Tracy W Female. Hong Kong

The book has very big ideas, delving into anti-semitism, racism, nationalism, humanity, forgiveness and compassion. It's about the life of Sandor Kovacs, a Polish immigrant hooligan in London in the 1960s, told by his niece Vivien. Sandor, a Jew, survived the Nazi occupation during the war. He had a complicated background and a fascinating character, and was not what he seemed to be.

Vivien helped her uncle write his biography. Vivien also had her own story to tell. She was also not what she appeared to be. That's why the title "The Clothes on Their Backs" - we are so often fooled by other people's appearance and lose sight of what they truly are.

It's an ambitious novel. Linda Grant tried to achieve too much in one novel. The result is not that satisfying as readers may not find it enjoyable.

Since Book I of the Millennium trilogy is too good, I had great expectations about Book II. I am not disappointed.

Thanks to the late Stieg Larsson, readers are yet again plunged into another roller-coaster ride in the nether world of Sweden, with lots of crime busting, murder, evil and conspiracy that will keep you awake all night. You will discover more secrets of the enigmetic Lisbeth Salander but again, be left with more questions. A good read.

The only thing I don't like about this book is that unlike The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo which can be read as a standalone novel, The Girl Who Played With Fire is part one of a two-part story. Part two is The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest. I am waiting for the paperback with bated breath. The publisher is testing my patience.

This is my most anticipated book in recent months besides Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw. Unlike the latter, however, this is a disappointment.

Maybe because Freakonomics was such a pioneering and groundbreaking work on behavioural economics, I thought its sequel would be equally fascinating and would change the way we look at things. It doesn't work this time.

In Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner asked a number of interesting questions about every day's life and answered them via explaining how people make decisions/choices by responding to incentives. The analysis is all based on hard facts and data. The answers to questions like why New York City's crime rate fell drastically in the early 1990s (because of the legalisation of abortion - Roe vs Wade in 1973) are very convincing.

The authors apply the same formula and methodology in SuperFreakonomics again, but none of the stories is memorable. I think the problem with this book is that the questions have not been clearly framed at the outset. Hence, after reading chunks of analysis and figures, I still don't know what problems they are trying to tackle.

The only story that may be worth reading is the last one: the chapter on using geoengineering to tackle global warming.

This is a collection of articles written by Malcolm Gladwell and published in New Yorker since 1996. Selected by Gladwell and categorised under three themes, these articles are Gladwell's favourites and a showcase of his exemplary insights and investigative reporting at its best.

I enjoy every single article with topics ranging from Ketchup, hair dye, dog whisperer, Enron, homelessness, criminal profiling to job interview etc. Gladwell has a flair for asking questions, identifying a pattern or interesting phenomenon from the common or ordinary, and spinning a good yarn backed up by meticulous research. All of his articles start from a banal premise, but they all end up in a good story. Maybe this talent of looking for great ideas and telling stories is what makes Gladwell tick.

Another question for Gladwell to think about: if all these articles are freely downloadable from his website, how come this collection is still so much sought after and has become a bestseller?

This is a creative and ingenious piece of work, with two haunting and poignant narratives from Roseanne, a 100-year old mental patient, and her doctor criss-crossing and combining into this story.

It has a good plot with a shocking ending (though somehow I guessed it correctly after reading 30 pages). However, one thing is never clear to me (and maybe some other readers): what made people around Roseanne so bent on driving her insane? Maybe it's in the story, but I couldn't get it. And this made it one of the most unsatisfying reads I have ever encountered.

The reason why I don't like this book is because the story itself, a past encounter of the narrator's mother in-law with two black dogs, takes up around 10 pages of the book, and it appears near the end of the book. The rest is descriptions and recollections of the narrator that gradually build up to the "climax" - the revelation of what happened.

If the incident were more terrifying or exciting, it might be worth the trouble of reading all the unnecessary details. But it is not.

The result of this style of writing is nothing but disappointing.

I never knew before that the Swedish have such talented writers. This book 1 of the Millennium trilogy is really an eye-opener.

Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is like Robert Ludlum meets with James Patterson and Dan Brown. The plot is very complicated with murder, commercial crime, computer hacking and investigative journalism weaved together. Larsson took readers through one mystery after another and eventually to some answers, but not all and hence, leaving readers craving for more.

Looking forward to Book 2. Sadly, Larsson died from a heart attack in 2004, after delivering the Millennium trilogy manuscripts to his publisher. He did not live to see the worldwide phenomenon he had generated.

This is a roller-coaster-ride-like page turner with a very original and plausible plot.

Based on the premise that there is an alien invasion of the minds of all but very few human beings in the world, The Host is about the final human outpost's resistance against the aliens, which are creatures injected into the human bodies, replacing the minds of the hosts. Melanie's mind, however, is very strong, and she refuses to be wiped off by the alien, Wanderer. As the story unfolds, the two minds fight, tolerate and cooperate to survive, in Melanie's host body, in the horrible futuristic world.

Utterly stunning and exciting, The Host is not like anything you have ever read and is sure to thrill and amaze all readers alike.

I don't like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice much. Maybe it's because the English is too ancient and difficult to read. But Pride and Prejudice And Zombies, an ingenious plot concocted by Seth Grahame-Smith, is hilarious.

85% made up of Jane Austen's original novel and 15% additional materials on zombies wreaking havoc on the quiet English village of Meryton, the formula works.

Sheer entertainment and fun. No wonder the book has been optioned for a movie. Keeping my fingers crossed.

As a dog lover, I cannot refrain from loving this book.

Told by Enzo, a Labrador, "The Art of Racing in the Rain" is the story of Denny Swift, a race driver, and his family which almost fell apart. Enzo the dog stayed with them and gave them whole-hearted support and loyalty through thick and thin.

Readers may sometimes wonder whether Enzo could understand and express such complicated things in the human world, let alone "write" them out. There are many chapters on car racing which are highly technical and professional. However, you will forgive the author for being a little bit carried away when you find out that Enzo is a car racer at heart.

Dogs are humans' best friends and this book proves it. Enzo's love for Denny is complete, absolute and unwavering. I have lost count of how many times the book brought me almost to tears.

Moving and touching, this is a wonderful book that must not be missed.

This book is absolutely amazing. I love it mainly for three reasons:

(i) the way it is presented, i.e. in a string of correspondences in 1946 between Juliet Ashton, a writer in London, and her friends and a group of new acquaintances in Guernsey, which had just been liberated from the Nazi occupation. It reminds me of "84 Charingcross Road", but this one is even more interesting and fascinating.

(ii) the wonderful characters of the book, especially members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Their lives, revealed through the letters, are a celebration of human courage, compassion and dignity in times of extreme oppression and dire straits.

