BukuKu Review

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0000

My first post of Percy Jackson can be found here. I decided not to review each of the book because... Well, just because. I thought that I should review ONLY the first book and then read the rest and give a final review on the series.

What more I can say about this series?

It's the best and educational book so far. How is it educational? Well, every time I watched Greek mythology or theme movies or games such as Clash of the Titans and God of War, I almost recognized all of the characters although my brother (who also read the series) recognize most of them. Even the Heroes. Now I wish that I can study Greek Mythology.

The stories in this book are well written. I can even feel what the characters are feeling. The emotions going on.The relationship between Percy and Annabeth was...expected. The humor is good too. The unexpected hero, Luke.

And lastly, I'm rating this book...

Make sure you don't miss reading this series. It's well worth reading.

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Ps.It seems like the boxed set of this series is currently not available yet.

Missing

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:51:00 +0000

Hello readers! (If there is any)

I know we've been missing for I don't know how many months (or is it years?). Both of us are busy with our studies and believe it or not, I haven't got the time to read any books when semester started. Now I'm on my Semester Break (and will be back soon), and I think I've read 2-4 books so far. I need to reach my 30 goals this year.

Currently I'm reading 'Stolen' by Lucy Christopher. So far so good and I hope I'll write a review for it. But anyways, thanks for reading and visiting this blog even though we're not active currently. :D

--Kiden

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

noreply@blogger.com (Afi Hamid) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:31:00 +0000

‘A haunting story of the search for identity…is packed with memorable characters and evocative settings. Cleverly constructed and beautifully written, this is the perfect summer read.’
- Choice Magazine

It's hard to summarise this book because of its complicated story plot but basically the book is a mixture of tales from different generations of the Montrachet family and how a secret was created among the family and it took a few decades later for others to discover the true story behind the Montrachet family. The book opens with the story of Nell who was 4 years old when she was on a ship from England on a journey towards Australia but found herself abandoned by the mysterious ' The Authoress'. The dockmaster found her and adopt her as his own. As Nell grew up into a young lady, she learned the real story behind her abandonment as a child and led her to England. A few decades later, her grandchildren took the same journey and slowly found herself uncovering the real story behind Nell's family history.

The book is divided into chapters where the story will jumps between each chapters for example the book will begin with a chapter telling the story of Nell. The next chapter will tell the story of the Montrachet in the past and the next chapter will go back to Nell's story. This might be confusing for a while but fortunately the good storyline compensates for the confusing way the story is arranged in the book. The book has some mystery, drama and it even got some short children's tale 'The Crone's eyes' and 'The Golden egg' concealed among the pages and written by Eliza Makepeace, one of the main characters.

Overall I really like this book for its beautiful story and the way the mystery evolves from pages to pages ,making me becoming more curious with how it will all end. Mind you, this book is very thick, about 645 pages so a motivation is needed for me to finish this book in a short period. As some of the reviewers of this book suggested, if you like 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett, you will like this book.

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Twenties Girl

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:59:00 +0000

“Life is like an escalator.”

‘Lara has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Perfectly normal twenty-something girls just don’t get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara’s Great Aunt Sadie – in the form of a bold, demanding, Charleston-dancing girl – has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can’t rest without.

Lara’s got enough problems of her own. Her startup company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she’s just been dumped by the love of her life.

But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous, and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie’s ghost be the answer to Lara’s problems – and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?’

WOW! I’m just…WOW! For the second time Sophie Kinsella’s novel just made me laugh. After reading ‘Remember Me?’ I thought I should buy another novel by Sophie Kinsella but it’s not enough to sort of ‘pressure’ me to continue reading Ms.Kinsella’s work. Oh, how wrong I was! I borrowed this book from my bookworm cousin. She sort of told me thousand times (actually 3 times) to read this book as it makes her laugh and I was like, ‘Nyeh, What the heck?’ and thanks to her, I did laugh reading this book. But at the same time, almost cry my eyes out.

So, Lara just started a new business with her ‘runaway’ best friend and it’s not going well. Her family lives under her Uncle Bill’s shadow who owns the famous Lington’s coffee shop. Her parents are worried about her especially after she broke up with her so-called ‘Soulmate’ Josh.

Then, her parents told her that her great-aunt Sadie, whom she never knew about, died of old age. She went to the funeral and only her family and Uncle Bill’s attend it. When suddenly, a voice asking for a necklace caught Lara’s attention and then appears a girl in her twenties and turns to Lara. It turns out it’s her great-aunt Sadie’s ghost and after she learns that she is about to be cremated, she demands Lara to stop the funeral until her necklace is found.

Lara decided to help her great-aunt Sadie to find the necklace but with conditions that Sadie agrees to help her getting back with Josh. And then Sadie made another dying wish (well, she’s dead but that’s how she says it) that is for Lara to get to know a guy she met in an office building so that Sadie can ‘date’ him. Sadie can even influence people mind by yelling to their ears so that they do what she asked them to.

