Illusion by Frank Peretti (ARC)

I'm not sure why, but all my posts seem to be very "gushing" lately. I think it's because I've been reading so many great books(: So get ready for another "gushing" post, because I'm going to review Frank Peretti's latest book: Illusion.

Illusion is a Christian-Science Fiction-Thriller-Romance kind of novel to me. It revolves around Dane and Mandy, a husband and wife magic duo, which was tragically cut short when Mandy died in a car accident. But to Dane's surprise, he sees a woman who resembles Mandy not long after, and this is the Mandy at 19. As for Mandy, she's very confused, having found herself in a disorienting future. Yup, this involves time travel.

I must say though, the science behind it is stretched beyond the limits, but I had some fun thinking about it. The use of a Machine to alter the timelines wasn't very novel, but Mandy's -mini spoiler alert!- ability to control was (I think. I don't read many Science Fiction books). But I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek humour when the characters commented that all these explanations were so confusing. Yes, that's exactly how I feel for quite a lot of books!

But what I liked about it most was how the characters maintained their faith. Mandy prays, Dane prays and it's so great to see them doing so. Plus, the fact that they maintain their integrity deserves respect. Let me explain; because Dane and Mandy were married, there's an attraction between the 60 year-old Dane and 19 year-old Mandy. But, Dane doesn't give in to temptation and I can happily say that this love story was kept clean at all times. Plus, it's a really touching love story.

The ending was great too. It was expected yet unexpected if that made sense. I knew there had to be a twist, but it wasn't quite what I expected, but it all turned out how I wanted it to be. Ok, that was confusing, no more talk about it.

Bottom line, this book is great. Although it has Christian themes, motifs and symbolism which I enjoyed reading, it's not "in-your-face" pushy (nothing spoils a book more than it being a sermon in disguise. Which explains the success of Narnia and Lord of The Rings). Plus, it's a very good alternative if you're looking for something other than the normal chick-lit romance, or even YA-romance (or for that matter, those thriller/chase-romances).

Disclaimer: I got this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my free and honest review.

The Man Who Was Thursdays (Quote)

I realised that it's been quite some time since I've had posted a quote (+picture). For some reason, the picture above reminds me of the quote below:

“I? What am I?" roared the President, and he rose slowly to an incredible height, like some enormous wave about to arch above them and break. "You want to know what I am, do you? Bull, you are a man of science. Grub in the roots of those trees and find out the truth about them. Syme, you are a poet. Stare at those morning clouds. But I tell you this, that you will have found out the truth of the last tree and the top-most cloud before the truth about me. You will understand the sea, and I shall be still a riddle; you shall know what the stars are, and not know what I am. Since the beginning of the world all men have hunted me like a wolf—kings and sages, and poets and lawgivers, all the churches, and all the philosophies. But I have never been caught yet, and the skies will fall in the time I turn to bay. I have given them a good run for their money, and I will now.”

From The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

The Research Virtuoso by Toronto Public Library

Ok, I admit it. I'm terrible at research. When I was in IB, I spent so much time researching, only to end up chasing dead ends. The one example that sticks clearly in my mind is about my Business and Management (BM) research paper. I spend more than an afternoon merely looking for Malaysia's crime statistics. In the end, all I found were the statistics for one year, more than 5 years ago. Hopes of interpolating and finding a trend was dashed, and I ended up relying a lot on interviews.

Which is why, I wished I had read this book a lot earlier.

The Research Virtuoso is basically a short but fairly comprehensive guidebook on how to do primary and secondary/desk research. It's written in a way that targets (if I'm right), university students, which really, makes me the target demographic (give or take a few months). And all I can say is, it works.

The book is broken down into four sections:
1. Getting Ready: Preparing yourself for Research
2. Digging in: Locating information (and includes very helpful information on how to use the Internet, library, archives and interviews to gain information)
3. Taking Stock: Evaluating and Processing Information
4. Getting it out there: Communicating your research (the writing part).

Needless to say, I took copious amounts of notes while reading the book. I hope the print copy comes to Singapore before I leave, because I definitely want to buy a copy for reference. One of the most useful parts of it is the "Grab & Go" section, which contains summaries and templates (and seriously, until the book mentioned it, I never thought of using Venn Diagrams as a template for Compare and Contrast Essays). Although much of the location specific examples are Canadian, I think this book will be very useful for any student that needs to write a Research Paper (like an EE).

Disclaimer: I got this book free from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions written here are my own.

Three Questions with Patti Roberts

If you can recall, I wrote a review of the Paradox series by Patti Roberts sometime in mid-January. Now, in a follow-up, here are three questions that I asked, plus, a contest!

Me: What is your favourite character? Does having a favourite character make it easier to write about her?

Patti: I have so many favorite characters. They become my favorite usually because it is so easy to get into their heads so writing dialogue for them becomes so effortless, natural. You can actually picture them saying and doing the things they do.

Me:Are any of your characters based on people you know?

Patti: No characters are based on people I know. Some of the characters traits and names are though.

Me: And finally, an unrelated question: What bookshops do you recommend if someone visits Cairns?

Patti: That is hard to say. most of the big ones have closed down because so much is available on line nowadays. I will have to check for you :))

And since I'm sure that I left out many questions that you're wondering about, don't worry, Patti has a wonderful Question and Answer page here that goes beyond the usual "questions-about-motivations" into questions about the world of Paradox.

In addition, Patti is currently hosting an art contest.  She's looking for art work/fanart based on the Paradox series, and apart from having your images published in the book or her blog (credited, of course), prizes include, and I quote: "There are complimentary ebooks, t-shirts, caps, posters, tote bags and  signed copies of  the paperback version that the winners artwork is published and credited in."

I may not be artistic, but I'm sure many of you are. And if you're stuck for inspiration, Patti has a list of ideas on the contest page that you can use. ^_^