Books returned.

Okay, now you can borrow MTV Guide to Italy and The Tipping Point. They've both came home :)

What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell.

Gladwell is arguable one of the best writers with the most prolific minds in this generation. And definitely one of my idol writers. 'What the dog saw' provides a different angle to social phenomenon that we so easily misconstrue on the cause and result. The book is essentially a collection of all his work featured in The New Yorker.

Famed from 'The tipping point', 'Blink' and 'The Outliers', Malcolm Gladwell is an inquisitive writer, investigatively poking into every subject imaginable in the business and social realm to get us to rethink the norm and re-evaluate our judgements. Leaf through the pages and you'll realise more and more questions popping in your mind versus a research that the writer would normally 'report' to you. And these questions don't leave you hanging, if at all, it makes our mind work harder and our moral values stronger because we shouldn't jump into conclusions just because it's a collective result neither should we rely on intelligent people to make intelligent decisions all the time.

I'd highly recommend planners to read all of his books. It certainly helped me to look at things from another perspective. It's not merely about looking in from outside the box. It's about dismantling the box and rebuilding it in a different way altogether. Buy it or rent it. Just read it.

Lonely Planet - France.

To France, to France. Again LP has one of the most comprehensive directory and travel ideas when it comes to catering to the independent traveller. Between Lonely Planet and Frommer's France 2010, the latter is catered to those with a mid to high range budget. Therefore, if you're looking to travel on a shoestring or at least a combination of budget and luxe then, pick this up instead.

Although, I have to admit I'm getting a little bored with the LP series. Although, yea they do seem like the most comprehensive travel guide available now. And once you're accustomed it its content structure, it does make navigation and planning a whole lot easier so that you can relax on your journey. I've been researching and planning 5 days a week, so I actually would appreciate less work and planning when it comes to holidays. Maybe I'm speaking of an untapped market here? For executives who unlike the globe trotters on Travel and Living who don't want to think for themselves for a change (or at least for 2 weeks), it will be great to have someone else do the planning. Oh well, Lonely Planet is a good start ;)

Oliver Jeffers - The Incredible Book Eating Boy.

Another wonderful and heart warming tale about a boy who has an insatiable appetite for books but in a rather peculiar manner. Soon, he learned that he needs to (as the title suggests) stop eating em' books!

Needless to say the artwork which comes with the story is simply adorable. Even if you're not a fan of children books, it's worth collecting as an illustrator's inspiration.

Oliver Jeffers - Lost and Found.

Simply adorable illustration with an admirable story of love. Lost and Found is like one of those 'Little Prince' type of children books - masquerading itself as child's bedtime story but in reality, the adult probably get more out of it. Sometimes, we forget. We forget who we are, we forget about our friends and we forget even, about the simplicity of love, companionship and innocence while growing up. And Oliver Jeffers managed to bring them all back to mind in these few but wonderfully illustrated pages.

Just remember, sometimes we're not lost. We're just lonely.

Kenny Shopsin - Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin.

Dry sarcasm with a larger-than-life attitude, Kenny Shopsin's entire life and character in between two hard covers. It doesn't just sell you the shop (no matter how hard he tries not to) and the dishes sold in the shop, it sells you his philosophy - of staying small and accountable to his passion and dreams, not fame and fortune.

I'm amazed with the neverending list of weird sounding yummies generated from the book, which is really a reflection of the menu. I'm quite doubtful with some food combination stated but then again, I don't think Shopsin would care for anyone's doubt.

Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading this book and the first thing in the menu that I'm gonna try making? Corn Chowder. Hmm... What better way to start the New Year than experimenting with some food stuff and friends ;)

Shopsin is a small and personal restaurant on Essex Street, New York. You can find a similar set up in Malaysia at Checkers (Damansara Heights). Great place for deep porcine affection - ribs and all - minus the overwhelming food list and attitude.

J.W von Goethe - The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Such passion locked in such compact epistolary novel. Goethe is a true romantic. He is gifted with a cunning ability to draw forth Werther's doomed passion from intricate poetic expressions to crisp punchy terseness. Dislocating himself from his romantic counterparts, Goethe seemed to have written to prove to his contemporaries that he can beg to differ in the zeitgeist where romance flourished in everything possible.

Every page is like a journey. It narrates Werther's mood beautifully - on his perspective, his predicament and how dangerous his desires can be. As much as I sympathize with his sorrows and long to set him free from desolation, I too, found myself getting consumed in anger and impatience for his overtly romantic notions. The sorrows of young Werther was laced with the early conception of Faust, our dear Faust, but in a complete paradox. Werther threw himself into the depths of darkness, burned in passion but one could still emphatize with his fate. While Faust who seemed to have inherited Werther's haughtiness and intelligence, amplified them to mock Fate and religion. Although both protagonists were wasted away because of their longing for the forbidden, they still maintain individual views on self-control and destiny on very different angles.

Goethe's flexibility is by no means docile because one could read his work and immediately identify its proprietor. And my admiration towards Goethe grows because he is a romantic, a poet, a dramatist. He's able to draw emotions from me and weave them into his narration creating a space where reality melds beautifully into fiction. I am definitely a romantic convert.

Look for it here!