Scholastic Books

I like Scholastic, the book publisher, because they have many nice children's books. They have a programme with schools for students to order books from their catalogues at a cheaper price, compared to the ones retailed at bookstores. There are also books that you can only get from this school catalogue that you cannot get at bookstores. Some book sets are sold at affordable prices too.

We have been getting many Scholastic books for C from this school programme since kindergarten. We are fortunate that her primary school is also participating in this programme so our 'supply' continues. Today, she came back with her latest order of 22 books amounting to RM244. She has read three in school and another one in the car on the way home.

Given a chance, she'll probably be reading all the books non-stop and finish reading all within a few days, so I told her she can read only two a day, and I'll be taking custody of all the new books. This is so that she will have time to do other stuff like practise her music, do new activities as the school holidays start next week, and not be sedentary with her nose buried in a book all day.

As for the two-week school holidays that starts next week, I'm hoping we will take the opportunity to utilise our time productively.

 

Audio books

Audio books are a great way for busy people who are always on the go to 'read'. I've never bought any audio books in the past because these CD sets are pretty expensive, more expensive than the actual books. However, I came across some which were selling at a great bargain recently, and am now enjoying listening to a book while I drive around in my car running errands.

For me, it's easier and faster to finish a book this way instead of sitting down and holding a book in my hand to read as I don't have the time to do that. Reading the conventional way does not allow me to multitask, and I don't have the ability to absorb what I'm reading as my mind is always distracted with the 'what' and 'when' of the many things I need to do daily.

So currently, I'm halfway through The Art of Racing in the Rain, a fiction story that touches on life's issues surrounding a racing driver - his ups and downs as a racing driver, his family life, losing his wife to illness...and I'll know the rest after I finish listening to the story. And all these are told by his pet dog Enzo who narrates and analyses the ways of humans from his viewpoint, with interesting insight, wit and wisdom, and drawing analogies from his knowledge of his master's art of car racing.  You can read the synopsis of the book here.

It's a good change 'reading' a book with an audio book right now for me.

How do you read books?

I know people differ in their ways when it comes to handling and reading books. I have my own peculiarities and so do C and E.

How do you read books?

Do you stick to reading just one book at a time or several?
Do you read from cover to cover, skip some pages or chapters, read the ending first or how?
How do you open the book - all the way, folded back or just enough to prevent creasing its spine?
Do you read every single page, including the contents list, glossary, acknowledgements, index, publisher and printing details, etc.?
If it is a hardcover book, do you read the inside flaps of the jacket if they contain text, do you remove the jacket for safekeeping while reading it?
Do you wrap the covers of your book with paper or plastic to keep them clean and in better condition?

Do you write notes in the white spaces or highlight words or sentences that you think are important?
Do you use a bookmark or post-it tabs or dog-ear the page, or simply leave it overturned and splayed open?
Where and when do you read - anywhere, anytime, everywhere, in bed, in the bathroom, in a car, bus, train?
Do you prefer to borrow or buy?
Do you read a book a second, third, fourth...time?
Do you prefer paperbacks, hardcovers, or e-books?


Do you stick to just one or a few favourite authors/genre or read anything that catches your eye?
If the book is made into a movie, would you read the book or watch the movie first?
If the book is a novelization of a movie, would you read it?
Do you judge a book by its cover?
Do you trust or rely on book reviews for your choice of reads?

These are just some questions of which the answers I think would be pretty fun to share and compare.

Childhood books

I finished The Alchemist yesterday and am also halfway through one of my childhood favourites, Anne of Green Gables. The latter brings quite some laughter to my quiet moments alone at home when Caitlin is at school and Eugene is at work, while I'm waiting for Caitlin to get out of school or when I have a moment to spare for a few paragraphs. Can't write in length right now as I need to go get Caitlin from school. Unfortunately, Anne is not with me in my car today....

I think the next book I shall pick up after Anne is The Swish of the Curtain. It was the book that inspired my dreams of being in the performing arts.

Then I had the Famous Five, Secret Seven, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden mystery series....and all the Enid Blyton tales. I was never a romance fiction fan somehow although I did try a few copies of Mills & Boon....

Aah, childhood books take you back to a time when life was more carefree.

P.S. I Love You

Cecelia Ahern's books have been hitting the bestseller's list for some time now so on my recent trip to the bookstore I decided to take a closer look at them. Her books have caught my attention for some time already but I was not sure if that genre was something I really wanted to read.

Her debut novel, however, has been made into a movie starring Hilary Swank with Gerard Butler (and Harry Connick Jr.), and it's stories like these (those that have been made into movies) that pique my interest. I would not care for those that are the other way around, i.e. movies that have been made into books.

P.S. I Love You is not a hardcore romance novel although the title suggests it. It is about an Irish girl, Holly, who is devastated by the loss of her beloved husband Gerry to a brain tumour. Months later, she discovers that Gerry had left her a collection of notes, one for every month, guiding her through a new life without him, each signed 'PS, I love you.' She finds support from her close friends and family through her bouts of tears, sadness, laughter. It's definitely a girly-type story/movie that could move you to tears.

It's probably a story with a simple life message that could touch your soul but does not require you to be a brain surgeon unlike some stories with deep, abstract ideas. I say 'probably' because I've yet to finish the book. To the point where I've read, it appears that life is beginning to work out slowly but surely for her. It'll quite definitely have a happy ending. I'll just have to keep reading till the end to find out and then decide if I should also watch the movie.

