I challenged myself to read 20 books in 2019 -- here's what happened.

Back in 2011, I stumbled upon a reading challenge in one of the most unexpected places you could ever imagine -- a dress-your-avatar forum (that I may or may not still visit today) -- and it piqued my interest. Not only was I a self-proclaimed 'book nerd' back then, I was also genuinely curious to know how many books I could actually finish within a year.

I don't really remember the titles that I read that year, but I do remember that I managed to reach my target of 20 books in the end (it was a close call -- I had to include my 'Basic Themes of the Quran' textbook just to reach said target lol).

But that was it. I didn't repeat the challenge again the next year, or the year after that. I guess knowing that I could reach whatever targets I set up for myself was enough back then -- and so I moved on with my life. I didn't think about the reading challenge again until last year -- 2019.

Eight years had gone by since I last did the challenge, and I started to wonder if I had grown at all as a reader within that period of time. To be very frank, I used to only read fiction, and nothing else. What's worse, I've noticed that I've started to lose interest in reading altogether (except for the occasional cheesy fanfics). I used to get all excited whenever I encountered a bookstore, but nowadays, while I'd still browse through the titles, I find myself leaving the store empty-handed more often than not. I've even noticed that whenever I did purchase a book, I did so just to appease the nagging voice in my head that's yelling, "But you're a BOOK NERD, you HAVE to buy SOMETHING!"

I'd become someone who'd buy books just because I wanted to live up to some sort of expectation that I'd set up for myself. In truth, there wasn't much left of that book-lover in me.

And so with this realisation, and a couple of perfectly-timed events, I decided to challenge myself to read 20 books in 2019. Here's what happened!

~*~

IIUM Kuantan Library Open Day 2018

This was how it all started, really -- with a bit of spring-cleaning!

I saw an ad for the Library Open Day on Facebook and thought, well, why not take part? The Open Day included a book drive, where you can donate and even exchange books with others.

Our bookshelves at home were filled with books that we've been meaning to donate for years; we just hadn't found the right time to do it, or the proper place to donate them. So this was more than perfect! While I was at home, I went through our bookshelves and picked out titles that I felt were no longer of interest to any of us.

I ended up donating 38 titles to the library, and got 5 books in exchange -- which wasn't all that bad!

~*~

Big Bad Wolf KL 2018

Now that I've freed up some space on the bookshelves at home, it was time to stock up on some new books! Coincidentally, in December 2018, the Big Bad Wolf himself rolled into a nearby town~ so my brother and I went to check it out.

The place was huuuge!! We also went very early in the morning (very late?? idk) on a weekday, like around 2-3AM, I think? So there weren't many people around. We took our time and I came home with a bunch of titles that made it into my 2019 Reading Challenge.

This was it, really, the event that pushed me to finally starting my reading challenge. I've got new books that I was actually excited to read, so I decided to really commit to it. I should also mention that I've got quite a number of unread books lying around at home -- I was determined to read at least one or two of these abandoned titles, just to clear my conscience lol

~*~

January 2019:

The reading challenge begins!

I kicked things off with a re-read of one of my favourite book series as a kid: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. This title may be familiar to you, because it has been adapted into a movie in 2004 and a Netflix series more recently in 2017.

I can't remember exactly what year I discovered the series, but I did remember where I bought the first volume (The Bad Beginning): it was at a gift shop at the Seremban R&R (South Bound). It came as a surprise to the whole family that a gift shop at an R&R had a book section!

The reason this particular book caught my eye was the warning on its back cover. The author warns the reader not to read his books, because they contain nothing but misery.

Dear Reader, 

I am sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. 

...It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

The story follows Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who lost their parents and home in a tragic fire. At a glance, it all seemed like an accident, but several books into the series, it became apparent that something dark and mysterious was going on -- the Baudelaire parents seemed to have been a part of a secret organization, and had enemies that wanted them dead.

And if you want to avoid a world of confusion and hurt, I'm telling you now to NOT READ THE BOOKS, I swear to God. Don't be like me. Just, don't even start. You'll be happier, trust me. I thought his warnings were a joke, but look who's sad and confused and unhappy now?? Yep...this gal! D:

Sadness and confusion aside, this series did introduce me to one of the most wonderful online communities ever back when I was an adolescent. We exchanged theories about the plot of the books (back when it was still on-going), sent birthday wishes to the author, and wrote our own fanfictions about what happened After.

I don't frequent the forum anymore these days, but I did visit again after the Netflix adaptation aired. I was shocked and saddened to learn of the death of one of the OG members of the forums, but I was also pleased to know that the members of the forum and her family managed to contact the Netflix people, and in the end, her name was sneaked into one of the Netflix episodes as a tribute (M. Howarth, on the top right).

