"Profit from the Panic" by Adam Khoo & Others

I know my friends, Gary, Ju and Lays, will take digs at me for the long interim since my last review. But what the heck, the drought has got to stop sometime and today's it. This book is not fiction as you can tell. It actually straddles between the genres of self-help and financial guidance. Anyhow, it talks about how any recession, especially a big one, offers an opportunity for us to literally profit from the panic.

His premise, which is copiously backed up by 50 years of economic data, is that when things are at their worst, its time to pay serious attention to picking up stocks that are oversold but are fundamentally sound and viable. Of course, one needs to do the usual due diligence, such as knowing what the company does, whether it has comparative advantage and if its seriously under-valued. And of course, we need to at least know how markets work, how to find market bottoms and tops, and which sectors generally outperform the market in a recovery etc.

I find it an easy read, notwithstanding all the charts and analyses. In fact, anyone with some knowledge of basic economics and the stock market can dive in and be educated fairly quickly. In fact, I've been paying heed and putting to work some of the things I've learnt. And although I've always known that there's a way to comprehend and make the market work for you, I used to trade and invest on rumours and hear says. Now, I make sure I do the necessary homework before I go in. Not that there's much to play with cos I didn't divest on the way down last year, but I can at least start recouping some of the losses.

On the whole, I give this book a 3.8 out of 5 for its easy read and applicability. Go ahead and try if you don't believe me ; )

"Exit Ghost" by Philip Roth

Cut to Wikipedia's plot synopsis.

Roth's books alone have the power to depress me by the sadness of the human condition. For this reason, while I admire his books for provoking further thought, I deliberately introduce intervals between the time I read one book to the next.

I think it has been about a year since I last read a Roth book (before this). The title of which I forgot, and I believe I didn't finish the book. I think it disturbed me.

"Exit Ghost" is no different. Nathan Zuckerman's desire to enter into mainstream life, then eventually running away from it, as told from the first person perspective, is a compelling and depressing one. At the end of it all, he eventually realises about the inexorability, the utter futility, of running against life.

I can't say I liked Roth's books, but the feelings they stir in me always last beyond the time I close the book at its final page.

Geek rating: 3 out of 5?

Books by Walter Moers

When a book passes the 'So-So' to 'Good' mark in my books (pun intended... teehee), I usually try another book by the author. It's my way of assessing whether the author will rank it up there as one of my favourite authors, or will just drop to the reserve team - which I will only choose from when I run out of ideas.

Case in point - The City of Dreaming Books and The 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers.

Found in the science fiction section of Kino, Moers' books have always stood out for me amongst the wild eyed orcs and hooded mysterious heroes-adorned covers of other sci-fi books amongst the shelves. The cost was prohibitive however, over 30 bucks, but one time, during a 20% sale, I took the first plunge with The City of Dreaming Books.

The big fat book had illustrations interspersed throughout the story. By the author himself. I was sold. And I was subsequently bowled over by Moers creativity and imagination. He came up with a zany world called Zamonia, filled with colourful characters such as literary dinosaurs and a sinister shark grub (think shark head and worm-like body).

So top marks for Moers' critically acclaimed novels?
Not quite, at quite a few points along both stories, Moers went a little overboard with descriptions, which sometimes stretched for pages. Sure, the very original world and characters he created were great, but it did feel that he could be overindulgent at times. I ended up glazing over some sections of the text to move along with the story.

I guess Moers will have to settle for the reserve team, though he does feature quite high at the top.