This book evolves around a Thai beach paradise wrapped in secrecy, inhabited by a select group of Western backpackers.

The protagonist, Richard, is a smoking, toking, schizophrenic backpacker with a wandering imagination and a desire for action. The story shows his journey from an outsider who arrives at this beach, to when he is finally accepted as one of them, only to eventually end up alienated.

On the beach there are no taxes, traffic, or phone calls. Instead, there are fishing, gardening, cooking, carpentry and marijuana stealing duties. It looks pretty idyllic and relaxed at first, but after a while, as difficult situations arise, tension builds up in the relationships amongst the beach dwellers and the cracks start to show.

What I really like about this book, beyond the fast pace it takes, is that it shows a backpacker's state of mind. Approaching and inviting complete strangers to travel with you, the willingness to look for adventure, the necessary degree of independence. It also shows how easy it is to leave your previous life behind in a foreign environment & how friends, family, careers, studies can evaporate, and the ease that comes at embracing a new life.

Frankly, if someone told me a place like The Beach exists, I wouldn't be all too perplexed. Reading about it tempted me to hop on a boat, join some hippy retreat and leave the rest of the world behind.

If you're about to go backpacking, bring this book along. It'll be an interesting read (but hey, don't let if stop you even if you ain't gonna be backpacking).

I had a humble beginning with books, as the first book I read was 'Goldilocks and the three bears'. It was my favourite book and I remember my Mum would read the story to me almost everyday. She was the one who ignited the love of books in me. From the coloured pages of Goldilocks, I progressed to other fairy tales and eventually to novels as I aged with my books.

It was from the introduction to Enid Blyton by my Mum that my passion for books exploded! My first Enid Blyton book was 'The O?Sullivan twins'. I enjoyed the school series immensely and my favourite mystery series was the 'Five Find Outers and their dog'. A story centered around a bunch of brilliant teenage sleuths and their dog. From Enid Blyton, I moved on to Patricia Cornwell and later to RL Stine and Christopher Pike before I discovered Stephen King.

For some time, I read only books from the horror genre but realised that there was more to the book kingdom than horror stories and it was then that I found JRR Tolkien and JK Rowling.

Nowadays, I read books from authors like JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, Darren Shan, Patricia Cornwell, Stephen King, Douglas Adams, Roald Dahl, Anthony Horowitz and an assortment of other fiction and non-fiction books.

I'm generally more into books that centre on teens or young adults. I turn 19 this year so that should explain the obsession! (Oh yes, for more on *me* personally, *do* visit my blog! :D)

Source: TheResident
Yesterday author JK Rowling revealed the title of the sixth instalment of the popular Harry Potter series. It's called Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince.

I haven't read any of the Harry Potter books yet (though I have seen all three of the films), so I can't share much insight to the title. Rowling, however, did say that The Half Blood Prince is neither Harry nor Voldemort.

For more news...just check out the JK Rowling's official site (obviously this reminder is for non-fans, much like myself who hardly ventures there...)

To the fine folks at Book Review Blog,

Just writing to inform you that my book 'Fourteen Bullets' has just been offered a two-year contract by Silver Lake Publishing, a well-respected science fiction and fantasy publisher based in the United States.

The contract should be officially signed soon and I am getting ready to work with an editor to polish up my manuscript for publication. Once publication happens, I will most definitely be sending Book Review Blog a review copy of Fourteen Bullets.

I want to thank everyone who has shown me tremendous support during my creative endeavors. After ten years of writing, I have finally been given the opportunity to take my hobby one step further. I can't help but feel blessed and thankful.

I don't think it is cliche to proclaim 'Malaysia Boleh', for this achievement does not belong to me alone, but to all the underdog Malaysian writers who toil hard for their craft and endure much for their passion. This one is for you.

I hope that this excellent news will be a guiding light for my fellow Malaysians out there. Let it not be said that we lack talent or creativity. On the contrary: never stop writing, never stop hoping and never stop dreaming.

As always, take care and God bless!

Best Wishes
John Ling

Source: For Grabs
1. The Adrian Mole Series
2. The Crippled Tree, Han Suyin
3. Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
4. Outside Passage, Julia Scully
5. Complete Shorter Fiction, Oscar Wilde
6. The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte

Returning
1. Ryuu - The Da Vinci Code
2. Aliya - Bali Rai (un)arranged marriage
3. Aliya - Nice, Jen Sacks
4. Ted - Black & White Series, Jit Murad, Mira Mustaffa, Mahani Gunnell
5. Ted - Heroes, Karim Raslan

Looking For
1. The others from the Black & White series.
2. Anything else interesting

Source: I offer two words before I begin my review of this one: Read it.

This is one of those gems you would like to have and to keep permanently. This is the kind of book that is timeless and will be enjoyed by your children and their children after.

[...]

This is the story of Piscine Molitor Patel. The young Indian boy enforced his name as Pi after getting tired of being called Pissing.

This account of a boy, cast out at sea after the ship which was meant to transport his family and their animals from Pondicherry to Canada sank; is a story not just of survival, but of faith and of love, particularly for life itself, and animals. I have learned much more about human relationships with creatures from the animal kingdom from this book than from any of the National Geographic or Discovery Channel programs I have watched

Anyway, listed here are the occasions where I manage to get the most reading done - in order of frequency and number of books finished while in that particular situation:

1) Waiting in the bank/restaurant/post office/LRT station/mechanic etc...
2) While on the LRT (much more productive than just staring into space like most commuters do)
3) Sitting on the toilet (For decency's sake, I shall not elaborate further)
4) When stuck in snail-paced traffic jams (kids, don't try this at home)
5) While 'lepaking' in coffee joints or eating dinner(instead of just sitting down and eating, I READ while eating, especially when I'm alone. Makes for quite a number of coffee and curry stains on my books though)
6) Dedicated book-reading marathons into the wee hours of the night (usually conducted when I absolutely HAVE to finish a book or I wouldn't be able to sleep)