Saturday, April 17, 2010

IB: A Life ( The Autobiography of Ibrahim Hussein ) -- Pusaka (RM50.00)

"Art makes you realise the beauty of life itself. It is never about the destination but the journey, and you must enjoy the journey for once you reach the end, that is all there is."

IB: A Life -- The Autobiography of Ibrahim Hussein is a fascinating story of an artist who touched the hearts of everyone he met.

Born in a small village in Kedah in 1936, his remarkable journey would lead him all around the world, but ultimately back home to Malaysia where he died in 2009.

His desire for adventure and his unique storytelling abilities allow us to follow this critically acclaimed artist through the Swinging Sixties in London, the creative pulse of New York, an incident-filled return to Malaysia and the founding of the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation up till his final year.

Part told and part collated from a gathering of his own disparate writings - diary entries, meditative sketches, letters, interviews - it presents an intimate and moving narrative of a man and artist in a constant state of brilliant creative restlessness.

Other new Malaysian books:

1. Belas Kasihku Meliputi Segala -- Reza Shah-Kazemi (RM10.00)
2. Testamen Politik -- Republik Anak Muda Malaysia (RM 8.00)
3.Stabil: Puisi dan catatan -- Fared Ayam (RM10.00)
4. Shore to Shore (Tamil) HB -- Muthammal Palisamy (RM40.00)
5. Shore to Shore (Tamil) PB -- Muthammal Palisamy (RM25.00)
6. The Patriot Game -- Kua Kia Soong (RM22.00)
7. 445 Days under ISA -- Kua Sia Soong (RM 25.00)
8. Missing Malaysia -- Dean Johns ((RM22.00)
9. Ethnic Relations in Nation Building -- Various (RM 28.00)

Monday, April 05, 2010

God of the Earth

God of the Earth by Ho Thean Fook -- The Perak Academay (RM30.00)

Ho Thean Fook portrays Malaya at the beginning of the 20th century through the eyes of his grandfather as a child. This book is about the experiences of Pak Foo, a boy growing up in Papan, a small mining town in Perak. For Pak Foo there are fighting spiders and crickets to catch, Chinese classes to attend, 'wild rat' mines and wooden dredges to explore, weddings and festivals to celebrate, and ghosts and a monster serpent to encounter. Under the author's magical touch, the people of Papan spring to life, drawn in all their ordinariness and in vivid colours. These are tales about squatters, rich towkays, beggers, school teachers and matchmakers.

Other new Malaysian titles:

1.Great-Grandma's Hair Loss Remedy by Rebecca Lok (RM22.0)
2.The Ecokids and the Wasteful Water Worry by Fay Khoo & Asha Gill (RM10.00)
3. The Ecokids and the Gas Guzzler Gaffes by Fay Khoo & Asha Gill (RM10.00)
4. The Ecokids and the Plastic Bag Pickle by Fay Khoo & Asha Gill (RM10.00)