BF 2009

To all our beloved readers and bookworms,

'The Brunei Book Fair 2009 started yesterday at the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Indoor Stadium in Berakas.

The 10-day event themed "Book is the Future", is being organized by The Language & Literature Bureau in conjunction with the Silver Jubilee National Day Celebration. The fair, which was launched yesterday, will end on March 8.

58 companies including from Malaysia & Singapore participated in the event, which has more than 100 booths. Each booth showcases various books and other related educational products for children and adults.

The fair is held to promote & instil reading habit among the public. The fair also give opportunities to publishers to meet and interact with book distributors, book lovers, librarian & the general public in order to enhance trade cooperation, networking & also to develop the book publishing industry throughout this region & on international stages as well' - Borneo Bulletin Weekend.

What are you waiting for? Start going there and buy some books!

Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

'Harry - yer a wizard.'

There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and whistling wind could be heard.

'I'm a what?'

Everyone knows about Harry Potter. Before I knew about this book, I watched the movie which at first I find it kind of lame. When I heard my friends talked about it, I realized it's an adaptation of a famous book written by JK Rowling. The book is better than the movies (though the actors are all good). There are so many things happening in the book that are not in the movies like S.P.E.W, the History Professor, the other Weasley boys and etc.

This book tells a story about an orphan boy named Harry Potter who lives with his only relative, who doesn't seem to care about him. He thinks he's just an ordinary boy when one day, a man size of a half-giant came to him to give his letter that informs Harry that there's a place for him at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and he realized that, he's a wizard after all!

He learns that there's another world besides where he grew up for years. He learns to do magic/spells, play a famous wizard sports called Quidditch and make friends with Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. But he also learns that a dark wizard tries to kill him since birth, that also kills both his parents when he was just one year old. Harry must destroy this evil wizard before he too ended up like his parents.

What amuses me is that how Jk Rowling can create new words like Hogwarts, Quidditch, muggles and all. When I read this book, I feel like I'm in one and having an adventure. For this book I'll rate...

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

I have always loved mystery with a little hint of suspense and for me the title 'After Dark' has already given the impression of something mysterious and dark. This book is a real disappointment for me because at the beginning of my reading, I found the storyline to be interesting but as the story develops, It became nonsense and does not make any sense at all.

If you could get your hands on this book and read it, you might get what I mean by saying the storyline becoming nonsense. But on the other hand, I think this book is worth to be adapt into a movie. With a good director who would be able to capture the feelings described in this book I bet the movie will turn out good. This is the first time I read Murakami's book and although it is a disappointment but I will read more of his book in the future because I like his style of writing. This book was written beautifully but the storyline tainted the book's reputation.

Silent Boy by Torey Hayden

'When someone sort of hates you,' he said, 'They do things to you. You never know when it's going to happen. You never know exactly what. But when someone hates you, you always know they'll do things.'

A book I bought in KK that cost $85.69. A story about a child psychologists, named Torey Hayden tries to help a 15 year old boy to speak again for he had not spoken a word for 8 years.When Torey breaks the 'silence', she learns about his horrible past.

The story started with Torey being introduced to the boy named Kevin, hiding under a table. She tries to make Kevin talks in several methods or ways, then bring him to the outside world, teach him swimming and meeting new people. Torey's heart will not rest until she helps Kevin to be 'alive' young boy who could talk again and live his life like all normal boys would do.

This story is a true story and Kevin does exist. If don't believe me, check here. This book kind of inspiring and I get to learn how terrible events/past such as child abuse, broken family can affect the growth of a child emotionally and how, for us people, could help this children in need and be patient.

When I read this book, after reading several pages it's become so addicted because you want to know what's going to happen to Kevin, if Torey manage to help this poor boy and if Kevin finally have his happy ending.


Ps. This book is also under the name 'Murphy's Boy'

Kampung Boy by Lat

I grew up reading Kampung Boy and not only Kampung Boy but also other comic books by Lat. What appeals to me about Kampung Boy is the distinct feeling of living in a "kampung" or village. I can always relate to the main character which is the kampung boy himself, Lat who always hang out with his pals and his little sister.

Whenever I read Kampung Boy, I would remember the time when I was living in the Kampung somewhere in rural Tutong and I remember taking a bath in the river near my grandmother's house and being told by my cousins that there might be a crocodile lurking nearby. Nothing can compensate for living in the Kampung.

Back to Kampung Boy, another thing that I like about it is the unique features of the characters and I also find it funny sometimes. Lat, the main character seem to have his eyes covered by his hair everytime and I remember one of his pals whom I can't remember his name, is cross-eyed and has front teeth which too forward. This book has been made into a TV show and I remember it was shown a few years back at Astro but for me reading the series is a lot more fun. Although now it is difficult to find this book but If manage to find it, I would highly recommend you to buy it or any books by Lat.

AS and A Level: Oxford Revision Guides

This Oxford Revision Guides book series is a must for A Level students or perhaps those who are keen to know more about any particular subjects covered by this series. The subjects covered by this series include Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Government and Politics and so on.

This series is a must if you want to know learn and understand a subject in a short period of time because this books uses a lot of diagrams to convey the important points of the subject. It is similar to using a mind map while learning but the only thing is the mind map is already provided and it is only depend on us to understand them and try to register the points in our mind.

But the only drawbacks is since it uses a lot of diagrams, the information given are very brief and not enough. This book would be suitable to those who are very familiar with the subject of their interest but needed to freshen up their mind and recall back what their had learned and that is when the diagrams on this book will be useful.