Marsha Maung:: Freelance graphic designer and writer - books

700 Sundays:: Book Review (The Star)

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:09:37 +0100

My new book review on Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays is up here.

Demon Seed:: Dean Koontz

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 09:00:00 +0100

Book Review: Demon Seed

Let me start this book review by saying that I am a Dean Koontz fan. I used to be hardcore, but ever since having my kids, I dropped the Koontz books and opted for Miriam Stoppard instead. But now my kids are a little bit more independent, I am back to Koontz. Now, the book….Demon Seed, eh?

Hhmmm…an artificial intelligence program gone awry. A psychopathic, maniacal computer malfunctioning causing mayhem within the house that it (he) controls. A woman spending her life trapped and abused by men…and then now, a computer (also a man, it seems to believe).

I admit, the concept of a psychopathic computer trying to manipulate the feeble human race is nothing new. There has been movies and books…and songs written about it. The concept itself is intriguing – although at times laughable, I assure you. But it’s all in good fun. You’ve just got to leave everything behind, logic, facts, doubts, everything behind. Pretend you’re not smart at all.

Demon Seed is indeed revolutionary by virtue of the fact that the book was first published when I was born…(that’s 1973, by the way) and when I was born, the smartest computer probably weighed about 10 tons! So, for Dean Koontz to write something like this in complete detail is probably quite a bit of a challenge. But Dean Koontz rewrote it in 1997, 20 years later, adding some newer gadgets and technology bits into it. The Internet, intranetworking systems, genetic engineering…blah blah blah…like I know the difference.

The most interesting thing about Demon Seed is that Dean Koontz wrote this in the first person voice. Which means to say that the entire book is a narrative from the computer. Often you’ll find the psychopathic computer trying to reinforce a point by repeating itself…like I am a kind soul. I am a kind soul. I really am a kind soul. I am a really, really, REALLY kind soul. Pretty much the way a psychopathic computer should act – I suppose. Or perhaps even child of 2 who is trying to get an extra lollipop. Who knows?

But the fact that the book was written in the first voice is very fresh and interesting. It gives us a very refreshing look into the purported behavior of a computer that malfunctions and begins to develop what it (he) thinks are feelings and emotions. However, this advantage is also the DISadvantage. Miss Susan Harris, the lead female character in this story, lacks a voice. Very little chance is given to the female lead to tell us, the readers, what is going through her mind except through the computer’s narrative about what he sees.

The innocence and confusion of the computer is also quite intriguing. In fact, its attempts to be sexy and as humanly as possible is hilarious! I don’t want to spoil your fun but then there was a point where the computer wanted to appear sexy (duh!?) to Susan and the only data it (he) could gather on sexiness is from books and whatever that is published on the Internet. Therefore, he often said things like…. “I think your breasts are really pretty”. Guffaw!! Guffaw! Choke! Ssssseeeeexxxxyyyyy…….

I have very few complaints about this book but one of the biggest complaints about it is the fact that the ending was so rushed I didn’t have the time to absorb it, no time to feel anything apart from….it’s ended? When? My suggestion would have been for Dean Koontz to have given the last few paragraphs or the last chapter to Miss Susan and tell us her side of the story.

It would have been perfect then.

It would have been perfect.

It would.

Really, it would have been perfect.

Simply perfect.

Book review published on Friday the 13th!!!

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 11:35:00 +0100

I am not a very superstitious person and sometimes can be quite aloof when it comes to things like stepping over cracks and under ladders….but still!

My book review for “The Star” on the book ‘It’s called a breakup because it’s broken” is published on FRIDAY the 13^th (hear the Twilight Zone song yet?)

So far, nothing untoward has happened to me today…yet...partly due to the fact I've been sleeping the whole day because of late night working on client’s website and is still kind of groggy right now. Touch wood, touch wood.

But sometimes I think the famous Friday the 13^th is all fiction and no fact. Why would it be bad luck day only on Friday the 13^th? Fear of Friday the 13^th has a scientific name, by the way, and it’s called paraskevidekatriaphobia. (I dare you to try to pronounce that!)