Now if that isn't an awesome community, I don't know what is.

(P/S: If you were thinking of going to the gift shop with the book section at the Seremban R&R...well, there's no need. It is now a Ramly Burger shop!)

The next book I read was World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. I think I bought this at a thrift store at home, and just never got around to reading it. It was good and I love how the story jumps from one country to another.

As the title suggests, it's an oral history of the zombie war, so the main character goes around interviewing survivors of the war. The book is therefore made up of several short stories, to be precise -- some parts were interesting as HECK (like North/South Korea part and the South African part of the story), while some parts were like 'meh' and I ended up skipping them lol

I also read A Glimpse of the Past: my life before Parkinson's by Susie Chandy. This is one of the books I got from the Library Open Day. It was okay, I guess. It's one of my 'filler books' for this challenge -- short books that I decided to read in order to achieve my targets quicker lol

And with that, our tally is 3 books in January 2019!

~*~

February 2019:

the month I got terribly sick

I remember February 2019 quite vividly, because I got really sick at the start of the month and had to spend a lot of time resting at home. As a result, I managed to finish some of the heavier books during this resting period.

I started with the book that I bought in 2018 at Phnom Penh airport, on the way back from a humanitarian mission in Cambodia.

If there's one thing you should know about me, it's the fact that I am mildly fascinated by tragic stuff. I mean, I guess that's not really a unique thing or anything, but it is part of who I am. I just find it interesting, and I'd usually try to find documentaries, books, or articles online about these things. Whenever I encounter these things, there's just this overwhelming sense of, "I must know exactly what happened, what led to the stuff actually happening, and what consequences it had on people/places afterwards!"

Some examples of these events include: the assassination of the last royal family of Russia, and the consequent rumours of possible survivors; the sinking of the Titanic; the Chernobyl nuclear disaster; and the formation of North and South Korea, and the on-going war between them.

Having said all this, I was of course fascinated by the history that Cambodia has. I admit that I knew very little of the Khmer Rouge and the terror that they'd brought upon their own country and people before I went to this humanitarian mission. A visit to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center managed to fix that.

I purchased two books at the airport, and I've only finished one of them. Master of Confessions: The Making of the Khmer Rouge Torturer by journalist Thierry Cruvellier details the trial of Duch, the Chief Prison Officer of S-21 (the central prison for the communist Khmer Rouge).

The book includes accounts from survivors of the S-21 prison, the relatives of the Khmer Rouge victims, and, of course, accounts from Duch, the Chief Prison Officer who denied ever torturing any of the prisoners, despite mounting evidence against him.

This book was followed by another heavy title, this time focusing on North Korea. Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee -- A Look Inside North Korea is a book by a North Korean defector, Jang Jin-sung, who used to work in the propaganda division (among others) of North Korea.

The author used to have access to forbidden books in his office back in North Korea -- books from the outside world, with certain things blacked out with permanent markers -- to help him write propaganda aimed to gain sympathy from the South Korean government.

These books weren't meant to be taken out of the office -- but Jang Jin-sung lend said book to his friend, who lost it by accident on the Pyonyang train. As the book would undoubtedly be traced back to Jang Jin-sung (they kept track of who was the last one to check out the book, if I'm not mistaken) once it was found, the two friends decided to flee North Korea.

The author, Jang Jin-sung, managed to defect to South Korea in 2004, and still lives there today.

February was also the month during which I managed to finish one of the thickest books in my collection: Under the Dome by Stephen King. I bought this books way back in 2015-2016, during a Popular Bookstore sale in Kuantan, I think. Stephen King has quickly become one of my favourite authors nowadays, and if you're not into horror stories, you might want to try some of the thrillers that he's written.

Under the Dome tells the story of a town that suddenly gets trapped under an invisible dome. Anything or anyone that gets too close to it would be zapped to death/destruction. With depleting fresh air and food supplies, dirty politics start to rear its ugly head in the small town. A war starts between the corrupted mayor (backed up by the police department) and the underdogs of the town, which included an ex-army diner chef, the lady who ran the local newspaper business, and a bunch of local kids, to name a few. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time, and let me remind you, this book has over 1,000 pages lol! Definitely give it a read if you're into thriller books!

Another Stephen King book followed this one, which was Finders Keepers. This is the second book in a trilogy about a retired detective. In the first book (Mr. Mercedes), the main character, a retired detective, gets taunted by a killer who drove a Mercedes car into a crowd of people lining up for a job fair -- it's the one case that he's never managed to solve. Finders Keepers follows the detective and his newly-found private detective agency. It's not bad -- I haven't read the final installment of the trilogy yet, and I'm hoping the library carries the title so I can do just that!

