Musing Monday's (Oct. 5)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about books on your wishlist…

Last week we talked about keeping a wishlist. Why not pull out that list and show us some of the books you’ve been eyeing off?

Although I have so many many many books in my TBR either physical or ebooks that are just waiting to be read.. I still have quite a wish list.. Some of it is on Shelfari but I will put some of them here.. in no particular order.


In the Dark by Brian Freeman

EDIT: I discovered that this is the US title for a book called The Watcher which I have already bought. I thought it was a new book and was wondering how come I didn't get to see it in Borders where I bought The Watcher :D Sorry about the confusion ;)

Going Too Far By Jennifer Echols


Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson

Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson


Killer View by Ridley Pearson


Think No Evil Inside the Story of the Amish Schoolhouse Shooting...and Beyond By Jonas Beiler


I, Alex Cross by James Patterson


The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz


Bitten and Smitten (Immortality Bites Series #1) by Michelle Rowen


So what's on your wishlist?

Musing Mondays (Sept. 27)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your wishlist…

Do you keep a book wishlist, either on paper, Amazon/etc, or via a book database site (Shelfari, GoodReads, LibraryThing)?

If yes, do you share this list with others (especially coming up to Christmas)?


I do have a wishlist on Fictionwise and also on Shelfari, but the one on Shelfari is basically most of my TBR list.
I don't get books as gifts except when I won an Amazon gift certificate from a Shefari group (Play Book Tag), so I keep the lists for myself to know what to buy when I do go shopping for books.
I know I have to organize by piles and keep the books I have separate from the books I wish to buy, so I just might do that since the idea came up.. When I feel like doing it :)

So do you have a wishlist stored somewhere ??

Musing Mondays (June 15)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about award winning books…

Do you feel compelled to read prize-winning (Giller/Booker/Pulitzer etc) books? Why, or why not? Is there, perhaps, one particular award that you favour? (question courtesy of MizB)

No I don't feel compelled at all to read a prize-winning book, I might be curious once in a while if it's a genre I usually enjoy that's why I failed miserably in the Book Awards Reading Challenge.. I just couldn't make myself finish it.. it felt like a frustrating homework that I just had to do and will not enjoy so I just stopped trying.. I finished 7 books .. I enjoyed 4 of them :

Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Newbery Medal 1978 )

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harric (Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original in 2001)

"B" Is For Burglar by Sue Grafton (Shamus Award for Best Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America in 1986)

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers)

but I read them mostly because I wanted to read the book and not mainly because they are award books :) so some of those books I read I didn't even know they won any awards until after I finished it ;)

Musing Mondays (June 8)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading time…

Do you have a set reading time (before bed, perhaps)? Do you read more at night or during the day? Is there a day of the week, perhaps, that you set aside to catch up on reading?

Actually the only set time for reading is when I'm in the car since I don't drive :) other than that any free time I have that is not on my computer or in front of the TV would go to reading.. I sometimes read before I sleep but only if I went to bed not really sleepy or if it's early.

And since I always have a book with me, actually my reader, any free time I have waiting in line, going up the elevator or sitting in a boring party.. I just whisk my reader out and start reading :)

I know it's not Monday but I got caught up this week, so I'm trying to catch up on my posting :)

Musing Mondays (May 25)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about gift certificates…

Do you give gift certificates to book stores as presents? If so, do you give for actual stores or online stores? Do you like to receive them yourself?

I have never given gift certificates yet.. I would love to give them out because I would prefer my friends to get the books they prefer instead of giving them something they don't like or that they already have!
I would give an Amazon GC, never tried actual stores but it's tempting :)

Of course I love to recieve them myself, who doesn't?? I received a GC for Amazon from Play Book Tag a group on Shelfari.com .. that was so cool I was ecstatic, and went and got me a few books!!

I'm considering having a giveaway but since it's really hard to send books from my country because our post is not that reliable I've considered giving away GC's .. but I'm still in phase one :)

Musing Monday (April 27)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading non-fiction…
Do you read non-fiction regularly? Do you read it in a different way or place than you read fiction? (question courtesy of Diane)

I do read non-fiction but not as much as I read fiction, you might say about 1 book to every 20 to 30 fiction books .. So I read it once in a while, or in addition to a fiction book like now.. I have one on my nightstand that I read a couple of pages from every couple of days.. it's called Cheap Psychological Tricks: What To Do When Hard Work, Honesty, and Perseverance Fail by Perry W. Buffington, PH.D.. It's fun and the topics are very short about 2 pages each so it's easy to read a topic or two before going to sleep..

But when I was reading A Child Called It or it's sequels, the book was with me all the time so it had no certain place to be read..

What do you do? do you read non-fiction regularly?

Wanna see what other have to say ?? check here !!

Musing Mondays #9

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS (April 13) post is about blog comments

How do you respond to the comments on your blog?

Do you try to email individually or comment on post yourself answering the comments above?

