tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17618738416098197752012-01-28T07:46:20.393+08:00Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.comBlogger1991100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-25445603713318531232012-01-19T16:03:00.001+08:002012-01-19T16:08:03.341+08:00

My book club is reading this for our February meeting. I kind of got a head start because once I started reading a few pages, I had to find out what would happen next. I've always been interested in this period of history and like many people I've often wondered why the Holocaust couldn't have been averted. Why didn't world leaders see it coming? Reading this book has given me a clearer view of

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-80469000002367861102012-01-08T08:42:00.000+08:002012-01-08T08:42:24.135+08:00

I'm doing a group read together with Arti at Ripple Effects and Meredith at Dolce Bellezza. We'll be tackling Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. I've been wanting to read this for a while and when I saw that Arti was planning to read it in 2012 in preparation for the film release later this year, I suggested a read-a-long. My only experience with Rushdie has been reading and abandoning

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-71696649554953965362012-01-06T16:07:00.003+08:002012-01-11T11:18:11.040+08:00

It's a new year and my google reader is crammed with blogging posts about resolutions and reading plans so I figured I should probably get my act together and write one too. I haven't reviewed too many books lately  because I don't want blogging to become a chore. There was a time when I felt I had to blog every week to keep the followers I had. I admit, I love having readers and getting comments

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-7118336946870764762012-01-04T18:12:00.003+08:002012-01-04T18:15:35.769+08:00

My eldest turned six in November of 2011. We read him a number of chapter books last year and these were the books that stood out in no particular order. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald DahlMy son loved this and he loved the film version as well. He had a Roald Dahl day at school and he went as the Fantastic Mr.Fox himself. The Adventures of Tintin by HergeMy son discovered Tintin last July and

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-68801470941529253192012-01-03T07:52:00.000+08:002012-01-03T07:52:44.703+08:00

Among the movies I saw in 2011, these are the ones I will gladly see again. 1. The Best of Youth This is the only film on this list that wasn't released in 2011. It's an Italian movie made in 2003 but it tops the list because it's probably the most beautiful movie I've ever seen. My full review here. 2. Midnight in Paris I absolutely loved this one. I'm a big fan of Woody Allen and this film

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-21363344959320907172011-12-30T08:11:00.002+08:002012-01-11T11:25:10.200+08:00

The following is a very eclectic end of the year list. I've covered quite a number of genres - an Austen classic, a non-fiction novel, a thriller, a Man Booker prize winner, a book of interrelated short stories, a modern fantasy novel that's the first in a series, a dystopian novel, a post 9-11 novel, a mystery set in the Tudor area and a Pulitzer prize winner.  Funnily enough in 2009 my top

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-24872311513530949142011-12-29T11:50:00.002+08:002011-12-29T11:53:16.287+08:00

There are only forty-two books on this list (not including children's books or short stories unless I read the entire collection). Of course, I had a very good excuse - I had a baby last February. I had hoped to read more but this was all I could manage. I also didn't review every book that came my way. Recently, I've decided to just write about books I care about. I'll be back with my top ten in

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-17337424004716166802011-12-24T15:44:00.001+08:002011-12-24T15:50:49.521+08:00

Merry Christmas! Hope you are all getting cozy with your loved ones today. My shopping is done, a cake is in the oven and we're busy preparing for Christmas dinner with the family. I'll be back before the end of the year with my best books of 2011. Happy Holidays! *I found the homemade card above at Milliesmarvels.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-22213942408418624252011-12-21T14:35:00.000+08:002011-12-21T14:35:45.910+08:00

This little meme comes courtesy of Cornflower Books. You have to finish the sentences with books you read this year. I began the day with Strong Poison On my way to work I saw The Blue Castle and walked by The Great House to avoid The Heretic's Daughter but I made sure to stop at The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet In the office, my boss said "Never Let Me Go." and sent me to research

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-80609942057803310412011-12-19T20:07:00.002+08:002011-12-20T08:38:41.997+08:00

I came across this meme at Literary Musings. Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner has created an end of 2011 survey to reflect on this year's best and worst reads. 1. Best Book You Read In 2011? Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This was a reread for me. I first read the book in 2005 and I had a lukewarm response to it then. I think it helped that I knew the ending this time so I could just

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-66502394178707373662011-11-25T08:57:00.008+08:002011-11-25T19:53:52.966+08:00

  If you've seen the movie The Best of Youth then the picture above will mean something to you. And if you haven't then I urge you to see it. It won't be easy but do try to track this film down and watch it with someone you love. It's one of the most wonderful movies I've ever seen. In fact, it's more than a movie. It's an experience. I decided to write a post about it because this film deserves

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-63540240337133983932011-11-11T09:10:00.008+08:002011-11-25T08:57:22.015+08:00

I reread the brilliant Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and absolutely loved it the second time around. (spoilers) I think it helped that I knew the ending this time. I wasn't hoping that Kathy, Ruth and Tommy would somehow run away and escape. I wasn't distressed by their passive acceptance of it all. I knew there wasn't any hope so I could just concentrate on the characters and their story. I

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-18704154014433546672011-10-24T11:06:00.000+08:002011-10-24T11:06:24.226+08:00

