Little Miss Book Spoiler

Seven Brides: Lily By Leigh Greenwood 394 pages Published by Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc. (1998) There were seven books in this Seven Brides series by Leigh Greenwood, and as it turned out, Lily was the last book in the series. Set in 1800s America, the series revolved around the seven Randolph brothers, who, one-by-one had fallen for girls named after flowers (Rose, Fern, Iris, Laurel, Daisy, and Violet – so far) and had settled down in marriage. Lily Sterling was a distant cousin of Zac Randolph – they were connected through Lily’s grandmother, who was a Randolph. Lily was the daughter of firebrand Reverend Isaac Sterling, who always gave out religious lectures to people whom he considered to be needing it. Lily was brought up to be the wife of a preacher: apart from being taught to run the household, she was also taught the Bible. As a country girl, at 19, Lily’s father had arranged for her to marry a minister named Hezekiah, who had very much the same worldview as Lily’s fathe

Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen 443 pages This edition published by Vintage (2014) First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice was one of the literary works most widely-known today, and thence, had been scrutinized and dissected by various parties who had their own views to say of the novel. My post here would be based only on my personal views and by no means academic. In this 2014 edition, the novel comes with an introduction chapter written by British author Alexander McCall Smith. His introduction included opinions on the characters in Pride and Prejudice , but I had refused to form any judgement before I read the book, for his impressions did not seem to be in favour of several characters (which included Mr Darcy, the supposed hero of the novel!) However, I do agree with Mr McCall Smith when he opined that, “ Almost every character in Pride and Prejudice, except the most incidental ones, is suitable for searching scrutiny and analysis – and it is in this that lies the real c

Creepella Von Cacklefur #4: Return Of The Vampire 113 pages English translation published by Scholastic Inc. (2012) One night, Franco Fangley the Vampire showed up at Cacklefur Castle to seek help from the Cacklefur family. Franco was a tomato-juice-drinking vampire, and was thus practically harmless. He was friends with Creepella’s Grandpa Frankenstein, and now he really needed his friend’s help. Recently, there had been strange happenings at Franco’s mountaintop home, Castle Marinara. Franco had been pranked by unknown entities at his own home, and more recently he had also been hearing strange noises and seeing weird shadows on the castle walls. The ghostly happenings had scared Franco and he had thought of moving out of Castle Marinara if the disturbances continued. Immediately, Grandpa Frankenstein and Creepella got ready to head for Castle Marinara to help Franco. They were also joined by Creepella’s niece Shivereen, Creepella’s pet bat Bitewing, and a reluctant Billy Squeakspear

Creepella Von Cacklefur #3: Ghost Pirate Treasure 110 pages English translation published by Scholastic Inc. (2012) Billy Squeakspeare woke up one day to find the grounds around Squeakspeare Mansion had been dug up haphazardly, and was now full of holes. Billy consulted the ghost of his great-great-great-uncle William Squeakspeare about it, but the latter simply dismissed it as someone who was “looking for the treasure”. Apparently, about 400 years ago, legendary pirate Morgan Blackwhiskers was on friendly terms with Billy’s great-great-great-grandmother Lady Squeakspeare, who had bestowed kindness on him. In return, the pirate gifted Lady Squeakspeare with some kind of treasure, but nobody had found any trace of the treasure. Nobody even know what kind of treasure was being left by Blackwhiskers. Billy then sought the help of Creepella to find out more about the treasure, as well as to unmask the party digging the holes around his home. On Creepella’s suggestion, together they went to

Creepella Von Cacklefur #2: Meet Me In Horrorwood 113 pages English version published by Scholastic Inc. (2011) There was a monster in the moat of Cacklefur Castle – named Gorgo – and he was considered family by the Cacklefurs. They fed him everyday and were concerned of his welfare. One day, Gorgo suddenly refused to eat anything and was always belching out sorrowful sounds from the moat. The Cacklefurs immediately held a family meeting to discuss what had befallen Gorgo and ways to help him. It turned out that Gorgo was actually lovesick: he was in love with a female monster named Blobbina! To make it worse, Blobbina was a movie star in Horrorwood, and Gorgo was a shy monster. So Creepella decided to help Gorgo. She wrote a love letter for Blobbina on behalf of Gorgo. But alas! When she arrived at Horrorwood Studios to send the letter to Blobbina, she learnt that the she-monster had disappeared mysteriously! Blobbina had not even showed up on set where she was supposed to star in. Wi

