My visit to The Junk Bookstore

Photo taken from  Tripadvisor. Credit to the photographer (Manon M)

Actually, I went to The Junk Bookstore many years ago and this post has been on draft for many years.  I thought it's about time I just get it posted and out of the way.

Many years ago, while on a trip to the capital city, I was super excited to come across a bookstore that sells secondhand books.  They claimed in their FB that they are the biggest secondhand book store but never specify how they are the biggest.  In my opinion, they should claim to be the most expensive bookstore too!

Situated in Jalan Tun H.S Lee and within walking distance from Masjid Jamek LRT Station, The Junk Bookstore is not difficult to locate and if you love books, you can't help but to feel excited to enter this treasure trove.

Indeed they have a large collection of novels, magazines and other printed materials.  However, the place felt very clustered and books were not shelved but placed in piles throughout the shop with just a small walkway.

The though of sorting through these piles are both exciting and terrifying at the same time

The shop occupies two floors or was it three? and there are just books and books all over the place.  I guess if you have sensitive to dust like me, you might need to come prepared although it wasn't very dusty.  Credit has to be given to the staff for keeping the place relatively clean and the books in generally acceptable condition.  Most of the books are also wrapped in clear plastic.

If the price have been reasonable, I would end up buying more titles

The following would be the reason why I would never visit The Junk again..

The books are expensive! Some are even more expensive than new books that you can purchase from the mainstream bookstore.  For example, there's a title by Dorothy Koomson that I like but The Junk was selling their second hand copy for RM25 whereas I saw the same title (new copy) from another bookstore for only RM17

Perhaps it's rental and other cost?  I don't know but they should be more market sensitive in their pricing.  The same copy might be sold by another second handbook seller that does second hand book fairs once a year in my city for only RM10 which is more realistic.

On a final note, I went there specifically to look for Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruis Zafron. They didn't stock this title. Ah, well!

P.s. Until today I have not found my Prisoner of Heaven. It is indeed an elusive title.

Simple Genius by David Baldacci

Synopsis :

 A three-hour drive from Washington, D.C., two clandestine institutions face each other across a heavily guarded river. One is the world's most unusual laboratory, whose goals and funding are a mystery. The other is an elite CIA training camp shrouded in secrecy. Now a man and a woman are about to run a gauntlet between these two puzzle factories, straight into a furious struggle to exploit a potentially world-shattering discovery--and keep some other secrets underwraps forever... 

Former secret service agents turned private investigators Sean King and Michelle Maxwell have seen their lives splinter around them. Michelle lies unconscious ina hospital bed after a night of suicidal violence. And Sean is forced to take on a thankless investigation into the mutder of a scientist just inside the CIA's razor-wire fence near Williamsburg, Virginia. 

Soon he is uncovering layer after layer of disinformation that shields a stunning world filled with elite mathematics, physicists, war heroes, spies, and deadly field agents. Amid more murder, a seemingly autistic girl's extraordinary genius, and a powerful breakthrough in the realm of classified codes, Sean soon learns enough to put his life at risk. Now more than ever, he needs Michelle--at her best--to help stop a conspiracy of traitors operating in the shadow of the White House itself. 

From Michelle's courageous struggle to defeat her long-buried personal demons to a centuries-old secret that surfaces in the heat of action, SIMPLE GENIUS pulses with stunning, high-intensity suspense. 

This is what I say : 

From what I read from the online review, some readers love it, some don't.  As for me, I quite borderline liking it and not liking it.  

It actually took me a long time to read Simple Genius.  I read it at a time when there's much other distraction and attraction that's more exciting than this book.   Reading novels by David Baldacci has always been quite a tricky affair for me.  There are time when I love some of what he wrote but there are time when I just don't get it.

For Simple Genius, I simply don't quite get it.  It started of quite ok but for some reason, the thrill factor didn't last throughout the book and at the end, it was simply just a matter of completing it for completing sake.

I still have a couple of titles from this author in my shelf.  I will keep them for another day when this feeling of disappointment over this book has dissipated.

Take A Look At Me Now by Miranda Dickinson

Synopsis :

How far would you go to make a new start?

When Nell’s on-off boyfriend Aidan calls her into his office, losing her job is the last thing she expects.

Heartbroken and unemployed to boot, she makes a radical decision to blow her redundancy cheque and escape to the untested waters of San Francisco.

But is the glamour of the city too good to be true? And can Nell leave her past behind?

This is what I say :

If I remember correctly, I read Take a Look At Me Now end of last year during my reading marathon.  I can't quite remember :)

I also can't quite remember what I read! :) That's the consequences when I don't review the book immediately after reading.

So, what can I say about Take A Look at Me Now?  It's a chic lite...meant to be read and enjoyed and forgotten! No specific story line that's out of the world but the success of chic lite would be (in my opinion) in the way it's written and so far only a few managed to be exceptional.  Unfortunately, Miranda Dickinson is not one of such authors.  

Having say that, she's not all bad and while reading, the book is enjoyable...just not memorable.

