Books | slowcatchupkuan
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Getting All Excited Over Tintin

Getting All Excited Over Tintin

 
My first contact with Tintin was way back in primary school. I was what, perhaps in Standard 4 or 5 when i happened to pick up a crumpled, dog eared comic with colorful pictures. It probably wasn’t in as bad condition as i remembered because you know how memory tends to exaggerate. However it was missing a pages or two and a vintage, made of the old school newsprint instead of the type of glossy paper used in comics today; that i am sure.

At that time my school was having a reading program where a certain time slot is placed before the school assembly started. Everyone must sit on the hall’s floor with a book to read. Well, most of us just opened the text book on our lap and stared into space waiting for the 30 minutes to pass. For those looking for a more creative outlet, in front of the hall next to the piano there was a battered wooden book case that actually flips open like a book. In it were books that had seen better days. That’s where i found my treasure.

I might have mindlessly stashed it in my school bag after the bell rang or i might have stolen it (come on the books in there ends up in the trash sooner or later anyways) but i only recall finding it again back at home. I have faint memories of Egyptian mummies and balls of fire so i’m pretty sure it was Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Seven Crystal Balls. I read and re-read the thin comic and enjoyed every minute of it even though at that age i didn’t understand the themed political propaganda of Tintin stories.
 


 

But soon i found other exciting things to do and i hid it in the back of the drawer and forgot all about it. That’s when i lost my treasure; i never found it again.

That will make it to the “Most regrettable things i’ve done” list because the battered Tintin would be worth a lot now but mostly because it’s one of my favorite comics. Instead i have to settle for the new hardcover collection like everyone else. The story of Tintin with his sidekick, Snowy is the same but somehow the feeling is muted without the newsprint material. Like what the hiking guide keep saying to us in Chiang Mai “Same, same but different”.
 

tintin
 

Just the same it’s hard not to be excited knowing the movie is screening soon in Malaysia. Watching Tintin and Snowy running around the globe getting into trouble and kicking some bad villain’s arse and Captain Haddock’s totally unorthodox cursing especially “Blue Blistering Barnacles!” is just too fun. It’s like being a kid again.

Trailer: The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.
 


 
 

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Goodies from Book Fest 2011 and Pre-loved Books For Sale

Goodies from Book Fest 2011 and Pre-loved Books For Sale

 
We are in a huge dilemma – there is no more space to store our book collections!

So we decided to keep some books that we had gotten too attached to and find some new owners for the others.

But first, let me proudly present our goodies from Book Fest 2011. Taa daa!
 


 

We kind of overspent this year because we had to get The Adventures of Tintin hardcover collection which stretched out budget to unimaginably infinity. We had been storing hope for this collection for ages and coincidentally it was on sale so we grabbed it.
 


 

There is a total number of 7 volumes to this edition (the latest edition has 8 volumes) but unfortunately the first volume was nowhere to be seen. We managed to place a special order at Borders the next day. Anticipating the day it arrives!
 


 

Ok, as for the pre-loved books, here’s a few that i am selling at a low price. Most are newly bought (within this year)  and in extremely good condition.
 

Kindly note:

- Items are in good condition unless stated otherwise.
- Price stated does not include postage.
- Good(s) sold are not exchangeable or refundable.
- Seller is not responsible if damage and/or loss of package during delivery.
- Items will be posted on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (after payment is confirmed).
- Payment to Maybank only.
- COD not available (Sorry i’m running on a busy schedule so there’s no time for me to COD! Hope you understand)

Payment Method: 

- Payment to Maybank (pls leave your email address at the comment box or email me at slowcatchupkuan@yahoo[.]com for details)
- Postage: Registered post – RM4.00 nationwide (for Pos Laju pls leave your contact or email me)
 


 

 Title: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything

Author: Gilbert, Elizabeth
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs | Non-fiction | Travel Memoirs
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM37.50
Selling Price: RM15.00

Description: Elizabeth is in her thirties, settled in a large house with a husband who wants to start a family. But she doesn’t want any of it. A bitter divorce and a rebound fling later, Elizabeth emerges battered yet determined to find what she’s been missing.
So begins her quest. In Rome, she indulges herself and gains nearly two stone. In India, she finds enlightenment through scrubbing temple floors. Finally, in Bali, a toothless medicine man reveals a new path to peace, leaving her ready to love again.
 
