This was a former student’s Facebook status when I browsed through my profile page tonight. She wrote: “Happiness in a Teacher: Students who constantly surprise you with their rich insights. An exchange of energies that leave both parties the richer. A broadening of views that creates new perspectives.” I clicked on the like button. It’s [...]
Greek gods and goddesses took a back seat to the wizards, sorcerers and witches for a while as Dumbledore lorded it over with his sense of justice, fair play and strong desire to thwart the evil plans of Voldemort. Harry Potter held every reader’s imagination until now. It’s not that JK Rowling’s piece de resistance [...]
The regard for vampire stories and films is not ending anytime soon. I just picked up the film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant a few weeks ago while perusing the DVD display at CyberPark Bekasi. The film is based on Darren Shan’s The Saga of Darren Shan series, which beats the Potter series by [...]
The last chick lit book I read was Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding and its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. I thought I was done with chick lit. I didn’t realize I picked up another one at Periplus Bookstore at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport last December en route to Singapore. The memoir [...]
Transmuting Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series into film is a tall order given the supernatural twists and turns in the story. The first film, Twilight, was a story on its own, developing sub plots that were nowhere in the book. The explanation for the differences – the book was too long to fit into the movie. [...]
P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast’s The House of Night series is topping the vampire book charts with its sixth book, Tempted, released in October 2009 while the world waits for the verdict on the fifth book of the Twilight saga to be overturned (the publisher put a hold order on its publication I understand). House [...]
There’s something about being trapped in the world of Neil Gaiman. It’s not like being ensnared in the world of cute talking and singing animals of Walt Disney that leaves you light and fluffy inside. Nor is like being caught up in the world of modern vampire lore writers Stephenie Meyer and ilk. No drop-dead [...]
I enjoy reading. It’s a family tradition. Shopping for us is buying books wherever we are. I love books and being surrounded by books so it’s no surprise that I like going to the library – Singapore libraries are fantastic – and Borders and Kinokuniya, the haven of bibliophiles. So when a friend suggested I [...]
Krishnamurti and his words of wisdom were what got me through my phases of dislocation and depression during my late 20s and early 30s. Hatha and Bikram yoga got me through the mid- and late 30s; Hatha yoga is keeping my frayed soul together these days. It kept me going after a personal loss, preventing [...]
JK Rowling’s successful Harry Potter series was my re-introduction into young adult fiction after leaving the world of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and ilk for mature reading materials some decades ago. Picking up the first book of the series was instigated by my sister’s look of incredulity after learning of my utter ignorance of the [...]
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