My Favorite Business Magazines & Books

1. Personal Money Magazine

I have these subscribed. Personally the best personal finance magazine in Malaysia. What I love the most about these books is the fact that it’s not for businessmen. It talks about taxes, managing your income, how to invest your money, study cases, and the latest government initiatives. A lot of financial jargons, but simple enough to flip through to find something useful for the average joe.

2. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

One of the most inspiring biographies. I finished this book in like, 3 days! If you wonder how did Apple get so famous and successful, you'd know why from the very beginning of the book.

3. Rich dad Poor Dad series

And I mean, the whole lot. If you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you’d get a lot of good from reading these books. They open up your views on how running a business can get you financially free.

I read them when I was 16, accidently because I was bored. You can safely say they change my whole life and the reason why I quit engineering so easily. I also got feedback from others who’ve read the books, and they had the same revelation that I had.

My favorite books in the series: Rich dad, poor dad, cashflow quadrant, and guide to investing.

4. Richard Branson, Losing my virginity

Sometimes business books can be fun-reading like this one. It’s fun, inspiring and gets you moving whenever you reach a tight spot in your life. Makes you realize that if you don’t work hard, you won’t get what you want.

Of course, there are lots more, but I’ll highlight them in a different post.

Happy reading!

Super Big Deal

I’ve been spending money like crazy the past few weeks! Must be the work pressure and the only way to feel adrenaline. Must be! Now I’m dead broke! Weeeeeeeee!

I just bought a book. Among the thousands other reading materials I bought (I’m a hardcore bookworm, take it or leave it), this book is the one book that I know nothing about before buying. I didn’t read the summary and I didn’t take a peek inside (book’s still cling-wrapped). I haven’t even heard of the book before.

Mystery, mystery

It’s all my mom’s fault. She said, “you have 10 minutes”. Well, she had to say that because I could stay in the bookstore for 8 hours. I ran to the fiction side and decided between a David Baldacci book and a book with a scary lady on the front. Then in a split second, I saw this book and liked the way it sounds fairytale-y so I bought it.

I might be off-the-rail wrong and the book could be about Nazis and war but who cares? I think this is how love at first sight happens… You gung ho fall in love, find out the person is 360 degrees different that what you initially thought, then you break up.

Btw I don’t believe in love at first sight. They’re just bollocks.

xoxo

How To Have a Beautiful Mind

OK. I totally ripped off the title from a book.

If you’re anything like me, you’d have book genre seasons. What it means is that, you’d stay away from certain genres and you’d really have the fire to plow through another. This month I’m staying away from fiction and going into non-fiction.

Hard to explain. It’s like suddenly getting tired of chocolate chip ice-cream (as if) and preferring strawberry or something.

Well the good thing is, I’m not putting anymore dragon/witches/vampire boyfriend/death wish ideas into the grand head (now you have an idea of last season). Bad thing is, this non-fiction business is having me spend ALOT more. Plus I'm not easily content with one measly book. Psshh. And I don’t borrow, ‘cause I tend to have oops—roti canai dal spill moments and the apologizing, the admitting to clumsiness just gets old.

Whereas with my own book, I can just burn when something spills on it. Just kidding –_-

Anywaaays, if you used to be a lucky son of a gun who turned into an old fart who just lost his job or a young fart who got kicked out of school or you’re just simply someone who needs that motivation down there in the dumps, then you’d better pick up this book:-

How Starbucks Saved My Life, by Michael Gates Gill

Inspiring indeed. One great read indeed.

Somebody uploaded this image to a forum from which I downloaded. Apparently he takes the book wherever he goes and loves the book so much that you can see scratches at the bottom from him trying to pull out the book when it got run over by a bike. What else could explain those marks on the book?

Either that or the guy has some serious unresolved issues with Michael Gill.

The Time Traveler's Wife

... waiting for it.

What I Read… in May

Stop right there.

Don’t run away. They’re just the awesomest books ever.

In fact, I didn’t write for a whole month because I was so engrossed with these 3 books. (sorta)

If you read one, might as well read all of them. It’s like Secret Recipe’s Chocolate Indulgence. One bite and you’re done for.

I choose these babies as MY book(s) of the month.

Details:

Author – Christopher Paolini

Genre – Fantasy/Adventure

Main characters – Eragon & Saphira the dragon

 

Why should you give this series a chance?

I think I might have scared some people by showing all 3 books at once. But you know what they say, you’re only afraid of things you don’t know. Once you know, it isn’t so scary anymore.

Christopher Paolini, the author was only 15 when he wrote the first book Eragon. If that isn’t amazing enough, this book shot straight up to become number #1 New York Times Bestseller. Then they made the book into a movie. Last time I checked, Eragon was on the top 100 highest number of books ever sold. It ranked higher than the Da Vinci Code. Can you imagine?

Christopher Paolini doing God knows what in the jungle.

The actual reason why I picked up this book is because the hype surrounding it is so great that I had to succumb and say, gimme that; what’s so good about it? That also explains why I’m the tallest person standing at the teenage fantasy section in MPH bookstore.  