 


 

Title: McCarthy’s Bar: A Journey of Discovery in Ireland

Author: McCarthy, Pete
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs | Non-fiction | Travel Memoirs
Book Condition: Good Condition (slight worn on the top right corner and dog eared on the corner back else still new)
Original Price: RM37.70
Selling Price: RM24.00

Description: Despite the many exotic places Pete McCarthy has visited, he finds that nowhere else can match the particular magic of Ireland, his mother’s homeland. In “McCarthy’s Bar,” his journey begins in Cork and continues along the west coast to Donegal in the north. Traveling through spectacular landscapes, but at all times obeying the rule, “never pass a bar that has your name on it,” he encounters McCarthy’s bars up and down the land, meeting fascinating people before pleading to be let out at four o’clock in the morning.
Written by someone who is at once an insider and an outside, “McCarthy’s Bar” is a wonderfully funny and affectionate portrait of a rapidly changing country.
 
 


 

Title: American Gods (SOLD)

Author: Gaiman, Neil
Genres: Fantasy Novel
Book Condition: Worn
Original Price: RM34.90
Selling Price: RM5.00

Description: After three years in prison, Shadow has done his time. But as the days, then the hours, then the minutes, then the seconds until his release tick away, he can feel a storm building. Two days before he gets out, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in apparently adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr. Wednesday claiming to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town. But they are being pursued by someone with whom Shadow must make his peace… Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Neil Gaiman’s epic new novel sees him on the road to finding the soul of America.
 
 


 

Title: The Hidden Oasis: A Lost Legend, A Terrifying Secret, An Explosive Race Against Time

Author: Sussman, Paul
Genres: Thriller
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM38.90
Selling Price: RM20.00

Description: The Hidden Oasis begins with the murder of Alex Hannen, a former CIA agent living in Egypt. Her sister, Freya, a world-class mountain climber from the United States, travels to Cairo to help bury Alex, and once there immediately becomes suspicious of the doctor’s news that Alex had taken her own life. How, she asks, could Alex have injected herself with a lethal dose of morphine, given her lifelong fear of needles? The mysterious circumstances surrounding Alex’s death lead Freya on a search for the truth. She soon meets her sister’s dear friend, Flin Brodie, a world-renowned authority on predynastic Egypt searching for a mythic hidden oasis deep within the Egyptian desert and supposedly housing a valuable, mythic stone untouched for millennia. In this propulsive, fascinating thriller, Freya and Flin are led on an extraordinary adventure—sometimes violent, often dangerous, always thrilling—for the answer to one of archaeology’s greatest mysteries: the location of the legendary lost oasis of Zerzura, and the key to the astonishing, terrifying secret that lies at its heart.
 
 


 

Title: Saving Fish From Drowning (HARD COVER) (SOLD)

Author: Tan, Amy
Genres: General Fiction
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM57.00 (but i bought it on sale at RM16.90)
Selling Price: RM5.00 (registered post will be RM7.00 nationwide because of hard cover)

Description: On an ill-fated art expedition of the Southern Shan State in Burma, eleven Americans leave their Floating Island Resort for a Christmas morning tour – and disappear. Through the twists of fate, curses, and just plain human error, they find themselves deep in the Burma jungle, where they encounter a tribe awaiting the return of the leader and the mythical book of wisdom that will protect them from the ravages and destruction of the Myanmar military regime.
 
 


 

Title: The Five Greatest Warriors

Author: Reilly, Matthew
Genres: General Fiction | Thriller
Book Condition: Very Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM32.90
Selling Price: RM18.00

Description: A third installment in bestseller Reilly’s series to feature Jack West Jr. The adventurer from the Australian outback and his band of merry men, women and children race against several nefarious groups to defuse a disastrous celestial event. The planetary entity known as the Dark Star, the evil twin to our sun, is set to return to our solar system, igniting a massive negative energy source that will destroy all life on earth …
 
 

Title: Blindness

Author: Saramago, Jose
Genres: General Fiction
Book Condition: Good Condition (no wear & tear)
Original Price: RM42.90
Selling Price: RM18.00

Description: A city is hit by an epidemic of “white blindness” which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man’s worst appetites and weaknesses-and man’s ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man’s will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

Give my books a home yeah?
 
