Books of the Week (ended) | #BuySingLit

Books of the Week (ended)

[Organiser's note: This promotion has ended. Thank you for participating!]

Flash the book covers at selected bookstores and get a $10 #BuySingLit book voucher!

Each week there will be six chosen SingLit titles. Show the counter a picture of the featured book cover and get a $10 #BuySingLit book voucher at the following bookstores:

  • Books Ahoy!
  • BooksActually
  • Books Kinokuniya Main Store
  • City Book Room
  • Grassroots Book Room
  • Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop
  • Maha Yu Yi
  • MPH Bookstores
  • Popular Book Co
  • Times Bookstores
  • Union Book Co
  • Woods in the Books

Books of the Week (6 March)

Misdirection (Book One of The Savant Trilogy)

Misdirection (Book One of The Savant Trilogy)

The first book in an exciting new YA mystery trilogy about a teenage savant on the trail of her family's killer, from the multi-talented Ning Cai, international magic celebrity and author.

When parkour champion Maxine Schooling wakes from a three-year coma, she has no memory of how her parents and little brother were killed the night she was attacked. Using her new-found photographic memory, she covertly helps her hacker BFF with the police investigation of a savage serial killer on the loose. In her race to track down the Singapore Spectre, Max finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy involving stage illusions, a secret exposé, and a controversial megachurch headed by a powerful man.

For over a decade, Ning Cai was known as a multi-award-winning stage illusionist and escape artist. After a brief period of retirement, she returned in 2017 as the mentalist Ning: Mind Magic Mistress. Her memoir Who is Magic Babe Ning? was shortlisted for the 2016 Singapore Literature Prize.

Publisher: Epigram Books
Author: Ning Cai

The Floating Republic

The Floating Republic
恋恋浮城-希尼尔闪小说与微型小说

希尼尔以微型篇幅建构含统一主题的意义结构,或正面展示,或反面揭示,莫不对生活现象做本质性的透视。细细碎碎的叙述,展示荒诞、吊诡、反讽、象征等修辞技巧,颇足可观;而细细碎碎的叙述亦放不开作者对母族文化渐趋浮浅的审视与批判,复又对道德价值观的坠落与偏移,乃至于对生存的实质状态有挥之不去的关怀与嘘唏。

Publisher: Lingzi Media
Author: Xi Ni Er 希尼尔

Books of the Week (7 March)

A Gathering of Themes

A Gathering of Themes

This collection contains Prof Thumboo’s latest works. Especially interesting are the poems based on biblical characters, something very close to his heart in recent years. Some evergreens of his works are included, such as “A poet reading”, to make this a most collectible set of his published works.

The sections are named: Chin (for his wife), Tribes, Togetherness, Cultures, I to i, By Quiet Waters and Words.

Publisher: Ethos Books
Author: Edwin Thumboo

Trap in Constriction Lukah Di Pergentingan

Lukah Di Pergentingan
(Trap in Constriction)


Antologi cerpen Lukah Di Pergentingan ini adalah lanjutan daripada usaha Unggun Creative untuk terus menyemarakkan penghasilan karya sastera di Singapura. Bersambung daripada jilid 1: Iblis Sudah Mati, jilid 2 ini menghimpunkan 16 cerpen yang dipilih daripada 49 penyertaan untuk sayembara Nyala.

An anthology of 16 Malay short stories that participated in a monthly online competition, "Sayembara Cerpen Nyala", between December 2017 and March 2018. The entries were assessed by established local writers. A short analysis of the winning works was also presented every month.

The stories selected for this anthology explored four main themes that were given to them: "Life is a song", "Travelogue", "Kafkaesque" and "Box".

Publisher: Unggun Creative
Author: Amanah Mustafi, Djohan A. Rahman, Erna Salamun, Hassan Hasaa'Ree Ali, Jalaluddin Ahmad Jamal, Junaidah Baharawi, Mohamed Naguib Ngadnan, Nur Aisyah Lyana, Nur-El-Hudaa Jaffar, Nurain M. Zulkepli, Pasidah Rahmat, Siti Aisyah Jamil, Siti Laila Omar Bentalib, Siti Marina Ajmain, Titi Murni Monir and Tuty Alawiyah Isnin.

Books of the Week (8 March)

Lietenant Adnan and The Last Regiment

Lietenant Adnan and The Last Regiment

Lieutenant Adnan bin Saidi was a man who fought valiantly to defend Singapore during the Japanese invasion in February 1942. He, along with the rest of the Malay Regiment, battled the Japanese soldiers on Bukit Chandu. These great men were Singapore's last defence and fought bravely to the end, despite being captured, and even tortured.

Narrated by the son of Lieutenant Adnan's son, Mokhtar, this comic book tells the story of Lieutenant Adnan's life - not only depicting the infamous Battle of Bukit Chandu, but also the events before the critical battle and its repercussions thereafter.