As Lara and her great-aunt helped each other, they get to know each other…Especially Sadie’s love-life history. While Sadie helped Lara dress up nicely with the Twenties clothing and teach her the Charleston dance.

Before I started to spoil the whole story, I would say this book is one of the best I’ve read in 2010. I laughed the part where both of them get so stubborn, Sadie told Lara to do what she asked her to do like dressing up and how to put a makeup on and talk and dance with her date (Sadie’s date) and the Great Lara. At the end of the book is where I sort of cry. If you want to know what part I’m talking about, better read this book. I’ll give it a…

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The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

noreply@blogger.com (Afi Hamid) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:16:00 +0000

"This witty, fantastically absorbing tale shows that not all bitchy girls are mean, not all nuns are strait-laced and that, no matter what, you can always change your future"
- Books Quarterly

The Book of Tomorrow tells the story of Tamara Goodwin, a 16-year-old spoiled child who always gets whatever she wants. However after her father died, her family were left with debts and Tamara and her mother were forced to leave their rich and pampered lifestyle and moved to live with her aunt and her husband in the countryside somewhere in Ireland. One day, Tamara was visited by a travelling library bus and there she encountered a diary which can tell her future.

As always with other Cecelia Ahern's books, there are some elements of fantasy in the story which in this case, an encounter with a magical diary which can predict the future. However this book is not a favourite of mine as I find the character very annoying in my opinion. Furthermore, I found that the writer tends to wrote lengthy description of some unnecessary things such as the trees, the workings of the bees. But don't get me wrong, I do understand the importance of using description in books but I prefer the descriptions to be in limited number of words or in just one small paragraph. But in this book, sometimes the description of the trees took one whole page to describe and many times I found myself becoming bored with the story and many times I had to skipped a few pages before I can understand where the story is going.

But nevertheless, the book's cover is gorgeous and this is also the reason why I like buying Cecelia Ahern's book but if you would like to read more of her book, I suggest you read P.S. I love you which is her first international best-seller and two of my favourite A Place Called Here and If You Could See Me Now.

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Are You Alone on Purpose by Nancy Werlin

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:56:00 +0000

“I don’t think you’re nuts,” he said, slowly. “Just – you’re really on your own planet.”

‘Harry Roth is the bane of Alison Shandling’s existence. He’s tough and rude, and thinks nothing of taunting brainy Alison or making comments about her autistic twin brother. Alison does her best to ignore him, but since she sees him at school and at synagogue, he’s hard to avoid.

Then Harry is injured in a diving accident, and winds up in a wheelchair. Now Harry is vulnerable, too, and Alison finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. Though initially cautious, the two begin to understand each other, and their relationship grows first into a friendship and then into something more…’

Because I don’t have any more books to read, I decided to read this book that my sister bought just last year I think. This book is actually for pre-teen but I just need something to read to pass the time. The summary just caught my attention.

It’s a story of two teens: a bully and a class nerd. Harry is a school bully and Alison is the school nerd. Harry’s father is the Rabbi while Alison’s family is sort of not religious people, and a twin brother who is autistic. Alison always tries to avoid seeing from Harry because she had enough of his bullying and one day, Harry got into accident and paralyzed from waist down. Then, without Alison’s parents’ knowledge, she started to hang out with Harry who is still annoyed by Alison’s presence. But when they get to know each other’s life, love started to grow.

Not only does this book cover a love story of these two teens, but it also covers about being you. The story line is pretty good and so are the characters. Not what I expected from a Pre-teen book. All in all, a very good book for light reading. The first few pages are pretty slow but it gets better in the end and for that…

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French: Phrase Book & Dictionary by Berlitz

noreply@blogger.com (Afi Hamid) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 07:44:00 +0000

I bought this book while on a holiday in Kuala Lumpur and the price was RM19.90 which is equivalent to B$8 which in my opinion is unbelievably cheap for such a small book which provides not only a comprehensive guide to learning french but also a whole lot of other useful stuffs about french language and France in general.

The book is in pocket-sized with 223 pages. The book starts off with a step-by-step guide in french pronounciation by identifying the nasal vowels, the liaison and so on and how to pronounce the french alphabets.

The contents are divided into several colour-coded sections which include topics such as health, travel, sightseeing, eating out, stores & services and more. Each topics focused on the commonly used french expressions and phrases alongside with an easy to understand pronounciation guide on every phrases. For example orange juice = un jus d'orange/ang zhew dorahngzh. Along the way there are also some tips given when practising using french such as differentiating the formal and informal phrases and what can be expected to be heard or seen in real life when using the french language.

