50 Buku Pilihan MBKM

Pesta Buku Frankfurt sedang berlangsung kini. Melalui blog ilustrator yang saya kagumi, Puan Emila Yusof, saya mendapat tahu senarai buku-buku yang terpilih sebagai 50 Best Titles oleh Majlis Buku Kebangsaan Malaysia (National Book Council of Malaysia) iaitu:

Art/Art & Crafts: 1. Shadow Play 2. Crafted in Malaysia 3. Wayang Kulit Melayu Traditional Kelantan 4.Susur Masa 5. Batik Malaysia

Biography: 6. Portrait Of A Thousand Smiles 7. Biografi Tun Abdul Razak 8. Kanang

Children: 9. Longhouse Days 10. Kailash 11. Puteri Tioman 12. Siri Merah Cinta Kita 13. Hikayat Hang Tuah 14. The Malaysian Art Book for Children 15. DearYayah,The Series

Cooking: 16. Malaysian Favourite Recipes 17. 1 Hari 1 Resipi: 365 Resipi 18. Gourmet to Health 19. 300 Menu Ramadhan &Syawal 20. 202 Khasiat Herba

Environment: 21. Taman Negara 22. Ocean Tapestry 23. Antartica 24. Siri Pendidikan Alam Sekitar: Pemeliharaan dan Pemuliharaan Hutan Hujan Tropika

Fiction: 25. Mustafa Kamal Atartuk 26. King of The Sea 27. The Beruas Prophecy 28. Antologi Karya Sasterawan 29. Legenda Elfarren 30. Adam dan Hawa 31. Tiara Pesona 32. A Cold Wind Blows

Islam: 33. Indahnya Hidup Bersyariat 34. Biografi Muhammad bin Abdullah 35. Fundamentals of Syariah in Islamic Finance

Malay Classic & Award Winning Titles: 36. The Old Man at The Foot of The Mountain 37. Cinta Sekerdip Embun 38. Senja Kala 39. Panglima Awang 40. The Last Day of An Artist 41. Le Champion 42. Antologi Cerpen Berunsur Islam – Cinta Masitah 43. Laut Takjub

Non Fiction/Language/Finance/Social: 44. Peribahasa Melayu 45. Catatan Latiff Mohidin 46. Empayar Melaka: Tradisi Agung Melayu 47. Nuansa Nusantara 48. Arowana: Ikan Hiasan Bernilai

Poetry/Play: 49. At A Plank Bridge – A Play 50. At-Tariq

Semoga penawaran ini mendapat perhatian pihak-pihak yang berminat untuk mendapatkan hakcipta penerbitan semula/terjemahan buku-buku Malaysia dan merancakkan lagi industri penerbitan tempatan!

Baguslah MBKM sudah ada laman sesawang mereka. Jikalau tidak silap, saya pernah mencari laman web mereka dua atau tiga tahun lepas tetapi tidak bertemu apa-apa.

Di bawah pula, senarai 50 judul buku bagi tahun lepas (2011).

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Understanding poverty

"My Umi rationed food so we also have food at dinner too. I could take the rice with only planta and soy sauce, yes I could take that. I was irritated at the way my Umi would divide everything into small portion sfor each of us siblings. But I could deal with that. Also the quarrels and fights when my big brother would 'sapu' some of my portions too - but really, I could handle that as well. I could also shower without soap or not brushing my teeth and the bad breath in school.

But the psychological trauma of seeing my parents quarrelling over and over again angered me so much then. At times, an RM5 issue would throw the family into days of distress, pain, misery, anguish, fear and sorrow.

It was a pain that pierced right through my heart that even as I am writing this now, today, year 2009, when I am no longer living in poverty, tears are rolling and rolling and rolling down my cheeks. The tears just wouldn't stop. The brain is a funny instrument. It does not seem to know the difference between the past and the present. So the past becomes the present, just by thinking about it! God it was so tiring ... I feel tired now just thinking back!"

-Anas Zubedy in his book 'The Quran and I', recounting his childhood

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I'm officially a fan of Flavia de Luce!

