Book Haul @ Kinokuniya

So last Thursday I finally put to good use the BB1M RM200 book vouchers I received from my university. They had been camping out in the dark reaches of my purse for maybe 2 weeks since I collected them, and the inner book addict was just dying to hit them up! It’s been a good while since I’ve made a shopping trip to the bookstore, and a longer while since I’ve found a decent book worth my time, so you can imagine the bubbling nerdy excitement, haha. So, hauling up my partners-in-crime, KITTY and NASYER (Arashians, book-addicts, and my soulsoulmates4lyfe!), with reinforcements i.e. NASYER’S SISTER and CHII, we commenced Mission: Bookstore Invasion @ Kinokuniya, KLCC @ 1100 hours.

What can I say? Four amazing hours were spent meandering around seemingly-endless rows of bookshelves, studying (with much confusion) the 128507 similar Art of War books at the War/Military section, gasping aloud as I flipped a book to the back and saw the price tag, squealing at the occasional 20% discount-with-purchase sticker, happily stacking books of potential/interest into the basket until it weighed a tonne, and then agonising over the process of going through the basket and selecting the five finalists to make it to the cashier. Thank you, Kinokuniya, for re-igniting my long-forgotten joy in book shopping.

Anyways! So I figured since it was such an enjoyable experience, it is only appropriate that I do it justice by writing my blog about my very first documented book haul!

First of all. I just gotta say this – I’m a romance/chick-lit kinda girl. I’m also into fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and the occasional popular fiction, but I have a ridiculous obsession with the stories of true love and happy-ever-after. With that said, taking into account the fact that this whole Kinokuniya trip is being financed by the country’s taxpayers, and I was determined to get out of my comfort zone and be more adventurous with my choice of genres, because I just simply refuse to use the people’s hard-earned money on impulsive, hormonal-driven purchases of Harlequin novels with smutty covers of Fabio inappropriately touching a random boobylicious redhead.

So, I’m proud to say that I made the effort and it was very rewarding! As you can see, the books I got consist of literary fiction (‘The Secret Children’), horror/suspense (‘The Woman in Black’), non-fiction/history/mythology (‘Parallel Myths’), chick-lit (‘The Cinderella Effect’), and fantasy classics (‘The Hobbit’). Talk about a crazy wide range, eh?

Now here’s a run-down of details and thoughts on each book:

#1
The Secret Children by Alison McQueen 

SUMMARY: Assam, 1925. In the emerald hills of a tea plantation in northern India, James MacDonald, a son of the Empire, has no interest in choosing an English bride. But when he takes a beautiful young Indian woman as his concubine, little can he imagine the legacy that will resonate for generations to come.

So begins the story of Mary and Serafina. Born of two worlds, accepted by neither.

Growing up beloved yet hidden away, their childhood is one of confusion and contradiction. It is only as the spectre of war descends and the turmoil of Indian independence heightens, that the girls must face the truth of their parentage and begin their search for somewhere to belong…

THOUGHTS: I gotta admit, I went for this book by gut feeling. I can’t really put my finger on the attraction I have for it. I think I strongly relate to these girls and the racial prejudice they suffered for their mixed identity – not that I’m multiracial, but I relate to the sense of not fitting a stereotypical category, of isolation within a crowd, of being different. That, or it could be the weird fascination I have for stories set during the early 20th century, with a looming civil/world war as the backdrop. Either ways, who doesn’t love an epic story of self-discovery and overcoming the adversaries of war, of girls growing into women and finding their place in the world?

#2
Parallel Myths by J.F. Bierlein

SUMMARY: Parallel Myths introduces us to the star players in the world’s great myths — not only the twelve Olympians of Greek Mythology, but the stern Norse Pantheon, the mysterious gods of India, the Egyptian Ennead, and the powerful deities of Native Americans, the Chinese, and the various cultures of Africa and Oceania. Juxtaposing the most potent stories and symbols from each tradition, Bierlein explores the parallels in such key topics as creation myths, flood myths, tales of love, morality myths, underworld myths, and visions of the Apocalypse. Drawing on the work of Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Carl Jung, Karl Jaspers, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and others, Bierlein also contemplates what myths mean, how to identify and interpret the parallels in myths, and how mythology has influenced twentieth-century psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and literary studies.

THOUGHTS: If I was unfamiliar with literary fiction, historical non-fiction is almost alien to me. I have never in my entire life bought a non-fiction book. Quite a shocker, huh? Well I guess I’ve lost my non-fiction virginity.

Now, this book isn’t your average recycled mythology retelling. I find that, in contrast to the usual staple of textbook-style narration, its premise of studying the common aspects of different ancient myths all over the world is really unique. What’s interesting is that it doesn’t limit itself to just the all-time popular Greek, Roman and Norse mythologies, but also the lesser known but equally interesting Egyptian and Indian and Native American. Personally? I’m deeply, passionately, obsessively in love with ancient mythology. That is quite possibly the sole reason that fuelled my burning desire to get this book. Enough said.

