I need to start reading again

 Yes

I most

certainly must

I have not been reading

 regularly as I did in years before

For this, today is my confession to you

For the past few months, I have been seduced by k-drama

Yes, I am now very much a certified k-drama fan for almost a year

Ask me about Crash Landing, Goblin, Flower of Evil, Hotel Del Luna

And we can have long conversations on the plot, actors, actresses, and even IU's dresses in HDL.

Ask me simple Korean like anyeong haseayo, sarang heo, bangasupninda and I can answer you

But if you ask me about what I have read recently, I would have no answer for you

Such is the dilemma I face now as I really want to pick up reading again

But the look from Hyun Bin, Lee Joong Gi, Kim Soo Hyun is *sigh*

Dont forget reality show like 2D1N, Salty Tour, Master in in House

I love them too...Lee Seung Gi, Kim Jun Ho, Kim Jong Min

They made me laugh and brought me to places in Korea

That I would not have a chance to go (especially now)

So how do I say good by to k-drama and 

K-reality show to pick up me read?

It's difficult but I must try

Otherwise I would

not have much

to blog 

on

.

The Fireman by Joe Hill

 Synopsis :

The fireman is coming. Stay cool.

No one knows exactly when it began or where it originated. A terrifying new plague is spreading like wildfire across the country, striking cities one by one: Boston, Detroit, Seattle. The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. To everyone else it’s Dragonscale, a highly contagious, deadly spore that marks its hosts with beautiful black and gold marks across their bodies—before causing them to burst into flames. Millions are infected; blazes erupt everywhere. There is no antidote. No one is safe.

Harper Grayson, a compassionate, dedicated nurse as pragmatic as Mary Poppins, treated hundreds of infected patients before her hospital burned to the ground. Now she’s discovered the telltale gold-flecked marks on her skin. When the outbreak first began, she and her husband, Jakob, had made a pact: they would take matters into their own hands if they became infected. To Jakob’s dismay, Harper wants to live—at least until the fetus she is carrying comes to term. At the hospital, she witnessed infected mothers give birth to healthy babies and believes hers will be fine too. . . if she can live long enough to deliver the child.

Convinced that his do-gooding wife has made him sick, Jakob becomes unhinged, and eventually abandons her as their placid New England community collapses in terror. The chaos gives rise to ruthless Cremation Squads—armed, self-appointed posses roaming the streets and woods to exterminate those who they believe carry the spore. But Harper isn’t as alone as she fears: a mysterious and compelling stranger she briefly met at the hospital, a man in a dirty yellow fire fighter’s jacket, carrying a hooked iron bar, straddles the abyss between insanity and death. Known as The Fireman, he strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who has learned to control the fire within himself, using it as a shield to protect the hunted . . . and as a weapon to avenge the wronged.

In the desperate season to come, as the world burns out of control, Harper must learn the Fireman’s secrets before her life—and that of her unborn child—goes up in smoke.

This is what I say :

This is the second title written by Joe Hill that I read.  The first was The Heart Shape Box which I didn't like. 

Having said that, I didn't quite like this title either but I certainly like it better than The Heart Shape Box. In fact, this title actually reminded me of Carrie by Stephen King and I think I like it because of that too.

I think if made into a movie, it would be quite terrifying and gruesome with the fire and everything.  Very much having apocalypse as the theme, it seems that the spores (or virus) caused one to ignite up when feeling agitated and will end up burning oneself and all those close by.

The ending....I didn't quite like the ending, I kinda see it coming. Everything seems to point towards a happily ever after ending but it's too good to be true so just a few pages in before the end of the story, things took a turn for the worse (which I was expecting, in a way) so I didn't really like that.

There's a few scene that visually would be extremely difficult to stomach but reading it is still quite acceptable.  I think if they made this into a movie, I will certainly give it a missed because I would find it rather horrifying. 

Book Purchase #4 for 2020

Hello again.

I seems to be doing quite a fair bit of purchase of books recently.  These were bought towards end of September 2020.

I was a a charity shop in town to drop off some clothes (as in donated the clothes to the charity shop) and when I was there, I just want to browse around a bit.  I was surprised to see a rather good collection of donated books with titles that I would like.

I kinda zero in on Cecelia Ahern for no other reason than I have not read these two and I won't mind supporting the charity shop by making a purchase (konon-nya...if you understand what I mean! haha).

Anyway, long story short, purchase number four was for 2 copies of Cecellia Ahern titles are Thank you for the Memories and The Year I met You.

This would make my purchase for the year to be 8 books in total...so far....I hope that's all for the year!

  

Book Purchase #3 for 2020

 

Book purchase number three are actually the four copies of Harry Porter titles in order for me to complete the series under my collection.

I have been wanting to collect the whole series for quite a while...and the reason it's been taking me quite a while is because I have certain conditions :

    1. The books must be under bloomsbury publication with the classic cover

    2. They must be pre-loved copies

    3. They must be reasonable priced.

The story of my collection goes like this :

I started with one copy in my collection. Harry Porter and Order of the Pheonix.  I can't remember where I bought it.  It was quite a few years ago.