Points to ponder:-

If Friday the 13^th is an unlucky day, the whole world will suffer at the same time and nobody will win lottery on this day.
Friday the 13^th is really all fiction because it’s a complete national (International?) unfounded trepidation
The stock market will crash on Friday the 13^th
It’s all in the mind. Ever heard of THAT one? If you think Friday the 13^th is going to be a bad day…by golly, you’ll get nothing but bad luck all day. But if you snub your nose at the notion, you will have none of the ill fortune
Nobody should go to work on Friday the 13^th because nothing will go right. The printer will not work, the coffee machine will explode, virus will penetrate the intranet, files will be corrupted, clients will leave, documents and legal agreements will be lost…etc
Nobody gets married on Friday the 13^th
Nobody will ever give birth on Friday the 13^th
Nobody will go to the doctor or dentist on Friday the 13^th
Nobody will start a new job on Friday the 13^th, lest they get fired on the spot for no apparent reason.
Nobody will buy insurance or shares on Friday the 13^th

Imagine, the world would have complete stopped spinning because…it’s black Friday.

Sari & Sins: Nisha Minhas (Book Review)

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 06:40:00 +0100

Title: Sari & Sins
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN No: 0-7434-3046-8
Ratings: 3.8 stars

One crazy woman and two very obvious couples. That’s what Sari & Sins by Nisha Minhas is all about.

The highlight of Sari & Sins
The cross culture reference is undeniable. Since we have Indians here in Malaysia, I am not unfamiliar with the Indian culture. And since my work often requires me to mingle with and communicate with people from the West, I am not unfamiliar with their culture either. So, here I am, sitting here, reading about these two cultures and how chaotic it would be if they were meshed together.

Although my aunts are both married to ‘gwai-lows’ (white people), I am not privy to their constant miscommunications and besides, my aunts lived in the UK for some time and have been exposed to the lifestyle of being English. Therefore, I suspect they didn’t have the kind of problems that the people/characters in the book, Sari & Sins, had.

But then again…we’re Chinese…and Chinese have long stopped picking spouses for their own kids a long time ago.

The wicked witch
As I said, there’s one single witch (and her aid), Chloe, who is totally out of this world. She’s deranged and psychotic. She is written out to be so villainous that I often imaged her befitting of a role in ‘Dallas’ or ‘Dynasty’. Sorry, that’s a series from my era but this is the best I can do. I have not been watching many shows or series except for TVB ones for such a long time. TV is a waste of time for me.

But anyway, Chloe, is raised by a strict Catholic mother who makes her swear holding the bible. Chloe’s mother thinks she’s a virgin and wants her to remain so until she gets married. Her virginity is sacred to her and she spent a large part of her life ensuring that her daughter is brought up right. She did the right thing – the wrong way. Not only is Chloe not a virgin, she’s slept with almost all men in her side of the world.

Hence, Chloe turned out to be a psychotic woman whose only wish and dream is to control men. And she has this thing about having a house that I cannot fathom.

Couple 1: Samir (Sammy) and Kareena
Samir’s parents picked a wife for him and this resulted in him marrying Kareena. He’s handsome and she’s beautiful. He’s rich and she’s kind and loving. No suspence and no faults whatsoever. This is an obvious couple that upon reading the first few introductory lines about them, you know they’re going to be together in the end.

Samir’s only fault is that he thinks he loves Chloe. Or a better way to say this is that Chloe managed to wrap Samir around her itty bitty finger making him think that he’s actually in love with her. All this while, all Chloe wanted the house that Samir could provide, his dedication and his commitment. So, began their cross-culture relationship. A son of a strict Singh family and a daughter of a strict Catholic family.

Couple 2: Jordan & Zara
Jordan is supposed to be the BAD BOY in the book with a criminal record. Sometimes, Nisha Minhas writes him out to be the kind of man who would not pause before he swings an axe in your direction. And then it’s like she’s not sure how Jordan is supposed to be like and he becomes all mushy. Zara is merely a supporting role in Sari & Sins. She’s a shopaholic who is HONESTLY and GENUINELY in love with Jordan.