(iii) the story behind how the author, Mary Ann Shaffer, came up with the idea of the book, saw it to fruition and passed away shortly after the book was published. The fact that Shaffer, an American, could write in such a British style and know so much about the very English Channel Islands is astonishing.

Highly recommended.

I am a dog person and never like cats. However, I cannot imagine anyone, be it a dog or cat person, not loving Dewey after reading this gem of a book.

Dewey, a stray kitten adopted by the public library of Spencer, a 10,000-person town in Iowa, was such a special and adorable angel that he touched not only those in Spencer or Iowa, but also people across the States and around the world.

I shall leave it to readers to find out how Dewey did that. For me, I am particularly moved by the 19-year relationship between Vicki Myron, the library director, and Dewey. Dewey was like a son to Vicki. Reading the last chapter of the book almost brought me to tears.

A must read.

This book suits me as I have recently become a Christian. Joyce Meyer selected some very good, insightful and inspiring scriptures from the Bible and gave her objective and reasonable interpretations. It helps me learn more about His teachings, wisdom and love and strengthens my belief in God.

Whether you are a Christian or not, this book will help you lead a more positive and fruitful life. Many of our troubles spring from our convoluted or corrupt mind and if we can get our mind right, we can make it. The mind is really a battlefield and His Word is our weapon to win this war.

Fans of "The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time" may be disappointed by this second book of Mark Haddon.

The plot is alright. In fact, this tale about a dysfunctional family preparing for the second wedding of their daughter, Katie Hall, is quite hilarious and with lots of drama. However, maybe too much focus has been placed on the father, George Hall, a retired former executive who suspected that he had skin cancer. There are detailed descriptions of the state of mind of George who is going insane, and his convoluted mind made my head spin when I was reading it.

I found it quite difficult to get through the book. Not recommended.

This book is fun. It poses hundreds of interesting questions in our daily life, which can all be explained by economics. And you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand it.

For example, why is milk sold in rectangular containers, while soft drinks are sold in cylindrical ones? Why is there a light in your fridge but not in your freezer?

Robert H Frank draws on fundamental economic theories such as opportunity cost, cost-benefit analysis etc. to explain them all. The result is thought-stimulating and satisfying.

Frank shows readers why behavioral economics has become such a hot subject. It enables us to make sense of things in this seemingly out-of-control world.

Fascinating. Glad to know that a second-helping has been released.

This is the best book on Christianity that I have ever read.

I don't know how true the account of Mackenzie Allen Philips' story and what he encountered in the shack, a place where a tragedy happened to him 3 years before, were true. I don't want to know either because it doesn't matter.

The story answered a question that has been in the mind of many Christians and pagans alike for years: if God were almighty, how could He let such tragedies or horrible things happen to his faithful followers?

Many church leaders and pastors have put forward their views on this sixty-four thousand dollar question, but none has done it better than WM. Paul Young. Young's take on it is an eye-opener, and it cements my faith in God, removing any doubt I have had.

And the author writes very well, which is one more reason that this book cannot be missed, regardless of whether you are a Christian or not.

I think the reason why I don't enjoy this book much is that it tries to cram too much information in the narrative of the protagonist and most of the effects of the shocking truths and anecdotes of the fashion industry are lost.

Using the same formula that gave rise to Hotel Babylon and Air Babylon, Imogen Edwards-Jones tried to poke fun at the European haute couture this time. Mixing facts and hearsay, the author presented to readers what makes high fashion, its designers and models tick. Readers will learn about many idiosyncrasies of the top models (e.g. Kate Moss) and designers (e.g. Marc Jacobs). Even Anna Wintour of Vogue made a cameo appearance in once scene. Again information overflow makes you wonder how much of all these is the truth.

Also, the author often inserted gossips into the conversations among the characters and sometimes you may find it a bit laboured and weird.

However, I do get some useful factual information from the book, e.g. fashion retailers mark up the wholesale price by 2.9 times; designers often refer to what was in fashion 20 years ago for inspiration of their new collection etc. Interesting ...

Howard Schultz, founder and CEO of Starbucks, returned to the helm of the global cafe group in mid-2008 to save the company from financial distress. Amidst the global economic downturn, Starbucks could no longer produce its previous year-on-year 50% growth in sales and profits, and is faced with keen competition from cheaper alternatives like McDonald's.

It is therefore a good time to read this memoir of Schultz published in 1997, 5 years after the company was listed in New York with stunning performance, leading every Wall Street analyst to look for "the next Starbucks". In the book, Schultz explained how he came across Starbucks, a retailer of high-quality roasted coffee beans in Seattle and became a connoisseur of fine coffee. Following a trip to Milan, Italy where he witnessed the art of coffee-brewing by the baristas of espresso bars, he resolved to bring this coffee-drinking culture back to the States. The rest is history.

Through his description of the early days of building up Starbucks, opening new Starbucks outlets across the country, foraying into Japan, developing new products like Frappuccino, and taking the company public, Schultz demonstrated his passion and perseverance in educating the Americans about good-quality coffee. Despite financial difficulties and challenges that plague every start-up company, Schultz has never lost faith in what he believes. Thanks to his leadership, vision and integrity, Starbucks has successfully become the "Third Place" of many people, next to their home and workplace. This is really a phenomenon.

Employees of Starbucks are highly valued - they are called "Partners" and even before the company went public, the Partners were already rewarded with stock options. Starbucks was the first private company to offer stock options to its staff. The book shows you that care and focus on staff development is the key success factor of the exponential growth of Starbucks in the 1990s.

This contrasts drastically with the close-down of 900 outlets and lay-off of 19,000 employees across the globe in the past year, all brought about by Schultz as part of his salvage plan. The stock price of Starbucks has risen from $7 to $14, but whether these measures are sustainable remain to be seen.

Hence, this memoir written in 1997 is all upbeat, optimistic and high-sounding stuff. It is because the challenges faced by Schultz today were beyond his imagination then.

An interesting read.

This is an amazing reading experience. This 2008 Man Booker Prize winner has received rave reviews and people have been saying how good it is.

While I was reading it, I found it quite entertaining only and didn't think it was a masterpiece as such. Set in India against a backdrop similar to Slumdog Millionaire, it is about how an underdog, Balram Halwai, rose to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Bangalore. Balram told his story through a letter to Wen Jiabao, Premier of China, who was due to visit Bangalore.

