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I had this book for a long time. I didn't even know what it was about, I just liked the cover (I also have other 'Pulp! The Classics' books). I wanted to get back into reading, and this seems like a quick read (just a little over a hundred pages) so I decided to give it a go.  Gregor Samsa is a young, hard working travelling salesman. One day, he woke up feeling odd and to his horror, he turned into a large bug (didn't exactly say what but most people think of him as a roach). I HATE bugs, cockroaches to be specific but I do feel sorry for him. Not just the fact that he turned into a roach but his family kind of discarded him because he's not useful anymore and he turned into a burden. I don't even think it's been a full year but they're already at the end of their limit. But at the same time, I do understand his father and sister. On the surface, caring for him doesn't sound like a lot (just give him rotten food and keep him confined in his room) bu...

I'm sure at some point most people have thought about writing their own book. I know I have. I experienced it first hand how tiresome it is to look for specific information on how to publish your own book (like finding out if I need to have an ISBN number, or if I can self-publish an e-book on Amazon without using my real name, etc.). With APE: Authour, Publisher, Entrepreneur , all the information you'll need is here. You'll learn that self-publishing isn't as simple as typing out a story on your word processor, putting it up on websites that sells e-books and wait for the readers to come. You will learn that with patience and dedication, self-publishing isn't impossible. Despite being a manual,  APE is fun and conversational all throughout. If you have any thoughts on self-publishing at all, then reading APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur is well worth your time. I also feel that the website for the book is worth mentioning. Apart from more details abou...

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami I've watched the movie version of Battle Royale several years ago, but wasn't really interested in reading the novel until recently (after finishing The Hunger Games ).  The story in Battle Royale takes place in a fictional world wherein Japan is a member of a totalitarian state called the Republic of Greater East Asia. Every year, 50 third year high school classes are selected to participate in the Program. Under the guise of a school trip, the students are brought to an isolated area, where the students are forced to kill each other until only one survives. I had issues with the book, as I found some of the quips to be really cheesy. It was set in the 90's and it's virtually impossible for me to think about the 90's without cringing, so it was forgivable. Other than that I have no complaints. The plot structure and the character development in Battle Royale is amazing. The reasoning for the political setting is well define...

The Hunger Games Trilogy A dear friend of mine recommended The Hunger Games Trilogy to read, and having nothing else better to do, I did. Unfortunately, I didn't liked the books as I hoped I would. The story starts off with Katniss Everdeen, a young girl living in District 12 of Panem. Katniss volunteered to take part in the Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Prim. The Hunger Games is an annual event organized by The Capitol (rules and oversees the 12 districts of Panem) in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the districts are selected via lottery. The participants must kill each other and only one person can emerge a winner.  I've read many books that are derivative, but somehow, reading The Hunger Games bothered me a lot. The plot is eerily close to Battle Royale (and was reminded a bit of my beloved Firefly : Alliance = Panem, The Capitol = Core Planets, and Outlying Planets = 12 Districts). Another thing that bothered me was the la...

I've never been really particular about my choice of mobile phones. My current one (and almost a year old) is a Samsung C3300K Champ , which came free from my mobile carrier. It doesn't have fancy features but it gets the job done. I don't really do much on my mobile phone apart from texting/calling/listening to mp3's. But there are times when I have to catch up on my reading list so badly but can't be bothered lugging around a book. I've thought about getting myself an ebook reader a couple of times, but I doubt it if I'll actually use it often since I still prefer books. Many mobile phones now can read pdf's or available software which enables you to read pdf files. For some reason, I can't seem to find a software for Java phones that reads pdf files properly. That's why I mainly resort to reading .txt files on my mobile.  I've tried a lot of .txt to jar converters, but the best one I've tried so far is the QiC Mobile eBook R...

The season 3 ender episode of The Adventures of Merlin went on air a few hours ago. I haven't seen the episode yet, as I am waiting for my sister to wake up so we can watch it together.... but I am really, really excited! Though I can't wait to watch this season's last episode, I'm a bit sad because the next season of Merlin won't be aired until 2012 . To tide me and my sister over till the next season, we vowed to collect all of The Adventures of Merlin books ! Haha! We found a lot of sellers on ebay selling the books at a fair price with a minimal shipping fee, but we got really lucky with this seller ( Goldstone Books ) as we purchased two hardbound Merlin books (The Dragon's Call and The Mark of Nimueh), one Merlin paperback (Merlin: Potions and Poison), and one paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, all for GBP 16.61 (P&P included). L-R: The Dragon's Call, Potions and Poison, The Mark of Nimueh. LOTR book ...