Book+Review

Reviewer: Author: || Angel Priscilla Lim L.A. Weatherly ||
 * Title:
 * Synopsis/Plot: || This story is about a girl named Willow, who is a half -angel. However, she did not knew that until she met Alex, who is an angel-killer. In the beginning, Alex was determined to kill Willow but after knowing that Willow does not pose any threat to human beings, he decided to protect her from the Church of Angels. Angels, in this book, are evil as they suck the souls from the humans to keep them alive. The Church of Angels wants to open the gate to allow more angels to invade into Earth. Thus, in order to protect Earth, Willow and Alex fought with the Angels and victory was theirs. Also, during the whole process, both of them fell in love with each other. ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || I like this book because it is a creative and interesting book. As I have always thought that angels are always the good ones, when I read this book, it gives me a fresh experience and hence it appeals to me. Besides, I enjoyed the whole plot of the story as I can never expect what will happen to Alex and Willow when they are being chased and wanted by the army of angels. It gives me the thrilling sensation and I could almost imagine that I was in the fantasy itself. Furthermore, I am touched by the love that Alex had for Willow and how he willing he is to sacrifice himself to protect Willow. ||
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 5 must read!!! (only if you enjoy fantasy books) ||

Reviewer: Author: || The Vendor of Sweets Aisvarya Hariharan R.K. Narayan ||
 * Title:
 * Synopsis/Plot: || The novel revoloves around Jangan, a sweet vendor and a widower, who dearly loves his son Mali though sometimes it comes out as embarrased affection. He strictly follws Gandhian principles, Gandhi being his role model, and keeps to a simple way of life with minimal requirements, all natural. However, he does not fail to keep an eye on the profits of his sweet shop. When Mali comes back from his studies in the U.S.with a foreign wife and a new business plan to market a story-writing machine, Jagan faces a culture clash with his son as he realises that his own traditional and cherished notions of morals, marriage and principles are challenged against his own son. This leads to an extremely strained relationship between father and son, which was previously already strained with the death of Mali's mother. Eventually, Jagan resigns himself to his position as a money-lender for his son with no other duties. Grace, Mali's wife, ends up being the medium between father and son, because of her effort to win over her father-in-law. At the age of 60, Jagan escapes from this tight shell of parental love, leaving everything behind. ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || The culture clash in this book is the most ineresting part of the book as it creates a point of humour and an aspect to analyse. The whole conept of East meets West very clearly shown between 2 closely-related people. Furthermore, what's even more interesting is the irony of how, despite being direct blood relations to each other, father and son know nothing about and are not willing to accept completely, each other's way of life. The perpective of a sweet vendor is flavourful (excuse the pun) and his own theories are certainly enjoyable to peruse. Overall, a delightful book about a sweet vendor who psychologically reorients himself as his son grows up and he gets older. ||
 * Rating:(1-disappointing read, 5-must read!) || 5! Enjoy !!!:D ||

Author: Reviewer: ||< The Running Man Stephen King Aditya || What I disliked: The use of profanities as well as explicit description of gore in gun fights and accidents that occur throughout the length of the novel put me off a bit although the reader will get used to it when the plot starts to set in more. ||
 * < Title:
 * Synopsis/Plot: || The story is set in a totalitarian and dystopian America in the future where people participate in torturous televised game-shows in pursuit of money, which people watch for entertainment. Ben Richards, a poor man living in Boston is recruited in the The Running Man, the most dangerous and lucrative game show, where the participants have to hide from the hunters set out to kill them. ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || What I liked: The fast paced action and the thrill as the protagonist tries to use deceit and cunning to escape from the hunters as well as how the protagonist puts his life on the line to get money for his terminally ill daughter is simply awe-inspiring and mind blowing. The book also has a hundred chapters, counting down to the final culmination of events that occur in the climax of the story only fuels the thrill of reading this book. The book also showcases how low human society can fall to, morally, when living in dystopia.
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 5 (if you're into the psychological horror/ social dystopia genre) ||

Author: Reviewer: || Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson Fabian Ho ||
 * Title:
 * Synopsis/Plot: || The story is about a girl, Leslie, Who invented a secret country called Terabithia in the woods beyond the dry creek bed. She made a guy named Jess the king of the country where he will be strong, unafraid, unbeatable which in actual fact he is a poor little kid coming from a poor family and always got bully by his 2 elder sister and annoyed by the two younger sister. ||
 * || What I liked/disliked about it: This book is actually my Secondary 2 English Literature book which I didnt quite like back then because I wasn't an avid reader and I don't like reading storybooks. My E Lit teacher show us the movie one day which I thought would be very boring since the book doesn't appeal to me.But instead, the movie turn out to be a very touching and a very sad one so I decided to re-read once but didn't have the time to do so so I am reading it now. The author usage of words is very simple but is able to make the reader to understand very easily as this book she intend to write for her son. The affinity of Jess and Lesile sometimes do made me wonder whther such things will actually happen in earth as they are two character with the same interest and two opposite yet complimentary characteristics. Leslie is a strong girl which will protect Jess, the weak boy and give him the confidence he needed. The plot is a quite common as there will usually be a big bully in a school, Janice in this case, and the not so important characters. This book is rather simple and will be for my level to read. ||
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 4 ( I prefer the movie rather than on the book itself because it is more interesting) ||

