I Want to Read: Vernetta Lopez's Memoirs of a DJ

If you were of a certain age in Singapore and Malaysia in the mid-90s, you might remember a certain Singaporean sitcom called Under One Roof. I was still of school-going age and still watching terrestrial TV when it aired (it was a couple of years before Astro). Too bad these regional shows hardly get released on DVD, because it sure beats watching Mr Bean reruns every few years (I like Rowan Atkinson, but I loathe the Bean character). But you can find a few episodes on YouTube - I saw the one episode where Ah Teck doesn't go on his storytelling tangent ("A long, long time ago...before your time...") because it was a flashback episode of how he and Dolly met 30 years ago. I think the only other reason the show was even aired in Malaysia at all was because Zaibo was in it and not just that we could also understand the humour.

I still remember the theme song after all these years, which is simultaneously catchy and also introduces the main cast.

Moses Lim is Ah Teck
Koh Chieng Mun is Dolly
Andrew Lim is Paul 
Nicholas Lee is Ronnie
Vernetta Lopez is Denise

It's only coming back to me now because Vernetta Lopez has released her first book in Singapore this week entitled Memoirs of a DJ: Life in Progress through Marshall-Cavendish International. Tweeted the publisher to ask if it was ever gonna be available north of the border and to their credit, they replied back...

@synical @vernettalopez Yes it will be available in Malaysia! Check in major bookstores from next week onwards!
— Marshall Cavendish (@MarshallCAsia) August 28, 2012

I only want to read it only because I'm curious to find out what happened to her as a person in the years since Under One Roof (it's been over 15 years since the first season aired! Holy cow!). But whether I want to plonk money down for it is another thing. I'll wait until I see the book in person.

P.H Denson - Dubious History

Got a press release for this book - Dubious History by P.H. Denson. I might have an idea why I got this, but at the same time, I can't help but think it was not meant for my eyes also.

Read the copy and tell me if it doesn't sound familiar to anyone.

The book “DUBIOUS HISTORY” is a grippingly intelligent thriller where you just can’t turn the pages fast enough. Drawing on the secretive and intriguing mysteries of the Masonic brotherhood, the fast-paced, brilliantly layered storyline and its fascinating central characters have proved a big hit with readers who like to have their wits challenged and to be kept guessing right to the end.

The story begins with what appears to be a hit-and-run ‘accident’ and moves rapidly to reveal a chilling web of serial murders and a deadly Masonic secret. George Fairfax, a Pulitzer nominee researching the history of a small American town, falls victim to a hit-and-run. When his nephew Zach steps in to complete writing the town’s history, he quickly becomes suspicious of his uncle’s ‘accidental’ death. Zach begins to unravel a spiderweb of clues that point to a dangerous Masonic secret which may also be responsible for the mysterious deaths of a number of other members of the Masonic lodge.

Can Zach decode the clues to the two-hundred-year-old secret in time to find the serial killer before he claims his next victim? And what twists await at every turn as each clue uncovers more of the shocking truth behind the killer’s real end-game?

P.H. Denson was born and raised in Ohio and spent many years in Georgia, graduating from the University ofGeorgia with a degree in History. Now retired and living amidst the mountains of North Carolina, Denson continues to pursue an intense interest in history and especially in the real facts that are often hidden behind old stories.

Also available from Amazon, Kindle and other major bookshops.
ISBN-10: 9081653121

ISBN-13: 978-9081653121

If you like Dan Brown's work, this might be right up your alley.

Got my Good Eats on - yay!

After waiting for what seems to be an age, the "thought to be missing" Book Depository order was tossed over the gate and unto the porch yesterday. I was just glad it didn't rain then.

This was the first time that I had ordered a book book from them instead of the usual collectible Moleskines that I've ordered in the past, so I wasn't too sure how long to wait before raising the alarm. BD orders usually reach me in about 2 weeks.

It took me the following month before I raised the alarm.

I got it just as I just got the refund back from them - oh nuts. It's no wonder there are plenty of sites that don't ship to Malaysia. 

What was it?