Simon at Savidge Reads and Polly at Novel Insights are hosting Discovering Daphne this October, a whole month dedicated to Daphne du Maurier. This week the focus will be on  Don't Look Now, another book by du Maurier that I read last year as part of the NYRB Reading Week. From a blog post dated November 9,, 2010: I'm not a fan of short stories and that's probably why I've been avoiding Daphne

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-74474848057877123212011-10-19T17:55:00.009+08:002011-10-21T08:14:10.481+08:00

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes received the Man Booker Prize yesterday. I think the award is deserved. I reviewed the book back in August and since then my post has received about 1,000 hits. Surprising I know. I think it's because this is a book that begs to be discussed and analyzed. Here's the link to my review. If you've read the book then do read the comments section because it's

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-3550920064890668772011-10-17T08:03:00.003+08:002011-10-17T08:04:38.769+08:00

Simon at Savidge Reads and Polly at Novel Insights are hosting Discovering Daphne this October, a whole month dedicated to Daphne du Maurier. This week the focus will be on The House on the Strand, a book I read last year and even included in my  best of 2010 list. Below is an excerpt from my review. From a blog post dated April 29, 2010: Reading The House on the Strand reminded me why I love

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-76539607018488550952011-10-15T18:01:00.001+08:002011-10-15T19:16:57.617+08:00

It's been such a busy week for me filled with Halloween activities and school events that I didn't even realize I celebrated my second blog birthday last October 13. So belated Happy Birthday dear blog! Thank you to all you readers and followers who drop by and read what I have to say.  Book blogging has been such a rewarding experience for me so here's to another year of reading and writing

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-63635889234821335032011-10-10T17:45:00.000+08:002011-10-10T17:45:59.352+08:00

Galadria: Peter Huddleston and the Rites of Passage by Miguel Lopez de Leon turned out to be such a fun book! I'd never heard of it until a mom at my son's soccer class lent me a copy. In fact I was surprised that it was unknown to me since the author is Filipino and he recently just released his book last May in the United States. There hasn't been any mention of him at all in any of the book

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-49649093623951207022011-10-07T07:45:00.008+08:002011-11-13T19:07:03.696+08:00

"I hope that's not really the cover. That's really going to hurt sales." (Don Fey, Father of Tina Fey) One of the things I love about being in a book club is that it takes me out of my comfort zone and forces me to read books I wouldn't normally pick up such as Bossypants by Tina Fey. Although I do like Tina Fey, I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan. I only know her from the Weekend Update at

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-6150605757152881972011-10-03T09:21:00.007+08:002011-10-03T13:05:07.446+08:00

Some of you may already know that Simon at Savidge Reads and Polly at Novel Insights are hosting Discovering Daphne this October, a whole month dedicated to Daphne du Maurier. How can I not participate in this wonderful event when Daphne is one of my favorite authors? That said, there are still a few of her novels that I have yet to read so I hope to read at least one of them this month. I would

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-21346152498133024192011-09-26T13:44:00.000+08:002011-09-26T13:44:43.063+08:00

I decided to read Florence & Giles by John Harding for the  R.I.P. VI Challenge because it's described as a retelling of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. The latter is one of the scariest stories I know and it was also filmed as The Innocents (1961) one of the creepiest films I've ever seen. In 1891, in a crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old Florence is neglected by her guardian

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-51151229221336004082011-09-26T10:41:00.000+08:002011-09-26T10:41:20.819+08:00

Congratulations to Cassandra of Indie Reader Houston. You've just won a copy of Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-70540111646956365722011-09-21T11:27:00.009+08:002011-09-21T15:35:30.151+08:00

Persuasion by Jane Austen was my book club read for September and by coincidence Rachel at  Book Snob is currently hosting a read-a-long. It was actually my first time reading Persuasion though I'm familiar with the story because of the BBC adaptation. It is a lovely book. I'm glad I finally read it and that I got to experience Anne's emotions together with her. The regret of a lost love, the

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-90460348488536073592011-09-15T15:45:00.000+08:002011-09-15T15:45:17.200+08:00

Samantha Sotto is the internationally published Filipina author of the recently released book, Before Ever After. It's the story of Shelley who lost her husband Max three years ago to a terrorist bomb. She is still in the throes of grief when Paolo, a man who looks like Max knocks on her door. Paolo claims to be Max's grandson and he goes on to show the disbelieving Shelley pictures of

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-69183004504610544022011-09-12T09:20:00.002+08:002011-09-19T07:43:03.937+08:00

The ber- months have begun as we say in the Philippines, which means we're getting slightly cooler weather, and we're gearing up for Halloween and then Christmas. It's getting cozy enough to take part in some reading challenges. I thought it would be the perfect time to join the  R.I.P. VI challenge. In my almost two years of blogging, I've never taken part but I'm definitely in the mood

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-30192154056931396322011-09-07T11:34:00.002+08:002011-09-07T11:37:02.750+08:00

I'm not a big fan of short stories but I'm a big fan of Ishiguro. After recently having an enlightening text conversation with a friend about Never Let Me Go (see here), I decided to read Nocturnes, Ishiguro's latest release which is a collection of five short stories about music, musicians and the close of the day. Each story is told in the first person by either a musician or a music lover.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-36827908583569678982011-09-06T09:33:00.004+08:002011-09-07T08:22:45.636+08:00

