After watching the movie, I decided to head to the nearest book store and buy a copy of the book by Kathryn Stockett. I like the movie and would love to check out more details in the book as written by the author.

Here is the book description taken from amazon.com:

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

I have finished reading the last book in the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer. I don’t know what makes me decide to jump into the bandwagon of this Twihard..damn!! I’ve heard of the books many, many years ago but was never bothered to buy one, after all who would want to read story about a vampire first love with a human girl and a werewolf as the third person.

Oh, now I remember it must be the remaindered book sale a few months ago where they sell Twilight, New Moon and Breaking Dawn at such lower price that I thought why not give it a try..and then after reading a few chapters I was hooked..huhu!

I have watched the first and second movie but honestly they didn’t motivate me to read the books. If you are a reader, then you might consider reading them to understand what all these hype of worldwide Twilight phenomenon. Trust me the books are much better for you to understand each character (Bella, Edward, Jacob etc). You get more satisfaction and feel when you read each of the books rather than spending those 2 hours on each movie. Since the books are initially meant for young adult, it is not hard to digest each word, it’s not like reading English literature or classic.

It took me a few days to finish reading 754 pages of Breaking Dawn. Give it a try, and tell me if it converts you to be one of the Twihard..haha!

This is the third book by Lisa See that I bought. The first time I read her book – Snow Flower and The Secret Fan, I decided to read her next one, Peony In Love. I have always been amazed with Asian cultural theme fiction like Japanese and then this one on Chinese.

I am currently reading the first half of the book and so far I just can’t wait to find quiet time to finish reading it. Here is the synopsis of the book taken from the author’s official website.

In 1937, Shanghai is the Paris of Asia, full of great wealth and glamour, home to millionaires and beggars, gangsters and gamblers, patriots and revolutionaries, artists and warlords. Twenty-one-year-old Pearl Chin and her younger sister May are having the time of their lives, thanks to the financial security and material comforts provided by their father’s prosperous rickshaw business.

Though both wave off authority and traditions, they couldn’t be more different. Pearl is a Dragon sign, strong and stubborn, while May is a true Sheep, adorable and placid. Both are beautiful, modern, and living the carefree life … until the day their father tells them that he has gambled away their wealth, and that in order to repay his debts he must sell the girls as wives to suitors who have traveled from Los Angeles to find Chinese brides.

As Japanese bombs fall on their beloved city, Pearl and May set out on the journey of a lifetime, one that will take them through the villages of south China, in and out of the clutch of brutal soldiers, and across the Pacific to the foreign shores of America.

In Los Angeles, they begin a fresh chapter, trying to find love with their stranger husbands, brushing against the seduction of Hollywood, and striving to embrace American life, even as they fight against discrimination, brave Communist witch hunts, and find themselves hemmed in by Chinatown’s old ways and rules.

At its heart, Shanghai Girls is a story of sisters: Pearl and May are inseparable best friends, who share hopes, dreams, and a deep connection. But like sisters everywhere, they also harbor petty jealousies and rivalries. They love each other but they also know exactly where to drive the knife to hurt the other sister the most. Along the way there are terrible sacrifices, impossible choices and one devastating, life-changing secret, but through it all the two heroines of this astounding new novel by Lisa See hold fast to who they are – Shanghai girls.

I’ve been trying to read this book but I can’t seem to get it going past chapter one..huhu!

I bought it at a remaindered book sale for a fraction of price. I never read Kate Mosse’s work before so I thought why don’t I give it a try.

People said if you like The Historian than this book is for you. Now I know why I can’t seem to finish Sepulchre..haha! I read The Historian half way about 2 years ago and never understand what’s going on in the novel.

I think I will give Sepulchre another try in a few months time. And if I still can’t accept the whole idea of the book I might as well give it to a friend who could appreciate such style of writing.

Here is the description of the novel:
From the author of the New York Times-bestselling novel Labyrinth comes another haunting tale of secrets, murder and the occult set in both nineteenth-century and twenty-first-century France

More than a century later, Meredith Martin, an American graduate student, arrives in France to study the life of Claude Debussy, the nineteenth century French composer. In Rennes-les-Bains, Meredith checks into a grand old hotel—the Domain de la Cade. Something about the hotel feels eerily familiar, and strange dreams and visions begin to haunt Meredith’s waking hours. A chance encounter leads her to a pack of tarot cards painted by Léonie Vernier, which may hold the key to this twenty-first century American’s fate . . . just as they did to the fate of Léonie Vernier more than a century earlier.