Creepella Von Cacklefur #1: The Thirteen Ghosts 113 pages English version published by Scholastic Inc. (2011) This is the first book in a series of Geronimo Stilton books which features Creepella Von Cacklefur as the main character. Creepella was looking for an inspiration to write a spooky story for The Shivery News , so her Grandpa Frankenstein suggested she head to Squeakspeare Mansion, which was said to be haunted. There she met Billy Squeakspeare, who was sitting at the front lawn with all his belongings. Billy was a famous novelist who wrote bestselling love stories, and he was just about to move into Squeakspeare Mansion when he inherited it recently. Unfortunately, as soon as he tried to enter the mansion, he was thrown out of the house by a strong, invisible force. Being a scaredy-mouse, Billy just sat in the garden, not knowing what to do. Until Creepella arrived. Creepella, who was the pushy sort, forced Billy to unlock the door and enter the house, where they will then exp

Toyols ‘R’ Us By Terence Toh 249 pages Published by Fixi Novo (2021) I have never read a Fixi novel before, but the title (and cover design) of this book is just too catchy to ignore. And so I ended up buying Toyols ‘R’ Us – my first ever Fixi book – with my mind initially thinking it might be some kind of horror-comedy novel. As I mentioned before, I have never read a Fixi novel and thus am not clear about what to expect from this indie novel publisher. I soon learnt that within this 249-pages novel, all the ugly realities about the Malaysian people were bared to readers in a most unapologetic manner: corrupted politicians and the peoples of power, working-class people who slaved through their lives trying to make ends meet, greed and materialism, lazy people who wanted to be rich the easiest way, abusive internet user... in short, the book contains all the negative ingredients you always find in the daily news (or the social media). But clearly, the main idea of this novel is to voi

Geronimo Stilton Kingdom of Fantasy #2 : The Quest for Paradise 301 pages Published by Scholastic Inc. (2010) This is the second book in Geronimo Stilton’s Kingdom of Fantasy series, which follows Geronimo’s adventures in the Kingdom of Fantasy. This time, Geronimo returned to the Kingdom of Fantasy when he was summoned by The Queen of the Fairies, Blossom. There are many other kingdoms within the Kingdom of Fantasy, including the Kingdom of the Fairies, the Kingdom of the Witches, the Kingdom of the Mermaids, The Kingdom of the Dragons and so on. Geronimo was brought to the Kingdom of the Fairies by Blossom’s messenger, the Dragon of the Rainbow. The beautiful castle of the Queen of Fairies, Blossom It turned out that Blossom wanted to send Geronimo on a quest to find ‘Paradise’ and to bring back the ‘Heart of Happiness’. His only clue regarding its location was that the Map of Paradise can be found in the dangerous Land of the Ogres. Some fairies also tipped Geronimo on picking up t

Geronimo Stilton Heromice #5: The Invisible Thief 115 pages Published by Scholastic (2015) In the Heromice series, Geronimo Stilton appears as Geronimo Superstilton, a supposed superhero who is awkward, clumsy and still learning about his powerful skills. His comrades include Swiftpaws, Lady Wonderwhiskers, Tess Technopaws, Electron and Proton. In his latest case, Superstilton and his team had to deal with a diamond thief who was nicknamed the ‘Respectful Robbermouse’ because he left an apology note after each robbery. The note was not only an apology note but also include assurances that he was just borrowing and will return the diamonds soon. But the worst thing was that the Respectful Robbermouse was invisible! Superstilton immediately went into panic mode when he learnt about the Invisible Thief. That very night, the Heromice were tasked to guard the Duchess Marilyn Mousekovia, a rich and famous rodent who would be attending a fancy reception at a hotel. The Duchess will be wearin