The triangle
Somehow, Chloe manages to bounce between Jordan and Samir making both of them think that she’s crazy in love with them when she was hooked on Jordan’s commitment to her and Samir’s house (and security). Jordan hung on to his past (he was her boyfriend for some time in their youth and went to jail for her) and Samir hung on to the sex and excitement.

Chloe just wanted both men to be in love with her. And when they both found their own loves and decided that Chloe was not the one, she went bananas. SHE would do the dumping. It’s NOT possible for Jordan to stop loving her. The house that Samir is living in with his wife now is HER house.

Nisha Minhas writes well…but the storyline needs ironing
I must admit that Nisha Minhas writes well – articulate and smart, her writing projects that. but this doesn’t mean that the story is good.

For instance, the parents are all people who raise their kids badly. Jordan doesn’t have a family, Samir’s parents are crazy about the Singh culture and refuses to let go of their religion – not even for their sons. Chloe’s mom, Aileen, is even worse. What she did to her own daughter, she should suffer for it. There were lots of familiar Indian terms and words that were sprinkled all around the book that makes the book all the more interesting for me. I can only imagine people in the US running around asking their friends what ‘Chappatti’ means.

The reason why Chloe has this unexplainable obsession with the house is not comprehensible. Why a house? Security? It was never explained. And Mickey, the loser guy from Samir’s firm, his character is so loosely explained.

The title of the book and the synopsis at the back of the book screams CAT FIGHT. But it became very obvious a little bit later on that Kareena is no match for Chloe. How do you pitch a sane and peaceful girl against a lunatic?

The Testament - John Grisham

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 06:15:00 +0100

The Testament
John Grisham
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 1999

Overall ratings: 3 stars.

General Overview of the Book: The Testament by John Grisham
Grisham’s produced much better work before, let’s admit this and get it out of the way. His earlier works had me spellbound from page to page and relentlessly had me hooked till the very end. Being a law graduate, I naturally found it enticing and sometimes wished that I was in the world of legal chaos too.

Troy Phelan is a self-made billionaire who is tired of life, tired of chasing money and chasing skirts. He’s had three ex wives with children and half of America’s female population is his playground. He’s played them and paid them. But even a rich man can be too rich for his own good. Before he kicks his own bucket, he writes a controversial will, a testament that leaves everything to one person. And that person is not one of his known children nor wives. One Rachel Lane inherits eleven BILLION dollars from a drained-out billionaire who decides that enough is finally enough.

One man whose life is in shambles.
A lawyer with his life rotting away like a gaping wound, Nate knew that his career as a high-flying litigator is over. His constant battle with substance abuse, divorce and neglect of his family is his downfall. He tried to kill himself a couple of times because of depression and his lawyer-boss, Josh Stratton, is finally throwing out the ropes for one final time.
With the new case in hand, the Troy Phelan testament, who better to go look for a woman in the jungle of Amazon. No booze. No women. No cigarettes. Just lots of tress. PERFECT. Being a good friend and not having too many other choices, Josh Stratton sent Nate O’Reily packing and hiking into the Jungle to find Rachel Lane, the rich heiress.

Don’t take me away from my contentment, my calling
If you think it’s not possible for anyone to say “I don’t want eleven billion dollars’, you’re wrong. Try saying it aloud…I don’t want eleven billion dollars. There, see? Feel that feeling of utter stupidity? Now, here’s one single woman who has inherited the treasure trove that the rest of the Phelan clan is eyeing and vulturing over and she tells Nate….”I don’t want the money”.

But considering the kind of life that Rachel has led, it’s not impossible. She’s raised by her foster parents after her father (whom she never knew was Troy Phelan until when she was older) left her mom, and her mom died, she dedicated her life to God. Her life’s mission is to spread the message of God to the people who have no access to information and who live in the remote jungles of the Amazon jungle. People who still cover their genitals will pouches and leave their breasts hanging out around without a care.

Rachel Lane has found her calling, it’s something most of us go buried without ever finding. And imagine this – if you’ve found your calling, it’s not hard to imagine saying “I don’t want your money. Take it and leave me alone”.
Who’d have the heart to remove a woman from her calling and her contentment?

