on Raising a child

As the due date gets nearer, I realized I have only read pregnancy articles or books. So I began looking for books on raising babies/parenting (yes, being book nerd that i am :) ). Many of the books are similar, in a sense that they will give outline on baby's growth benchmark, nutrition, healthcare, babycare etc. Not to say that these are not important, but one book that strikes me as touching a different topic is pictured above. 

Brain Rules for Baby explains & dissects on what are the important factors that contribute to a smart and happy child. And no, it's not about reading him books, playing piano tunes to his ears, or giving him/mother enough vitamin supplements, but he emphasised on the fact that smart & happy can only be one package & must be grown together. I cannot agree more to this.

I've read 1/3 of the book so far & he has touched on the importance of a healty pregnancy (physically & mentally) and happy bonding of the 2 parents. As he quoted novelist James Baldwin "Children have never been good at listening to their parents, but they have never failed to imitate them".

To take a peek on what he talks about in his book, u can try his online quiz. I failed miserably at 25% when responding to hiz quiz. So much that i don't know about parenting :)

The book is written by John Medina, who is also a neuroscientist, so he backs up his points by a lot of couples/babies/parenting studies, but still present the ideas in an easy-to-read manner.

Books Geek

Can't resist the smells of paperback... I think my idea of relaxing (other than getting a good javanese massage with the lovely oil scent) is being in a bookshop, choosing 2 or 3 favourite books, & sit in a quiet coffeeshop at the corner of the bookshop to start savouring the books, with a cup of delicious hot mocha coffee.
Today I bought 3 new books:
1. Ramayana (supposedly written in child-friendly style, aha!). I've tried reading Mahabharata when I was in primary school, but I gave up, even just remembering the names made me dizzy already. So hopefully, this time I can read and understand one of the great legends left by our ancestors...
2. Traveler's Wife Tale: amazing love story, it seems. I feel like I need to hear one these days :)
3. A Collosal Failure of Common Sense: Someone said one can learn a lot of things from this book. Hopefully it gets me something, in my attempt to try to understand the essence of the finance industry :)

The fourth book in the picture is a book I'm currently reading, "Lords of Finance". Purpose: Same as point 3 above :). Looking back at history.

ps: Have added some accessories shopping to the pic: a silvery simple necklace and a black headband with oversized glittery "manik-manik" ribbon - both from Vincci Accessories. Another thing I can't resist buying these days :)

Hope your weekend was great, because mine was :)

The evolution of Books (Another musing on reading)

Shortly after Amazon came up with their portable eBook reader "Kindle" in Nov 2007, Steve Jobs was quoted saying:
"It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore... The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore.". He also stated that in the previous year, 40% of americans read books only once or less a year.

In a recent interview with Malaysia OUM (Open University), Mahathir, an ever-interesting Asian leader of these decades, was asked about his opinon on reading:
"Reading also improves your perception of things and trains you to analyse and understand complex matters. The more you read, the more you acquire the experience of others albeit through the eyes of a skillful observer. Even if you are reading a story book, your ability to solve problems increases because you have, at least read about it."
"To encourage lifelong learning, you must instil a reading culture. Lifelong learning starts with reading, and can become a habit, just like reading."
I'm a firm believer in life learning experiences thru reading, whether it's a simple book, comedy, drama, novel, travelogue, history, even comics! Reading opens windows to different mindsets, different cultures, different journeys, and all that can be simply 'operated' from a lazy sofa in your own home, on a sunbed besides a cosy swimming pool, or while waiting for your name to be called at the doctor's.
I surely hope this wonderful learning experience will continue to be passed on, no matter how the media will evolve (from manuscript, to paperback, to Kindler & then to iPad :) ).

ps: Gizmodo was right, Jobs, shaker of the Pop Culture evolution, was indeed cooking something better than Kindle at that time :). Hail to the new iPad :) - just announced 3 days ago - 27 Jan 2009.

Life of Pi

You know it's a good book if u can't stop wanting to read it (I felt it with this one)

I always thought this is a story involving serious philosophy about life, due to the word "Pi" (3.14) in its title.