I think most people have watched the movie, but I am yet to find the time to do so. But I’ve bought the book and read the first part of her journey in Italy. Some people hate the book, I am too. Not hating the way the book is written, but the whole idea of running away from marriage, from work and find something which you think will bring you happiness..sigh!

Here is some excerpt from the book for those who feel like reading it:

And since I am already down there in supplication on the floor, let me hold that position as I reach back in time three years earlier to the moment when this entire story began—a moment which also found me in this exact same posture: on my knees, on a floor, praying.

How could I turn back now, though? Everything was in place. This was supposed to be the year. In fact, we’d been trying to get pregnant for a few months already. But nothing had happened (aside from the fact that—in an almost sarcastic mockery of pregnancy—I was experiencing psychosomatic morning sickness, nervously throwing up my breakfast every day). And every month when I got my period I would find myself whispering furtively in the bathroom: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me one more month to live …

I am currently reading this book. Here is some info taken from Church Times:

Suite Française contains the first two sections of a proposed five-part work. Part one, “Storm in June”, depicts the lives and the journeys of people fleeing Paris after the Nazi invasion of France, and then the story of their return. The second part, “Dolce”, follows the fortunes of a rural village into which German soldiers have moved during the occupation, and tells how the villagers adjusted to their changed circumstances. Behind the story and the characters lies a vivid observation of the manners and culture of the people of the time.

Author notes
Irène Némirovsky was born in Kiev in 1903, into a Jewish family. Her father, Léon, was a successful banker. During the Russian Revolution, they fled, ending up in Paris in 1919, where Léon rebuilt the family’s fortunes. Irène began writing at the age of 14. Her first novel was published when she was 23, but it was her second book, David Golder, published three years later, which brought her to public prominence.

Although Irène had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1939, she was taken to Auschwitz and died there in 1942.

Suite Française was a work in progress, begun in 1941, but never finished before she died. Her daughter Denise rescued the manuscript, but it was many years before she realised how precious it was and sent it to a publisher. The book was finally issued, in French, in 2004.

I have put the synopsis of A Good Woman in my previous entry.

However for those who are hoping for a happy ending, a knight in shining armor who came and swept Annabelle off her feet, you will be disappointed.

Of course like me, I have been hoping that she will find someone who loves her, but even towards the end she is still alone.

She is really a tough woman, after all the things that happened to her, which were not even her fault in the first place.

And I learned through reading this book that there will be certain aspects in life that we should not be bothered to explain to people, because they will never understand the situation. And we should always cherish whatever true friendship and genuine relationship we have since there are many people who are double faced in this world.

Of course, having money will ease the pain and makes life a lot more easier..heh!

I am currently reading How to Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence – Glenn Doman & Janet Doman.

This book is the most comprehensive of the teaching series. Its 21 chapters are a conglomeration of three of the series books (Reading, Math, & Encyclopedic Knowledge) and it shows you in Step-by-Step procedures how to teach your infant these important life-long principles.

It also explains how your infant can learn several foreign languages by age six – and it will also teach you, the parent, about the unlimited teaching and learning abilities you and your infant share.

For those who never heard of Glenn Doman, here are some facts about him.

Glenn Doman and the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (www.iahp.org) have studied child brain development for more than half a century. Their world-renowned work with brain-injured children had led to vital discoveries regarding the growth and development of well children. Their work has helped made well children intellectually superb and brain-damaged children remarkably improved.

Glenn Doman is the creator of the method of teaching babies using word cards, picture cards and maths dot cards. He is the international best-selling author of seven books including “How to Teach Your Baby to Read”, “How to Teach Your Baby Math”, “How to Multiply Your Baby’s Intelligence” which has sold millions of copies in 6 continents.

Her daughter, Janet Doman, is now the Director of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential.

I went out yesterday after such a long hiatus from shopping mall visit..huhu! I didn’t notice that the book should get 20% discount so I paid for full price..isk! I know this book is not really the newest work of literature by my favorite author, Danielle Steel but since I have not been reading fiction for so long, I thought it should be a good start to choose from..(after all I like story related to the time when Titanic sinks..huhu!)