Our tally so far: 4 books in February; 7 books in total!

~*~

March 2019:

the Wolf returns!

Yep! In March, the Big Bag Wolf travelled to Pahang, and I had the chance to visit the book fair (again!) with one of my friends~

I picked up some more titles, this time focusing on history books and biographies, having discovered that I don't quite mind them and that I actually enjoyed reading them!

One book that got me hooked was Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie. It is a biography about one of Russia's most prominent monarchs. She was wronged by the former queen (her husband's aunt, Elizabeth Petrovna, who basically stole her firstborn) and her own husband (who became an incompetent king after the death of his aunt -- not to mention he also openly talked about divorce in front of his ministers and had an affair with one of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting). Despite all the odds being against her, Catherine managed to capture the hearts of the Russian people and even managed to overthrow her useless husband. She ruled as the Empress of Russia for 34 years -- the longest of any Russian female leader! You can't help but root for her as you read this book, seriously~

I also picked up a Regency-era romance book at the Big Bad Wolf, called The Vicar's Daughter by Josi S. Kilpack. I had high hopes for it, but the plot turned out to be typical and the characters very disappointing. I've read better fanfictions than this, really. 0/10, would not recommend!

Our tally so far: 2 books in March, 9 books in total!

~*~

April 2019:

more North Korea & Stephen King

By April of 2019, I think I've pretty much figured out what kind of books I prefer nowadays: biographies, history books, and Stephen King books~

I've picked up not one, but two books on North Korea at the Pahang Big Bad Wolf (alongside one book about Hitler and another on RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner that was sunk by a German U-boat during World War I -- I haven't made much progress with both of these books so far, whoops!).

One book, The Invitation-Only Zone: The True Story of North Korea's Abduction Project by Robert S. Boynton, details the experience of a Japanese man, Hasuike Kaoru, who was kidnapped alongside his girlfriend, Okudo Yukiko, by North Korean spies in 1978. It turns out that this is a common thing in North Korea; lots of Japanese citizens were kidnapped along the shorelines, but North Korea denied this for the longest time, up until 2002. Reading this made me extra paranoid, because the North Korean government not only kidnaps Japanese citizens, but foreigners from all over the world. The Kim Jong-nam episode in KLIA reeeaaally adds to the paranoia in me! It's SO close to home -- no scratch that, IT HAPPENED AT HOME!!!

The other book, The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and the Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom (PHEWH that was a mouthful!! A...handful? To type?? It's a long title, is what I'm getting at!) by Blaine Harden, details the story of No Kum Sok, a fighter pilot who flew across the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) from North Korea into South Korea during a routine military flight. He is 88 years old today, and lives in Florida, USA.

Hasuike (left) and his girlfriend Okudo,

victims of the kidnapping project by the North Korean government.

No Kum Sok, the fighter pilot who defected to South Korea

by flying his place across the Korean DMZ -- like a total badass.

And the last Stephen King book I read in 2019 was Pet Sematary (yes, it's misspelled on purpose). Let me tell ya... It's super creepy, okay. I decided to read it because the film adaptation was about to be released at that time (starring John Lithgow, no less!!!!) -- whenever I could, I try to read the books first before seeing any movie adaptations, so this was me doing just that.

King tends to drag things out in his books sometimes, and more often than not, you'd find yourself wishing that he'd 'just get to the point already!!!' -- but all that aside, this book just gets under your skin...I mean, REALLY gets under your skin... The most recent movie adaptation made some key changes to the plot, which I totally understand, but I think the original plot is better. Seriously...!!

I don't own a copy of Pet Sematary, by the way -- I borrowed a copy from the university's library; the cover was seriously falling apart...come to think of it, I should've patched it up a bit with some tapes while I had it... Ah well.

Anyway! The tally now is 3 books in April, with a total of 12 books overall!

~*~

May-August 2019:

the long pause

Yeah...You read that right. With 12 books under my belt by April 2019, I stopped reading from May till August. I'm not even sure why, but I'm pretty sure some Real Life stuff kicked in, so I abandoned my reading challenge temporarily.

After this long break, I found it kind of hard to start reading again, and you'll soon see that I ended up reading a lot of 'filler books' just to reach my target of 20 books lol

Your interest just comes and goes when it comes to reading -- just like everything else, I suppose. This especially applies to me at the moment (I'm attempting another reading challenge in 2020) -- all my interest in biography and history books is gone in 2020. Instead, I'm in the mood for children's books, short and delightful ones like Enid Blyton's works. I've been in this mood since December, and you'll see this reflected in the last few books that I read in 2019!

~*~

September-November 2019:

gotta go fast!!!!

