And Then There Were None

Yes. And then there were none. I just finished reading this mystery novel by bestselling author, Agatha Christie. It’s absolutely chilling and grips you till the end. I’ll definitely check out more of Agatha’s work after this. Hehe.

The story told about ten strangers who were summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. These ten people are really a strange assortment. They were a successful Dr. Amstrong. Miss Emily Brent, an elderly spinster, neat and prim and very religious. Ex-policeman Mr. Blore, who now runs a detective agency. Miss Vera Claythorne, a young teacher looking for secretarial holiday post for extra money during the school holiday. Philip Lombard, a man who has travelled most of the world. General Macarthur, retired military. Anthony Marston, a young handsome reckless guy from rich family. Mr and Mrs. Rogers, house servant. Finally, Mr. Justice Wargrave, a retired judge. The only thing they have in common is that all of them have a wicked past that will soon be revealed but neither willing to admit.

As they arrived together at the Indian Island, they were delighted to find a beautiful house waiting and look forward to spend a good time there. Strangely though, they’re host and hostess, supposedly to be eccentric millionaire is nowhere on the island. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, hired as the house servant arrived earlier on instructions through a letter then informed them that their unknown host is delayed and will only arrive the next day. This news also came through a letter. Meanwhile they should be shown to their rooms and dinner will be served. During dinner they noticed that at the centre of the table there’s little china figures, ten of them likely to resemble ten little Indian boys. Indian Island, get it?

After dinner is when the truth begins to reveal. As they were sipping coffee in the drawing-room, a strange voice belted through the room. The voice reads out charges of indictment to each one of them stating the crime of murder they had committed in the past. Of course it took everyone by shock. I think I won’t go into detail here. It will ruin the surprise. Let’s just say that after that one by one of them die. Murdered. And every time a person dies, one little Indian boy went missing from the dining table. Though they search the island thoroughly, they found nobody else. Their host never shows up. This leaves only one logical explanation, that the murderer is one of them. They now eyed each other with suspicion yet they have to work with each other in order to survive and to find a way out of the island.

The murders were carried out parallel with an old nursery rhyme. I’m sure you’ve heard it before. The poem was hanged over the mantelpiece in every room in the house. Creepy nursery rhyme I must say. I think it was altered a bit to suit the Indian Island.

Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indian boys travelling in Devon;
One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went and hanged himself and then there were none.

You could probably guess the ending. As the title suggests, and then there were none. But who’s the real killer and why are they being punished on the island. It will leave you guessing till the last page. I keep changing my suspect but I still got it wrong in the end. Good luck! Hehe.

I don't shop because I need something,

I just shop for shopping's sake.

~Cat Deeley

Bookaholic?=p

I’ve no doubt everybody who has read this book love it. Or specifically love the main character of this book, Rebecca Bloomwood fondly known as Becky. She’s eccentric, a bit impossible at times but she’s also fun, loving, funny and always there for her friends and family. A bit of a klutz too but I find her soo adorable. The only problem is she likes shopping, too much. It’s in her adrenaline to buy things every now and then, doesn’t matter where, even in the museum gift shop. From the most expensive branded thing to the cheapest item on sale. She simply couldn’t stop herself. If only she had equally enough money, then it wouldn’t be a problem. Hehe.

Truthfully, I first started reading the 4th title which is Shopaholic & Sister three years ago which I bought in a secondhand bookshop and I was like “why haven’t I heard of this great book before?” After that I went hunting one by one the earlier titles and this time I bought it firsthand. I don’t mind spending more coz these series by Sophie Kinsella is really are page turner=p

So Becky is a Londoner and she works as a journalist for a financial magazine which totally doesn’t suit the shopaholic she is. She can’t even manage her own finance. That’s how she met her husband though, through her job. He owned Brandon Communications, the biggest financial PR company in London. And she’s so lucky to have a husband like Luke Brandon, set as the most eligible bachelor in London. Hehe. Why? Because Luke really loves Becky for who she is and even love her flaws. And what really attract him is how she always makes him laugh with her shopping antics and quirky ideas. It’s a diversion from the serious man he is as a successful businessman. As I see it, Becky loosens him up and teaches him to enjoy the other good things in life=)

