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Reading Room today features books (and people) that help inspire and enlighten you in all areas of your life.

Reading Room, StarTwo

30th March 2007

Inspiring thought

Compiled by DAPHNE LEE

Forever and Ever, Amen 

Author: Karol Jackowski

Publisher: Riverhead, 288 pages 

ISBN: 978-159-448-9372 

SISTER Karol Jackowski’s story about her years as a nun-in-training is honest, surprising, interesting and funny. The fact that she was a postulant and novice during a time of great changes in the Catholic church (pre- and post-Vatican 2) makes her experiences even more compelling. Jackowski is refreshingly candid, mischievous and irreverent, and does not shy away from presenting the less than positive aspects of the church. However, her sense of fairness and loyalty shine through and make her a credible and believable witness to a life that is shrouded in mystery and myth. This fascinating book will appeal to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. 

 

The Greatness Guide: Powerful Secrets for Getting to World Class 

Author: Robin Sharma 

Publisher: Collins, 221 pages 

ISBN: 978-006-124-0195 

ROBIN Sharma, motivational consultant to organisations such as NASA, Microsoft, Nike and FedEx, offers 101 tips on how to move beyond simply existing to really experiencing life. Sharma’s style is casual, friendly and accessible, and his message comes across clearly and believably. Among the lessons taught here are how to turn setbacks into opportunities, how to attract true wealth along with real happiness, how to generate health and energy, and how to balance work and life and have more fun. The Greatness Guide is a useful tool for those who want to climb the career ladder but do not believe in sacrificing their personal life for success in their jobs. 

 

The Secret

Author: Rhonda Byrne 

Publisher: Atria Books, 199 pages 

ISBN: 978-158-270-1738 

THE Secret explains how to achieve happiness and success in all areas of life, using simple language. Cynics will be tickled pink by the rah-rah style of the language, but, really, one has nothing to lose in putting the principles presented into practice. The concepts of positive visualisation were first explored in a DVD of the same title, produced by author Rhonda Byrne and featuring well-known motivational teachers like Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Lisa Nichols and Marie Diamond. The book can be used as a handy reference guide for those already familiar with “the secret” or as an introduction to first-timers who want to familiarise themselves with the fine art of having it all. This is a thoroughly uplifting book and highly recommended for anyone who’s in the doldrums.

Zen Inspiration 

Compiled by Asiapac Editorial, translated by Yang Liping and iIllustrated by Fu Chunjiang 

Publisher: Asiapac Books, 210 pages 

ISBN: 978-981-229-4555 

THIS is an introduction to Zen Buddhism that presents the basics of Zen in a simple, unintimidating and thoroughly comprehensive manner. Large sections of the book comprise comics that very clearly convey the message of Zen. Anecdotes illustrate Zen terms, principles and beliefs, and the text is succinct and straightforward. Zen Inspiration may well be used to reinforce the knowledge of practitioners as well as inspire those new to Zen, to find out more about the practice. 

 

The Bodhisattva Vows: A Practical Guide to the Sublime Ethics of the Mahayana 

Author: Venerable Dagpo Lama Rinpoche 

Editor: Rosemary Patton 

Publisher: E Publication Sdn Bhd, 161 pages 

ISBN: 978-983-432-4704

TAKING the bodhisattva vows commits Buddhists to a method of personal growth that is prompted by concern for the welfare of others. It is believed that such actions will lead practitioners to enlightenment. This book compiles over 20 years worth of commentaries by the Venerable Dagpo Lama Rinpoche on the bodhisattva vows. The vows are explained clearly and can be easily followed by Buddhists eager to live happier, more meaningful lives.    

Do You Think What You Think You Think?: The Ultimate Philosophical Quiz Book 

Author: Julian Baggini and Jeremy Stangroom 

Publisher: Granta, 187 pages 

ISBN: 9781862079168 

HOW does your brain work? What are your thought processes? Do you contradict yourself? Are you logical? What is your stand on God and religion? Are your believes on ethical issues firm or do you prefer to straddle fences? Do You Think What You Think You Think? presents a dozen quizzes that reveal what you really think about things. Be prepared to be surprised as the true you emerges! Whether you choose to take it all seriously or with a pinch of salt, the quizzes are challenging and fun, although at times a little infuriating. Anyone who likes a good think will love this book. 