However, after I have finished the book and pondered about the plot and message of the story, I then realised what a genius the author, Aravind Adiga, is. Underlying this seemingly from-rags-to-riches story of Balram is a bold and vivid expose of the iniquities of the Indian society. Corruption, religious rivalries, discrimination and poverty are so ingrained in the Indian caste system that they have become an institution. Through the candid voice and humour of Balram, the author has brought to the world a rapidly developing India that is enviable on the one hand, and appalling on the other.

A superb piece of work. Not to be missed.

I am a fan of Stephen Clarke's novels on Paul West, an Englishman in Paris. His last two books, "A Year In The Merde" and "Merde Actually", depict the adventures of West operating an English tea room in Paris. They bring out the political, social, cultural and, of course, linguistic conflicts between the two countries and are absolutely hilarious.

This third novel on West is a bit disappointing, mainly because the author has run out of ideas and jokes that could poke fun at the Frenchmen, and has moved the backdrop of the story to the US. West took on a job which was something similar to a tourism ambassador of Britain, and had to drive a mini across the US to promote Britain in order to win the World Tourism Capital contest. West was competing against the representatives from other countries, including France, and he took his French girlfriend Alexa with him in the tour.

This time, the author tried to highlight the differences between the Americans, British and French, and made fun of the globalisation and anti-terrorist efforts of the US. Maybe because this formula (contrasting the cultural diversity between the French and Anglo-Saxons) has been used before, it's not funny anymore. In fact, some of the comedy situations are quite bland and hackneyed.

I hope that Stephen Clarke can break out of this Paul West series and give us something completely new. After all, he writes very well.

I would like to sum up "One Fifth Avenue" as follows: A Jackie Collins romp with flair.

The story centers around five tenants of the prestigious landmark residential building at No. 1, Fifth Avenue, New York. Only the rich and famous like movie star (Schiffer Diamond), writer/playwright (Philip Oakland), columnist (Enid Merle), hedge-fund power couple (Paul and Annalisa Rice) and corporate director with a popular blog (Mindy Gooch) reside there. They provide ample opportunities for the author, Candace Bushnell, to dish out her trademark gossips, satire and of course, sex scenes.

This is quite a funny and enjoyable book. Occasionally, Bushnell shares her take on life, work, midlife crisis and even technology which demonstrates her keen insight and observation. For example, I love this banter between James Gooch, a novelist, and his publisher about the elderly not catching up with technology:

"... we know everything now. We've seen it all before. We know there's nothing new ... The only thing that changes is the technology."
"Except we can't understand the technology."
"Bullshit ... It's still a bunch of buttons. It's only a matter of knowing which ones to press."
"Like the panic button that blows up the world."

Bushnell is at times hilarious.

However, I really can't stand her depictions of women anymore. Women in her novels are so stereotyped. There are only two types of women in her world: young, beautiful but brainless bimbos who serve as playmates or sex slaves of rich men; or middle-aged, headstrong, successful but unhappy women in a depressing family/love life. If I read one more novel packed with one-dimensional characters like these, I am going to shoot myself.

Finally, there is a chronic overdose of sexual fantasies in her work. The description of sex in this novel is gratuitous, if not obnoxious. If Bushnell had cut down the sex scenes by half, this book would have been a page-turner and it would have saved us (and her) a lot of time.

I can't believe it has taken me weeks to finish this. Sophie Kinsella's books are usually funny, easy to read and page-turner like. There is only one explanation: it's a cliche and she has been there and done that too many times.

The story starts with a good premise - Lexi, a cheerful and mediocre office lady, was injured in a car accident and when she woke up three years later, she found that she had led a completely different, dreamlike, powerful and successful life in the past three years, a life of which she had no recollection.

At first, I thought there had been a conspiracy or something that put Lexi in that situation, i.e. somebody had impersonated her while she was in a coma. It turned out that it was much simpler and hence, less exciting or interesting.

I think the main reason why this novel is not enjoyable is the one-dimensional character of the protagonist. Lexi is just another Rebecca Bloomwood in Kinsella's Shopaholic series. I just wonder why she bothered to create another book when she could just write a Shopaholic novel with this plot.

There are some hilarious moments in the book, though.

I am disappointed with Kinsella rehashing her stories time and again. This should be my last Kinsella's novel.

I love Danny Boyle's Oscar-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire". It's one of the most enjoyable and entertaining Oscar best pictures in years. With a superb adapted screenplay, great music and stunning cinematography, Slumdog has it all. Of course, the premise on which the movie was built, i.e. that an underdog from a slum in Mumbai can win the "Who wants to be a millionaire" award and find true love, is touching and gives us hope that anything is possible.

After seeing the movie, I read the novel. Written by an Indian diplomat in South Africa and originally titled as "Q&A", this fairy tale is even better than the movie. The movie adopted its main theme, but the plot, the questions and anecdotes of the main character leading to his giving the right answers are completely different from the book. In this respect, the plot of the novel is even more fascinating and ingeniously conceived than the movie. The dialogues are funny and the way the story is told is also very unique - it was not told in chronological order but in the order of the questions. Hence, readers will find that they will read some recent developments first and then go back to certain previous events which echo with some later happenings or give clues to the final outcome.

This is the best novel I have read this year. Absolutely not to be missed.

Kate Winslet won her Oscar for her role as Hanna Schmitz in "The Reader", but I think she really aced it in "Revolutionary Road" as April Wheeler, the frustrated, disenchanted and vulnerable suburban housewife. She literally steals the show with her powerful and stunning performance that would leave her audience with a broken heart.

Many film critics said that the film does not do justice to Richard Yates' novel, which has become a classic. I saw the movie first and was so shaken by the crisp and impassioned dialogues that I had to read the book in order to savour the lines which are nothing short of masterpieces.

Set in 1955, the story is about the couple Frank and April Wheeler who led a quiet but unsatisfying middle-class life with their two children in suburban New York. April who could no longer bear the "hopeless emptiness" of the suburbia, wanted the whole family to take off and move to Paris. It brought all the underlying problems in this marriage to the surface and led the couple to a path of no return.

Why this book has become a classic is exactly its brilliant demonstration of the weakness and foibles of human beings - that we are so selfish, egotistic, unrealistic and full of excuse when things do not turn out the way we want them to be. If the story and characters were set in the present day, they would still be very true.

"It's as if everybody'd made this tacit agreement to live in a state of total self-deception," said Frank Wheeler, talking about how suffocating the suburban life was and that people like him should deserve a more noble life. But weren't both he and April deceiving themselves? They thought that they were in a league of their own, but in what ways were they better than their neighbours? At least their neighbours wouldn't take off without a plan. I think that's why I don't give this book 4 stars because I just don't like the characters. You just wouldn't sympathise with April or feel for her because what she did was so reckless and foolish.