Author: Mitch Albom Reviewer:Lynnette Yeo || Comments: || This book tells the story of three men. One Jewish rabbi who is on the verge of death; a New York criminal who got a second chance and now is a pastor; and the author who is captivated by two men of different faiths. In this story, the author feels guilty to have backslided from his faith. After his many meetings with his rabbi, he realised that all that he's been doing for the past years were meaningless- going to work, going home and the whole cycle repeats itself. He then realised that faith is what gives one meaning in life. In the story, the author slowly changed his perception of his faith, from being nonchalent about his faith to wanting to learn more. his rabbi and the pastor has spent more than half of their lives contributing effortlessly to their congregation. For instance, the pastor was a former drug dealer and a criminal but one night changed his entire life and made him turn to God. His church was poor that they could not even afford to pay for the electricity bills so the company turned off their heaters. There was also a hole in their roof, causing floods everytime it rains. However, through all these crisis, the pastor did not blame God and his strong faith still remains, saying that "God will provide". What i liked about this story is about the religious' leader's unwavering faith in their respective religion. I felt that they were really very amazing to keep their faith strong despite whatever predicaments they face. Moreover, what touched me most was how they were able to give up everytime, their personal benefits for the congregation. During one period of time, the church was so poor that the pastor did not take his pay but instead, used the money to foot for the electric bills and for the logging for the homeless in the church. I felt that his selfless actions were indeed very commendable and makes me feel guilty that even when he has little he still gives. However, while we have a lot, we choose not to give. This makes me feel very guilty. Finally the main reason why i like this story is because it is very applicable to me, and teaches me more about how we should keep our faith and keep learning more about it instead of remaining at status quo and having doubts about our faith. ||  || 4 ||   ||
 * Title:Have a little Faith
 * Synopsis/Plot:The story is about faith and the journey in which the author gets to know more about his faith from which he backslided. His rabbi, whom he always feared of and looked up to has asked him to do his eulogy. As the author felt that he needed to know his rabbi personally before writing his eulogy, the author visited the rabbi in church, in his house every week for 8 years. Through these 8 years, the author got to know his rabbi better and starts to question about his faith. As the story proceeds, the author challenges many life's greatest questions and mysteries with great honesty. ||  ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: I like this story as i feel that it is very applicable and realistic. By going through the religious' leader's stories, i feel inspired at how great their faith was.
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!)