Having slacked for 4 months, I started to pick up several filler books and read through them as fast as I could. I started with a YouTuber book that I found in a thrift store -- a very lucky find, considering I had actually gone to Kinokuniya looking for it; I decided to not buy it because it costs RM80!!! It doesn't matter how big of a fan you are -- if the merchandise is worth how many months' worth of lunch and dinner, I ain't buying it!!

Anyway -- I think I bought Dan and Phil's The Amazing Book is Not on Fire for only RM12 at the thrift store! A total bargain!

Zen Cho's Spirits Abroad quickly followed. The book consisted of witty short stories about hantu and langsuir and other local spirits mingling with modern-day people. And yes, the author is a Malaysian~

Another filler book followed this one: M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman is a collection of short fantasy stories. The first story is definitely the strongest, in my opinion. The rest was okay, but not memorable.

So the tally is 3 books for September-November, bringing the overall total to 15 books!!

~*~

December 2019:

we're on the home stretch now!

As I approached December, I really tried my best to finish whatever books I had in mind, but some things are just not meant to be. I was reading two biographies, but I knew realistically that I was going to finish only one of them at the end of the month.

But that's not a reason for me to quit! Oh no!! So I really sprinted through the one biography that I'm more interested in, and looked for other more manageable books to read in order to reach my target of 20 books.

Remember how I told you that I was (and still am!) in the mood for short and fun children's books? Well, it all began with my third Big Bad Wolf trip since starting this reading challenge (yep, I went AGAIN, this time in KL -- same place as the last time -- and it was fruitful, as always!). I found a delightful book called The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry.

Set in the Victorian era, it tells the story of the girls at St. Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies, whose Headmistress died suddenly at breakfast. Instead of reporting the death to the authorities, the girls decided to bury the Headmistress in the garden so that they didn't have to go back home (they each had family conflicts at home) and continued living at the school. The summary on the back cover was just too delightful for me to resist, so I bought it and finished reading it in one night~

Now that I was in the mood for adventurous/witty young adult books, I decided to actually finish reading my copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. I bought this book a while ago, and even managed to read several chapters of the book, only to abandon it because the plot was too slow for me. This time though, I decided to soldier on. It's the first book in the series -- there's like, five or six books in total. I forget.

I thought the first book had a lot of potential, especially The Thing regarding the main character's grandfather -- but I dunno, it just fell flat. The main character is a spoiled brat -- which I don't actually mind, for once! -- but yeah, it's a real shame. I ended up just reading the Wikipedia to know what happens in the other books lol...

I know the first book got turned into a movie -- I might just watch that to see what they changed in the plot to make it more interesting for Hollywood~ hahahaha...

I also managed to quickly read The Terrible Terror Book by M.D. Spenser. This is also one of the books that I got from the Library Open Day back in 2018~ Haven't got much to say about it... It's not as creepy as some of the Goosebumps books I've read in my childhood... It's just -- another filler book, I guess? Yeah~

Moving on... The one biography book that I managed to finish in December was Diana: Her True Story -- In Her Own Words by Adrew Morton. I've always believed that the British Royal Family had something to do with her death... I dunno... Just seems fishy, ya know?

Anyway~ I felt deeply for Diana when I read the book -- the things she had to go through, the treatment she got from Charles... Ugh. I just don't get how people are just OK with the fact that Camilla is married to Charles today. How are William and Harry OK with that?? The stuff she's done to their mother, though! UGH!!

Speaking of the British Royal Family... Things are getting interesting now, no? With the whole Prince Andrew sex (rape) scandal and the whole Harry-Meghan leaving the Family thing, I can't wait to see what happens next and how it affects the dynamics and the structure of the royal family!

Anyway~ I digress!

With the book about Diana, the current total is 19 out of 20 books! I just need one more to reach my target for my reading challenge -- and I was reading Nicholas II: The Last Tsar by Michael Patterson. It's a title that I picked up at the most recent Big Bad Wolf -- it's a book about something I'm really interested in (the last royal family of Russia), it's not a very long book, and the author uses simple language... I should be able to finish it by the end of December...except that my interest in biography and history books have started to wane by this time.

So instead, I decided that the last book should be another re-read -- since I started the whole challenge with the re-read of The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket, the last book should also be a re-read~

The book I ended up choosing to close this challenge was J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard. I had fun re-reading it, especially when it came to Dumbledore's forewords for each story, and also his footnotes lol

And with that, we've reached the end of my 2019 Reading Challenge~~~!!