Subsequently I managed to get hold of Prisoner of Akzeban and the Deathly Hallow and since then, my purchases has been stagnant for a couple of years.

Recently someone from my church wanted to sell her entire collection.  With the exception of one title, the rest are what I have been looking for but that would also means I would have duplication copies in my collection.

No problem! Just purchase first and purchased them I did. I dont want to dwell much on the purchase as it wasn't very pleasant and I didn't realised that the seller (someone I know) would be so unpleasant and I just want to totally forget the horrifying experience.  I was slightly regretful of making the purchase but all's done so let's move on.

I have also managed to sell of the duplicate copies and I have now the complete set of the Harry Porter series with me.  

One of the title is still not the edition I am looking for but I will keep my eye open to see if I can get hold of that particular title and sell of the current copy.

Thus, I will consider just four books purchased as I managed to sell of the extra ones (3 copies) and thus there's four new books added to my collection and thus the number of books purchased for the year is at 6 books.

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

 

Synopsis :

Celebrate Christmas with the ultimate Shopaholic!

The brilliant laugh-out-loud festive novel from the Number One bestselling author.

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It's always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.

And now it's even easier with online bargain-shopping sites – if you spend enough you even get free delivery. Sorted!

But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky's parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she'll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong?

With sister Jess demanding a vegan turkey, husband Luke determined that he just wants aftershave again, and little Minnie insisting on a very specific picnic hamper – surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear . . .

Will chaos ensue, or will Becky manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas? 

This is what I say :

I haven't read a Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood title in quite a long time.  I honestly can't remember when was the last time and which was the last book that I read.  I think it was Mini Shopaholic and I actually missed out two of her books which is Shopaholic to the Stars (I have the book somewhere in my shelf) and Shopaholic to the Rescue which I must try to get hold of a copy.

Anyway, it's nice to see that Becky is doing well and that she's still the same old Becky Bloomwood that I remember her to be.  It's been 10 years since her first book Confession of a Shopaholic.

She's been tasked to organise and host Christmas and between going over the top to get the best presents for Luke (involves joining a club she has no interest in, change the club's rule in order to participate in a raffles draw just to win the prize).  And does Minnie really want a specific picnic hamper?  Think of another word that rhymes with hamper and you will get what Minnie really wants! 

But I think the best present is that last word she told her husband during Christmas.  That should be the best Christmat present for Luke and for readers as it certainly was unexpected.  With that word, you can be assured that Becky and family and friends will be back.

Reading about Becky and her family and friends celebrating Christmas certainly reminds me that Christmas is just two plus months away.  This year will be a social distancing Christmas celebration.

 

Top Secret Twenty One (Stephanie Plum #21) by Janet Evanovich

 

Synopsis :

Catch a professional assassin: top priority. Find a failure-to-appear and collect big bucks: top score. How she’ll pull it all off: top secret.

Trenton, New Jersey’s favorite used-car dealer, Jimmy Poletti, was caught selling a lot more than used cars out of his dealerships. Now he’s out on bail and has missed his date in court, and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is looking to bring him in. Leads are quickly turning into dead ends, and all too frequently into dead bodies. Even Joe Morelli, the city’s hottest cop, is struggling to find a clue to the suspected killer’s whereabouts. These are desperate times, and they call for desperate measures. So Stephanie is going to have to do something she really doesn’t want to do: protect former hospital security guard and general pain in her behind Randy Briggs. Briggs was picking up quick cash as Poletti’s bookkeeper and knows all his boss’s dirty secrets. Now Briggs is next on Poletti’s list of people to put six feet under.

To top things off, Ranger—resident security expert and Stephanie’s greatest temptation—has been the target of an assassination plot. He’s dodged the bullet this time, but if Ranger wants to survive the next attempt on his life, he’ll have to enlist Stephanie’s help and reveal a bit more of his mysterious past.

Death threats, highly trained assassins, highly untrained assassins, and Stark Street being overrun by a pack of feral Chihuahuas are all in a day’s work for Stephanie Plum. The real challenge is dealing with her Grandma Mazur’s wild bucket list. A boob job and getting revenge on Joe Morelli’s Grandma Bella can barely hold a candle to what’s number one on the list—but that’s top secret. 

This is what I say :

I found another of Stephenie's adventure online.  Entitlted Top Secret Twenty One, it's the 21st book in the series.  The last book I read which was in April this year was entitled Hardcore Twenty Four which I wrote about here.

Does it matter that I read book number twenty four before reading book number twenty one? Certainly does not matter at all.

Does it matter that if you are to read Top Secret Twenty One without reading the other books in the series. Also certainly does not matter at all

Nothing much to say about this book. The synopsis says it all.

Book Purchase #2 for 2020

 

Hello....

I bought a book recently.  Actually, I bought more than a book but I shall just be sharing one of my purchases here.

Be Careful What You Wish For is part of a series of novels that I am curating.

If you refer to my post from Feb 2019, I posted about this series and how I am two books short to have a complete set.

With the purchase of Be Careful What You Wish For, I am just missing the last book This Was the Man. I hope I am able to get hold of this title soon.

For record purposes, I shall consider this my second purchase for the year with this being the first.

I will share about my other purchases another time.