The Places You Will Go

Picture Book of the Month: Husherbye

April 2005

Husherbye

By John Burningham

Publisher: Red Fox

I bought this book yesterday partly because I love John Burningham and want to own everything he's written/illustrated; and partly because I'm at that stage of motherhood when I want to spend lots of money on my baby. (Actually, I'm at that stage virtually all the time.) Anyway, this is a wonderful sleepytime book. It has all these animals trudging along wearily at the end of a long day, looking for somewhere to rest their tired little heads. There's a mother cat and her kittens, a frog, a goose, a frog and a fish. There's also a baby, rowing a little boat, and the Man on the Moon, resting on the curve of the crescent, like some sort of cheesy vaudeville star! I love this bit of the narrative: "The man on the moon will not wake until noon. Then he'll shine up the moon for tomorrow."  And the picture of the goose in his armchair makes me want to curl up somewhere myself. I bought this book for my children, but right now I'm the one getting the most pleasure out of it :-)

Buy, Buy, Buy!

Considering how I spent nearly RM700 at last year's Times Warehouse sale, I showed remarkable restraint this morning - the damage came to just RM223, including Martin's stuff.

Admittedly, I spent far less time looking at the books. We were there first thing and left after about an hour. Later, I hear, they opened more boxes. This happens every year. I think it's necessary to go a few times because more titles will become available as the continue opening boxes. I may go again on the last day. I may.

Eyeris has just popped along to say that Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is going for RM15. (It had not been unpacked yet when I was there or I would have got a copy.)Imagine! It's RM89 or so at bookstores. Crazeeeee!

I got some good books including biographies of Margot Fonteyn and the six wives of Henry VIII; The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden (I've been looking for this for a while now so I'm well chuffed); Haruki Murakami's Dance Dance Dance, as well a book about his life and work; and volumes II, III and V of Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past.

Going Cheap

The Times Warehouse sale starts tomorrow. Like I don't already have far too many books and not enough shelf-space!

Then again, can one ever have too many books? I think I'd have to say ... yyyy .... nnnnn ... no!

In anycase, I'm telling myself that I'm going to save lots of cash by doing all my Christmas shopping there.

Here are the details of the sale:

Date: 28th April - 8th May
        (28th April TPC cardmember's preview day)

Time: 10am - 7.00pm

Venue: 4, 2nd Floor, Jalan 13/4, Section 13,  Petaling Jaya  (behind Colgate-Palmolive)
            
Contact No: 03-7955 9726

Benefits
Free parking will be provided for Times warehouse sale customers
RM5 cash voucher for every RM100 purchase
Free tote bag for every RM300 purchase

Special Bargains*
RM0.50 per copy for selected school references and revision workbooks
Selected titles at RM1 per copy; titles will differ daily (Max 5 copies per person)
*while stocks last

Please present your Times Privilege Card upon entering for the preview day

Wolvishly Winning

I've fallen in love, all over again, with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Chronicles by Joan Aiken. Sadly, I don't have all the books. However, I'm busy acquiring the titles missing from my collection. These include the final book, The Witch of Clatteringshaws, which was published posthumously. (Joan Aiken died in January 2004. Read about her here.)

Borders Revisited

I paid another visit to Borders yesterday. Unfortunately it was another short one - a long, leisurely browse is impossible when Ekath (my two-year-old) is around.

The day before I'd been told by someone who works for a book distributor that a lot of stock hadn't arrived in time for the opening on the 19th. Lo and behold, when I went in yesterday, there were several Joan Aikens on the shelf, including The WItch of Clattering Shaws (the latest and last in the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series). Had I simply missed them the last time or had they come in in the meantime? Whatever the case, I got myself two titles: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (to replace a copy that appears to have gone since I moved from USJ to Ampang) and Midwinter Nightingale, the penultimate book of the series. (I'm going to wait til Clattering Shaws comes out in paperback. I can't afford the hardback - RM68!!!)