The last section consist of a French-English dictionary which concentrates on decoding written french which are used in public places such as in hotels, shops, public buildings and so on which might come in handy when visiting France or any other french-speaking countries and locations.One small bonus is a small map of France at the very end of the book. Overall, this small book might be suitable to those who wanted to study basic french in a short period of time or those who are planning to learn some french just before they can travel to any french-speaking countries. For those who have an interest in learning french but don't know where to start, this book is for you. Plus, its low price but with comprehensive contents makes it a great bargain. It might be difficult to find this book in bookstores so I recommend you to get it online instead. Au Revoir!

The Book Depository
Amazon

19.9.10 - Kiden

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:27:00 +0000

Hello our dear readers,

Kiden is here! Thought I might update with some...blogs...and not review. My friend told me (No, not Afi Hamid) that our blog is a bit...well, let's say unproductive. Therefore, I'm trying to blog as much as I can here except I don't know what I want to blog about.

Should I blog about the books I've bought? Or should I blog about the books I've received/borrowed? Surely, I usually include that when I review a book. But anyways,...

I wanted to say that in August, I've read more books than other months which is so cool and unbelievable because on the first few days of August, I returned to Uni for my studies. I'm trying not to read novels while studying because I don't want interruptions. But then, on the first few weeks, most of the classes haven't started yet so I steal the time to try to finish the books I've bought. Such as...

and just finished...

Ok it's not that much... But that's in a month. Usually I read 1-2 books in a month or nothing at all. So actually, The Bride by Julie Garwood...I read it after the month of Ramadhan. Because it's sort of an adult book...You're going to have to read my review next time.

I wasn't interested in Percy Jackson's series but I'm getting into it. My brother is totally into it if you read my first review of the Percy Jackson series. He'll be the first to read and finished it before I even read a word. And for 'Shiver', I so totally in love with the book. I meant the cover. Because a) the cover is so beautiful and blue and, b)even the font is blue!

Catching Fire is the best I've read during that month.. Well, actually all the books are great for that month but Catching Fire is like the next Harry Potter books. Without the wizards and stuffs. It's so brutal! It's survival! It's so Awesome!!!(Am I getting too much?) And it's part of my series collection.

Last but not least, Are You Alone On Purpose? is not actually mine but my sister's. It's a book for teens and I had to read it because the title sort of connected to me. When I read this book, a friend saw it and asked me, 'Is this the book that tells you how to be alone?' Yes, I'm sort of a loner. When it is time for my reading.

Before I end this blog I just want to say...

I FINALLY RECEIVED IT YESTERDAY!!!

Happy Reading,

Kiden~

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:23:00 +0000

SELAMAT HARI RAYA
MAAF ZAHIR & BATIN
HAPPY EID-UL-FITRI

to ALL MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD.

Ps. Sorry, I don't have time to photoshop a greeting. :(

From: BukuKu Review :D

Never Let You Go by Erin Healy

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 03:35:00 +0000

“Falling in love isn’t Love with capital L.”

‘It’s been seven years since disaster struck her family. Lexi Solomon has held it all together since then – just barely.

But now Lexi is losing it. The husband who deserted her is back in town, wanting to see their daughter Molly. Her sister’s shameless murderer is up for parole. An unsavory old friend is demanding payment for debts that Lexi knows nothing about and can’t begin to meet.

And something else is going on – something Lexi feels but can’t explain. A dangerous shift is taking place
between this reality and the next. Forces beyond her imagination are vying for control.’ – book’s summary.

Lexi is a single mother, though still married to her estranged husband, who would do anything to protect her daughter. She works part-time, living with her friend and trying to put her life back together until people she knew come back to her life; Warden and her estranged husband, Grant.

Warden came to Lexi to collect some debts that Grant owed him. And he threatens her with her only weakness, which is her daughter. Warden keeps convincing Lexi that her sister’s death is her own fault that she died because of her sins. And then, unexpected things happen to Lexi.

This book covers a little bit of religion and suspense. Took me almost 2 months to finish it because it’s not my kind of book. The title says it all. You can’t run from your past. I would say the story started pretty slow but it does make sense in the end. Full of suspense that’s all I can say.

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Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard (Guest Review)

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 02:46:00 +0000

After reading Twilight only halfway, I promised myself to steer clear of books for teens. The words "junk" and "immature" always come to mind. However, after watching the TV series "Pretty Little Liars" on a whim, I was hooked and I decided to read the book to see if it was any good. The book of the same name is the first of the series written by Sara Shepard. The series follows the lives of four girls- Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily. They all live in the same area and go to the same school but they've all drifted apart after the disappearance of the leader of their clique, Alison DiLaurentis. These friends reconnect with each other years later when they received text messages from a mysterious person called "A". "A" knows the girls secrets as if she or he was watching them and threatens to expose everyone's deep secrets. The girls begin to think that "A" is Alison, their friend who went missing years ago because Alison was the only person who knew their secrets. Alison was eventually found dead and had been dead for years. After her funeral, "A" continues to terrorize the four girls through notes and text messages, hinting that he or she wouldn't go away. So who is "A"?

