Teaser: Airframe by Michael Crichton

A fun weekly meme Hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading where readers share the teaser sentences from their current reads. Now I'm reading a Sci-Fi Thriller by Michael Crichton, "Airframe". This is the first time me reading a novel this author so I don't really know what to expect from this book. I just hope that it will be a good read. Since it is about airplain I really hope this will bring me sky high.

The Teaser

"He knows the aircraft didn't come within five hundred feet of the Pacific Ocean. Everybody'd be dead if it did. The incident happened at thirty seven thousand feet. At most the sircraft dropped three of four thousand feet. That's bad enough." -pg. 215

News: Weekly Top 5 Fiction Best-Sellers

I'm sharing with you guys this week's top 5 fiction best-sellers as compiled by Malaysian local bookstore, MPH Bookstores. Well, it's good to know what Malaysian are buying for their shelves and maybe I can put several to mine as well. Well here are the list!!

05. "The Art of Fielding" by Chad Harbach | Literary Fiction

It is about baseball. Well, not my cup of tea I would say. But I believe that this kind of story might be inspiring and there will be a lot of lesson to be learned. To be honest, I hate the cover. #nottoread 

04. "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien | Fantasy, Adventures

This book had been first published decades ago I guess. But still, it is a great read and it will be on the big screen soon! I am so excited about it. My friend gave this book to me but I haven't get the chance to read it yet. But, I will read it soon before going to the cinema. #bookIown #toberead #movietiein

03. "The Sins of the Father" by Jefftey Archer | Historical, Thriller

Book Two of "The Clifton Chronicles" series. I have the first book, "Only Time Will Tell" on my shelf waiting to be read. #wishlist

02. "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E.L. James | Adult, Erotic

I am well aware that this series is so popular. But, I'm just not interested. #nottoread

01. "The Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling | Mystery, Adult Fiction

With the huge success of Harry Potter books, Rowling had set the bar very high. I was really addicted to Harry Potter series, and because of the series I started to be a bookworm. Despite of some bad words for this books I think I would like to read this book. Harry Potter was super great and Rowling is popular. I guess that's why this book is at the top of the list. #toberead 

Source: New Straits Times

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Book Review: Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

Title: Change of Heart | Author: Jodi Picoult 

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton UK

Genre: Family Drama, General Fiction, Thriller

Format: Paperback, 461 Pages

Date Finished: October 2, 2012

CoffeeNCrackers Rating: 3 Cups of Coffee

"Your daughter needs a new heart. The only match comes from a murderer. What would you do?" 

June has survived what no mother should face. twelve years ago, her husband and young daughter were murdered. For the sake of her unborn child, she managed to carry on living. But now she faces losing a second daughter. Claire has a heart defect, and unless they find a donor soon, she will die. When a match is offered, it seems like a miracle. Until June learns that the new heart will come from the man who killed Claire's sister. She thought she would do anything to keep her child alive. But how can she give her daughter the heart of a murderer? - Back Cover

My Review

When I read the synopsis of "Change of Heart", I thought was, "Oh my, here is another germ from Jodi Picoult." When her husband and daughter were murdered, life had been so meaningless for June. But for the sake of her unborn daughter June kept on living with the past shadowing her life. But, like any other books by Picoult, life won't go easy for the mother as the daughter, Claire was diagnosed with a heart defect.  Shay, the murderer, wanted to donate his heart to Claire but the death sentence he was facing didn't permit him to do so. And even that he could do so, will June and Claire accept the heart of a murderer?

As usual, I like how Jodi Picoult tackles some serious and sensitive issues happened in the society and turned it into an interesting reading. In "Change of Heart", she highlighted about organ donation and organ transplant as well as the death sentence. Shay, the murderer, would like to donate his heart to the victim's family which I think that it was a way for him to atone for his crime. Thought he was a convicted murderer, I kind of like Shay's characters partly because I think he's innocent, and I was proven right (partly) about that as towards the end of the story, when he revealed the story (which I don't really know it was true or not) about what had happened during the day when the father and daughter were murdered. June in the other hand was not really a likable character because I think she was an ignorant mother to both Claire and Elizabeth. I kept asking "Why not taking the heart, if it is the only way your daughter could live?" 

Though it is a good read, I have to say that this book is not as enjoyable as some of the previous books I read by the author. The first half of the book was boring and dragging especially reading from Michael's point of view. Partly because most of the time Michael will relate his thought with Christianity and bible, which I am not really familiar with and partly because Michael himself was such a boring character. When Picoult's story suppose to be believable and real, she offered some illogical paranormal events in this book. For examples, Lucius's AIDS was suddenly cured, Shay's brought the dead Robin the raven back to life, and the wine came out from the prison's pipe? Well, I like these kind of Stephen King's paranormal mysteries, but for Picoult's story they didn't blend well. 

Favorite Quotes:

 “Would you give up your vengeance against someone you hate if it meant saving someone you love? Would you want your dreams to come true if it meant granting your enemy's dying wish?”

Note: This review is linked to Saturday's Situation by Candace's Book Blog. 

First Malaysian Author Shortlisted for Man Booker Prize

Today I came across an article in NST of Man Booker Prize, the equivalent to  Oscar Award for the writers. To my utter surprise a Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng is one of the six authors who are shorlisted for the prize. This is the historical moment for the Penang born author, as he is the first Malaysian who has been shortlisted for such a great event for authors all around the world! I am so proud mself to be a Malaysian. 

About the Prize 

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success; therefore, the prize is of great significance for the book trade.

Tan Twang Eng has been shortlisted for his novel "The Garden of Evening Mists" which is published in January. This is the second time he is listed for the prize since 2007, when his debut novel "The Gift of Rain" made the Booker longlist. Well, it was such an acknowledgement to a writer to be longlisted in the prize itself, and to be shorlisted together with the Booker Prize Winner, Hillary Mantel, this year, it is such a great accomplishment I would say. Well done Mr Tan!! 

The Booker comes with a £50,000 (RM250,000) prize. Wow! That's a lot. But the most important thing is the sales of the books will increase at every stage of the selection process. In the week of shorlist announcement, sales of Tan's novel shot up from 174 to 950 per cent. Pretty damn impressive!

The Blurb

It's Malaya, 1949. After studying law at Cambridge and time spent helping to prosecute Japanese war criminals, Yun Ling Teoh, herself the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed plantations of Northern Malaya where she grew up as a child. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the Emperor of Japan.

Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in Kuala Lumpur, in memory of her sister who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses, but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice 'until the monsoon comes'. Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to her sensei and his art while, outside the garden, the threat of murder and kidnapping from the guerrillas of the jungle hinterland increases with each passing day. But the Garden of Evening Mists is also a place of mystery. 

I think, I a few years back I bought "The Gift of Rain" but I haven't get the opportunity to read it since it had been eaten by termites. So, I have to get both of the book soon. Well, I'm not sure who's gonna win this time!

Note: Other books shortlisted for The Booker Prize 2012

• Hilary Mantel "Bring Up the Bodies"
• Will Self "Umbrella"
• Jeet Thayil "Narcopolis"
• Deborah Levy "Swimming home"
• Alison Moore "The Lighthouse"