And I’m telling you, all those trouble of going to MPH after work and having to wait out the jam was well worth it.

I think this is where I start giving out synopsis, but I’m ganna skip that and go straight to the best points and bad points of the book. However, you can click on the following links that take you to the summaries:

Eragon Summary

Eldest Summary

Brisingr Summary

 

The Pretties:

Characters are well-developed, likeable and believable. You feel for them as they go through challenges and grow. Other points is that it has uber fantastic storyline, uses modern, and understandable English—unlike LOTR.

I also love the fact that they enclosed a map of Alagaesia(vast territory Eragon travelled on), so I get to check a place on the map whenever they mention it; which gives a clearer picture of the journey. [OMG I’m soo bordering on geekiness right now!]

Somehow the first book makes you thirst for more, so make sure that you start with Eragon, move on to Eldest and Brisingr in that order.

Another plus being not complete yet! Another book is coming after Brisingr with an unknown title at an unknown date, but it’s existence is confirmed and Paolini’s working on it as we speak.

 

The Uglies:

Personally, I don’t find anything wrong with this series. I was really into the story and I was rooting for Eragon the whole time.

However, for the sake of being objective; I’ll say that this won’t be your cup of tea if you’re not really into fantasy realms/magical worlds/illogical stories. I’ve had this complain before. I don’t know what to say to that, except that stories could go as far as your imagination goes; so it’s completely your choice.

 

Who’s It For? People who not only could tolerate, but also love Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings and the likes. Young or old, it doesn’t matter, really.

 

My Rating: 8.5 out of 10 – Totally high up there.

p/s: That was fun =D

When There's Nothing Better to Do

… make a Mid-Year's Resolutions List.

Last term, my English lecturer (professional communication skills lecturer, I dare say) talked to us about the bucket list. Basically a bucket list is a list of things to do before you kick the bucket or literally, die. Frankly speaking I don’t have the motivation for a bucket list because god knows how long that’ll take to accomplish and I would forget all about it next year.

So instead of a bucket list, I’m coming up with the Mid-Year Resolution. I mean, how clever is that right?? By now, we’ve all done the new year’s resolution or doing it already or totally ignore it. What’s better than a renewal of the resolutions!

I’m thinking that I need to complete this before July 10 or all hope is lost. If you’re wondering what’s after, that’ll be my return to the college of doom where only the toughest survive.

1. Pass beginner Mandarin

Chinese people are unique, their country is huge, I’m fascinated by their culture after watching so many countless hours of Discovery channel on China. Chinese people are the emerging movers and shakers of the business world. Plus the local chinese can speak our language, and we can’t speak theirs. I find it a bit arrogant on our side.

…And Jerry Yan is Chinese.

2. Wear all types of hijabs that’re available

This one just occur to me last month I think. Because life is too short and there are so many hijabs.

3. Save money enough for a backpacking trip in Europe

Though it is unknown when I’m going to Europe. But sometime later when there’s a long holiday and there come a time when me and my friends are running out of things to do, I wanna be the one who says, “Let’s go to Europe!” And my friends, who have read this and decide to save along wimme and accumulated enough dosh to travel to Europe will answer, “I’m in!”.

4. Step in every mall in Klang Valley

Hm. I wanna do this because I don’t wanna miss out on great things sold at different places. Ok well, not really. I don’t actually have a reason for this. It’s just that I love to shop. It’s better than walking at the park, better than tv, better than ice-cream, better than driving like a drunk. It’s the sudden rush you get from buying something new and touchable in your hands. That happy content feeling of buying something you always wanted. I feel those cliches that come with the word shopaholic. I am one of those.

5.Read at least 4 books a month

Shopping trumps driving like a drunk, but reading trumps shopping. *Sheepish*

Maybe I’m blessed with an overly stimulated imagination, because reading is fun when it goes over 4 hours or so. Or maybe I’m simply a geek who wants to read at least 4 books a month. Of course reading also makes you cleverer and adds more words to your vocabulary.

I know it doesn’t make sense, but reading a book to me is as calming as doing yoga for some. Therefore reading 4 books keeps me sane, if that make sense to you.

Don't bother me when I'm reading.

6. Er, cook

I’ve been postponing this for how long I dunno. So far, I’ve manage to get out of sticky situations ie. on mom’s side, the maids does the cooking for family gatherings thus I’m saved.

On dad’s side I just eagerly volunteer to wash the dishes and if they (usually uncle) usher me to the kitchen, I’ll stick to mom’s side at all times listening to silent orders and pretend to know what I’m doing. Oh god, it’s so hard to pretend I’m telling you. It doesn’t do anything for my self-esteem that everyone actually knows that I cook zilch but pretending to not know for my sake.

It’s horrible! My family is all from the North and they expect me to know how to come up with a 3 course meal plus drinks. Desserts. Punches. Kuihs. Floats. I dont know!

I don’t need to learn to cook to live! urgh whatever. I’ll learn to make a mean chocolate cake so everybody can stuff their mouths and be quiet.

I’m ganna change no 6 to Baking a Mean Chocolate Cake.