Author : Regina Brett Reviewer: Vi || Comments: || Comments: Author: Nicholas Sparks Reviewer: Priscilla However, I dislike this __book__ because of it's ending. I would prefer that Theresa and Garrett will be reunited as they had finally found their partners in life. I feel sorry for Garrett as Theresa decided to leave him and i hate unhappy endings. For me, it does not make sense for Theresa to leave Garrett in the end, especially after the fact that she said that she had forgiven him. It also makes me wonder what happens to Garrett in the end as the author did not state what will happen to him. As I do not like books with endings that requires the readers to think and imagine, I do not like the ending of this book. Thus, for this book, I love and at the same time, i hate it. ||
 * Title:Life's Little Detours
 * Synopsis/Plot:There is no specific plot in particular for this book. It is like a compilation of 50 small life stories of the author showing the reader 50 lessons to find and hold on to happiness. The book evolved from the column she wrote for a newspaper. The fifty lessons that the book is based on were written when Regina is 50. She reflected on many things she had encountered in her life. She had endured and overcome a lot of hardships. Being an unwed mother at 21, a college graduate at 30, she also survived breast cancer. She used this book and the stories to convey encouraging and inspiring lessons to her readers, lessons such as believe in miracles, forgive everyone everything or envy is a waste of time etc. ||  ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: Some of my friends told me this is not a suitable book to write a review for and advised me to change to read another one. However i insisted on this book since it inspires me a lot. Coming across this little green book in Popular while having distress, I decided to buy it, hoping that it would help brighten up my days a little. And it certainly did. I love the way the stories are retold so sincerely and emotionally. Since they are all her own life experiences, Regina narrated it very well with her true feelings. While reading the book, many times, I found myself smiling laughing or frowning, sympathizing with her. Moreover, within 50 chapters, the book cover most of our life areas from relationships, financial management to jobs. Especially, for me, i can relate myself to most of the stories inside the book, that's why I like this book a lot. Also, each chapter has only 4 to 5 pages, thus for a girl with short attention span like me, it's much more engaging than the normal fictional books. Furthermore, I can easily go back to certain chapters that I feel like reading again without taking much time. The language of the book is also pretty simple. In general, the book is an easy read, inspirational and thought provoking. It forces me to reflect on myself and realize that I should try my best to enjoy my life and what i'm given. " You don't need to be diagnosed with cancer to start enjoying life " is one of the sentence in the book that strikes me. Why so often I waste my time thinking life is unfair or feeling angry with myself? Why I never realise that I'm much more fortunate than many other people on earth? The book dawns the light on me and tell me that I should do something different. Life's little detours also teach me to be more positive, that " Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift " or " No matter how good or how bad a situation is, it will change". Some other favorite chapters of mine are " Life is too short to waste time hating anyone", " The passage of time can heal almost everything, give time time" or " Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does". These stories, although simple, inspire me a lot. Yes some may think I am quite a strange person who value these kinds of things so much but in my opinion, this book of hope and encouragement will be much appreciated by anyone having tough times. Finally, I admit to be a fan of such self-help kind of book but Life's little detour, to me, stands out among the rest. And, there is nothing I don't like about it at all. :) ||  ||
 * Rating: 5 ( yup I'm just so crazy about it :D ) ||  ||
 * Synopsis/Plot: || Theresa Osborne, who has recently divorced, goes for a __vacation__ by herself while her son visits her ex-husband. While jogging on the beach, she finds a bottle and inside it, is a letter written by a man, named Garrett, to his deceased wife, Catherine. After reading the letter, she wants to know about the mysterious writer of the letter. Thus, she decides to find him. When she meet him, she hides the fact from Garrett that she knows about him writing the love letters and slowly, they fell in love. However, one day, after Garrett finds out that Theresa knows actually knows about the letters, he confronts her and claims that he does not even know what kind of person is she anymore. However, as time passes, Garrett realises that he actually loves Theresa a lot. Thus, he decided to write two letters, one to Catherine to bid farewell and the other to Theresa to beg for her forgiveness and accept him. When Theresa sees the letter, even though she knows that she loves Garrett, she decides to leave him. In the end, she writes him a letter to thank him for walking into her life and bring much happiness to her. She stuffs the letter back to a glass bottle and throw it into the sea, believing that one day he will receive her message. ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || I like this __book__ because of the way the author writes it. I can easily picture the scenes and feel the emotions the characters are having. The letters written by "Garrett" sounds so real that when I read it I can actually imagine how much he misses his dead wife. Furthermore, I love the flow of the story and I can understood the whole story easily. Also, I think that the writer has done a good job in describing the main characters as well as the other minor characters in the story. The author has successfully made me know more about the characters and their mood at different parts of the story, for example the feeling felt by Theresa as she is on her journey to find Garrett and after she finally found him.
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || I like this __book__ because of the way the author writes it. I can easily picture the scenes and feel the emotions the characters are having. The letters written by "Garrett" sounds so real that when I read it I can actually imagine how much he misses his dead wife. Furthermore, I love the flow of the story and I can understood the whole story easily. Also, I think that the writer has done a good job in describing the main characters as well as the other minor characters in the story. The author has successfully made me know more about the characters and their mood at different parts of the story, for example the feeling felt by Theresa as she is on her journey to find Garrett and after she finally found him.
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 4 ||

Author: Clive Cussler Reviewer: Eunice Eng ||
 * Title: The Navigator || Comments:
 * Synopsis/Plot: || It is a story about how an artifact, the navigator, holds the key to a treasure from centuries before. The antagonist is brutal in his methods as he would kill without breaking a sweat to get the artifact in his hands. The protagonist is a agent of NUMA who foils his plans time and again. ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || I liked how the author shows the different perspectives of the different characters in the book. It clearly tells me what each of them are thinking and how they feel at the different points in the story. I also liked how the plot moves from one character to another before the dots can be connected near the end of the story. When u look at the individual characters, you would not know how they would eventually meet and solve the problem. The author does drop hints throughout the story to let readers see some form of connection between the characters which readers might or might not catch. However, the antagonist is quite obvious since the start and it takes away the suspense of not knowing who he is. ||
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 4 ||

