Books Love Me - Reviews » Titles S


14th August, 2008

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

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I had no idea this book was written way back in 1998! I thought it’s a fairly new book since I’ve only just heard of it. Man, am I outdated or what!

All the same, I immensely loved the movie! Now that I’ve finally read the book, I found that it’s quite different from what I saw on the big screen. But it still was a magnificent read. Although the book looks like it’s meant for children, it certainly is not. There are parts and words in it which would not be appropriate for younger readers at all. That was another surprise to me too. I’ve always thought it’s a children’s fantasy book but it’s not.

So, at the beginning, Dunstan Thorn crosses the gap that separates Wall, England and Fairie or Stormhold. Fairie is nothing like Wall. Wall is like our normal world while Fairie is a magical place with creatures and objects you will not find in Wall. Dunstan then meets a pretty slave girl and falls for her. They slept with each other and nine months later, a baby was delivered to Dunstan. That baby was Tristran Thorn.

Tristran grew up to be an ordinary young boy with some extraordinary features like an ear which is almost pointed for example. He’s also in love with the beautiful Victoria Forester. Unfortunately, she’s not that interested with him. She’s broken lots of hearts anyway, so why should she show interest in an ordinary boy like Tristran?

However, one evening when Tristran managed to walk Victoria home, they witness a falling star. Hoping to win her heart, Tristran promised Victoria that he’ll find the star for her. In return, she should grant him anything he desires. Because of that, the love stricken young man bid farewell to his family and set off to find the star in Fairie.

During his journey, he meets a little man who helps him. He gives Tristran a special candle and a thin silver chain. In the movie, his mother gave him a Babylon candle and the chain instead.

Now, Tristran isn’t the only one who’s looking for the fallen star. The witch-queen is looking for it too. She and her sisters are old hags but if they eat the heart of a star, their youth and beauty will be restored for a while at least. Michelle Pfeiffer did a really good job acting as the witch in the movie.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell how the star fell in the first place! Well, she was hit by the topaz necklace which was released by the dying Lord of Stormhold. The son who manages to retrieve the necklace will be the next Lord of Stormhold.

Nevertheless, when Tristran and the star, Yvaine first meet each other, they didn’t get along well. She didn’t get along with him actually. She was just a miserable, bad-tempered fallen star and he was only interested in bringing her back to his true love, Victoria.

All in all, it was a great book. The movie’s fabulous too. I’ll watch it again and again. Oh, Captain Shakespeare’s not in the book. It’s Captain Johannes Alberic instead and his role was very small unlike Robert De Niro’s in the movie! This book was kind of serious with not much humour in it. Hmm, I don’t think there was any humour at all but I’m not complaining!

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Posted in Authors G, Fantasy, Titles S, Young Adult Fiction at 10:45 pm | Comments (10)



6th April, 2008

The Secret Scroll by Ronald Cutler

The title itself has made me eager to get started on reading the book. The Secret Scroll…it sounds pretty mysterious and exciting, don’t you think?

Anyway, the hero is supposed to be American archaeology professor, Josh Cohan. He has been dreaming some weird dreams about a cave somewhere in Jerusalem. Something inside the cave, which is The Scroll, is waiting for him to find it. Wouldn’t it be fun if we had dreams like his that would help us make the most important discoveries in our lifetime? But then, life would get a little bit too exciting.

Because Josh made that tremendously ‘fantastic’ discovery, he has put his and other people’s lives in absolute danger. When Josh translated the scroll, as it’s written in Aramaic, he found out that it was supposedly written by Jesus Christ himself! Now that is one heck of a crucial discovery and Josh has to make sure that it does not fall into the wrong hands.

Since the scroll was found in Jerusalem, Josh must hand it over to the Israel Antiquities Authority or The IAA. While he was trying to pass the scroll to them, there are other people too who wants the scroll badly. They are The Guardians, a cult who believes that they are the only true Christians in the world and wish to eradicate those who don’t share their faith.

Therefore, Josh and a team of archaeologists from The IAA set out to translate the scroll to determine if it’s really written by Jesus Christ. Also, there is someone from The IAA who has been leaking out information to The Guardians. Actually, there are a number of traitors and I had a fun time trying to guess who they were. Sadly, all my guesses were wrong. =D You’d be truly surprised when you read the book.