Actually it's a fantasy robinson-crue kind of story. More like Tom Hanks in "Castaway"

I thought this novel would make a good movie, but I felt it would be almost impossible to find a very good child actor to play the main solitary role. Moreover most of the scene will have to be focused on a small lifeboat with sea backdrop. I'm not sure this would be visually appealing cinematically.

Then i found out Ang Lee has already secured the right to produce this as a movie

Most famous cover of this book is the one on the left below, but the one i bought is as per the right image.

The ending has an interesting twist. It made me felt that a storyteller could tell us many versions of a story, but how would u know which one is the correct one? One also needs to follow his heart to believe what he believes. I guess the ending somehow relates to the beginning which talked about the different faiths men have.

4 new books to my wishlist

One of my top-ranked favourite smells is the fragrance of new paperback fiction books stacked together. The more there are, the stronger the smell lingers in my senses... It just evokes me of imagination, travelling mind, and unfolding stories... Browsing thru racks of them on a recent bookshop visit, these are my most recent book-wishlist:

1. Life on the Refrigerator's Door (Alice Kuipers): quote from amazon.com: "Beautifully told through notes left on their kitchen fridge, this is an intimate portrait of the relationship between a hard-working mother and her teenage daughter."

2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson): A crime-fiction thriller from a Scandinavian writer, first of a trilogy. The writer is deceased, shortly after delivering the 3 manuscripts in 2004.

3. Stern Men (Elizabeth Gilbert): Fell in love with her book "Eat, Love, and Pray". Would love to read this other book of hers, about a woman and 2 lobstermen,

4. The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger): Now being made into a movie, the story reminds me of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" involving a guy with an age-reversal genetics abnormality...

But for now, am happily reading "Life of Pi" --- hard to put it down :) will share more once i finish the book :)

Clearance Sale!

I don't usually get goodies at Sale, that's why I don't usually go rushing for them, unless I really know I will find what I need. But yesterday, I decided to push for my little luck once more & went to Plaza Indo for a book sale. So as to prepare for a possible disappointment, I went there to also watch a movie (Bride Wars!), and I even had a back-up movie (Bank Jobs) in line.
However, when I stepped into Ak.'Sa.Ra and digged futher in the fiction section.... waw... books at idr 50,000 & 100,000... and then I still thought 'ah they must be selling only the ageing displayed books that noone wants to buy...'. But what do u know... I actually saw a few familiar writer names and they were in that 50,000 rack... This must be a lucky sale for me...

I got myself:
- Haruki Murakami "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" - Collection of Short Stories. I've read his book on Norwegian Wood before & he does have a certain style: if it was a fabric, it would be soft delicate linen, if it was an activity, it would be strolling in the park. airy & breezy.
- Irene Nemirovski "David Golder". I've enjoyed her Suite Francaise a lot.
- Aravind Adiga "White Tiger" - This one not on discount, but I wanted to buy one of the newer best selling books around. The story set was in India, perfect! I'm currently loving books with a particular country & culture setting. It makes me feel like travelling when reading it.
- Muriel Barbery "The Elegance of the Hedgehog". I've never heard of her/the book before, but the cover review was interesting & I couldn't resist the material of the cover, it was smooth like a photo-poster print, but a little bit thicker.

I was thinking to buy Kazuo Ishiguro's 'Never Let Me Go' as well, but I was not sure if my eyes would last reading the 8-sized fonts novel. Sigh... it was also selling at $5.

The Last Lecture

"The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're here to stop the other people"
- Randy Pausch in "The Last Lecture" -

I just *heart* the book. You could read it as the inner kid in you, as an adolescent, as a future parent, or even as a seasoned parent. This gotta be my favourite non-fiction book ever... I hope to read it again & again.
The video of last lecture is in YouTube as well (1hr16mins).