But still, the book is worth reading as the dialogues are superb. I kept on re-reading a few exchanges between Frank and April, and those between them and their mentally-ill neighbour John Givings, because they really hit the nail on the head.

For example, what John told Frank about jobs is so true: "Interesting? ... You worry about whether a job is 'interesting' or not? ... You want to play house, you got to have a job. You want to play very nice house, very sweet house, then you got to have a job you don't like ... Anybody comes along and says 'Whaddya do it for?' you can be pretty sure he's on a four-hour pass from the State funny-farm ..." Don't always say you would quit a job because it's not interesting if you need the job for a living - just stick with it.

And what April said about herself is in fact what I have been telling myself unrealistically all these years: "I still had this idea that there was a whole world of marvelous golden people somewhere ... people who knew everything instinctively, who made their lives work out the way they wanted without even trying, who never had to make the best of a bad job because it never occurred to them to do anything less than perfectly the first time ... and I always imagined that when I did find them I 'd suddenly know that I belonged among them, that I was one of them ..." Well, to be exact, I have been telling myself those first few lines - I know those golden people exist - but I definitely am not one of them, and I'd better live with it.

I think what I have learned from this book is that you have to know who you are, know where you stand, and be true to yourself. We can never pretend to be someone we are not. It will lead us nowhere and we will never be happy.

"Revolutionary Road" is a semi-autobiography of Richard Yates and his wife in the 1950s. The book was first released in 1961, but it became famous only after Yates died alone in a desolate apartment in 1992. This added a shred of sadness to the already tragic story.

I should have learned a lesson after reading Tim Harford's first bestseller "The Undercover Economist": that Harford is good at throwing out an eye-opening premise at the outset and building his discovery of strange pattern around a theory, which is nothing but simple logic. He did it again in "The Logic of Life".

I must admit that the introductory chapter is very interesting, but it all goes down from here. In the first chapter, Harford set the scene of his "great discovery" of the logic of life, which is fraught with illogical phenomenon. Basically, he said that the rational choice theory of economics explains most irrational behaviours of human beings, and we are rational beings after all. Rational choice theory, despite its high-sounding intonation, is in fact very simple: that rational people respond to incentives, make decisions by weighing up the overall costs and benefits, consider the future consequences of present choices, and have intelligible motives. Harford introduced this concept to explain today's corrupt and immoral behaviours ranging from teenage sex, prostitution to juvenile delinquency. I have to say I never thought that such social problems can be explained by economics and found the first chapter very interesting.

But thereafter, Harford's theory and analysis become repetitive, convoluted and above all, silly. The most anticipated chapter on "Why your boss is overpaid" is a flop. I kind of understand what Harford was trying to get at: that a reward system based on competition (i.e. the tournament theory) encourages staff to back-stab one another and drag others down rather than work hard or improve oneself. For senior positions (e.g. MD or VP) whose success depends more on luck than individual merits or efforts, the pay disparity from the next lower level has to be big enough to drive the subordinates to perform better with the hope of taking over their boss' job. But then it just doesn't make sense that the management of any company would design their remuneration system for the said reasons, because this is irrational! Harford did not elaborate further but instead talked about why stock options do not produce performing CEOs (because of the "split-the-bill" problem), leaving me baffled and unsatisfied.

For the rest of the book, Harford looked at gambling, marriage, divorce, ghettos and racism etc. and used rational choice theory to explain seemingly irrational behaviour. He cited a lot of laboratory, experiments and studies to prove his point, but I think he has way overdone it. His so-called rational choice theory is just common sense (although I admit common sense is not very common and some people don't have it, e.g. your overpaid idiot boss). It's the basic instinct of human beings to act that way - driven by incentives, consider costs and benefits and think about consequences. What's the big deal? Harford is just making simple logic complicated. Sometimes after quoting one research after another, he lost track of his analysis (and readers became lost too).

The final chapter on "A million years of logic" is even more implausible. Harford concluded that more population would give rise to more brains, more inventions and higher technology and hence, better chances for us to see out the next million years. Now what kind of insight is that? Isn't that a tautology?

On the whole, the book is disappointing. But the first chapter is enjoyable and worth reading, and it is only 32-page long. You can finish that at the bookstore.

I love the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by David Fincher, one of my favourite directors. This epic about the larger-than-life Benjamin Button and the history of 20th century America is a classic and deserves a nod from the Oscar.

I saw the film first and then read the short story by American literary cult figure, F. Scott Fitzgerald. In the film, the peculiar life of Benjamin, who was born a septuagenarian and grew younger as time went by, is fascinating. But it is the love story of Benjamin and Daisy that moves me. The two of them knew each other when they were kids (with Benjamin in an 80-year old body though) and were destined for each other, but fate had them fall in love 30 years later - in their middle-age when their lives crossed each other's path at the right moment. "We're meeting in the middle. We finally caught up with each other." The whole thing is unbelievable and is like science fiction, but love can make anything explicable and possible. "Loving you is worth everything", said Daisy. Both poignant and romantic, this line will stay with me forever.

The film is adapted from Fitzgerald's story of the same name contained in this collection of his short stories. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is the shortest of the 7 stories in this collection: it is 28-page long only. The film just used the theme of a man growing young from 80 to infancy and gave it a completely different plot. Compared with the film, Fitzgerald's story is simpler, probably because it started in 1860 and ended in around 1930s, with a more stable historical backdrop than post-WWII America. However, one thing that the book did better than the film is the subtle depiction of Benjamin's feelings towards growing young under the eyes of other normal people who were always moving forward and couldn't empathize with his plight. The sadness and hopelessness of Benjamin are never captured in the film (maybe due to the not-so-satisfactory performance of Brad Pitt), but are brilliantly manifested in the novel, thanks to the marvellous writing of Fitzgerald.

The other 6 stories are also enjoyable, though they are less imaginative. All of them are about how city-dwellers in late 19th to early 20th century America struggled with the woes and gains brought about by the Industrial Revolution, WWI, uncertainty and life. The collection showcases the eclectic style of Fitzgerald. For example, "The Cut-Glass Bowl" - about a family whose fortunes were dogged by an ill-meant gift - is mystery fiction. "O Russet Witch!" - about a man's life-long infatuation with a gorgeous woman - is a psychological thriller. "May Day", which aptly captures the chaos, gloom and bleakness in post-WWI New York, is a tragedy.

If you are used to reading modern literature or popular fiction, you may find Fitzgerald's work a bit slow with little action and few surprises. But the story-telling technique of Fitzgerald is unique. You've got to read one of his works to make your reading experience complete. If "The Great Gatsby" or "Tender is the Night" is too heavy, try this short story collection.