 

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2010 Book Fest Goodies

2010 Book Fest Goodies

 
RM500++ worth of goodies from the recent BookFest @ Malaysia 2010!

I’m like still recovering from the daze; i mean how can we have spent RM500 all on books?! I could have easily got a new Fossil leather bag for the same price.

But can get tax rebate right? Ok, never mind, i feel much better now when i think about the tax rebate. Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out….
 


 

This year we had a great haul compared to last year which we only bout 2 sets of books. This year it was a bargain. Coincidently we bought equal amount (in height lar) of books.

See?
 


 

I didn’t know that the book fest is held from 4th Sept till 12 Sept 2010; i thought it ends in the weekend so we rushed there. It was worth it though. The ranges of English books were more than the previous years. There were bargain corners also where books were sold for only RM16.90. Awesome.

The boyfriend is a sucker for sets. He just can’t resist getting book sets. Obsessiveness is going to run in our family. Hmm…

Anyways he got 2 sets of books; one is the geeky set of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (5 in a set) and the other is a Chinese novel i don’t know what the title is (4 in a set). He also bought a stamp set for around RM150.

As for me, mine is the pile on the right. <3

Actually the books just cost us around RM400 if not for the stamp set that i don’t know why the bf absolutely must have. Never mind it’s his hard earn money so he is entitled to treat himself once in a while.

Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out…
 
 

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BookFest 2009 Goodies

 
I’m really utterly frustrated today. It’s a small matter but i’m in a bad mood ever since this morning. I thought when i left that bank i’ll be rid of all the bad feng shui but it still haunts me apparently. I wonder if the same situation arised with another financial company i’ll be as short tempered as i am now. I think not.

I’ve dealt with enough problems that this bank had gave me and if it’s not because of my installment warrant a local card i would definitely had terminated all facilities with this company. Argh… as i said it’s a small matter, all i wanted was an explanation on why i’m charged an annual fees when my card is a free for life card with no terms and conditions whatsoever and also to reactivate my online account. So hard meh?! Yeah i know your system always down because i used to work there and i know you won’t get back to me until weeks later when it’s already useless or i’ve already forgotten. Really. Humpf!

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Ok let’s talk about happy things now because i need happy thoughts.

I really Finally bought the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Pothead.. oops i mean Harry Potter books set from the BookFest at convention centre. I’ve been eyeing it for ages and i’m glad i waited for this festival because it’s on sale!
 

narnia and harry potter sets
Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter set
 

The Narnia set is gorgeous hard cover and the Harry Potter set comes in a box :).

Yup i’m a really happy girl when i teared open the wrappings after i got home.
 

narnia and harry potter book sets
Narnia and harry potter books
 

This year’s BookFest was better than the last years’ because they have more English books and it’s much more organized. However, Mr. Bf begs to differ because he couldn’t find any Chinese books worth reading. Too bad for him haha.
 

china stamp and story book
Water Margin
 

Nonetheless, he was grinning from ear to ear after purchasing a RM160 China story book cum stamp book. Geek!

There’s a section of the hall selling China stamps mainly and he found this particular one that’s supposed to be a limited collection.
 

water margin
Water margin illustrated and stamp
 

It’s a book with the chinese history of Water Margin and stamps to commemorate this event.

This particular stamp (below) was published on 1987. It’s supposed to be worth RM80 itself.
 

water margin stamp
Published on 1987
 

I’m really not bothered about China stamps really. I don’t know how to appreciate all those stuff haha.
 
 

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Don’t Sit On This Book

 
I saw this book next too the dozen of Lilian Too’s books.
 

don't sit
Don’t you dare sit or you’ll go to hell!
 

LOL. Now that’s a smart title.
 
