masterwordsmith-unplugged

I think my life has been shortened because of all the exciting experiences I had today. As early as 7.45 a.m. when I logged on to ping my blog post, I discovered to my horror that my laptop crashed thanks to smart alec me who installed this and that last night ...After a few futile phone calls to here and there, I managed to get teleadvice from J to reformat everything. Immediately when I succeeded, I quickly arranged with busy CW to schedule IT lessons.

And then there was work. By the time Michelle came at 11 a.m., not only did she bring me lovely pineapple cakes from Taiwan, but she also disclosed bad news.

"Did you know that Times bookshop is having a sale at Island Plaza?" she announced while gloating with folded arms. Obviously she knew that I had no idea about the sale :(.

"Oh - I guess I should not have told you because you would be buying more books," Michelle replied with a wide grin on her face.

Arrrrgh!!! She knew that my New Year resolution was to buy only six books this year and I have already bought two...

By the time she left at 12.30p.m. I started cooking lunch with a troubled heart. As I prepared the ingredients and other stuff for my tom yam fried rice, I was thinking of books books books. No wonder my son complained that it was not spicy enough :(.

Should I or should I not go to Island Plaza for the sale? The last time Times had a warehouse book sale, I ended up buying ninety books but then you see, I don't spend on clothes or perfumes etc. and only indulge in books, coffee and wine :-).

House cleaning chores followed and I was plagued with the same thought with every stroke of the broom and mop.

Swish I can go. Swish I should not go. On and on my mind was spinning...It was the same mode when I did my ironing.

By 3.10p.m I had to take my boy for his piano class which was rescheduled from Sunday. After dropping him, I had two choices - head for Giant at Penang Plaza or drive like a mad hatter to Island Plaza, shop for books in twenty minutes and pick my boy by 4.15p.m.

We reached his teacher's house at 3.20p.m.The minute he got out of the car and slammed the car door, I hit the accelerator, made it to Island Plaza by 3.40p.m. and ran up the escalator.

SHUCKS!!! So many rows of books, some of which were in dimly lit areas! How can I scan the titles by 4.10 p.m.??????

Well, I did it. It was a restrained harvest so to speak. I managed to buy the following:

1. Ken Follet's "The Pillars of the Earth" 35.90Rm -30% I read this one years ago and lent my copy to someone who never returned it :(.

2. John Grogan's "Marley & Me" 32.90RM - 30% This one is a gift from my friend Sandy who wanted to buy it for me on Sunday as an Easter present but I declined saying that I should wait when this one is on offer and I am glad I did...a savings of 9.90RM

The following books I got at a scream - 3 books for 10RM. SCREAAAAAM!!!! *heart palpitating*

1. Band of Brothers by David Phillipson

2. The Butterfly Effect by Pernille Rygg (I had to get this one cos I love the movie!!!)

3. Memoirs of Han Suyin by G.M. Glaskin (I read most of Han Suyin's books in primary school.)

4. Kepler by John Banville (who won the Booker Prize for The Sea and also many other awards for other books)

5. Home and Exile by Chinua Achebe (one of my favorite authors who also wrote Things Fall Apart which I have read like five times)

6. The Quarry by Damon Galgut (whose books have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and Commonwealth Writers' Prize)

7. The Service of Clouds by Susan Hill (another of my fav authors)

8. The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare (which I have read a few times but just had to buy it cos it is 3.30RM)

9. Jonathan Livingstone Trafalgar Square Pigeon by David Lines

TOTAL: RM78.16

What a fantastic bargain!!! After paying for my selection, I ran all the way to the elevator, drove at breakneck speed and picked up my boy at 4.20p.m. Phew! Rushing here and there certainly gave me a mega adrenalin rush and after my evening exercise, I will settle down to what else - devour my harvest!!!! Yippeeee! Although the selection of books good, it is not as fantastic as the ones last year where I got my Freakonomics for only RM8 and many other incredible bargains for famous titles. Otherwise, yours truly will be in dire straits. Still, I am happy for the wonderful mark downs for certain titles.

The sale will be on till Sunday but I will be a good girl and I will TRY not to go there again :-). If you are from Penang, why don't you swing to that part of town and take a look at the array of books on display? I am sure you will be tempted, especially by the 3 books for 10RM offer (some of which are hard cover editions!).

Take care and have a lovely evening!