A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott
Freak Magnet by Andrew Auseon
Strawberry Shortcake: A Picnic Adventure by Lisa Gallo, Laura Thomas (Illustrator)
Ballet School by Sierra Harimann, Lisa Workman (Illustrator)
Reading wise, I'm currently reading Linger by Maggie Stiefvater and I'm enjoying every moment of it. I knew many of you have read this second instalment of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series and loving it, so I can't wait to find out what would happen between Sam and Grace. Besides this, I'm also reading Toy Story 1 - 3 Disney graphic novels and since each novel has about 50 pages I think I'll be able to finish reading them very soon. What I love about these graphic novels is not only the illustrations are in colour but they have also made me want to watch those animations all over again.
Onto a non-bookish note, next Monday we are going to register our eldest daughter for the admission to Primary One school for Year 2011. How time flies, eh? Six years ago today, she was only a 4-month-old baby. Where has the time go? Now can you understand why I started to post my Nostalgic Moments on this blog, so that when I get old and weak I've something to look back and remember. Ah.
So my daughter was telling me that she'd like to have her best friend attend the same school as her. Since I knew her friend's mother, we have planned to go to the school together for the registration. I just hope luck would be on us so we'd have no problem with the registration, after all if the number exceeded the limit there'd be a ballot. Let's all keep our fingers crossed!
I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead. I shall be catching up on blogs reading/commenting once I'm back next Tuesday.
ISBN-13: 9780340954133
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
I knew that bridge was a card game, but that was about it. It seemed dull and old-fashioned. Maybe, at one time, bridge might have been some people's idea of fun, but that was before computers and video games.
(Pg 17, The Cardturner by Louis Sachar)
Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page where readers get to share the books that came into their house last week.
Here's what I received last week (all bought from The Book Depository):
1) Sweet Rains by Nora Robert [a reissue of her two earlier works: Second Nature and Lessons Learned and oh, how I love the cover!]
2) Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols
3) Forget You by Jennifer Echols [Can you tell I'm a huge fan? 
]
4) Wings of Wrath by C.S. Friedman (Magister Series, #2) [I returned the library copy since the date was due and I figured I may as well buy it since I've the first book in my read pile.]
What books came into your house last week?
In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! Now there's this famous saying that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy so let me share with you one of my favourite games of all times - five stones. Played by 2 or more players, this is a game that test your catching and balancing skills and anyone who complete till the last level without fail wins. And the items of this game is simple and all you need is 5 small triangular cloth bags (they can be filled with rice, sand or small beans) and you are all set to play. I had tried making a set myself but the size turned out to be a little too big, still I had to admit it was fun making them.
Well, I think I had rambled enough and I hope I didn't bore you with my nostalgic moments. Thanks for reading till the end and I hope you have a great weekend ahead!
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
I'm in the mood for a romantic comedy, so I chose the following book by Alexandra Potter (her latest release) since I enjoyed her earlier release, Me and Mr Darcy (here's my review). I've read till Chapter 5 during my commute to work earlier and I'm glad to say I'm enjoying every moment of it.
For today's Teaser Tuesdays, please allow me to share the whole paragraph instead of the usual two sentences as I thought it'd make more sense, and oh don't you have to agree with it? 
If, by some miracle, you're lucky enough to meet the One, whatever you do, don't let them go. Because you don't get another shot at it. Soulmates aren't like buses; there's not going to be another one along in a minute. That's why they're called 'the One'.
(Pg 13, You're the One That I Don't Want by Alexandra Potter)
Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia from The Printed Page where readers get to share the books that came into their house last week.
I received The Big Ten of Grammar: Identifying and Fixing the Ten Most Frequent Grammatical Errors by William B. Bradshaw from a publicist as I thought it would be useful to my writing.
What books came into your house last week?
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!
I borrowed only one book last Friday: Sea Change by Aimee Friedman, and had to return The Stand (by Stephen King) and Wings of Wrath (by C.S. Friedman) since both books are due (I could no longer renew The Stand since I had it renewed once and I had ordered Wings of Wrath as I knew I want to read it since I have read and enjoyed the first instalment, Feast of Souls).