Through this book, readers will gain a deeper insight into Lieutenant Adnan’s admirable character, as they will be given a glimpse of who he was, beyond his role as a soldier: a husband and father.

Publisher: Asiapac Books
Written by: Danny Jalil
Illustrated by: Zaki Ragman

Garland of Pearls

முத்தாரம்
(Garland of Pearls)

முத்தாரம் என்னும் இந்த இனிய கவிதைத் தொகுப்பில் அன்பே போதும், உழைப்பு, உடற்பயிற்சி, சேமிப்பு போன்ற பல நல்ல தலைப்புகளைக் கொண்ட பாடல்கள் அனைத்தும் சிறுவர்களுக்கு நல்லொழுக்கங்களின் முக்கியத்துவத்தைக் கூறும் வகையில் அமைந்திருப்பது இதன் தனிச் சிறப்பு. சிறுவர்கள் வளர்ந்து பெரியவர்கள் ஆன பின்பும் கடைப்பிடிக்க வேண்டிய நல்ல பழக்கங்களை மிக அழகாகச் சித்திரித்திருக்கிறார் கவிஞர்.

சிங்கப்பூரின் பெருமையைக் கூறும் ‘சிங்கப்பூர்’ பாடலும், பல இன மக்கள் ஒற்றுமையுடன் வாழ்வதைப் பறைசாற்றும் வகையில் அமைந்திருக்கும் ‘ஒற்றுமை’ என்ற பாடலும் படிப்பவரின் மனதில் தேசப்பற்றையும் கூட்டுறவையும் வளர்ப்பவை.

மிக எளிமையான சொற்களைப் பயன்படுத்தி ஒவ்வொரு கவிதைக்குமேற்ற உணர்ச்சியை அதன் சுவை குன்றாமல் தெளிவாய் வெளிப்படுத்தியிருப்பது மிகச் சிறந்த முயற்சியாகும். சிறுவர்களிடையே கவிதை படிக்கும் ஆர்வத்தை வளர்க்க வேண்டுமென்ற எண்ணத்தில் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட இந்த அருமையான கவிதைத் தொகுப்பு நிச்சயமாகப் பாராட்டப்பட வேண்டிய ஒரு படைப்பு.

Garland of Flowers is a collection of poems celebrating the joy of virtuous and righteous living. This anthology, illustrated using easy simple words, heartland backdrop, and social narratives, is aimed at primary school readers.

Publisher: Crimson Earth
Author: KTM Iqbal க. து. மு. இக்பால்

Books of the Week (13 March)

What Gives Us Our Names

What Gives Us Our Names (Illustrated Edition)

He’d gotten the idea from a book, not unlike the one you last read and loved, whose lurid covers you have already forgotten. For a canvas, he used not his own skin but his very life, spending his days as if he were made up of the most telling bits of other people. To do this, he learned to watch quietly and look deeply, past the busy surfaces until he could discern the colours beneath, the ones that did not change. One by one he would name them as he wove them into his heart in the deep of night. He touched you once, borrowing pieces of your story in passing. They are here still, in case you wish to look.

Publisher: Math Paper Press
Author: Alvin Pang

Exile or Pursuit

黄昏的颜色
(Colour of Dusk)

明威年轻时参加短篇小说比赛获得首奖,相信自己有写作才华 ,决定专职写作。开始时发表的园地很少,他利用空闲的时间写长篇小说。爱好文学的妻子素英不断鼓励他,给他意见,可惜小说未完成她便去世了。小说出版后获了大奖,因为妻子没机会看到他的成绩,明威悲伤内疚,责怪自己的任性与虚荣,让妻子过困苦不安的生活。

由于每天都须写应付生活的专栏,步入老年的明威,虽出版了三十本著作,只有一本年轻时写的长篇小说,他希望能再写一部长篇。他和弟弟明贤的感情,他身旁的朋友如从事出版的彦如,舞台演员一凡,为实践自己的理想,都作出不小的牺牲,以及年轻时抢走他初恋情人的世雄,他中年后的挫败,都可以是他的小说题材...

Mingwei was awarded first prize in a short-story writing competition when he was young. He believed he was talented in writing and quit his job to be a full-time writer. In the beginning there were very few opportunities for the publication of his work and with much spare time on hand, he started to write a novel. His wife Suying, who loved literature, consistently encouraged and advised him. Unfortunately she passed away before his novel was completed. The novel eventually won Mingwei top prize. Because his wife did not have the chance to witness this, Mingwei was filled with sadness and sense of guilt for failing to give her a good life. 