The first book introduced us to Becky and her compulsive shopping habit. It ends with her getting together with Luke. In the second book, Becky finds herself in the capital city for shopping, New York itself! She moved there to follow Luke who decided to open his company branch in the Big Apple. In the third book, Luke proposed! So Becky is busy preparing for her wedding and she is torn between her mother’s wish for her to get married in England while Luke’s mother (who abandoned Luke since he was a child) wants them to get married in the elite New York. It’s hard for her to choose as Luke is really keen to have his mother back and wants to please his mother. (Besides the fact that Luke’s mother is sinfully rich who wants to fund the whole event, planned at the most glamorous sought after hotel in New York. Complete with the New York Philharmonic! Hehe)

In the fourth book, Becky is happily married and suddenly she found out that she has a sister! She was so excited to have her own sibling. Yet something is not right. Her sister hates shopping!=p Finally in the fifth book, Becky is pregnant and she’s got a new job and life is blooming for her. She’s getting a designer nursery, the coolest pram and also the celebrity must have obstetrician. That is until it turns out that the celebrity obstetrician was Luke’s ex-girlfriend who’s glamorous, beautiful and intellectual. And Becky thinks she’s going after Luke and trying to steal her husband. (This is so true except nobody believes her, even Luke) But in the end everything turns out right and they had a baby girl=)

In every title, Becky somehow managed to land in trouble besides drowning in her debts (it helps though that she married a rich guy=p). And it’s always really funny to read the letters she wrote to the bank manager or shop owner either to extend her credit limit or to express her loyalty to any branded name just so she could get special discount. These letters were attached in between the story in the real letter format with letterhead, signatures and such and it makes the book more interesting.

If you’re looking for a great chic lit novel, then this is the book for you. I assure you that you’ll have a hard time to put it down=)

:: Shopaholic series are made into a movie which is set to release on 13th February 2009 (U.S release). It is based on the first two titles from the series, Confessions of a shopaholic and Shopaholic takes Manhattan.

I’ve seen the trailer and somehow I don’t think Isla Fisher really portrayed Becky Bloomwood as I imagined her to be. Yet this is just my opinion. But then Luke is not her editor! He’s a successful entrepreneur, tall, dark and handsome. It’s disappointing if so much is changed in the movie. Huhu.

Adapt! Adapt!
The wheel turns and turns and turns,
it never stops and stands still.
~Mr. Panwallah

Who's Mr. Panwallah? Hehe. Those who've read The Village by the Sea by Anita Desai would probably remember him (this book is compulsory reading for English subject in KPM Matriculation 2000/20001) . He's the watch mender who teach Hari (the main character in this book) watchmending skill and lessons of life when he leaves his poor family in the village to find work in the Bombay city. He makes Hari realize that in life changes will come sooner or later and it is up to us to find our way around the changes, to learn and go on with life. You see, Hari ran away from his village as he's frustated with his irresponsible drunken father and the poor state of his family. His mother was very ill and it is up to him and his elder sister Lila to take care of their little sisters. The only way Hari earn money is by selling coconuts if there's any and few vegetables he grows in their tiny piece of land. New factories are being built in their village which will take up most of the villager's farming land, new jobs are said for engineers and mechanics only and fishing no longer provides as it used to before. So the small village are very afraid of the changes to come.

In Bombay Hari is quite settled with a job in a cheap restaurant and as an apprentice in the next door watch repair shop. The old man's willing to teach him so that when Hari go back to his village, he can set up as the village watchmender. But Hari just laughed and thought that the villagers told the time by looking at the sun. What good would a watchmender be there. But Mr Panwallah said that one day Hari must go home, that he should never have left his mother and sisters. Hari protested saying there was nothing left for him to do there. But Mr Panwallah makes Hari sees changes in positive view. He said that Hari can find work anywhere as long as he use his hands. Because when the factory is ready, houses will be built for the people who work there. Workers will be needed during the building stage and later the engineers and mechanics who's coming to stay there will need food. Hari can sell more vegetables and coconuts. Or he could buy chickens with the money he made in Bombay and set up a poultry. And of course they will have watches and clocks and one day Hari could be the first to open a watch repair shop in the village. Hari was very happy to hear that. It never occured to him.