ISBN-13: 9780671657864I rarely read non-fiction. To be exact, I hardly read them unless the subject interest me or someone has highly recommended them to me. I read Many Lives, Many Masters based on the latter and let me say this is one of the most interesting and enlightening reads I read in years. I have to confess while writing this, I am still pondering over the subjects (or the encounters experienced by the author and one of his patients) mentioned because it is such a thought-provoking read and most of all, I am afraid I may not do justice to this book but still I am going to give it my best shot.
Many Lives, Many Masters is the true story of a prominent psychiatrist (who is the author of this book), his young patient, Catherine, and how past-life therapy that will change both of their lives. To begin with, Catherine is plagued by nightmares and anxiety for years but she is reluctant to seek any medical assistance initially. When these troubling issues continue, she decided to seek help through Dr. Weiss. Dr. Weiss had tried out a few therapy sessions with Catherine but did not see any improvement in her, finally he tried the hypnosis therapy and Catherine began to recall her past lives that answers her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks.
From a medical perspective, Dr. Weiss is both astonished and skeptical by this findings but he keeps an open mind and continues to use this therapy as he keep an eye on Catherine's progress as the sessions go along. As each session goes by, both Dr. Weiss and Catherine have learned something more about Catherine as well as her past lives and how each of her past life has, in one way or another affects her present life. What most astonishing is, Catherine is mentally stable and does not have any hallucination or sleepwalking issues but she is able to recall a few of her past lives providing sharp and accurate details. Now at this point, Dr. Weiss is very intrigued by Catherine's past and the fact how she is able to relate the encounter of her past lives given she is neither an actress nor an imaginative person in nature. But that is not all, at times Catherine is able to send philosophical messages in her subconscious state during the sessions and this has further intrigued the non-spiritual and with a scientific mind Dr. Weiss.
Dr. Weiss later learned that the messages Catherine has conveyed are from the Master Spirits and through those messages, I learned that we are all inter-connected; and that we have a purpose for living and it is through the lessons we learned and to teach others, we all will attain a happy, harmony and a balance life. I also learned that one is always responsible for the deeds he has done, and why our actions matter and will inadvertently affect our present or future lives.
To put it simply, Many Lives, Many Masters allows the readers to think more deeply about their lives and to reinforce the idea that what we are today are the consequences of what we did in our previous lives (that explains why some people are born with certain talents). Well, I wish I could elaborate more about this wonderful book but I won't considering this post is already long enough, instead I shall share with you a few lovely passages from the book:
"Balance and harmony are neglected today, yet they are the foundation of wisdom. Everything is done to excess. People are overweight because they eat excessively. Joggers neglect aspects of themselves and others because they run excessively. People seem excessively mean. They drink too much, smoke too much, carouse too much (or too little), talk too much without content, worry too much. There is too much black-or-white thinking. All or none. This is not the way of nature. ... In nature there is balance. Beasts destroy in small amounts. Ecological systems are not eliminated en masse. Plants are consumed and then grow. The sources of sustenance are dipped into and then replenished. The flower is enjoyed, the fruit eaten, the root preserved.
"Humankind has not learned about balance, let alone practiced it. It is guided by greed and ambition, steered by fear. In this way it will eventually destroy itself. But nature will survive; at least the plants will. ... Happiness is really rooted in simplicity. The tendency to excessiveness in thought and action diminishes happiness. Excesses cloud basic values. Religious people tell us that happiness comes from filling one's heart with love, from faith and hope, from practicing charity and dispensing kindness. They actually are right. Given those attitudes, balance and harmony usually follow. These are collectively a state of being. In these days, they are an altered state of consciousness. It is as if humankind were not in its natural state while on earth. It must reach an altered state in order to fill itself with love and charity and simplicity, to feel purity, to rid itself of its chronic fearfulness. ~ Pg 209-210
"How is it that you say all are equal, yet the obvious contraditions smack us in the face: inequalities in virtues, temperances, finances, rights, abilities and talents, intelligence, mathematical aptitude, ad infinitum?"
The answer was a metaphor. "It is as if a large diamond were to be found inside each person. Picture a diamond a foot long. The diamond has a thousand facets, but the facets are covered with dirt and tar. It is the job of the soul to clean each facet until the surface is brilliant and can reflect a rainbow of colors. Now, some have cleaned many facets and gleam brightly. Others have only managed to clean a few; they do not sparkle so. Yet, underneath the dirt, each person possesses within his or her breast a brilliant diamond with a thousand gleaming facets. The diamond is perfect, not one flaw. The only differences among people are the number of facets cleaned. But each diamond is the same, and each is perfect.