The vultures
The vultures, naturally, are Troy Phelan’s children, a whole gangbang of misfits, and ex-wives. Their fleets and fleets of lawyers and psychiatrists are horribly pathetic if not funny. One attack after another falls apart. They pitch against each other and the decide to get together. They’d rather be spat on than to be found sitting with each other in an amicable talk.

Despite the sorry state of their affairs, they deserve sympathy at some point. John Grisham realizes that they can’t be all that bad and if they’re bad, someone’s to blame. And you blame the dead cause they can’t talk and they don’t care. The sorry state was Troy Phelan’s own doing. His wives did what they did because he couldn’t care less about them and was busy building his empire and dressing down women, in particular, his secretaries. His children became such bums because they didn’t have his love. They craved for his attention and never got it because Troy Phelan, the BILLIONAIRE, was too busy making more billions.

So, yes, I guess you can say that Troy Phelan DID indeed screw up his own life.

Good but not that good
I’ve read better from John Grisham and being familiar with his books and his style, I believe this comes close to a half-hearted effort from John Grisham. This book was probably a result of his trips into the Pantanal regions within the Amazon jungle. Grisham proclaims his love for this part of the world and therefore, this book, this baby is the result.
Some parts of the book were a mere panoramic overview of the place. The slow and steady velocity of the river, the storms, the spears in hands of people in less cloth than a baby in napkin, the kind of food they eat there…etc. if this was a movie, I would have expected this to be a National Geographic-like thing….you know, a movie inspired by nature and….tourism!

The speed and pace of the book pretty much depended on the focus of the book. Whenever the focus was on the children, it was heady and chaotic. Whenever the book was Josh Stratton, it’s high-strung. Whenever it’s Nate, it’s slow and steady. You’d have to adjust your speed-readometer quite a couple of times throughout this book.

It’s an interesting book, yes, it is. It’s not horrible. But like I said, I’ve read much better work from Grisham.

Kitchen Confidential:: Book Review

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 18:50:00 +0100

What? Full star ratings?
I would never have bought this book without knowing its contents. As a graphic designer, I tell you the cover sucks. But the content rocks! If not for the fact that my well-read sister-in-law passed the book to me as part of our ‘book exchange’ program, I would have never had the chance to flip through the pages and be so entertained in such an unrestrained manner! And I am stingy about giving full stars for a book because I believe there’s always room for improvement but…for Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, he has given me every reason and more to say a ‘hundred thumbs up’.

Background on Anthony Bourdain
For those who don’t yet know, Anthony Bourdain is a chef and his show called ‘No Reservations’ is currently (as of 2005, I think) being aired on Travel Channel. For Malaysians, I think you can catch it on Discovery, Astro. Based on this best-selling book, he’s even got a comedy series out produced by Fox. THAT’s how hilarious and side-splitting this book can be.

However, for those who don’t have the stomach for fart jokes, sex jokes and lurid suggestions of acts so dirty and unrestrained it makes Michael Jackson sound original, don’t read it. Yes, it’s a culinary adventure to be remembered and yes, every single page is absolutely hilarious. But it’s also filled with bad language, drugs and alcohol, sex and other unimaginable things we, normal people don’t but kitchen chefs do. Like slicing their own fingers off when they’re rushing a dish out. Ew!

By the way, you can read about the author’s visit to Malaysia here, http://travel.discovery.com/fansites/bourdain/take/malaysia.html.

The unbelievable characters
By virtue of the fact that he got his book published and movie published, we can be quite sure that every single character written about in the book is as real as the steak in front of you in a restaurant. But they are absolutely unbelievable and in fact, they are so real that you can imagine what they are like in real life. His teachers and mentors, namely Chef Bernard (the military trainer and teacher in chef school), BigFoot his mentor (whose advice and teachings he remembers till today), Steven (the guy who called a fellow kitchen staff in the middle of sex), Adam-real-last-name-unknown (the guy who was continuously late and showed tardiness in everything that he did, came and went as he liked and have a love-hate relationship with Bourdain throughout the book….they were all a bunch of lunatics. And common people love reading about lunatics like them.

