I honestly enjoy going to Borders the most at Mall of the Emirates, I can spend hours there just browsing through all the books that I would want to purchase and then there are the magazines, and more books later on. I have always wanted to grab all the books that I want to read, but after going through so many bookstores over the years I have come up with just a rule to only buy one book per visit that way I manage to go through the books I buy but that isn’t the case really. I forget about the books that I order online after making a note of them after visiting the bookstore. Recently I have had that much time to read all the books that I want but still I’m always happy to have a selection to choose from when picking up the next book. Going through Borders or any bookstore gets me thinking of what books I’m missing so that gets me searching more for other books and looking for other recommendations.
Musashi is one of the most notable men from Japanese History, and this book brings the story of this man to life. Musashi is a Ronin, a masterless samurai, who seeks to improve himself as a warrior. Musashi starts off as a rough young man, and through following the way of the sword he turns himself into a master of his form of combat. This story is about a man who goes on a journey to conquer himself to become a better man. Through his journey he crosses paths with other Masters and through each contact he overcomes the obstacles and learns from each event. The story builds up around Musashi and the people that get pulled into this man’s path, people can not help but get attached to this man because of his aura, and he prepares himself for the final battle and what differentiates himself from others is fighting outside the normal boundries of human thought, and putting himself on the line to prove his path. I have never been so engrossed in a book such as this, I have read this book three times since I picked it up over 7 years ago and everytime I read it I get the feeling of satisfaction from reading this book unlike I have gotten from any other.
Link: Amazon
Rating:
I have always liked Transformers, but since I knew about the movie it got me going again. I started watching some of the old cartoons and felt really entertained, and when I was at the Borders in the US I passed by the comic section and decided to skim through them. As my luck turns out they did have the Transformers comics so I picked up all the Transformers Comics or Graphic Novels that they had as well as one G.I.Joe comic since it was a complete disclosure of my favorite G.I.Joe character. I felt like a kid when I flipping through them and I remembered the feeling of wanting to go home just to read through them.
The Listing:
- Transformers – Stormbringer Manga
- G.I.Joe – Snake Eyes Declassified
- Transformers – War Within (1)
- Transformers – War Within: The Dark Ages (2)
- The Transformers : Infiltration (1)
- The Transformers : Escalation (3)
- The Transformers: Greatest Battles of Optimus Prime and Megatron
- Transformers Movie Prequel
- Transformers Movie Adaptation
- The Transformer: Spotlight (1)
I’m missing a few of them in between these graphic novels, but that is what Amazon is for and I will get the rest of them to complete each series so I may enjoy them all one go.
Continue Reading…
Whenever I am in London I can’t help but to pass by the bookstore, and I usually go there a couple of times. The first time is to give it a quick glance and to make notes, the next time I come in to the Book store is go through all the sections I want to check out. I made went to two bookstores and I picked up different books from each one!
Bookstores I spent parts of the day in:
- Hatchards Piccadilly
- Waterstones Piccadilly
I managed to find a nice variety of books and a few books I was looking for!
Waterstones Books:
- Brother Odd – Dean Koontz
- The Black Tattoo – Sam Enthoven
- The Dreaming Void – Peter F. Hamilton
Hatchards Books:
- Race to Dakar – Charley Boorman
- Voice of the Gods – Trudi Canavan (3rd book of the Trilogy)
- Richistan – Robert Frank
I managed to find a nice variety of books this time but its not as if I don’t have books that I haven’t read, but I can’t help get a book that seems really interesting and I know I will enjoy. One other thing I noticed while in London, an hour wouldn’t go by without somebody reading the new Harry Potter Book, a taxi cab, ice cream man, a bell boy, a waiter, random person walking, on a bus, at the airport, in restaurants, everywhere!
There are a lot of books that I would like to read because I want to find out what is going on in the previous books that I read or what this book is all about. These days I don’t have enough time to sit and read a book, but that doesn’t stop me from reading and going through books. Back in the day I wouldn’t mind reading three books at a time as long as they are of different types.
Currently Reading:
- Thief With No Shadow – Emily Gee
- Founders At Work – Jessica Livingston
And I’m enjoying both books thoroughly! Sometimes I just want to sit one go and read through them but at the rate I’m going I just pass out at some point .
