The Reader

Caught reading books..

Nowadays I noticed a lot of people spend their time reading even though they are walking and even driving.Sadly they are not reading books but reading what is on the screens of their mobile phones or tablet electronic devices.Someone even collided with me because she was reading her mobile phone while walking!

On the right is a rare scence where I saw a few people reading books at the LG floor of Suria KLCC.

Looking back for the year 2011,what books have you read,what lessons have you learnt from your book reading and what is your reading plan for the year 2012? If you are on Facebook,please join at Bookcafe group.

Today is the last day of 2011.let us say good bye to 2011 and may I wish all my readers a Happy,Healthy and Prosperous New Year 2012,insyaAllah.

Sudoku books..

I came across Sudoku some time in 2006 and tried to get started but it did not take off. In 2008,I bought my second book-Penguin Pocket SUDOKU.I tried one or two and then I just kept the book when I have problems to solve most of the puzzles.Again,I put aside the book in my bookself.The puzzles were rated one to five stars and very intimidating to my little mind!Last month I came upon a cheap sudoku book and I bought the third book entitled SUDOKU FOR COFFEE BREAKS.I bought it for RM3 and discovered that I can solve many of the easier ones(categorised as light and easy~15min).The moderate one will take 30 to 60 minutes to work through it.At the moment,I am doing sudoku about one hour each day.

After about a week,I have learnt a few things while solving the puzzles..Now it is getting more interesting[not like 5 years ago when I gave it up].As I was cautioned by my dear friend Pak Unggal of possible addiction to Sudoku,I am still in control-so far so good.My rules which I have managed to abide by are:1.Only 2 puzzles a day.2.Sudoku time is not more than ONE hour-which ever comes first.

Why did I play sudoku?It made me think harder,improved my correlation of groups of number and improved my memory.

 

Book: As the crow flies..

I bought this novel yesterday even though it has been published more than almost 10 years ago.Somehow,it missed my reading radar even though I am a fan of Sir Jeffrey Archer.As the they say,it better late than never.Thanks to Marina and Col Azudin for their recommendations.

After reading the first chapter last night,I believe it is going to be an interesting read for me.The narrative was great and very English.I have been to White Chapel and Covent Garden -the two places mentioned in the first chapter.

One lesson learned is about a trust was given based on family reputation.The  trust was given even to a young boy because of his grandfather being a man of trustworthy.This reminded me of my late father...

Another interesting note I wish to make is  Charlie,the young boy wanted to enter into a business like his grandpa-to own the biggest barrow in the world.In a similar manner,my youngest son,a 21 years old boy is undergoing his apprenticeship under his dad's guidance, insyaAllah.

By the way, distance from Bangi to Putrajaya is only a few kilometres as the crow flies... just like from White Chapel to Chelsea Terrace.

Book:And Thereby Hangs a Tale..

For my readers who are not connected to my Facebook.It is about this book I bought yesterday..

And Thereby Hangs a Tale..

by Adib Noh on Wednesday, 10 November 2010 at 16:52

This is my third Jeffrey Archer's novel of collection of short stories.So far,he had never failed to entertain me with his short stories.Every story,to me, is worth every penny!

 

The two I have read  so far:

 

1.To Cut a long Story Short

 

2.Cat O' Nine Tales

 

Why I love Jeffrey  Archer's short stories?

 

It is because many have  A Twist in The Tale(which is another collection of  short stories I have yet to read.

 

This novel costs me about RM28 after 20% discount at Kinokuniya

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  Marina Rahim likes this.
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    Marina Rahim I'm a big fan of Jeffrey Archer's, and read those two already. But my fav is still As The Crow Flies :)

    5 hours ago · Like
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    Adib Noh Marina,
    Thanks for your feedback.I may have missed As The Crow Flies.May I know why it is your fav?

    5 hours ago · Like
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    Marina Rahim It's not a short story btw. But it's my 'comfort' book, read more than 5 times. About a poor boy from the East End becoming a grocer, wealthy, and then back to his love of selling fruits and veges in old age.. it's inspiring, with plots and twists typical of Archer, and made me cry.. all the elements are there :)

    4 hours ago · Like ·  1 person
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    Adib Noh Thanks Marina...From your short summary,I have not read it.I must go and get it as soon as I finish reading this short story book.

    4 hours ago · Like
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    Azudin O Fuad Abedib, Have read most of JA books. The best is still As the Crow Flies.

    3 hours ago · Like
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    Adilah Abdullah Baharuddin Yup I've read As The Crow Flies too. It was a loooong time ago but still remembered the grocer boy plot :)

    3 hours ago · Like
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    Marina Rahim Pak Adib sure tak sabar nak gi bookshop lepas ni :p

    3 hours ago · Like
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    Adib Noh Marina,you read me a book;-)
    I just came back my MPH Alamanda but sadly,the bookshop doesn't have even a copy of it:-((I will check at Kino/Borders in KL..

    2 hours ago · Like

 

Quo Vadis Notebook

I am not asking where Notebook is going but the title is the brand name of notebook,similar to Moleskine but it looks more interesting-it is still hand-made in France!.By the way,I was  told that this product will be available in two weeks time at Cziplee Plus.QuoVadisblog.Please click here to see more  how they look like.One of the reason I am looking forward to this new brand(as far as Malaysia is concerned) is because I wanted to buy the a notebook for my passions[books,bikes,photography, etc].At the moment,I have my own DIY I made out of a blank moleskine notebook as shown below.

 

DIY Journal of Passion

Lately, moleskine has come out with a few hardcovers journals to write about one's passions.I have a few passions in my life but I can't afford to buy a separate notebook for each.So,I decided to use my old moleskine hardcover (5"X8.5") notebook to jot down my passionate encounters.Below are a few examples how I recorded what I enjoyed doing in my previous pocket notebook.The photos tell you about my passions.What are yours?

