que pasa

I read this today and found it gives voice to something I have been struggling with a long time.  I'm not there yet at the position of rest, but the desire to just give it all up and let Papa handle things without my interference has become increasingly strong, especially over these past few months.

"My God, I wish to give you the gift you so much desire; I wish to commit myself to you once and for all, so there shall be no taking back.  I cannot commit myself into your hands, O God, I cannot do it; but yet I can commit myself into your hands; for though I cannot keep myself there, your fingers can hold me there, your strong, gentle fingers always giving way and never letting go; your wise subtle fingers, wrestling so gently against my puny rebellions, that I tire myself trying to climb out of your hands, and come to rest at last in those wounded palms."
- Austin Farrer, quoted in Philip Yancey's Prayer

Incidentally, I am finding Prayer to be an excellent book.  It's about whether prayer makes any difference.  I'm making my way through it very slowly and it has provided good food for thought.  Grab a copy if you can.

For some strange reason, I stay away from books about Asia but this author was recommended to me by a good friend and I trust his taste. 

Thoroughly enjoyed the book, good writing, good story.  Makes you feel for the characters. 

I strongly recommend reading The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. 

"This is the extraordinary love story of Clare and Henry who met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future. In the face of this force they can neither prevent nor control, Henry and Clare’s struggle to lead normal lives is both intensely moving and entirely unforgettable."

I had heard about how good this book was but somehow never got around to reading it. Now that I’ve bought it and read it, I give it my two thumbs up too.

I thought it was well-written and engaging. Beautiful piece of work. Read it!

Here’s a list of books for you people who like reading… apparently the books coming out this fall are looking good. 

Daniel sees numbers as shapes, colors and textures and can perform extraordinary maths in his head.  He can also learn to speak a language fluently from scratch in a week.  He has Savant Syndrome, an extremely rare form of Asperger’s that gives him almost unimaginable mental powers, much like the Rain Man portrayed by Dustin Hoffman.  But he is virtually unique amongst people who have severe autistic disorders in being able to live a fully independent life.”

I bought this book because I thought this was the guy somebody mentioned who was able to learn Icelandic in a week, and the first few pages read well.  Finished reading this short book on key topics/events concerning his life to date.  Easy enjoyable reading.   

Dustin Hoffman’s character is actually inspired by another savant Kim Peek.  Daniel Tammet actually got to meet him and writes about it in this book. 

I don’t know why I haven’t seen Rain Man even though I’ve heard so much about it.  I should go get the DVD.

This year’s survey asked readers to name the three works of fiction from 2006 they considered to be the finest.  Here are the top ten (the rest are listed here) for easy reference:

1. Cormac McCarthy, The Road
2. ___________, _________________ (left out because it the author was associated with the magazine that did the survey)
3. Chris Adrian, The Children’s Hospital
4. Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day
5. David Mitchell, Black Swan Green
6. Richard Powers, The Echo Maker
7. Gary Shteyngart, Absurdistan
8. Marisha Pessl, Special Topics in Calamity Physics
9. T. Cooper, Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes
10. Daniel Handler, Adverbs

I haven’t heard of any of them.  I guess I’ll be looking them up soon.  Have you? Or maybe you’d like to recommend something a good book you’ve read.

This book is the story of Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen) written from Mr. Darcy’s perspective.  Great reading.  Made me enjoy the character and the story even more.  I strongly recommend the book if you’re a Pride and Prejudice fan. 

I’ll bring it back home in October if you can wait that long.

This book is about the Israeli secret service, the Mossad. If you like espionage, there's lots of stuff you'll like here. Had quite a few wow's and oh-shit's myself.
 
Hmm, somehow that last sentence sounds rather crude, but that's exactly how I reacted when I read the book.
 
Anyway, enjoy.

I have seen the three movies but not read any of the books. Having heard that the books are much better and that the movies did not do justice to the books, I told myself that I should get all the books and read them at some point.

Now we all know by now how hard it is to get English reading material here, so I always visit the book table when it is set up outside Carrefour. One day I saw all the Harry Potter books on display, and they were only going for 10 RMB each. The Order of the Phoenix (the fifth book) was thicker and so it was priced at 20 RMB. I grabbed them all.

I really am not sure if these are legitimate copies, but this was too good an opportunity to miss. All the books available at once, all going for a very good price, and English reading material good for a few weeks. The paper quality is not very good and there are a couple of printing errors, but otherwise it is all good.

I have enjoyed the books very much. And I am glad that I got to read the first six books together. I am embarrassed to say this but I cried when Dumbledore died. It was a teary ending to the sixth book. I am glad that I was alone when I read the book, did not want people to see me dabbing my eyes with tissue.

Anyway, if you have not read it, you really should. It is good stuff. I am looking forward to the last book in the series.

They say that if you liked The Da Vinci Code, you will love this book. I never read The Da Vinci Code, but I think The Rule of Four is a really good - I have lost much sleep over this book.

It is essentially about solving the mystery of a historical text and the lives of the four main characters in the book that are directly or indirectly connected to the mystery. My eyes were practically glued to the book, reading as fast as I could to find out what happens next.

I am very satisfied after completing the book. Definitely worth my money. For those of you in Singapore who want to borrow the book, you can contact my brother.