Besides action and adventure, there is also romance between Josh and the daughter of an archaeologist from The IAA, Danielle. Actually, Danielle has suffered more than Josh since she has been kidnapped and molested by The Guardians. I’ve noticed that Josh didn’t really go all out to save the woman he loves. He was more interested in translating the scroll.

Nevertheless, The Secret Scroll is an incredibly exhilarating read. You never know what’s going to happen next and I really enjoyed doing a lot of speculation while reading. It’s easy to read so you can probably finish it in less than a week or maybe even a few days. But do take note that Ronald Cutler embarked on a research that took him more than two years to create this book!

Oh, I also like the short chapters in this book. I don’t like long chapters because then, reading would be tiring. I usually stop reading at the end of a chapter and then take a break or something, so short chapters are always welcomed. =) There is a simple map of Jerusalem on two pages in the front part of the book, so you can refer to it if you want to get a clearer picture of Josh’s journey.

For fans of The Da Vinci Code, I highly recommend The Secret Scroll. Incidentally, this is Ronald Cutler’s first novel.

Thanks to Lisa Roe for letting me review this book.

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Posted in Adventure, Authors C, Mystery/Thriller, Titles S at 11:36 am | Comment (0)



26th March, 2008

Sticky Fingers by Niki Burnham

The story starts with Jenna who is reluctant to open the letter from Harvard University. Would it be a rejection letter or an acceptance one? Well, she got accepted into Harvard anyway and she’s simply thrilled just thinking about it. She’s also 100% positive that her boyfriend, Scott, has been accepted too. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get into Harvard.

In Jenna’s eyes, Scott is the most perfect guy on earth. Everything about him is wonderful to her. The only imperfect thing would be him pressuring her to sleep with him. She’s not ready to take that step yet but he feels that she can’t relax.

Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, seems to be having problems of her own lately. She has to deal with her parents’ divorce and Jenna suspects her of being a shoplifter but she’s just not sure about it. When she saw Courtney knock a bottle of nail polish into her purse, she thought she must be hallucinating. Why would Courtney, who doesn’t seem to have financial problems, be stealing nail polish from a store?

One day, Jenna sees Scott arguing with Courtney. She asked Scott what was it all about but he wouldn’t tell her much. She also won’t ask Courtney because at that time, they weren’t really speaking to each other. That arguing part got me interested in reading more about what Scott is really up to. Why is he hiding things from his girlfriend? What is it that he doesn’t want Courtney to tell Jenna?

Later at a party, Scott does the unthinkable. He does something Jenna thought he’d never do to her but then, she’s just oblivious of his real character. He is nice to her, like trying to be the perfect boyfriend and all, but he just can’t wait for her to say yes.

This would be a good book for teenagers and also for those whose boyfriends keep asking them for sex although they have already said “NO!” many, many times. It’s time to think of whether he’s really sincere or not. Ask yourself if he’ll still be around after you get pregnant. He can tell you that he loves you a lot, promising this and that to you, but just think about it.

The thing about Jenna’s best friend, Courtney, is that why didn’t she just tell Jenna what Scott planned to do? Why did she just keep quiet about it? And also WHY is she still being friendly to Scott when she knows that he’s not a good guy after all? Courtney’s a mystery, that’s all.

Anyway, enjoy Sticky Fingers. It’s been a good and quick read. I’m going to check out other books by Niki Burnham. =)

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Posted in Authors B, Contemporary, Girls/Women, School Stories, Titles S, Young Adult Fiction at 8:21 am | Comment (0)



14th August, 2007

Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella

Published in 2001
ISBN: 0552999407

The story in this book occurs before Shopaholic and Sister but I don’t mind because it’s quite fun when you know what’s happened already. All I needed to know was HOW it all happened.

It’s still about Becky Bloomwood, excessive shopper. As usual, she buys stuff she fancies and then forgets all about it. She can’t pack light and is just an incredibly unrealistic person. I feel she’s an over-confident person and when disaster befalls her, she’s landed in total shock. Not good.

Anyway, she managed to land herself in a huge debt and what’s worse, it’s been splashed onto the Daily World newspaper, for all in England to read! She only found out about it while on a holiday weekend with her career-obsessed boyfriend, Luke. Haha! She’s obsessed with shopping while Luke is obsessed with making it big in his career and in New York!