"Inspiration from outside one's self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: It changes the face of the world." This quote is taken from the book 'The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag' written by Alan Bradley. I like this quote for what it is, but it doesn't really give any idea on what the book is about.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag is the second book in the Flavia de Luce series, and I'm hooked! There's 4 books altogether now, and I will certainly look for them. This book started a bit slow, with the author style of giving every character the background story, but the pace picked up after one of the characters was murdered, which was about halfway through. Yes, it's a whodunnit. Did I mention that I love to read whodunnits? To me it's like a puzzle, where readers are supposed to guess, well, who did it. And Flavia de Luce is such a brilliant little girl! She's only 11 yet she's so good with chemistry and solving mysteries. Yes, I know she's a fictional character, but still I admire her nonetheless :)

The book is reminiscent of some of Agatha Christie's works, not because of the style of writing, but perhaps because of the place and era chosen as the background. Surprise surprise, a movie or TV movie is being made from the stories.

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Rihlah Ilmiah

Jika tuan puan berminat untuk membeli buku Rihlah Ilmiah: Dari Neomodernisme ke Islamisasi Ilmu Kontemporer tulisan Professor Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud, boleh dapatkannya menerusi laman web ini http://wanmohdnorwandaud.blogspot.com/

Saya telah membelinya bulan lalu, tapi masih belum membacanya. Sedikit gusar barangkali ia terlalu 'berat' bagi saya, tapi saya tidak seharusnya menilai sebelum menekuninya sendiri, bukan?

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In the Footsteps of the Prophet

A short excerpt from a book by Tariq Ramadan, In the Footsteps of the Prophet.

"He (the Prophet Muhammad) loved, he forgave. Every day he begged God to forgive his own failings and oversights, and when a woman or a man came to him burdened with a mistake, however serious, he received that soul and showed her or him the way to forgiveness, solace, dialog with God, and the Most Gentle's protection. He covered other people's mistakes from the sight of others, while teaching everyone the need for personal rigor and discipline. When laziness moved anyone to ask him for minimal practice, he always answered positively and invited them to the use their intelligence and their qualities to understand, improve, and free themselves from their own contradictions while accepting their own fragility. He taught responsibility without guilt and adherence to ethics as the conditions for freedom."

I love this book! It's not just another biography of the Prophet Muhammad, but it's packed with stories we can relate to, with the lessons we can take away being elaborated beautifully.

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The Little Things

Last month, a friend introduced me to Naz Abas Ng, who had just published a poetry collection, complemented with her own black & white photographs. The following book description is taken from her blog here. You can also find The Little Things in FB here.

The Little Things is Naz Abas Ng’s second book, a haunting collection of reflective poetry and black and white photographs. ISBN: 978-967-11075-0-8, Publication Date: 7th May 2012, Self Published, No. of Pages: 40, Price: RM 45. Printed on acid free paper with 20% post consumer recycled content and manufactured with Green-e certified wind power.

 The Little Things, Naz Abas Ng brings to life her poems by coupling them with her carefully selected black and white photographs. Her poems are reflective in nature, touching on themes of letting go, brokenness, courage, and faith. There is an underlying story subtly weaved in the arrangement of the poems, of the triumph of courage and faith over despair. The absence of colourful distractions in the photographs is helpful here, enabling the mood and scene captured in the photographs to have a meaningful resonance with the poems.

I had a couple of photos to upload but somehow I wasn't successful. Anyway, I think Naz's poems are nice. They're pleasant to read, they evoke emotions and thoughts and they are accessible to beginners like me. I haven’t been reading much poetry. The only poetry book I have in my collection is Al-Amin by SN A Samad Said (ok, now I have two). But Naz, as well as my friend Bas, had recommended that I try read Rumi’s (translated) poems, which I'll look for.

I’ve had the opportunity to ask her a few questions and would like to share my short interview with her here.

You’re an engineer. How did you come up with a poetry book?

Actually, I’ve started writing since I was seven. I started with stories, and when I was thirteen I began writing series. I became more serious about poetry when I was fifteen, but really dabbled in it when I was in the university. It was also in the university when I picked up photography. An art teacher whom I babysat for allowed me to use the dark room and materials freely. So I’ve been writing all my life – I just happened to choose engineering for the scholarship and to earn a living.

Why poems though?