Here is the synopsis of the book:

From the glittering ballrooms of Manhattan to the fires of World War I, Danielle Steel takes us on an unforgettable journey in her new novel – a spellbinding tale of war, loss, history, and one woman’s unbreakable spirit….

Nineteen-year-old Annabelle Worthington was born into a life of privilege, raised amid the glamour of New York society, with glorious homes on Fifth Avenue and in Newport, Rhode Island. But everything changed on a cold April day in 1912, when the sinking of the Titanic shattered her family and her privileged world forever. Finding strength within her grief, Annabelle pours herself into volunteer work, nursing the poor, igniting a passion for medicine that would shape the course of her life.

But for Annabelle, first love, and a seemingly idyllic marriage, will soon bring more grief – this time caused by the secrets of the human heart. Betrayed, and pursued by a scandal she does not deserve, Annabelle flees New York for war-ravaged France, hoping to lose herself in a life of service. There, in the heart of the First World War, in a groundbreaking field hospital run by women, Annabelle finds her true calling, working as an ambulance medic on the front lines, studying medicine, saving lives. And when the war ends, Annabelle begins a new life in Paris – now a doctor, a mother, her past almost forgotten.until a fateful meeting opens her heart to the world she had left behind. Finding strength in the most unlikely of friendships, pulling together the broken fragments of her life, Annabelle will return to New York one more time – this time as a changed woman, a woman of substance, infused with life’s experience, building a future filled with hope.out of the rich soil of the past.

Filled with breathtaking images and historical detail, Danielle Steel’s new novel introduces one of her most unique and fascinating characters: Annabelle Worthington, a remarkable woman, a good woman, a true survivor who triumphs against overwhelming odds. For Annabelle’s story is more than compelling fiction, it is a powerful celebration of life, dignity, and courage – and a testament to the human will to survive.

I managed to read this parenting book – Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby by Tracy Hogg from page one till the last..and I have to say I should have read it long before my baby was born..huhu!

It’s not really for those advocating attachment parenting or breastfeeding on demand, but it’s a solution for parents especially mothers (like me) who need a break (from a demanding baby) and some precious ME-time in everyday parenting.

Read what the reviewer at Amazon.com has to say:

“The last thing new parents can find time for is quiet reading, so many helpful books on infant care rely on bullet points and a “let’s get to the point” writing style.

Tracy Hogg, a neonatal nurse, teacher, and mother of two, uses these techniques to good effect in Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. Focusing on newborns and their parents, her simple programs are a blend of intelligent intuition and methods based on years of experience.

The first half of the book is devoted to E.A.S.Y–her name for creating a structured daily routine for you and your baby that makes the most of your baby’s awake times and also leaves time just for you. These concepts aren’t designed to force your bundle of joy into not following her body’s needs, but rather to create a feasible middle ground between total rigidity and on-demand food and sleep (and no time for mom to shower). If it still strikes you as too regimented, keep reading.

The author makes room for differences in personal style and includes short quizzes to determine whether you’re a “planner” or a “winger”, and what level of daily structure you are likely to find helpful. In the same chapter, she identifies five general temperaments of infants, how to get an accurate feel for yours, and what methods of care are likely to be the most effective for his temperament. Her statement that babies prefer routine is backed up by research from the University of Denver.

While most of the book relies on anecdotes to get the points across, Hogg does find room to back up some of her statements with quotes from various researchers and institutions. Included at the end of the book are assurances that E.A.S.Y. can be followed even with a colicky baby or one who’s been ruling the roost for the first few months.

Frustrated parents might like to read the last page first: “all the baby-whispering advice in the world is useless unless you’re having a good time being a parent” is an excellent reminder to enjoy this time with all of its ups and downs.

I bought this book like 4 months ago, but till this date I still haven’t read even a page out of it..sigh! Must find some time to read the book. I never read the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella, but after reading the back cover of this book, it makes me interested.

Read the review from Publishers Weekly:

Shopaholic powerhouse Kinsella delights again with her latest, a winning if unoriginal tale of amnesia striking an ambitious shrew and changing her life for the better.

