Most Amazing Mistakes! by Michael Johnstone

History is full of mistakes, so this book says.
Compiled in year chronological order, all events in history from Greek mythology/legend to the most famous/notorious murder case.

Some of the mistakes can make you laugh your head silly, but some make you really angry at how those 'little' mistakes have turned out costly, and have even snatched innocent lives.
Troy, Pearl Harbor, Titanic, murder case in London, tragic plane/train crash, etc, it's really insightful. All these are not just plain tragic but they are neither accidental nor incidental.
They are all caused by human mistakes, it's really sad.

A book that will make you laugh, cry and sigh over the mistakes made, enjoyable!

Troublemaker & other Saints by Christina Chiu

The debut novel by Christina Chiu; and it is a intertwining story of three families, all Chinese immigrants and prominent figures in the society.
Hailing from Hong Kong and China, the stories were told from the different perspectives of the people involved and how they deal with the negative reactions from the conservative teachings in their own family, peers and the society.
Christina also spins the tale creatively to differentiate the generation gap in the behavior and minds of both the young and the old and creates a thought provoking tale as we wander into each of their minds.

The collection of tales are told from each individual perspective and how they perceive the situation they are facing. It gets complicated as you traverse from one chapter to the next, but they are all linked as the character recalls the character who appeared in the previous chapters.
Of course, since we are dealing with three different families here, it gets a little more complicated than that.

At the same time, the interesting part of this novel is how cleverly Christina inserts the issues of concern into the tale and spins it in a way to show how it is seen by different people in the society.
In Nobody, it is a story of how a girl feels deprived of attention and constantly feels like her existence is of no importance to anyone at all in her life and school. Dealing with a demanding father and her own grief over the loss of her own grandmother whom she is close to, she is constantly on the verge of suicide and depression. She found company in her neighbor whom also made her feel insufficient when she was not stood up for in times of humiliation.
The same girl moved on to be a third character in another story as we see from this young Chinese doctor who married a black man as her husband and was considered an outcast by her own parents.
The mention of her own husband silences the whole family faster than you can spell 'apple'.
At the same time, she is the doctor overlooking an anorexic girl whose heart is failing and she has to deal with the conservative parents of the patient who refused to agree to tubes and machine aid to maintain their daughter's life.

Another story tells of how a mother deals with her daughter's bisexuality and there is another, how the mother deals with her son's homosexuality.
Christina also explores into the stories of property tussle within siblings, sexual relationships, eagerness to please, and stealing/abuse, etc, all part of the common issues plagueing our society these days.

It was interestingly told and yet, it appears confusing at times.
I must say, I was impressed by the simplicity and yet complication which arises along the storylines.
You must have a pretty good memory to put those jigsaw puzzles together; and the overused four-letter word in the story may prove entertaining to some, or not.

A recommended read for Amy Tan's fans as well, as this is another perspective into the Chinese immigrants in the United States.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

From the author made famous by "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "Five People You meet in Heaven", this is yet another philosophical not to mention inspirational piece exploring the inner conscience/true feelings of a person before his death.

Starting with a tagline "Every family is a ghost story", this book is about the life and death decision of Charley "Chick" Benetto who was about to kill himself after his life was wrecked apart and at the final straw when his only daughter did not invite him to her wedding for fear of disgrace.
He tried many ways to kill himself and yet decided to take one last journey back to his old house where he grew up before his departure.
It was there that he met his mom; a woman whom he had seen buried and covered with flowers at the funeral.

He could not believe it; and yet he saw his mother.
From then on, we were taken on a journey backward while Chick recalled all the memories with his mother; which to his surprise were not very memorable as he recalled the times his mother had stood by him and he, on the other hand, well, failed her.

As a child, Chick was told by his father “You can be a mama’s boy or a daddy’s boy, but you can’t be both.”
So he chose his father and was later disappointed when his father just walked out on his life as he was approaching adolescence.
He was embarassed by his mother and constantly blamed her for his father's disappearance.

The writing was pretty simple and comprehensible for any age.
In fact, it was a story told so many times that we just did not take much notice into the true underlying issue or reminder in our lives.

It was a heart-warming tale of how Chick re-explored his relationship with a mother whom he never knew and yet one of the greatest love of all.
It was a tale of compassion; whereby we are all reminded of our time on earth and with the people we love.

To me, I was truly touched and in fact, I have even gained a different perspective/new light into my own family relationships.
I have even conjured up my very own list of the times my dad/mum/bro stood up for me and the times I did/didn't stand up for them.
It is at this time that you feel guilty and realized how far you have come and how much they weigh in your life.

Chick had lost his mum without him even having the chance to make any amendment; and in fact, he never even got to see his mother before her very last breath because he made up an excuse and prioritized another event.

How many times have we actually failed our very own family by putting them as second priority to our work/love relationship/event/friends, etc?
How many times have we said 'I Love you' to the person next to you and your siblings/parents?

When you are given one more day, you will find that all you ever want is for time to turn back for you to change and to give it another chance to do it even better.
But why do we need to look for a chance to turn back time (which we know will never happen) when we can do it today?
Why put off to future something we can do today?

