Reading Material

One of the things that I have always wanted to do is to be able to buy a brand new book for myself every month (No.23 on my wish list :P). Now that I have started working, it's actually possible, Yeah! :) After browsing through the selections available at the local Popular Branch today, I decided on...Tash Aw's "The Harmony Silk Factory". Chose the book for several reasons:

• The writer's a Malaysian and the book is set in 30s-40s Malaya.
• The book has had rave reviews, awards heaped on it and it's a bestseller.
• Just felt like it :P.

Actually "The Harmony Silk Factory" is not the first book to "launch" my "1-book-a-month" campaign:P In January I got myself not one, but two books:P, one being "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" which totally blew me away, the other being "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup.

The latter is a really good read. It's a fictional story of this uneducated, penniless waiter in Mumbai who was arrested for winning 1 Billion Rupees in an Indian Game show similar to "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". He was arrested on charges of cheating on the show as, supposedly, it is impossible for someone with no education be able to answer all the questions in the show. Each chapter of the book then highlights an event in his life (mostly tragic) that gave him all the answers he needed for the event that will change his whole life. The story goes back and forth in his life as a street kid in India, and it's really....rich in detail, and yet so sad at the same time:(. I can hardly fend for myself at this age and yet he has had to do that ever since he was as young as 11 or 12 years old....It's the kind of book that makes you think a bit after finishing it, and in my case, it's made me hope to go see India someday :P.

Here's hoping today's purchase will be another great read!:)