it.could.be.a.good.excuse

Of hobbies and pretty things

and the mountains echoed

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And the Mountains EchoedAnd the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love this book as much as his earlier books, maybe even more.
i love the way the characters are weaved in through the stories making it as though it is a book of short stories but isnt. another one of them books which really touched me with the emotions it portrayed, of loss, love, charity, that family bondedness which is lost but painstakingly tried to be reconnected. except for one character which i couldnt quite fit in, the young boy whose father is described as a philanthropist, other than that the house he was living it seemed to be built on the land belonged to one of the sub protagonist character Iqbal, which i had thought i would be finding out more about him and his perspectives.

Definitely satisfied with the ending of how eventually pari was reunited to her brother abdullah. i knew from the start that was the whole point of the story and im glad the author did not disappoint. and how real the reunion is, at old age with abdullah having alzheimer. not those running towards each other teary full of hugs kind of reunion. perfect in the imperfections of his characters.

And the book is full of nice surprises, to me.

thumbs up many times. loved this book!

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the shopping ban list goes on

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my weakness has always been books. i saw someone took a photo with a book i would scramble finding out about the book and toying with the idea of owning it. physical or virtual.

or someone recommended a book i go look for it. or the book blogs or websites made lists of books and i go head over heels and crazy. it has to stop  no?  i know i have a list of my fave authors who have found 2013 as the year for them to publish at the same time. and i have my own bookshopping list. so got to stop.

generally dont even step into a bookshop. dont go amazon.com. dont go kobo. just last week i had a two days course and they brought some books for sale. i couldnt even sit still until i used the $15 voucher i received and bought a book. oh not one, but two books. consider it three because i couldnt get my hands on one hotseller book, but being the addictshit that i am, i  straight away go to amazon.com and purchased it online. i tell you it’s a disease.

it had also been a month of watches. bought a few and, to justify that: it is part of my wishlist and seriously now, that wishlist is complete. no worries they are all bought at crazily sale price. must blame singsale for that.

the best shopping i did so far was 4 bags at $120. an esprit sling bag, a carlo rino tote and two washable cotton cloth totes. blame tampines for that. but its no blaming game. its actually the best shopping i did so far because they were on sale!! the carlo rino brown tote was just right for me i was actually surprised when i found it because it is one bag that i actually loved at first glance. just fits me. no need for prints, not leather no frills or blings. its for work purpose, look proper and presentable. billabong tote looking a bit more casual and immature nowadays because of peer pressure. haha. i realised it has always been a carlo rino or a santa barbara for me. i guess i am loyal to a brand like that. but alhamdulillah. as long as it serves its purpose, i am practically fine.

online shopping must be banned for now. books watches dresses bags whatever. stop please.

oh hello june. the travelling bug it is for me this month. hello bandung and phuket!

of rings and bracelets

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I have a penchant for bracelets and rings. It wasnt expensive bags or shoes. But it was jewelleries. I had loved my carefully selected rings and i had my bracelets galore for awhile now. And i realise my taste for rings have just been upgraded.

I know what to get for a milestone age. Something new and who knows, might be a gift for my child when she turns 30 too. Oh wait, this baby is non existent, not yet.

like a reminder

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1. i was going to donate books to the library, i was going through hundreds of my books, and i got to like what, 10 books, which i am willing to donate?? what? seri? all that trouble?

but i really do not have the heart to throw any of my books.

2. going back to my reading habit has given me my sanity. and now, moving on to the next book

3. Oh did i mention: i had loved Francine pascal’s Fearless teen novel series, hmm, a decade and a half ago, although it was the adventure of going to different national library brances (all the way to woodlands sometimes) just to follow the series accordingly…and so while browsing KOBO recently i found out i may be able to own all of them in the form of an ebook!!! i went crrrrrazzzziiiiiee. but stopping myself and bought first three in the series….

4. i know i know…. i havent blog about bali, i havent blog about KL, i havent blog about my parents’ umrah and how emotional we are…

maybe next week. i aim to get a two days’ off in lieu..

alif the unseen

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Alif the UnseenAlif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Finally completed the book! I liked the book when its telling about the djinns. But i got bored sometimes when they go all programming. I really wished there is more ‘fantasy’ than tech. Overall i do think it is brilliant to try and concile two extreme realities the unseen djinn and the unseen computer programming using the alf yeom as the link. I really wish there is more to the alf yeom and alf layl revealed along the way. I guess i was really expecting an aladdin kind of story mashed up with technology.
In any case, nice to have a mainstream muslim author in the scene. Keep writing More stories Willow!