As I've mentioned earlier, I'm currently attempting another reading challenge for the year 2020. My target is still the same (20 books), and I've got one book down (an Enid Blyton book, lol!! -- told you I'm still in the mood for simple stories!). I'm also slowly reading the Tsar Nicholas book each night (well, almost) before bed~

I'm looking forward to the next KL Big Bad Wolf, whenever that will be, hehe. But of course, I still have TONS of unfinished books lying around, so I shouldn't have any problem finding something to read for this year's challenge!

~*~

Stats for Nerd

(because I can lol)

I thought it'd be fun for me to plot some graphs to find out about my reading habits from my 2019 reading challenge. While it's not much, I think it'd be fascinating to compare it to this year's books (if I managed to finish the 2020 reading challenge, that is!) just to see how/if my reading habits have changed.

I guess the logical place to start is by charting how many books I read per month in 2019, so here it is:

With the amount of 'filler books' that I read in December while I sprint towards the finishing line, it's no surprise that December becomes the month during which I read the most books, LOL!! We'll see if this becomes a trend this year, eh~

The next thing I could think of is plotting the books by genres. Let's see, shall we~~

Again, with the amount of 'filler books' that I squeezed into my list in the end, I'm not surprised that my reading list is dominated by children's books hahaha~

I also find it hard to categorise some of these books -- the ones whose genres are not immediately given by a simple Google search reeeaaally got me scratching my head... Mainly because the books I've read tend to fall somewhere between history/biography. Ah well -- I got there in the end~

~*~

Aaaaaand that concludes this long-ass blog post LOL!!

If I had to pick my favourite book(s) for this challenge, it would be Catherine The Great for non-fiction, and Under the Dome for fiction~

My hope for this year's reading challenge is to find some Malay history books -- wish me luck! (I am a naturally slow reader, but for some reason, I am an ever slower reader when it comes to Malay books!!!)

I also gotta say that if you've got the chance to go to Big Bad Wolf, go for it!! Books are (sadly) quite expensive here in Malaysia, so book fairs such as BBW is a really good opportunity for you to grab as many titles as your budget allows! For real, though!

If you've got kids, introduce them to books as early as you can! (My own lovely Mak introduced me and my sister to books at a very young age by telling us bedtime stories~) Buy them as many books as you can, and with any luck, they'll grow fond of books as they grow older!!

Okay, I think that's all for me... (Seriously, this has been a REALLY long one...)

Till next time!! 

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Angah tackles unwanted books, dusty shelves, and 'helpful' cat assistants

I have been avoiding Facebook for quite some time now, simply because I tend to find myself comparing my friends' lives with mine -- and feeling down about it.

But now and then, I'd check in on Facebook on my laptop (having deleted the app from my phone), and sometimes I'd see posts that'd intrigue me.

One such time happened not long ago, when I saw a post made by the Facebook page of my university's library. Apparently they'd be conducting an open day, and among the things they'd  posted caught my attention:

BOOK DRIVE

#donate #exchange #giveaway

DONATE new and/or used books (in good condition)

Donate minimum 3 books to EXCHANGE 1 book

Come to our booth to get GIVEAWAY books

T&C apply

The thing that caught my attention the most was the 'exchange 1 book' part. Immediately, I thought of some of the books I have at home: the books that Preteen-Angah had read and enjoyed, the books that Judgmental-Angah had deemed too boring or too badly-written, and the books that Greedy-Angah had bought but hadn't even bothered to read.

Imagine swapping those books for something much more exciting!

(Never mind the fact that I already have about 11 books in my To-Read list -- "I'll make time to read all of 'em," says the tiny voice in my head.)

And so after I saw this Facebook post, I found myself planning a trip back home over the long weekend, so that I could find those unwanted books to be donated to the library.

~*~

Home, 14th September, Friday.


Somehow, my search for books to be donated turns into a full-fledged Spring Cleaning session.

The bookshelves in my room haven't been wiped clean in years. Dust has settled on the books and on the shelves, and every time I pull a book out from the shelf, I send dust flying everywhere.

This is how I find myself standing in the middle of my room with a damp kain buruk in hand, and books lying everywhere except on the shelves.

First, I wipe the empty shelves. Then, I start to pile the books according to category: to be donated, favourite series, children's series, Stephen King books, horror/thriller, Jane Austen books, classics, books on Islam, biographies, comics, etc. etc.

Some of the least-read books are going to have to be transferred out of the room and onto the  bookshelves in the upstairs common area, where it can be easily accessed by anyone. I am only keeping my text books, my university notebooks, my to-read books, and my favourite books in the room.

While I wipe away the dust from the books one by one, our two family cats, Tok Merah and Grey, seem eager to help, especially the former. Ginger with white socks and weighing roughly 5 kilograms, Tok Merah prowls in and out of the room, sniffing at books and at times yowling at them as if  asking why they are on the floor and not on the shelves.