And Then She Was Gone by Rosalind Noonan

Synopsis :

Eleven-year-old Lauren O'Neil vanished one sunny afternoon as she walked home from school. Six years later, her parents Rachel and Dan still tirelessly scour their Oregon hometown and beyond, always believing Lauren will be found. Then one day, the call comes.

Lauren has been rescued from a secluded farm mere miles away, and her abductor has confessed. Yet her return is nothing like Rachel imagined. Though the revelations about what Lauren endured are shocking, most heartbreaking of all is to see the bright-eyed, assertive daughter she knew transformed into a wary, polite stranger.

Lauren's first instinct is to flee. For years she's been told her parents forgot her; now she doubts the pieces of her life can ever fit together again. But Rachel refuses to lose her a second time. Little by little they must relearn what it means to be a family, trusting that their bond is strong enough to guide them back to each other.

Intensely moving and absorbing, this is an extraordinary story told with sensitivity and grace, and filled with the depth and breadth of a mother's love.


This is what I say : 

I thought this would be rather heart breaking and I was right, it was rather heart breaking but wasn't that much though.  In the hands of another author, perhaps it might be and in the hands of yet another author, it can also be a thriller...as such is the basis of  And Then Shew Was Gone which can be rather versatile to any of these genre.

I actually got bored halfway through before I motivate myself to complete it before I move on to other titles.  I didn't like Rachel, the mother and Lauren wasn't really that likable so it was a bit difficult to warm up to the family.  The story didn't really focus on Lauren as a hostage but more on how she cope with her family upon released from captivity.

There was a slight twist to the story line but I was kinda expecting it but it wasn't really that impactful as to bring a wow to the book.

I read this title as an e-book.   Reading will again have to take a back seat as yet again, I have assignments deadline to complete.

Purchase #1 - February 2019

I was just wondering when I would make my first book purchase for the year when I suddenly remember that I already did!

It was in early February or was it late January? that someone posted a few titles for sales in a FB page of which I am a member of and among the titles that she wanted to sell is this one - Mightier Than The Sword by Jeffery Archer.

This title is part of a series that I have been collecting, the last purchased for this series being in September last year where I managed to get hold of 3 titles from a charity sales.

I now have five titles under this series and am missing two more titles as at now.  

For my own record, the titles under this Clifton Chronicles Series are :

1. Only Time Will Tell
2. Sins of the Father
3. Best Kept Secrets
4. Be Careful What You Wish For (missing this)
5. Mightier Than The Sword
6. Cometh The Hour
7. This Was The Man (missing this)

I didn't realised that I was missing Be Careful What You Wish For.  I always thought I have this title.

I guess I will have to keep a watch out for the two titles that I don't have in order to complete the series.

Wish Me Luck.

ps. this would be my first purchase for 2019.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Synopsis :

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. 

Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. 

Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

This is what I say :

Gone Girl is an insanely psychotic thriller that delivers from all front.  Having read Dark Places end of last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was very eager to get my hands on Gone Girl which is sitting on my shelf.

Gone Girl is better than Dark Places in my humble opinion.  The characters are more animated and surprising much darker and the persona of psychoticism is very much hidden.

Both Nick and Amy are pretty strong characters but I can't decide who is more psychotic.  I think they are both equally psychotic towards the end of the book.

The story line is rather unique and pretty mess up in a good way where thriller is concerned.  It is really a most interesting read and I was actually quite surprised that  the author has only three titles under her name.  So far, I have read two of it and watch the Netflix of the other.

Gone Girl has also been made into a movie which starts Ben Affleck as Nick.  I shall be checking it out soon.

Down The Darkest Road (Oak Knoll Series #3) by Tami Hoag

Synopsis :

California, 1990—Four years after Lauren Lawton's sixteen-year-old daughter disappeared, the world has given up the girl for dead. Lauren's husband took his own life. Her younger daughter is looking only for what's left of her childhood. But Lauren never surrendered. She knows who took her child, and there's not a shred of evidence against him. 

Looking for a fresh start, Lauren and her younger daughter Leah move to idyllic Oak Knoll. So has Lauren's suspect. And it feels that history is about to repeat itself.

Leah is turning sixteen, and Oak Knoll has a cunning predator on the hunt. But as sheriff's detective Tony Mendez and his team sift through the circumstances of an increasingly disturbing case, a stunning question changes everything they thought they knew...

This is what I say :

Down The Darkest Road is the third and last book in the Oak Knoll Series but with totally new characters and totally new storyline.  Characters like Vince, Tony and Anne made appearance but the main focus is on Lauren.

It is also the shortest book in the series with just over 60 chapters compared to about 90 chapters in the earlier two titles.  In fact, it don't have to feature the above characters and be a totally stand alone title altogether and it would have worked equally well for the readers.

It's an enjoyable thriller but it gives a different vibes than the first title Deeper Than The Dead  and the second title Secrets to the Grave. 

Anyway, I am glad to have read this series but equally glad to end it too.