Book Review : H is for Homicide

I've decided to resurrect this blog as a reviews blog. It might work better than just a blog for random thoughts. This entry is interestingly not the first book review entry but hopefully it'll spark off a series of reviews and bring some life back into this blog.

From the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, I brought myself more than 10 novels so this will probably be the first review of that book pile.

H is for Homicide is the first book I choose to read from the pile and the first book i've ever read by Sue Grafton. I've heard of Sue Grafton through recommendations by friends and through googling about detective/mystery stories.

Sue Grafton's book titles follows the Alphabet. I'm not quite sure how many she has written and whether she's reached the alphabet Z but I picked H for Homicide for the most obvious reasons. I love a good murder mystery.

So imagine my disappointment that the murder was just an incidental incident. Yes there was a murder, a body and then all else was forgotten, in a sense. Half way through the book, you don't even remember that there's been a murder. It plays such an insignificant part of the book that you really wonder why it was called H is for Homicide.

I"m alright with her writing style though her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone has what i would consider, a really boring job. She's attached to an insurance company and her job is to investigate potentially fraudulent insurance claims.

To be honest, i thought there was not enough "murder" or "mystery" in this book. Firstly, not enough attention was given to the murder. Something about needing to be low key about the murder for the bigger issue at hand. And the bigger issue at hand was an insurance scam. No mystery about it. There were some thrilling moments , when Kinsey's life was in danger but other than that, it was pretty straight forward.

So as a murder mystery it fails terribly. As a suspense novel, it did better. It had its moments but not the moments I look for in a good mystery novel. I doubt i'll be bothered to purchase Sue Grafton's other novels. As a novel by itself, without actually putting it in the murder mystery genre, I think I'll give it a 3 out of 5. At least i still manage to reach the last page.

Superstitions, Jinxes and Theories

What are your thoughts on superstition? Do you believe in lucky charms? Do you believe in the unlucky number 13? Do you believe in doing or not doing certain things in order not to jeopardise another thing?

Let me share with you certain theories I've developed due to life experiences which may seem to be baseless , irrational and maybe downright ridiculous.

One "superstition" i have is that I never ever come out of an exam, exclaiming that the exam was a breeze and that I nailed it. I believe that you must always think that you did the absolute worse in the exam so as not to jinx your chances of getting a good grades. On hindsight, it was probably a safeguard against overconfidence and major disappointments if one ended up without the results that one expected.

Another one interesting theory i have is that if you're interested in someone, you shouldn't publicize it. You shouldn't gush about it, you shouldnt analyse it, you shouldnt ask your best friends about their opinion on the guy/gal. Instead, you should live in denial, telling yourself that you're not really into him/her and that he/she is just a friend and that it'll never be between the both of you. This sounds rather silly but i think it's true, judging from the fact that i have yet to get together with any of my crushes. So the next time im infatuated with someone, I'm gonna tape my mouth shut.

The next theory is quite typical. Your dreams will be the opposite of what will happen in real life. So, rejoice if you get a nightmare, eg. failing your exams, breaking up with a boyfriend and getting fired from work. Chances are, in real life, you're gonna get straight As, your boyfriend's gonna propose and you're getting a promotion at work. Woohoo. Dont' believe me? Try it out.

One last theory i've observed, which relates to "crushes". However, this is only from the female point of view. The guy that you're interested in, who seemed to enjoy your company because of your personality i.e that you're funny, bubbly and all that will always end up not with you but with the typical girl. By typical i mean, the kinda girl whose physical attributes consist of a slim body, long straight hair, big doe eyes who always seemed more or less helpless and always seemed to have either a low husky sweet voice or a high pitched whiny "manja" voice. They often don't seemed intelligent but that is a myth. And then thats when you want to pick up a knife and stab someone.

If you don't believe me or that you disagree with me, try it out for urself. Test out my theories and give me your feedback. Hehs.


Disclaimer : All thoughts expressed herein are my own personal views and thus shall not be construed as the thoughts of all or any member of society. I have nothing against "typical girls", well maybe a little but if you're getting all the good men drooling over you anyhow, im not really sorry.

Malaysia is 50 Years Old!

In conjunction with Malaysia's 50th Birthday, I wanted to write about what it means to be Malaysian. I did write a few paragraphs and i just deleted it. Let me start again.

What is patriotism to a Malaysian? Issit sticking miniature Jalur Gemilangs on your cars? Issit decorating Kuala Lumpur with christmas lights? Issit braving the jam to witness the Merdeka Day Celebrations?

Why dont we look at being Malaysians from the viewpoint of a Malaysian student studying overseas? Or what it means to be a Malaysian for the younger generation. The younger generation and especially the Malaysian students who are overseas have gotten a lot of slack lately. They are often criticised for being unpatriotic, ungrateful and forgetting their asian roots.

Let me share with you how most Malaysian students are like overseas. We all know that Malaysians like to bitch about Malaysia and fellow Malaysians. But that dont mean we sit and keep our mouths shut when a non-Malaysian criticises our country and our people. We do not appreciate other people saying shit about the country. What we do is we tell them " Who are you to bitch about Malaysia? You have no right to bitch about Malaysia. You're not Malaysian!" You may not believe it but the sense of patriotrism is so much higher when we're not in Malaysia.

Being Malaysian in a foreign country means shameless promoting Malaysia in accordance with those tourism commercials which we have always found to be extremely corny. Like.. ohhh Malaysia is truly Asia. Or, Oh you've gotta visit the Orang Utan Sanctuary. And Malaysia have the tallest building in the world at one point, the Petronas Twin Towers. Oh Putrajaya is awesome. Oh we have amazing rainforests. Nevermind that the Malaysians themselves probably have never set foot in any of the attractions but doesnt mean we wont promote it shamelessly when the opportunity arises.

Being Malaysian also means believing that there is no where better than home. Eventhough it is disheartening at times to open the newspapers and to read utterly ridiculous news, there's always a glimmer of hope that things will always be better. Because we are a peaceful, tolerant and compromising country. All malaysians were brought up learning about how Malaysians have no natural disaster, save for the tsunami that happened recently. How we were blessed to not have typhoons, hurricanes, volcanoes eruption and earthquakes. All the little things to be thankful for.

Being Malaysian also means getting utterly excited about food. Food is what makes Malaysia. Malaysian food is unique and utterly amazing. Nasi Lemak, Durian, Char Kuey Teow, Roti Canai, Teh Tarik, Mee Bandung .. OmG.

No matter how awesome a foreign country may be, when your plane touches down in KLIA, a sense of relief comes over you. Yes. You're home. Forget clean toilets in Japan. Forget Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior in Paris. Forget Prince William in London.

A lot of people do not realise that deep within each Malaysian, there is a great sense of patriotism. It might not always be expressly obvious and it is always the younger generation that gets slacked off for being unpatriotic. But open your eyes.

Go to London and see the Malaysian students at Malaysian Hall. Go to Nottingham for the Malaysian Nottingham Games. Go to Facebook.com and you'll find groups like "I speak Manglish", " I love Malaysian Food". Listen to conversations between Malaysians and Non-Malaysians. Open your eyes and you'll see that patriotism is more than singing the national anthem and waving the national flag or reciting the Rukun Negara.

Happy Birthday Malaysia. There is a glimmer of hope yet.