I bet you would have known by now that the Man Booker Prize 2007 award bestowed to Anne Enright's The Gathering. It is yet another tale of a dysfunctional family! Intriguingly coincident, my latest (within the recent 2-3 months) read are mostly either about the dark side of family (Book #1-#4) or the gloomy side of life (Book #5 & #6).

1) The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls (Winner of Alex Award 2006)
http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Alex-Awards/dp/0743247531

2) Ugly - Constance Briscoe
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ugly-Constance-Briscoe/dp/0340895977

3) Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt (Winner of Pulitzer Prize 1997)
http://www.amazon.com/Angelas-Ashes-Memoir-Frank-McCourt/dp/068484267X

4) 'Tis - Frank McCourt
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tis-Frank-McCourt/dp/0007205244

5) For one more day - Mitch Albom
http://www.amazon.com/One-More-Day-Mitch-Albom/dp/1401303277

6) Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
http://www.amazon.com/Tuesdays-Morrie-Young-Greatest-Lesson/dp/0385484518

The bestseller lists are full of memoirs about miserable childhoods and anguished families. Why are authors confessing their hurt so freely and why do readers find morbid enjoyment in them? Errr... before you start to think that there is something wrong with me, let me add that Book #2-#4 are not mine; and I'd a completely normal childhood; although it could be more perfect if I was assigned with less housework and more pocket money. :p

Fine dining are probably the two most prominent words that sprung from a recent graduate’s vocabulary. Friends have been telling me that one of the best things about earning wages is to be able to afford nice food, which they usually splurge on after they were finally liberated from being a poor student. While I usually think twice before spending on food, I’ll not blink twice on other indulgence, i.e parting with RM260 in just 45 minutes at my music school last Wednesday. Nevertheless, once in a while, MH and I do check up new eating joints, which currently are sprouting like mushroom after rain.

When I received the notification to pick up a Poslaju letter from Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia, I cracked my head thinking of what possible serious offence that I could have committed which warrant the summon to be sent via express mail. It turned out to be the certificate of participation from Penang Bridge Marathon, but with 50 minutes discount!!! Thanks to the blunder, I finally did a sub-5 full marathon. Horaiii...... Unethical as it is, I’m so not going to surrender the certificate for the fear of never to see it again.

When I finally managed to steal a couple of hours away from the dizzying motion of life, I headed to my favorite place, sinning with venti mocha frappuccino while armed with these:

Marathon Record Is Set in Berlin

BERLIN - Haile Gebrselassie broke the marathon world record Sunday, winning the Berlin Marathon in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 26 seconds.

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I'll kiss the ground if I finish within 6 hours.