After reading the book, you'd understand why the series has been described as "Desperate Housewives for teens". It follows the same premise that everything looks normal on the surface but each girl is hiding a dark secret. There are your typical teen problems like shoplifting and divorce but some are more mature stuff you won't read in teen novels such as affairs and sexual orientation. The girls also seem to know more about the circumstances involving Ali's disappearance, hence the word "liars" in the title.

Since this book was written for teens, don't expect too much. Yet it is better than any teen books that I've read as it is quite gripping. Read it if you are a fan of the series, if you like Desperate Housewives or if you're sick of the current obsession with vampires. The only snag is that buying the book locally is pretty expensive - about a week's worth of petrol for me but then again, that's the norm around here.

- Reviewed by Hjh Haryati Hj Abd Gafur

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From Us...

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:28:00 +0000

Science (Physics) GCE O'Level Examination Guide (Key.Points)

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:04:00 +0000

I can feel exam fever is coming therefore I decided to share with you with a book I bought that makes me have a good grades in my O'level Exam. This book is definitely for those who are taking Combined Science as one of their subjects and not Pure Science.

I don't know how much they sold this book back then and I don't know if they still sell it but this exam guide totally guides you through the subject smoothly. Anyways, this is a book for Combined Science Physics. Physics is my weakest subject therefore I've been searching for good notes or guides for months until I stumble upon this one. When I look through the book, I decided to buy it because of it's easy reading, pretty simple notes, the tips, clean diagrams and so much more. And when I showed it to my teacher, she too suggest all of us to buy it (especially for the weak ones).

Although, I don't want you guys to only concentrate on this exam guides. It's pretty important too to listen to your teachers' teaching so you can use this book as reference. I hope you guys will get good grades on your exams. Good Luck

They Cage The Animals At Night by Jennings Michael Burch

noreply@blogger.com (Afi Hamid) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:24:00 +0000

" A valuable and beautiful book which addresses issues of concern to everyone-what really does happen to foster children and what allows some children to survive the same emotional trauma that shatters forever the lives of others"

-Eleanor Craig, author of P.S. Your Not Listening

To be honest, I really like to read books with stories that can be a real tearjerker when you read them. Especially those of true stories. Some books which I had bought which can be classified under this kind of books are 'Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah' as well as her 'Chinese Cinderella' book and 'Tuesdays With Morrie' by Mitch Albom. Reading these books can really make me cry even after reading them so many times.

So back to this book I'm reviewing, it basically tells the true story of the author's experience of being a foster child and being forced to live in different orphanages. Set in the 50s, as Jennings's mom who could no longer take care of all her children, was forced to put some of them including Jennings into different orphanages. While living in orphanage, Jennings encountered some heartless nuns and bullies but somehow managed to find good friends along the way. I first saw this book on Amazon when I was researching on what books I should buy next. The book received many positive reviews and earned 4.8/5 stars on Amazon. As I read the readers's reviews, many commented that the story was heart breaking, it made them cry. So I thought this is my kind of book and so I bought it.

While the book was easy to read and understand and there is a great lesson everyone can learn from the book but somehow I don't find this book to be that great. One thing that bothers me about this book is to what extent is the story a real story because I find some parts to be more like a novel writing rather than an autobiographical writing. But who am I to judge people's experience so putting that aside, I think what is more important is the lesson that people can get from reading about Jennings's experience.

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Chosen (#3) by P.C and Kristin Cast

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:00:00 +0000

"Look, I wasn't being nice. I just didn't want Stevie Rae foaming at the mouth and eating my parents' help. As mother says dependable illegals are really hard to find."

'Bloodlust and dark forces are at work at the House of Night, and fledging vampyre Zoey Redbird's adventures at the school take a mysterious turn. Those who appear to be friends are turning out to be enemies. And, oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends. So begins the gripping third installment of this "highly addictives series" (Romantic Times BOOKreviews), in which Zoey's mettle will be tested like never before.

Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn't have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity. Speaking of rare, Zoey finds herself in the very rare position of having three boyfriends, a situation with the potential to spell social disaster. Then vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. But as Zoey and her friends find out, things are not always what they seem...' - Book's Summary.

To be honest, I don't like this third book of PC and Kristin Cast's House of Night Series. It doesn't really catch my attention this time.