This collection of Love Letters of Great Men was compiled and released after a book of the same name appeared in the movie "Sex & the City". Yes, that's the one from which Carrie Bradshaw read the love letter of Ludwig van Beethoven to Mr. Big ("You - my Life - my All - farewell. Oh, go on loving me - never doubt the faithfullest heart Of your beloved L Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours.")

Apart from Beethoven's letter to his unnamed immortal beloved, the book contains over 40 love letters of great men, most of them being English/ French/ German poets, playwrights, writers, novelists, diplomats or kings of the 18th - 19th centuries, e.g. King Henry VIII, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, Charles Darwin, Oscar Wilde (with his notorious love letters to Lord Alfred Douglas), and Gustave Flaubert etc.

Who wouldn't want to receive letters of adoration and worship that abound with enchanting words of admiration, sweetness and most of all, eternal love? In this era of emails and text messages, love letters have been extinct for a long time. If there is still a man out there who writes love letters, he is either married or gay. So for those ladies who are looking for love, please don't have the illusion that Mr. Big writing love letters (emails, to be exact) to Carrie would happen in reality.

And then after reading this collection, I don't very much look forward to receiving love letters because the most well-written and touching letters were written by adulterers. Most of the "great men" featured in this collection were unfaithful and they wrote beautiful love letters to woo the wives or mistresses of other men, many of whom were their acquaintances. For example, the following extracts from the love letters tug my heart-strings, but the context in which they were written leaves much to be desired:

"It is the hardest thing in the world to be in love and yet attend to business." - Richard Steele to his mistress, Mary Scurlock

"There is not a day in which your figure does not appear before me; your conversations return to my thoughts, and every scene, place or occasion where I have enjoyed them, are as livelily painted as an imagination equally warm and tender can be capable to represent them." - Alexander Pope to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the wife of a diplomat

However, there are still a few faithful ones, and I am so moved by this one from Mozart to his wife:

"Do catch them in the air - those 2999 1/2 little kisses from me which are flying about, waiting for someone to snap them up." - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Constanze

Of course, men like Mozart are hard to come by ...

The one I like most in this collection is not so much a love letter. It was written by Daniel Webster, American orator and statesman, to a dinner guest who had left her bonnet at his house. Webster wrote like he was talking to the bonnet but in fact was heaping praise after praise on the beauty of Josephine:

"I gave it my parting good wishes; hoping that it might never cover an aching head, and that the eyes which it protects from the rays of the sun, may know no tears but those of joy and affection." - Daniel Webster to Josephine Seaton

This is really charming.

Readers (female readers - I don't expect men would read it) may find it a bit fed-up half-way through the book as reading too many love letters may make one sentimental. But it's still a lovely collection that is most suitable for flicking through from time to time.

My verdict: history has proved that most men (and women as well) are unfaithful - people just don't find it too crowded to have more than two persons in a relationship. Good men like Mr. Darcy only exist in fiction ...

It's so depressing.

I love this book. After devouring the book, I found it a very satisfying experience. I share many of the views of Malcolm Gladwell in this book towards work, attitude and life, and I am really glad that in this time when distorted beliefs and twisted values are touted, we have people like Gladwell to challenge us to think about the fundamental truth of success.

Like his previous two books, "The Tipping Point" and "Blink", "Outliers" started off with the premise that when we try to find out why the successful people, i.e. the outliers (beyond the normal distribution), are so successful, we have been asking the wrong question: what are these people? Instead, we should be asking: where do these people come from?

In other words, successful people owe their success not to their innate talent (though it is important), but to opportunity and hard work. Well, this is not an original or insightful idea as everybody knows about it. But that is where Gladwell, veteran journalist of The New Yorker, distinguishes himself from other writers. He delves into what these opportunities are and how they make these people what they have become. In presenting his arguments, he gave numerous fascinating and interesting accounts of real-life cases which are meticulously researched and read like detective stories (Gladwell used to be an investigative reporter).

Through these cases and statistics ranging from the drafting of Canadian hockey players, Bill Gates, domination of Jewish law firms in New York to the turnaround of the Korean Air, Gladwell argued that while the inherent capabilities (e.g. high IQ) of a person is important, a person cannot be successful without the help of others: when and where you were born, what your parents did for a living, and the circumstances of your upbringing. This is part one of the book, and it is very convincing. I particularly like the section on the "10,000-hour rule" and the impact of parents on shaping the success of their children. True mastery of anything complex can only be achieved by 10,000 hours of hard practice (but not everyone has the luxury of practising for 10,000 hours - and that's where opportunity comes into play). The parents of successful people are engaged in meaningful work, i.e. work with autonomy, complexity and a connection between effort and reward. "Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning."

Part two of the book explains how a country's culture (what Gladwell means is plainly "race") also contributes to the success of people in certain fields, e.g. the Asians' mastery of mathematics, and how certain cultural legacy (e.g. the "high-power distance index" of the Koreans) deters people from doing well in other fields, e.g. the higher incidence of plane crashes of the Korean Airline before 1999.

I think part two of the book is a bit off the track as it deviates from the main theme on explaining the success story of individuals (as opposed to a certain country or race). However, what Gladwell is trying to say is that we can create the opportunities and circumstances that help those talented people whom he described in part one achieve what they strive to be. And that is really what matters.

The reason why I bought this book is because I read an excerpt in The New Yorker and was attracted to the case about a guy with an IQ of 195 who ended up rearing pigs on a farm. After reading "Outliers", I understand why and the story of this guy, Christopher Langan, is really sad. Gladwell knows how to present simple and obvious theories through packaging that can hook readers to his book from the beginning to the end. Despite all his detailed analysis, Gladwell's explanations of the factors of success can in fact be summed up in one word: luck. Christopher Langan is just unlucky.

Gladwell is very good at choosing his cases and identifying a pattern or phenomenon to support his point. I am sure there are an equally large number of examples which are contrary to his assertions (i.e. success is purely attributable to a person's inherent abilities and/or efforts on his own), but Gladwell just didn't mention them. Anyway, just reading Gladwell's well-researched analysis in simple and clear English is already an enjoyable and satisfying experience.

This is a book not to be missed.

Whether you like the Queen of England or not, you would love this novella by Alan Bennett, renowned author of the critically acclaimed novel/ play/ movie "The History Boys".

I am sure the plot is fictional as I really doubt that Queen Elizabeth II only took up reading in her twilight years and that she fell in love with the hobby after wandering into a travelling library while chasing after her corgis. But you would marvel at the boundless imagination of Bennett who, through this story of the Queen devouring one book after the other in the genres ranging from poetry, classics to gay literature, gives readers a glimpse of the Queen's personality as a human being despite the royal duties and responsibilities bestowed upon her.