I thought I'd join in the fun and predict the Man Booker Shortlist which will be announced today. I was eager to read as much of the longlist as possible but truth be told, I've only read two of the 13 books. However, they were two very good books - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and Snowdrops by A.D. Miller. It would be wonderful if they both made the shortlist. Though The Sense of an

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-1275589952626292672011-09-02T13:22:00.003+08:002011-09-04T11:29:59.818+08:00

"The Moomins? What's that?" friends ask when I mention these books. I've been recommending the Moomin books to everyone and interestingly enough no one seems to have heard of them. To be honest, I wasn't familiar with them either until recently. I kept coming across the Moomins' books by Tove Jansson while researching for appropriate books for my almost 6-year-old son so when I saw them at my

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-63642833581263974822011-08-31T16:13:00.004+08:002011-10-19T18:19:19.037+08:00

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes is a difficult book to review. Although I enjoyed reading it, I still feel somewhat in the dark about certain aspects of it. It has an apt title because for days, I was trying to make sense of not only the ending but the whole book. I was pleasantly surprised when one of the readers of my blog emailed me just to discuss it. Thank you Robert for your

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com113tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-56435883059640534252011-08-26T07:16:00.000+08:002011-08-26T07:16:53.190+08:00

I'm currently in the process of tweaking my book club's old rules and guidelines because we are now up from eight members to twelve! Twelve is definitely the max if we still want to have interesting discussions. We have been busily emailing and discussing ways that will allow our conversations to flow freely and yet give everyone a chance to have their say. We can all be quite passionate about

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-68465391727462796892011-08-18T12:34:00.011+08:002011-11-11T16:55:58.911+08:00

When I found out that one of our next book club reads will be Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, I just had to let out a 'groan' and protest. Don't get me wrong, I love Ishiguro but Never Let Me Go has got to be the most emotionally devastating book and film that I've ever encountered. Yes, more even than Lars von Triers' movie, Breaking the Waves, which was already such a downer. However, no

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-37173306652741054182011-08-11T09:09:00.003+08:002011-08-11T18:16:45.918+08:00

Here's one of the first still images from the movie  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close based on the book by Jonathan Safran Foer. I can't wait for the film and I can't wait to discuss it with my book club next week! I wonder if they loved it as much as I did.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-73334723635162947332011-08-08T11:56:00.009+08:002011-08-08T12:51:15.174+08:00

Before reading Snowdrops by A.D. Miller, I read several reviews from both sides of the fence. This appears to be a book that readers either love or hate and if that's the case then I'll have to put myself in the former category. This is the first book I've read that's on the Man Booker longlist and because I so enjoyed this one, I'm eager to read more Booker longlisters. Snowdrops isn't a great

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-13526994720336523692011-08-04T14:52:00.000+08:002011-08-04T14:52:23.342+08:00

I recently came across several sites on the web that sell such cute and adorable bookish fashion accessories so I thought I'd share some of them with you.  Here's an embroidered book bag of Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Very nice! If only it didn't cost (sigh) US$750. It was created by ditafelici who has her own etsy site at:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/ditafelici. The bag is

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-61615657022753838652011-07-27T16:20:00.005+08:002011-07-27T20:51:43.110+08:00

Book bloggers around the world were surprised when the longlist for the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced yesterday. The predictions and favorites of many bloggers were far off the mark. The 13 books on the list include: a former Man Booker Prize winner; two previously shortlisted writers and one longlisted author; four first time novelists and three Canadian writers.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-68018535110807631522011-07-25T20:32:00.005+08:002011-07-25T20:41:16.223+08:00

I realize I haven't posted a blog entry for more than a month. I have a good excuse - I recently came back from a family holiday in Spain and the Netherlands. I forgot to mention it before I left but I had hoped to post from there as I've done in the past but there's a big difference between traveling with one child and two children, one of whom is a five-month-old baby. Our hands were literally

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-9315558565962997032011-06-23T08:22:00.004+08:002011-06-23T16:50:12.939+08:00

Tomorrow Pamplona's author, Jan Van Mersbergen, is on a blog tour.  Each blogger was allowed to ask one burning question.  Here’s mine: When I first read the title of your book, Tomorrow Pamplona and then found out it's about a boxer, my first thought was Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises which is one of my favorite novels. Is there some sort of connection between your book and Hemingway's? Did he

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-23023073046620472602011-06-20T09:00:00.003+08:002011-06-20T10:08:00.595+08:00

The Pulitzer Prize winning book for fiction this year is A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. It also recently won the National Book Critics Circle Award. I was curious to read this highly acclaimed novel. How would it stand up next to the other Pulitzer Prize winners that I've read such as Middlesex, The Confederacy of Dunces and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay? Brilliant

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-84275879262156103742011-06-13T18:18:00.001+08:002011-06-14T12:29:57.579+08:00

 "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." I'm completely hooked on the TV series and the book, Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. It is magnificent stuff. I'm up to the eighth episode now of the TV series with two more to go. The last one will be shown this weekend. This is modern fantasy at its best, transporting viewers to a world of magic,

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-51080913455710340062011-06-09T10:40:00.005+08:002011-06-10T08:50:00.543+08:00

