The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2011 01:35 AM PDT Who can resist brooding fallen angels and an eternal romance? ARE angels the new vampires? Judging by the buzz surrounding Lauren Kate's young adult (YA) fiction series Fallen, they might just overtake the pale ones in popularity. But Kate's not bothered about beginning a new trend, she's reportedly said; she just wanted to tell a love story, and she wanted to tell it to teenagers. In an interview with The Star's Stuff At School in September last year (Tormented creatures, Sept 29), she said, "I love how open teenagers are. Anything is possible and it sets up all these incredibly dramatic possibilities. "I love writing about difficult situations but ending them on an ultimately happy note. I think that's that major thing separating YA books from adult books." Kate, 30, is a Texan who went to school in Atlanta, Georgia, a city much imbued with Southern antebellum charm; it was this period in her life that supposedly inspired her to set Fallen in an American Civil War-era academy, the fictional Sword & Cross boarding school in Georgia. Kate currently lives in California with her husband and "hopes to work in a restaurant kitchen and learn how to surf". She's not home at the moment, though, since she's travelling the world to promote Passion, the latest book in the Fallen series. In fact, in that interview in September, she mentioned that she had never visited Malaysia and would talk to her publisher about it. She must have because Kate will be right here in Malaysia on Tuesday and Wednesday! (See details in the info box.) For those of you who have yet to enter the darkly sexy world of Fallen, here's a brief introduction: Fallen – With the wonderfully catchy tagline "some angels are destined to fall", the first book in the series immediately caught the attention of teens everywhere. Luce Price's parents have packed her off to the strict reform school, Sword & Cross. This is a place where cell phones are forbidden, where cameras watch every move, where the other students are, well, screw-ups, basically. But then there's Daniel Grigori. He's very different, and he catches Luce's attention right away – but it's attention that he doesn't want. Disdainful and aloof, he makes it very clear that he wants nothing to do with her, but Luce is like the proverbial moth fluttering around the flame. She's desperate to know: what is Daniel's big secret? And then there's Cam. Charming, beautiful and very interested in Luce even though she doesn't give him the time of day at first. And there's your classic love triangle – except that this triangle makes more than a few supernatural connections. Torment – The two sworn enemies, Daniel and Cam, come to a truce so they can work together to protect Luce from the Outcasts, creepy, hollow immortals who want her as a pawn for their re-entry into heaven. Luce, however, is shipped off to yet another boarding school, this time in San Francisco. It might be a fine school but as far as she's concerned, without Daniel there, it's "hell on earth", as the book's blurb puts it. Left to fend for herself, she takes the time to learn more about her past and begins to suspect that Daniel has been hiding even more secrets from her than she thought. Luce begins to question their relationship and might even turn to someone other than Daniel. Passion – The third book begins right where Torment left off with Luce taking matters into her own hand and deciding to embark on a journey through time to find out what it is exactly that has doomed her relationship with Daniel through many lifetimes over millennia. But Luce isn't the only one hurtling through time. Chasing her desperately across the centuries is Daniel, seeking to prevent her from rewriting the long history that the two of them have together. And right on his toes is his rival, Cam, as well as those creepy Outcasts who intend to capture Luce because they believe she is the key to their salvation. Will her time travels destroy everything between Daniel and herself – this time, perhaps permanently? Kate is currently at work on the final book, Rapture. The movie adaptation of Fallen is slated for a 2012 release. Meet Lauren Kate SHE will be at the following locations, at these times: |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2011 01:29 AM PDT FOR week ending July 3, 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 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Amy Newmark 3. Quantum Leaps: 100 Scientists Who Changed The World by Jon Balchin 4. A World Without Islam by Graham E. Fuller 5. Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going by Han Fook Kwang et al 6. How To Start A Conversation And Make Friends by Don Gabor 7. The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot 8. The Great War For Civilisation: The Conquest Of The Middle East by Robert Fisk 9. The Power by Rhonda Byrne 10. Brain Rules: 12 Principles For Surviving And Thriving At Work, Home, And School by John Medina Fiction 1. Transformers 3 (official novel) by Peter David 2. The Confession by John Grisham 3. The Single Girl's To-Do List by Lindsey Kelk 4. The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo 5. Fall Of Giants by Ken Follett 6. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn 7. The 9th Judgment by James Patterson 8. Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella 9. The Heiress by Lynsay Sands 10. The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender > 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: 09 Jul 2011 04:47 PM PDT ARE we all artists until we're taught that we're not? Do we need to be told what is good art? Is there such a thing as bad taste? Isn't it just about personal taste? These are questions I'm constantly asking myself in relation to art and the arts. I don't think there are definitive answers to such questions, just different opinions and schools of thought. I do think that, like literature and music and all branches of the arts, visual art should be introduced to children from a very young age. Being exposed to a wide variety of styles and genres helps us develop our own tastes and also to be more receptive to different ideas and representations of ideas. This is one area where more is definitely more, which is why I think The Malaysian Art Book For Children (Khazanah National, 79 pages, ISBN: 978-9834419370) is such a great idea. When I was a child and teenager, growing up in small towns in Johor, art was what I saw in magazines, on calendars and mounted on wooden frames on the walls of our home. These days, with a (working) Internet connection, children can experience so much more. Many of the major museums of the world even have online virtual tours of their collections. And of course, a click of the mouse gives anyone access to a wealth of information about works of art as well as their creators. However, as usual, there is less information available about local art and artists. In the first place, who do you search for? After all, Malaysian artists are not quite household names yet. What we (Malaysian adults as well as children) need is an introduction to Malaysian art, and that is what The Malaysian Art Book For Children provides. Inspired by Phaidon's The Art Book For Children, our local version features 32 Malaysian contemporary artworks accompanied by questions and prompts that aim to get readers (whatever their age) thinking about the pieces, the subjects represented, the media used and lots more. There is also information about the artists and the art, including where they are displayed, the media used, and the year they were created. First up is the iconic National Museum mural by Cheong Laitong. The chapter heading is the rather uninspired and uninspiring Have You Seen These Murals? but other chapters fare much better, with more enticing and intriguing headings, like Magical Triangles, Music In My Bones and Liquid Light. However, although the text provides context and reveals interesting and novel ways of approaching and responding to the art, it is the artwork itself that is most beguiling. Many of the pieces chosen will certainly challenge conventional ideas of what art is. A metal sculpture of a crowing rooster; cross-dressing family members in an otherwise traditionally composed portrait; photographs of concrete animals and plants arranged to resemble a surreal amusement park; three men in traditional masks standing with their backs to a vibrant blue sky. These are some of the images presented to readers. And, if my own daughter's reaction is anything to go by, these works will certainly provoke many questions. The section entitled Tops For Visiting Art Galleries at the end of the book indicates how the pieces were chosen: they depict subjects (eg animals) and have other attributes (eg bright colours) that are attractive to children. "Busy" work seems to be a favourite as well – that is, pictures and installations in which there are lots of details. Young readers are urged to spot various objects in several of the pieces and my daughter really enjoyed this activity. The book also suggests how readers can create their own works of art based on the content, styles and media featured in it. In my opinion, multiple copies of The Malaysian Art Book For Children should be ordered by every public and school library. I think it should also be made compulsory reading for all public school art teachers. It would be lovely if school field trips included visits to art galleries, but for children who live in towns with no public art, having access to this book would be a step towards encouraging creative thought and creative approaches to creative work. 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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