That concludes my list of things to do before I return to the college of doom. Anyways I’ll update on this when there are things to update on. I’ve started on the reading 4 books a months thing. On to my 3rd book this month.

Last week I went to MPH’s warehouse sale in PJ and all books are discounted up to 70% which means book rampage!!!!! If you’re as crazy about books as I am, then the sale is totally worth it. I only bought 5 books though, wishing for more than that. They were all new books and Twilight series sold for half price which in my opinion, is a –censored word-. Oh destiny what you bring upon me!

OK, enough rambling. I’m out.

I've Really Caught the Twilight Bug Now

Sorry everyone, but I'm not ready to let go of Twilight just yet. All this time, I've scoured the bookstores in Klang Valley to no avail. Twilight is officially out of stock unless someone can tell me otherwise.

I went to MPH Mid Valley, Borders The Gardens, The Curve Borders, Popular in Leisure Mall and Cheras Selatan, and Times in Pavillion. My agents reported unavailability in Kinokuniya, in Times Square and in Sunway Pyramid. So like I said, it's pretty much sold out.

There's some on Ebay but those have crazy shipping prices from the US. I think I'll wait till the Twilight mania has toned down a notch and start looking again. But I'm not about to wait like a frog waiting for the rain(that's a very bad comparison) instead I've pre-ordered my copies from Popular.

It's cool, except that I have to wait for another month or so which prompts me to go on massive binge book buying to contain myself from ripping the Twilight book into two due to excessive impulsive reading. If it sounds scary, it actually is.

Occasionally, I'd stumble across pictures of the Twilight cast on the web and I'd save them in their own special folder called "cute". I'm posting some here for your viewing pleasure.

Meet superhero of the month doing my favorite pose of him. Look at that stare that says "BACK OFF" but to me it says "COME HERE".

They're both soo good looking I can't stop looking at them. It's a love triangle.

Okay this one has cuteness written all over it.


He's all scruffy here(I'm used to seeing him neat & trim) but scruffy or no scruffy, as long as he plays clean-shaven Edward Cullen, I'm up for it.

...And of course the ones from Vanity Fair:






That's it for now about my two favorite fictional characters. Don't worry, you'll see more of Bella and Edward in the future. There's at least another sequel to Twilight and 2 more books to go. Don't bite me >_<

Thanks mtv and instyle.

He Dazzles me in Twilight

By he, I meant Edward Cullen in Twilight.

Sometime during my numerous visits to Kinokuniya, I must've stumbled upon this book. There's no other way to explain how familiar I am with the author's name, Stephanie Meyer. The funny thing is, I cast aside Twilight because of some preconceived notions about vampire books and how I wasn't in the mood to read one.

Now I kinda regret not giving that book a second chance back then because now I'm part of the throngs of fans crazy about this romantic/dramatic story. And Edward Cullen.

I slept at 4 am because I couldn't put the book down. The movie is now out in the US, and I'd very much like to finish the book before watching it on the screen. Though I dunno when Twilight is coming out here. Worse comes to worse, I'll just buy a dvd.

News on twilight movie. Sorry couldn't explain more, cab's waiting to go to airport.

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Side note: Going to Sarawak for one week. Might write about Miri, Mulu and Bandar Seri Begawan.

Inspired by Maximum Ride

If you've never read the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson, then you should. The book tells a story about a bunch of genetically altered kids who are 10% avian and 90% human. That means they have wings and are stronger than the average adult human. If this sounds interesting, wait until you've read the whole series. I've yet to read no 3 and no 4.

In fact, you should try reading all of James Patterson's books. He's a versatile writer, to my delight. Turns out besides thrillers, which he's a master of, he also writes in the romance genre. One of his tear-jerking novels is Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas.

Some time during the holidays, I thought it would be cool to give my brother wings. Hence the picture below.

back to basics

Yes, I'm back in horrorville. And this time, I expect nothing less than raw tears, sweat and all. First week is basically bearable. Meeting up with people I know is great. I never said I hated people, on the other hand, my hatred is strictly confined to the place itself.

I'm determined to finish 2 story books this week and so far I've finished one. I'm a quarter into the other book now. The first book I read is called "Sisters" by Danielle Steel and I highly recommend this book. It's sweet, with some sour taste in the middle but overall an excellent read. The book I'm reading now is called "The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets" by Eva Rice and so far, I'm enjoying it.

I'm going back every week now, while my family is still here. I get so homesick, it's crazy! But when I'm here, I'll just have to suck it up and be a brave big girl, the way I was 2 years ago. The irony.

Blink

The other day when I was at my cousin's home, I asked if I could borrow some books. That's when I saw this book my cousin has. It's called Blink, and it's about our instinct or subconscious mind. According to my cousin, the book was featured in Oprah and the author was called on the show to talk about the book and everything.

So far I found the book very interesting, it caught my attention, it made me think that maybe I should use my instincts sometimes, instead of always being technical when making decisions.
The guy who wrote this book is a science journalist and he wrote this other book called 'The Tipping Point'.