and the Army of Thieves || Comments: Author: Matthew Reilly Reviewer: Arjun Brar || In this action-packed thriller, follow Shane Schofeild as he embarks upon another journey to save the world, literally, and with only 8 hours to do it. Against an entire army of thieves and other ultra-nationalists, follow Shane into a world of pure doom.Up against an army, which destroyed the Navy SEALs in a matter of minutes, one follows Shane and his squad, containing 2 civilians, 4 Marine and a robot, in an attempt to save the world from annihilation. || liked/disliked about it: || Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves is a three-way collision between teams of special-forces soldiers, the US Marines and Navy SEALs, French assassins and the Army of Thieves, at a high-tech facility in a remote hostile landscape, but Reilly manages to keep the material fresh, and the plot and action unfold with a smoothness reflecting his now lengthy experience in telling this kind of tale. The battles are as readable as any Reilly has written (at least, when read with the aid of the numerous illustrations), while being as grand in scale and over-the-top as readers have come to expect – which is to say, unequaled by any writer working similar territory today. Reilly's particular variant on the trope of the "left-over Soviet super-weapon now on the loose" is a good one, and his villain is in line with his predecessors, at least, when we get behind the mask. The novel also benefits from a number of new touches, ranging from a scene-stealing combat robot named Bertie, to a French vendetta against our hero – and a few memorable plot twists (which I won't spoil here). Additionally, cartoonish as Reilly's characters are, they are nonetheless a bit fuller and more nuanced here, and their personalities do have a bearing on the tale. That is not to say that everything is perfect. The editing falters a bit in one of the early action sequences. Such small things aside, Reilly's use of his over-the-top plot to explore a real geopolitical issue struck me as less clever this time around and the rationale behind the action comparatively muddled, especially when compared with the almost psychic perceptiveness of the villain. Still, on the whole it's a very satisfying read if you're up for this kind of adventure, and fans of previous books are likely to find it well worth their time. However, given the extent to which events in the previous novels bear on the story in Scarecrow Returns, another name of this book, readers new to the series might want to check out the previous installments first. || disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 4, but 5 if you can understand overly complicated plots. ||
 * Title:Scarecrow
 * Synopsis/Plot: || The Army of Thieves has take over a top secret Russian test centre which contains the means to destroy the whole of northern hemisphere. And it has been activated!
 * What I
 * Rating: (1:

Author: Daniel Keyes Reviewer: Aditya || However, what I disliked was that the book shows mentally challenged people in bad light, which was how these people were perceived in 1958, when the book was published. The book gives a rather chilling description of what a mentally challenged individual has to undergo every single day and all the discrimination and callous attitudes, they must face from society, which just laughs at them amusingly, viewing them as a form of entertainment. Which, unfortunately, still continues in parts of the world today. In short, the book paints a very shocking picture of the life of a mentally challenged person especially for those who are against the discrimination of the mentally challenged. Also, nearing the end of the book, the author also fails to maintain the interest of the reader by introducing scientific term-loaded chapters, which might bore the general readers who are reading just for fun. ||
 * Title: Flowers for Algernon || Comments:
 * Synopsis/Plot: || The story (written in the perspective of the protagonist) revolves around a mentally challenged adult named Charlie Gordon, who posses a low IQ of 68 and works at a bakery as a janitor. He attends the Beekman University for Retarded Adults (BURA) where he picks up daily life skills. Soon. he is chosen as a test subject for a cognitive enhancement experimental surgery, which has been successfully done on an albino lab rat, Algernon. Following the surgery, Charlie's IQ shoots up at an astonishing pace. However, as his cognitive capabilities increase he begins to view the world in a different perspective. He begins to see the apathy in this world and how people used to make fun of him prior to the surgery. He is fired from the bakery and leads a troubled romance with his teacher, Alice Kinnian, in fear of his old self returning again. However, matters take a turn for the worse as Algernon starts behaving erratically and then dies. Charlie begins to work on the surgery theories and has an epiphany that his intellect is temporary. As his intellect regresses, Charlie cannot bear everyone feeling sorry for him for returning to his old self. He checks himself into a mental institution and asks the doctors who performed his surgery to leave flowers on Algernon's grave. ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || The novel is written in a very interesting perspective. The story is in fact a journal written by Charlie throughout the whole period. What's most interesting is that initially, the journal entries are very short and there are various spelling mistakes, almost childlike. However, following the procedure, there is a clear improvement in the sophistication and writing style of each journal entry. The author also highlights a very important fact of how closely related the cognitive and emotional hemispheres are. A change is cognitive capabilities can certainly heighten one's emotions and thus change one's outlook towards his/her own life as well as the society that surrounds the individuals. Also, the plot is also not very complex and is rather easy to comprehend.
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 4.5. An interesting read :D ||

blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking || Author: Malcom Gladwell Reviewer:Aisvarya Hariharan ||
 * Title:
 * Synopsis/Plot: || This book is about the subconscious human mind and the mechanics behind the snap judegements that we make. It talks about the power of thin-slicing, which is how we can take a little bit of knowledge and make judgements, for example, hearing 2 seconds of a couples' conversation and predicting how long it will take for the couple to divorce, should they show such signs and how our subconscious mind actually uses this tool in everyday life. It talks about how we form various judgements and how these judgemnets, though we may not consciously enforce them,have an impact on the way we bahave to the people around us. It touches on the art of mind-reading using facial expressions and goes at length on how it may be better for us to have little information than a lot in most siuations, the concept of struture versus spontaneity. ||
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || The main thing that I enjoy about this book is the insight it provides into the working of the human subconscious. It is intriguing to me. especially with the various fields that he applies this concept to, using research and anecdotes alike. It is not filled with scientific terms that sends one in circles and the content is expressed in way that relates to most people, thus making it easy for anybody to pick up, at the very least, on the gist of each idea that is presented. I disliked the fact that the evidence presented tended to be, in some cases, a bit flimsy causing the information provided from the book to consist mainly of inference and assumptions. ||
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 3.5 ||

Author: Jack London Reviewer: Nguyen Tuong Van || Attracted by the Klondike Gold Rush, Thorton and his friends began their journey to find gold, during which Thorton almost lost his life had Buck not saved him. The friends found their fortune; but the very event stole Thorton away from Buck. He came back after a stroll in the forest just to return to Thorton's friends' lifeless corpses. They had been attacked and killed by the native Yeehats; one of the men was even killed in his sleep. Buck, devastated and hopelessly trying to find his owner's body, tracked his owner's smell, which he found disappear at the bank of the river. He understood that Thorton was dead. He began to wander aimlessly, for the only human he loved was gone. In the end he became a true wolf, replying the call of the wild. However, in the summers he would return to the place Thorton had departed, howl once long mournfully in memory of his owner. || What I dislike and like at the same time is, actually, that the book is so short, but London's language takes so long to infuse into my mind! ||
 * Title: The call of the wild || Comments: A tale of transformation, pain and love of an animal. One of the "world famous animal stories"!
 * Synopsis/Plot: || Buck, a well bred hybrid dog born in a Californian estate, was a pride pet adored and pampered by his rich owner, Judge Miller. His life was sweet, until on the Judge's domestic helpers stole him to sell to a stranger. Beaten and humiliated, for the first time in his life, Buck got a taste of pain and hunger, being passed from one man's hand to another. Eventually he had to accept the life of a sledge dog. Along the way, he witnessed brutal torturing, killing of his companions, especially Curly and Dave. Buck made enemies and friends at the same time. And also as his journey went on, the primitive instinct inside him grew stronger and stronger, pulling him deeper and deeper into the memories of his ancestors, the wild and blood- drinking wolves. All of those toughened him and transformed him into a seasoned fighter. His transformation culminated in his victory over Spitz, an aggressive dog much feared by the other sledge dogs, upon which he emerged as the leader of the pack. His long consecutive trips along the cold, snow- white Alaska, finally came to an end when he was rescued just under the wire by John Thorton. Buck and Thorton developed a strong sense of trust and love towards each other, after they repeatedly helped one another. Thorton became Buck's world; he was so worried of losing him, like other kind- hearted owners who had come and gone, that he observed each and every breath of his owner even when he was sleeping.
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || This is an amazing book of loyalty and sacrifices by Jack London, set in the late 1890s. It portrays in a lively way life in the harsh weather of Northland, and the "civilization" of a beautiful, strong and overall desirable domestic dog. Moreover, what intrigues me is the way London uses his language, which is sharp and flexible at the same time. The personalization of Buck is a useful tool to make the readers seriously think about the plights and responses of animals. Curiously enough, that Buck feels a sense of belonging as well as obligation towards Thorton, a normal human, above others, shows that he, as a dog, has as much emotion and critical thinking as a human does. These special feelings towards Thorton are sharpened and refined by the ups and downs they go through together.
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 5. Dark but bright, bitter and sweet! ||

