Books.and.ALL

So I was thinking of including
this in my previous blog post.
But I thought it'd be best
NOT to overload my stalkers
with one really long blog post.
Also,
I fear that if I were to add even more and more.
The blog post might never see the light of day.
EVER.
Like my other failed drafts.

But enough about that.
Back to the main focus of this update.
Today
(or tomorrow.
Depending on how distracted I get.
Ok probably tomorrow),
I'm gonna show you all the fantastic books I have.
But rather than tell you the story...
(which you can just conveniently Google
if you aren't so lazy)
I'll talk about where/when/how I got them.
As you can see,
I've taken yet another picture of my book collection.
Or at least the ones that are important enough
for me to bring them over here.
My first book is on the left.
My latest one is on the right.


The first book is a HTML guide.
My first book is NOT a story book.
It's (not-so) hardcore coding !
Back then,
I was obsessed with Neopets,
(just ask Ms Iiyee)
And you'd think we'd waste hours playing and feeding our pets.
YOU'RE WRONG.
It's a busy and economical world
where people customize their pages
to sell online items
and attract people to join their guilds.
The knowledge to code is ESSENTIAL
in order to be famous/successful.
I saw the book while I was in Singapore.
I NEEDED IT.
I wanted to CODE too !
I wanted to be FAMOUS too...
Unfortunately,
no one told me half the coding was not HTML,
but CSS.
Great...
Well,
I never did finish the book.
Not since they started talking about DHTML and XML.
But it was still my first step towards coding.
And it did give me an edge in my Form 1 computer class.
#ImpressedTheTeachers

Needless to say,
the only section I'd visit in the book store
when I was a kid was the "Computer" Section.
Hunting for more HTML self-help guides.
I came across the second book.
And the notion of starting a website really interested me.
Let's just say one thing led to another.
And I found myself buying the book.
Unfortunately,
it didn't introduce me to the TECHNICAL side of starting a website,
but the...business side.
Well,
it's a little bit of both.
More like the backbones of starting a website.
I finished the book.
But it didn't really help much.
Still an interesting read though.

And then,
we have that Little Black Dress book.
I know I know,
it's for GURLZ.
Well, let's just say I was bored, ok ?
I was in Form 3.
Don't ask me why I wasn't studying my ###
off for PMR,
the notion of studying just wasn't that appealing to me.
It was Miss Daughter's birthday.
The one where the McDonald incident happened.
Well,
what better gift to give a girl for her birthday than a novel, right ?
The epitome of teenage smart girls.
And there were just so many,
AND they were quite cheap too.
So I thought I'd buy one for myself too.
I don't really know why.
But since I was a kid,
the Confession of a Shopaholic movie has really interested me.
And that was before I've even watched it.
So...
when I say a novel with "Confession" in it's name.
I just couldn't resist.
I bought it !
And then never read it....
The life of an air hostess sounds interesting.
But not when you mix it up with lots of swearing,
overly-muscular potential lovers,
and Jimmy Choo sandals.
Because obviously,
a guy like me...
knows NOTHING about Jimmy Choo sandals.
Or any other famous fashion brands for that matter.
I mean for crying out loud,
the female lead (I don't even know her name)
brought a stranger back to her hotel
after a short meeting at a train station
and proceeded to....
do all sorts of stuff which I'd rather not talk about here.
But I believe,
ONE day,
I'll pick up that book.
And start reading it.
And ACTUALLY finish it !
#BucketList
(Speaking of bucket lists,
I should blog about one soon)

The next one's a little interesting.
It's about FACEBOOK.
I was in Form 4.
Facebook was ALL the rage.
Wouldn't it be great to learn about it's history.
To learn about Mark Zuckerberg and his many exploits ?
I was definitely interested.
So I bought it at a Target store near my hotel.
We didn't have much to do.
So I'd usually sneak away from all the boring shopping.
Tucked away in the silent "Books" corner of the store.
Reading this wonderfully insightful piece of wood.
On the last day before heading back to KK,
I told myself.
I want this book.
And so,
I begged Mum to buy it for me.
She said yes.
And I got the book.
I think,
at the time,
I genuinely liked the book.
Reading about how he started Facebook
in his own room at Harvard.
It's all pretty inspiring...
until he hit Silicon Valley,
and investors and what-nots kept popping out of NOWHERE.
There were SO many "characters" that were being introduced.
It was INCREDIBLY and EXCRUCIATINGLY painful
to even be able to keep tabs on everyone.
(I even tried making notes)
In the end,
I stopped reading altogether.
And I have tried several times to try and "get" the story.
But to no avail.
What didn't help was that I watched
The Social Network this year.
The film was definitely more much emotional.
heck,
Eduardo was barely even mentioned in the book.
And he was depicted as THE BAD GUY.
Although I'm not sure how valid is the book's story,
they still shouldn't have written Mark
as the "Protagonist"....
And he WAS kinda like a jerk and stuff...

