Yes! I'm so excited! I'm going to Avril Lavigne's concert at Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur today!

The concert will start at 8.30pm but my friend and I will be there much earlier. I'm very, very excited! :D

This is Avril's second time visiting Malaysia. The first time she came here was around four years ago, in 2008. I was so sad I did not make it to her concert that time. Check out my 2008 blog post about it.

I have all four of her albums - Let Go, Under My Skin, The Best Damn Thing and Goodbye Lullaby. I have been her ardent fan since I was about 14, in 2002 when her first hit, 'Complicated' came out. Since then, I've never looked back!

Her songs are an inspiration to me. They are a comfort to me when I'm feeling down. They inspire me to be myself and to do what I want. I guess most people, especially young girls, are able to relate to her songs, most of them written by none other than her.

And now I get the chance to see her perform live! Can't wait! :)

Here is a recent interview with the 27-year-old Canadian rock star: Anything But Ordinary

This is the sixth post of the 30-Day Book Meme.

Day 6 – A book that makes you sad

I do remember reading several books that made me sad until I cried. No, I don't think I bawled like a baby but still, certain books did manage to evoke such strong emotions unlike other books.

But for this question, I'm going to pick a book which did not make me feel the happy kind of 'sad', you know what I mean. For example, Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern. It has a happy ending but I felt a bit teary for the two main characters who had to live almost their whole lives being apart until they realise that they are meant for each other. When they are already in their 50s. That's happy 'sad'.

For the really sad 'sad' kind of book, I'd choose The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. If you have read the book or already know how it ends, you might understand. This book absorbed all my attention and the ending was even more gripping. I could not stop thinking of the ending even several days after I finished the book. Here is my review of it.

Would you want to share a book that made you sad?

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Today, I finished reading and also reviewed Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. It is the sixth book in the popular Shopaholic series, which is one of my favourites. :) Do check out my review of the book.

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Here's wishing all my readers and also visitors of this blog a Happy Valentine's Day!

p.s. Did you watch the cute video on the Google homepage today (Feb 14)?

This week's Booking Through Thursday question:
My answer:

It's kind of hard to choose only five but here we go:

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

This book is downright endearing and funny. Even though the last time I read this book was years ago, I still remember how I used to chuckle at the main character, Christopher's thoughts and conversations with other people.

2. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

I read this book twice and oh no, I can't believe I haven't watched the movie yet! It is because of this book that I name Marchetta as one of my favourite authors. The only other book I've read by her is Jellicoe Road but that one is brilliant as well! In Looking for Alibrandi, I like the story, its flow and of course, the characters and what brings them together.

3. The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge

I remember liking this book because of how studious Lilli Stubeck was when she was under the care of an older, more cultured lady. Somehow, it was like a motivation for me to study harder and to read more books!

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This was among the first few classics that I've read and so far, I've liked only this! I keep watching the movie version too, the one starring Anna Paquin. Why I like this story? Hmm, probably because of the relationship between Mr Rochester and Jane, though I think Mr Rochester is way too old for her.

5. The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling (Yeah, I know it's already more than five, but any of the Harry Potter books will do)

Should I explain this?? Haha! I like the books because of the characters especially Ron and Hermione! :)

What books would you read again?

This is the fifth post of the 30-Day Book Meme.

Day 5 - A book that makes you happy

Oh dear, what does this question mean? How do I choose which book makes me happy when reading it? What kind of happy? Could it be happy with a funny, humorous book or happy with a book that ends on a happy note or something else? Ok, I should just probably pick one! And I admit that I'm going through my Goodreads page now to choose my answer.

*one minute later*

So I've scrolled through my pitiful selection of books on Goodreads and have come to a handful of optional answers. I want to choose Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern but the happy feeling I get from reading this book just isn't that of a strong kind of happy.

Therefore, I'm going to choose the Calvin and Hobbes comic book as my answer. Calvin is an endearing little character with all his funny antics and thought-provoking musings. His imaginary friend and stuffed toy, Hobbes, is just as memorable.

Combine the two with the other characters such as Calvin's parents, teacher, girl-frenemy (Susie Derkins - one of my favourite characters!), the baby-sitter, the bully and other characters that appear occasionally.

I've been reading the Calvin and Hobbes comic books ever since I was nine (??) or 10 years old. I don't read much of them now but would try to re-read them during my free time.

How about you? What are/were your favourite comic books? What book(s) makes you happy?

So now I'll compile books, movies, blogs, etc, that are related to Dickens.

Books:

Well, I'm sure you are familiar with his works such as Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Bleak House and The Old Curiosity Shop.