I was walking around in Mall of the Emirates when I stumbled upon Borders as I was walking to the Electronics wing of the mall. I was in total shock and I couldn’t believe what I saw in front of me. I felt like a kid who just discovered the biggest toy store in the world staring right in front of him. The first thing I thought is that now I have a reason to visit Dubai more often. I went straight in and all I wanted to do was buy books and other things, but I had to hold off since I only had a carry on! It was fantastic, I really wanted to just stay there the rest of the day! I was so happy, I just going from section to section checking out the books, I couldn’t believe it. I thought it may be fake and they bought the name without the quality books but I was happily wrong! They had all the books I was looking for and more! I felt I was in my zone, there was a book for every person. So much to see and so little time! It has been open for 6 months, and the last time I visited was July of 06. They have a very large selection of books, and very well presented, its worth a visit.
When I first picked up this book I was really looking forward to Simon May’s experiences living and working in Japan as a professor at the prestigious Tokyo University or Todai. He gives you the feel of a person looking at the Japanese culture and interactions though a microscope. He is a witty nature to him, and has had some very funny experiences but this novel lacked the feel that the reader is part of the experience. I always felt that he was some what detached from his experience and so I felt detached from everything that was taking place. It does give a very good incite into the small culture ideals and actions of the Japanese and some window into their thoughts. Still I was expecting a more humorous book with the hectic of life in Japan, but it was more as if you were looking in through a window then experiencing it. It did provide a very good perspective into the Japanese culture but I had higher expectations in regards to the entertainment.
Link: Amazon
Rating:
Even though I know I made an Amazon order a couple of days ago its like Christmas ever time I see an Amazon Box in my room every time I get back from work. I bunched a large order of times all one go so that I can get the cost of shipping down. Whats surprising is they came so fast and even items that said for MOI inspection it seems they didn’t go which is really good, nobody seems to be checking these items and I hope they don’t check it anytime soon.
Books:
- The Making of Star Wars
- Founders At Work
- The 4-Hour Work Week
- Then We Came To The End
Anime:
- Karu
- Solty Rei
- Tokko
- Afro Man
DVD:
- Justice League Unlimited Season 2
- Justice League Season 1
- Justice League Season 2
Electronics:
- X-Box 360 HD-DVD Player
I can’t help but enjoy when I walk into Waterstones in Piccadily, it is one of the largets bookstores I have yet to see. When I walk in I get lost where to start because I don’t like missing good books. I start browsing and I randomly pick up a book and read the cover, as well as read the covers of the ones that I do find interesting.
I also roam about for a while on the ground floor between the 3 for 2 books and the best sellers then I go to the 1st floor for Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Crime, after that I head to the 5th floor to check out the photography books. Also on the top floor they have changed the restaurant they had and expanded it, I think its amazing place to sitdown with someone as well as some where to sit and read while getting a quick bite.
There is something about being in a bookstore that I find peaceful and you can just get lost in there, its fantastic, especially this bookstore since its so spacious and everyone is really helpful. The one section that I love about this waterstones is the finding the area with the recommended books, there is the main one on the ground floor, then there are recommended books from each genre which you can find on the different floors.
I have to stop myself from going overboard when I’m inside a bookstore, the problem is when I pick up a book and start reading and then I went to take the book with me. The most difficult thing is putting the book back in the shelf and walking away. I also came to the conclusion that you have to buy paperback instead of hardback book since you would be traveling. The hardback books fill up your back and make it feel even heavier then it already is. There were books that I picked up and there were books that I noted to order online because they were hardback, and their were some books that I could wait for and some that I couldn’t walk away from.
These are the books I picked up from Waterstones:
- 24 – Behind The Scenes by Cassar and Sutherland (An Essential Book for any Library!!)
- Thief With No Shadow – Emily Gee (Fantasy)
- Innocant Mage – Karen Miller (Fantasy)
- Sovereign – C. J. Sansom (Fiction History)
- The Interpretation of Murder – Jed Rubenfeld (Thriller)
- Operation Typhoon Shore – Joshua Mowll (The sequel to Operation Red Jericho)
- Nathan Fox Dangerous Times – L. Brittney
- Atomic Sushi – Simon May (Humor)
- Web Design: Studios 2 – Taschen
The rest I will be ordering online at a later point!