What do you think is the best way to respond to comments and do you respond to all of them?

Do you feel slighted if you don't receive a response back from the blog owner?

(question courtesy of Jenn)

Well I have to sheepishly admit I LOVE comments! I love recieving them because it tells me that someone is reading what I'm writing.. it makes me feel loved :) pathetic right?!

Anyways, I always try to respond to every commenter individually but in one comment by grouping all the responses together in that single comment.. I don't know if you know what I mean, but you could check any post to see what I'm doing! I see that it's convenient and working ok!

I feel I need to do that to let the commenters know that I read their comment even if I'm late, I'll reply as soon as I can.. even if it's just to say thanks for passing!

I do that because I want them to know that I appreciate their effort for passing by AND leaving a comment because I know not every one who passes by leaves one.. not everyone has something to say.. I admit I do that sometimes.. well a lot of times.. but I'm not proud of it.. I like to leave comments but sometimes I don't have enough time to do that or I can't find something reasonable to say.. but I will improve my social skills.. I promise :) I know I can !!

I usually check out the commenters blogs too, and thats to read some of their posts and reply there.. specially if it's a new commenter, I go check their profile and their blog(s).. sometimes I even follow them and add them to my blog roll if I liked what I found.. that's why I have a huge blog roll!

As for emailing the commenters, no I have never done that unless there was a reason and they specified their email in the comment, I don't know if people would like being emailed just to reply to them so it never crossed my mind to do it. So I think I can say I only emailed 2 commenters!

But I wouldn't mind getting emails :)

I would love to recieve a reply from the blog owner, that would be GREAT, and if I don't I guess that would be ok.. he/she must have a reason for that!

I will continue commenting on the posts that I like or that grab my attention regardless :)

One last thing, I realised that I really liked the idea of people commenting on a post as a reply to a comment I made on their blog.. I found that really nice and always brings a smile to my face :) I will have to try doing that!

To check other's responses for this week's musing check here ..

Musing Mondays #8

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about your to be read list…

As a follow up to last week's question, Joseph asked how you keep track of your tbr list. Do you have a paper list or on your computer? Do you take it with you when you go shopping? How do you decide what gets added to it?

I never had a TBR list, I would just go to the bookstore and buy whatever looks good to try new authors or books by a favorite author, but since I was introduced to Shelfari over a year ago I have kept a virtual TBR on my shelf there..

I'm planning on making a spreadsheet to add to so I can have it accessible anytime and I do like Rebecca's idea of having it on her phone.. but it will be some huge file!!

My TBR shelf on shelfari has 890 books at this moment and I can't promise it will be the same within the next hour :) since I always add to it whatever book strikes my fancy when I'm reading reviews from the many blogs that I love to visit.. or having books recommended to me by my blogging or non-blogging friends.

What do you do? Do you have a list? Want to know what other bloggers are doing? Check here ..

Musing Monday #7

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about recording your reading…

Do you keep track of what and/or how many books you read? How long have you been doing this? What's your favorite tracking method, and why?If you don't keep track, why not? (question courtesy of MizB)

I never thought of keeping track of what I read until I was introduced to Shelfari by one of me 2 best friends, she sent me the link for the site on my birthday and I subscribed the same day.. it was one of my treasured gifts :)

that was in December 2007..

I joined the 50 book challenge there and started to keep track from January of 2008.. I tried to add the books I read in Dec. 2007 since it coincides with me buying my sony reader.. so since then I know exactly what I read and what order they were read in..

But prior to that, I know most of the books I read but I don't keep track of all of them, I added some of them to my shelf..but that's about it..

Lately I was introduced to writing reviews and I so enjoy it because I love reading other people's reviews :) and it reminds me what that specific book was about even after a while, because sometimes when I'm reading a series I kind of forget which book had what details in it, or what was the main idea of the book! Plus it gives me a chance to voice out my thoughts and ideas about the book since I don't have book buddies in real life, so it's annoying to not be able to talk about a favorite book or a hated book :)

To check out other responses for this week's Musing Monday go here ..

Musing Mondays #6

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about bookstores…
How many bookstores do you frequent? Do you have a favourite? If so, which one and what makes it so?

Recently I've been frequenting one bookstore that is very close to my house it's called Jareer, it's one of the biggest bookstores in my city. It has a very big variety of English books, even the new ones.

Other than that I shop online through Fictionwise, Amazon, Chapmagne Books or any other site I find that has good bargains.. and I usually look for EBooks when online :)

Sometimes I go to the bookstore to check out titles that I like, then come and order them in ebook format if available, to save some shelf space and get to use my reader more :)

I wish we had a public library in my city but unfourtunatly we don't :(

When I go to Malaysia I love to visit MPH bookstore and Kinokuniya!

