The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 22 May 2011 02:43 AM PDT FOR week ending May 15, 2011: Non-fiction 1. A Doctor In The House: The Memoirs Of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad 2. Confidence Booster Workout: 10 Steps To Beating Self-Doubt by Martin Perry 3. No Excuses!: The Power Of Self-discipline by Brian Tracy 4. The Power by Rhonda Byrne 5. Wikileaks: Inside Julian Assange's War On Secrecy by David Leigh & Luke Harding 6. Chicken Soup For The Soul: Think Positive: 101 Inspirational Stories About Counting Your Blessings And Having A Positive Attitude by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark 7. Run, Mummy, Run by Cathy Glass 8. Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going by Han Fook Kwang et al 9. Hospital Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones 10. Oprah: A Biography by Kitty Kelley Fiction 1. Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella 2. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks 3. Kate's Wedding by Chrissie Manby 4. Water For Elephants (movie tie-in) by Sara Gruen 5. Something Borrowed (movie tie-in) by Emily Giffin 6. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory 7. The Confession by John Grisham 8. The Tennis Party by Madeleine Wickham 9. Worst Case by James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge 10. The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly Weekly list compiled by MPH Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur; www.mphonline.com. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 22 May 2011 02:32 AM PDT A nostalgic memory prompts a sweet response from a guy who knows his woman's needs. I ONCE went to a bookstore that was nestled between Chinatown and strip clubs. I was taken there by my husband, who navigated through San Francisco so wonderfully despite it being his first time there that I knew I could rely on him to pilot our lives together into the future. In the car we had rented, he crisscrossed the city with great ease, turning left and right without looking at a map and arriving quickly at the yellow building famously known as City Lights. "That was 15 years ago," I murmured one day recently in Sydney, Australia, when I was bored, "let's go back." But travelling that far with two young children is a feat. "You can always buy books from the Book Depository," he said teasingly, referring to the online international store even while knowing only too well that book buying was not the main reason for my desire to visit City Lights again. Some of the best moments I had in America took place in this bookstore. After a good meal in a Chinese restaurant on a Saturday night, I would walk over to City Lights in the rain, peruse the books and listen to the swish of cars driving by through the water on the street outside. Even though it had been established in 1953, and I was visiting in the 1990s, City Lights did not have the musty smell most old bookstores had. The shelves, neat, well-labelled and easy to browse, were not huge but big enough to keep me interested. Tall shelves were packed with intriguing books that you could take your time thumbing through in a corner; low shelves highlighted staff picks that were by no means mainstream in taste yet which remained steadily in demand through the years. Getting down to the basement via the creaking staircase was an adventure. Not only was it narrow, it was also maddeningly distracting making your way down it because cleverly chosen books were showcased on the left. A misstep or a moment of engrossment would have sent me tumbling down to the history section where, to my pleasant surprise, the books were atypically global. Suleiman the Magnificent stood next to Frederick the Great, while Churchill gazed at both. Benches abounded, and I would sit on them there in the basement, drugged by the smell of books. And my marvellous find – a collection of Dr Suess. Interestingly, City Lights was also a really fun place to stop by when you were on a date. The twists and turns around the stacks made – and still make – for some really cute flirting. Separated by shelves, my husband handed me books through the gaps in a vain attempt to subtly touch my fingers. I chuckled at each of his recommendations – until he handed me Naguib Mahfouz. He grinned broadly and proudly, as happiness stirred in me. I cruised through Mahfouz's Palace Walk later that night. The rain outside the window kept me company while my husband slept soundly, knowing I, too, was content. My yearning to go back to that store in San Francisco remained unspoken over the years. I lived on the memories of the many moments I had in City Lights – such as when, in our Australian home, light shines softly through a curtain onto our bookshelves, reminding me of what the store looked like in sunlight. My husband came home one day and said casually, "There is also a bookstore in San Francisco called The Booksmith. It's in a hippy area called Haight-Ashbury. Have you heard of it?" "No, I haven't," I replied, puzzled by what was, coming from my husband, an unusual question, for he is a man of a few words. "When you were a young woman, you found City Lights intriguing. Now as a mother, you will love The Booksmith for its great children section. Let's go. Let the books find you in City Lights and you find cool American story books for our children in The Booksmith," he said, handing me four e-tickets to San Francisco. He knew of my unspoken needs, after all, which at this stage of my life aren't many. What he did not know, however, was that while trying hard to remember the gentleness in him when he was younger, I had lost sight of the subtlety of the kindness in the older him. Yes, we will be off later this year to San Francisco despite it being a feat for the children to travel that far. I will find those moments in City Lights again and enjoy the new experience in The Booksmith with my children. Abby Wong thinks a good bookstore is like an artichoke, revealing layer upon tasty layer as you work you way through it. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 22 May 2011 02:30 AM PDT THE Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) is just four days away – it kicks off on Thursday with the Asian Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference (May 26 and 27) and ends with the Asian Children's Media Summit on May 28. In between there's the Asian Children's Publishers Symposium (May 27) and the Asian Primary and Preschool Teachers Congress (May 28). As you can see, the festival is for just about anyone with an interest in children's content of all kinds. If you think you might like to attend, it's not too late to register. You have the choice of a half-day (S$150 or RM370.50), one-day (S$200 or RM494), two-day (S$300 or RM741) or three-day (S$400 or RM988 ) pass – not cheap, I know and that's one gripe I have about this event. The cost of registration is prohibitive, especially in terms of attracting writers and illustrators who are rarely flush with cash. As it's an Asian festival that aims to promote the creation of material with Asian content, I suppose it's fair to suppose that Asian writers and illustrators are the ones the festival hopes to attract. If you are a Malaysian writer and wish to attend the Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference, you have to fork out RM741 – not a small sum at all. Even a one day pass costs almost RM400. Workshops cost an additional S$40 (RM98.80) each. And then you still have to pay your fare there and for accommodation! Compare this festival with the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF). The two times I attended the SWF (2007 and 2009), it was a completely free event. Even superstar Neil Gaiman's session was unticketed – all you needed to do was queue (for hours) to get in. Admission to the SWF was probably free (I'm not sure if it will be this year) because the organiser (Singapore's National Arts Council) was more successful than the Asian Festival of Children's Content organiser (the National Book Development Council of Singapore) in getting sponsors for the event's featured guests. I know several aspiring Malaysian writers and illustrators who will not be attending the AFCC because of the cost. I think this is a real shame and hope that the council will address the problem. One way I can think of to make the event more affordable is to charge per session instead of per day. At the Edinburgh Book Festival, there are unticketed sessions and also ticketed events with a range of ticket prices, depending on the popularity of the authors and illustrators featured. If the AFCC adopted this approach, potential attendees could pick and choose the sessions they are interested in according to their individual budgets. This would allow for more flexibility too. Right now, if you were interested in attending only a couple of sessions, if they happen to be scheduled on separate days, you would have to pay RM741. That's just nuts! Anyway, if you feel you can afford the registration fees, you can go to the AFCC page at afcc.com.sg/afcc.html to view the festival's full programme. Daphne Lee reads to wonder and wander, be amazed and amused, horrified and heartened and inspired and comforted. She wishes more people will try it too. Send e-mails to the above address and check out her blog at daphne.blogs.com/books. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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