Blog Task #3
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Write a book review on one of the most unforgettable/favourite book of yours.
Jia Chie - Beautiful by Katie Piper
Beautiful by Katie Piper is one of the best autobiographies I have
ever read. It was recommended by my friend. I found the book cover and the synopsis
interesting, so I decided to read it. Her story was inspiring and astonishing
and the events she had gone through were so heart-breaking that I almost shed
tears. She is such a strong person, who managed to overcome her dark past for
many years and even handled it very well. Besides that, the content of the book
was just so raw that I also could feel her excruciating pain.
This self-help book taught me a lot of things. It made me realise that the difficulties I went through were small compared to what Katie had to experience. It made me grateful for the life I lead and everything I own. More than that, after the attack, she is still able to be enthusiastic. As for me, I am sensitive to a lot of things, no matter how small they and my problems are. This made me realise how fragile I am but also encouraged me to be a stronger person. Furthermore, it kind of made me realise that I should not simply date someone I met through social media. It is mentioned in the book that she became friends with a man on Facebook, who became her boyfriend afterwards. The man seemed like a well-mannered person, but behind the nice mask, he was villainous. Not only did he violate Katie's body and soul, he and one of his accomplices poured sulphuric acid on her, scarring her body forever.
This self-help book taught me a lot of things. It made me realise that the difficulties I went through were small compared to what Katie had to experience. It made me grateful for the life I lead and everything I own. More than that, after the attack, she is still able to be enthusiastic. As for me, I am sensitive to a lot of things, no matter how small they and my problems are. This made me realise how fragile I am but also encouraged me to be a stronger person. Furthermore, it kind of made me realise that I should not simply date someone I met through social media. It is mentioned in the book that she became friends with a man on Facebook, who became her boyfriend afterwards. The man seemed like a well-mannered person, but behind the nice mask, he was villainous. Not only did he violate Katie's body and soul, he and one of his accomplices poured sulphuric acid on her, scarring her body forever.
In
conclusion, I definitely would recommend this autobiography to others if I had
a chance to do so. I believe this book will help them in the future. This is a
good book overall.
Daphne - If I Stay by Gayle Forman
If I Stay by Gayle Forman is one of my favorite book. It is the best book I have ever read. I read this book after I had watched the trailer of this movie based on the book. I found the storyline interesting so I decided to read it. This story is so amazing and heartbreaking that it will touch your heart. It also awakes a lingering memory or a potential fear that will haunt your mind so that even long after you’ve fallen asleep, you still will think about the details.
Mia is a 17 year old girl and she is a gifted cello player. She has been talented and passionate about cello since young. She is about to be accepted into the prestigious Julliard. Mia finds it tough to make up her mind. To follow her love of music and complete her cellist dream or to stay with her loved one. Then one fateful morning, everything changes in a blink of an eye. All her choices are gone in a sudden. This is the worst nightmares that can ever happen to Mia. It should be a happy family day trip. However, it leads her to choose between life and death because of a terrible car crash that took everything from her. Mia is rushed to ICU and she realizes that she is caught between life and death. She watches her family and friends come to visit her at the hospital. However, she cannot manage to wake up. At the same time, she also analyzes her relationships with everyone to decide whether she has to stay or leave the world.
In a nutshell, If I Stay brings out the kind of beauty that can only exist inside your deep heart that’s filled with happiness and sorrow; laughter and tears; birth and death; love and loss. I will recommend this book to others because you can enjoy reading it with a heart full emotions. Nevertheless, it would be pretty great being able to choose your own fate- to stay or to leave.
Yin Wei - Talk of the Road 2 by Kevin Tsai
Sara - The Vow by Kim & Krickitt Carpenter with Dana Wilkerson
Five strategies and activities to get Malaysians to read more books.
Furthermore, homely reading areas and makeshift coffee shops should be set up in the venue. When choosing a place to read, one should pick a comfortable and tranquil environment where they feel at ease at as it helps improve on one’s reading mood. People would be more interested in reading if the scenery around them is peaceful and quiet. With that, the venue should be decorated with colours and posters that are easy on the eyes, comfortable chairs to sit on should be set up and even quiet instrumentals can be played. Moreover, by setting up coffee shops, readers will be able to taste their favourite beverage while reading their chosen book in peace.