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Five YA novels and a picture book are what's featured this week on Junior Reading Room. Cut out the coupon to enjoy a 20% discount at Kinokuniya Books.

Junior Reading Room, StarTwo

23rd March 2007

Fragile Jade

Compiled by DAPHNE LEE

The Nature of Jade
Author: Deb Caletti
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 304 pages 

UNLIKE the substance she’s named after, Jade isn’t “stronger than steel”. The 18-year-old suffers from panic attacks and, in an attempt to calm herself, she volunteers at the zoo and is assigned to work with the elephants.   

Jade has another reason for wanting the job: Sebastian, the cute boy whom she had been “spying on” via the zoo’s webcam. As fate would have it, Jade and Sebastian meet and fall in love. However, he has a secret that threatens to destroy Jade’s hopes and dreams. Will she be strong enough to face the truth?   

Harmless
Author: Dana Reinhardt
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books, 240 pages   

MARIAH, Anna, and Emma tell their parents that they’re going to the movies but instead, visit a boy from school. When the adults turn up at the cinema, it looks like the girls are going to get busted and so they continue lying to avoid punishment.   

They tell their parents that they were attacked by a stranger on their way to the movies, but what the friends don’t count on is for their fib to completely overtake their lives. Their parents make a police report, everyone at school labels them “heroes” and a man is actually arrested for the imagined crime.   

Each passing day leaves the girls feeling bad about their lie, but will their guilty conscience be enough to persuade them to come clean?   

 

Un Lun Dun
Author: China Mieville
Publisher: Del Rey Books, 448 pages   

DEEBA and Zanna discover a wheel that, when turned, makes London disappear! The pair then find themselves in UnLondon, an alternate world where the debris of the London they know end up!   

UnLondon is threatened by Smog, a poisonous cloud, which the girls try to destroy with the help of a talking magic book, and the most remarkable group of UnLondoners!   

This is an exciting and imaginative tome packed with surprises that will keep its readers in a state of constant delight, wonder and suspense.   

 

Ambergate
Author: Patricia Elliott
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers, 400 pages   

THOSE who enjoyed Patricia Elliott’s haunting novel, Murkmere, will welcome Ambergate as an equally dark and even more disturbing read. It is not strictly a sequel, although it is set in the same world, since here, the focus is no longer on Aggie, the village girl who is employed as companion to the young mistress of the manor.   

Instead, Scuff, Murkmere Hall’s lonely and ill-used kitchen maid, is at the centre of this story. An orphan, Scuff has a dark secret that she fears would, if revealed, cost her her life.   

On hearing that she is being pursued by soldiers, she flees Murkmere, but for just how long and how far will she be able to avoid capture and the truth?   

 

Treasure Fleet: China Discovers the World
Author: Ann Bowler
Ilustrator: Lak-khee Tay-Audouard
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing, 32 pages   

THE Admiral Zheng He and his voyages around the world are the focus of this picture book. Much is made of the explorer Christopher Columbus, but 85 years before he discovered America, Admiral Zheng sailed the oceans in huge ships (longer than a football field). Starting in 1405, more than 300 of these vessels made their way from China, across the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean and the coast of Africa. These voyages of discovery did much for China’s trade and established the country and its emperor as powers to be reckoned with.   

The book is packed with beautiful illustrations and interesting facts although some may find the layout a little too “busy”, with the text packed too tight on each page.   

 

The Opposite of Music
Author: Janet Ruth Young
Publisher: Atheneum Books, 352 pages   

BILLY’S father goes from being simply a little distant to becoming a person whom Billy can no longer recognise. He stops listening to music, and eating and sleeping. He is depressed and withdrawn and refuses to be treated.   

It’s up to Billy and the rest of the family to help him, but, after a time, the strain of caring for Dad starts to become too much for everyone. Who will care for the carers?   

This painfully-honest novel explores the often-overlooked problems faced by those who devote their lives to caring for sick friends or relatives.

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The Reading Room column in StarTwo (every Friday) now features discounts, courtesy of Kinokuniya bookstore in KLCC.

To take advantage of the 20% discount you have to buy the paper and cut out the coupon at the bottom of the column. Each offer lasts two weeks or while stocks last and each coupon is valid for just one copy of each book. Only original coupons are accepted, ie no photocopies.

(Junior Reading Room, which features children's and YA books, is out on the second and fourth Fridays of each month.)