Volume 1 of the Good Eats book - The Early Years.

The book jacket opens out into a large movie poster. You have to see it to believe it.

New Adrian Mole book - Adrian Mole: The Prostate Years

I was flipping through my copy of The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole, 1999 - 2001 and I saw a page in the back announcing a brand new Adrian Mole book after author Sue Townsend said that Weapons of Mass Destruction was gonna be the last book when it came out a 5 years ago for health reasons.

As much as I'm a fan of the books, I'm disappointed that after the seemingly happy ending in Weapons of Mass Destruction doesn't stay that way for Adrian (in the seemingly Adrian Mole fashion). I thought closure had been achieved. Argh.

The new one is called Adrian Mole: The Prostate Years and is due out next month. To be fair, although she's supposedly legally blind, she could've recorded stuff on audio tape (which I heard is how Sarah Palin did for some of her upcoming biography)...

I guess I won't be getting this one so soon then.

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• New Adrian Mole diary is dark, hopeless and hilarious (boingboing.net)

Lydia Teh's Stretching Your Dollar$ and $ense

So I got a signed copy Lydia Teh's Stretching Your Dollar$ and $ense - More than 300 money-saving tips for anyone and everyone from the author herself from a contest she ran in her blog in her own effort to win a laptop (which she did - nice!).

Most of the tips I'm already aware of and practice some. Some of the tips could stand to be updated in the research department, and there were some that got me thinking, like the more adult aspects of finance like mortgage and hire purchase (which I must get round to asking someone what that's about). You can't miss the slight doses of humour peppered throughout.

Anyway, if you're Chinese (heh) or already very cheap anyway, you don't really need this book. You need this if you ever ask yourself why your money seems to slip between your fingers.

Buying books from Better World...

Bought a used copy of Inside the Actor's Studio host James Lipton's last book, Inside Inside from Better World Books with the coupon code (TWITTER5K entitles you to 20% discount on used books) I got from their Twitter feed for having 5,000 followers. The thing expires pretty soon, you've been warned.

Anyhow, as it is when you order books from them, you'll get a standard email telling you that your order has been shipped. What's different is, well... see for yourself :P

Hello [redacted],

(Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)

Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world!

I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen)and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.

But hey, enough about me, I've been asked to brief you on a few things:

We sent your order to the following address:

[redacted]

Order #: [redacted]

Item Titles:

Inside Inside

We provide quick shipping service to all our customers. You chose International Mail shipping, your book should arrive within 10 - 21 business days. Some shipments may take slightly longer to arrive.

At this time, we are not able to offer tracking on our International Mail shipments.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email my friends in Customer Care at help@betterworldbooks.com. If you could please include your order number [redacted] that would be very helpful.

Eagerly awaiting our meeting,

Inside Inside

I thought it's pretty cute and definitely not the cut and dry versions one is used to seeing.

Speaking of book buying, BookXcess is celebrating their 2nd annivesary this weekend at their store in Amcorp!! I hope I remember to check it out!!

On the second day of niu year...

I finally used up the birthday voucher I got from Times (20% + RM3 discount) at the newly remodeled BSC outlet, which now looks more like the other outlets in the Valley. Wanted to use it on another Stephen Fry book, but there was only The Liar in the store (that I had already read) and I can't be arsed to make the trip down to Pavilion at the time, so I ended up with Sudi Pigott's How to be a Better Foodie, which sounded interesting to the armchair foodie like myself.

Later drove to the city centre and stopped at Low Yat because the sibling wanted to look for phone parts for the mater and ended getting a cooling fan for HIS computer. Most of the place was closed for the holidays so we only ended up paying RM2 first hour parking there. I love driving to KL when the rest of the population is out of town for the holidays - the traffic was excellent: very few cars on the road.