I certainly do not want to wait for one more day to tell my family; especially both my parents how much I love them.
It is today that we see them and we should be with them and stand up for them all the time.
I do not want to have a list in which I look back and say, "Those are the times I did not stand up for my mum/dad"

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

“LuLing Young is getting old and – while she still can – she begins to write down her memories of life as a girl in 1930s China.
One day, while tending to her ailing mother, LuLing’s daughter Ruth uncovers this extraordinary memoir of a childhood spent in the remote mountain village known as Immortal Heart. In this ancient world, steeped in magic and superstition, lie the deep secrets of LuLing’s heart and the tragic events that changed the path of her life. As Ruth’s understanding grows, mother and daughter discover together that what they share in their bones through history and heredity is priceless beyond measure”

I do not have to start with those commentaries by the big names from the press or the journalism world on Amy Tan as a wonderful writer.
This story again, touches on a poignant tale between an Asian mother and daughter who obviously didn’t see eye to eye with each other.
Ruth was an Asian American who is co-habituating with a divorced American man with two daughters from his previous marriage. Her relationship with the man in her life was in chaos and at the same time, she had to deal with her mother’s constant intervention in her life. She never did get along with the mother she saw as ‘know-it-all’ and constantly at her neck. When her mother was diagnosed with dementia, she starts to spend time with her mother and see the happenings through her mother’s eyes. She read LuLing’s diary, and all of a sudden, things start to fall into place as she sees the real reason behind her mother’s puzzling behavior all the years and how she never really knew her mother.
A touching and emotional journey through her own roots in her family history; tracing back to her mother’s childhood and the grandmother she always thought was someone else. She starts to see her mother in a different light; and joins the mother-daughter relationship bonded through their blood connection.
As mother starts to fail in her memory due to the age and health, she starts to realize her true role of being a daughter and granddaughter and at the same time, explore her own relationship with her own family.

It is a wonderful read; one of the best piece by Amy so far which was deviated from the usual mother-daughter relationship stories. She explored deeper into the history of the family and traced her character to their roots; which touched the hearts of her readers as we start to follow in the emotional path of the characters.
I enjoyed every page of this book; and couldn’t stop putting it down when it came to the diary part.
I would put it on the shelf to re-read and read again and again; it made me feel so warm and lovely and how lucky I am to have a loving mother and to love my own mother. I feel thankful that I’ve always taken an interest in my mother’s life story and it made me more keen to know even more, to make sure I don’t miss a single moment in my mummy’s life.

An insight to the true meaning of family relationship and appreciating your bloodline.
I would highly recommend to all mother and daughters; whether you think your relationship is already great or you felt like you never did understand each other.

Books I have read

Welcome to another new blog of mine; which I should have started long ago, to pen down all my thoughts and inspiring stories which I have read since I have learnt the chronology of ABC.

I have read numerous books, and am still enjoying reading to this very day.
Books, as I have termed, are my vital soulmates; and reading is something which I consider a very solitary activity which I love to curl up in a corner and just read and read like there's no tomorrow.

To be able to write to command a reader's interest and to be able to 'feel' the characters and the flow of the story is the capability of the writer
To be able to read, enjoy and be in the character's shoes is the enjoyable art of the reader

Having read countless books in my journey, I have been intrigued by authors like Enid Blyton, who was truly the Queen of Children's stories as she was known. She is truly an inspiring figure of imagination and creativity and I have always enjoyed reading her books; even till this day.
At the same time, I shall not forget the classics of Charles Dickens, a truly descriptive writer who never fails to impress me with his way with the words; from he describes a boy standing there to the point that you can picture him down to every single detail that he seemed to be really standing right in front of you.
Marvellous writer; and indeed a great choice for a literature reading.

Speaking of classics, one shall not forget the names of William Shakespeare who seem to be the king of classics after all, and all the wonderful writings of classics, namely; Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Othello, Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, and many more, works of the articulate writer.

Enter the classical romance genre, we have the works of the Bronte Sisters; Charlotte and Emily Bronte who have given birth to the wonderful Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights which have never failed to touched the heart of each of us; to the warmth of hope of the existence of true love.
That includes the works of Jane Austen who is also one of my favorite writers

I have enjoyed many more classics; which include all the adventures and island stories such as Treasure Island, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Gulliver's Travel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Anne and the Green Gables, The Wizard of Oz, Black Beauty, The Wind in the Willows, and many more lovely titles from that shelf.

Exploring into other genres such as mystery and thrillers, we have the big names of Agatha Christie to boast of. She is one of the very best, in my humble opinion, with her careful thought into planning each of the little plots and the actual murder culprit. I am and will always be intrigued by her imaginative mind which just blows you off with a total surprise. My favorite character is Hercule Poirot (who doesn't like him anyway:)
Then there's Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and also Alfred Hitchcock's stories which were slightly more towards the children's mysteries.

Contemporary and modern writers who explore the women's heart are Danielle Steel, Sophie Kinsella, Amy Tan, Lauren Weisberger, Meg Cabot, Sidney Sheldon, Nora Roberts, etc.
There's also wonderful authors like Jodi Picoult, Mary Higgins Clark, J.K Rowling, C.S Lewis, Georges Simenon,R.L Stine, Christopher Pike, etc

I have so many authors and books that I could not possibly list them all down here; and I will share along the way in my blog; which I am really looking forward to..GEE!

It makes me feel so happy and I can't wait to start sharing on my books or books I have read from everywhere, of course, my shelves!
My books/reviews will be categorized according to the genre and the authors, hopefully you will be able to find something you like in the future, once the blog is running fast:)

Enjoy reading 'From my shelves' and hope I get some good recommendations from everyone on probably many books I have yet to read.

Reading opens the window to our soul *winks*