Friday, May 06, 2005

emm... errr.. ahhh

So I have been tagged by Lyn from Knitties to do a book meme. I'll bite this time cos I do feel guilty about passing on the music meme. I'm quite bad on music - listening only to what's on radio and the occasional soundtrack ( like Lord of the Rings). At least I have a few things to say on books - doesn't anyone have a movie meme to tag me with??

Me and books, we have looong funny history - in my teens , I voraciously read everything I could touch. Mum was not pleased when she found out I had read my hip cool next door neighbour's Maquis de Sade books at 15. Next time I went over - all books deemed "unsuitable" were locked away - bummer! That's not to say I never read any children's books like Enid Blyton - but I seem to appreciate them more now that I am an adult.

When I went overseas to college, I discovered this fantastic place called the public library - I think I visited the library at least 3 times a week. There was also an arthouse cinema in the basement level so I managed to indulge both my passions at the same time.

Total number of books in your house ...
Let' s see ... there's about 6 boxes of books yet unpacked and more in my mum's house collected through my school and college days -so I guess well about 800 or more.
I gave away quite a few through Bookcrossing.com - in fact, visit my bookshelf there for some books I have available for RAOK or swap.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/monast

The last book you bought was …
Just a couple of weeks ago at the Borders KL launch - Margaret Starbird "The Woman with the Alabaster Jar". It's my reference reading follow-up from Dan Brows " Da Vinci Code". While I thought the book wasn't that good - I did find the reference to Mary Magdalene intriguing.

The last book you read was …
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Gregory Maguire. I caught the film some years ago on Hallmark some sunday afternoon and was really glad when one of my bookcrossing friends offered to lend the book to me. A really dark novel based on the Cinderella story but told from the stepsister's point of view. I have his other book Wicked ( about the wicked witch of the West) waiting to be read too.

5 (or 6) Books You Often Read or That Mean A Lot to You

Tough choice - I have so many. I tend to follow authors and some of them are pretty obscure.

Lord of the Rings
I used to read this every year - until the movies came out and someone borrowed my books and never returned it. It was my first ever fantasy and I still find things to appreciate about it even now. Tolkien has this wry wit, especially concerning hobbits, that's really subtle and tends to get lost under all those battles.

Katherine Kerr - the Deverry Cycle - Book 4 - the Dragon Revenant
When I first read it, I was going through a tough breakup of a long distance realtionship. The hero and heroine in this book were parting ways as well, not because they didn't love each other enough but just because it was not meant to be.
I re-read the rest of the series pretty often too but this is by far my favourite book.

Judith Tarr -The Dagger and the Cross
The book is sticking in my mind because it's one of the first I read that deals with the Crusades - and I just watched Kingdom of Heaven on Tuesday ( for my review go here , forgive the shameless plug). Unfortunately - the book's in one of my boxes and I can't get to it for a re-read grr grr.

Marion Zimmer Bradley - Mist of Avalon
My favourite Arthurian book told from Morgaine le Fey's point of view. It's the first book to give me a differing view from the usual Morte Arthur, gallant and courtly jousting knights etc etc.

Susan Cooper - The Dark is Rising series - Book Two
It's a young adult series of 5 books which are now reprinted as one big volume - my favourite among them is Book Two

Are you seeing a trend here??
I don't know why - with the exception of Geroge Martin and Gregory Maguire- I seem to be reading more women authors and more historical fiction / fantasy- I can't get into the chick-lit books although I have read Bridget Jones and the Yaya sisterhood books.

Who are you going to pass this on to and why ...
no one and everyone - oh ok I'll pass it on to
Thuy - cos I noticed Even Cowgirls Get The Blues on her nightstand and I thought that was one of the weirdest books ever.
Vanessa - cos everyone needs a good book to fend the blues away.


Not much knitting to report cos last weekend was taken up by my sister-in-law's efficient military-like wedding. The ring pillow went well but I didn't have time to take a picture so I got to wait to get the official pics before I post up the finished product. I also had to sing a Mandarin song ( Lyn and Vanessa know all about my gripes about this) during the cake cutting and by all accounts, that went well too.

And now for your viewing pleasure - go here - it's freaking hilarious.

For your stashing pleasure - here's what I found when I was clicking a google ad
AmiAmi yarn - Japanese yarn! Internet Orders! in English!

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