Book worm – ulat buku

I hit my target of reading more books this year. I wanted to read more than eight. Much of it is bought from Google Playbooks and of course Shopee. Indonesia apparently has several toko buku that sells reprinted books at a lower price. I’d usually go to them for titles that are difficult to find at a proper bookstore unless I go to Kinokuniya or something. Indonesia is like Litte China. Semuanya ada if you look hard enough. Some of the books I read this year and have completed are;

  • Atomic Habits – it is very clear why it is a best seller. You find it and buy it.
  • Why we eat (too much) – it makes you understand why you get fat and remain fat and why it is so hard to slim down. But having read this, it empowers you to manipulate your body’s metabolism with the knowledge of it
  • Almond by Won Pyun Sohn – this is translated from the Korean language. A book recommended by Kim Namjoon.
  • HOw the paper fish learned to swim – tak payah baca. bosan. pelik.
  • Unfollow the flow by Aiman Azlan
  • Penat by Dr Alizi Alias

Books I am currently reading

  • Range – I initially bought an audio version because I thought I might listen to it during my work commute. But the voice is so boring. I might as well read it out loud and hear my own voice. So I restarted my read and is halfway through
  • The cat who saved books – started this on a bus, ongoing read
  • Perempuan perempuan berbudi dalam Al-Quran – let’s see if this is as what I expect the book will be
  • Creativity.Inc – cause it’s got to do with Pixar
  • Elon Musk – trying to understand how he can become a man s0 powerful yet socially awkward

Books I plan to read

  • Liar yang murung – birsilah bakar
  • Ma OOn – Hasrizal abdul jamil
  • How I learned to understand the world – Hans Rosling
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Review : Bukan Sekadar Homeschooling by Khadijah Gani

There are certain books that I need to read in Bahasa Melayu so that meaning dia sampai. First is the Quran Tafsir cause I’m not that urban like that. Second being the Hadith related books and the rest such as Parenting Books especially the ones which are written pertaining to the local climate. Rasa macam tak dan je baca parenting books omputih but you find it hard to relate to the Malaysian setting.

Hence chancing upon this book was a rare find. Especially when I’m not looking for it.

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It was one of those days when I decided to have a look at our local bookstore which is not as popular as MPH or POPULAR or BORDERS. Kedai jual alat tulis biasa je.. when I came across this book on the shelves. The title enticed me to explore the book because it has ‘homeschooling’ on it.

I was expecting a book that outlines syllabus of homeschoolers and what not. Instead it offered more than just that – to me, it was a book about Parenting along the lines of Islamic teaching. And of course I had to find out who Khadijah Gani is. And what a lovely person she turned out to be. And she has other books too – which is WOw. I will look for it later.

It was a great read with a motherly tone. It was not condescending. Meaning as a young parent yg tgh belajar kita tak rasa bangang bila baca buku tuh. Ha ha ha.  It was a very humbling piece. It felt like Khadijah Gani was there with me  – teaching me dengan lemah lembut from her personal experience of raising 4 children of her own. I read it religiously. I have been tagging tips, special doas and public figures to follow up on in the book. It’s not that neat but now that I’ve learnt how to tag books more efficiently and kemas from Ayesha, I believe the outcome would be neater once I re-tag it all again.

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I liked how Khadijah Gani was able to connect Science with Islam. It was very enlightening. Sometimes people need to hear about healthcare advice from another mother, not a doctor to justify –  why a child needs to wean, why vaccines are a safe bet and why as mothers we need to take care of ourselves (mental  health). Because if as health practitioners we try to impart some knowledge, sometimes, within an Islamic community we are labelled as pro-Zionist and other hurtful names. Whereas if it comes from a mother from a similar religious background – perhaps members of the community can take a moment to reflect on the matter and make an informed decision on what is best for their health and their children.

I would recommend this parenting book to anybody who is willing to learn the Islamic perspective in raising a child. It has duas, recommendations on what further reading we parents can pursue. It touches on sometimes the most simplest things in life that we encounter as parents when we deal with children. I bought it for RM 29 which is a bargain especially when you gain so much from the things you can learn from the book. InsyaAllah.

#sayasuka

Big Bad Wolf 2018 : Melaka Edition

Big Bad Wolf (BBW) is back in town.