I've Got Your Number || Comments: Author: Sophie Kinsella Reviewer: Yen Thu ||
 * Title:
 * Sypnosis/ Plot: || The novel is a about a young woman called Poppy Wyatt who was going to get married to a scholarly university lecturer, Magnus. Poppy had been proposed by him with this precious emerald ring which was also his heirloom, however, on the very day when she had to meet his parents, she lost the ring at a hotel's ballroom. Then her phone was stolen and she could not contact her friends or the hotel staff to ask about the ring. But suddenly she found a phone in a trash bin of the hotel which turned out to be the company phone of a guy called Sam's ex-personal assistant. Since she needed a phone in case someone called her for info about her lost ring, she made a deal with Sam to borrow the phone and help him forward all messages, calls and emails from this company phone to him. Through the messages and emails Poppy learnt more about Sam, his job, his company and colleagues while also created quite a few of troubles and misunderstandings with him. Yet, later the phone played an important role in solving a huge problem Sam encountered at his company and the 2 of them became closer. Sam also noticed that Poppy was not feeling comfortable with her future in-laws family whose members were all geniuses and talked about stuffs that she could never grab. She also felt inferior as she could not blend in with them. Later Poppy also found out that Magnus was not faithful to her all the time. However, it was not until the wedding day and in the church that the wedding was stopped by Sam, who made Poppy realise who would be the right person for her and prevented her from making a big mistake in her life. ||
 * What I liked/ disliked about it || The novel contains humorous and romantic factors throughout like all other Sophie's novels I've read before, making me feel like going into a beautiful journey and relaxing rather than reading a book. I was in love with Poppy who was really a sweetheart, always caring about other people and trying to make them feel comfortable although sometimes she had to sacrifice her own time and effort in jobs that should have been of others' responsibility, in order to make life easier for them. Also, Poppy's innocent, imaginative and sometimes even silly thinking kept me laugh and giggle all the time. Although she was full of flaws and causing many troubles, she was a delightful and warm-hearted young woman. I like the way the lost and found phone played an significant part in bringing the 2 completely strangers Poppy and Sam together and impacting their life. The storyline had some creative twists in how the problem that seemed impossible to overcome at Sam's company was resolved by the phone and how Sam helped Poppy discover that Magnus was not the right person for her, that her love for Magnus was just a bit more than mere admiration and the desire to have an ideal husband. Although Sam was also depicted as an ideal handsome, responsible, cold type that any girl nowadays would want to meet, I feel that Sophie is just trying to deliver the message that everyone would be able to find their true love among the sea of strangers and one should not set any rules or criteria to find that right person. Poppy also never had an ideal type for herself and that was why the 2 of them would naturally get together because they know the other was the right person for them. I also love how Sophie's books always get the readers to guess what happened next and until the end and I could not skip a single word. In the end, Sam did the most amazing work ever to stop the marriage of Poppy and Magnus by sending messages to all people who attended the wedding to stop her from doing it. It was unbelievable and it worked. Poppy should have thanked Sam for saving her from a undesirable marriage full of dishonesty and unfaithfulness. The novel also portrayed how important the mobile phone has become in today's society and how some people have found it indispensible. It even reminded me never to lose my phone or some important heirloom :)The only thing I don't like about the book is the way Sophie uses footnotes to explain or express Poppy's feelings and thoughts in some situations. Although many of them were quite funny, they caused a lot of distraction to the reading cos many times I had to roll my eyes from the line I'm reading to the bottom of the page and back to the line again. This is the first time Sophie uses footnotes in her book but mainly because she is showing some sarcasm to the way Magnus' genius family members always talked about complicated footnotes in their scholarly work which I didn't understand also :DRating: 4.5 :D :D (for relaxing purposes) ||

Reviewer: Navya Sinha || Set in the backdrop of this pivotal moment in history, The Other Boleyn Girl is the extremely personal story of Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne who would be long forgotten by those who would long remember her sister, The Queen of England. It is the story of the lifelong rivalry between Anne and "the other Boleyn girl"-for a position in society, for the affection of the king - that leaves the reader asking that exactly who won in the end. || One good thing in this seemingly simple narration is that you find it easy to slip into this historical world. Gregory is known as the master of Tudor period and not in vain. Her descriptions are believable, confident and could be easily identified with. Moreover, it is the relationship between the characters rather than events that drives this book. The most impressive of which is the love/hate relationship between the poles apart Boleyn sisters. They are each other's confidants, each-other's competition, best friends, worst enemies. Though this relationship sustains as well as destroys them, it is simply a treat for the reader who can detect the usual sibling rivalry heightened by ambition and family loyalty. The description of the characters- King Henry, Queen Katherine, Anne, Mary- are obviously fictitious and rigid but serves a unique purpose of addressing the key questions in this book: What is true happiness? Both the sisters have their own route. Anne is "nothing but ambition" and seeks to rock the world and dent history. Mary forsakes everything she knows in quest of a simple, 'happy' life. Here is where the book loses some of the charm. In this ambiguous thought, the author clearly sides with Mary and gives a black and white answer to this grey question. Anne Boleyn, generally thought of as an intelligent and confident woman in history, is uniformly depicted as a vixen, a witch and other few choice words. Mary is gentler, sweet, the very image of what a woman should be. The author goes to the extent of toying with vague ideas to prove this point. At the same, the book gives a profound message of importance of contentment and the value of healthy and happy relationships though they may not give you the riches of the world. The depictions of King Henry and Queen Katherine is again black and white but this time this seems to contrast the nature of rulers. The former is obsessed with personal glory as he is with a male heir, the latter is bearing and tolerant to a fault for the sake of the country. Again, a rather stark template that serves no particular purpose but makes an interesting read. Another comparison, subtly made by the protagonist, is between the the two queens: Katherine and Anne. The same problem crops up again. This time the question is of personal relationship particularly between husband and wife, and a queen in her ladies. One is dutiful, respectful, though bland. Other is passionate, frivolous, somewhat destructive. Though this book gives rather concrete answers, it raises the right questions. This is done beautifully as the author embodies ideologies in her characters and plays them in a world which is not ideal- self serving and corrupt yet bases its values and virtues on love and loyalty. This gives rise to many conflicts in which each and every one has to pick a side, regardless of day and age. ||
 * Title: The Other Boleyn Girl || Author: Philippa Gregory
 * Title: The Other Boleyn Girl || Author: Philippa Gregory
 * Title: The Other Boleyn Girl || Author: Philippa Gregory
 * Sypnosis/ plot: || In the height of the Tudor period, King Henry VIII of England would separate the Church of England from The Roman Catholic Church, seeking an annulment of his marriage with his first wife Katherine. The main cause for these drastic events that would change the laws of the land and would eventually lead to mass uprising was Anne Boleyn, the strong-willed, ambitious woman that would replace Katherine on the throne and eventually meet a horrifying fate of her own.
 * What I Liked/Disliked || At its surface, this book basically chronicles the events of this period as seen through the eyes of Mary Boleyn who was first the beloved of the King but loses favor when he prefers her sister. She sees her sister rise to the throne and her family with her and also witnesses their fall and execution.
 * Rating || 3.5 (4 if you are interested in history, higher if in historical fiction) ||