When all the facets are cleaned and shining forth in a spectrum of lights, the diamond returns to the pure energy that it was originally. The lights remain. It is as if the process that goes into making the diamond is reversed, all that pressure released. The pure energy exists in the rainbow of lights, and the lights possess consciousness and knowledge. And all of the diamonds are perfect." ~ Pg 211-212
English Edition内容提要:
北村純過著超貧窮、掙扎求生的生活。可是，照顧哥哥英輔撿回來，沒有血緣關係的弟妹們就是她活著的意義。有一天，一名青年救了抱著高燒的妹妹，感到絕望的純。雖然對青年的親切懷抱淡淡情愫，不過為了拯救差點就要被賣掉以便還債的孩子們，她下定決心賣身。之後純被田財閥的少爺‧蒼一郎買下，並為了金錢答應跟他假結婚…
Sumi Kitamura is a simple and a kind-hearted girl. Despite her poor background, she finds joy in life through her younger siblings. To be exact, they are orphans and not her flesh and blood siblings but Sumi's older brother Eisuke brought them home and treat them as family despite they can barely afford of feeding themselves. And on top of that, they have a huge debts of house rental fees they have yet to pay and life became a chore for Sumi. Though Eisuke is a compassionate man, he can be irresponsible and he will spend whatever money was left for his gambling debts and on women.
On an occasion when one of their younger siblings was sick, Sumi went around seeking for assistance but no one wants to help her for they think she has owed them enough. Just when Sumi begins to lose her hope, she received a handkerchief from Nozomu. When she unfolds the handkerchief, she is shocked to find he has left some money for her but before she could thank his kind gesture, he has already left. From that moment onwards, Sumi couldn't help thinking of him and she is hoping she would be able to see him again.
Unfortunately, life does not get better for her and in order to give comfort to her younger siblings, she has to find ways to solve their financial problems. She decided to sell herself but a wealthy, good-looking Soichiro Ashida wants her to marry him instead. Sumi has no choice but to agree to his proposal while on the other end, Soichiro has to marry a girl so that he would have his sickly grandfather's inheritance.
Little did Sumi know that Nozomu and Soichiro were childhood friends and as much as she likes Nozomu, she is bounded by the fact that she is Soichiro's wife. The story began to take a turn when Sumi gets to know more about Soichiro and his tragic past and soon she would find herself torn between these two men. Would she be a proper lady and fit into Soichiro's glitzy and glamourous life, and most of all who should she choose to be with in the end?
I finished reading the above volumes by Rinko Ueda yesterday (I read the Chinese edition) and I've to confess I was totally blown away by Rinko's beautiful illustrations! Besides that, I was also drawn by the plot and the characterisations. I've to admit I disliked Soichiro from the beginning but I think there's certainly more about him than meets the eye, and I cannot wait to read more about Sumi's marriage life in Soichiro's family and not to mention the interesting love triangle. Oh, I hope volume 3 will be released quickly!
TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
At the time of my first session with Catherine, I had no idea that my life was about to turn upside down, that the frightened, confused woman across the desk from me would be the catalyst, and that I would never be the same again.
(Pg 20, Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss, M.D.)
On an unrelated note, I was thrilled to find an ad featuring Taiwan's most renowned magician, Lu Chen. If you are a follower of Melody's Reading Corner, then you know I am a huge fan of him.
Edited to note: As the video didn't show, I will direct you to the link on his blog.
Below video is some of the magic he had performed in Japan.
This week’s musing asks…
Can you read amidst distractions? (tv, others talking, sporting events, etc)
Well, I have to say it has to depend on the situation. Usually I can read with the TV on (gotta love those commercial breaks!) or some soft music in the background. I have no problem reading during the commute to and from work since it's part of my weekday routine, and I find myself enjoying every moment of it (in fact, most of my reading time is spent during the commute). I also find that if you are totally engrossed in your book, you will be able to block out any background noise unless the distractions are too great to ignore.
That said, I'd still prefer to read in a quiet place with minimal distraction as possible. Sometimes, a book is best read with little distractions so that I am able to do some pondering or daydreaming without anything (or anyone) disturbing my thoughts.
What about you?