The Inheritance of Loss

Currently reading this book by Kiran Desai, and so far it's been a good read.
Excerpt:
"... The greatest love is love that's never shown."
"You say anything that suits you." (Sai)
"Yes, I've found it's the best way" (the cook)

Reading Status

Tonight I finally finished "Norwegian Wood". I didnt like the first half of the book as I thought it was too slow, but when I continued reading it last night after more than a month stopping, I didnt stop reading it & finished till the end.

He is a wonderful writer & I liked the ending. I will read more of his books...

I have also bought 2 new books this weekend:

- Lonely Planet Thailand (hint hint...)

- The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

Bookrolls

I have not updated my book log for several months... I have read The Kite Runner ***** (Khaled Hosseini ) some months back. Beautiful, poignant, stays in memory. It's about the friendship of 2 aghan boys, with the afghan / talibar war as a backdrop.

After this book I started reading the Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami) ... but I couldnt finish this book for The kite runner was still lingering on my mind for a long time.

Before Kite Runner, I was reading a book with war backdrop as well, "Gadis Pantai" or "the Girl from the Coast". Amazingly, the english version is on sale as well in amazon.com. This book was my introduction to Pramoedya Ananta Toer & I will read on more of his books.

An indonesian bookshop online http://www.kutukutubuku.com/

Biography Stories

My last 3 books that I've read were biography-based:

- Running with Scissors (Augusteen Borroughs)

- Laskar Pelangi (Andrea Hirata)

- Sang Pemimpi (Andrea Hirata)

RwS was a book I was eyeing for since a few years ago, and I finally bought it at discount in PS.

This book talks the author's life as a kid until his adolescence, his life seems to be in touched with very non-ordinary people & it's a gift that he can turn his somewhat sad/unfortunate life or misery, if I may say so, into a story that brings its readers laughter with sometimes perasaan miris.

Laskar Pelangi & Sang Pemimpi is similar in the sense that it echoes a childhood that many people would feel sorry for, mostly due to poverty, yet still draws laughter (& sometimes teary eyes). I dont know how many % of the story is pure truth, meaning real account of the author. I think some of them was fictional, but still the major points & and the background of this story I'm sure is real, for if not, how would one can account for in such detail like he's been there going thru it? This is a book about dreamers who reach their dream, while some dont because things make them not able too. I think the story in these books will stay close to the readers heart for a long time.

John Berendt - The City of Fallen Angels

Read this book, about Venice, Fenice, and a few people who have lived there: a poet, a lamp artist, an american philanthropist... and the aftermath of Fenice's fire, the Venetian Operahouse that went in flame in 1996. This is a nonfiction book read like a fiction.

I did not find it as good as I thought it was going to be. The story was more towards the life of each of the character the author inquisited. Some of them were not even original Venetian, so I didnt get the feeling of the true Venice which I was hoping for.

Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux

Towards the last few pages of reading this book, I have purposely slowed down my pace of reading, savouring every bit of his travel recollection as I did not want to come to the end of it. After you read this book, you will either lose all envy to go to China or even become more curious about it. This is because he is very blatant in his travel description, he would highlight all the miserable, dirty parts of China with no euphemism.

Not only he would describe all the unique & little photographic/sensegraphic things during his passage (all China hotels seem to have plastic flowers in a vase; China toilets stink from miles away), but we also learn about the cultural & historic part of China (Mao Cultural Revolution; Tibetan acquisition) thru his recollections of meeting various local people.

If you are thinking to do a China back-pack travel, i think this is an essential book to read. Even though it's written like more than a decade ago (I hope now the train is better), you will get a feel of the vast China, from a point of view that is definitely different from touris websites.

Even though you are not planning to go to China, it is still a good book to read because towards the end of it you will discover so much about the monolithic country, without the need to go there!

The Wonder Spot - Melissa Bank

I've been looking this book since last year and I finally found it 3 months ago on a trip to KL. Alas, just these past weeks I can now see the same book finally sold in Kino Jakarta. Melissa's first book, "The Girl's Guide to Hunting & Fishing", was the reason I went hunting for this book. The review put on the cover book of Wonder Spot looked promising.