Poster

BBW is a festival that sells books at a fraction of its original prize. It’s a good time to buy children books especially those with pop-ups and pictures inside. I tend to go there to get books of different genre. Business books mostly. Despite not having my own business. And self-help books. I just find that I could relate some of these ideas in my everyday service as a medical doctor – leadership, team work, how to say NO stuff.

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I love to bring my son Ee there too even though all the books that he buys are comics. Well, at least at his age he loves books and reading. Later and slowly I will introduce him to books with better vocabulary and material.

Takdelah asyik menonong gi Mood Republik je kan.. which happened to be next door.

My best catch for this trip to BBW was a box set by Paulo Coelho. 10 books for RM100. That is CHEAP!!! And his books are good. The other box sets available there (that I noticed) are The Maze Runner series and The Wimpy Kid series.

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Then my next catch was this.

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This is like one of the very few history books that I have. I’d probably make another trip there again and browse through every single title at the Mystery and Thriller aisle.

 

Picking up a hobby

We pick up hobbies to fill a void. I am not an Art -streamed student to start with. I can’t even tell my left from my right in a split second. Often I make my referrals sound silly on paper as I could not properly describe the patient’s fracture is on his left or right.

Although I have the inability to draw a proper cat – I still find that I love collecting things for my so called scrapbooking and journalling. We will be celebrating 2016 in less than 8 weeks and I am psyched. Despite not using the more contemporary options of planners from Erin Condren or Filofax – I still adore them all the same. I am perhaps more keen in transforming the boring, less classy, bulky KKM journal into an eye candy. Gotta love makeovers.

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Now that Mr Husband is occupied with his studies – I am free to sepah2 kan the living room with my craft stuff, print miscellaneous items, laminate nonsense quotes and so on.

Recently I bought some stickers online and macam biasalah.. it gets cheaper if you buy it in bulk. Gosh I wish in Malacca they have a pretty stationary store with a cafe in it. Like.. heaven! Or let’s just open one? Investors? ha ha.. something along the lines of Stickerrific? Then we can be planner buddies… ngeeee..

I used to read as hobby – fiction stuff like magic, thrillers and occasionally chick-lit stories. Perhaps I shall reinforce on that especially as of yesterday I have just stumbled upon the FUNKO POP figurines. It would look good on my bookshelf you know. Whylah USD still mahal.. I have to now wait till it gets relatively cheaper to get one online. The exchange rate of RM to USD is simply horrendous right now.

Many years ago I was into Postcrossing – where you send postcards to random people around the world. That hobby did not last long as I was too lazy to walk to the post office and mail it. But I did manage to send and receive 4 postcards from Evora, Groningen, Friesland & Berlin respectively. I just had them laminated. :p

Anyway, my sister and I have found a common interest to pursue next month. Let’s hope the preparation is going well so I could spill the beans soon.

Mini Project : Buku2 Malaysia

It is time to get acquainted with our talented writers in the local scene. Hence, I couldn’t thank enough lejenpress for restoring my faith in reading Malay genre books after Kapal Angkasa Yang Terhempas Di Subang Jaya .

But lets not be greedy. Let’s take it one step at a time and make some ground rules regarding what kind of books I’d like on my shelf. Ones that I wouldn’t feel embarrassed to share with other people or show around when visitors come over to the house. We do want to appear well read, huh? HIhihihi..

buku2 msia

Avoid picisan.

Avoid poor language. Slanga driven books. Im reading a book. Not a diary.

Avoid books that start with Tales of malaysian bla bla bla.. . In a way, avoid anecdote-like books. Or compilation of short stories.

Oh well. Talking about avoiding. I did start off the year with a book that himpunkan kisah2 pendek. It was by a blog writer. I was swooned by the title : Desaturasi Merah Jambu. It felt poetic and indie. I used to read Perempuan JOmblo’s blog religiously some time ago when I was a medical student but then I got absorbed into my daily routine as the nonappreciated, burnt out, love-less house officer working in a busy hospital. Thus, have missed out quite a lot over the years.

Now that I’m more stable *ahem* , I am able to indulge in my favourite pastime of scrap-booking, blog writing plus hopping and book reading. So it was nice to reconnect with her stories and boy.. a lot has happened it seems.

Anyway, this year will be an ode to our local writers. I welcome suggestions of books to read. Nothing too extreme I hope. Something different and mind-opening I plead. It doesn’t have to be written in Bahasa Melayu. In fact, some of our local writers write excellent English books. Here’s to a year of Buku2 Malaysia.