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Showing posts from October, 2018

Dare To Change: Inspirational Comic by Billi P. S. Lim

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Dare to Change: Inspirational Comic by Billi P. S. Lim 144 Pages Published by Hardknocks Factory Sdn. Bhd. (2007) I finished reading the book in about 30 minutes. As the title suggests, it is an inspirational comic, so there are a lot of illustrations / cartoons to help with the reading. Here are some helpful words of advice for readers:  Most people in the world are scared of change. And this can be attributed to the fact that change always involve pain. We therefore resist change because it means that a part of our old self must die, and that an unknown new self will be born.  No doubt, there will always be this pain of change but the good news is, the pain of the change will be forgotten once the benefits have been realized.  Change is to give up what we are now to become what we could be.  Every single moment we are never the same. The ‘you’ yesterday and the ‘you’ today is never the same.  If you can’t put your past behind you, you will not be able to have a future

Kemelut Kasih oleh Manera Muhammad

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Kemelut Kasih Penulis: Manera Muhammad 307 Mukasurat Diterbitkan oleh Rhythm Publishing Co. Sdn. Bhd. (1998) Melissa dan Iskandar dijodohkan oleh keluarga masing-masing walaupun mereka tidak pernah berhasrat untuk hidup bersama. Sofea, kekasih Iskandar, dan Kamal yang menaruh hati pada Melissa, menentang hebat pernikahan mereka. Tetapi entah mengapa, sebaik sahaja mendengar lafaz nikah Iskandar di hadapan kadi, hati Melissa merasai perasaan cinta terhadap Iskandar. Selepas bernikah, Iskandar dan Melissa tidur di bilik yang berasingan. Melissa sedih tetapi pasrah; Iskandar tidak pernah menyentuh tubuhnya walaupun dia isterinya yang sah. Sebaliknya, hampir setiap malam Iskandar akan membawa pulang Sofea ke rumah. Bapa Iskandar, Tuan Ismail, sengaja tidak mahu menjodohkan Iskandar dengan Sofea kerana Sofea merupakan anak kepada musuh tradisinya iaitu Tuan Azman. Mereka adalah pesaing dalam industri perusahaan syarikat perabot. Pada suatu hari, Iskandar telah membongkar rahsia Sofea yang s

The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata

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Translated from Japanese to English by J. Martin Holman 164 Pages Published by Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc. (1989) This beautifully poignant story was set in the old capital of Japan, Kyoto. The story traces the life of Chieko, the beloved adopted daughter of a kimono designer and wholesaler, Takichiro, and his wife Shige. Shige had told Chieko over and over again that the latter was not their real child; she was told that she had been kidnapped by Shige and Takichiro when she was a baby. But one day, Chieko learnt that she was instead a foundling who was left abandoned on the doorstep. However, Chieko had been happy with her adoptive parents that her security and contentment remained undisturbed. Until one day, when she accidentally encountered Naeko, who happened to be her twin sister. Naeko knew about Chieko and had been searching for Chieko all these years. Luckily they were identical twins, thus it was not too hard to identify Chieko as her long-lost twin si

A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning

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Author: Lemony Snicket 162 Pages Published in Great Britain by Egmont Children’s Books Ltd. (2001) Siblings Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire were the most unlucky fictional children ever – for they apparently faced too many unfortunate events that all the stories can be compiled and published into a series of 13 books. The Bad Beginning is the first book in the series. It all began with the death of their parents when their house caught fire. Mr. Poe, a friend of their parents, will be the executor for the Baudelaire’s enormous fortune until 14-year-old Violet comes of age. Mr. Poe worked at a bank and he assured the children that the bank will be in charge of the money for the time being. The kids were then sent to live with Count Olaf, who happened to be the Baudelaire’s distant relative but lived nearest to the town. This as the kids’ parents had written in their will that the three should only be raised by a relative. Count Olaf was actually a cruel and evil

A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room

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Author: Lemony Snicket 190 Pages Published in the U.K by Egmont Children’s Book Ltd. (2001) After the unlucky events related to Count Olaf (refer to Book 1 in this series), the Baudelaire orphans – Violet, Klaus and Sunny – were sent to live with another distant relative of theirs named Dr Montgomery. Dr Montgomery, a herpetologist, was a nice man. He let the kids call him Uncle Monty and he took good care of them. He frequently travelled to collect specimens of snakes and other reptiles. In his upcoming trip to Peru, Monty planned to bring the kids along. Not long after that, Monty introduced his new assistant Stephano. As the kids are always in for an unlucky life, it turned out that Stephano was really Count Olaf in disguise, and the kids recognized him immediately. Count Olaf threatened the kids to shut their mouths regarding his true identity. A few days after Count Olaf’s return into their lives, Monty was found dead in his Reptile Room, where he kept his live

The 21 Balloons by William Pène du Bois

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Type: Fiction 180 Pages Published in the U.S.A by The Viking Press (1947) Professor William Waterman Sherman intended to voyage around the world using a hot-air balloon. He left his hometown of San Francisco on 15 August 1883 in a balloon and began his voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Days later, he landed on Krakatoa Island in Indonesia because his balloon burst. Professor Sherman discovered that there were no residents on Krakatoa but 20 families. He quickly befriended them.  And it was not long before he learnt why the 20 families still remained on Krakatoa despite it being a very dangerous place to live in. There were constant threats from the volcano, but at the same time diamonds were in abundance on the island. The families shared the wealth with each other. But now that Professor Sherman had joined them on the island, they treated him like one of the family and he got a share of the diamonds, too. The people of Krakatoa were well aware of the danger coming fr

Cupcake Diaries #15: Emma Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

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Author: Coco Simon 129 Pages Published in New York by Simon & Schuster (2013) Emma’s younger brother Jake had tonsillitis and frequently suffered from sore throat and ear infection. Due to this, the doctor one day decided that Jake’s tonsils should be removed to prevent any more sore throats and ear infections in the future. With the day of his surgery looming near, Jake became distressed and miserable, in turn tiring the people around him especially his family members. Emma and her friends Alexis, Mia and Katie, who were members of the Cupcake Club, tried to cheer up Jake with a bunch of cupcakes they baked. The Cupcake Club members – though being middle school students – baked some very delicious and creative cupcakes and made good money from their part-time business. However, the cupcakes were not enough to keep Jake happy and calm. When the day of his operation came, Jake absolutely refused to go to the hospital. In his tantrums, Emma blurted an absent-minded of

Abu Nawas and King Aaron by Y. Y. Ann

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Type: Fiction 100 Pages Published in Kuala Lumpur by Sabunai Media Sdn. Bhd. (2014) This book contains two different stories: one is the cover title, Abu Nawas and King Aaron , while the second story is titled Master Maid . Abu Nawas and King Aaron follows the story of a smart man named Abu Nawas whom King Aaron likes so much. It all started one day when King Aaron was so bored and tired due to his never ending administrative duties. He asked his ministers to find someone who can tell him a funny story to improve his mood. Thus Abu Nawas was brought to the palace to entertain the King. When Abu Nawas succeeded in making the King laugh, the latter was so happy that he began to frequently summon Abu Nawas to meet him. On several occassions King Aaron purposefully tried to play tricks on Abu Nawas to test his wit. When Abu Nawas managed to outwit him, the King will be delighted. One day, the King summoned Abu Nawas and said he wanted Abu Nawas to go away and never to step