A check with Wikipedia says that although it got bestseller status and the movie had high box office numbers, they both did not get great reviews.

J.K. Rowling's latest

This is latest news from Amazon.com.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling is now available for pre-order on Amazon. This book of fairy tales was written to supplement the Harry Potter series and will be published in two new editions on December 4, 2008. The Standard Edition features all five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a new introduction by J.K. Rowling, illustrations reproduced from the original handcrafted book, and commentary on each of the tales by Professor Albus Dumbledore. Amazon’s exclusive Collector's Edition includes a reproduction of J.K. Rowling's handwritten introduction, as well as 10 additional illustrations not found in the Standard Edition.

To pre-order, do it here for the Standard edition and here for the Collector’s Edition.

People and their journeys

It's been years since I had the luxury of devouring a book in one sitting within 24 hours. Unexpectedly last week, I managed to do that with Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. I enjoy reading about journeys, be it travels, adventures or life journeys, and the 'soul' that is involved with the journeys. I read Jon Karakauer's Into Thin Ice about 10 years ago and also some of his writings in Outside magazine. When I chanced upon Into The Wild at the bookstore last week and read the intro (see next para) on the cover, I knew I had to get it.

"In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself...."

This book was moving and thought-provoking. It first began as an article about Christopher McCandless in Outside magazine in 1993. If you wish to learn more about the story, see here (may contain spoilers).

The story of this 24-year-old man was made into a movie of the same title last year. I wonder if I can get my hands on the movie to see how Jon Krakauer's writing has been translated onto the big screen. The last time it was done with Into Thin Air, the movie did not capture the intensity of the book.

Comics

Caitlin enjoys reading very much and since acquiring the skills to read on her own, she's been reading almost anything she sees that has words - billboards, labels, signages, fine print on boxes (she knows now that some of her toys are made in China!), and of late, comics.

A New York Times article recently mentioned that comic strips as an 'alternative pathway to literacy' are catching on in the United States. It cited growing efforts in using comics to promote literacy after pilot programmes yielded promising results.

"Proponents of comics in the classroom say that they can lure struggling readers who may be intimidated by pages crammed with text. They also say that comics, with their visual cues and panel-by-panel sequencing, are uniquely situated to reinforce key elements of literacy, like story structure and tone."

One day, the attractive graphics and colours of my Archie comics caught Caitlin's eye and she picked one up to read....I don't think she cound really to relate to the American high-school Archie, Betty, Veronica and gang's antics but she sure did enjoy the funny things she saw and read about in there.




I've been looking out for more age-appropriate comics for her lately and discovered that they aren't in abundance over here. Some I've come across are the Winx Club, My Little Pony and Scooby Doo ones.

Dr Seuss

Many of us know Dr Seuss for his rhyming stories for children. His unique style is peculiar yet sensible, his rhymes are catchy and funny. Caitlin was first introduced to Dr Seuss when she was three with his infamous Cat in the Hat. She was enthralled with the sound of his words and his illustrations. Since then, we've collected a number of his books and PC games. One of her favourite stories at one time was Horton Hatches The Egg and later on, Horton Hears A Who!

What prompted me to write this post and to find out more about this man via Google is the sound of Dr Seuss PreSchool, an educational PC game, coming from the room next door. Caitlin has decided to entertain herself with it while I blog and Eugene fixes one of her broken toys.

Do you know that Theodor Seuss Geisel was a political cartoonist? He was chief editorial cartoonist for a New York newspaper before World War II and you can read more about it and view a catalog of his political cartoons here. This is something new to me and very interesting.

I also came across Dr Seuss's Seussville which I believe Caitlin and other kids would enjoy.

Judging a book

Do not judge a book by its cover. I find this so true, literally and figuratively.

I love reading and most times, the books that first catch my attention on the shelves in bookstores are those with beautifully-designed covers, nice pictures, attractive font, catchy titles. The advertising and marketing people sure know how to do their job well with the help of graphic designers. Some of these books have good content, no doubt, and can even be prize-winning bestsellers.

However, there are books with covers less attractive and long, boring titles. They tend to involve non-fiction, specialised topics or authors and publishers with lower budget.

Two weekends ago, I bought two books, "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" and "What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You". I'm sure you can tell which is the one with the more attractive cover in all sense of the word.



I actually had to get the "doctor" book from the living room to make sure I got the title right for this post. I'm halfway through the "doctor" book and find it very informative, and enlightening with unique insights. I read the first two pages of the "monk" book. While it's reputed to have good content, I have yet to be able to comment on it. I tried listening to the CD but it couldn't capture my attention.

I also love 'reading' people. It is a natural tendency to first get attracted to people who look good on the outside, those who are 'better packaged' and more 'prominently displayed', just like books. But we must not forget the more down-to-earth ones with their quiet wisdom and humility. As the Malay saying goes, "diam diam ubi berisi". I sometimes get really turned off by people who rattle on and on. What they say could be of value but they just don't know when to stop, they love hearing their own voice and seeing other people's impressed faces.

And there are those who judge you by your cover. I visited a doctor recently who assumed that being a housewife without makeup, and simply dressed, I have no knowledge of health, medicine, or science. When I started discussing with him and asking more in-depth questions, he remarked condescendingly, "You are quite a knowledgable lady!" Hello MCP! I tried to reign in the temptation to stoop to his level but couldn't resist revealing, "Well, I was a microbiology major..." And what I got in reply was, "You graduated in microbiology?? But now you're now practising it in the kitchen".

Which book would you prefer to read, mine or his?