Wow. And I've just discovered several graphic novels of Dickens' novels. Here is an example:
A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel adapted by Sean Michael Wilson

Movies:


I watched this film on Nov 28 last year during the European Union Film Festival 2011 at Gurney Plaza in Penang, Malaysia. It starred John Mills and Jean Simmons. It was a rather old movie, in black and white, and I was not really familiar with the cast.

But I found myself engrossed in the movie and I liked Simmons who played young Estella. The young Pip did really well too. The movie was sort of humorous at certain parts though I thought that the ending rather abrupt. All that aside, I think the movie stayed close to the book. But I've only ever read the abridged version! (I know, I know. I have to read the entire novel one day.)

If you want to watch other movie versions of the Great Expectations novel, check out:
1. Great Expectations (1974 film) starring Michael York
2. Great Expectations (1998 film) starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow

For movies based on his other novel, Oliver Twist:
Oliver! (1968 film) starring Mark Lester and Ron Moody

and A Tale of Two Cities:
A Tale of Two Cities (1980 film) starring Chris Sarandon

Blogs:

I came across Reading Charles Dickens where the blow owner, Edward, is currently on a mission of sorts to read all the published works of Dickens or any publications about him, throughout year 2012.

Like what he wrote on his About page - 'For the next 365 days, I will eat, work, sleep and dream Charles Dickens.'

Reading Challenge:

I was wondering if there was a 2012 reading challenge with Charles Dickens as the theme when I found that Newly Impassioned Soul is hosting such a challenge. I think I'm going to sign up for it!

How about you?

Other fun stuff (on Etsy):

1. Charles Dickens necklace
2. Vintage English Charles Dickens style tin (pic left)
3. Charles Dickens Butterfly Antique Bronze Necklace
4. Oliver Twist Book Purse Handbag and Kindle E-reader cover
5. Great Expectations mini Moleskine journal

Don't you just love Etsy for all the random but really cool stuff that are sold there?? :)

Anyway, this is the end of this post dedicated solely to the very famous English author, Charles Dickens and his works of literature, also movie adaptations, which are still being read and enjoyed by millions of people worldwide.

I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Do you buy used books from the secondhand bookstore? Ever found any interesting scribbles in the books? You'd be lucky to find any!

I came across this really interesting blog a couple of weeks ago. It is called Forgotten Bookmarks with postings by Michael Popek, 'a used and rare bookseller who buys books from people every day'. Now don't you envy his job???

So every time he finds something in a used book, such as a bookmark, note, letter, recipe written on a scrap of paper, a hate letter, photograph, receipt, shopping list or other random stuff, he will just post it up on his blog.

I think I could start doing that too if I ever come across something like that worth sharing.

There's even a published book on the bookmarks he had found! It's aptly titled 'Forgotten Bookmarks'.

About the book:

As I was going through the older posts in his blog, Popek had posted on Jan 17 about how some $10,000 worth of books were lost in a pipe burst incident. What a huge amount. Go on and visit his blog to read about it.

I guess you might have noticed by now that my blog is sporting a new look. After almost six years of blogging and many changes to the blog's template (some rather unfortunate ones, some really nice ones) I have finally decided to get a professional blog designer to give my blog a refreshing makeover.

You know, nice templates are not easy to find!

What you see now on the blog is all thanks to the amazing Sheila of Blog Designs by Sheila. I contacted her on Jan 16 to request for a custom blog design, she replied and then, before I knew it, the blog designing process started! She was so efficient, patient and always asked me how I wanted my blog to look like. I also appreciated whatever feedback she gave me. I was really excited at that time and really could not wait for the final result!

If you were to ask me, what do I like best about my blog, it would be very difficult for me to just point at one thing and say that it is my favourite. For instance, in the header, I love the image of the girl (!!!), the stacks of books and the cute, little hearts.

I also ♥ the social buttons, the colour combinations, the blog post divider, the blockquotes, the fonts and the blog button.

As for the flowery background, I wasn't sure whether to go ahead with it. But after some thought and discussion with a few others including my mom and a friend, I decided to keep the background. It looks so cheery! That's how I want my blog to make me feel, to also make me be in the mood to blog about one of my favourite topics more often - books.

So now, it's a new year and thus a new look for Books Love Me! I am excited in looking forward to what the future holds for me and for this blog. :)

But wait, here's a quick run through of most of the previous blog templates! (Sigh...I wish I had kept screenshots of EVERY blog template I ever used here.) But anyway, enjoy!

About the challenge:

The goal is to outdo yourself by reading more books in 2012 than you did in 2011.

The level I'm going for: I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books

About the challenge:

To read books by Charles Dickens throughout the year. I aim to read at least three of his books.