While reading Book Lust by Nancy Pearl, I came across a part where she talks about abandoned books: "..your mood has a lot to do with whether or not you will like a book. I always leave open the option of going back to a book that I haven't liked (especially if someone I respect has recommended it to me) sometime later. I've begun many books, put them down unfinished, then returned a month or

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-2748773465007520132011-06-03T08:19:00.002+08:002011-06-03T08:27:34.878+08:00

Here's the perfect answer to that exasperating question I'm sure most of you have been asked at one time or another  - "Why do you read?" courtesy of Nancy Pearl, the author of Book Lust. "...I read to encounter new worlds and new ways of looking at our own world. I read to enlarge my horizons, to gain wisdom, to experience beauty, to understand myself better, and for the pure wonderment of

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-81552213330961781042011-06-01T11:19:00.001+08:002011-06-01T20:10:36.575+08:00

"Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." It's the season for giving abandoned books another chance here at The Literary Stew so since I recently read and  loved Great House by Nicole Krauss, I decided to give The History of Love another go. I abandoned this book years ago. I found the first part painful

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-21052470304897837532011-05-25T15:59:00.002+08:002011-05-25T16:03:56.172+08:00

Two of the books I listed in my top ten for 2010, The Help by Kathryn Stockett and One Day by David Nicholls are soon to be released as films. I've just come across their posters on the web. I love the poster of The Help, don't you? I can't wait to see these movies both of which I think will translate very well to the big screen.   The Help stars Sissy Spacek, Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-60433325744691448482011-05-10T06:59:00.005+08:002011-06-03T09:15:18.742+08:00

I finished this late last night and I just couldn't sleep after that. Wow. Notice I wrote wow with a period after it and not an exclamation point. This is a quiet wow, a breathless wow and a sad wow all rolled into one because of how the ending affected me. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer has blown me away with its beauty. And to think I read a few pages of this book

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-54872236930407145492011-05-05T10:37:00.001+08:002011-05-05T19:17:18.013+08:00

 I won't even attempt to give an in-depth review of Great House by Nicole Krauss because Bookworm Violet at Still Life With Books has already written an excellent one. Her review convinced me to give this book another try. About a month ago, I started reading Great House and like many readers, I found the first 50 or so pages to be wonderful. However, after that it veered into a completely

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-83086004344973502992011-05-02T13:16:00.003+08:002011-05-02T15:22:47.109+08:00

I haven't been this excited about a cookbook since I bought Chocolate and Zucchini by Clotilde Dusoulier a few years back. I purchased My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow, because I'm a big fan of her work and of her blog Goop not to mention that I love cookbooks. I always feel a cookbook is worth its price if there's at least one recipe in it that I'll make again and again. In that case, I

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-77314978450845312182011-04-29T13:04:00.003+08:002011-04-29T13:21:23.556+08:00

 I haven't joined the Crazy-For-Books blog hop for ages so I thought I'd partake today. Jennifer's question is: "What 2011 summer release are you most looking forward to?" I had a quick answer to this question however it's not really a summer release but an autumn one. October 25th to be exact. The cool thing is I can pre-order a Kindle edition and have it delivered on the exact date.  Hands

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-3166467583906335182011-04-26T15:26:00.009+08:002011-04-27T19:31:14.001+08:00

Gosh, I realize I haven't been attentive to my blog lately but as many of you know I have a very good excuse. Baby Benjamin  is doing great and growing fast. He's turning three months on May 3rd. How time flies! However, I haven't been reading as much as I usually do. When last I checked, I've only read ten books this year. My book club has been assigned a door stopper of a novel, a Japanese

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-23731875386667091152011-04-08T11:37:00.002+08:002011-04-08T11:39:37.962+08:00

Here's a charming one for you- Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. This is a lovely novel  about a classic English gentleman, Major Pettigrew, a widower in his late sixties who unexpectedly falls in love with the beautiful Mrs.Ali, a Pakistani widow who runs a village shop. Their backgrounds couldn't be more different but they discover they actually have many things in common and

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-64356909328764942062011-03-30T10:40:00.003+08:002011-03-30T11:42:51.455+08:00

The Imperfectionists, the debut novel by Tom Rachman, is my favorite book of the year so far. It's just brilliant!  I must admit that the first thing that drew me to this novel was its title, The Imperfectionists.  I thought it was so unique and I loved the cover. I wondered what it was about so I did some research and I knew I had to read it if only for how this young writer was so determined

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-8861806285149156332011-03-24T11:12:00.003+08:002011-06-14T16:22:53.313+08:00

I confess that while I've been nursing my newborn, (before I got my Kindle) I haven't been able to read that much. It's not so easy to hold a book while cradling a baby in your arms. I had to make do with playing Plants vs. Zombies on my iphone or watching films and lavish BBC TV productions on my ipad courtesy of the AV player app. It's great! Definitely worth every cent of its $2.99 price. I

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-56291870560539682782011-03-20T10:13:00.001+08:002011-03-20T10:23:14.551+08:00

I never thought I'd buy an e-reader. I love the feel and smell of books too much. I love having them around the house, cramming my shelves and overflowing my night table. But besides being a bookworm, I'm also a big fan of gadgets. Between my husband and I, I'm the one with the iphone, the ipad, the SLR or the latest point and shoot. I just love these things. When I physically saw the Kindle