After taking a nasty bump on the head, Lexi Smart awakens in a hospital convinced that it’s 2004 and that she’s just missed her father’s funeral. It’s actually three years later, and she no longer has crooked teeth, frizzy hair and a loser boyfriend.

Initially wowed by what she’s become—a gorgeous, cut-throat businesswoman—Lexi soon finds herself attempting to figure out how it happened. As her personality change and lost memory threaten her job, Lexi tries to dredge up some chemistry with her handsome albeit priggish husband, Eric, though the effort is unnecessary with Eric’s colleague Jon, who tells Lexi that she was about to leave Eric for him.

Amnesia tales may be old hat, but Kinsella keeps things fresh and frothy with workplace politicking, romantic intrigue and a vibrant (though sometimes caricatured) cast. Though the happy ending won’t come as a surprise, readers will be rooting for Lexi all along.

I got a rebate voucher from one of my favorite bookstores and I think I will buy this new book by Jude Deveraux.

This is the product description taken from Amazon.com:

With her shining gift for “exquisite and enchanting” (BookPage) storytelling, Jude Deveraux sweeps readers away in a breathtaking follow-up to her beloved New York Times bestseller, The Summerhouse — where a marvelous new adventure awaits.

Magic most definitely resides in the Maine summerhouse where the mysterious Madame Zoya has granted the innermost wishes of its visitors. Now, three women have come to this special place with one thing in common: a painful past they would each like to rewrite. Amy, who hides a heartbreaking loss behind her seemingly perfect marriage and family…Faith, a widow in her thirties whose deepest grief is for a man from years ago…and Zoë, an artist shunned by her hometown for reasons she doesn’t know, after a traumatic night erased her memory. With their mystical powers, Madame Zoya and her sister Primrose are about to transport the trio to eighteenth-century England to alter Amy’s ancestry. But although surprises await each of them, will stepping back in time bring the women the happy endings they seek?

I am not sure whether it will be as good as Remembrance, but with all this time travel and historical romance, it should be good enough for me to spend a day or two finishing up the book. After all I am on break from any craft projects and pending dateline..heh! I will write my comment after I finish reading this book.

I went to a glass and porcelain painting class last week and I think I’m falling in love with the art of glass painting..heh! I haven’t bought the paints that I need but I went to a book store and found this book – Creative Glass Painting written by Moira Neal.

I hope I will be less busy in the coming months so that I could really try my hand on the 22 step-by-step projects. Soon no more empty bottles and jam jars will be saved from my painting experiments.

The first time I read Lisa See’s work, it was Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It started slow but towards the end of reading the book, I told myself when she writes a new book, I will buy it.

I saw this in hardcover last few weeks but since I don’t like to collect hardcover fiction, I will wait for the paperback version to be in soon. What I like about Lisa See’s book is that it brings you to a different timeline and culture. With this new book, Peony In Love it has the afterworld stories which gives the mystical supernaturals element. I can’t wait to read this book.

Here is the synopsis from Barnes & Noble:

“I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn only regret.”

For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live spectacle few females have ever seen. Like the heroine in the drama, Peony is the cloistered daughter of a wealthy family, trapped like a good-luck cricket in a bamboo-and-lacquer cage. Though raised to be obedient, Peony has dreams of her own.

Peony’s mother is against her daughter’s attending the production: “Unmarried girls should not be seen in public.” But Peony’s father assures his wife that proprieties will be maintained, and that the women will watch the opera from behind a screen. Yet through its cracks, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man with hair as black as a cave–and is immediately overcome with emotion.

So begins Peony’s unforgettable journey of love and destiny, desire and sorrow–as Lisa See’s haunting new novel, based on actual historical events, takes readers back to seventeenth-century China, after the Manchus seize power and the Ming dynasty is crushed.

Steeped in traditions and ritual, this story brings to life another time and place–even the intricate realm of the afterworld, with its protocols, pathways, and stages of existence, a vividly imagined place where one’s soul is divided into three, ancestors offer guidance, misdeeds are punished, and hungry ghosts wander the earth. Immersed in the richness and magic of the Chinese vision of the afterlife, transcending even death, Peony in Love explores, beautifully, the many manifestations of love. Ultimately, Lisa See’s new novel addresses universal themes: the bonds of friendship, the power of words, and the age-old desire of women to be heard.