Grey, on the other hand, does not appear until I start piling books out in the upstairs common area. She joins me as I climb onto the piano bench, but while I start to rearrange the books on the shelves above, she curls up comfortably and starts to snooze.

(I nearly step on her once or twice as I climb off and onto the piano bench.)

~*~

Seven hours later, all the books have been wiped clean and rearranged on the shelves.

I also now have the books that I'd be donating to the library, all piled up according to categories: children's books, preteen books, YA novels, fiction, one stray biography, classics, books on Islam, as well as some magazines.

These are the finalists, the ones that I am certain I no longer want. The pile was larger initially -- but I have gone through the titles more than once and have rescued certain books from the pile, convincing myself that those titles are too valuable to be donated away and that I could maybe one day pass them on to the next generation.

(These lucky titles include various Goosebumps books, Enid Blyton books, Siri Penyiasat Salma, the Maximum Ride series, and for some reason one unread Mary Higgins thriller book that I've bought but never bothered to read. My brother also manages to rescue one Avengers comic that neither of us remembers buying.)

The To-Be-Donated pile has a total of  39 books. Here they are sorted by categories:

Children's Books: 2

1) Septimus Heap (Book Two): Flyte

The first page of this book has the following inscribed in pencil on it: a VERY boring book, not creative at all!

It would have been nice to donate the first book as well, but that book (Magyk) has also been deemed boring and therefore has been DIY'ed into a secret book (this means gluing the pages together and then carving a secret compartment into the dried pages).

Here is the synopsis of the first book, Magyk:

Just after the apparent death of the sprawling, wizardly Heap family's newborn seventh son, they are given a baby girl, Jenna, to care fore. Ten years later they are forced to flee their home in the Castle when it turns out the girl is the daughter of the murdered queen, and the Supreme Custodian, who has taken over the city, sends an assassin to complete his destruction of the royal family.

All I have to do now is to erase the little message on the first page of the book, and it is ready to be donated!


2) The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: Book 1: You Wish

The first page of this book has a stamp with my name on it, as well as several lines proclaiming that I am an IIUM-graduate audiologist working for a private hearing and balance centre. The story behind this was that I had initiated a reading corner for the hearing and balance clinic I'd worked at once, and I had brought along some of my own books for it. I'd stamped each page with my name just in case.

This is an OK book, I suppose -- but I don't recall having finished reading it at all...

The book is about an orphan, Ben, who'd wished for the most dangerous birthday wish of all: to have unlimited wishes. He later found himself having to clean up the mess he'd made in the magical realm of wishes and curses alongside the Wishworks Factory president himself.

Preteen Books: 13

3) Skinny Melon and Me

I remember this being one of my favourite books back when I was 12 years old. It tells the story of Cherry Louise Waterton, who has trouble settling in her new home environment when her mother marries her step-dad, Roland Butter. In an attempt to get to know Cherry better, the step-dad leaves creative coded messages (which I had fun decoding back then~):

Entertaining as it was for my 12-year-old self to read back then, I think it is time I pass the book on to some other 12-year-old to enjoy.


4) Fun for the Secret Seven

I'm not even sure where this one came from -- it's a part of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven series, but we did not collect these back when we were kids, so... ???

This particular volume revolves around the Secret Seven (Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, Pam, Colin, and George) helping out Tolly and his sick horse Brownie hide from dangerous horse thieves.


5) Mr Mystery: The Mystery of the White Tiger
6) Mr Mystery: The Mystery of the Rajah's Ruby

These were my brother's books if I recall correctly, and he's given me the green light to donate them. It's a mystery book series written by a Singaporean author -- I think it's a great series, but I didn't grow up reading them.

Anyway, here are the summaries for the two books:

The Mystery of the White Tiger:

Who helped a robber escape from prison?
Who is desperately trying to kill him?
Who will stop at nothing to keep the deadly sceret of the white tiger? 

Alvin Soh and his team of young investigators are plunged into danger, mystery and intrigue. Someone is trying to kill an escaped convict. And now someone wants to silence them, too! 

Is it the Black Hand gang?
Is it Benny, the  mysterious circus trainer?
Or is it the criminal mastermind known only as... The Snake? 

Only Mr Mystery knows!

The Mystery of the Rajah's Ruby:

What is the deadly secret of the Rajah's Ruby?
Who is really trying to steal it?
Will Alvin Soh save the ruby, or will a beautiful girl lure him into a fatal trap? 

The famous Rajah's Ruby has always been surrounded by murder and violence. Now, Alvin Soh and his team of young investigators have to stop the precious ruby from being stolen. 

