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Posted: 17 Jul 2011 01:40 AM PDT

JACK Armstrong, who hasn't even reached his mid-30s, is dying of an unnamed disease. His wife struggles to raise their three children and take care of Jack. On Christmas Eve, she heads off to the pharmacy to pick up medication – and is killed in an accident. Talk about harrowing....

After Lizzie's death, Jack agrees to hospice care as his sister-in-law takes the children. Lying in bed and staring at the walls, he waits to die. Then he finds himself getting stronger and stronger.

The doctors cannot explain it, but the disease has gone into remission. Dubbed the "Miracle Man" by the press for being the first survivor of the illness, Jack struggles to regain his health – and his children. He decides to take them to a beach house where Lizzie grew up and try to become their father again.

Baldacci uses every possible trick to produce an emotional response, and enough tears flow among the characters to create a small pond. The experience is a bit like reading a Nicholas Sparks novel, but upped a notch to yield the proper reaction. The ending feels rushed, leaving questions about how events and relationships play out.

Wish You Well (2000), about an ordinary family struggling to survive the upheavals of 1940s America, is arguably one of Baldacci's best books, and he tries to recreate that experience with One Summer. Abandoning his usual thriller style is a bit of a gamble, and it will be interesting to watch whether readers will embrace or discard his latest book.

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Join Julia’s jaunt

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 01:38 AM PDT

I CAN'T believe it's been two years since Anthony Browne was appointed Britain's Children's Laureate. A month ago, Julia Donaldson took over from Browne and she will spend the next two years championing libraries, and promoting music and drama.

Most book-loving parents and children will know Donaldson as the author responsible for The Gruffalo, a rhyming tale of a mouse who outwits a large, be-horned creature (illustrated by Axel Scheffler) who looks like he might be a close relative of one of Maurice Sendak's wild things.

What they might not know is that it is based on a Chinese fable known as The Fox Borrows The Tiger's Terror. Donaldson substituted the gruffalo as the villain of the piece as she couldn't think of words that rhymed with "tiger". (Can you?)

Not only does Donaldson's tale rhyme beautifully and have a jaunty, catchy rhythm, there are several refrains that children very quickly pick up and are able to chant along with their parents. This makes for a lively, interactive storytelling experience, and is the reason why the book is one of my very favourite for group storytelling sessions at parties and other events.

There is also The Gruffalo Song, which you can sing after you've told the story. Basically a description of the monster ("He has terrible tusks, and terrible claws, And terrible teeth in his terrible jaws..."), the song encourages listeners to imagine the beast into being. If you teach children to sing the song before you show them Scheffler's pictures, get them to draw pictures based on the descriptions – you'll be amazed at the wide variety of monsters produced.

The song is available on a CD with other compositions (10 in all, written and sung by Donaldson herself), and there is also a book, The Gruffalo Song And Other Songs (Macmillan), that provides lyrics, piano score and guitar tabs. My favourite track is Pull A Funny Face, which has been a hit with every group of children I've sung it with – well, of course, as children always enjoy making faces.

By the way, there are also minus-one tracks so you can choose to sing-along with Donaldson or not. (Room On The Broom And Other Songs is also available as a book and CD.)

Donaldson actually composed songs for children's television before she became a writer. Her picture book, A Squash And A Squeeze, started life as a song. It was her very first picture book and also the one that began her illustrious partnership with Scheffler.

Although she is best known for her picture books – other titles include Room On The Broom, Monkey Puzzle, The Snail On The Whale, The Magic Paintbrush (illustrated by Joel Stewart) and Cave Baby (illustrated by Emily Gravett) – Donaldson also writes early reader and phonics texts, poems and plays, novels for children, and, of course, songs.

Lucky British children – they have an enthusiastic and experienced Laureate who plans to really get involved in promoting books and reading; a Laureate who plans to encourage telling stories through music and drama; and one who intends to do her part to save Britain's libraries, which are suffering from budget cuts.

Well, at the very least, Malaysian children can revel in Donaldson's stories, rhymes and songs. As a well-loved and accomplished author whose stories entertain, encourage and engage, she definitely makes a big difference to the way children respond to books, here and around the world.

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.

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Tales From The Yoga Studio: A joy to read

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 01:24 AM PDT

Here's a book that makes no bones about being all about feeling good at the end.

YOU know that saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Well, In the case of Tales From The Yoga Studio, it would be wise not to judge the book by its title. For author Rain Mitchell's debut novel goes beyond the chick-lit-infused-with-herbal-tea-and-hippy-sensibilities implied by its title and delves into the ups and downs of life and the bond of friendship.

Edendale Yoga is owned and run by Lee, whose special brand of teaching attracts yoga students and devotees from all over Los Angeles.

There's Stephanie, a screenwriter who is totally stressed as she's one of Los Angeles's "43,000 freelancers" trying to gain traction in film production.

Graciela is a dancer on the verge of a big break who needs to recover from a suspicious injury first.

The third protagonist is Imani, a beautiful television actress "living the dark side of the Hollywood dream" and seeking some sort of healing for her life's biggest loss.

The fourth is Katherine, Edendale Yoga's masseuse, who is trying to overcome a troubled past to develop a relationship with the nicest man she's ever met.

Lee offers these ladies a haven in which they can relax, be themselves and leave their worries behind for 90 minutes at a time while they go through yoga postures. But she herself is facing problems of her own.

With corporate-backed yoga studio franchises mushrooming all over LA, Lee is feeling the pinch of running an independent yoga studio that barely breaks even every month.

She has children to feed, a house to maintain, and a marriage that is teetering dangerously on the brink of collapse, so Lee is considering accepting one of the numerous offers to sell out, in particular, huge commercial yoga chain, YogaHappens.

But that would make Lee just one of many employees on the chain's payroll. The money would help solve her family problems – and possibly even her marriage – but will it damage her relationship with Stephanie, Graciela, Imani and Katherine?

Can they risk having their precious "be me" time handled by a faceless corporation whose only interest is making a profit and not the well being of its customers?

It is with the issues and problems faced by the five protagonists that Tales From The Yoga Studio develops its plot. Their stories are narrated sympathetically in turn, and tell of a symphony of joys, broken hearts, painful decisions, financial worries and subtle epiphanies.

The bond of friendship, yoga and the tranquillity that comes from practising the ancient Indian art are the themes running throughout the novel that are fleshed out in poignant scenes.

Mitchell has a knack for writing in a way that invites her readers into every scene and makes us feel we are part of the story. She is a bona fide yoga practitioner, and fills Tales From The Yoga Studio with yoga postures and positions, providing explanations for each of the postures and allowing her readers to be part of the class. And perhaps even inspiring us to sign up for a class.

If it seems rather far-fetched that at the start of the novel, each of the women have their troubles and by the end, all their issues are solved, well, suspend your need for gritty reality for a while and enjoy a feel-good novel that is part chick-lit, part yoga manual and light reading all the way. In short, Tales From The Yoga Studio makes for very entertaining reading without the black cloud of "issues" creeping in.

Mitchell is currently at work on a sequel. I'm hoping the follow-up will be as inviting and as much of a joy to read as the first.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Ahad, 17 Julai 2011

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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