The next time I went back to Perth
(Form 5),
I got House Rules,
by Jodi Picoult.
And you guessed it !
I haven't even began reading MOST of the book.
Only the first few chapters.
Don't get me wrong.
I want to read it...
but...
I just never had the time.
Also,
I just felt like
I NEEDED to buy a book from Perth.
NO MATTER WHAT.
And the cover looked nice.
(omg mum don't kill me)
But I still think the story itself is sorta interesting.
What with the main character
having Asperger's Syndrome and stuff.
I will read it. I will read it. I will read it...

Next.
Tony Parsons anybody ?
No ? No ?
Me neither.
Once again,
just like Confessions of an Air Hostess,
I got this off at the exact same book store.
WHILE looking for a birthday present
for yet, another girl.
And what do you buy for a girl
if you wanna imply that she is smart ?
BOOKS of course !
And it was on discount 0_0
I was flipping away,
deciding which book to buy.
I was going to get her this one...
But while I was flipping through it's pages,
something caught my eye.
And I told myself,
"Ok, I'll buy this one for myself.
I know I have other books to finish.
But hey,
I'll be in Australia soon.
And we have NO Internet.
I'll need to expand my book stash
in order to survive, right ?"
It's been over a year now,
and Australia's been keeping me pretty busy.
BUT I will read it.
Promise.

I'm not sure what is wrong with me.
But I think cheap books are the key to truly awakening
the shopaholic in me.
It didn't help that there was a mall-wide summer sale going on.
Including the book store !
How can I resist a book about Twitter,
priced at just $2 !?
AND it's not secondhand !
#Grab
Oh and look,
another cute little book about kids,
and arguably,
for kids.
But it looked cute.
And most importantly,
CHEAP.
#Grab.
The good news is,
I've finished BOTH books.
The children's book was mildly entertaining and comedic.
The Twitter one...was really something.
Well,
let's just say I had no idea NORMAL people
were THAT obsessed with using Twitter.

The next one is a proper novel.
A memoir.
Of an Australian-born Asian girl
called Alice Pung.
So in a way,
it's a memoir AND a biography.
It was for my English class.
But I suppose it still qualifies as a personal read,
just cause it's not compulsory in school,
but recommended.
Got it off Book Depository.
(Online shopping FTW !)
Unfortunately,
my English teacher had to rush us to finish the book
by the end of the first month of school.
So I didn't really have a chance to digest everything
and truly connect with the character.
In fact,
me and Ms Fashion came to the conclusion
that Alice is a little crazy
due to growing up in an Asian family in Australia.
The book mostly showed
what it meant to a new migrant in Australia.
How much the Asian and Anglo culture clash and stuff.
Oh look,
I'm writing as if this is my assignment.
Oh well.
Just keep reading if you want to.
I suppose it was particularly hard for Alice
because she had to go to a White school
while being all Asian-y at home.
It's tough being a child
since they're forced to live in two worlds.
In my opinion,
my parents have it a little better,
because they can just open up a shop in Chinatown
and make a living there.
Ironically though,
Alice's Mom is where I get most of my content from.
But I can definitely see where Alice got her crazy genes from.
Overall,
a good read.
I especially liked the part at the back
where she STOPS emo-ing like crazy.
Goes to uni.
Gets a white boyfriend....
And then she breaks up with him.
And that was the moment I knew,
she really was crazy...
#NuffSaid

Fast forward three months,
and I'm back at the discount book store again,
where I got my Twitter book.
This time,
there was another book that caught my eye
in the $2 shelf.
The 30-second Commute,
a book about working at home.
Freelance writing and stuff.
I am/was interested.
AND IT'S CHEAP !
So I bought it.
Never got a chance to finish it though...again.
UNTIL 2 weeks ago.
And yes,
it was definitely worth $2.
A good read, indeed.
Plus, it's the first book I managed to finish
ever since I got her.
(School-assigned readings don't count.)