~this is turning more and more like a book review..hehe

So actually I found this book while burrowing through my old books and I remember this piece of thoughtfull advise that I want to share here. Adapt. Nothing will remain the same. So you have to adapt. It's what I told myself as my circle of friends change when I go from matriculation to university to the working life now. It's what I remind myself when I got my first posting at a hospital in Pahang and I was so reluctant because Pahang is such a foreign state to me. Of course at first we'll be scared because we're already comfortable with the life we had. We have to learn how to adjust our life around, make changes and make ourself comfortable again. That is until the next transition or changes in our life. But that is life my friend. It goes on and on=) oops..Kind of in a hurry now. I don't think I'm done yet. Will update later. Ngee~


:: Picture of the Eye of Malaysia, taken last year. Great ride!=)

“The Soul of the World is nourished by people's happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation. All things are one. And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
~Paulo Coelho

I love this book. It's written by a really well known Brazilian writer, Paulo Coelho. He's known to write spiritual fiction, full of philosophy. And he's also a great poet. I love it for the beautiful words used, for the lessons that he successfully conveyed and for the location the story took place, from the fields of Andalusia, to the old fort of Tarifa, the narrow streets of Tangier market of Morocco in Africa, the vast Sahara desert and to the enchanting pyramids in Egypt. Those places to me are sort of magical for its culture and folklore, full of delights to discover and such mystic destination I would love to visit one day.

The story relates to one's desire to find their destiny in life. About one's adventure following his dreams and finding his treasure. The main character is a shepherd boy, Santiago who had always dream of travelling the world. In fact, that's how he became a shepherd in the first place. Because according to his father, among poor people like them the only way to travel is by becoming a shepherd. (Shepherds do walk many miles I guess, for their sheep to graze the field=p)

Santiago had the same dream twice. In the dream, he was brought by a child to the Egyptian pyramids and was told that if he went there, he will find a hidden treasure. So after several more encounter he decided to follow his dream and find the treasure. Along the way, Santiago met many people who in a way help him to find his treasure. But he also somehow left an impact on the people he met though he may not realize it.

The ending is so unexpected that I find myself flipping to the front pages to reread. But I really learn a lot from the story. I learned that we must never be afraid of changes, that we must try to realize our destiny by following our dreams. But really, the biggest lesson I learned is that sometimes what you're looking for is just right in front of you, at your own place. While searching for it though, we may have travel far and gain many life experience which is far more worthy than the treasure itself=)

You know you've read a good book

when you turn the last page

and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.

~Paul Sweeney

Yup, the book that so capture my heart. I can still remember the first time I read it. Property of Maisara Ashran@Sareque (a cute friend of mine), it was during SPM weeks in 1999. Just imagine, during examination week! That just proves how good this book is. I simply can't put it down. In between final revision of exam subjects, I managed to finish this book in a week. Ngee~ Luckily, my SPM result turns out quite well=p

So, basically the book is about a sweet, intelligent and imaginative little girl by the name of Sara Crewe. She was the daughter of a very rich young man whose wife died delivering Sara. Sara was very close with her father and they love each other immensely. Captain Crewe loves his daughter so much so that she was treated like a little princess. She could ask for anything she wanted in the world and her dearest daddy won't hesitate to comply. (Luckily, she didn't become a spoil, ungrateful child..hehe) She loves reading and she would asked her father to get her all sorts of books especially the big, fat ones. Mind you, she even reads French Revolution and she's only seven years old! Like her daddy said.."She is always sitting with her little nose burrowing into books. She doesn't read them. She gobbles them up as if she were a little wolf instead of a little girl."

Sara was born and lives in India as her father was posted there. But as she needs to start going to school, she was brought over to London by her father to get the best education she can. She was sent to a private girl's seminary owned by Miss Minchin, a strict cold hearted lady and her younger sister Miss Amelia, a clumsy person who obeys anything her sister told her to do. As Sara had great clothes, her own French maid and personal carriage, this set her apart from the other students. Even her doll Emily had clothes as splendid as hers. Lace frocks, velvet frocks, hats and coats and gloves and handkerchiefs and furs. My..my..lucky doll. Hehe.

Sara's greatest joy is to 'pretend' things to make life more magical and she shared it with everyone especially those less fortunate than herself. And boy, she's really good at it. However, suddenly and tragically she was thrown into poverty when her father dies and it changes the way people treat her. And through this hard time she used her imagination to keep up her spirits. I like how the book says it on the back cover, 'Sara must keep a strong hold on her vivid imagination and tender heart to prove to those who ill-treat her that even through hardship she can remain 'a little princess' =).'

To me this is a really heartwarming story about a girl's struggle to survive life which can be so cruel to a young girl. Please be prepared with lots of tissue. Hehe=p

::A Little Princess was also made into a movie in 1995.

::Frances Hodgson Burnett is also the author of The Secret Garden.