A Homemaker’s Diary

A friend lend me this book more than a month ago. It’s a great book that brought tears to my eyes, even as I just started to read the introduction written by her husband.

“Roza memasak dengan hati. Beliau merenung apa yang dimasak seolah-olah seluruh jiwa dan perasaannya ke situ. Akhirnya saya mengerti, di hati, beliau menyerahkan masakannya kepada Dia yang satu agar tertunai tanggungjawabnya. Bukan pada suami atau anak-anak, juga bukan kepada keluarga atau rakan. Ia sebagai satu amal ibadat agar ia diterima Allah.

Itulah makna Bukan Sekadar Resepi.”

I am half way through digesting the content. This is not the type of book that you can read in one go and then forget about it on your bookshelf. I think once I’m done reading it and return it to my friend, I’m going to get a copy for my library.

Worth buying and a treasure to keep!

After a few years of not reading constantly, I found out that I can finish reading a romance/fiction book at a rate of one book every night..yes, I used to stay up and read fiction when I was younger, never thought I could still do it at 33..huhu!

And then it struck me, that most of the romance writers are women. So whenever you read what the hero says in the book, it’s really what a woman wish to hear from the man in her life, not what a real man will say in reality..(err..do you get what I mean?)

One example of what the hero wrote in his letter in Lisa Kleypas’s Again The Magic:

“No miles of level desert, no jagged mountain heights, no sea of endless blue
Neither words nor tears, nor silent fears will keep me from coming back to you.”

How many men in real life could say such thing out loud, not even a poet or song writer says such romantic quotes to their wife, I bet!

Despite that I still love reading fiction and historical romance especially. For me, it’s like taking a little break from the daily routine, to be in another world, to smile and laugh, or in certain storyline to cry along with the characters. Words certainly have great power in touching human soul (mine at least).

The greatest satisfaction in reading romance or fiction is to enjoy the happy ending. No matter how hard the obstacles, they always have a great epilogue. Love is a great motivator in life, don’t you think so?

We finally managed to go to BBW sale last Friday..well actually it’s not Friday..it was 12 am on Saturday..spent like 3 hours plus browsing the romance/general fiction and best sellers aisles while Hubby checked out the children section.

Told myself that I will only buy books that I’m going to finish reading in 2013..so I was so happy when I found two books by Alison Weir. Last year I bought Innocent Traitor and love it so I have been hoping to find The Lady Elizabeth during BBW sale this year.

The afternoon before we went to the sale, BBW Facebook page advertised about J.K Rowling, The Tales of Beedle The Bard. I was not really hoping to find the book but while browsing the activity books for children, I saw a few pieces left so I grabbed one and put in the box..heh!

I found one Jude Deveraux and just took it. Hopefully it’s a good book. I’ve never read Alexandra Potter so why not give it a chance this time. My friend mentioned about Steve Berry a few times so I thought for RM8, why not? If I really can’t stand the story line or the style of his writing I can always give the book to someone else later, right?

Mama Kucing mentions about Manju Kapur in her FB and blog, so since I found one..I just take it. I bought Rani Manicka’s The Rice Mother two years ago but still couldn’t find the time to read it so I’m not sure whether I will like Manju Kapur’s book..huhu! But then, that’s the beauty of BBW, it gives you the chance to buy and try to read author’s work that you might not even consider spending RM40 per book in retail bookstore. And if you find you like the author, you will be looking forward to his/her next book and wouldn’t mind paying the full price for it.

I am so happy to see Mitch Albom’s Have A Little Faith in stack. I have been eyeing the hardcover book since last year in Borders but since it is so expensive, I just tell myself, next time if during BBW they have it, then I’ll buy it..huhu! I’ve read most of his books and really love his writing. His latest fiction is The Time Keeper, published last September.

Unfortunately there was not much choice in craft section that day. I managed to get 4 related books, one of them is Papercrafting by Donna Dewberry. Oh, I also found a Maths book for 4-5 year old. I hope I could use it to homeschool my son next year.

Overall I am happy with the outcome of the visit to BBW even at such wee hour. People with sleepy eyes were walking like zombies by the time I paid for the books..haha! So for those who still couldn’t make it, check out their last sale this weekend. Hopefully they have another 60 hours mission so that night owls like me can go and do massive book shopping (again???)..hahaha!

It’s that time of the year that I really, really look forward too..The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale..hehe..even though I still have loads of books bought from the past 3 years unread..

For those planning to go this year, the event will be held at MINES convention centre..yup..I know..I somehow prefer MAEPS like last year even though I have to take a tram to the book sale and later Hubby came with car to fetch all those boxes full of books.

This time I think I will be more moderate in choosing what kind of books I want to buy..make sure I really want to read them, then only I will buy..(I saw Johanna Lindsey and lots of Danielle Steele, have to check which titles I already have in possession)..oh, dear Son also wants some books based on what he saw on the BBW website..

Oh, for the first weekend, 6-8 Dec, they will be open for 63 hours non stop..so you can always go and buy books after a teh tarik at 2am..Hubby said we should go after son’s birthday party on Saturday, that if I still have energy after being a hostess and blowing like 100 balloons..haha!

See you there people, bookworms 🙂

Google Books synopsis:

A haunting portrait of a fascinating age-Japan between the Meiji Era and the end of World War II

In Meiji-era Japan, where the standard of beauty is the graceful geisha and the greatest joy a woman can hope for is to produce healthy heirs for her husband, an idealistic Japanese politician named Taku takes Emi as his child bride.

Emi, a gifted koto player, cherishes Taku’s doting love. But the couple can’t conceive, and Taku’s work takes him away more and more often. When she finally gives birth to a healthy son, Emi dares hope that the preternaturally intelligent Jun will help mend the rift in her marriage.

That is, until she meets Hana, an extraordinarily beautiful and wicked geisha, and discovers a betrayal so devastating it would take the aid of eight million gods and demons-the number of deities in the Japanese pantheon-to overcome.

When I bought this book at BBW last year, I thought it’s another book about geisha and all Japanese culture related. However as I read through, the story actually revolves around 3 generations of the Imura family. You can check a full review at curledup.com.

It shows that not all Japanese people were happy to be part of the War, men and sons were drafted to foreign land in the name of honor for the Emperor. It gives me a different point to ponder. This is certainly not an easy book to read but I managed to finish it in 2 nights.