I write because I have always had a natural love of words and how in its proper placing, it can move and inspire a person in a way not otherwise achieved. If you try to read Maulana Rumi, or Hafiz's poems, some of my favourite poets, this is truly evident. It is also helpful, I find, to express in a way that is otherwise contrived, and truths not acceptable to be spoken of in prose form, making it more palatable because it is expressed with as much delicacy, clarity and beauty the poet is able to. It is like how, in comedy, you can speak the truth about life sometimes. Poetry uses the aesthetics of words and language, comedy uses humour. But they are both often alternative expressions of truth. I like to choose words that are simple and accessible to everyone, but not to reveal my meaning. And they have to rhyme for the aesthetic quality.

Why did you self-publish? Is it difficult?

Because I want to do it fast, and I’ve found that going through established publisher takes a long time. Having these books in physical form like this makes it easy for me to send it to other publishers and bookstores who might be interested.

Publishing a book is like managing a project. It’s more than just the writing. You have to think about the production, the process, the marketing and promotion. And my experience in my workplace helped me to manage this as a personal project. A tip: it’s better if you could go in person to the National Library to apply for the ISBN number.

This is not my first book, actually. The first time, I went through a self-publishing website based in the US, lulu.com. In The Absence of Magic is a collection of 5 stories and 13 poems.

It was a different experience. I learnt a lot publishing The Little Things.

Is ‘The little Things’ going to be available as ebook?

No, I don't plan to make it available as an ebook, primarily because it is a combination of photos and writing, and it’s meant to be a cheaper, paperback, and more accessible version of a coffee table book. it is meant to be appreciated on an internal as well as external aesthetics. If it was just writing, yes I would do an ebook.

Coincidently, I had just finished reading Orhan Pamuk’s novel ‘Snow’ recently. Ka, the protagonist, is a poet who seems to be ‘receiving’ poems. He would describe feeling a poem ‘coming’, then sat down for a few minutes to transcribe the 36 lines or so in his notebook. We call it moments of ‘ilham’ or inspiration I guess. But I’m sure poets work a lot harder (and longer) to pen down their words. Ka, in ‘Snow’, didn’t claim the poems to be ‘his’ but instead he was just the ‘medium’.

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3 Jam di PBAKL 2012

Tiga minggu lepas, saya menumpang seorang rakan sekerja pulang daripada satu mesyuarat di selatan tanah air. Dia ingin singgah di Johor Premium Outlet, jadi saya pun perlu ikut serta. 5 minit di butik Michael Kors, 5 minit di butik Coach, kemudian saya beritahu padanya, "A, saya sudah bosan. Saya tunggu awak dalam Food Court, ya?"

Lain halnya sewaktu di Pesta Buku di PWTC minggu lepas. 3 jam langsung tidak mencukupi! Jadi, saya seorang yang kaki shopping juga sebenarnya, cuma barangnya perlu betul. Tambah-tambah lagi apabila ada potongan harga, saya tidak fikir panjang dan ambil sahaja apa yang saya mahu, sama seperti sewaktu jualan buku Big Bad Wolf tahun lepas. Habis hampir RM600 juga tahun ini. Bajet dua tahun barangkali, qada' tahun lepas saya tidak pergi sebab sedang berpantang (cubaan untuk menjustifikasi yang tidak berjaya).

Ini antara gambar-gambar suasana yang sempat saya rakamkan Khamis lalu. Minta maaf kerana kualitinya sangat rendah. Saya gunakan kamera telefon, dan barangkali saya kerap 'menggegarkannya' sewaktu mengambil gambar. Nampaknya saya perlu juga beli kamera digital untuk gantikan kamera lama yang telah rosak.

Saya rasa terkilan juga kerana tidak sempat memilih buku di booth DBP/Dawama dan juga ITBM.

Memang berguna ada troli ini. Baru dibeli pagi itu juga. Saya rasa, kalau ada peniaga menjual troli sebegini di sana tentu sangat laku.

Buku-buku yang dibeli. Gambar sungguh tak elok, sehingga tak dapat baca langsung tajuk-tajuknya.

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Pesta Buku Antarabangsa KL 2012

Kurang sebulan lagi Pesta Buku Antarabangsa KL 2012 akan berkunjung tiba, bahangnya semakin terasa!


Tarikh: 27 April hingga 6 Mei
Tempat: PWTC
Tagline (cukup saya suka): Books - World Without Borders

Yang peliknya, laman rasmi KLIBF sepi dan kosong, seolah-olah sudah kena godam. Hmm ...

Lekas, senaraikan buku apa yang dicari!

(Nota: laman web KLIBF telah dipindahkan ke sini)

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