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-23782919026621341292011-02-22T20:21:00.003+08:002011-02-22T20:40:07.810+08:00

During the last couple of months, I've been having trouble choosing books so I was getting desperate in the last weeks of my pregnancy to stock up on good reading material. However, I just couldn't seem to find anything that I was keen to read. Just before I gave birth I started rereading the Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane books by Dorothy Sayers, the best of which are Strong Poison, Have

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-69320883367392911362011-01-28T17:02:00.000+08:002011-01-28T17:02:57.050+08:00

This post is long overdue! I have to take a blogging break for now. I'm eight and a half months pregnant and due to give birth in early February. Lately, I haven't felt like writing any reviews and my reading has also slowed down. I don't know if I'll manage to blog regularly in the coming months but I know I'll definitely pop by now and then if I read a wonderful book and I hope to be back

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-11716035622156374222011-01-18T17:43:00.000+08:002011-01-18T17:43:47.589+08:00

The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing was one of my first reads for 2011 and though I've been reading quite slowly lately, I read this in just a couple of days. The pages just flew by in this stylish crime noir written and set in the 1940s. George Stroud is an editor for a true crime magazine, one of many under a New York media conglomerate. He starts a short affair with Pauline, the beautiful

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-89750165879878910362010-12-31T08:59:00.003+08:002010-12-31T09:09:19.616+08:00

2010 wasn't a great reading year for me. I read only 60 books as compared to last year's 64. I had hoped to read more this year but real life got in the way. In fact I had trouble completing my top ten list so I've just listed nine of the best books I've read in 2010. I did reread some fantastic books such as Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller, My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier and Alias Grace

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-20158404242426950742010-12-30T09:56:00.002+08:002010-12-30T19:57:51.355+08:00

This has not been a great reading year for me. I'm actually having trouble filling up my top ten list of the year which I'll be posting soon. For now, here's the exact list of books read in 2010: 1. The Glass of Time by Michael Cox 2. Captivated, the Du Mauriers and J.M. Barrie and the dark side of Neverland by Piers Dudgeon 3. The Inn at Lake Devine  by Elinor Lipman 4. Invisible  by Paul

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-67717170248645620772010-12-15T19:57:00.003+08:002010-12-16T06:53:14.134+08:00

It's the Persephone Secret Santa reveal day today so it's time to reveal my gift and who my Secret Santa is. I almost didn't participate this year, what with being seven months pregnant and just feeling a bit under the weather I thought I'd just wait till next year. I know I've been a bad book blogger of late as my last post was last month! Blame it on my pregnancy and the busy Christmas season

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-73937318536920819882010-11-24T17:24:00.005+08:002010-12-14T17:30:05.806+08:00

I'm having one of those book slumps again. I wonder why I've had so many of them this year? I want to read a classic but I can't seem to choose the right one. Today, I saw this reading list at Thomas at My Porch's blog  . The BBC believe most people would have read 6 of these. I've read 44. No wonder I can't choose my next classic. I've put the ones I've read in red and the ones I've partially

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-5311879191590784882010-11-16T11:48:00.003+08:002010-11-16T15:49:31.869+08:00

Honey and I met yesterday and chose the winners for our NYRB Reading Week event. We took some time discussing all the reviews because honestly, there were so many excellent ones written by many of the participants that it wasn't an easy decision to come up with the best two. But in the end, we had to choose so here are the winners: For my favorite review, I chose: Nightmare Alley by William

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-77391726018859533742010-11-14T08:36:00.022+08:002010-11-14T16:27:22.250+08:00

Yesterday was the last day of NYRB Reading Week and what a fantastic week its been.We've had so many participants and we now have many wonderful reviews to read. I'm going to spend my Sunday rereading the reviews and getting to the ones I haven't read yet. Honey and I will be meeting tomorrow to choose winners. We'll be announcing the results on Tuesday, November 16. Reviews submitted that

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-6401969094365664652010-11-13T08:51:00.007+08:002011-05-26T08:21:32.820+08:00

Taking a cue from Thomas at My Porch  and Damion Searls (NYRB editor, translator, introducer and back cover writer),  I decided to do a post on my favorite NYRBs so far. I actually haven't read a lot of them but already five have become firm favorites. I read The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig before I started blogging and its haunted me ever since. I noticed that not many bloggers have

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-83385358581019896892010-11-10T09:32:00.015+08:002010-11-11T07:52:35.366+08:00

It's Wednesday and we're smack in the middle of the NYRB Reading Week! Thank you all to have participated. Honey and I have consolidated the reviews we have so far. The list is below. Please let us know if we've missed your review and leave a link in the comment section. Here's the list of NYRB reviews from Nov. 7 to 10: November 7 The Bear That Wasn't by Frank Tashlin reviewed at Gathering

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-29260631393387896812010-11-09T17:11:00.000+08:002010-11-09T17:11:24.796+08:00

Here's my first review for the NYRB Reading Week: Don't Look Now by Daphne Du Maurier. As readers of my blog know, I'm a big, big fan of Daphne but I'm not a fan of short stories and that's probably why I've been avoiding her short story collections. However, I must say that I'm quickly being converted. Don't Look Now is probably the first short story collection that I've read straight through.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-54246698141342830982010-11-07T09:25:00.000+08:002010-11-07T09:25:40.652+08:00