Ahhh...the Geography Club.
Warning.
It's a gay book.
I bought it,
simply because,
well,
"I'm bound to get bored staying at home every single day.
I need some more books to fill my
(unread) book stash".
Found it online
(the same place where I found Alice Pung's novel)
and bought it.
The story interested me.
Forming a secret club because you can't be who you are
in a label-obsessed high school community.
I wasn't very sure if it was worth it.
But it had "club" in it's name.
So I was enticed.
(the same apples for The Breakfast Club)
(What can I say ?)
(I'm a sucker for high school club stories.)
Oh,
and it was dirt cheap.
How could I resist ?
It was definitely a good read.
So far,
it's one of the two books that I felt were
actual page-turners for me.
#YourMileageMayVary
BECAUSE of the awesome main character.
He's just awesome.
Others,
not so much.
And the story wasn't a GAY story.
It's more about high school, friendship...
the cliche stuff.
It JUST so happens to have gay characters.
Haha.
The book even got a film adaption,
but I'll leave that for next time.

And the "last" one.
(I know what you're thinking.
"FINALLY !"
That is...
if you've been reading everything so far.)
Shopaholic Ties The Knot,
by none other than Sophie Kinsella.
The writer made famous for her
"Shopaholic" novels,
if you haven't already figured that out.
See.
I told you I was a big fan of shopaholic books.
No,
I don't really care if it's a chick lit.
So this is the third book in the series.
I started borrowing them from the State Library.
It took me a whole year just to get through the first two.
Mind you,
I wasn't reading consistently.
Basically,
the formula was that I'd finish one book every term break.
I tried my best to finish them.
But somehow,
my interest in the story has slowly dwindled away.
I'm not really that eager to read it anymore.
Hmm...
I'm not sure if I'll still read it.
I miss watching Isla Fisher play Rebecca Bloomwood.
WHY COULDN'T THEY JUST MAKE A SEQUEL !???

And that's the whole list.
Well, almost...
Since I've got a new phone.
I can download and read eBooks !
And I have read quite a few.
Ok maybe just 2.

The first one's
The Perks of Being A Wallflower.
Because I am a self-confessed wallflower.
Yes,
I am also an attention whore for
labeling myself a wallflower.
But hey.
It's a free country, right ?
I liked Charlie.
He's cool, I guess.
The story was pretty engaging.
Although the ending was a little confusing.
Probably because my version was missing a few pages.
(That's what you get for downloading illegal PDFs)
I remember craving a read at the book
when I was nearing my finals.
I don't know why.
Unfortunately,
I kept forgetting to download it.
So I ended up reading it DURING my finals.
#Facepalm
The good news was
that it really fitted my mood at the time.
And I was reading way into night,
fully knowing that I had my Maths paper the next morning...
I overslept the next morning.
I should really be moving on now,
shouldn't I ?

The other novel I read.
The other page-turner I read.
IS
The Undomestic Goddess !
Also by Sophie Kinsella.
And to be honest,
I think this book spoiled me too much,
and is probably the reason
why I've lost interest in the "Shopaholic" novels.
I first spotted the book in my school library.
If you're a librarian,
you'd know that it's under the F KIN section.
Yes,
I was looking for a Shopaholic book,
but my school didn't have one.
(They also lost their
Perks of Being A Wallflower book,
which prompted me to download it online.)
So I grabbed this book out of sheer boredom.
Read the first few pages.
It's a career-oriented story.
Mostly about the main girl,
Samantha,
choosing between the job of her life
and the love of her life.
I didn't realize it then,
but I soon became officially in love with the book.
Finishing it in one go.
200 pages in one night.
Not exactly the best way to enjoy a novel.
But still,
I LOVE IT !
(the book,
not the 200 pages per night thing.)

And there you have it.
All the books that I've own.
And oh my,
this HAS turned into quite a long post,
hasn't it.
DARN IT !
Oh well,
I'll try to do a short one next time.
I should really get started on those books.
Seeya =D


Listening to Almighty Bhunivelze - Lightning Returns : Final Fantasy XIII OST

Reading glasses : ON.

TK