Yin Wei - Talk of the Road 2 by Kevin Tsai
Talk of the Road 2 is
one of my favourite books I’ve ever read. It was written by Kevin Tsai, a well-known
writer and television host in Taiwan. He is my favourite writer of all time so
I decided to buy this book. I was attracted by his style of writing. He
delivers the messages in forty different humorous way, entertaining readers.
This is a self-help book, detailing on how we should learn to talk in our lives.
The better our speech skill, the more likable people find us. The tale in this
book comes from his personal experience. Some of them I found interesting
because I can totally relate to it.
My
favourite chapter, the first chapter of this book, taught me a lesson about why
we should look at how we talk every day. Every day, we look in the mirror a few
times but do we ever ask ourselves about how we look when we speak? When we
look in the mirror, we would comb our hair immediately; even if just a small area
is messy or we spray perfume if we smell bad. We can take care of our appearance
by applying cosmetics and skin care products. However, we cannot apply any of
these while we communicate. What we should do is pay more attention in the way
we talk such as our tone and tempo. Each of us communicate with others every
day and people listen to the way we talk. When we order food, complain, report
or talk to friends, there are always people listening.
In
conclusion, this is a very helpful book that has taught me a lot on
communication skills. It will definitely help us improve on our communication
skills in the future. I would recommend this book to my friends because they
will gain a lot of knowledge by reading about his experiences.
Sara - The Vow by Kim & Krickitt Carpenter with Dana Wilkerson
I don't usually read books but The Vow is probably my
all-time favourite book. It is a book based on a true event. It is also one of
the books that were inspired to make in to movies. Many people said that the
movie was so much better than the book. Well, I guess there were some twists
and turns in the movie. That’s what made the movie more interesting for some
people. Kim and Krickett Carpenter wrote this book but in my opinion, Kim was
the only one who narrated it. Honestly, this story is very inspiring and
romantic. I bawled my eyes out from reading the book and watching the movie as
I tried to put myself in Kim’s shoes.
It is about a Christian newlywed couples that were very religious and deeply
in love with each other until one day, everything changed. They were involved
in an accident. Kim and Krickett made it after the accident but, sadly,
Krickett lost her memory after waking up from her coma. She did not recognize
her husband, Kim and not aware that she was married to him. Kim, as a husband,
went through hard times trying to help Krickett to gain her memory back. He did
everything that is possible to make her wife remember about what they had. When
finally, Krickett is in love with Kim again. They held on to their vows,
believed in God and continued with their life. Too bad, Krickett still did not
gain her memory yet, until today.
This story gave me hope. It made me believe that someone actually cares
about you even when you are on your worse and be there for you even when you
have put them through tough times. Also, with God’s will, everything will be
just fine. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy romance and
religious. I would say teenage girls and young adults.
Jasmine - The Chronicles Of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Set mainly in the fictional country of Narnia, where mystical creatures, talking animals and magic are aplenty, and her surrounding neighbours, and Earth, it entails the adventures of various children venturing on adventures that will shape with futures of the habitants and history of these realms. It also details the history of Narnia, from its birth in The Magician’s Nephew to its end in The Last Battle.
Jasmine - The Chronicles Of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Despite Harry Potter being the one that introduced
me to the wondrous world of reading, it is The Chronicles of Narnia that stayed in my heart to this day. My tuition teacher then
(I was eight then) recommended me the series. Since she exposed me to Harry Potter, I decided to take her
suggestion to heart and boy, was I in for a life-changing journey.
Set mainly in the fictional country of Narnia, where mystical creatures, talking animals and magic are aplenty, and her surrounding neighbours, and Earth, it entails the adventures of various children venturing on adventures that will shape with futures of the habitants and history of these realms. It also details the history of Narnia, from its birth in The Magician’s Nephew to its end in The Last Battle.
Personally,
I am a fan of the fantasy genre so it is no wonder I consider this to be my
favourite books. It has everything, from its compelling story telling by the
late C. S. Lewis, various moral values embedded between the words to its great characters.