As I read it, I'm not sure whether it is just me or not, but I didnt find it as captivating as the first one. This one has less drama, less heartfelt touches. It's a stroll thru a woman's 20-30's, but it's a stroll on a flat walk. Wished there was more hills, mountains, up & downs. But maybe, such is Sophie Applebaum's life, an everyday woman that can well be me or you.

Another point of view of this book: reygreena

Book Review - Four Seasons in Belgium

The second book I read, Four Seasons in Belgium, is actually an Indonesian novel, sort of chick-lit, but grown up chick-lit (well, at least it’s not about college girls love).

I discovered it unintentionally, while strolling myself into a newly opened bookshop. The title got my attention because stories with a travel-place setting always attract me, it was set in a place I've gone too, & also the fact that there was only 1 book left with this title in the shelf The comments on the cover were done by Dian Sastro, Aditya & Ninit. Although I'm not sure about the taste of Dian's in reading, at least I’m quite familiar with the taste of the later 2 (well, at least I’ve read their books before & follow their blogs). The book was tightly plastic wrapped & I bought it without opening it, trusting my instincts.

The thing about chicklit is it doesn’t require you to concentrate to read it. This book, I finished reading it in a night, maybe 2.5 hours. The story turns up to use Antwerp as a setting, where I went for holiday to visit my brother last spring. It's an enjoyable book, about a young female worker & her love life. The plot is light & it feels like reading your friend's life story or a short story in one of those female magazines. It's a good book to read if your brain cells are already suffocating from overwork or maybe bring it to the swimmingpool to accompany you sunbathing. I got to be honest, I still liked TestPack (by Ninit) better as a book in the same genre & I would just classify this novel as an 'intermezzo'.

When I told my brother about this book, it turned up the storywriter was my brother’s senior & a lot of the story in the book used glimpses of a life of trainee in the company my bro worked. This is the 2nd trainee employee in my bro’s company to publish a fiction.

Verdict: 3 stars.

Book Review - History of Love

This month I have finished reading 2 fictions:
1. History of Love (Penguin – Nicole Krauss)
2. Four Seasons in Belgium (Gagas Media – FannyHartanti)

I bought History of Love a few hours before my EuroTrip as a companion during my vacation flight or travel time. I chose it because the title sounded quite romantic and hopeful (not something about war or fight), it had good review by knowledgeable magazines, and parts of the book are in a diary format. I’ve always loved books of type ‘diary’ because when the story is told from the first subject, I feel that it reveals more feeling and also the words are easier to read just like what you would write to yourself if you wrote a diary. However, I end up only reading very few chapters during my vacation & continued bit by bit after that.

Today, I spent 3 hours without break finishing half of it. I have to say that reading this book requires some concentration, especially during the first half. This is probably why I had trouble continuing reading it at the beginning. However, this hard work of concentrating will pay you off once the labyrinth of story begins to intertwine & you begin to map the pieces together.
The storyteller cleverly reveals information bit by bit. Only when it’s time to discover, this will appear to you. During the first few chapter, I couldn’t figure out whether one of the main characters was a girl or a boy and I also had the timing background mixed up. Phew… boy was I lost. But with some patience and determination, I continued reading, then I could then see how careful & skillful this writer is, for being able to plot a story like this. It is sad, beautiful, refreshing at the same time, with added humour here & there. I also think that it will be worthit to reread this novel again & again, to discover the story more (especially that I felt loss at the beginning)

My favorite paragraph was below (p 125), I loved how she played with the words metaphorically & yet gave such powerful & beautiful illustration of the meaning of a simple word, mother :
My mother worried me the most. She was the force around which our world turned. Unlike our father, who spent his life in the clouds, my mother was propelled through the universe by the force of reason. She was the judge in all of our arguments. One disapproving word from her was enough to send us off to hide in a corner, where we would cry and fantasize our own martyrdom. And yet. One kiss could restore us to princedom. Without her, our lives would dissolve into chaos.

Ps: It turns up she is married to Jonathan Safran Foer, a writer too, who also had his book hit the top best seller list (Everything is Illuminated). This woman is only 4 years older than me.