This book started with Zoey's birthday in which always sucks every year because everyone think it's cool to have a birthday on Christmas (BirthMas?). So, her presents always are in Christmas theme and the only people who know about this are Heath and her grandma. Other than that, her relationship with her mother and stepfather are still not in good terms, met the not-so-dead Stevie Rae sucking some stranger’s neck and again, problems with her boyfriends Erik and Heath AND her latest, Professor Loren Blake. Aphrodite got kick-into the Rituals to replace Stevie Rae. The death of a professors, the involvement of Son of Erebus in the House of Night, changes of a fledgling to adult vampyre and a fledgling turning back into human and lastly, secrets of Neferet will also be reveal in this book. Oh, wondering who that ‘fledgling’ turning back to human? All you have to do is…read it!

In conclusion, not really like this book but you couldn’t miss this too because it’s part of the House of Night series… Duh~

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Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (#1) by Rick Riordan

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 03:44:00 +0000

‘My father?’ I asked, completely bewildered.

‘Poseidon,’ said Chiron. ‘Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.’

One question, would you rather read the book or watch the movie? My choice would be the first. Before Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief premiered in Brunei, I decided to read the book first before I watch the movie. Although, my brother finished it first in 3 days before I did. Which is unbelievable because he never ever reads book...at ALL!! Anyway,...

Percy Jackson thought he’s a normal boy with learning and reading difficulty especially BUT he can read Greek letters. One day, during a school trip to a museum his teacher, Mrs. Dodds, turns into a creature with wings and he killed her/it with Mr.Brunner’s pen. Yes, a pen! When his mum brings him for a retreat to the beach, they were being chased down by a Minotaur and Percy’s best friend, Grover, was there. With half of his body is goat. Percy’s mum vanished and he woke up to a place called Camp Half-Blood, where children who are born with either one of their parents are God. At that camp, they learned to fight and survive and being put into different camp according to their ‘parents’. And there, Percy learned that he is the son of the Sea God, Poseidon and was accused of stealing the Lightning Bolt of Zeus, God of the Sky. Percy has to find the Lightning Bolt before the summer-solstice or there’ll be war between the gods. And that does not sound so good.

Ok, before I read this book, I read other people’s review and most of them said it’s more like Harry Potter series so I decided to take my time of not buying this book until I watched the trailer online. Because I thought Mr.Riordan may have steal JK.Rowling’s idea but it turns out, it’s not that bad. And it is nothing like Harry Potter except for his friendship with Annabeth and Grover. It’s like Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. It’s really easy to read and understand the book and even a nine-year-old can read it. Hey, that’s what the book says! I will show you the picture. Anyway, when I watch the movie I need to comment on it although it will be Spoilers for all of you who haven’t read the book or the movie. So, if you already watched or read it, click on ‘Read more’ below. And the stars I’ll give this book will be…

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this is what I was talking about!

Here are my lists of complains on the movie…*Spoiler Alert!*

Annabeth should be blonde in the movie, not brunette.
Grover should be a coward but in the movie he’s sort of cool.
In the movie, they missed out a lot on the quests such as the theme park, stretcher and the bus.
Percy and his mum should be at the beach where Grover found them and warn about the monsters looking for Percy.
Luke’s secret should be exposed when he was alone with Percy in the end and disappeared after he almost killed Percy.

F in Exams: The Best Test Paper Blunders by Richard Benson

noreply@blogger.com (Afi Hamid) — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:46:00 +0000

"Packed full of hilarious examples of the creative ways students answer exam questions... More revision needed, methinks!"

- Western Morning News

I can totally relate to the situation when as a student you couldn't think of the answer to the exam question but feel guilty leaving it blank, unanswered. Then I will just write down any answers I can think of but, twist the facts a little but I will never go out of topic in my answer. But the exam answers given by the students shown on the book are too just funny! I would never dare to do the same thing in my exam papers.

The book is in small size with 127 pages and I bought in on bookdepository.com for B$14+ with free shipping. It listed funny and creative exam answers from wide range of subjects from English, History, Geography and many others.

Some of my favourite answers from the book: Give the names of two gases that might contribute to global warming=1. bottom gas 2. cow burps / What is the highest frequency noise that a human can register?= Mariah Carey / The race of people known as Malays come from which country?= malaria
There are many other funnier exam answers in the book but you'll have to buy it to read more for yourselves.

I never usually buy humour books but once in a while why not buy one. I just read too much fictions that I think I need a change of scenery for a while. I might as well review more humour books in the future. But one thing that bothers me is the book smells like sushi as I flipped it open, very addictive.

The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:17:00 +0000

‘What I’m trying to say, Midas, is that when a person feels imprisoned by their circumstances, they make mistakes.’

‘A mysterious metamorphosis has taken hold of Ida MacLaird – she is slowly turning into glass. Fragile and determined to find a cure, she returns to the strange, enchanted island where she believes the transformation began, in search of reclusive Henry Fuwa, the one who might just be able to help.