Can they survive the web of treachery?
Can they escape a ruthless enemy?
Or will the mysterious girl lead Alvin to his death? 

Only Mr Mystery knows!

And here comes a bunch of Mary-Kate and Ashley books!

Yeah, I guess I was a fan of these way back when. It's a pretty girly series, but I guess as long as it gets me reading, it's good, right? Ehehe...

 

7) The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley: The Case of the Screaming Scarecrow
8) The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley: The Case of the Jingle Bell Jinx
9) Two of a Kind: The Cool Club
10) Two of a Kind: War of the Wardrobes
11) Two of a Kind: Bye-bye Boyfriend
12) So Little Time: Secret Crush

And now, a couple of books I'm convinced belonged to my sister:

13) Sweet Valley Jr. High: No More Mr. Nice Guy
14) Sweet Valley Jr. High: He's the One

Gonna have to ask her first if she's okay with me donating these books... Ah well~

15) Harry Potty and the Deathly Boring

This is a parody of the last Harry Potter book in the form of a comic. The first page also has a strongly-worded "review" by my past self, who apparently did not mind people making fun of her favourite series, but she just found this particular comic a sad excuse of a parody (*cough* butt-hurt Potterhead detected *cough*...).

Going through the pages now, I just find it highly amusing -- the over-exaggerated style of the drawing somewhat disgusts me, but other than that, it's just...well...a parody? I guess? Meh.

YA novels: 7

16) Paper Towns

Now, listen. I used to consider myself a Nerdfighter, and I used to subscribe to the Vlog Brothers' channel on YouTube.

I don't really know what happened, but I am no longer interested in them, both as YouTubers and as authors. I guess I just grew out of it? Meh. It's hard to tell. But yes, I am donating two of John Green's books, keeping only The Fault in Our Stars because that one made me cry lol.

So yes. This is what Paper Towns is about, if you're interested:

Quentin Jacobs has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life -- dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge -- he follows. 

...Or you could just watch the movie adaptation too, I guess?

17) Looking for Alaska

Another John Green book -- apparently this one's been turned into a mini TV series by Hulu.com? Yeah, I didn't know that before.

Anyway, this book is also about a guy meeting an amazing girl who turns his world upside down! Take a look:

Miles "Pudge" Halter is done with his safe life at home. He heads off to the anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is the utterly fascinating Alaska Young.

18) Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Yeah, sorry -- I never did immerse myself into this series. Didn't even finish reading the first book, ehehe. The summary on the back cover did attract me enough to purchase it, though, particularly the line, "Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life."

(FYI, I bought this one before it became a movie -- I never got around to watching that, either.)


19) Does My Head Look Big In This?

One of my many impulsive purchases, the thing that attracted me to this one was the cover. I think I've read the first few chapters, but never got around to finishing it.

It's about an Australian-Muslim-Palestinian high school girl Amal, who finds herself in a dilemma about wearing the hijab full-time. She has to face her friends, classmates, teachers, and her crush, on top of dealing with her family.

(I might not donate this after all -- I'm going through the pages now, and it's got me smiling and laughing. Oh dear! This one's been previously rescued from the to-be-donated pile, but thrown into it again afterwards. I might seriously just not donate this one...seriously.)


20) The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To

Yeah...another impulsive purchase. Never got 'round to finishing this. Ahahahahaha.

When Darren Bennett meets Eric Lederer, there's an instant connection. Then Eric reveals a secret: he doesn't sleep. Ever. When word leaks out about Eric's condition, he and Darren find themselves on the run.


21) Miss Anna Dean: A Gentleman of Fortune (Book Two)

Yet another impulsive purchase, this is the second book in the Dido Kent Mystery series. A murder among the English gentility in 1806 once again challenges the inquisitive prowess of Miss Dido Kent.

(I've lost the book sleeve, so it's just... a togel book. lol)


22) Rewind, Fast Forward: An Anthology

This book contains the writings of young Malaysians from MPH Bookstore's writing contest back in 2005. Writers could choose either the year their stories were to be set in (1940 or 2030), or their age in their stories (16 or 65 years old).

...Guess what?

This was an impulsive purchase too!

Fiction: 4

23) Nineteen Minutes

This one's by Jodi Picoult. I think she's kind of famous? This is the only book of hers that I've read; it's good, I guess, but I remember skipping some very boring and very pretentious paragraphs while reading it hahaha.

It's about a school shooting, basically. And the best witness just happened to be the daughter of the judge sitting on the case. But Josie Cormier couldn't remember what happened before her very own eyes on that fateful day. As the trial progressed, fault lines began to show between the high school and the adult community, destroying the closest friendships and families.


