Reading List Update.

For my future reference, I:

am currently reading

The Darkness of Wallis Simpson by Rose Tremain
Started reading this last night. Was hoping the LRT ride this morning would last longer than usual so I could find out what happens in the title story (the first short story in this compilation). I hope the rest of the stories are of the same quality as this one.

have recently finished

Aug 14, 2006: Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami
Brilliant and enjoyable collection of short stories. Proof that Murakami is indeed master of the surreal as well as the unreal.

Aug 2, 2006: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Melancholic and nostalgic. Though written in simple language, the story is engaging till the end.

Jul 30, 2006: Roald Dahl and His Chocolate Factory by Andrew Donkin
Found this book lying around in my parents's house and gave it a read. Finished it in a few hours. It was okaaaaay. Some things I didn't know about Dahl were in the book, but I think those factoids could've have easily been found on the Internet if I had bothered to look.

might be reading these next

Advencer Si Peniup Ney by Faisal Tehrani
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil

also finished listening to this in the car

The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry
Great book! Makes you want to write poetry right then and there. Which was hard for me as I was driving.

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Comments

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover

HOWTO: Get Rid of Silverfish

The bane of every book collecting person: the Silverfish. DUN DUN DUNNNNN!!! How to get rid of them? If one book has been infected, place it inside an air-tight plastic bag along with some silica gel desiccant. The silica gel is important to get rid of moisture, because you will now place the sealed plastic bag with the book in it inside the freezer. Leave it in there for a couple of days so that those bugs catch their death of cold. If you're feeling particularly paranoid, (like I usually am) feel free to leave the plastic bag in there for a week. If they're not dead, then you might likely have an infestation of zombie silverfish , which is out of the scope of this blogpost. But what if a whole colony of silverfish decided to invade your whole bookcase? Then you have to make sure you're ready for war. Place a generous amount of silica gel (or if you can find it, diatomaceous earth) behind your books at the back of the shelves so that moisture levels remain low.

An Ipoh Ghost Story.

When I was growing up in Ipoh in the 90s, the only good bookshops around were Mubaruk's, which specialised in textbooks (and still does), and Novelhut, the second-hand bookstore that used to be in Yik Foong (and maybe still is there, but I haven't checked in years since I prefer going to their Ipoh Parade outlet when I'm in town). There was also a pretty good bookstore in the Parkson Grand in Ipoh Parade which could have been a Berita outlet, but I don't remember. This was in the days before they expanded Ipoh Parade into what it is today. (And temporarily causing the Convent school next door to consider moving.) I recall this because I was thinking of when exactly I started reading "serious" fiction, trying to pinpoint the years when I moved from young adult/fantasy/sci-fi books into non-genre fiction. I still can't remember, but it brought back memories of a book I bought from a short-lived bookshop in Old Town. Mum had brought me there, because she must

Ted Mahsun

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