Her flat mate and best friend, Suze has tried to warn her to control her shopping but Becky is such an impulsive shopper. Becky even bought numerous frames made by Suze even though Suze insisted that she’ll make one especially for her. However, Becky bought the frames because she wants to encourage the other customers in the shop to buy them as well.

I was quite annoyed at the part where Becky’s neighbour, Tom, who was getting married to Lucy. She came to the wedding alone, so what? Why should the bride and the other guests keep asking her where’s her supposed boyfriend, Luke? That was simply childish. Well, it was partly because all of them thought Becky is in love with Tom and they were expecting her to break down any moment during the wedding. I felt sorry for her then!

It’s titled Shopaholic Abroad because Becky goes to New York with her boyfriend, Luke. He might be transferring his business there. She then meets his mom and it was indeed a memorable experience for her albeit a horrible one! And are TV people always making empty promises even though they sound so darn convincing?

It’s an entertaining and light-hearted book. The ending was as sweet as sugar as it’s a happy ending.

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Posted in Authors K, Contemporary, Girls/Women, Humour, Titles S at 4:02 am | Comments (14)



16th July, 2007

Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella

Published in 2004
ISBN: 0385338090

My first Shopaholic book! No, I didn’t buy it but I was extremely lucky to have borrowed it from my university’s library. Usually, popular fiction books such as this Shopaholic book would have flown off the shelves in the blink of an eye!

I’ve quite enjoyed reading her Undomestic Goddess book, so I was looking forward to a nice and easy read with Shopaholic. And easy it was!

The word ‘Shopaholic’ sounds interesting enough and it’s almost become a frequent usage in daily conversations and jokes. Well, for me though!

I think I should have read the first book in this Shopaholic series, which might be The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic. But, it doesn’t matter now which book I read first as it’s really easy to understand the story and also to understand Becky Bloomwood who adores shopping completely!

In Shopaholic & Sister, Becky’s already married to Luke Brandon and the story starts with their traveling around the world kind of honeymoon. They planned to travel around for one year but after ten months of living like nomads, the Brandons decide to go back home in London.

Becky got the idea of going back home unexpectedly and surprise her parents and friends as well. She doesn’t know that there would be a surprise waiting for her at home, too.

Anyway, all did not go as planned. She expected everyone to be eager to hear stories of her travels but so much has happened at home that her stories had to take a back seat. The surprise her parents gave her was: She has a sister! Half-sister actually. Becky’s dad had a relationship with another woman way before he met Becky’s mom. And the sister tracked them down!

Since Becky’s best friend, Suze, has found another friend to hang out with, she looked forward to spending quality sister-time with Jess, her newfound sister. To me, I feel that Becky is too overconfident and expects other people to find her ideas and activities useful and fun.

But it’s probably because she’s enjoyed spending time with Suze so much before that she thinks Jess would have the same interests, too. For example, shopping! To Becky’s great dismay, Jess hates shopping! In fact, Jess is the total opposite of her. While Becky buys almost everything and anything she lays her eyes on, Jess is quite a spendthrift. She tries to save money whenever she can and thinks before buying, unlike Becky, who buys stuff on impulse.

Then, things start to go wrong. Jess hates Becky and said they might not even be sisters. Becky thinks her husband, Luke, is starting to hate her, too for spending too much money and not thinking rationally. She also thinks that Luke wants her to be more like Jess.

So, when Luke goes to Cyprus on a business trip, Becky hastily packed her stuff and heads off to Cumbria to find Jess. To apologize and to ask for help. And also to learn to be more like her, if possible!

However, when she reaches Jess’ front door, she is SO NOT welcomed there. What do you think will happen then? Will Becky just give up and go home without reconciling with Jess? Is Jess really her half-sister?

This book tries to be funny but at some parts, I am just annoyed. For example, how can Becky not know the exchange rates for money? She is a financial journalist! She should know. And Becky’s quite childish for a grown-up, too. All in all, I like this book for its simple storyline and that makes reading it easier and faster!

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Posted in Authors K, Contemporary, Girls/Women, Humour, Titles S at 2:16 pm | Comments (6)



22nd March, 2007

Sweet Exile by Alison McLeay

17-year-old Kate Summerbee has never lived anywhere but aboard a stern-wheeler with her eccentric father, Ben, on the Mississippi river in New Orleans. During the Civil War, she stumbles upon an Englishman, Matthew Oliver, who is desperate to bring a few crates of unknown contents to England. When Kate and Matthew were caught being together, Ben forces Matthew to take Kate as his wife, with the drunken pastor conducting the wedding ceremony. However, Ben suffers a gunshot wound and Matthew escapes successfully to England while promising Kate that he would write to her.

