Goodreads Singapore discussion

Hello! Just thought that since we live in Singapore, and that much of our literature has become distinctly ours, we should have a section dedicated to it. :) Anything related to local lit's can be posted here, be it favourite books/authors, meet-the-authors, etc.

I'll start with one of my favourite books from local lit.

Wena Poon is absolutely amazing. She writes with such wit and poignancy that it leaves readers moved without actually insinuating anything. (And having met her once, I have to say that she's as unpretentious as her writing. )

Hey, thanks for the recommendation. I picked up a copy of her "Lions in Winter" -- a collection of short stories -- from the local library and liked it very much. I can identify more readily with her description of Singapore/life in Singapore than Catherine Lim's. Wena Poon's stories evoked my own memories of my childhood days. =)

The only local author I have heard of is Catherine Lim, and that is because a couple of her books were compulsory reading text back in my school days. Haha …

I like Cyril Wong's poems! :)

Wow, I have never heard of Wena Poon. I have to check her out. Thanks for bringing this up, here :)

Any other local authors worth checking out? It is a little embarrassing to have no knowledge of any local authors. I was only exposed to Catherine Lim too!
I think it was Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore that was part of our readings for Lit.

I like Colin Cheong! Check out The Stolen Child: A First Novel, and the Colin Cheong Collection. I find his stories close to heart

I like Colin Cheong too, especially Man In The Cupboard. Strongly recommend this book.

I watched two short plays ("Utter: a double bill") at The Art House yesterday. One of the plays is adapted from two short stories by local writer O Thiam Chin and it is quite interesting. Might be worth checking his books out.

If you read this message in time, you might want to consider catching the last run of "Utter" today. It is part of the Singapore Writers Festival programme and the intention is to adapt local literature for the theatre or other art forms so as to introduce the work to a wider audience. One of the "Utter" plays is in Chinese, the other English. I enjoyed them a lot.

From Third World To First. The Singapore Story : 1965-2000.
The Singapore Story : 1965-2000.
Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew.
Penerbit : Times Media. 2000.
Halaman : 778.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

I'm a big fan of Catherine Lim's books and although I have heard of Wena Poon, I have not read her books. I shall make it a point to do so very soon, thanks to the posts here :-)

I think I've never actually read any local literature...

This isn't exactly local literature, but Tan Twan Eng's The Garden of Evening Mists has quite a lot to do with Malaya/ Singapore. If not personal experiences, then I think we all at least have some historical understanding of some events in the past that were common to the peninsula, including the Second World War here, and the Malayan Emergency in the '50s.

As an added bonus, this book was short-listed for the Booker prize this year!

The Garden of Evening Mists

Kay Howe wrote: "This isn't exactly local literature, but Tan Twan Eng's The Garden of Evening Mists has quite a lot to do with Malaya/ Singapore. If not personal experiences, then I think we all at least have some historical understanding of some events in the past that were common to the peninsula, including the Second World War here, and the Malayan Emergency in the '50s."

This certainly looks interesting. Hope to get to it soon. Thanks for bringing it up!

Hello, Guan Liang Loh here. I am the author of Transparent Strangers, a poetry collection published in 2012 by Math Paper Press. Check out my profile for samples of my work. Drop by, say hello!

Thanks Guan Liang for the heads up! Will be looking out for your work next time i pop by BooksActually.

O Thiam Chin's very good! definitely worth the read: try his flash fiction. B)

Hi everyone, doing a plug for my book talk. I'll be giving a talk on my poetry collection Transparent Strangers and how Singapore life shapes my writing at Bedok Public Library. Details of the event are as follows:

Date: 17 Mar (Sun)
Time: 2-4pm
Venue, Bedok Public Library, Programme Zone
Admission: free

BooksActually will also be around during the event. If you can, drop by, say hi!

Hi all! Been rather inactive on Goodreads until recently. So it was quite cool to find a Goodreads Singapore group.

I do have a few favourites - Wena Poon and Guan Liang being a few of them, though I tend to lean towards investigative or philosophical fiction.

I also do like Terry Ho's "Crown of Earth's Desire", and J Damask's "Wolf at the Door" just arrived at Books Actually, both of which are Fantasy novels in SG.