#3
The Cinderella Effect by Miriam Morrison

SUMMARY: Serial fiancée and struggling artist Lila Barton lives with her family in a dilapidated mansion. Penniless, directionless and having sworn off men, Lila is delighted to land a job working for her famous godfather who is directing a star-studded charity production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She is even more thrilled to learn that Hollywood heart-throb Mitch Clayton will be one of the stars, although she’s promised her sister she won’t get engaged again… this year at least!

But avoiding Mitch’s advances is proving tricky. And then there’s Mitch’s stepbrother, Johnny, the ‘Cinderfella’ of the Clayton clan. It turns out he’s a man of many secrets and Lila can’t help but be intrigued…

THOUGHTS: As I said earlier, I wanted to spare others the horror of my using taxpayers’ money on smutty romance (unlike other teenage kids I spotted while queueing up at the information counter to get my vouchers verified). But, I admit… I gave in to the evils of temptation and grabbed myself a chick-lit book. I’m so sorry, I couldn’t help it! At least I have some redeeming value in the lack of Fabio/boobylicious redhead on the cover.

So, considering that I’m a romance/chick-lit veteran with borderline-ridiculous standards for ‘decent books’, there are several good reasons why I fell in love with this book the moment it caught my eye:
1) if an author’s writing gets praises with words like, ‘clever’ and ‘witty’, I’m pretty much convinced I’m in for a crazy, hilarious ride,
2) while this story centres around the world of the glamorous and the superficial, our beloved characters are only ‘mere mortals’ and for that, they feel like the down-to-earth, unassuming characters you can relate to.
3) don’t be fooled by the Cinderella association – in this story, the Cinderella is the dude. Talk about a twisted version of a classic fairtytale, I kinda snorted at the ‘Cinderfella’ part. I think it’s more like he’s the black sheep of the family, which adds to a whole other dimension of character complex.
4) from random flicks through the pages, I found that while this book uses first-person narrative, it’s told from the two different perspectives of the main guy and our main girl. I used to despise this mode of storytelling, but recently I’ve grown to appreciate it. It’s refreshing to read from the guy’s point of view, and not just the girl’s image of the guy as tall, handsome, perfect in every way, blahblahblah oh poo. I like my characters heavily flawed, but flawed in a well-written way.

#4
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

SUMMARY: Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow, the sole inhabitant of Eel Marsh House, unaware of the tragic secrets which lie hidden behind the shuttered windows. The house stands at the end of a causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but it is not until Arthur glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to speak of the woman in black – and her terrible purpose.

THOUGHTS: Before you asking questions (inwardly), yes, the upcoming film of the same name, starring Daniel Radcliffe, is an adaptation of this novel, and yes, that is the sole reason I grabbed this book off the ‘New Arrivals’ section, no hesitation whatsoever. I stumbled upon the film trailer on YouTube a couple months back, and let me tell you this: I’m a huge horror film fanatic, I can take a good beating to my mental/emotional state of mind as I sit through a horror film (although I barely survived Insidious), but you know the film’s gonna be phenomenal when even the trailer scares the crap outta you. The eerie chime of the music box, coupled with the little girl’s soft voice reciting the poem, was just too much for me to handle, I was close to peeing in my pants. And because I was so impressed by the film, I knew I had to read the original book!

I did a quick glimpse through random pages and found them dominated by Arthur’s monologue, which may seem tedious, but on the contrary I think it’s the perfect way to narrate Arthur’s very thoughts and feelings as he endures the periods of isolation in the house. There’s also the subtle hauntings, I just know the creepy factor is going to play tricks on my mind. I once read a comment that said, ‘It turns your imagination against you’ – how true. While I’m really looking forward to reading this, I hope I survive with minimal battle scars!

And now, last but not least…

#5
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

SUMMARY: Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling any further than his pantry or his cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo is most reluctant to take part in this quest, but he surprises himself even by his resourcefulness and his skill as a burglar!

THOUGHTS: I FREAKIN’ LOVE THE HOBBIT!!! It’s my favourite book in the Lord of the Rings universe, next to The Silmarillion. I love how Bilbo can be so charming and so whiny at the same time, and how I could never remember all the dwarves’ names. And my favourite part? When Bilbo and the gang of dwarves get caught by the three trolls. Oh god, I remember thinking they had the weirdest and most unsuitable troll names ever.

Now, I know it’s a crazy fangirl move to get this book when I already have a copy at home, but I just had to get this because firstly, it has the original cover illustration that was drawn by Tolkien (while my old copy has just a simple black canvas with Elvish writing and the red silhouette of Smaug - how boring and dull for a children’s book), and secondly, it’s pocket-sized! How cute is that?! I swear, I literally gushed out loud when I saw it.

There’s no doubt that I got this pocket edition because of the upcoming film. The release of the first trailer got me so hyped up, that I was having such a massive fangasm! Long has the inner 13-year-old LotR geek been tucked away hidden from the outside world, and now thanks to Peter Jackson, it has been resurrected and ready to take on another epic journey across Middle-earth. I miss my beloved hobbits. ♥

~

Now, before I end this, I have a little situation here that needs your help. I’m not sure which book to start reading with, so how about you awesome people help me out here?