Reading "The Uncommon Reader", you will see a lot of display of dignity and decorum of the Queen with which we are all familiar, but her humour, shrewdness and insight into literature, politics and life are fascinating. These of course are made up by Bennett, but readers may find it not far from the truth. At one point, the Queen quipped that "One recipe for happiness is to have no sense of entitlement ... This is not a lesson I have ever been in a position to learn." I think it, to a certain degree, captures how the Queen feels about royalty.

Bennett's writing is fluid and sharp. The Queen's take on reading and writing is one of the best lines I have ever read: "Books are wonderful ... At the risk of sounding like a piece of steak, ... they tenderise one." "... if reading softens one up, writing does the reverse. To write you have to be tough, do you not?" Witty and brilliant, Bennett has proved himself to be the heavyweight of contemporary literature.

This is a simply smashing gem of a book. And there is even a twist in the tale. If there are still not enough reasons for you to pick up this book and enjoy it, I don't know what to say.

"Affinity" is not Sarah Waters at her best.

The story was about Margaret Prior, a 30-year old spinster with a troubled past who acted as a visitor to the Millbank Prison and met the beautiful prisoner, Selina Dawes, there. Selina was a spirit-medium who accidentally caused the death of a patron during one of her sittings.

The 19th-century women goal's setting and an exploration of spiritualism lent the novel mystery and suspense. But it is far less enjoyable than the author's other works. The lesbian relationship (Waters' common theme in her novels) was something expected, and it had taken too long for it to develop. Also, presented in the format of the journals of the two ladies, the novel reads like a record of their encounters and it is not very exciting.

However, Waters never ceases to surprise her readers. There is a very shocking ending which makes all the plodding though the laborious account worth the while.

This is my second helping to the collection of bad English translations on road signs, notices, menus and instruction manuals etc. in various countries where English is not the mother tongue.

Most examples quoted are from China, Japan, Vietnam, Russia etc. It gives you a good laugh at first and then, everything becomes cliche. In some cases, I wonder whether the author was making them up.

Not recommended.

I would never have imagined Ian McEwan, a master of erotic novels, writing a children's book. But he did in this novella "The Daydreamer", and he did it with flair.

The novel is an account of the stories imagined by 10-year old Peter who was very good at daydreaming. In his dream-world, Peter got attacked by his sister's 60 dolls, swapped bodies with his cat and cousin, applied a "vanishing cream" to his parents, fended off a bully at school and a burglar at home. They are all very interesting and sure to satisfy the fun-loving children and adults alike.

You won't find a shred of McEwan's trademark of sexually-charged, morbid and lascivious writing in this little book. It is purely a children's book, and his one and only children's book. It is a pity that he doesn't write anymore of this genre.

A poor guy with little education but a beautiful fiancee got convicted for a murder that he did not commit, was sent to prison, escaped from it and plotted his revenge on those who framed him: Does this sound familiar to you?

This formula has appeared in numerous fictions and even Jeffrey Archer's previous novels. But "A Prisoner of Birth" is still a very good read - it is full of so many twists and turns that it will keep you awake all night. I have been taken by surprise more than five times when I read it. The story also abounds with scheming and plotting and I doubt anyone will give it up half-way through.

It's true that "A Prisoner of Birth" is new wine in an old bottle - it is reminiscent of "Kane & Abel", "Honour Among Thieves" and "Sons of Fortune" etc. But Jeffrey Archer knows when and where to inject new ideas and developments, e.g. the war in Iraq, 2012 London Olympics etc., to make the story interesting. The book also serves as Archer's (another) indictment against the British judicial and penitentiary system.

It is interesting to follow Archer's writing since his release from prison to see when he will stop holding his grudge against the UK institution. He is a talented writer with boundless imagination, and should not need to draw his ideas from the prison again.

This is another collection of short stories by Ian McEwan written 30 years ago. Compared with "First Love, Last Rites", "In Between the Sheets" is more laborious and difficult to read.

Like its predecessor, the seven stories are all about tormented souls with a very twisted mind. The narrators are all crazy people, obsessed with sex. Reading along, I felt like I was listening to lunatics rambling. In one story, "To and Fro", the narrator was talking so much nonsense that I had no idea what it was about even when I reached the end of the story.

However, the book is redeemed by one story (and one story alone) - "Dead as They Come". This little piece is narrated by a tycoon who, after 3 failed marriages, found the love of his life, Helen. Helen, however, was a dummy in the display window of a department store. Poignant and shocking, this story will blow you away.

I am very surprised by how good this book is. At first, I thought this was another memoir of a rags-to-riches Hollywood star, ghostwritten by a professional writer.

This is not. It's in fact an experience-sharing self-help book by the Golden Globe winner of Desperate Housewife, Teri Hatcher. It took 20 years for Hatcher to become where she is today, after starting her career as Superman's girlfriend in Lois & Clark 2 decades ago. In the interim, she went through a marriage, motherhood, divorce and a blank page in her career, before making a stunning come-back with the role Susan in Desperate Housewife. She really has a lot to share with all those divorcees, underdogs, mothers or just ordinary women out there.

"Burnt Toast" is a metaphor used by Hatcher to describe how she used to be, and it is the central theme of the book. She used to eat the burnt toast - just swallow whatever is thrust into her throat without complaints, rather than finding out and pursuing her own real needs and desires. Now she will just throw any burnt toast away.

The book is very well written. I am not entirely sure whether the book was actually written by Hatcher, but I will take her word for that. And I think she really wrote it, and her editor touched it up. Hatcher's voice is so candid and sincere that the lines read as if Hatcher is chatting with you. It's really enjoyable and you will definitely gain something out of it.

There are numerous quotable quotes in the book and I particularly like these two:

"Oh my God, I can define myself, by my own standards."

"I wanted her to learn that if you can pause and reflect on a situation before reacting, a world of options spreads before you."

This is by far the worst novel of Ian McEwan that I have ever read. Released in 1978, it was one of his early works. It has obviously taken some time for him to hone his skills which crafted great works like "Amsterdam" and "Atonement" 20 years after this novel. "The Cement Garden" is really bad.

I think McEwan started to delve into psychological thriller in this earlier period of his career. The story was told from the perspective of the 15-year old Jack, one of the four siblings who were left to their own devices in their house after the death of their parents. On the one hand, they had to deal with a corpse, the threat of the family being broken up by adoption and orphanage, the problems at school etc. On the other hand, they enjoyed this new-found freedom and unruliness in the safe haven of their big house until the intrusion of Derek, the boyfriend of Julie the big sister, into the family.

