The Emerald Atlas and four more books to read.

I know I am busy when I don’t have any time to read books anymore. Nowadays it took me about 2 month to finish a book. Just finished a great boot called Emerald Atlas by John Stephens. This is the kind of book that will have the reader glued to its pages until the stirring ending. I would equate this book to The Golden Compass, though easier to understand, and also Harry Potter. John Stephens previously a television writer, really knows how to keeps his reader attention. I saw this book at a book shop, read the first 3 pages and immediately I realized I really want to know the whole story.

The story is about the love of family, faith, and magic. The three main characters are siblings who have been taken from their parents ten years ago, forced to grow up in one orphanage after another, until finally ending up in an old mansion owned by a mysterious old man. Before they meet the old man, the children explore the house until they come upon a door that magically appears, leading fourteen Kate, and her twelve year old brother Michael, along with feisty eleven year old Emma, into a laboratory of sorts. There they
find a mysterious green leather book with filled with blank pages. When Michael, who records their lives in his journal, drops a picture onto one of the blank pages, the children are transported through time, finding themselves watching in horror as a beautiful witch threatens to drop a child into a lake.

I loved the back-story of how magic left the land, along with some real history thrown in for good measure. Stephens does a great job of adding depth to the story and for making believable and unforgettable characters. Set in modern times yet full of magic, the Emerald Atlas is non-stop action with lessons of loyalty, love and the importance of family woven masterfully into a tale that kids of all ages will find hard to put down. Like Harry Potter, the Emerald Atlas can be read by children and adults alike. Stephens' trilogy starts off with such promise. I will be eagerly awaiting book two. I hope he writes quickly.

I just bought 4 new books this week and hopefully I can finish reading all the books as soon as possible. These were the four books that I bought:

Delicacy by David Foenkinos

This book is originally written in French with the title La delicatesse. I found this book at Borders, read the synopsis at the back and intrigue to read further. So far it is good.

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

It’s been a long time since I read Sparks novel. My favourite book Sparks is The Guardian and The last Song. So I hope this book will give the same feeling like his other books.

I Miss Mummy by Cathy Glass

I am the big fan of Cathy Glass! I can read her book in 2-3 days! It’s really hard to put down her book. That’s the reason I purchased this book. To me, all of her books are must buy/read item!

One Day by David Nicholls

I read lots of bad review of this movie. I haven’t watched it yet. Then I found this book at Borders, so before actually watch the movie starring Anne Hathaway, I want to read the book first then watch the movie and judge.

50/50

Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.

Director:

Jonathan Levine

Writer:

Will Reiser

Stars:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick

Friendship is succinctly heartwarming. More so, it’s a divine blessing that enriches our soul. A staunch buddy is one whom we can let our hair down and be ourselves – no pretensions. We can wail and wallow in our sorrows without being accused of being self-piteous. True friends allow you to unload your emotional and spiritual baggage, to let these flow unashamedly, and you don’t need to hold anything back. Friends make us feel loved, respected and that we are not alone in this chaotic globe.

This is definitely one of the very few films of 2011 that has a luminously written screenplay. Unlike any dramatic and moving cancer movies, 50/50 takes a very different approach by being utterly comical with an attempt of inspirational cancer victims to stay positive. The film's portrayal of the psychological stages of Adam, from knowing to comprehension with the volcano theory as the metaphor, is convincingly honest and not cheesy at all. The acting performance of the cast is also quite impressive.

Approaching death isn’t a typical theme for comedies, but it works as the plot tool here thanks to a smart, funny and honest script by Will Reiser. It finds laughs through the characters and situations, but it never forgets the core truth that this is a story about a young man potentially facing the end of his life. The story lets Adam and the audiences experience the nuisance and anger as well as the joy and absurdity. Director Jonathan Levine trusts both the script and the actors, and together they ensure the film never crosses into melodrama or movie of the week territory.

The heart of the film can be found in both the character of Adam and the performance of Gordon-Levitt. Adam is a nice guy dealt a bad hand, and Gordon-Levitt immediately makes us comfortable around him and concerned for him simultaneously. He’s capable of expressing a lot with a little, and while he often uses his facial skills for eyebrow arching comedy, films like this and (500) Days of Summer have proven him skilled at earning an emotional response through subtle looks and gestures. Adam’s mental road trip through the stages of grief is often heartbreaking and hilarious, and Gordon-Levitt sells it all wonderfully.

verdict : 5 stars (must watch movie)

Memo by Yuna

Simply said, I love this song so much. Yuna please hurry! I want to buy Terukir di Bintang cepat!

end of the world year?

Hey, where is it? I know we've put it somewhere. Where the hell is 2011? Is it me or the time flies like lightning? Amazing as well as really, really frightening I say. And....not to frighten you enough just a reminder if the Mayans was right (as if) this will be the last year of living. woooooo... takutnya...

Greetings Lovelies! Fun 2012 so far? Mine was great so far. The last 3 weeks of 2011, I suffer a lot with back to back sickness. It's just so unbearable. But Alhamdulillah I'm better now. Syukur. On life progress, I'm entering my second month working in Aquila Emas as creative development and communications exec. So far so good. But we never really know. As some of you may know, I hate doing routine job. So far my job here is opposite of that so I better be thankful. Hihi.

Do you know anything about Kenanga Wholesale City? I went there with my friends Ririen, Zaza and Zhaf. I predict that this mall gonna beat Sungei Wang Plaza popularity. With much cheaper yet stylo shop, this maybe will be the new places for teenager to shop during weekend or when they get the PTPTN money. haha.