Reviewer: Kevin Wong || The 2nd story line which is told simultaneously is that of the life of Jon Snow on the Wall. The wall is a 700 foot tall, 300 mile long barrier of Ice and Magic which protects the 7 kingdoms from the Northern Wilderness beyond the wall. Jon Snow becomes a man of the Night's Watch, the garrison which mans the wall, and ends up becoming the Lord Commander's Steward. The 3rd and Final storyline being told at the same time is the story of Daenerys Targaryen, the daughter of King Aerys Targaryen, 2nd of his name who reigned before Robert Baratheon cast him down. She is a descendant of Valyria and is smuggeled to the East, to the land of the Dothraki (nomadic horse warriors) to keep her alive with her brother, Viserys. Over time, Viserys sells his sister's hand in marriage to a warlord named Khal Drogo in return for the promise of his help in conquering Westeros and returning the throne back to him. However, he is killed when Drogo pours a pot of molten gold on his head. When an assassin of Robert's attempts to kill Daenerys however, she quests to invade Westeros to seek revenge. However, when Drogo is wounded while sacking villages to fund the invasion, Daenerys commands a captive healer to save him. The treacherous healer however, makes Drogo a vegetable and taking pity on him, Daenerys smothers him before burning him in a pyre, but not before tying the healer to the pyre. Laying her wedding gifts of 3 petrified dragon eggs in the pyre, she becomes entranced by the flames and walks into the pyre as the horde, now leaderless disbands. However, as the pyre burns out, she is revealed, unscathed, with the last 3 dragons in the world. The few remaining of the horde swear allegiance to her as the Mother of Dragons. ||
 * Title: A Game of Thrones || Author: George R. R. Marin
 * Synopsis/Plot: || There are 3 principle story lines that are told simultaneously in the book. It begins with the telling of matters in the Seven Kingdom in the fictional world of Westeros, ruled by King Robert Baratheon. Continuing on, the Lord of the North, Eddard Stark, finds 6 direwolf pups and as they are part of the Stark sigil, are entrusted to his 5 truebloods and 1 bastard. In time, he become's the King's Hand (Prime Minister). Through machinations by the King's treacherous wife, Cersei Lannister, who is having and incestuous relationship with her twin Jamie, Robert Baratheon is murdered and Eddard declared traitor, and is ultimately beheaded on the command of the new king, Joffrey Baratheon (the offspring of Jamie and Cersei). As a result, Stark's oldest son, Robb declares himself the King in the North, while Sansa and Arya are trappend in King's Landing (the capital), the latter eventually escaping to the North. Of the other two, Brandon and Rickon are confined in Winterfell, the ancestral home of the Starks while Jon Snow (the bastard) voluntarily heads to the Wall. Due to the beheading of Eddard Stark and the death of Robert, the War of the Five kings began, the first of which is Joffrey, followed by Robb Stark and Renly Baratheon, Robert's youngest brother.
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || The novel is long and interesting, filled with many interesting descriptions and political moves. However, the drawback is that the consequence of such a convoluted storyline and so many characters with different names is that one becomes confused midway through the story. But, Martin is a master novelist as he begins to mould these convoluted and messy story lines into one big story. ||
 * Rating: (1: disappointing read) - (5: must read!) || 4.5 if you can keep up with the changing story lines ||