For lunch we stopped at the Sri Menanti ikan bakar stall on Jalan Bellamy, near the palace. There were a couple other similar stalls in close proximity. As I wasn't sure which one it was, we went with the one that had the most people (duh); that, and then the sign also declares itself "THE ONE", haha. For a while there I just wanted to see the place for myself and wasn't planning to stop, but decided to chance it anyway as we're already there ANYWAY.... Despite the fact that we were there around lunch time, we got squeezed in (don't bother about privacy and proximity issues here), our drinks ordered and I went to grab a plate of rice and some grilled seafood (self-service) - I managed a helping of grilled stingray and squid along with the usual dipping sauces while the sibling grabbed a whole fish and squid as well.

It was only when I sat down the boy got their system down: they only start writing out your bill when you tuck in and pay when you're done.

According to the sibling, the fish was not bad - not dry, anyway. The squid was a tad rubbery and I thought the stingray was nice. The dipping sauce was pretty damn spicy (for me, the one with mild tolerance to spiciness) but shiok lah; my tongue was still numb for about 15 minutes after that.

Bill came up to RM29 (plus drinks) for the two of us, which sounds a little steep. I don't know.

Had steamboat for dinner at home. Just as well.

My Twitter-sized blog post....

My copy of Three Bits of Fry & Laurie came in the mail today (yay!)

The Twisted Stethoscope

So I finished reading Jason Leong's The Twisted Stethoscope today (read most of it yesterday and finished it in my down time today at work).

It's basically about the author's first year in his medicine course in Dublin, Ireland after nailing a PSD scholarship (or as the Americans might call it, a full ride scholarship) from the government: the first flight, meeting the people you're gonna room with, adjusting to life in another country, yada yada yada. And like most published memoirs of any form, there's got to be a love interest angle in the story; Jason's was (is?) with a girl he called "Eggy" (for her egg-shaped head). Not a nice name to call someone you have the hots for, but that's just me.

It's a light read, it's readable and funny (in some parts), but I (honestly) glazed over the medical jargon scattered through most of the book. You can take out the medical jargon and it's basically (IMO) the story of every other Malaysian student that's done their study overseas stint.

I got a perspective of life as a medical student which I can't get from the people that I know who are (still) med students because they're all too busy studying medicine for me to drill them about it. (Which I don't think is anything like in Grey's Anatomy).

I also learned something new: until I've read this book I've not even know of, much less heard of the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage (where the author's trek with his friend got its own chapter), but I may have vaguely heard of it from someone else. My ignorance might have something to do with how

a) I'm not remotely religious, and
b) I didn't study in UK or any where else in the EU.

Final verdict: Go read it. I'd read the sequel.

Twisted Stethoscope/My First Moleskine

Went down to KLCC for a spot of shopping (DUH) as it's the first weekend of the nationwide Mega Sale.

Also wanted to go to Kinokuniya to get a copy of The Twisted Stethoscope (which, according to the author, is only available at Kinokuniya and Borders stores in KL) and to check out the Moleskine promotion (20% off with any other purchase on the same day) going on there (which Azwan nicely mentioned on the Malaysian Bookcrosser forums on Yahoo! Groups).

I started by looking for the Moleskine display. After going round the stationery department a few times, I finally gave up and asked the staff where they were (who pointed me upstairs), I went up to check for myself. I wouldn't pay full price for one of these, but with 20% discount.... maybe lah. (That's the thing with disposable income - disposable by nature)

Then I started looking for the book: I couldn't find the book under the author's name, but with the title I found (and printed out) the book's location; but there was none to be found on the shelf mentioned (which, btw, is at shelf E09-04: HIGHLIGHTS). So I took the printout to the nearest information counter and told the woman there that I don't see the book on the shelf. Thinking that I must be blind or something, she took the printout from me and checked for herself. She was baffled. And THEN I saw a copy on the side of the shelf, took it, thanked her and walked away. It's only RM29.90, AND... it's also got the "20%-discount-with any-other-purchase" sticker on it.

Then I had a mini-crisis of sorts: Can I just pay for them both and get the discounts, or do I really need to get ANOTHER item for each? So I went back to the stationery department and picked out a couple of gift tags (cheapest things to buy for the purpose) if push comes to shove.