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bookless reader

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I know. i love books, madly love books. There were times when i can just sit and read a book the whole day and had difficulties doing other things because i was just so engrossed in a story.

But the era is changing and i am catching up fast. I embraced the ebook reader. I still buy books. No way can i not read a book in its book form. But i also love the ebook for the simple reason of having a couple of ‘books’ in one cool device! I especially love it that classics are available free. And i must say i have downloaded almost all the classics from kobo, my choice of ebook-shop and reader.

Ebooks is also making it easier for my thirst for the fantasy genre. Because it was too many, its the one genre which i cant afford to buy. The library had been my sanctuary for them books. But as in the case of george r martin’s games of thrones, i purchased them online as ebook collection and i got them at a much cheaper price and i can bring all 4 books wherever i go! Hwahwahwa.
Still, only the favourites though. I will still make the library relevant by visiting them now and then for my fantasy fix.

Not forgetting those emagazines! I love them too haha! Especially reader’s digest! It gives a different experience of reading that mag with videos a click away and the animations they have! Very cool! Just this month’s, when u ‘open’the e-mag, you are greeted by this celebrity featured!

Nevertheless, as all booklovers all over the world, we still want to read books in its natural way. Its the joy of reading it, admiring the cover, flipping over the page to keep on reading, slipping a bookmark(in my case, colour coordinated) with a heavy heart because you do not want to stop. And more so, in these times when you are always connected and screen eyed, you just want to look away and go easy on the eyes with some nice book, with a nice hot drink, and just indulge in another life, another world, another story.

I really really hope the luxury of holding a book is not lost in time. And yes, my children will be book lovers too. Definitely.

the alchemist vs the aleph

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i had loved the alchemist. full stop. no doubt about it. it is the one fiction book which i read over and over.

i enjoyed the journey that the protagonist went through, truly enjoyed them. i loved the wisdom behind every trip he made. i loved the spiritual and mystic elements of it.it made me bring myself up again should i read it in times of difficulty.

and after so long not reading paulo’s books (after several other books i had read) came the aleph. i bought the book as soon as it came out in the bookstores. just the title itself is intriguing. so when i bought it, i thought the alchemist all over again?!

but somehow after reading the first two chapters, i was kind of disappointed with it. it was nothing like the alchemist.

it was about the author’s experience, a journey he took. i wanted to enjoy this trip he took but i just find it draggy and dry. i wanted to know who is the girl, his protagonist which is supposed to be connected to him in the past. but right until the end, i still dont know who the girl is, i mean not as much as i wanted apart from being a violinist virtuoso and the past being accused as a witch…i wanted to know more about this travelling in time aspect he mentioned many times in the book, but it just felt boring.  it wasnt exciting at all and the fact the the journey back in time was him being some sort of priest.  it’s just…urgh..

it was not a story i would have loved. i just read through it wanting to know what’s next but my thirst unsatisfied. all i remembered from the book was how dreary, tiring and uncomfortable the journey was for everyone. and i had to wait right till the end for what i think is the peak of the story. it took me very long for me to finish reading this book, a good pause of a few weeks after reading past the third chapter because i felt i wasnt ready for the aleph.

and the whole idea of this aleph. the book isnt about the aleph. he should give a different title for this book.

heck, i had even enjoyed the witch of portobello. even his experience in the zahir. i loved every page of the zahir!

maybe i should read the aleph again…next year and maybe i will understand better what it is all about. but for the first time ever, i am disappointed reading a paulo coelho book.

crabstar love for crabtree

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ok…so i got a list of items not to buy for the next few months or throughout the whole year even.
so please, add on these. crabtree and evelyn hand lotions. i just cant help it, they were on sale from gmarket. but i really love the product. not too sticky when applied and smells definitely nice. of course, serves its purpose. whats more with my long hours in an air conditioned office, the humid weather and not to say the dry skins and cuticles i always have. (sedapkan hati..)

another brand would be l’occitane. but i must. i must close one eye on that for the time being.

so seri…when are you going to stop buying stuffs?