 

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July 1925 Issue of National Geographic

 
You’d never guess what we’ve found yesterday… uhm… yes, you do. The title gave it away -_-”.
 

national geographic 1925
Vintage ler…
 

Yeah, we found an ancient issue of National Geographic in the old book store. Volume XLVIII, dated July, 1925. It’s as old as my late grandmother. Vintage shit i tell you. All of it were shipped all the way from the U.S. Most of them were taken right from the U.S. library. Some even have the library stamp.
 

july 1925
Look July 1925
 

We bought it for RM80.00. Ours belong to someone by the name Ruth Owens *god bless her, whomever and where ever she is. Back in 1925, the issue would have cost a cheap $0.50.
 

oshkosh
OshKosh Trunk
 

Back in 1925, the brand OshKosh wasn’t carrying fashionable kids wear. It carried trunks. Trunks that we now call antiques.
 

gillete
Gillete Safety Razor
 

Back in 1925, men shaved with single blade Gillette razors instead of 3 bladed Mach3 Turbo.
 

typewriter
Vintage typewriter
 

Back in 1925, typing means tapping your fingers against keys on typewriters instead of keyboards and winding the lever up for a second line.
 

chrysler six
Chrysler Six
 

Back in 1925, Chrysler Six is cruising on the road. Now it’s in showrooms or maybe sitting in an old garage. Maybe.
 

bell system
Bell System
 

Back in 1925, who the hell heard of mobile phones?
 

kodak
Kodak Black and White
 

Back in 1925, Kodak advertises in Black and White. LOL

The shop owner has an issue from way back in the 1880′s. That’s even older than my grandmother. It might be the very first issue. Damn. He’s auctioning it off soon. If only i have the moolah. LOL
 
 

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Talk To The Snail

 
I’m back on reading again. This time it’s “Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French” by Stephen Clarke. (Actually there are 11 Commandments in the book so i have no idea why it says 10). This book is fantastic. Really. Read on.
 

talk to the snail
It’s obviously a Monsieur Snail not a Madame Snail
 

Steven Clarke (the author) is an actual Englishman who had been living in France for the past 12 years. Here, he presents his experience in France where he outline the Ten Commandments (yes, 10 Commandments as in the Bible) of surviving in France.

Ok, now you’re thinking that this is another book about boring travel tips and travel facts from a wannabe backpacker, right? Wrong. Talk to the Snail is a combination of a little bit of vulgarity, a little bit of insensitivity, a little bit of discrimination plus a whole lot of cheekiness. In this book, Clarke criticizes the French mercilessly yet it’s obvious that he love the country to bits. His witty and frank description of his encounters in the country is hysterical. It had me chuckling so loud in the bookstore. *paiseh…

Even the dedication page shows how painfully “honest” Clarke is.

To the French my sincere apologies”
- Quoted from Talk to the Snail -

I won’t ruin the book for you by detailing everything here although i’m really tempted coz i’m evil but the book is separated into 11 Commandments.

1) Thou Shalt Be Wrong (if you’re not French)
2) Thou Shalt Not Work
3) Thou Shalt Eat
4) Thou Shalt Be Ill
5) Thou Shalt Speak French
6) Thou Shalt Not Sing
7) Thou Shalt Not Know
8) Thou Shalt Not Love Thy Neighbour
9) Thou Shalt Not Be Served
10) Thou Shalt Not Be Polite
11) Thou Shalt Say I Love You

By the time you’re done with this book you’ll at least learn how to get good service from the grumpiest waiter; be exquisitely polite and brutally rude at the same time; know why French woman is not fat; learn the language of love and French porn amongst the many things. Most important is this book have sections on every chapter that’ll help you master a few useful but tricky French words.

Here’s some of my favorite taken from the book.

J’aimerais juste un baiser = I just want a kiss.
J’aimerais juste baiser = I just want to get laid.
Baisse-toi = Duck your head down
Baise-toi = Screw yourself

Be careful of your pronunciation or you’ll get a black eye over nothing.

Last and not least…

J’aise eu un malaise = I felt ill
J’aise ei une malaise = I shagged a Malaysian woman.

Isn’t that useful information? I think France is going to have more visitors this time around LOL.

Note to myself. Check out Steven Clarke’s other best seller “A Year in the Merde”. I bet it’s going to be equally entertaining.
 
 

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