One of them is Edmund Pevensie, a character I consider one of my dearest ones
to this day. He has truly grown, from the spiteful and bratty boy who willingly
traded off his siblings in the second book, to the mature, level-headed youth with
a mostly dark mind-set throughout the rest of the series. The portrayal of his
redemption arc is well-written and teaches readers that redemption is always possible,
if one is willing to work for it.
However,
it still has its faults, from its blatant racism (the antagonists are typically
implied to be of Middle Eastern descendent) to its sexist views (the poor
treatment of Susan Pevensie in the finale), glaring faults I truly dislike but it
still does not change my love for the books.
This series
has always been dear to me. It is a part of my childhood, friends that kept me
company when I did not have any real ones. I most definitely recommend this
series to anybody because really, you would not regret it.
“Books are the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no
batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I wonder is why
everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead spots in life.”
- Stephen King
Despite a
study in 2014 by the National Library (PNM) in Malaysia indicating a rise of
readers among the locals (an average Malaysian reads 14 books a year, compared
to two and a half pages fourteen years ago), it still is not enough, according
to ex-Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin anyway. What he said is
true. It is a vast contrast from other countries such as India, Thailand and
China, the top three countries with the most readers (a native Indian reads an
average of 10 hours and 42 minutes, a Thai 9 hours and 24 minutes while a
Chinese spends 8 hours. So how will Malaysians be able to be at par with them
reading-wise? Well, one way of encouraging Malaysians to read more is to
organise reading campaigns. But, what activities or strategies could be implemented
at a reading campaign?
First of
all, books could be used as a door gift, as appreciation for attending the
campaign. The books should be given at random, and of various genres. This is
to encourage ‘safe’ readers to venture out of their comfort zone. If the genre
is not their cup of tea, they could exchange the materials with others who feel
the same way. Not only will they be able to read new books, they may even form
new relationships with fellow attendees.
Besides
that, storytelling sessions and plays should be hosted. Typically, youngsters prefer
visuals than words. So by organising them, they would be interested in stories
and may even try their hand at reading them. For storytellers, they should use
dramatic tactics on their audiences, usually children, such as trailing off at
the end of their sentences to instil the urge for their audiences to know the
rest of the tale and even hand gestures or the use of puppets. Plays are also
important in reading. Classic fictional novels are usually hard for some to understand
as they are of Early Modern English. So by hosting plays, audiences are able to
understand the story much easier. This is helpful, especially for literature
students.
Another
way to encourage the local public to read is to create should create a booth
specially for recommending readers looking for new material to immerse
themselves in but draw blanks. The readers should be given a recommendation on
similar books or the genres the readers request at the booth and a short review
so they will be able to have an idea on what the book entails. This will ease
readers on making decisions on what they would like to read.
Furthermore, homely reading areas and makeshift coffee shops should be set up in the venue. When choosing a place to read, one should pick a comfortable and tranquil environment where they feel at ease at as it helps improve on one’s reading mood. People would be more interested in reading if the scenery around them is peaceful and quiet. With that, the venue should be decorated with colours and posters that are easy on the eyes, comfortable chairs to sit on should be set up and even quiet instrumentals can be played. Moreover, by setting up coffee shops, readers will be able to taste their favourite beverage while reading their chosen book in peace.
Also, the campaign should offer
special promotions, discounts, coupons and mark down prices of any kind of
reading material sold there, be it books, magazines, vintage newspapers or even
e-books. Generally, people enjoy getting things on the cheap and for free. They
would even buy such things in bulks, reasoning inwardly or cynics that such
deals will not be offered anywhere else or ever again. Additionally, people
tend to not buy books at their local bookstores due to the high prices. So with
this tactic, this will encourage more people to read more.
In conclusion, reading is actually
an enjoyable activity if one tries and is a necessity in our life as knowledge
is gained through it. We can also discover new facts and words and even further
develop our imagination. With that, the community should be encouraged to read
more. After all, the relationships we build with friends and family are built on
words. What we become in the future depends on the words we believe in.
Writers: Sara, Daphne, Jia Chie, Jasmine, Yin Wei
Researchers: Sara, Daphne, Jia Chie, Jasmine, Yin Wei
Editor: Jasmine
References:
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