Instead she meets Midas Crook, and another transformation begins: as Midas helps Ida come to terms with her condition, they fall in love. What they need most is time – and time is slipping away fast.’ – Book’s Summary.

A modern fairytale novel, that’s how I describe it. I borrowed this book from my cousin who told me that she haven’t even started reading due to her exams so I decided to read it first and finished it…FAST! And when I mean FAST, I mean I have to review it after I finished it…FAST!

It turns out Brunei Times has review this book early this year. But anyway, my review…

I think most of the stories being told are about Midas and how his relationship with his estrange father. And how he hates his father for the treatment he gave to him and his mother. And then there’s his mother, who might have an affair with Henry Fuwa but she also tries so hard to get her husband’s attention for love. Back to Midas, he has this great hobby of photography, also works for his friend at the Florist and sometimes babysits for his friend’s daughter when he’s not around. Back to Midas, he is a very shy person, not very social and oh, Midas hates water.

Then, there’s Ida MacLaird with her glass feet. She used to be a very active person until she gets curse but still wild and free… Sort of. She went back to the island to search for Henry Fuwa because he might have all the answers to her feet. While searching for Henry, she stayed with one of her parents’ friends living on that island and his name is Carl.

When Ida met Midas, they fall in love. But with the glass starting to grow towards her other parts of her body, time is slipping away. Will it be too late for both of them once Ida turns completely into glass? Or will they find the cure BEFORE she turns into glass?

The description is pretty obvious to me so I didn’t have this ‘expectation’ feeling when I started reading the book. The starting is pretty fast because they met. And the story also got me all confusing with the characters but only for like some pages. Who is who and I also go like, ‘err…What?’ and I have to reread again :S. But sometimes I feel like trying ‘to give advice’ to these characters but…I guess I’m too emotional. LOL~ Love the little spark of romance between the characters. Though, I don’t like the little affairs going on with other characters. And lastly, the ending is pretty unexpected for me.

All in all, a very slow story that it makes you want to skip to the good parts (I tried doing that but I might miss the important stuffs), the idea of the story is pretty awesome. The characters are not so clichés and, it makes me think a lot about it after I finished it.

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Have you mark your calender?updated

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:24:00 +0000

The Girl in the Mirror by Cathy Glass

Released Date: ~~1st April 2010~~

When Mandy, 23, learns her much-loved Grandpa is dying, she readily agrees to stay at her aunt's house to help nurse him. Although the journey to her aunt's is familiar, from all her visits as a child, when Mandy arrives she finds she can't remember any of the house. Her mind has completely blanked it out.

Mandy begins to experience strange and disturbing flashbacks and starts to delve beneath the surface of her respectable family to try and find out what happened. What she discovers is so shocking that she understands why it has never been spoken of, and why it lay buried in her sub-conscious for all those years.

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Burned (#7) by PC and Kristin Cast

Released Date: ~~27th April 2010~~

Y’all need to get yourselves together. Here’s a newsflash from the only High Priestess you have left at this dang school: Zoey isn’t dead. And believe me, I know dead. I’ve been there, done that and got the fricken tee-shirt.

Zoey Redbird is the youngest High Priestess in House of Night history and is the only person – vamp or fledgling – that can stop the evil Neferet from raising all kinds of immortal trouble. And she might just have a chance if she wasn’t so busy being dead.

Well, dead is too strong a word. Stevie Rae knows she can bring her BFF back from her unscheduled va-cay in the Otherworld. But it’s going to take a lot more than hoping to bring Zoey back. Stevie Rae will have to give up a few secrets of her own . . .

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The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

Released Date: ~~5th June 2010~~

Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by the riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character introduced in Eclipse, and the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits. In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery and romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree and the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion.

'I'm as surprised as anyone about this novella,' said Stephenie Meyer. 'When I began working on it in 2005, it was simply an exercise to help me examine the other side of Eclipse, which I was editing at the time. I thought it might end up as a short story that I could include on my website. Then, when work started on The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide, I thought the Guide would be a good fit for my Bree story. However, the story grew longer than I anticipated, until it was too long to fit into the Guide.'

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I Miss Mummy by Cathy Glass

Released Date: ~~July 2010~~

I was expecting Alice to be brought to me by the social worker at any moment when the phone rang. It was the social worker, anxiously telling me that Alice had been snatched by her mother, and the police were out looking for them. I knew very little about Alice but I knew enough to be worried. Alice was just four years old and her mother was drug-dependent and mentally ill. Now she has made a desperate bid to keep her daughter. I prayed she wouldn't do anything silly.

I heard nothing for three days then Alice was found safe but traumatised. The duty social worker brought her to me late at night. Alice was asleep in his arms. Swaddled in a blanket with only her little face showing she looked like a doll and immediately won a place in our hearts. But the following day when Alice began talking about the nights she was missing I was horrified when she said she had slept outside 'with the wolves' and then began describing a place I knew.