This is the book that I’m currently reading. It seems that the more busy I am, the faster I can finish a book. Maybe it’s my way of procrastinating..heh!

Here is the synopsis and review of the book taken from bookbrowse.com:

All children mythologize their birth…

So begins the prologue of reclusive author Vida Winter’s collection of stories, which are as famous for the mystery of the missing thirteenth tale as they are for the delight and enchantment of the twelve that do exist.

The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself — all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter’s story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.

As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.

Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida’s storytelling but remains suspicious of the author’s sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children. Diane Setterfield will keep you guessing, make you wonder, move you to tears and laughter and, in the end, deposit you breathless yet satisfied back upon the shore of your everyday life.

I bought the book two weeks ago and finished reading it in 6 hours (well, could be less if I don’t have to sleep and do house chore..heh!) I’ve read Jude Deveraux’s books before and this one couldn’t beat Remembrance as far as I love historical romance with supernatural elements.

For me, it’s a good book for light reading, no emotionally struck moment to say but enough to give you some pleasure in reading romance book. It’s like the normal life story, a man and a woman destined to be together, they happened to be in a crisis and somehow they fall in love. And as much as you think you know someone well, there is a part of them that you don’t know and could not really believe that it’s true. It could really be a bitter betrayal when you thought it’s your fault, while actually it has nothing to do with you but the person’s past history.

There is one romance book that caught my eyes recently. It is written by Jude Deveraux. Her last book that I’ve read was Remembrance and it’s still one of my all time favorite books.

This time although the plot of the book is not in a historical, medieval setting but there is like a past history in the old estate in England with ghost that committed suicide before her wedding. Now that sounds interesting enough for me to buy this book.

Read the excerpt here:

After three years, Jace Montgomery is still grieving over his fiancée Stacy’s mysterious suicide. He hasn’t been interested in another woman since her passing, and her family still blames him for her death. While flipping through one of her old paperbacks, Jace discovers a photo of a house stuck between the pages, bearing the cryptic message, “Ours again. Together forever. See you there.” The note was dated the day before her death. Obsessed by the possibility of understanding Stacy’s suicide, Jace seeks out the property – Priory House, a big brick fortress in Margate, England – and buys it.

It doesn’t take long to learn that the house is haunted by a headstrong and feisty ghost, Ann Stuart, whom he must tangle with if he’s ever to solve the mystery. Ann died under circumstances similar to those of his late fiancée, and he has a hunch that there is a connection between the two. Through his own investigations and with the help of a beautiful foreign correspondent who is worn out by what she’s seen in the world, Jace is forced to reconcile his fiancée’s life and her death.

I finally get to read the book after many months of letting it rests on my book case. As usual I just love the way Mitch Albom writes, simple yet very poignant.

Every time I finish reading his book, even though I have no personal experience like the characters in the story, I can’t help to feel the emotion and understand the turmoil they have in life. It makes me ponder hard into my own life and see how we often wish that we could do more or try to understand those that we love more.

This book is about a son who is torn between making his mother happy or be his dad’s boy. And because of one day of trying to please his hero, he missed the chance to be with his mom. He left her during her birthday with a lie which is not told till his mom’s last breath. For 8 years later he screwed up his life and when one day he tried to commit suicide, he met her and unravel many questions he was too afraid to ask during her lifetime.

If you could have another day to undo the hurtful things you have done in your life, would you like to get that one day?

I’ve got myself another craft related book. This time it is a book on brush lettering by Ken Brown. I have done decoupage on few items like plate and ceramic mugs and I thought it would be great if I can write something, a poem, or special name and verse on the completed projects and give them as gifts to the people I love.

I bought this book through eBay from a seller in the US. The problem is now I do not have the proper brushes to try on the lettering techniques. The paint I already have at home..heh!

Well, I hope I would be able to look for Plaid brush as mentioned in the book soon. Now, what phrase should I include in my self-made poem?..haha!

I bought a new book yesterday while browsing for magazines at the book store. It is titled How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie.

I’ve heard about him for quite some times but never have the chance to read any of his motivational series. So I thought since the bookstore was having 20% discounts on books which last yesterday, I might as well get one copy for me.

I’ve checked the review about the book at Amazon and I can’t wait to see whether the formulas he shared would help me stop worrying and start living my life to the fullest.