The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 05 Jun 2011 02:26 AM PDT FOR the week ending May 29, 2011: Non-fiction 1. A Doctor In The House: The Memoirs Of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad 2. 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 3. Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going by Han Fook Kwang, et al 4. When A Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind – Or Destroy It by Jonathan Watts 5. Make Yourself Unforgettable: How To Become The Person Everyone Remembers And No One Can Resist by Dale Carnegie Training 6. How To Get Things Done: Organize Your Life And Achieve The Results You Want by Ann Jackman 7. Hospital Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones 8. The Power by Rhonda Byrne 9. Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Mother by Amy Chua 10. The Emperor Of All Maladies: A Biography Of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee Fiction 1. Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella 2. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin 3. Room by Emma Donoghue 4. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks 5. Any Man Of Mine by Rachel Gibson 6. Big Girl by Danielle Steel 7. The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes 8. The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg 9. One Day (movie tie-in) by David Nicholls 10. The Tennis Party by Madeleine Wickham 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: 05 Jun 2011 02:26 AM PDT Wimpy Kid author keeps day job on kids' website. JEFF Kinney has made more than enough money writing about one Wimpy Kid to live comfortably for the rest of his life. But thinking about the millions of kids he reaches each month through the popular children's website Poptropica.com makes him keep his day job. "It's the other great love of my life," said Kinney, author of the best-selling Diary Of A Wimpy Kid book and movie series. "It's very difficult to walk away from an audience of 10 million kids a month. To know that you can make a positive impact on what they're learning and what they're experiencing online is sort of addictive." The books are told from the perspective of Greg Heffley, a self-centred middle school boy whose angst over growing up – and dealing with bullies, girls and sibling rivalry among other things – is conveyed in funny stories and simple sketches. On Poptropica, kids create their own avatars and can play and learn while exploring virtual islands through storytelling. Kinney, the father of two boys, sees himself as part author, part cartoonist, part web designer and all Dad. "There's a lot of junk in the world for kids, and we try not to add to that. We try to create something that's quality," said Kinney, who lives in Plainville, a small American town about 48km southwest of Boston, Massachusetts. In 2001, while he was working on the book, he took a job at the Boston-based Family Education Network, a business unit of Pearson PLC, publisher of the Financial Times and Penguin books. He worked as a design director for various websites, including fun brain.com, a popular kids' site for online educational games. Parts of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid were first published on funbrain in 2004. In 2007, the Family Education Network launched Poptropica, a site Kinney came up with while mowing his lawn. In a little over three years, Poptropica has become one of the largest virtual websites for pre-teens, averaging eight million to 10 million unique visitors monthly. Kinney's boss, Jess Brallier, said Kinney's work on the Wimpy Kid books and Poptropica may look easy but Kinney does things over and over until they're just right. Kinney is creative director and executive producer of Poptropica, and he works on every aspect of the site, from creating the islands to making sure the chat with historic characters is preprogrammed so kids have no real contact with anyone else using the site. "He'll animate and re-animate. He will work on a word for four hours," Brallier said. "I think he's a perfectionist because he doesn't want to let people down, and it's a responsibility he feels, especially with kids." For Kinney, the success he has had with Wimpy Kid and Poptropica still seems surprising to him. He grew up in suburban Maryland reading the comics pages and longing to be a cartoonist. In college, he published a comic strip about a freshman in several school newspapers, but then spent three years struggling to get the strip syndicated, receiving more than 50 rejection letters. The idea for the Wimpy Kid books came to him in 1998 and took nine years to get published. "I was writing a journal at the time, keeping a journal of my own life, with text interspersed with my drawings," he said. "I realised that was a really good format." Kinney's goal was to publish one book. He never imagined that his idea for Wimpy Kid would turn into a series of books that would stay on The New York Times' best-seller list non-stop for almost four years. Kinney says Greg, the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid protagonist, is loosely based on his own childhood experiences. "My worst points are reflected in Greg, so I'd say he's a cartoon exaggeration of my pre-pubescent self," he says. Kinney said he writes for adults, many of whom can look back and laugh at their middle school years. But the books have been a runaway hit with kids, particularly those ages eight to 11, and are known among parents and teachers for holding the interest of reluctant readers. There are now 42 million Wimpy Kid