Ben dies and Kate has nowhere else to go to. Finally, she decides to find Matthew in England. When she arrived there, she discovered some shocking news about Matthew and ended up staying with his parents at Hawk’s Dyke, Matthew’s father’s house. More unexpected events occured during her stay there, among them is the death of Matthew’s beloved mother. Thus, believing to be the cause of her death, Kate quietly leaves Hawk’s Dyke where she calls home.

This romantic novel tells of the inspiring story of an independent, strong-willed young woman who is loved deeply by two men, Matthew and his father, Adam Gaunt. And as the book’s back cover describes: “But only Kate, impulsive, generous and all too human when it comes to matters of the heart, can determine the future of her love…and the home where she can finally belong.”

I read this book in 2004.

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Posted in Authors M, Historical Fiction, Romance, Titles S at 2:35 am | Comment (0)



25th January, 2007

The School at the Chalet by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer

The School at the Chalet sounded interesting to me and I thought it would be a fun book to read. Little did I know that the beginning was so hopelessly boring! Therefore, it took me quite a long time to finish this book and unfortunately, I could not read other books yet. I tend to read one book at a time, so in order to read the next one, I have to finish the one I’m currently reading.

Nonetheless, the book got better after reading about ¾ of it. When I finished the book, I wanted to read more of it! I’m keen to read what adventures Joey, Madge, Grizel, Juliet, Simone, and the others will have in the books that follow The School At The Chalet. That would not be a problem because Elinor M. Brent-Dyer wrote over 60 books about the Chalet School.

Madge, Dick, and Joey are the Bettany siblings. They have no parents and struggling to support themselves. Then, Madge decided to start a school in the Austrian Tyrol. I did not know that it would be so frightfully easy to start a school but anyhow, Madge did it. Initially, the school had very few students but it grew as the time went by.

I found this school story somewhat familiar with Enid Blyton’s school stories. It was also amusing that the girls insisted on keeping up with what English schools in England did. Play pranks. The students at the Chalet School consisted of different nationalities. The German students were excited to play pranks because they wanted to feel being in an English school. The only thing they did not have was a midnight feast like how Enid Blyton’s schools had.

Of course there are tragedies, excitements, rows with various kinds of people, making new friends, silly students, etc. It was dull in the beginning because all everyone did was introduce themselves to each other. Things sped up when the girls began to play pranks on one another and there were the consequences.

I also learnt new German words too, for example, mittagessen or lunch.

I am looking forward to reading more Chalet School books.

Buy The School at the Chalet (The Chalet School Series)

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Posted in Authors B, Modern Classics, School Stories, Titles S at 9:27 pm | Comments (4)



23rd December, 2006

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

An uplifting story of four good friends, Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget. This summer, they are turning sixteen. And this summer, they won’t be spending it together. Carmen is going to South Carolina to spend more time with her dad (her parents are divorced), Lena is going to Greece to visit her grandparents, Bridget will be going to soccer camp in Baja, California, and only Tibby will be staying home while working at Wallman’s.

The Pants. Carmen bought it at a thrift store and had not bothered to try it on. She did not think it will fit her at all and was planning to throw it away. But Bridget spotted it and asked Carmen to give it to her. Bridget tried it on and insists that her 3 friends try it too. Miraculously, the pants fit all of them comfortably and making them look really good in it. Thus, they believe it contains some unspeakable magic and decide to take turns in keeping it. On condition that they follow 10 rules, which they made together.

They vow to do something great in them. And when they are back together again, they would share with one another their stories of their achievements or downfalls during the summer.

This book has been made into a movie, and if I’m not mistaken, it was not shown in Malaysian cinemas although the VCD is on sale. The 4 best friends are played by Amber Tamblyn (Tibby), America Ferrera (Carmen), Blake Lively (Bridget), and Alexis Bledel (Lena).

I haven’t watched it yet but the book was quite okay. I don’t pretend to be over-enthusiastic about it but it’s a good read.

Buy Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Book 1)

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Posted in Authors B, Girls/Women, Titles S, Young Adult Fiction at 4:09 am | Comment (0)


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