Sunday, May 1, 2011

Asking for Trouble: Tales of Saffy and Amanda

I'm back(:

After writing the review -fingers crossed-, and going to the library, I finally have books to read (and then review~).

It was my first time at the NEW library, and even if it sounds so superficial, I really love the brand new books, untouched by people and the ravages of time (although I do own a very well loved hand-me-down that I read all the time). The only fly in my ointment (I'm using so many cliches today), is that the selection of books isn't very good. Well, in the non-fiction department. I'm absolutely ecstatic with the fiction department, since they have so much more Agatha Christie books than Jurong Regional Library (which is my usual haunt). As soon as I saw the shelves, I decided that I had to come back.

It's a pity their non-fiction section is so small, because that's the only thing the library is lacking. It's actually a very pleasant place to browse (seeing that it calmed me down, because I arrived at the library one hour before closing time, only to find I didn't have enough money to pay the library fines), but I can't go to a library just to read. Ok, I can, but I do need my Business, Economics and Literature books for school (somehow, I always ending needing books for those). But, like everyone says, it's still a new library and it'll probably have a wider range of books in time.

This is really sounding like an ode to libraries, and my book review will look very short in comparison. But so far, apart from comic books (and "English Literature, a very short introduction", which to digress, I will review, but after Friday - reasons later) is Asking for Trouble: Tales of Saffy and Amanda by Jason Hahn. It's the first book he wrote, but for some reason, not stocked in Jurong Library.

If you have a chance to read the 8 Days magazine, you'll notice that at the back, there's a column detailing the humorous exploits of Saffy and Amanda, who are the writer (Jason's) flatmates. Yes, it's a Singaporean work and No, it's not literature, it's just humour. And for some reason, the local books I enjoy the most are those with humour.

The book itself, well, it's definitely not for children, although if you read the weekly column, you'd know that already. It's also not explicit either (unlike too many romance novels these days). It's just, well, reality I guess. I can't really tell, since I'm still a student and so sheltered. But the book is humorous and seems to depict Singapore accurately.

And honestly, I don't like Catherine Lim (unless she writes humour), even though she's supposed to be a good novelist. I much prefer humorists like Neil Humphrey and Jason Hahn.

And Happy Labour Day Everyone(:

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