The dream, the fall, the dumps and the rise to fame
He started off with a dream…or more like a piece of oyster he thought he was going to choke on! But from that first oyster on, he found his dream and it was FOOD. Through school and through training, he fought to find a purpose and once he did, he went through hell just to be good at what he is good at today. He went from peeling prawns, washing dishes, waiting on tables, cutting up vegetables and meat, ordering food, surpervising others, went back to waiting at tables, cutting vegetables and meat, supervising others to owning his own joint. He went up only to come down hard.
He laced his adventure with accounts of how the kitchen crew hung around the back of the kitchen drinking like they had no tomorrow to putting things into their noses. And the men’s room, the locker room….I wouldn’t want to be there. He talks about language problems (because most kitchen crews are foreigners) and how he learnt to adapt to those languages (really funny!). He learnt about different characters and how to find people who are loyal….and then how even loyal people can bail out on you. he talks about how to identify a rotting restaurant…and one that was already rotting by the time they hit the drawing board.

Wildly entertaining
That’s how I would describe this book because it’s a page turner without talking about aliens, abduction, murder, autopsies, car bombs, hijacking of plans, rape, etc. If you’re at all serious about reading, you just HAVE TO add this to your bookshelves.

Trace

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:10:00 +0100

Trace
The storyline
Kay Scarpetta is no longer the big shot that she used to be anymore. No one actually khow-tow to her anymore, other than those who used to work for her, knows the way she works and understands her principles. But I suppose that’s what makes Scarpetta a little bit more believable in Trace.

Sadly, this is about the only thing that’s believable in the book. The entire plot about Pogue (the villain) going zany over Lucy’s (Scarpetta’s genius niece) careless bang-up on him when Scarpetta was still ruling her office doesn’t make much sense. Perhaps, that’s because there wasn’t much explained about the feelings and the thoughts for Pogue. Much of the time when she described Pogue or was on to Pogue’s part of the story, it felt like she was merely putting it into the book in passing. Like…oh, you know, make him murder another girl or something…yeah, that would make him really hedious. Naw, it doesn’t make Pogue seem hedious or cruel to me. It makes him pitiful. And you don’t punish someone (in this case some THING) just because he’s pitiful and was unfortunate.

Character Development
A lot of characters are underdeveloped. For instance, Henrietta (referred to as Henri in the book). Up till now, I am not totally clear about her character and what she’s really in to. She was on to Benton one moment and then she’s on to Lucy next. And then she’s totally not on to anyone. She’s scared and then she’s stupid. I don’t know. Lots of hasty decisions and the storyline jumped around a bit without effort being put into the characters.

Style & Language
Well, what do you expect from a medical-related suspense novel? Lots of medical jargon, of course. But thankfully, Cornwell spends quite a bit of time explaining the meanings of those terms through dialogue. So, I am cool with that.

The flow
Strictly speaking, the flow is just about anything that’s perfect for me in this book! It’s speedy and trudges on regardless of whether you understand every bit of the book or not. It is almost heady…and I love that! why else would I buy and read a suspense novel anyway if it rattles on about the weather, right?

Recommended for
Trace is recommended for ardent fans and followers of Kay Scarpetta. It’s cool for people who have read the rest of her books like ‘PostMortem’, ‘Body of Evidence’, ‘All that Remains’, ‘Cruel and Unusual’, ‘The Body Farm’…..up till ‘Blow Fly’. But for newbies who just picked up this book by mistake, you’re going to have to backtrack a little in order to FEEL the book and the characters. Otherwise, you’re just going to go through it like you’re reading ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.

Personality Plus for Parents

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:54:54 +0200

I tell you what, if you want a book written about personalities in good humor and great fun, Personality Plus for Parents just about says it all! Not only is Personality Plus for Parents informative and enlightening but it’s extremely humorous as well. If Florence Littaeur decides to quit whatever she is doing right now, she should consider writing a fiction novel. I don’t know about you, but I would DEFINITELY get one.