In Brief

Views, news and reviews from the world of books:

1. If you're a fan of Douglas Adams's The HItchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you're either very nervous or very excited about the upcoming film version. Apparently, watching it will fill one with 80s nostalgia. Read Zoe Williams's story.
2. For Douglas Adams-virgins, here are some basics facts.
3. A tale of unrequited love has won the FosterGrant Romantic Novel of the Year Award. Read about A Good Voyage and its author, Katharine Davies, here.
4. David Levithan's new Young Adult novel, Boy Meets Boy has got fans of gay lit cheering. Read the review.
5. The discovery of a new batch of letters by John Keats's good friend, Joseph Severn, pushes him firmly out of the poet's shadow. Read all about it here.   

Borders

I was at the new Borders store (in Kuala Lumpur) this afternoon. Had a quick look-round. No Joan Aiken! I'm hooked on her Wolves of Willoughby Chase series at the moment and so it's the first thing I looked for. I spoke to someone who used to work with the merchandiser and he said, "______ has probably never heard of Aiken." All I can say is: "B***** H***!"

However, I found Elizabeth Bowen in the Fiction section so it's not all bad.

Apart from that ... well, it's big and it's cold; there's lots of space and lots of light. It's definitely not charming (Eyeris and Erna say it reminds them of Popular!), but then which big chain is? I don't think I'll be hanging out there much - especially since I never go to Berjaya Times Square anyway. For now, at least, I'm sticking to Kino.

I do want to spend more time looking at the books though. The children's section is huge so it should have a good selection. Should. No Aiken though, hmmph.

One of the people from the head office was talking about how the stores have been greeted with open arms in places like New Zealan and Puerto Rico. People see Borders as a sign that civilisation has arrived at their cities! Well, that's really nothing to do with books though, is it? It's to do with size and money and branding. I'm sure these people would have been just as happy to see the launch of a Chanel boutique on their main street! And I bet most fans of Starbucks will also love Borders.

The Children's Section: No Joan Aiken!

In Brief

The latest reviews, news and views from the wonderful world of books ...

1. Fans of E. Nesbit should read this interesting article about her life and her book The Railway Children.
2. A review of Anthony Horowitz's Ark Angel  plus something about the author. (N.B. If you had fantasies about Horowitz being a dashing youngster, you're gonna be disappointed.)
3. A crash-course in John Keats, anyone?
4. Are you one of those snobs who won't be caught dead reading romantic fiction? Danuta Kean, chair of the RNA/Foster Grant Romantic Novelist of the Year Award, wonders why romance novels have such a bad name.
5. Feminist writer Andrea Dworkin's obituary, plus links to articles by and about her, her official website etc

Saul Bellow 1915-2005

R.I.P.
Saul Bellow
Nobel laureate
1915-2005.

Read about the author and his work here.

Read his obituaries here and here.

In Brief

More news, reviews, interviews etc from the wonderful world of books ...

1. It seems that spies are going to be the next-big-thing among children and adolescents. Already Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books are selling like hot cakes and the next couple of months sees the publication of two new young adult spy novels (one of them is about the young James Bond!). Read all about it here and here.
2. "In Who Can Crack the Leonardo da Vinci Code?, which will be published in Britain on 10 May, [Austrian children's author Thomas Brezina] presents children with their own code-cracking scroll, foil mirror and a book of riddles to explore the world of the Renaissance and its famous genius." Really? Really! Read more here.
3. Ann Brashares of Travelling Pants fame has a new book out about the sisterhood. read the review of Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood here.
4. Kevin Crossley-Holland, who wrote the excellent Arthur trilogy, is impressed by Pauline Chandler's debut Warrior Girl. Read his review of this book, about Joan of Arc, here.
5. This is the Goolden Age of children's fiction, says Dina Rabinovitch. Read her article here.
6. Click here for The Times Online's review of Children's Laureate, Michael Mopurgo's new book.