The lives of the siblings in the big house depicted in the story are reminiscent of William Golding's classic "Lord of the Flies". But the evil and vile underlying "The Cement Garden" are even more horrendous. There is a recurring theme in many of McEwan's earlier works with which he is very obsessed - you will know what I am referring to when you reach the end of the novel. It is the sickest act that one can commit and I don't know why McEwan likes to explore it so much. He wrote the bulk of the novel just to set the scene for the shocking denouement that is entirely incomprehensible to me.

He has made his point, but the whole story is senseless. The book is a waste of time for everyone. I hate it.

What a great read! Sarah Waters' previous Booker Prize-shortlisted fiction is full of so many twists and turns that it kept me gasp for breath as I read along.

Set in the 19th-century England, Fingersmith is about the lives of two seemingly unrelated teen-aged girls whose lives were brought together by fate. Susan was raised by a bunch of thieves in London, while Maud lived with her uncle in a gloomy big mansion in the countryside. Susan took part in a scam and served as a maid to Maud. Readers are then taken through a roller-coaster ride through the shocking events, surprises and climaxes as the story unfolds.

Sarah Waters has not only conceived a marvellous plot, but also created a number of memorable characters, most of whom however had a troubled, tormented or twisted mind. The malevolence, vileness and ill-will of the villains in the story are really an eye-opener for me. The fact that people could be so malicious and inflict so much harm and pain on others is beyond my imagination.

A crime fiction cum psychological thriller, Fingersmith will keep you awake all night.

"Tomorrow" is a narrative by Paula Campbell Hook on the eve of one Saturday in 1995, the day that would change the life of her family forever. On that Saturday morning, her husband of 25 years, Mike, would reveal a secret to their 16-year old twins, Nick and Kate. Paula couldn't sleep that night and reminisced about their life together.

The storyline is truly original and the writing is poetic. Although the secret was only revealed halfway through the book, readers may be able to guess it at the beginning. I did and when my guess was confirmed correct, I lost interest in reading on (but still plodded along). I guess it's because what Paula and Mike did does not move me. I was not touched and in fact, one thing done by Paula was rather repulsive and destroyed the foundation on which her family was built: love. I don't understand why she did it and even she could not explain it. (We sometimes make irrational decisions, don't we?)

The redemption of the book, however, is Graham Swift's originality, not only in the plot , but also in his superb insight into the troubled mind of a middle-aged woman. The narrative is very feminine and impassioned. Women talk like this, but for a male author to disguise as a woman convincingly, it's a daunting task.

I think I would not have picked up this book if it had not been an illustrated version of the original leadership fable.

The story is about how a newly recruited CEO of a floundering San Francisco IT company turned it around to pave its way for an IPO by revamping its dysfunctional management team through a change programme.

Much of the story took place at the away-days that the CEO organised for her team. These gave the author a perfect setting to lecture on the five dysfunctions of a team: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results.

These are standard OB (organisational behaviour) stuff that have become cliches nowadays. Every change programme in a corporation is a high-sounding strategy and organisational realignment. There can be dozens of change agents in an organisation and the re-engineering (another cliche) may still not work.

Whether a change programme succeeds all depends on implementation, and implementation is about details of procedures, operations and people who do the actual work (as opposed to managing the work). The book never deals with these issues.

Another disappointment. This should be the last management book that I will ever read.

Stephen Clarke, author of bestsellers "A Year in the Merde", "Merde Actually" etc, offered ten commandments for understanding the French in this hilarious work of non-fiction.

Clarke, a British journalist who has been living in France for 12 years, obviously has had enough with the French. He dished out his advices to people who plan to travel to, live in or do business with France as a pretext for French-bashing. The first commandment, "Thou shalt be wrong (if you're not French)", sums up his views on the French: that every Frenchman thinks he is right and all the others, be they fellow Frenchmen or their most hated Anglo-Saxons, are wrong. That's why one seldom gets any service in restaurants, shops or post offices in France, French people work short hours and take long holidays, and one must speak French: because the French regard themselves as "Monsieur Right". What they do is always right.

Other commandments like "Thou shalt work", "Thou shalt eat", "Thou shalt not be served", "Thou shalt not love thy neighbour" etc are equally funny and insightful. The book also contains a number of French phrases (with English translation and pronunciation) and advices to help readers survive in France and get what they want, e.g. get the attention of a waiter in a restaurant.

Don't know how the book is received in France. But then, they won't read anything in English anyway ... ils ne comprennent pas Anglais.

This is a thriller about a couple on holiday in an Italian city. It started off quite well and I was hooked to the book. It's a short, fast-paced page-turner. The exotic setting and the dream-like experience of two strangers in a foreign place are quite fascinating.

However, when I finished the book, I was not satisfied. It's because I can't make sense of why things turned out that way. Simply put, I don't get it.

You will understand what I mean after you have read it.

I still have a few of Ian McEwan's books unread (I intend to read all his works) and I hope his other books will not leave me in a stage of loss and frustration again.

I was first attracted to this book by the title "I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere" which succinctly captures the yearnings of many lonely hearts in this town. I had been looking for this book by French writer, Anna Gavalda, for a long time but it is not sold in Hong Kong. I first read her latest novel, "Hunting and Gathering", an European bestseller which had been made into a movie "Ensemble, c'est tout", and hated it.

I finally found this collection of short stories in New York, read it and love it. Gavalda writes much better short stories than long novels.

Each of the 12 stories is a jewel. They are all very succinct accounts of the daily lives of ordinary people in France, but are charged with passion and emotions, dealing with big morality and humanity issues, e.g. still-born child, rape, involuntary manslaughter, a dying loved one etc. The author has a knack for looking deep into the hearts of people and revealing their true feelings in the face of trials and tribulations. "I wish someone were waiting for me somewhere .... Is that so much to ask?" is a line spoken by the protagonist in the story "Leave", which is about a soldier on leave who returned home and said so to himself when he got off the train.

Read this gem of a book. The stories "Lead Story", "Catgut" and "For Years" will surely blow you away.

One of the six shortlisted novels of the 2007 Man Booker Prize, "Animal's People" is by far my favourite book of 2008.

Animal was a 20-year old vagrant who roamed the streets of Khaufpur, India, on his hands and legs ever since his back was chronically croaked during "the night" 18 years ago. "The night" referred to the fatal incident where there was a poisonous leakage of chemicals from an American factory, killing many and wounding others. Many of those who survived suffered from permanent damages, like the four-legged Animal. The citizens continued for years to bring the culprits (i.e. the management of the American chemical company) to court and seek justice, but to no avail. Things started to change when an American doctor, Elli Barber, came to town to set up a free clinic and gave hope to Animal that he might one day walk on two legs again.

