... or otherwise known as "Why I wasn't online that much last month."

Last December, apart from the usual homekeeping stuff and working, I've been taking and making time to read, and read, and read. Talk about self-pampering... hee hee hee.

But what a magical month it was! And personally, I think the 7 books I'd read were perfect endings for my 2007 reading list.

Many, many years ago, I read the first HP book, i.e. The Philosopher's Stone. It was a borrowed book, and it has been so long that I can't even remember who/where I borrowed it from. Strangely enough, the book did not appeal to me then. *shrug*

Anyways, early last month, during one of my unplanned excursions to MPH, I bought myself a copy of HP & The Philosopher's Stone. No particular reason, just felt like buying it. That very night, I read it from cover to cover, and my magical journey commenced.

Many times I had to fight urges to skim through paragraphs to find out what's going to happen next. I hadn't expected to be mesmerized sebegitu rupa.
When I was about a chapter and a half before the end, I knew I couldn't wait too long for the sequel(s), so the next day, I went and bought myself The Chamber of Secrets and The Prisoner of Azkaban.

Started Chamber of Secrets immediately after completing The Philosopher's Stone. Finished Chamber of Secrets in about 2 days, and picked up Prisoner of Azkaban right after. Prisoner of Azkaban, I completed reading in a day.

Happily waltzed into MPH again that weekend, to grab a copy each of Half-Blood Prince and The Goblet of Fire. Took me about two and a half weeks to finish both as I was mostly stealing time to read before bed or in between goddessy chores.

I started on the Order of the Phoenix a few days before Hari Raya Haji last year. For the last Raya Haji, my family and relatives decided to berkumpul di JayBee.

Since Helmy was away quite often last Nov-Dec, we decided it would be a good opportunity to make this southbound trip sort of a 'mini-vacation' for the famyFamily since accomodations and meals were practically covered. *wink*
I don't normally read in moving vehicles because I would feel giddy, but I couldn't wait 4 long hours for our drive from KayEll to JayBee to end. So instead of taking short naps or chatting, I continued to indulge myself in another Potter adventure and completed The Order of the Phoenix.

On the 2nd day of our JayBee-stay, despite the delicious spread we had for Raya, I craved for the final installment of the HP series. *blush*
So I looked up the location of an MPH outlet nearest to my aunt's house. The first branch I called told me they were closing down, the second branch replied with "no copies available" but the last branch (kat downtown JayBee) promised to reserve a copy of The Deathly Hallows for me. Malam tu jugak pergi pick up, and I was ecstatic. *grin*

I took my time reading this last book, coz as much as I wanted to see the mysteries get solved and my questions answered, I didn't really want the magical journey to end.

I see now why there are so many Potter fans throughout the world. Never doubted them, but never understood why before. The brilliant Ms. Rowling, clearly and truly deserves all the hype and credits. It amazes me how she managed to come up with the super-interesting plots, with the many twists and unexpecteds, not to mention the colorful characters in her stories.

Sungguh best!!! But out of all seven books, I like The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Deathly Hallows the most.

Teringat zaman dulu when I was hooked on the Enid Blyton mysteries, the adventures are different, of course, but the mesmerizing feeling is the same. My only regret was not starting earlier!

But then again, the good thing about getting hooked on this series late is that I need not desperately wait for all the sequels, err... except maybe for the 8th one?





Penantian itu satu penyeksaan. Memang pun!

Hokay... let's get this over with.

Bold - I've read,
Italicize - I want to read,
Crossed out - won’t touch with a 10 foot pole,
Cross (+) - on my book shelf,
Asterisks (*) - never heard of.
Underline - the movies of the books I have watched
Left unmarked - heard but not sure whether would want to read them


1. + The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) - glad that i own the (huge) illustrated version. the pictures make the reading more interesting :) i have the ciplak DVD of the movie but belum nonton lagi.
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) - want to reread this sometime.
3. + To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) - bila nak baca ni? was in my 2006 To-Read list tapi tak baca-baca lagi.
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. + The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. + The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. + The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) - i have the big fat book that comprised all three LOTRs.
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. * Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. * A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. * A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. + Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) - i haven't watched the movie!
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) - this is also the only HP movie i have watched.
17. * Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) - read It and The Shining. gave me the creeps. i kept imagining seeing clowns when walking home from school. and for a while i was afraid to walk down a long corridor alone.
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. + Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) - bought during a sale at MPH but belum baca.
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. * The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. + Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) - loved book, enjoyed movie.
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) - got movie? or miniseries? remember seeing Ralph Fiennes...
28. + The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) - i haven't watched the movie!!!
29. + East of Eden (John Steinbeck) - this book very the tebal. tak berani attempt lagi :p
30. + Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom) - this book got movie also kan? have not watched the movie.
31. * Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) - this book made me cry.
33. * Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. * 1984 (Orwell)
35. * The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. * The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. * The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. * The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. + The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) - finished reading this book in a day (during pantang).
41. * The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. + The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) - recently purchased
43. + Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) - read the other books by Kinsella (the Shopaholic series) except for this one and the new one (with the baby).
44. + The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) - read the book but missed the movie when astr0 showed it on THC.
45. Bible
46. + Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) - another super tebal book. i started reading this sometime masa pregnant with Sofea, but never finished it and i don't remember why.
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. * The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. * Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) - was a reading assignment
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. * The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. * The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. + The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger) - recently read and thoroughly enjoyed. i hope the movie does the book justice.
61. * Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. * The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. * War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. + Interview With the Vampire (Anne Rice) - read this twice. once before the movie. another time after the movie. enjoyed the second read coz i kept hearing Brad Pitt's voice doing the narration hee hee. read the other books in the Vampire Chronicles too.
65. * Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. + One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. * The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. * Catch–22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo) - i watched the movie (quite long it was, but not that bad). yang ada claire danes, liam neeson and the guy from Shine: geoffrey (spelling?) rush.
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint–Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. + Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell) - there was a miniseries, kan? i was still kecik then. watched the series on TV coz my mom was watching it.
74. + The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) - the book was good. but the movie had Ralph Fiennes in it hee hee hee.
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) - i read this when i was young. but i think it was a summarized version or sthing. maybe Ladybird?
76. * The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. * A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. * The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. * The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White) - liked the story. yang tak berapa best sebab satu daripada watak utamanya adalah haiwan itu.
81. * Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. * Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. + Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier) - read and enjoyed Jamaica's Inn. Rebecca is in my To-Read list for 2007.
84. * Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. + Emma (Jane Austen) - want to reread this sometime too.
86. * Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. * Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields) - read this a long time ago. somehow i can't recall when and where.
89. * Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. * In The Skin Of a Lion (Ondaatje)
92. * Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. + The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) - in my 2007 To-Read list.
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. * The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. + White Oleander (Janet Fitch) - was in my 2005 cum 2006 To-Read list. never got to it. not sure if this title would be carried over to 2007's list or not.
98. * A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. * The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. * Ulysses (James Joyce)

I used to read a lot of Ag@tha Chr1stie. I still do, sometimes, in between books. Old habits die hard :)

I've only read one HP book! And it was not self-owned. Musti start koleksi soon.

By the way, where did this list of 100 titles originate from? Based on bestsellers ke?