I took the stuff upstairs, chose a Moleskine (ultimately picked the Ruled Soft Notebook XL, which is RM93.06 - if I'm gonna pay so much for one, might as well be the biggest one that I could get, right?) and stepped over to the cashier (literally, a few steps away) and asked the guy if I could just pay for both book and Moleskine without having to get other items for the discount(s). He said no need, so I left the tags at the counter (which I neglected to put back.... whoops) and just paid for the two. So I got my 20% discount(s) on both The Twisted Stethoscope (RM23.92) and my Moleskine (RM74.448 or RM74.45), total spent: RM98.35 after the rounding down of RM0.02.

To summarise: 20% discounts on book and Moleskine notebook in Kinokuniya. Yay.

It would be a LONG while before I ever get around to using the Moleskine - so shut up.

The Pigeon

... is the title of Patrick Suskind's follow up novella after the much celebrated Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

While I admit it's not badly written (or translated, rather as it was German to begin with), but the plot is damn ridiculous.

It's about a man in his fifties who gets into personal crisis after encountering a pigeon roosting in front of his door one morning. The events occur over 24 hours. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

3rd Bookfest@Malaysia

But my first time as I didn't go the last couple of years mostly because there are typically more Chinese than English books because it's organised by Popular bookstore. Decided to go check it out for other reasons, which will be revealed shortly.

Before I left the house, I was searching through the past week's copies of The Star looking for Popular ads as Popular was giving away a free street directory when you collect all 7 ads which started last Saturday. I only found the last six and I drove over to Gran's (where everyone brings their old newspapers to) to find the first ad somewhere in the pile of old newspapers . Didn't take too long, but I found it. So I parked near the train station and took the train down to KLCC.

Anyway, having already bought the RM2 ticket (which is basically a glossy ad catalogue) a couple of days before, I had to have the thing stamped and a wristband was given before people were allowed in. Checked online at the official Bookfest@Malaysia site before I left: Halls 4 and 5 were where the English books are at as the first three halls are where all the Chinese publishers at, so skipped the latter.

So I redeemed the street directory with the 7 clipped ads and I bought only 3 books in total (as Payless, Big Bookshop started their sales this weekend and BookXcess got new stock in the last week, so...):

1. Another copy of Don't Sit on This Book: A Collection of Chinese Taboos by Master Philip Cheong with S.L. Ang (RM29.60) - a book EVERYONE should read.
   
2. Melissa Heckscher: Use This Book! The Only Book You'll Ever Need (RM16.90)
3. Rorne Tan : The Bloodihood Story (RM19.90) - only cos the author was there, trying to convince me to buy it. :P But I never really say no to plays, anyway. And you have to check out the blog as it's got the sound effects to go with as you read it.

The fair was also damn crowded - want to line up to pay also queue so damn long. Express lane also not express enough (for me). But got it done anyway. Also got my information taken from me by someone from RedFM (doing their demographic survey), who was surprised that I actually do listen to the station. It might have something to do with the pair of sisters in front of me who told her that they listen to the cheena stations :P

Also walked past The Star booth (where the AMBP [All Malaysian Bloggers Project] are today), after verifying that I am indeed signed on to the Project, I got a chance at the lucky draw and I ended up with a Prince Caspian postcard set (or something like that; be nice to sell it off as I don't want it) on top of the freebies that the guy was giving away :) Good thing it was all in a red tote bag as the directory was pretty heavy to carry around.

Did some wandering and I had the Sausage, Egg and Cheese on Ciabatta sarnie at Starbucks, washed down with a tall ice Tazo Shaken Tea Lemonade for lunch (although the sarnie's technically a breakfast item, but it's available until 2 p.m., so...). Didn't take too long before I decided to go home.

More books...

Got Michael Ruhlman's Soul of a Chef in the mail today - woo hoo!

With BookXcess having its World Book Day promotion, I bought Philippa Gregory's The Queen's Fool and Maxed Out: Hard Times and Easy Credit by James D. Scurlock.

P.S. Happy Earth Day.