Welcome to the NYRB Reading Week! I'll be hosting this event together with Honey of Coffeespoons. We're both looking forward to reading your reviews and spending a week reading some NYRB books. There are no real rules for this event. This is just a relaxed and informal reading week. Simply read one or more NYRB books during this week and blog about it. If you don't have a blog, then just

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-3917188448596126292010-11-01T17:19:00.012+08:002010-11-10T17:45:20.940+08:00

Here's a short update for those of you participating in the NYRB Reading Week from November 7 to 13. We've received word from our main sponsor, Fully Booked, that Random House Inc.. is also supporting us in our plans and they've donated more books for us to include as prizes! This is excellent news as we now have five books to give away. Thanks so much to Fully Booked for making this happen.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-51659030422381503642010-10-22T10:56:00.000+08:002010-10-22T10:56:06.291+08:00

My husband and I are currently watching  Pillars of the Earth, the mini-series and we're absolutely riveted. It's just fabulous and I don't want it to end! It's taking us a while though to get through the eight hour movie because we want to watch it together and real life such as family, travel and work has interfered sometimes. I remember being engrossed by the almost 1,000 page book by Ken

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-12932512008100582842010-10-19T11:25:00.000+08:002010-10-19T11:25:34.468+08:00

Ok, so it's coming around to that time of year again....Halloween! I love reading chilling stories in October so I'd like to hear your recommendations for books that have really spooked you. A book you didn't want to read at home alone. The only relatively scary book I read this year was The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. While not really a horror novel, it did have some frightening scenes.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-76371887481155403702010-10-18T09:46:00.000+08:002010-10-18T09:46:50.136+08:00

Thanks to everyone who wished my blog a happy first birthday. I chose a winner at random this morning and it is ireneseoul! Congratulations Irene! Her comment went as follows: " Happy Anniversary! Since I've been reading your blog, I've reignited my own love of reading. Thanks to you! I look forward to being inspired by your reviews for many more years to come! P.S. I've been dying to

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-3674641980723828272010-10-13T12:59:00.002+08:002010-10-13T15:30:13.608+08:00

Happy birthday dear blog!  It's my first year anniversary and oh...what a year it has been! I'd just like to say how much I have enjoyed blogging this last year. I think one of the highlights was finding out that three of my book reviews were printed in the Persephone biannually. It was such a thrill and I was on a high for a number of days (you can read about that here). I've enjoyed

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-4172928468559932762010-10-11T16:57:00.000+08:002010-10-11T16:57:25.670+08:00

The Uncommon Reader is a wonderful novella that is meant for readers and lovers of books. It's for anyone who's ever been asked the questions, 'Why do you read? When do you have the time? What do you read?' Did you notice that only people who don't read ask questions like that? How can I answer the question, 'what do I read?' To answer that question, I'd have to write an essay. Well, The

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-52390504291128581922010-10-07T11:51:00.003+08:002010-10-07T12:11:36.617+08:00

Honey from Coffeespoons and I will be hosting the NYRB Reading Week from November 7 to 13. We'd love for most of you to join. There are no rules. This is an informal and relaxing little challenge. Simply read one or more NYRB books during that week and blog about it. If you don't have a blog, then just leave us a link to your review. While this isn't an official event, NYRB is aware of this

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-23264688219210339302010-10-04T10:05:00.001+08:002010-10-04T10:07:40.460+08:00

I thought I'd throw another bookish question out there because my Which Books Made You Cry? post got a lot of responses. One Day by David Nicholls was truly unique because it made me cry but it also made me laugh in parts. I imagine it's not easy for a writer to elicit a physical reaction from a reader and to manage to draw out both emotions is indeed an admirable feat. I was wondering which

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-42006003714072862672010-09-30T14:40:00.001+08:002010-10-01T09:36:23.077+08:00

My book club's next assignment is Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote. The movie version with Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite films. Its a movie I own in its dvd version and one I watch once every two years or so. It's the film I'll choose when I'm ill with the flu and I just want to curl up on the sofa during the daytime with a beautiful movie. I love it. I love Audrey and George

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-63924782594533362432010-09-27T17:26:00.000+08:002010-09-27T17:26:33.602+08:00

Nine years ago when I was newly married and keen to impress the hubby in the kitchen, I purchased Jamie Oliver's first book The Naked Chef. Before Jamie, there were only a few dishes in my repertoire. I could probably cook two types of pasta dishes (carbonara and bolognese), boil rice, grill a steak or pieces of chicken just with garlic, salt and pepper and of course fry an egg, scrambled or

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-82999841483242601292010-09-23T16:54:00.002+08:002010-09-23T17:24:19.949+08:00

Oh dear, I'm having another book slump. After finishing the terrific One Day by David Nicholls, I've picked up several books which I abandoned after just a few pages or chapters. Nothing can satisfy me right now. I want a book that moves me, a book that makes me cry,  a book that gets me emotionally involved with the characters like One Day did. Oh where, oh where, can I find another book like