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The Book Depository [Paperback]

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Mockingjay (#3) by Suzanne Collins

Released Date: 24th August 2010

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss.

And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

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The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

noreply@blogger.com (Afi Hamid) — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:24:00 +0000

“In this extraordinary book, Coelho has the courage to ask awkward questions... and give surprising answers.”

— Daily Express (UK)

What would you do if one day a stranger offered you something you can't resist but only with one condition that is to have someone murdered? That's what happened to the inhabitants of a little town called Viscos. One day a stranger visited the town hoping to find the answer to the question: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? The stranger set up a plan in which he offers the villagers 11 gold bars which are buried somewhere in the woods but only if they agreed to have someone murdered before the week is over.

This book is another favourite of mine from Paulo Coelho along with The Alchemist. The concept of the story is quite simple but it is the message that the book is trying to present which is quite meaningful: which path would you follow? good or evil? In my opinion, we human beings determines whether we are good or evil because we have the choice to be good or evil. Although the story is simple ans quite short for me compared to his other novels The Zahir or The Alchemist but still very enjoyable to read. I've managed to finish this book in just one day so perhaps this book would be great reading while you are travelling on a plane or on a long journey.

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Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:55:00 +0000

"What's this?" Trying to sound casual, I point at the ad. "What's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?"

"That's the latest book," Garth, the other trainee, says. "It came out ages ago."

I can't help gasping. "There's a sixth Harry Potter?"

'When 28 year old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London Hospital, she's in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident - in a Mercedes no less - Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, 3 years to be exact, and she's about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a 25 year old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband - who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she...well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all. Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?' - book's summary.

Imagine that you're so unlucky person, having a boyfriend who is a loser, a job that is not your dream job and never had a car. Not even an old beaten up Beetle car. Imagine that you slipped on a wet pavement one night, resulting into unconsciousness. Then, the next day you wake up and find out that you are married to a rich and good-looking man, a millionaire job and a Mercedes. Will you think that it's just a one nice dream? Well, not for Lexi. One of the most hilarious book I've read this year. I borrowed it from a cousin. I don't dare to buy it because I've never read any of Ms. Kinsella's books. Even the Shopaholic series.

Do you know the 13 Going on 30 movie? Yep, it's something like that and the story line is almost the same too but this one is better than the movie. And no, this is not the book that Robert Pattinson act in. That's a different story.

I already laugh at the first few pages until the end. The Harry Potter ads, the muffin present, and especially laughed out loud at the Mont Blanc! It's not a brand or anything, you have to read it to find out. So, Lexi went from being a girlfriend to the loser Dave to being a wife of a multimillionaire husband, Eric. But there's a catch, there's an architect guy that keeps saying that she loves him and cheated on her husband for him. But Lexi wouldn't believe it because she wouldn't do such things. That's what she thought...

Not only did she 'cheated' on her husband, her friends hated her because she's being a b*tch after she got promoted in the company she works at. But behind all this, the Lexi of the 3 years have a mission to do and Lexi has to put pieces of her life together again and trying to find out what she missed out on the last 3 years. Rate?

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Wake (DC#1) by Lisa McMann

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:19:00 +0000

Not All Dreams Are Sweet

'For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody-notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

She can't tell anybody about what she does - they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. she is a participant...' - book's summary.

A 210-pages book. Second book I bought from BookDepository. I wanted to buy this book after I read a review from Mr.Jason thought I might read it and make my own review.

I finished this book just 2 days..2 DAYS PEOPLE! That's a record! BUT, I sort of like and don't like the book. First, the story is like...hmm..how do I describe it? It's easy to follow but..just imagine the story is like the not-so-good english composition. Eg. "I have a pet. My pet is a cat. It's a Persian cat," something like that BUT, I love the idea of the story.

Janie here, she doesn't have a choice. If someone is near or in the same room with her goes to sleep or sneak a nap in class, she too will go to sleep and enters their dream world. To prevent this and get her 'own' sleep, she has to be in her own room...alone with doors close. It's like a Firewall to her...I.T speaking XP.

She can't share her secrets to anyone. Her mom isn't helping, she can't tell her only best friend because she might think her crazy. But the only person who believes her is Cabel. Although Janie couldn't trusts him because of the mysterious and disturbing dream he has.

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Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:11:00 +0000

'A young girl from a Brazilian village, Maria's first innocent brushes with love leave her heart-broken, convincing her at a tender age that "love is a terrible thing that will make you suffer." When a chance meeting in Rio takes her to Geneva, she dreams of finding fame and fortune. Instead, she ends up working as a prostitute. Drifting farther and farther away from love, she develops a fascination with sex. But her despairing view of love will be put to the test when she meets a handsome young painter and mus choose between pursuing a path of darkness - sexual pleasure for its own sake - or risking everything to find her own "inner light" and the possibility of a "sacred" sex in the context of love' - book summary.

