the host

whenever i want to read a book by a new author, i usually try to either borrow it from my office's library (yes we do have library, and its quite good and well stocked too!) or i rent it (the usual shop i go is in Ampang Point, very very well stocked and updated) mainly because i do not want to waste money to purchased it and the discovered that its horrible. especially since new books here is so expensive! which is why i loved loved big bad wolf book sales :) - free advert :p

anyway, i thoroughly enjoyed reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, did not love it enough to purchase the set though, cos i usually only buy books that i know im going to read it over and over again, and the twilight series are the kind that i would only read once..

which is why i was so pleasantly surprised when this book, The Host was so damn good! when i took this book out to borrow the other day from the library i didnt expect much, well, i expected i would be entertained and that it will fulfill my must-read-something-before-sleeping routine, something light and simple..BUT it turns out to be so engrossing that i ended staying up the whole night finishing the book!

ok, quick synopsis of the book;

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

you can read more about this in here where this is taken from...

why i love this book? well, when i read the synopsis above, the first thing that came to my mind was, another book about aliens? i knew how that is going to end, right? but i decided to give her the benefit of the doubt because she made me read about vampires which is something i never ever would read about otherwise, same goes with books about aliens, so i thought its worth a shot. she's brilliant like that, writing from a different angle, a different perspective, and even though its about aliens invading earth, its also about love, friendship and family. the writing is simple and thoughtful and i really love the way the alien-Melanie tried to defend herself while surrounded by humans, which i think sometimes its battle for everyone even non-alien folks, trying to please others so that they like you, trying to fight others so that you can stand up to what you believe in, trying to find love, then fighting it because you didnt think you'd deserve it, simply, trying to survive in the world as best as you can.

well, anyway, do try read it if you can and hoped you enjoyed it as much as i did :)

happy reading!

flavor of the month..

its been a while since i do a book review right? ive bought so many but the craziness at work and the bf back for the summer makes it harder to find time to read.

well, not that im complaining much, on one hand its actually a good thing im too busy to read because im spending what precious time i have with him before he goes off, but on the other hand its a horrible thing when my working hours is now 6.30am to 8pm and even weekends are too hectic that i hardly made a dent in my reading list..

ok i digress.

my point is.. this is not exactly a full book review, just what i have in my list now :p

im sure by now almost every women out there have read or at least heard of miss elizabeth gilbert who wrote the amazing book eat, pray, love which incidentally will be out in the movies end of this month, starring julia roberts, yeay! hehe anyway, the continuation of that book is committed - about her quest to find the meaning of marriage when circumstances forces her to go down that line again. im only halfway through it but so far it has the same charm as eat pray love. the thing i like about elizabeth gilbert's writing is that she explains things fully and clearly. she doesnt need to use complicated sentences which to me, which to me describes a true story teller :) i havent finish it yet, so i cant really comment but so far, its really good :)

i bought this book with my birthday voucher from times bookstore and its massively thick, at least 2 inches easy! its still in the plastic wrap, am actually saving it for the long flight to new york next month..the reviews have been pretty intense about his latest here, and actually it kinda reminds me of the Simpson the Movie, remember? the town was also under a dome hehe :p dont think this book about a comedy tho, but knowing mr king, he would usually able to keep me engaged from beginning to end :p

im totally crazy about sophie kinsella! have the complete shopaholic series, the UK version of course, i hated the movie cos they americanised it, typical americans! im a huge fan of british chic lit like sophie kinsella, alexandra potter (see below) and mellisa nathan (who wrote the lovely pride, prejudice and jasmine fields and the waitress) or irish ones, like marian keyes (see below)..american ones mm, lauren weisberger who wrote the devils wears prada is one of the precious few i like, i love her everyone worth knowing and chasing harry winston. so anyway, back to miss kinsella, would you believe i havent started this yet! so not like me!! but im saving this one for the long flight to UK in december :p yes, ive got TWO long flights coming up and i really need good books to keep occupied. so even tho my hands are ITCHING to tear off the wrapper of this book, i smartly kept it away in my parents room so i dont see it hehehe :p

another one of my favourite brit author, alexandra potter also came out with a new book recently and im also saving this one for the long flights :p miss potter has the same amazing ability like miss kinsella and miss keyes to make you laugh out loud in the train or on the flight without a care of what people around you think hehe :p she's dat good! altho i cant review this book, i can however give a review of another work of hers, which ive just completed, below..

this is one my favs of miss potter's book, and yes so far, ive read them all :p the above is about a manager of a book store who went on a jane austen tour in Bath and had some amazingly weird encounters of her dream hero, the elusive, drop dead gorgeous mr darcy. she had to learn the hard way that sometimes the perfect man for her is right under her nose..not in books :p its a must read if you love jane austen and british fashion - yes, the reference to topshop is quite extensive :p

marian keyes is a chic lit goddess, a queen! i think ive got all her books pretty much covered, except for some of her earlier works, which i cant find, which i think might be out of print. this is the latest of her's that i read and to review it simply - a bit of a dissapointment :( she still maintains her style of writing, but i think she wanted to touch a sensitive issue so the book is kinda long winded, trying to capture all the emotions at the same time, which in the end drags the story a little bit. still a good read, in comparison to all the other chic lit goddess wannabees out there, but a major dissapointment to die hard fans like me.

this one hers, is my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE! this book is amazing! for those who are familiar with miss keyes's Walsh family, starting with watermelon, then angels and rachel's holiday, this is another story of the youngest of the walsh sisters. this story is heartbreaking, heart warming and makes you cry and laugh at the same time, its truly truly wonderful!

other than the novels, she also churned out two short stories or a series of articles she wrote about her life, travels and himself (her husband whom she referred to as himself, so cute hehe). the first one is actually further under the duvet, which i cant find here yet, so i only have the second one, further under the duvet, and its a lovely read if you just want to read something simple and short before bedtime :p her other books which is a must read are sushi for beginners and last chance saloon, both are two chic lits ever written ever!

so there, my two cents worth for today :)

oh, i wanted to share something.

early this year i joined both mph and times member's club. mph was a total rip off! you get measly points for every time you purchase a book, then every six months (if im not mistaken) you can claim those points to get like, a 10% discount, if you have purchase enough, like a thousand ringgit worth of books, and something like the points will expiry within a year or something or can be changed to the cost of renewal of the membership which is like 30 bucks per year - ok, my details are a bit screwed but i did read it in full details when i got it and i know it was rip off, i just dont remember the details now :p

times was much better, right up my alley. u get a 10% discount everytime you purchase something, anything from the store! everytime u purchase! i dont have to wait to get member's privilige, i get it everytime i shop. and when i joined i get a further discounts and vouchers (mph didnt give me any!!) and also for every birthday month! amazing stuff!! and every april they will print out a copy of all purchases ive made for the tax rebate for books! isnt it amazing!

wow, this post is getting longer by the second, so im gonna stop now :)

back to work tomorrow aiyoo! :(