     

Pemimpin stabil dampingi ilmuan

Sumber Berita Harian:Untuk makluman dan renungan bersama.

'Pemimpin stabil dampingi ilmuwan'

RAJA Dr Nazrin Shah berkenan melihat buku ‘Knowledge, Language, Thought and The Civilization of Islam – Essays In Honor of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas’ di Kuala Lumpur, semalam. Turut memerhati, Syed Muhammad Naquib (dua dari kanan), Prof Dr Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud (kanan) dan Muhamad Ridzuan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Raja Muda Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, bertitah pimpinan negara yang stabil dan maju sentiasa mendampingi dan bekerjasama dengan ilmuwan serta menyediakan persekitaran politik yang tidak memusuhi kumpulan itu. 

Baginda bertitah, kejatuhan sesebuah negara bermula dengan kemunduran disebabkan budaya dan persekitaran politik yang membunuh perkembangan intelek kerana sifat takut serta gentar pimpinan yang sedang berkuasa yang berasa kedudukan mereka mungkin tercabar. 

"Pemikiran politik sedemikian amatlah destruktif. Pimpinan yang stabil dan negara maju sentiasa memilih pendirian untuk mendampingi dan bekerjasama dengan ilmuwan. Ini akan membantu membina kekayaan intelek dan khazanah negara," titah baginda

Baginda bertitah demikian selepas melancarkan buku Knowledge, Language, Thought and The Civilization of Islam – Essays In Honor of Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas di Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), di sini, semalam. 

Buku setebal 566 halaman itu memuatkan 22 esei daripada 24 sarjana seluruh dunia bertujuan merakamkan pengiktirafan kepada Syed Muhammad Naquib, seorang ilmuwan Malaysia bertaraf dunia. Buku itu berharga RM108 bagi kulit tebal dan RM80 bagi kulit biasa. 

Hadir sama, Pro Canselor UTM, Tan Sri Dr Abdullah Ayub dan Datuk Dr Muhamad Ridzuan Muhamad Salleh, Naib Canselor UTM, Prof Datuk Ir Zaini Ujang dan Syed Muhammad Naquib.

Raja Nazrin bertitah, seseorang ilmuwan sebenarnya memiliki kehebatan yang lebih istimewa dan tulen berbanding penghormatan serta pengiktirafan yang diberikan kepada seorang Raja atau Ratu dan seorang Perdana Menteri. 

"Pengiktirafan yang diabadikan kepada ilmuwan lebih berkekalan, berpanjangan dan berterusan hingga jauh melangkau pasca hayatnya dan tidak sekadar semasa dia masih bernyawa atau sedang menyandang jawatan tertentu," titah baginda.

Reading cycle..

Today I found the book that made me start reading fiction while I was rearranging/dusting off the old novels that kept collecting dust on my bookshelf.It is entitled The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.A note by the side showed that I bought the novel on 27th July,1998-the first day I visited the newly opened KLIA then.It was my habit that every where new I went I always buy a book to remind me of the place and the event.After that I kept on buying his books and later ventured to read the novels by John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer.A few years back,I started to read books by Dan Brown beginning with The Da Vinci Code.

I tried to read science fiction and fantasy novels but some how,I did not enjoy the books with one exception of Harry Potter's series.

Fast forward to the present,as i grow older,my interest went to books on philosophy and religion.Flash back to 80's when I was a corporate executive,I read only management books.According my older friends,my next phase will reading only Qu'ran and Tafseer,insyaAllah.

When I was a young man in 70's,I was not much of a reader.Like many others I only read what matters to my profession(engineering) and later(management) when I was climbing the corporate ladder.Only when I quit the corporate world and started my own business in 1989,then my reading extended to social science like biography,history,economy etc.

Looking back,I could have benefited more from reading if there was someone to guide me on what to read and how to benefit most from reading.Of course,sometimes we do read for the sheer joys of it.

As parent,I would consider a great gift to our children if we could inculcate the culture of reading in them.To promote reading and share my experience,I called this blog The Reader.

Book:Coffee Break Tales-The Sequel

I bought this book at MPH for RM25.It contains 28 short stories and was written by Ms Yeoh Gim Suan.Now, I am half way through the book and would like to recommend this book as light reading.However, we can learn a lot from the stories narrated by the author...

Below is the photo Awang Goneng and his wife and me having coffee at KLCC.

 

A chat with my 12 years old niece..

Today,I went to KLIA to send off my mother and her grand daughter.She is about 12 years old and an avid reader.While we were having our breakfast,she kept reading an English novel.When I asked her whether she understands all the words she was reading,she smiled at me.Like a father talking to his own child,I gave her some tips to benefit more from her reading.First thing,I told her to take note of any words that she may not know the meaning and check them back later using a dictionary.Thence,one can improve faster one's vocabulary.I also told her to write down nice phrases where she could refer later when she is writing her school essays.I took out a 3X5 card from my notebook and asked her to write.She replied she did not have a pen.At the same time,I told her to write what she has learnt from the story she was reading and write down what she is going to do  about it.

She looked up to me and asked me to take her to a bookshop.She wanted to buy a notebook and a ballpen.After she had chosen her little notebook and a ballpen,she went up to the cashier to pay for it.Immediately,I took my wallet and paid for it.I was so proud and happy about her immediate action to do what is good for her reading.Now, she has a notebook and a ballpen whenever she is reading-just like her uncle.

As we went out of the bookshop at KLIA,she told me that one fine day, she will be writing a best selling novel!I look forward to it,my dear niece!