Musing Mondays #5

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about talking to strangers…

We were all warned as children to 'never talk to strangers', but how do you feel about book-talk with random people? When you see people reading, do you ask what it is? Do you talk to people in the book store or the library? Why or why not? What do you do if people talk to you? (question courtesy of Dena)

I'm not really the person likely to start a conversation with a stranger, but if someone talked to me I would answer and if asked about my opinion I would give it honestly but not in too much detail so as not to bore the asker!

No I don't ask what people are reading, I might try to read the title if the cover is interesting but I would not be too obvious about it.

Sometimes I get approached at the bookstore about a book or an author or asked for a recommendation about a certain genre and I would reply as breifly as possible again not to bore the person! If the person is intersted in more details then I would give it.. If I'm reading a book and someone asks about it I would be happy to talk or discuss it!

So what do you do in these circumstances?!

Musing Monday #4

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about new authors…

What is your policy when it comes to new authors? Do you feel comfortable purchasing a book or do you prefer to borrow new authors from the library? How often do you 'try out' a new author?

I love trying out new authors but usually I check reviews first and see what others are saying about the books in general.. that usually happens when I read a lot of reviews and write down new authors to look out for and sometimes it's specific books..

Before I started reading reviews I would go to the bookstore and check the covers of the books and their titles, that is usually what attracts me to a book then I pick it up and read the back cover, if the story line suits me I'll buy it, it won't matter to me if I don't know the author or even heard about him/her.

As for the library, unfortunatly we don't have a public library in my city :( or I would have been visiting there weekly!

Musing Monday #3

This week's Musing Monday is ..

When reading do you read every word? Do you ever skip chapters or skim over parts? (question curtesy of Wendy)

I usually read word for word and sometimes I go back and read a paragraph or a few lines again just to savour it :)

Rarely do I ever skim something.. and if I start doing that it means I'm bored with the book but want to know what happens next.. usually it's boring details that are skimmed..

I've done the skimming of a few lines with Atonement in the second part, the one about the war.. it was just too boring and pointless to me.. but I finished the book in the end.

The other book I remember skimming through was Fledging, and that one I just couldn't finish.. I tried a couple of times but felt I'm wasting my time with something that I'm not enjoying so I stopped.. and I don't really want to know what happens in the end :)

Musing Mondays #2

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book reviews…

Do you read any non-blogging book reviews? If so, where (newspaper, library etc)? Do you have any favourites sources you'd like to share?

Actually I read reviews anywhere I could find them, be it on blogs or other different sites.. I check Shelfari, Amazon and sometimes the author's web page.

Sometimes my non blogging friends or family members recommend something so I go look on the net to check the storyline and then it might end up on my virtual tbr shelf on Shelfari.

I don't really care about the rating, I read the review to check if it's my type of book or not, what kind of genre it is and if the storyline is something that is interesting to me..

Why I do that?! Because I believe that everyone's opinions are different, me liking the book does not mean that everyone else is going to like it and the other way around is true..

One of the books that was recommended to me by a friend/collegue of mine was Harry Potter that was around 2002/2003. She introduced me to Harry's world when she was reading the forth book, convincing me to try out the first book and that it was very good and saying a lot of things about it.. so I went to the bookstore (Jareer) and bought the first book.. I've been a fan ever since!!

Then I recommended it to my sister-in-law, which resulted her and my brother being fans.. then my neice-in-law, which resulted with her and her sister being fans..

It was really nice to have discussions with people about the books that you all enjoy.. making speculations and assumptions till the next book comes out!! It was so much fun!!

I love getting recommendations from anyone who is willing to give it, it's not a guarantee that I would read it but it would be high on my list of choices..

Musing Mondays #1

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about bookmarks…What do you use to mark your place while reading? Do you have a definite preference? Do you use bookmarks, paper, or (gasp) turn down the pages? If you use bookmarks, do you have a favourite one?

This is my first time participating in th Musing Mondays but I saw it at Yvonne's blog and I thought it was interesting.. If you are interested to participate too just click here ..

My Answer ...

I love nice bookmarks. So when I go to the bookstore specially if it's a new one to me I have to check out their bookmark rack to see if something attracts me.. I like the ones with quotes or cute quirks on them, sometimes cats or roses.. I have 2 Harry Potter bookmarks specially for reading my HP books one I bought and the other a dear friend custom made specially for me :)

Lately I bought some book-thongs .. believe it or not that's what they called them.. I got them online and they are GORGEOUS.. they are beaded and stunning, two are inspired by the Twilight series.. One with a crystal heart and another with a wolf :)

The others just looked nice and I just couldn't NOT buy them too :) what do you think?!

BUT, if by any chance I get reading a book and I don't have a bookmark handy, I'll look for anything to stick in the book, a reciept, a business card, anything that is available in my handbag!! If I can't find anything I'll just put a clean tissue in there! But I NEVER EVER do that doggy ear thing to a book, it's too precious to me to be creased in that inbooky (like inhumane) way! I even hate seeing books that have suffered this torture :)