Back to the end of the world topic, if you asked any Paleolithic hunter ten thousand-years ago, the end of the world due to climate change was a laughable idea. But the last three hundred odd years of the industrial revolution would wipe that grin off his bearded face, as the numbers of humans have grown to more than 7 billion. Our demands have created industries that squeeze out of the planet what it took Mother Earth millions of years to produce. Oil and gas drilling in remote places; coal mining to the damage of the land; forest degradation; exploding limestone hills around Ipoh (ehem ehem) if we want to see something closer to home. You name it; we humans do it in the name of economic development. The end of the world is coming and we don't have anyone to blame but ourselves.

Sometimes we human think we are bigger than the earth, smarter and more technologically advanced. We love all the high-technology progress, the fast life and the constant move. The end of the world topics might slow us down and remind us about the limited powers that still left in this great world/earth.

Raisa -Serba Salah

I love the tune of this song and Raisa's voice is so sweet and simple. A feel good song for me. Even though the lyrics is so contrary. Raisa just released her self-titled debut album and this album produced by Asta Andoko (RAN), Ramadhan Handy (Soulvibe), and Adrianto Ario Seto (Soulvibe). This album is a great collaboration by young talented people in Indonesia. If you like India Arie, Joss Stone, Atilia and Brian McKnight, you gonna love Raisa's music. This is a good start for a new singer like Raisa. All the best girl!

Other than this song Serba Salah, there's one more great song I want to share. It's Raisa's "Apalah (Arti Menunggu)" click here to see the vids

2012

Happy 2012 friends! I hope this year will bring happiness to me, and the rest of the world. To start this year blog post, lets look at the list of things we're looking forward in 2012.

1. The last of Twilight movies. Thank God it's finally gonna end soon!

2. My Bff's engagement (ayu poppish)

3. Bunohan in all it's uncensored glory. Fingers crossed!

4. Barajiwa hit the cinema. (ke Jiwa Taiko?)

5. New coins and money design. I wonder why there's still no triangle coins?

6. Elections.

7. Emma Stone in Spiderman new movie. Ok, another spiderman movie. Just hope I like this version of spiderman.

8. The new James Bond movie, Skyfall.

9.Yuna's 2nd album, Terukir di Bintang

10. Shinee's concert in Malaysia. A dream I hope come true.

11. a new 10 episode season of Arrested Development

12. Mark Ruffalo attempts what Eric Bana and Edward Norton couldn't do: play The Hulk in a successful movie, The Avengers.

13. Lee Chong Wei beat that corky LinDan ass! It's time already.

14. Kenanga Mall popularity rise to the roof beating Sungai Wang.

15. Finally, some very dissapointed Mayans.

What Are You Doing New Years Eve? by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

happy nu year!

happy mubarak!

i need to talk

Throughout my life, I had lost some very good friends due to certain grounds. Maybe best friend is not that important to certain people but for me, I always need friends. I think the universe know that I hate being lonely doing everything by myself. It reminds me of my high school year when my life does not includes lots of best friend. During that time, I only meet my friends during school or tuition. Yes, sometime I went out with couple of friends to catch a movie or eat at MacDonald but most of the time I spend at home, my bedroom to be specific. Alone.

The age 14 to 17 was the hardest part of my life. Confronting my parents’ divorce and my dad new marriage at that time is not easy for me. I still remember that I live a lie when I’m in high school. None of my friend at school knows about my parent situation. At school, I act as if nothing major happened in my life, while at home I seldom enjoyed sitting alone in my room crying while listen to jazz music that calm me down.

At that period of life, my best friend is too far from me. I don’t blame him because he’s in KL and I in Malacca. When I’m in KL, he moves to Brussels with his family. If I know he’ll die when we’re 19, I will try harder to spend more time with him.

Then, there is a best friend that when I first met him, I thought we’re surely matched by god himself. We’ve the same interest in almost everything especially music and movie. Sometimes, we magically sang the same song in our heart. With him, I felt that I can share almost everything. Until one day I found out instead of recognising me as a best friend that always support and encourage him to succeed, he sees me as a rival. I never meant to be on his way. If he think (ever) that I am here to stop him from achieving whatever he want to achieve, I just want to that say I can’t help being good at being myself. I don’t want to be anybody rival. If anybody thinks that I might stand on their way, and then let me move aside so that you can move further.

There’s also one girl that I consider my best friend just because she seem to always understand me without acting like she care at all. I have to admit that at the beginning of the friendship, I want to be her friend because I had a huge crush on her. Lucky for me, while I didn’t get her as a lover, I got a real best friend.

At this point of my life, I just want to be happy and cherish my life as great as I can. I just want to say that I love my friends, best friends, bffs and soulmate. If you hate them, I can’t do anything than ignoring you. As simple as that, I am loyal.

p/s: I don't feature all my best friend in this post. I only mention three of them. Maybe for now at least.

this is it...

this is it.

i love u and no one else.

this is it.

u walk me through shine and rain.

this is it.

we will walk down this love lane.

building memories that's not plain.

this is it. i. u. and love.

something i want to share...

Hi there! It’s been a while since my last post. I don’t know why but I don’t really feel like writing nowadays. I’ve lost my magic I think. (Sigh). Not only this blog, I can’t remember when the last time I wrote a song is or even write a short story like I used to do daily. Since I am currently on stuck mode, there are few things that I want to share for all my friends that read my blog (I know, only a few. But I don’t care or mind). J

Firstly, is about these siblings Gamaliel and Audrey. I think they have fantastic voices and talent. Thanks to my friend Ririen (sidoko.blogspot.com) for the info about them. I’m so mesmerized with their rendition of some famous song. Especially a cover for Lady Gaga’s Telephone. Here u go! J

That’s all for now, will update more later! Muaaah! Xoxo.