Books: Gaiman, Murakami, Pardo. Picks from National Bookstore's Sale

So on the last day of the National Book Store Sale, we were doing errands in the mall and had some extra bit of cash. Well, actually we still had some bills to budget but the temptation was so strong so I just took a sneak peek and well....came out with three books. Hehehe. 

So the first one I picked up was Haruki Murakami's "Wind/Pinball" at 50%off! This is actually my first Murakami hardbound and at 50% off I just could not resist. 

Paul took the photo with the plastic wrap still on, I would have preferred if it was without the plastic but still I'm not reading it then I guess its okay if it will keep the book clean and protected. Will probably reshoot once I finally open the book to read. :) 

My second pick is a collection of short stories inspired from Nail Gaiman's "Sandman" at 20% off. This is my first book which is a collection of short stories. Paul is a big fan of "Sandman" so this is also a treat for him.  

My third pick was a book that was not on sale but I still had to have. "The Lost Journal of Alejandro Pardo" which I already blogged about so long ago and now I finally have a copy! Will post more on that soon! #SupportLocal 


Will be posting book reviews soon! :D 

The Graveyard Book: Book Review

I read Neil Gaiman's The Ocean At The End Of The Lane and The Graveyard Book consecutively. Even though The Graveyard Book has the Newberry Medal, the British Carnegie Medal and the Hugo award under its belt, I actually enjoyed The Ocean At The End Of The Lane more. It was more exciting and more of a page turner rather than Graveyard.

Needless to say, I still enjoyed The Graveyard Book; it has it's own morbid charm that would have you cheering for Bod, (short for Nobody), the boy who lived in the Graveyard. After his family is murdered by the man Jack. 

I was admittedly drawn to Gaiman's morbid/macabre premise of a little boy (A baby at that!) who lives in the graveyard and is raised by its ghostly residents. Complete with lessons from ancient teachers teaching some pretty outdated but still useful curriculum. 

In a sense the story reminds me of Harry Potter who becomes the only survivor after his family is murdered by Lord Voldermort and just like Tom Riddle, the man Jack doesn't leave a job unfinished. 

Gaiman has admitted that the book was inspired from another famous orphan-Mowgly from the Jungle Book. When I was reading through the book, I thought that each chapter was like an episode in a TV series where Bot has his adventures, like meeting the different residents in the graveyard, after all it's not only ghosts who stay in graveyards. 

Bot even goes to regular school for a time and let's face it- in school there are worse things than ghosts. 

The eight chapters are like short stories on their own and are set two years apart, so we see Bod grow up before our eyes as we read through the pages, which Gaiman has said follows the same format as Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. 

Aside from Mr. & Mrs Owens who becomes Bod's ghost foster parents, Bod is also looked after by the Graveyard caretaker Silas, who is suggested to be a vampire but not really confirmed which was a source of frustration for me since at one part, you're thinking: "He doesn't...so does that mean..?" So you're racking your brain for clues and hints but don't get any confirmation in the end. 

Years after Bod escapes as a baby, the man Jack and the other Jacks of the secret group The Jacks of all Trades have finally cornered him and it's up to Bod to use all of his knowledge of the Graveyard to truly escape their clutches. 

I loved the illustration that was in the book, the pages were creatively drawn and designed and made for more pleasant reading. It's good to know that there's actually a movie adaptation in the works for the movie. Early rumors had it to be a stop motion animation but let's see what happens since a director was just confirmed (after some hiccups) this year. 

Reminiscent of The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Graveyard Book is a great book which young teenages and adults will surely enjoy. Gaiman's genius and story telling cannot be denied, reading through the book will have your imagination working over time and isn't that what reading is all about? 

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane: Book Review

When I read the summary of the book from it's back cover (as I was doing some book 'window' shopping) and I honestly did not know what to expect from the story. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised when I was thrown into a thrilling adventure of a mysterious world existing within our own.

The story begins with a mundane middle aged man as he makes his way through his childhood home. There is nothing special about this man, he is just like any other adult, dealing with the same problems and concerns that we all do; like "marriage (failed a decade ago, a relationship that had slowly frayed until eventually, as they always seem to, it broke), dating (I wasn't; I was not even sure that I could, not yet), children (all grown up, they have their own lives), work (doing fine, thank you)." 

But beneath this seemingly ordinary man lies a great adventure that chills me to the bone just thinking about it. The unnamed narrator visits a farmhouse he used to visit when he was a child, it is in this farmhouse where he met a young girl Lettie, her mother and grandmother. He goes to the pond at the back of the farmhouse and memories of a forgotten adventure start coming back to him. 

I just love the tattered and ripped details that the pages of the book had. 

It all starts when an opal miner (that rents a room) in the then young boy's home (he is seven years old at this time) commits suicide in his father's car after gambling away all his friends' money. Because of this suicide, a being from another world makes its way into our and starts giving money to people -it's not as fun as it sounds especially when you wake up choking on a coin. 

Our seven-year old protagonist then seeks out the help of Lettie Hempstock (the girl he met in the farm) and her mother and grandmother. 

Lettie takes the boy with her to bind the spirit that is causing all the trouble, Lettie (who appears to be eleven years old) instructs the boy to never let go of her hand. When they confront the 'being'/'spirit' the boy lets go of Lettie's hand for a moment-in surprise and this is when he feels a pain in his foot. 

After vanquishing the spirit, the boy goes home and discovers that there is a hole in the sole of his foot where a worm has lodged itself in. He is able to remove the worm but a part is left inside him. 

The next day, his mother introduces him to Ursula Monkton who is going to look after him and his sister. While the whole family adores Ursula, the narrator of the story doesn't and this is because Ursula is actually the worm that was in his foot and is the same 'spirit' that he and Lettie supposedly bound. Ursula was able to make her way to this world through the boy.