~ Joelyn Alexandra

Hi Everyone! My name is Julian Kim, I live in Singapore and my first novel has been published in May this year by the Straits Times Press. It's a mystery-adventure-thriller in the vein of a hybrid Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones. The name of the book is S.A.I.N.T.S. Song of Winds and it's available at Kinokuniya, Popular and the Straits Times Press website.
I'd love to hear your reviews!

Julian wrote: "Hi Everyone! My name is Julian Kim, I live in Singapore and my first novel has been published in May this year by the Straits Times Press. It's a mystery-adventure-thriller in the vein of a hybrid ..."

Congratulations, Julian! All the best with the book. I'm sure it will do well :-)

Hi there. I'm Sharifah Hamzah. Last year, I published “Kampung Memories – A Life's Journey Revisited”, a social history and semi memoir of kampungs in Singapore. Please enjoy excerpts of my book at the Kampung Memories website and at my blog Building Bridges.

Finished reading Advent - probably one of the best books to come out of Singapore in a long time

Mahita wrote: "Julian wrote: "Hi Everyone! My name is Julian Kim, I live in Singapore and my first novel has been published in May this year by the Straits Times Press. It's a mystery-adventure-thriller in the ve..."

Thanks so much Mahita! We should swap books. :)

Dear all,

Please join for my book reading at Books Actually, 9 Yong Siak St, on Thursday (15 Aug), 7:30 PM.
https://www.facebook.com/events/14082...

The book "Journeys with the caterpillar: Travelling through the islands of Flores and Sumba, Indonesia" is a humorous travelogue.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...

Thank You
Shivaji

Is anyone going to the Singapore Writers Festival this year?

http://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/

There are a lot of new books written by Singaporeans and launched by Epigram during the Festival

http://www.epigrambooks.sg/ebswf2013/

I am currently reading and re-reading and going to dig into

Hi there,

Would anyone be interested in reviewing my novel? It's called Land of a Meat Munchers, a speculative fiction piece set in Singapore. It's coming out from Marshall Cavendish, and we are launching it this Thursday at Books Actually.

Here's a link with more info on the book: http://incoherentboy.com/land-of-the-...

Nicholas Yong

Nicholas wrote: "Hi there,

Would anyone be interested in reviewing my novel? It's called Land of a Meat Munchers, a speculative fiction piece set in Singapore. It's coming out from Marshall Cavendish, and we are ..."

Hi Nicholas, is there a specific time frame you need that novel reviewed? It's the Singapore Writers Festival next week and I am sure there will be a lot of buzz so everyone would be running around like headless chickens.

Hi people,

I have won a Festival pass (access to most events other than the ticketed ones) for the Singapore Writers Festival but would like to give it away (as a matter of principle - long story) so if anyone is keen to take it off me, please message me here.

I will be at within the vicinity of Central Library to attend a talk by an author on Friday around 7 pm so that might be the best time/place to catch me so I can hand you the pass.

Hello...certainly the Writers Festival is keeping everyone busy... But, I am happy to say that I Ate Tiong Bahru is now available on Kindle and Kobo... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G9N9VCK (look for the Kobo link or check the distributor for your reading device). And , the physical book is available at Books Actually... cheers SB/BM

Michael wrote: "Nicholas wrote: "Hi there,

Would anyone be interested in reviewing my novel? It's called Land of a Meat Munchers, a speculative fiction piece set in Singapore. It's coming out from Marshall Caven..."

Hey Michael, just saw your comment. No particular time frame for the review! =)

Nicholas wrote: "Michael wrote: "Nicholas wrote: "Hi there,

Would anyone be interested in reviewing my novel? It's called Land of a Meat Munchers, a speculative fiction piece set in Singapore. It's coming out fro..."

If you are going to be at the Writers Festival - perhaps that might be a good place/time to catch up to get a review copy from you?

I can recommend by Vyvyane Loh. Wonderful writing style.

:)

With the school holidays and Christmas approaching, if you are thinking of buying a story book for readers 6-9 yrs, do check out The Magic Mixer , where you'll meet Dr Patsy Gerlaxi and her Magic Mixer. This machine takes unique and useful features from any animal and inserts them into humans! Her friend Mrs Dabble decides to try it out...