Through the narrative of Animal, the author Indra Sinha has created one of the most memorable characters in English contemporary literature. Describing the events that transpired in a year in a candid and forceful voice, Animal brought to readers the vivid images of a poor and hopeless city ravaged by western capitalism. Though vulgar, lecherous and sometimes obnoxious, Animal was in fact a kind, compassionate and witty person with a heart of gold. Using foul language with a mix of Hindu, English and French (the nun who adopted him was French), Animal gave his take on civilisation, cultural clash, economic development, environmental protection and other big issues in an objective and insightful manner that surpassed many gurus.

I doubt there will be any reader who is not satisfied after finishing the book. A tour de force.

This is a very interesting project initiated by Zadie Smith, the editor of this collection of short stories and herself a writer renowned for her novel "White Teeth".

All 23 contributors to the book wrote stories about fictional individuals respectively and they wrote for free. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to a charity training children aged 6-18 to become writers.

Some of the writers are literary heavyweights while others are newcomers. Their writing styles and ideas vary, and the book presents a diversified and eclectic collection of themes and plots.

The title of each story is the name of the protagonist of the tale, and the stories are arranged in alphabetical order of the names. Judith Castle by David Mitchell, my favourite writer, is the first story, and that one is a really good read. Other stories that I like include:
Frank by A. L. Kennedy
Gideon by ZZ Packer
Lele by Edwidge Danticat
The Liar by Aleksandar Hemon
Nigora by Adam Thirlwell
Puppy by George Saunders
Soleil by Vendela Vida
Roy Spivey by Miranda July
Cindy Stubenstock by A. M. Homes
Theo by Dave Eggers
Perkus Tooth by Jonathan Lethem
Donal Webster by Colm Toibin

This collection is an eye-opener as I have never known there are so many obscure but talented writers out there.

I knew about the plot of the novel from a friend to whom I gave the book as a birthday gift. But I still decided to buy and read it because the premise on which John Grisham built his story is too real, shocking and nothing short of possible.

I have always wondered how judges who are officers of the court can be elected and the judiciary is not corrupted and keeps its impartiality. For a judicial system which entitles all people to fair and reasonable trials to work, the judges cannot be affected or swayed in any way by public opinions, let alone have the personal baggages of returning verdicts that are desired by those who elected them.

This is exactly what happened in the Mississippi Supreme Court in 'The Appeal'. John Grisham has made it clear in the author's note that this is fiction, but the judicial process and the election mechanism and dynamics depicted in the book are all true. Election is all about money and justice can be bought.

This is not the end of the story. The most scary thing I read from the book is how the supreme court judges were so predisposed by their election platforms that they ruled a case not on the merits of the case, but on their political beliefs.

Not only is justice not done, but it is not seen to be done if the system is allowed to work that way. It's horrendous, rotten and unconscionable.

You've got to read the book.

This is a surprisingly good book with all the award-winning elements.

The story was set in the early 1990s when the people of Bougainville fought for independence from Papua New Guinea. Mister Pip was a character in Charles Dickens' 'The Great Expectations', a book used by Mr. Watts, the only white man on the island, to teach his students after the island was blockaded.

The thing I like about the book is its originality. Told in a calm voice by Matilda, a 14-year old girl on the island, the book gave an exotic and idyllic feel at the beginning. I was thus not prepared for all the shocking events, twists and turns as the story unfolded. It's not like anything I have read before. And this makes it such a good read.

After finishing the book, I have been searching for information and reading articles about Bougainville, trying to make sense of this war. I have not been successful, probably because wars defy all sensible reasons.

I think this is a good book, although not as good as 'The Kite Runner', the debut novel that propelled Khaled Hosseini to fame.

'A Thousand Splendid Suns' does not deal with human dilemma or morality issues as complicated and difficult as its 'The Kite Runner'. Nevertheless, Hosseini has spun a good yarn and the friendship of a lifetime between Mariam and Laila will surely bring readers to their tears. I don't know how true the book depicted the events in the war-torn Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion to the fall of the Taliban in the past 30 years. But they were really horrifying and one just wonders how any human being could survive there. I can't believe such blatant infringement of human rights and atrocities were inflicted on a person simply because that person was a woman, and the rest of the world could just sit back and do nothing. The fact that a religion which not only condones but advocates such a crime against humanity can draw a large following is beyond me.

Hosseini is a great story teller. It's a very sad story, but you will be hooked.

Holly's Inbox is a "chick lit" in a form of emails. The book tells the story of Holly Denham, a receptionist in a UK investment bank, through her email inbox. It is easy to read and it caters for our desire to pry into other people's business. Nothing is more enjoyable than reading office gossips, scandals and others' private correspondences.

A similar but better book, "Who Moved My Blackberry?", came out a few years ago. It was better because it was written from the perspective of a manager of a UK company and looked at how the management dealt with thorny issues in the corporate world.

Holly Inbox is pure gossips, but it is a perfect read for leisure.

I read Stephen Clarke's "A Year In The Merde" a few years ago. It was quite funny, but didn't think it would warrant my time to read its sequel. But now that I am learning French, "Merde Actually" is actually quite a light read for refreshing my French.

The story unfolded from where it ended in "A Year In The Merde": Paul West, an Englishman in Paris, prepared for the opening of his tearoom, after he was fired from his job. Written from the perspective of the British, "Merde Actually" is a satire of the French. Like its prequel, it describes a lot of idiosyncrasies of the French and if you know about the French, you would find a number of scenes very hilarious. The dialogues are also peppered with French words and phrases (without English translation) and you would like it if you love the language.

The novel gave the author ample opportunities to express his sexual-conquest fantasies. Female readers may find it gratuitous and incredible though.

Don't know why the judges voted this as the winner of the Man Booker Prize for 2007.

The Gathering was narrated by Veronica Hegarty, one of the 12 siblings of an Irish family who gathered at their mother's home in Dublin for the funeral of one of them, Liam.

Veronica's memoir went back and forth in different times of the history of this Irish family, dating back to 1925 when their grandmother met her husband. As you read on, you will find clues leading to Liam's death.

The problem however is the convoluted account of the events by Veronica (or the author Anne Enright herself), who tried desperately to tie bits and pieces of her memory together. Some of the events depicted were not true and were only a figment of her imagination or a dream, and readers can't tell what is factual and what is not. It's like reading the diary of a mad man.

Maybe Veronica was insane. She seemed to be hating everyone in the world for no reason. She is one of the most ungrateful characters in a novel that I have ever read.

Not enjoyable at all.