24) jumbo

This was on sale at Aeon Big one time, it was only RM 8!

An easy read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. Here's a summary:

Set during a pre-Christmas heatwave in Sydney's outer suburbs, Jumbo explores the fragile world of Lisa Brand, a school-leaver unable to find work. Her inability to communicate with Verity Unicombe, a teacher haunted by bad memories, further fuels Lisa's dispair.

Driven to the edge of insanity by a society indifferent to her existence, 'Jumbo' kidnaps three young children for a final, macabre Christmas celebration. As her grip on reality slips, the children's lives become horribly endangered.


25) The Battle for Big School

This one was fun to read!

It's about a mother trying to put her son into one of the best grammar schools in Letchbury. There are only 50 places, but there are 1,000 children applying! Close friends Lily, Julie, Karen, and Paul aren't worried -- their children are smart and sociable, after all. But they later discover that the process of enrolling their kids is a little like a rigged lottery, with only the most ruthless holding the good cards.

Filled with many makcik bawang moments, this book's a really good way to pass the time~


26) Fault Lines

I umm, remember getting scared and somewhat disgusted by this book and its main character Sol, so I put it down and didn't pick it back up again, soooo I don't really know what it's about. Here's a summary!

Sol is a highly gifted but also scarily un-childlike six-year-old whose adoring mother believes he is destined for greatness. He bears the same birthmark as his father, grandmother and great-grandmother before him. When Sol and his family make an unexpected trip to Germany, terrible secrets start to emerge.

Biography: 1

27) The Lost Boy

I remember being so immersed in this one. It's a sad one. Here's a summary:

In the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), girls can become valuable property as plural wives but boys are expendable, even a liability. Former FLDS member Brent Jeffs (nephew of Warren Jeffs, imprisoned leader of the FLDS) reveals both the terror and the love he experienced growing up on his prophet's compound -- and the harsh exile existence that so many boys face once they have been expelled by the sect.


Classics: 4

28) Pride and Prejudice

We have two copies of this at home, because my sister initially thought she'd lent the first one to someone and then lost it, so she bought another copy but then somehow managed to find the first copy. So yes, we have two copies. I kept the new one and donating the old one~

Summary? Really? Oh okay fine:

Elizabeth Bennet is one of the five Bennet sisters who must marry into rich families as his father's estate will be passed on to a male heir once he dies. Older sister Jane finds love in the form of Netherfield's new handsome tenant, Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth however, overhears Mr. Bingley's wealthy and arrogant best friend, Mr. Darcy, insulting her at a ball. What ensues is one of the most delightful courtships known to literature.

Seriously though, you can and should check out the various adaptations of this book -- the Colin Firth one, the Keira Knightley one, the one with zombies in it, and even the modern-day YouTube one. It's so much fun~


29) Mr. Darcy's Diary

This is basically a fanfiction of Pride and Prejudice -- because Jane Austen's been dead for hundreds of years, basically the copyright to her works have expired? Or something like that? So yeah. This book is Pride and Prejudice, but from Mr. Darcy's perspective.


30) Reader's Digest's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Uuuughghfghgh this is SUCH a handsome copy!!!!

But I already have the complete Sherlock Holmes series (and it's a thick volume, too!), and this one is basically a duplicate ahdgjkgshafalfjaklfjas so I'm donating it...along with...

31) The Best of Sherlock Holmes

Islamic Books: 4

32) Usrah Ini Semua Poyo!

Impulsive purchase, again~

The back cover says: Buku ini bakal menghidangkan anda tip dan kaedah yang efektif untuk diamalkan sebagai seorang murabbi dan mutarabbi yang menyengat dalam dakwah, insyaAllah.


33) Bedtime Stories Sentap

Not sure if I'm a fan of this sentap-sentap genre of dakwah, but yeah. Basically what it says on the tin.


34) The Muslim Home 40 Recommendations in the Light of the Quran and Sunnah

Because tak rasa macam nak kawen anytime soon hahahahahaha

35) Ke Arah Keberkesanan Mohon Hajat

Sebab dah ada banyak buku macam ni jugak kat rumah.


Miscellaneous: 4

36) Ilmu Pandu Puteri (Edisi Semakan)
37) Reader's Digest (October 2013)
38) Petster (October 2011)
39) Petster (May 2012)

~*~

The list could have been longer, had I not clung on to some volumes out of sheer sentimentality. Titles such as The Leap, The Book of Lies, and Anak Kembar Encik Harun have all been spared from the to-be-donated pile because I find it too hard to part with them.

But I am letting go of these 39 titles tomorrow at the library open day, and I am looking forward to finding new titles to add to the shelves at home.

(No promising when I'll actually get round to reading them, though!)