Reading Room

16 March 2007, StarTwo

The suffering of peasants

Compiled by DAPHNE LEE

 

Will the Boat Sink the Water?
Authors: Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao
Translator: Zhu Hong
Publisher: PublicAffairs, 256 pages 

THIS prize-winning piece of investigative journalism sold more than 250,000 copies before it was banned. Its authors suffered much abuse and harassment for writing truthfully about the life of China’s peasants, but the book went on to sell in the millions on the black market. While cities like Shanghai and Beijing enjoy a booming economy, the provinces have remained poverty-stricken, largely unchanged since the 15th century. This book, translated into English for the first time, focuses on Anhui, one of China’s poorest provinces. The authors spent three years there, speaking to the peasants, and the result is a vivid portrait of China’s underclass, giving a voice to 900 million who suffer under the tyranny of their country’s petty dictators.

Infidel
Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Publisher: Free Press, 368 pages

 

IN this memoir, Ayaan Hirsi Ali describes her life as a Muslim woman who survived a civil war, female circumcision, beatings and many other challenges before her escape to the Netherlands where she began her fight for Islamic reform. Reviled by militant Muslims for her rebellious and outspoken nature, Ayaan is also celebrated as a survivor. However, she has been criticised for confusing tribal practices with Islamic law, and making sweeping and unfair statements about Muslims.

 

Nabeel’s Song
Author: Jo Tatchell
Publisher: Sceptre, 384 pages

THIS is the story of a family separated because of Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime. Nabeel Yasin was Iraq’s most famous young poet when, in 1979, he left Iraq with his wife and son. Up until then, Nabeel had suffered beatings by Saddam’s secret police. He had also been declared an “enemy of the state” and would have been executed had he not fled to Europe. Nabeel left his beloved mother and siblings and this book recalls the life of the family before they were torn apart, from pre-Saddam days up to the dark time of the dictator’s bloody reign. It is an absorbing and touching saga of a family affected by war and injustice, but who remain unshaken in their love for each other and their homeland.

 

For a House Made of Stone
Authors: Gina French and Andrew Crofts
Publisher: Vision Paperbacks, 296 pages

GINA’s desire to support her family and build them a stone house takes her far and wide, from Manila’s seedy red-light district to sophisticated New York City bars. She finally falls in love with a British man and marries him. The couple has a son, but Gina’s dreams of happily-ever-after crumble when her husband proves to be abusive. His violence drives her to the brink of madness and Gina stabs him to death. Faced with a murder charge in a foreign country, she has to call on every ounce of emotional, spiritual and physical strength to see her through. This is Gina’s story of hope and survival, and the triumph of love and hope over despair and betrayal.

 

Running with Scissors
Author: Augusten Burroughs
Publisher: Picador, 331 pages

TOUTED as non-fiction, this book is a disturbing, yet bizarrely entertaining account of author Augusten Burroughs’ childhood. 

With both his emotionally-unavailable father and manic-depressive mother unwilling to care for him, 11-year-old Burroughs was shipped off to be raised by the anarchic Finch family. 

And so begins his unconventional existence under the wing of unorthodox psychiatrist Dr Finch, who is also Burroughs’ mother’s doctor.

The content of this book, which describes everything from bizarre parenting skills (or the lack thereof) to paedophilic and homosexual relationships, is not for the conservative or faint-hearted. The film adaptation of Running with Scissors stars Annette Bening.

 

Song at Twilight
Author: Chan King Nui
Publisher: Chan King Nui, 119 pages      

IN her fourth book, 88-year-old Chan, a graduate of Singapore’s Raffles College, turns the focus on herself. (Her first book, From Poor Migrant to Millionaire, a biography of her father Chan Wing (1873-1947), was released in 1998.)

In Song at Twilight, Chan reminisces on her happy childhood in Hong Kong and Siam before she was brought home to the “Big House” (the present Istana Negara) in Kuala Lumpur. World War II interrupted her education pursuit, and her family was forced to seek refuge in India. 

Chan’s later years were spent teaching and learning, and travelling. After her retirement, she pursued various new interests, among them painting, embroidery and the making of crafts. 

The book is filled with black-and-white photographs of the author in her youth, the places she visited and the people she met. It is the personal account of one feisty lady as well as a reflection of life in a bygone era.

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