books in print – translated into 40 languages – including five books in the series, plus a movie diary and a do-it-yourself journal. Kinney downplays his success, saying only half-jokingly that he sees his books "as a gateway to more legitimate reading". "It will always stick with me that I couldn't break onto the comics pages," he says. "On the flip side, when I go to an authors' convention, I feel like I'm not quite a real author because I use cartoon drawings to bolster my writing." In the end, Kinney says he feels more like a cartoonist. Kinney's friends say he has remained the same modest, self-deprecating guy he was in college, when he was known for drawing caricatures of everyone in his dormitory, playing practical jokes on people and juggling knives. "I think he steps back from it every day and says, 'I can't believe this is happening,'" said Aaron Nicodemus, a friend who attended Villanova with Kinney before Kinney transferred to the University of Maryland. "He was always surprised, like, 'Really, you want to market it to kids? You really want to split it into three books?' It was always a pleasant surprise to him." For Kinney, balancing the books, the movies, Poptropica and his family isn't easy. Most days, Kinney, who recently turned 40, works on Poptropica in his home office, then works on his Wimpy Kid books nights and on weekends. He works from the Family Education Network offices in Boston once or twice a week. Working from home allows him to spend time with his wife, Julie, and sons, Will, eight, and Grant, five. He's also a Cub Scout leader. "Our life, in most ways, is very normal," he says. His sons' reaction to their dad's books has been as understated as his. "My five-year-old makes it clear to me that my books are not his favourites," Kinney says, laughing. – AP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 05 Jun 2011 02:26 AM PDT Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, And The Fate Of Every Person Who Ever Lived WHEN asked to review Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins, I had mixed feelings. Bell is a Christian pastor with quite a following, but his name does not have universal recognition. I ask you: does his name ring a "bell" for you? Besides, The Star is a newspaper for Malaysians of all faiths, or even no faith. What could I say about a religious book that would have interest for a wide and varied readership? Bell tells us, in his title, what he intends to explain to us in his book. It is, "a book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived". Quite an ambitious title for a book that comes in at under 200 pages. You could fill a library with books about all that. Very sincere men and women with good minds and humble hearts may disagree about the fate of humans after they die. Apparently, though, we can all rejoice, for Bell knows. In my opinion, that tells us something important about this writer. He actually believes that he can answer a question that philosophers and theologians have wrestled with for centuries. Or does he? In some interviews I have come across, Bell has stated that in writing this book he was just trying to get people to think, to consider the possibilities. If so, why that expansive title? Truth in advertising would require the author to rename his book: Love Wins: What I Believe I Have Learned About Heaven, Hell, And The Fate Of Every Person Who Ever Lived. A little real modesty, please. Bell claims ancient support for his conclusions, citing well-known religious thinkers of earlier centuries. This is supposed to give credence to his conclusions, and it does help. However, for material that addresses an issue this important, I need to see some citations from those early sources. Without those, its like saying, "See, even Augustine agrees with me!" Bell does not, in any way, speak for all Christians, I feel. But judging from his style, he has no problem acting as though those who see matters differently are theologically deficient. The fact is that all religions have mysteries, and Christianity is no different. So we should all speak with confidence about what we clearly know and leave the mysteries to God. There is nothing wrong with saying, "I don't know". Bell presents some conclusions that many will find comforting. After all, he tells us, in the end, we all get to heaven. Some of us may not go there immediately when we die, but with an infinite amount of time, and an infinite amount of love, eventually all of us will be gathered by God. To use his style for a moment, "And he knows this, how?" The answer: Bell's own opinions about the ancient words of the Bible. Then there is his style. How can I describe it? Witty? Pithy? Hip? Too cool for words? Please, Rob. If you are writing a book that will get worldwide attention, even getting you into Time magazine (Pastor Rob Bell: What if Hell Doesn't Exist? April 14, 2011), at least write as though you are talking to all of us, not just an American subset between the ages of 25 and 40. After all, this is important stuff. Get it wrong and we could regret it. For eternity. Love does win! I believe that with my heart and soul. But, in my opinion, Bell's book does not. It is more like graffiti on a cathedral than a new stained glass window. Mike Constantine is an American living with his wife in Malaysia under the Malaysia My Second Home Programme. He is keenly interested in the great questions of life. Though not a theologian, he has pondered theological issues all his life. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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