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-21088721892486901512010-09-15T08:46:00.003+08:002010-09-15T15:26:33.223+08:00

I've been reading reviews for One Day by David Nicholls for months and I've passed by the book several times in bookstores. The premise intrigued me but I've read the unimpressive Starter for Ten by the same author and I thought this would be another disappointing read. How wrong I was! After reading more rave reviews, I decided to finally purchase the book. Dex and Em. Em and Dex. They meet

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-37235325057786645702010-09-07T16:16:00.001+08:002011-05-26T08:22:27.488+08:00

I just realized that about a year ago I blogged about how Dorothy Whipple cured my book slump (you can find my post on that here). How funny that she should come to my rescue again this year and with the same book, The Closed Door and Other Stories. Last year, I only had to read one story from that collection to get back my reading groove. This year I read a few more from this book. Whipple is

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-43656120547436751842010-09-01T09:32:00.007+08:002010-09-03T11:29:47.579+08:00

I've never done a meme like this but I loved reading Thomas at My Porch and  Mad Bibliophile's answers so I thought I'd give this a go. Plus, I'm still going through writer's block so no new reviews from me for now. 1. Favorite childhood book? The Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Adventures of Tintin 2. What are you reading right now? The Closed Door and Other Stories by Dorothy Whipple 3. What books

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-896791067368593492010-08-31T11:48:00.008+08:002010-09-02T08:52:09.954+08:00

What a disappointment! My first thought after reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins was 'What the heck? What was that about?' I can't believe this got published. If Collins couldn't come up with a decent conclusion to The Hunger Games trilogy then she should have taken more time to figure it out. I know many people haven't read the book yet so I don't want to write anymore except to say I would

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-87353069073612329172010-08-26T13:44:00.001+08:002010-08-26T17:09:27.839+08:00

August hasn't been a good reading month for me plus I have writer's block. I can't seem to write a decent post. I hope it's because I'm pregnant and I've been suffering from intermittent morning sickness. I'm now in my second trimester and feeling so much better. I hope I'll be inspired to write again soon. I think it would help if I read something good. This doesn't usually happen but I've

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-13944672568427678312010-08-18T13:00:00.000+08:002010-08-18T13:00:02.296+08:00

From the publishers that brought you The Passage by Justin Cronin comes a new and suspenseful novel called Dark Matter by Michelle Paver, the bestselling writer of The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Books for children and young adults. I was lucky to receive a  review copy of this as it will only be released in October of this year. I actually have a pile of review copies waiting to be read but

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-87190685159539523182010-08-09T15:47:00.000+08:002010-08-09T15:47:50.991+08:00

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas is the first book I've read that's on the Booker longlist and I'm not quite sure if it's deserving enough to get on the shortlist. I did read the whole book but only because it felt like a very good season of a TV soap like Desperate Housewives or Mad Men only in this case I think it should be renamed Desperate Housewives and Husbands. The premise is very

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-78585496705155204882010-08-02T16:35:00.004+08:002010-08-05T15:13:58.294+08:00

"The beauty! The beauty!" (page 345) The other day I mentioned that Junot Diaz is so far, the best writer I've discovered this year. He has his own unique style - fearless,  casual and cool. He defies categorization. I've never seen writing like this before. The Pulitzer Prize winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is written in English but with so many Spanish words and phrases thrown

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-14287730804437059132010-07-30T18:50:00.004+08:002010-07-30T19:15:50.613+08:00

I'm joining the Book Blogger Hop this week. Every Friday Jennifer of Crazy For Books hosts The Book Blogger Hop which is a great chance to find some new blogs and gain some readers for your own blog. This week Jennifer asks who is the best author we've discovered so far this year. Mine has to be Junot Diaz, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I've

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-51401922733422415012010-07-28T17:05:00.001+08:002010-07-28T17:38:24.184+08:00

There's something truly wonderful about the medium of graphic novels. Somehow, if the art is brilliant, the book can convey so many different emotions without too many words and that's exactly what happens in Blankets by Craig Thompson. This is a beautifully drawn and written book about the pain of adolescence, trying to fit in, religion, first love, first heartbreak and growing up.

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-63654097732264763922010-07-24T08:10:00.001+08:002010-07-26T09:34:17.591+08:00

A new Nick Hornby novel is always something to look forward to and when I saw his latest novel Juliet, Naked at the Schipol airport in Amsterdam, I grabbed it. I remember reading A Long Way Down a few years ago on a long-haul flight and laughing out loud so much. I think Hornby is perfect for a plane ride or for long sleepless jet-lagged nights. Juliet, Naked doesn't disappoint. I loved its

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-19985199514710799142010-07-22T17:34:00.002+08:002010-07-22T19:45:52.204+08:00

I've been suffering from writer's block lately. I just can't seem to write any reviews though I've got quite a number of books I've finished in the wings. Maybe it's because I'm suffering from horrible jet lag. Its been two weeks so this isn't funny anymore. I thought I'd drop two little mini reviews here for books I read last month. These books are part of my list for the Japanese Literature

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-46261462412817428882010-07-18T09:26:00.000+08:002010-07-18T09:26:37.125+08:00

