I found this at Book Castle. I’ve not read it yet, and I suspect I won’t for a while. But I simply have to show you what I found inside:

The inscription says (to the best of my ability to read that pretty handwriting):

Isabel Barr
Prize for Needle-work
Thom Mv Mumford
Lupton School
June 19.1914

This inscription is 94 years old. 1914!! The book was published in 1906. Do the maths, people!!

There are two other things left in the book that may yield clues to where it came from. The first is this card, announcing the services and Bible classes for the Evangelical Free Church:

So we know the book either came from BC or passed through there at some point. The last item doesn’t tell me much. It’s a bookmark that is torn at the bottom:

Here are a couple of colourplates inside the book, because they’re pretty:

I love finding things like this! I’m always curious about who owned an old book that eventually lands in my lap. To think this one made the trip from almost a century ago and is still in such a good condition! This is officially the oldest book in my collection now. Yes, I’m completely thrilled!

See the original entry at:

Book Sunday: Forgotten Tales of Long Ago

See the original entry at:

Build, this 23rd

Oh well, a girl can hope.

With some gentle encouragement from Advertlets, I went over for a look. The site is not too bad, employing the pop-up book presentation that popped a collage of artwork, photos and animation at you. It’s medieval meets modern - the castle from a bygone era surrounded by buildings with indoor plumbing.  

So the King realises that those horseless carriages create a different sort of poop on the streets of the Distant City of a Distant Land. He appoints a knight (you!) to look into the problem.

Oh look, it’s you inside a tin can that is inside another tin can. Off to save the day.

There is a witch somewhere, and a requisite dragon Guardian whom you will eventually encounter two pages later.

“Ha HAH!” says our valiant knight (you). “Out of my way, foul beast.”

Realising that Monsieur Guardian technically won’t need a can opener, you make your escape. But your horseless carriage is quickly running out of juice and cannot outrun a dragon who knows you’re after his bling.

So our slightly dented and lightly cooked knight (you) does make his escape and end up seeking help from a reclusive engineering genius. 

There is so much steampunk potential in the image above. But alas, fantasy barely makes a dent in mainstream today, so steampunk’s gonna have to wait. Check back in another 10 years. But back to the story.

The guy with the goggles and stuff does have a solution for you - Fuel Efficiency! You return to Monsieur Guardian for a rematch. This is where things start getting fun. It’s game time!

The objective of the game is to outrun Monsieur Guardian. Basic left-right controls, pick up Power Boost for speed, pick up the Toyota logos for extra points, and lose points for hitting rocks.

As far as addictive flash games go, this one helped me discover my uncanny accuracy in hitting every goddamn rock on the road when I’m in Power Boost mode. Oh, the rightmost lane is perfectly free of rocks and logos. You just have to watch out for the dragon. My best score so far is 4100, in one of the rare occasions where I don’t hit as many rocks.

But no matter how crappy your score, you outrun Monsieur Guardian and collect the booty…

…which is Eco-Friendliness! You install it into your tin can steed carry it home to the Distant City of a Distant Land! There is clean air and rejoicing! The King gives you his youngest daughter’s hand in marriage and you both ride off into the sunset!

I guess the moral of the story is that you can’t go wrong with a powerful, fuel efficient, eco-friendly Toyota. But hey, the prize attached to this Toyota Quest For the Fuel-Efficient Engine is pretty tasty too.

Onwards!

See the original entry at:

Toyota Quest For The Fuel Efficient Engine

Cathy’s Book
Sean Stewart, Jordan Weisman, Cathy Briggs (Illustrator)
Published by Running Press
Hard cover, 143 pages

Cathy’s Book is described as an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) book. This means that the story is fiction, but the websites mentioned are real and behave as though they are part of the story. The phone numbers work if you care to call (I presume Skype will work too). But as a standalone, the book works just fine.

The book is essentially the diary of 17-year old budding artist Cathy Vickers - full of sketches, doodles, photographs, a few name cards, and other little treasures that girls would keep. But in this case, her items and diary focuses on her ex-boyfriend Victor Chan, who abruptly dumped her the night before the story begins. 

Cathy doesn’t know why but is determined to find out. She does the obsessive ex thing - stalk him, and break into his house and steal things that she consider clues. Most of these items are included in the book, not as images printed directly on the page, but real items. Many of these clues suggests that Victor was not completely honest about who he is. 

The note on the back of the book (masquerading as a synopsis) tells us that Cathy had already gone missing and left the diary in the care of her best friend Emma. What happened to her? No one knows yet, but you can always pop online and share your theories with other fans.

The sequel, Cathy’s Key, was released earlier this year.

- originally published in Good English, The Borneo Post

I’ll buy hard cover if it came with interesting bits and bobs like Cathy’s Book! That side pocket is stuffed full of things - a ripped up photo, a takeout menu, name cards, and a few coloured sketches done by Cathy. It does a great job in pulling the reader in.

I found the paperback version where all of those things are printed into a few pages in the middle. Well, that’s rather anti-climatic if you’ve already seen this one!

See the original entry at:

Book Sunday: Cathy’s Book

And now, back to my original post.

Michael Crichton died. :(

I read quite a lot of Crichton’s books after graduating to adult novels. The thing that kept me reading at the time and causes me to occasionally pick up something new of his is that I enjoy the scientific “what if” scenarios he writes about.

Jurassic Park was also an awesome movie* for its time.

On to happier news, Robert was featured in the Malay Mail’s Blogspot!

* but as always, the book is better

See the original entry at:

On Writers