Back to the topic in hand…deciphering the personalities of our children. To be honest, I know exactly what kind of children I am raising. I know precisely what makes them tick because I am quite sure I didn’t choose to stay home to raise them for nothing. I want to know them inside out, and that’s exactly the situation right now. I know my kids very well. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THEM. Both my kids have opposing personalities, as different as Pluto and Sun can be. Their personalities clash like crazy and who would live on if they were to share a room. Jared is lazy and fun-loving beyond words. He’s keen to learn and excited about almost everything. He’s the kind of kid who gets excited about learning how to say ‘detergent’. Joshua, in the meantime, lives in his own world. He would rather brood about something and then dawdle on his Doodle Board. But this is not about my kids but my point is that before reading this Personality Plus for Parents by Florence Littauer, I wasn’t so sure what to do with their behavioral differences.

But now, every time a kid, my kid (funny calling them ‘a’ kid) misbehaves, her advice rings in my head. So, if you ask me if the book is good and useful or not, I’d say ‘Boy, is it ever!’

Like ‘Rich dad, Poor dad’ and ‘Chicken Soup’ series, there are many different versions made for different people. There’s chicken soup for parents, there’s chicken soup for gays, there’s chicken soup for the Chinese mother, there’s chicken soup….for say….clowns! Before I picked up this book, I read Personality Plus which was written for normal people, with or without kids. This book discusses the personalities of children, how to discover their personalities from very early on and how to deal with them so that we can help them realize their full potential.

I like it that there are loads of examples in the book, scenarios that you can instantly apply to what happens right in front of your own TV set. You read and then go, ‘Yeah, that like so happened just 5 minutes ago!’. And let me tell you, the scenarios and examples really helped me apply the methods she introduced to the book.

One thing is missing, though. A very strategic method of applying all her theories and advice on our children, individually. In Personality Plus, she merely explained how our children behave and how to deal with them, in general. But there’s no definitive plan on how to curb future potential behavioral problems.

But apart from that, this book is not only a valuable friend and filled to the brim with information but it’s wildly funny and entertaining as well.

So, for parents, whatever it’s worth, go get it and read it in the bath tub and enjoy it.

Seven Up (book review)

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 05:01:04 +0200

I’ve got to say that I have always rooted for the bad-boy Morelli instead of the tough-as-a-truck Ranger in Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels. Sure, Joe Morelli the good guy cop with a bad-boy rep has some explaining to do in terms of their past, the things he had done to her when they were teens, but he had the kind of charm I think I will find irresistible in a man.

However, in an effort to make things a little bit more exciting in her books, Evanovich has decided to play up the sex appeal in Ranger. Ranger is the expert bounty hunter who gives Stephanie assistance when she calls, rescues her from cuff-links in the bathroom butt-naked, and also teaches her how to actually shoot a gun instead of only shaking it at people. I don’t like it that Stephanie is attracted to Ranger…at all…cause I’m not. and she should be loyal since she is SORT OF living with Joe Morelli and that they were thinking about marriage and all. In a way, Evanovich is making Plum a LOOSE woman who is not keen on tying it with Morelli.

Nah, it doesn’t sit well with me.

And I know I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. I think someone should lock Grandma Mazur up in the attic and never release her out into public places ever again! That old lady is so surreal! I can’t imagine my grandmother hiking it up with another man apart from my grandfather. Urgh!

I liked Stephanie’s PERFECT sister, though, Valerie. Her perfect self with perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect shoes shows sign of destruction as she comes back to the Plum home revealing to the family that her perfect husband has run off with another perfect woman and she’s now come home to stay with her imperfect family with her imperfect kids. This is all, making Stephanie, the imperfect sister, all too satisfied. Especially when her perfect sister turns out to be a lousier bounty hunter than she is and her fashion sense is proven out of date.

Eddie DeCooch (how do you pronounce a name like that without making it sound like you’re calling a puppy pooch?) is the main culprit here, so, Stephanie is riding around town wrecking cars and blowing up garbage cans again after an old man who should be in a retirement home and it’s funny that he keeps evading her. It’s one thing to be ousted by a young, muscular man who knows his way around town, but to be ousted by an old hag with bad eye, bad hearing but good sense of direction is quite another thing. I don’t know how DeCooch does his running around but for the sake of entertainment and continuity of the story, he manages to give Stephanie the slip every single time.