One of my favourite cookbooks is Breakfast Lunch & Tea: the many little meals of Rose Bakery, so I knew I just had to visit this scrumptious little eatery on our trip to Paris earlier this month. The Rose Bakery is known for its delicious salads, soups, scones, vegetable tarts, cakes and biscuits. The founder, Rose Caranini is one of the UK's leading pioneers in using local and organic

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-32668563184650757252010-07-11T11:33:00.000+08:002010-07-11T11:33:56.054+08:00

I recently visited this fabulous art exhibition at The Hermitage Amsterdam. It was breathtaking. If you are in Amsterdam anytime this summer until September 17th then do try to visit the Matisse to Malevich exhibition. Besides the latter artists you'll also find exceptional works by Picasso, Van Dongen, De Vlaminck, Derain and many other contemporaries of theirs. Seventy-five paintings have been

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-17846175304826472412010-07-02T18:40:00.005+08:002010-07-04T17:00:52.682+08:00

I read a lot of good books and as some of you know, lately I've raved about many of them but once in a while you actually fall in love with a book. That's what happened when I unexpectedly fell in love with Looking for Alaska by John Green. I know it's not the most brilliant book in the world and it won't win the Booker or Pulitzer but I just fell in love with it...with the characters, the story

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-55607954035668495872010-06-19T21:59:00.001+08:002010-06-19T22:03:15.126+08:00

We're off to Europe tomorrow and I'm being very good because I'm only taking three books. Actually only two count because the third is a guide book to eating out in Paris. We're going to the Netherlands with a side trip to Paris in between. I'm so looking forward to Paris as its been years since I've been. This time we're staying at a flat that's walking distance from Shakespeare and

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-41603878938796965882010-06-17T16:30:00.000+08:002010-06-17T16:30:24.708+08:00

I so enjoyed The Brooklyn Follies that I followed it up with another Paul Auster novel, Man in the Dark. This one is a short book at just 148 pages. While not one of his best, it's still a worthy piece of work filled with all the things I love about Auster. August Brill, a seventy-two-year-old writer is recovering from a car accident at his daughter's home in Vermont. Confined to a bed, he

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-35000900396531901272010-06-15T17:16:00.010+08:002010-06-16T08:36:15.224+08:00

"This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice. Two years later, they meet again. The story starts there. Once you have read it you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how it unfolds."  Above is the blurb from the book Little Bee or The Other Hand by

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-82107907326084203652010-06-12T12:16:00.004+08:002010-06-13T12:25:56.665+08:00

I'm so excited to join the Japanese Literature Challenge IV hosted by Dolce Bellezza. I'm definitely in the mood for Japanese novels right now. I've missed reading Haruki Murakami, so its a good excuse to finally pick up another of his novels. I'm now reading Kafka on the Shore and enjoying it very much. The Challenge runs from June 1, 2010 to January 30, 2011. For more information, check out

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-83051983561424270692010-06-10T17:05:00.004+08:002010-06-12T23:00:11.660+08:00

I love this book. It's one of the special ones. If you read my blog then you probably know that I'm a big fan of Paul Auster. He is my favourite American author though interestingly enough, he appeals more to Europeans. Auster's novels are all told in the first person and most of them seem to have a similar main character. They're all intellectuals who love literature, classical music and

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-61191333556511264562010-06-07T19:46:00.004+08:002010-06-08T08:45:43.650+08:00

Muriel Barbery I just finished rereading The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery for my book club. The fact that during this reading I already knew the ending made it a different experience altogether. I had much more time to savour some of its beautiful passages. And though many people didn't like it, I do think that one of the things that makes this book truly unique is its ending. It

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-36166316299189936602010-06-03T11:33:00.003+08:002010-06-03T21:28:34.595+08:00

I'm having a very Willy Wonka week as I've just read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl to my four-year-old son and he absolutely loved it. And really what's not to love? The fascinating Willy Wonka, a contest to find golden tickets hidden in chocolate bars, the lovable Charlie and Grandpa Joe, oompa-loompas, a super cool factory and chocolate and candy galore! My son is completely

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-22862626599673287932010-06-02T13:00:00.001+08:002010-06-02T13:01:49.049+08:00

This book has such an appropriate title because Talking It Over by Julian Barnes is a whole book about three friends doing just that... 'talking it over.' Stuart and Oliver are complete opposites but they've been best friends since school and now Stuart has met and fallen in love with Gillian. But just after their wedding Oliver discovers he's in love with Gillian too. Doesn't that sound like

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-78860382937068478852010-06-01T17:15:00.002+08:002010-06-01T17:17:17.564+08:00

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading . Quote two sentences from the book you're currently reading. I'm reading  The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster and loving it! "... when a person is lucky enough to live inside a story, to live inside an imaginary world, the pains of this world disappear. For as long as the story goes on, reality no longer exists

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1761873841609819775.post-32766919303518269532010-05-30T10:51:00.007+08:002010-05-30T13:05:58.521+08:00

I recently remembered this short essay I read in Richard Feynman's The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. Feynman (1918-1988) is a Nobel Prize winning American physicist. Read this and I guarantee you'll never look at a flower the same way again.  The Beauty of a Flower   “I have a friend who’s an artist and he’s sometimes taken a view which I don’t agree with very well. He’ll hold up a

Mrs. B.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00504736603540947661noreply@blogger.com4