As he had to fill regular columns every day, Mingwei had only one novel, which was written in his youth, to his credit, despite the fact that he had published 30 books. He wanted to write another novel.  His relationship with his younger brother Mingxian, His friends- Yanru, who was in publishing and theatre actor Yifan - had made great sacrifices in pursuing their dreams. Then there was Shixiong who snatched his first love and his frustrations in middle age. All these could be stuff for this novel…

Publisher: City Book Room
Author: Yeng Pway Ngon
 英培安

Books of the Week (14 March)

Oh, Kampungku

Soul's Festival: Collected Poems 1980-1997

This collection brings together in one volume, the author’s first four volumes of poetry which have long been out of print: Prospect Of A Drowning (1980), Against The Next Wave (1988), The Brink Of An Amen (1991), and Lambada By Galilee & Other Surprises (1997). These won her numerous awards and international recognition, including the Singapore Cultural Medallion for Literature (1985), the SEA (South East Asia) WRITE Award 1987, and the Gabriela Mistral Award (1995) from the Republic of Chile. The author has gone on to publish more recent volumes, but readers will welcome the re-publication of this earlier work which ensured her reputation as Singapore’s foremost woman poet of international stature.

Publisher: Landmark Books
Author: Anne Lee Tzu Pheng

Oh, Kampungku

Oh, Kampungku!: Kenangan Hidup Di Potong Pasir
(Oh, Kampungku!: Memories Living in Potong Pasir)

Sebuah memoir yang menyentuh perasaan, buku ini menceritakan kehidupan penulis di kampung kecil di Potong Pasir sepanjang tahun-tahun 1955 hingga 1965. Penulis, seorang Peranakan, mengenang zaman kanak-kanaknya membesar dalam kelompok berbilang kaum yang sama-sama berasa girang, sedih dan cemas, serta menaruh harapan semasa berhadapan dengan kemiskinan, keperitan, bencana alam dan pergolakan politik. Semangat gotong royong dan sikap saling menghormati jelas terakam dalam lembaran cerita. Penulis juga menceritakan alur pencarian jati dirinya sendiri sebagai seorang kanak-kanak perempuan membesar di sebuah tanah jajahan yang berjuang untuk mencapai kemerdekaan.

A heartwarming recollection of life in the little village of Potong Pasir in Singapore during the years 1955 to 1965. The author, who is Peranakan, recalls her childhood years living in a multiracial community that shared joy, sorrow, fear and hope as they dealt with poverty, hardship, natural calamities and political turbulence. The spirit of gotong royong (mutual help) and mutual respect are clearly reflected in this book. The writer also presents her own search for self-identity as a girl growing in a colony fighting for independence.

Publisher: Pustaka Nasional
Author:
Josephine Chia
Translators: Khalidah Jamil (Singapore), Nurazlina A. Wahab (Malaysia)

Books of the Week (15 March)

As The Heart Bones Break

As The Heart Bones Break

In Thong Tran's Vietnam, everyone is at war and no one is who they seem. But even a conflicted heart needs a home. Yearning for a true father and a cause to give himself to, Thong chooses independence, liberty and happiness — his tutor and the Viet Cong. It is a choice with karmic consequences he will spend the next half-century criss-crossing the Pacific to outrun. Can Thong set down the bones rankling in his heart? And at what cost?

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Author: Audrey Chin

Maariligal

மாறிலிகள்
(The Invariables)

படைப்பின் உயிர்ப்பைக் கண்டறிந்து அதன் நூல்பற்றிச் செல்ல சில வரிகள் வாசித்தாலே போதும். அப்படைப்பின் பிரவாகத்தில் ஆழ்ந்து மன எழுச்சியில் அதன் ஆளுகைக்கு உட்பட்டுவிடுவோம். அப்படி ஈர்க்கிற படைப்புகள் எப்போதாவதுதான் நம்மை வந்தடைகிறது. அதுவும் முதல் தொகுப்பு என்ற வகையில் வாசிக்கக் கிடைக்கிற படைப்புகளில் செய்நேர்த்தியும், சிறந்த எழுத்து நடையும் பார்க்க முடிவது வெகு அபூர்வம். சித்துராஜ் கதைகளை வாசிக்கையில் சிறந்த வாசிப்பனுபவம் கிடைக்கிறது. தடங்கலற்ற சீரான எழுத்து நடை, கதை சொல்லும் பாணி, சிறிய சம்பவங்களையும் கதையாக்கும் திறன் இவை சித்துராஜ் எழுத்துகளின் பலம். முதல் தொகுப்பு என்பதற்கான அடையாளங்களற்ற பண்பட்ட எழுத்து.

The Invariables is a collection of short stories written by Sithuraj. Despite being his first book, this title went on to receive the Singapore Literature Prize in 2016 for Tamil fiction.

Publisher: Aganazhigai
Author: Sithuraj Ponraj