Sadly, I like Mooner and Dougie in this book too. Mooner and Dougie are basically two young losers who are stealing and selling stuff, helping people run drugs, and sneaking counterfeit cigarettes, toasters, CD players, books, hairdryers, etc into the place. For all the bad things that they do, they are innocent as piglets. Smelly but damn, they are adorable.

The storyline is OK, I guess…maybe it’s a Plum-overdose. But I was kind of pissed that Plum fancies Ranger and at the end of the book, Evanovich suggestively implies that Plum and Ranger had it going….ew!! What about Morelli you dumb woman? You sleep with Ranger and I will never read about you again, Stephanie Plum!

The bad mother handbook (Book Review)

noreply@blogspirit.com (marshamaung) — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 12:47:43 +0200

The title, ‘The bad mother handbook’, made me pick up this book because I sometimes feel like I am a bad mother. And I am pretty sure I am not the only one who feels this way sometimes. It’s when our children pushes us to our limits that we react without thinking – in a humanly way that’s full of flaws. In fact, even mothers are not without flaws.

However, despite the title, ‘The bad mother handbook’, given to the book, this book is no self-help book or a guide of any kind, which was what I initially thought it was. It’s a novel. It’s a story about how three generations of mothers have come together in an understanding, how the past clouded the now and how the now can change the future.

The backdrop for this book was set in 1997, the year that the dearly beloved Princess Diana perished in a fatal car crash. It was also in this year that Nan (the grandmother) started showing signs of her age, Karen (the mother) discovers a secret that she never thought she wanted to find out about, and it is also during this year that Charlotte (the pregnant teen) is also about discover what it is to be a mother.

The continual swapping of storyline and outlook throughout the book was confusing for me in the beginning. I have to admit this, in the beginning, I was just leafing through the pages, disbelieving of the fact that I actually paid RM30+ to read all of this nonsensical stuff. Things that I already know very well, as a mother, thank you very much. Ironically, it was this swapping that got me hook later on in the book. So, essentially, in ‘The bad mother handbook’, there is not ONE main character, but there are three leading ladies! Once you get past the first few chapters and start to understand the characters, you’ll soon get into their lives and pray for them.

For Nan, it was difficult to understand the way her story was written because much of it was written in a kind of English that the English used to talk in. For Karen, it’s a very today thing since Karen does live in my generation. Well, maybe she’s a couple of years older than me (ahem!) but heck, I understand every single word that is written about her and the things that she is going through. For Charlotte, she’s just a typical teenager who’s just fuming mad because of her mom’s behavior and refusal to be more relaxed about her. Charlotte was basically rebelling and acted outrageously because Karen was tuned out of her life. The mother and daughter stopped speaking to each other because they couldn’t see eye to eye about almost everything! The moment one of them opened their mouths, the other picks it up as an argument. How it reminds me of my teenage years. Karen, in the meantime, is hung-up on the mistake that she has made in the past – particularly, in getting pregnant, getting married, getting divorced and missing out on her education, having to live through each day in a dreary mood in an awful job she hates!

Because of this mistake, she wants only the best for Charlotte and imagine what she felt when Charlotte fell into the very footstep she took – in getting pregnant? And the father of the child is less than responsible towards the pregnancy. In the meantime, Karen goes on a quest to discover her true lineage and Charlotte finds a new friend and best buddy in the most unlikely boy in the whole school. His devotion and friendship (and adoration) got her through most of the tough times written about very realistically in ‘The bad mother handbook’.

It’s not as witty and page-turning as I thought it was going to be but all in all, Kate Long has written a truly well-loved book in the form of ‘The bad mother handbook’. It’s definitely a good read but don’t expect Kay Scarpetta stuff in there. read leisurely and you will soon see the true value of a book like ‘The bad mother handbook’. Well done, Kate Long.