A Clockwork Orange

After having the book for so long and for a lack of other new books to read, I finally started on Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange. I couldn't get very far because of the liberal amount of Nadsat in the narrative. I had to guess what means what by the context.

Finally had it trying to read it without help and I had to find and print out a Nadsat dictionary and I had to keep referring to it while reading the book. A bit annoying, I had to admit. My guess is the only people who would have less trouble reading it than yours truly would be Russian speaking individuals.

At the rate I'm going, I might as well just watch the movie, X-rated, dark and potentially psychologically traumatic or not. But I read that it's pretty faithful to the so-called American version of the novel, so what the heck - it's a Kubrick and it's legendary.

Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping

What happens when you make a conscious decision not to shop for a whole calendar year? Is that even possible, given the consumerist, materialistic and capitalistic nature of modern society? People are always after some latest fashion, gadget or vehicle.

Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine is an experiment that the author (and long time partner Paul) decided, after one year-end shopping burnout, to essentially not buy anything for a whole year. Of course since she essentially still need to live, exceptions to the non-shopping experiment are food and other essentials. Non-essentials like paid entertainment, clothes and luxury items are not allowed.

So the twelve months of the year make up each chapter as the author learns how one can simplify their life from other people and organizations who teach other people how to live with just the basics.

Personally, I wouldn't do it for kicks - if I had a nice book advance to write about it, then I would do it, and be more stringent with the rules. Since I am living at home with just about everything taken care of, don't eat out too often, and with my income not enough to be taxed on, so all I basically have is a disposable income which could go into my nest egg.

Not a bad read - though I'm not sure how many people are willing to try it for real.

My Weekend So Far...

Haven't been blogging about anything significant of late because I've been too tired to think about what to go on about. Vicious cycle of sleeplessness and all that.

Reading-wise: Finished reading another one of Stephen Fry's novels, The Hippopotamus, which I started in the fourth quarter of last year, put down for a few months, and finally finished reading once I found the mood to continue this week. (Or rather, needed something to read when in my downtime at work).

And no, it's got nothing to do with the creature, but rather the nickname of the protagonist Ed Wallace, who is sent for extended stay at a friend's mansion (Lord Michael and Lady Anne Logan) in the country at the behest of his god daughter Jane (who is dying of leukemia) to investigate non-specific incidents surrounding his godson, David "Davey" Logan.

The backstories of some characters was useful, but threw me off track of the main narrative.

Ending wasn't a big surprise, but as some of the Amazon reviewers might mention, it's also not for the puritanical.

In the meantime...

Finally finished reading Ben Elton's Popcorn. I heard that this book got adapted for the stage, but I don't know what it's about. I felt that something was a little off the first time I saw the book... at about 300 something pages, it's about half the length of some of his other novels.

It's basically about a Tarantino-esque Hollywood director Bruce Delamitri who wins an Oscar for his movie Ordinary Americans which glamourises sex and violence, inspring a Bonnie and Clyde-type young couple Wayne and Scout, the Mall Murderers who goes around shooting up people like in his movies. The Mall Murderers then break into the famous director's house, gets the media's attention, and to get him to admit to something which he will never admit to in front of the entire world.

I kept referring to the epilogue at the back as I was reading it; not knowing why knowing the ending would make it easier to trudge through. The body count's pretty high in this one, and long story short, not in my Top 5 books by Ben Elton. That's just me. If you're a fan, you could give this a go.

Currently reading: Stephen Fry's Paperweight.

First book purchase of 2008

Bought my first book of the year - Ben Elton's Popcorn at BookXcess.

I was there less than 20 minutes; I got a call earlier today from them, letting me know that I can finally collect my membership card (it's been so long since I applied for it that I almost forgot what's it for :P), and that they've got new stock in =) . So while I was still there I thought I might as well look around. Grabbed the last copy of Popcorn that I saw on the shelves. As they were still shelving the new stock and I didn't intend to stay too long anyway.

While looking I also saw a copy of The Worst Case Scenario Handbook: Weddings, but I didn't have enough spare cash for both, so I paid for the former and asked them to hold the other for me to pay for the next time I stop by.