So ok, when is the last time I review Paulo Coelho's book? Hmm...Nevermind! I don't have a lot to say about this book because I forgot how the story goes. Since I've read it few years ago. Very bad memories.

But anyway, this book is totally M-Rated..no, wait! X-Rated! I don't know which one comes first but I know it's not for the kids...Maria, the character in this story falls in love with a boy at school at the age of 11. When one day, she experienced her first day of menstruation (at this part I laugh) and she thought she was going to die. She decides to write a letter to the boy on how much she loves him. And one day, he went away.

Three years later, she falls in love again (but not as a lover but as a friend) and has her first kiss and has her first...well, 'findings' on her body. Years and years pass by, she went out with boys but promise herself never to fall in love again. She uses her beauty to attract boys and well, do stuffs.

As she grow older, she left her hometown to make money but turns to be a prostitute once she reached her place of work. She offers the 'needs' of men she met. Er...I should stop here.I guess you know what happens when you get this type of job...I hope you won't though.

Then, she saw a painter at a cafe, painting a portrait of someone when he stopped her from leaving the cafe as he says he saw a 'light' in her and decided to draw her sketch. They keep meeting each other, made love and at the same time learning what is the meaning of love.

So ummm...while I was reading this book, I feel err... embarassed. I mean, COME ON! It's like being caught reading a Playboy Magazine (which I've never read nor touched it). But anyways, I suggest and NOT suggest you to read this book. If you know what I mean...

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Mackenzie, Lost and Found by Deborah Kerbel

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:08:00 +0000

'I looked up again into the blue desert sky, searching for...I'm not quite sure what. A sign of heaven? A sign of God? A sign of Mom? I didn't see anything, but it didn't really matter. I felt good, like I'd finally written the goodbyes I'd never had the chance to say.'

Still recovering from the loss of her mother, fifteen-year-old Mackenzie Hill feels like she's drowning in a sea of pain and loneliness. To make matters worse, her eccentric father is forcing her to leave behind the only home she's ever known and move with him to Israel.

Coming of age in the ancient city of Jerusalem, Mackenzie forges a friendship with an American girl who's also suffered a tragic loss. At the same time, she becomes caught up in a forbidden romance with a Palestinian boy and an unwitting involvement in a ring of black-market bandits. Mackenzie has to find a way to solve the mystery of the stolen artefacts without betraying her first love. And along the way, come to terms with the grief that has been slowly eating away at her heart - Summary

Never Judge The Book By It's Cover. Another one for me as I find the cover really interesting because I love how the picture was taken (as I'm also into photography) I would say this book more for the tweens aka preteens. So, I don't know but you decide.

This is my first book bought on BookDepository. Boy was I happy to receive it and what shocks me, the book is in a bubble mailers. You know, the envelope with the plastic bubbles in it that you can pop. Why it shocks me is because, I've been receiving my books from Amazon and they send it in a box and tightly secure. BUT BookDepository not only send me my book, it also includes a bookmark! How cool is that?!

Anyway, about this book. It's all about forbidden romance between Mackenzie and a Palestinian muslim boy called Nasir. Sure it was sweet at first when both of them steal glances at each other but when I read further it just got me...offended. And besides of their romance, Mackenzie's father is an archeologist and on his birthday, she bought a gift for him and turns out the gift was from the archeological sites. Nasir has problems on his own because of his father keeps forcing him into getting jobs to earn more money for his father's family. And they turned into doing illegal job by digging the archealogical sites and sell it to the black market.

I think that's all I've got to say. The book is not that very thick and not that very interesting but I'm just gonna give...

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Kiden is here~

noreply@blogger.com (Kiden) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:14:00 +0000

TODAY, 24.2.2010

I received my book from BookDepository.

Too bad no free bookmark T.T

Wake by Lisa McMann

Will read it after Cecelia Ahern.

BukuKu Review

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

Missing

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Twenties Girl

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

Are You Alone on Purpose by Nancy Werlin

French: Phrase Book & Dictionary by Berlitz

19.9.10 - Kiden

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Never Let You Go by Erin Healy

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard (Guest Review)

From Us...

Science (Physics) GCE O'Level Examination Guide (Key.Points)

They Cage The Animals At Night by Jennings Michael Burch

Chosen (#3) by P.C and Kristin Cast

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (#1) by Rick Riordan

F in Exams: The Best Test Paper Blunders by Richard Benson

The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

Have you mark your calender?*updated*

The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Wake (DC#1) by Lisa McMann

Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

Mackenzie, Lost and Found by Deborah Kerbel

Kiden is here~

Have you mark your calender?updated