what she shouldn't remember. Her imaginary friend, Michael.

Twenty years later, Michael was still doing his "job", as an imaginary friend. He was on task break when he saw Jane. He remembered Jane so clearly and fought his own feelings trying to get close to her.

However, as fate wanted them to meet each other, Michael and Jane met and their relationship grew. And they lived happily ever after.

The reader's review:
Light reading romance.

Overall:
3.0 stars rating (out of 5 stars)

Growing Pains of a Hapless HouseHusband

2009-02-09T13:07:00.003+08:00

Bought this book for a light reading. And indeed it was a light reading after all the intense title previously.

Sam Holden was retrenched from his management consultancy firm and as the title says it all, he became a househusband while his wife, Sally worked as the breadwinner in some government agency. As luck might have it, he bumped into a reality TV producer and while cranking his head for some conversation, Sam blurted out that filming a management style childcare programme could be the new reality TV show. And Holden Childcare Programme was born.

It wasn't all honey-smooth for Sam as Sally wasn't really hooked on the idea of him teaching/managing other people's family while leaving their own children for the nanny to take care. Which in a way defeat the purpose of Sam being a househusband in the first place. One of the funny moments was when Sam had to resort to pretend Emily, the neighbourhood vixen, to be his wife as Sally wouln't budge on her stand for not to be film in the TV show. Of course Sam had an earful out of the scene when the preview DVD was shown. It couldn't be worse when Emily have the hots for Sam.

Somehow the Holden Childcare Programme became a hit and Sam was offered with lots of interviews, talkshow and even a column in the daily newspaper. But as he discovered later in the book, the reality TV weren't as real as it is shown and the reality TV has made him into another Sam that was lying and conniving, and that pulled him back to the real reality that he was living in.

The reader's review:
This book somehow shown how man's ego really works. Funny in a way as we see how the thoughts flow and being projected out in a man's view.

Overall:
3.0 stars rating (out of 5 stars)

Almost Moon

2009-01-31T00:27:00.002+08:00

“The moon is whole all the time, but we can't see always see it. What we see is an almost moon or not-quite moon. The rest is hiding just out of view, but there's only one moon, so we follow it in the sky. We plan our lives based on its rhythms and tides.”

Almost moon. That's how Helen's father described her mother, who is agoraphobic. Helen's father chose to escape life by ending his old life leaving Helen to tend her mom in her old age.

The story started in the evening when Helen received a call from her mother's neighbour, Mrs. Castle, saying her mom needs to be put into old folks home for making all their lives easier. Helen's mom, Clair was once a beauty, who modeled lingerie in her youth, slowly loses her youthfulness and started to withdraw from the society. What triggered Helen to kill Clair is more than just hate. It's a combination of many incidents as the pages were turned.

The reader's review:
"When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily."
First sentence of the book already captured the one's attention. This book explored the complexity of one family where love and hate comes in so many different ways.

Overall:
3.5 stars rating (out of 5 stars)

The Reader

2009-01-22T14:26:00.003+08:00

Bought the book after saw the movie preview starring Kate Winslet.

The book has 3 parts showing the time difference where the narrator of the book, Micheal Berg, lived his life in German in the 1940s.

Part 1 we see Micheal Berg as a young teenager at 15 years old when he first met Hanna Schmitz in Part 1. One day he was sick and vomitted half way through on the way home and Hanna Schmitz helped him and sending him back. As a token of appreciation, Micheal Berg bought some flowers and visited Hanna Schmitz at her home. One thing lead to another and they ended up having sex many many times and everytime, Hanna Schmitz will request Micheal Berg to read to her before allowing him the sex. At the end of Part 1, Hanna Schmitz left Micheal Berg and the town they lived in without any notice.

In Part 2, Micheal Berg was a law student and bumped into Hanna Schmitz in a trial where she was accused of letting the prisoners died in a fire in a concentration camp. Micheal Berg was at first confused on why Hanna Schmitz refused to defend herself from all the accusation that was thrown at her. But in the end he understood why and wondered how could it be worthwhile to hide a secret that Hanna Schmitz guarded with her life that she considered was more shameful than murder itself. Hanna Schmitz was given life imprisonment for the deeds she did during the Holocaust period.

In Part 3, we read about Micheal Berg life as an adult, where he had a wife and kid and he was divorced after a few years. And in we also read about how his life was affected from the younger years where he spent his growing up years with Hanna Schmitz. Fast forward to 18 years later, Hanna Schmitz was granted parole, and since Micheal Berg had a one way communication by sending her tapes of books he read over the years, he was the person to contact when she was about to release from prison. However, he only managed to see her once before she was released from prison as she chosen another path to release herself from the world.

The reader's review:
The whole sex scenes in Part 1 was just to emphasis how close their relationship was. In part 2, the whole court drama didn't show as much as what was expected about how the Germans tortured the Jews during the Holocaust period. In part 3, how Micheal Berg started to communicated with Hanna Schmitz and the outcome of the communication was truly heartfelt.

Overall:
3.5 stars rating (out of 5 stars)

The Chamber by John Grisham

2009-01-01T16:08:00.001+08:00

Completed The Chamber by John Grisham today after reading for 2 months.

The plot runs around the Cayhall family where the grandfather, Sam Cayhall was waiting for the Mississippi state to run it death sentence on him for the bombing of Jew family in the 1960's when the Klu Klax Klan was running wide across the state. A young and promising lawyer, Adam Hall, who turned out to be the long lost grandson, suddenly appeared and fought for Sam's release.

Sam was only the lookout person the in bombing event. There was a bombing expert name Rollie Wedge who sucessfully exterminate the other 2 accomplices when they tried to reveal his name in the courtroom. Sam fought hard not to name him to Adam during their uncountable number of pleas until the very last 10 minutes before the execution as to protect his family.

The reader's review:
The beginning chapters were really intriguing to read about the Klu Klax Klan in the 60's and how Adam Hall managed to persuade Sam Cayhall to let him represent him.
Middle chapters were a bit slow as the story rotates around on how to file the petition and how to get Sam to name the mysterious person in the bombing.
Final chapters were fast and page were turned faster than ever to know the final fate of Sam Cayhall.

Overall:
3.5 stars rating (out of 5 stars)