Reviewer: Wang Zhuoling || However, life gave them a challenge again. The original vampires heard the Cullens made a newborn baby vampire and decided to kill all of them because baby vampires were terribaly out of control and they could cause great harm. With Alice's talent which was foreseen and other vampire family's help, the Cullens finally got a chance to prove that the baby was different from a pure vampire and it was perfectly within control. In the end, as everybody wishes, they live together happily ever after. || The language of this book is also very powerful. It can put me into whatever situations that the author want to easily and I always totally immeresd into their world when I read it. Don't really have parts that I don't like. ||
 * Tile: Twilight-Breaking Dawn || Author: Stephenie Meyer
 * Synopsis/Plot: || This book is the last one of the Twilight series. Bella and Edward finally get married and they planned to change Bella into a vampire after the wedding. However, accidents always happen. During their honeymoon, Bella was pregnant and the "thing" was a hybrid of human and vampire, the worst part was that the foteus made Bella weaker and weaker. Edward determined to get the "thing" out of Bella to save her. However, Bella would never let them, she loved the baby, although it is lethal to her. Finally the Cullens figured it out Edward used his venom to change Bella and saved her life after the baby was born.
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || The best thing of this book is definitely the story- a love story between a human and a vampire. It sounds incredible, but it really happend. Although they've encounterd numerous difficulties, they made it at last. What makes them so strong? I think the answer is pretty obvious---love.
 * Rating:(1:disappoingting read)-(5:must read!) || 4-5! ||

Reviewer: Chua Zhi Hong || This book tells us how the most profit-driven companies are not the most profitable companies, how people in pursuit of happiness are not actually as happy as those who do not pursue happiness. It contains a multitude of examples from ancient times like how the Cathedral of Notre Dame was built by many people with different thoughts of how the Cathedral should be built, to eventually make a majestic Cathedral, rather than a single planner to dictate the structure of the building, how the centrally-planned economies of USSR(Soviet Russia) were much more unsuccessful at allocating the resources of the country equally to the people, compared to the decentralized planning present in the market economies in other parts of the world to more recent examples such as how Boeing made the airline company very profitable for stakeholders due to his passion in aircrafts, Steve Jobs for his passion in computers, how the Lehmann Brothers were overly greedy and took swollen bonuses for themselves, causing the company to collapse. A more classic example which we might probably know is Sudoku. The mind feels a sense of achievement, happiness by deriving the answers obliquely, knowing that a box has to have numbers 1-9, and each row in the 3x3 grid has to have numbers 1-9. Rather than going through a computer system that goes through the millions of possibilities. It is seen that the oblique approach is better than the direct approach. Thinking obliquely, the dog travel at 4 times of its' masters speed thoug || A well-known brainteaser involves a man walking the mile home from his office. As he sets off, his affectionate dog sets off to meet him, and when it does so, it licks his hand and returns home. It repeats the process of running from home to meet its master again and again until finally the dog and master arrive home together. If the man walks three miles per hour and the dog runs twelve miles per hour, how far does the dog run? Most people approach the problem by calculating, correctly, that the dog first meets its owner after he has walked one-fifth of a mile - and so on. But it is simpler to note that if the dog runs four times as fast as the man walks, the dog will have run four miles. 13332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897 This book is really interesting, it gives me better understanding of how the human mind works, which is relevant in psychology, which is an option I am considering in further education. It opened my mind to new things. It also gives me a sense of security that I think differently from my friends; that some of my ideas are laughed at. What perspective thinking is; how different people think differently, and how it is a good thing, but not necessarily always. It makes me have a sense of pride in my different way of thinking. What I disliked about it is that it contains excessive examples, probably to help others who cannot comprehend the concepts clearly to fortify their image of the concept, but for me, it is a hassle to go through all of the examples and it can be a little frustrating to read at times when the concepts are very hard to comprehend; I had to think alot and relate to real-life examples. ||
 * Title: Obliquity || Author: John Kay
 * Synopsis/Plot: || This book is about obliquity as the title suggests, but to put it more in context, that goals are best achieved obliquely, how the world is extremely complex and we could achieve or become the best through constant change and adaptation, how high level objectives, mid-level goals, basic actions are linked.
 * What I liked/disliked about it: || 13332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897133326889713332688971333268897
 * The oblique solution complicates the problem to simplify it: the direct solution is inefficient, the oblique consequently more direct.***
 * Rating:(1:disappoingting read)-(5:must read!) || 3.9 [Concepts are very interesting, but only read if you are very free, if not it will be frustrating to try to rush-read the book.] ||