Yes unfortunately indeed, I'm still waiting for the publishers to give me a date for the release of the ebook. In the meantime, I just have to hope that people will pick up my book in the bookstores, and if they like it, spread the word around.

Hihi~! Lorraine here. Here's my latest novel Pop Rock Love! Synopsis: Before she had a whirlwind affair with a mysterious Japanese breakdancer named Yuki, Mimi was contented with belting out rock tunes at a pub on the island city of Singapore. When Yuki suddenly disappears, Mimi goes to Tokyo in search of him and discovers that he actually belongs to a sugary-pop, manufactured boy band called the Fire Boys. Mimi and Yuki belong to different worlds. Is their love strong enough to triumph over all?

You can get it from amazon kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Pop-Rock-Love-R...

The hard copy is available at selectbooks.

I was thinking Singapore writers really need to unite!

Yep! I've been thinking of some ideas on how sg writers can like get to know each other and discuss some ideas on how to promote writing

Picture Book Authors

Hi all. I'm Ummu Shahzeb, and I just joined this group. I'm an author, illustrator and self-publisher of picture books. I'm a lover of picture books because they are just magic. Many of us might think that picture books are only for children, but you'll be surprised by how powerful picture books can be in touching your hearts. I got to know a few local picture book writers at AFCC 2014 (Linn Shekinah, David Seow and Edmund Lim W.K.. They have written fantastic picture books for children and parents to enjoy. Do check them out.

I would like to know if there are any picture book authors here. I can do a Goodreads review for your picture book.

Here's my latest picture book, in Malay-English bilingual, Landak , to be released this month.

Hope to hear from Picture Book lovers and authors here.

Thank you Goodreads Singapore for this opportunity!

Ummu Shahzeb

Hiii, since Singapore Literature Prize 2014 has been announced, I think you may be interested in below winning books!
http://bookcouncil.sg/awards/detail/s...

English Non-Fiction

CO-WINNER: The Leader, The Teacher & You by Lim Siong Guan and Joanne H Lim http://goo.gl/COCfe4
CO-WINNER: Kampong Spirit Gotong Royong: Life In Potong Pasir 1955 to 1965 by Josephine Chia

Chinese Non-Fiction

MERIT: 《心也飞翔》尤今（Tham Yew Chin aka You Jin） http://goo.gl/10nU5v
MERIT: 《父亲平藩的一生》何乃强（Dr Ho Nai Kiong）

I've just finished reading Ministry of Moral Panic by Amanda Lee Koe, winner of the Singapore Literature Prize 2014. I highly recommend it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Jonathon wrote: "Hiya,

I am thinking of setting up a website for sg indie writers to share about their books. Anyone thinks it is a good idea?"

I don't think it's a good idea. The market is too small and getting smaller by the day.

Hello!

Here is a speculative short story I wrote that is set in the local context.


A brief synopsis:

In a post-industrial world of energy scarcity, one man finds himself marooned on his island home. Once a major global hub for trade and finance, the island city now lies in decay, its remaining inhabitants cut off from the world and struggling for existence. Faced with dwindling prospects and with nothing to lose, he leaves for another land, in search of a new beginning.

This is the link if you are interested to know more:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

You can also find it on my Goodreads page.

Many thanks for your support. Questions and comments are most welcome!

Hi All

Can I shamelessly plug my new book, We Rose Up Slowly, recently published by Math Paper Press?

It’s a book of 10 short stories set in Singapore, Australia & Jakarta.

Here is a taster:

"She hopes to be with Lakshmi, talking and eating, and then afterwards, before the sun rises, wandering along the path overlooking the deserted Malayan Railway marshalling yards near the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. They will smoke cigarettes and gaze across the barren neglected space made vacant for the purpose of future development. She will tell Lakshmi she was on first-name terms with the snakes and the monkeys, the vermin and the feral beasts, who used to live in the depleted jungle, amongst the scant remains of undergrowth and decaying concrete structures."

Cheers

PS I guess I did 8)