MPH

Who knew spending RM50 buying books could win one a Suzuki Grand Vitara? Well, Lee Hor San certainly wasn’t expecting it by the looks on his face.

Lee emerged as the Grand Prize winner of the Read & Reap Contest in the prize giving ceremony held today. His winning entry was titled ‘The Lord of the Fly – An Autobiography’ about a zipper tycoon revealing his private life and stories of living in the fastener lane. The Read & Reap contest was organized by MPH Bookstores last year in conjunction with its 105^th Anniversary.

“Reading a book in itself is an enriching experience and we thought why not take it a step further? As we were also celebrating our 105^th anniversary last year, we wanted to do something a little different to reward our customers. That’s how the idea for this contest came around. Of course, this wouldn’t have been made possible without the generous contribution of our sponsors to help make reading exciting and rewarding which falls in line with our vision of developing a knowledgeable society,” said Dato’ Ng Tieh Chuan, Chief Executive Officer of MPH Group.

Since March last year, any customers who bought a minimum of RM50 worth of books, either at MPH Bookstores outlet or through its web store, mphonline.com, would be eligible to enter the contest. Going with the concept of books and reading, participants were asked to count the number of books in a given image, come out with a creative book title and a short synopsis.

Each month, one main prize winner was selected to enter the finale by a panel of judges from MPH Bookstores, DRB-Hicom, SamsungMalaysiaand an editor from a local daily. The entries of all ten finalists were eventually posted on mphonline.com and open to public voting. Coupled with the points from the panel of judges, the Grand Prize Winner was finally determined and revealed today.

Prizes for the Read & Reap Contest were sponsored by DRB-Hicom (Suzuki Grand Vitara), SamsungMalaysia(Samsung Wave S8500) and i-River (iRiver Cover Story).

Results of MPH Read & Reap Contest

Grand Prize        : Suzuki Grand Vitara

Winner                 : Lee Hor San

Title                       : The Lord of the Fly – An Autobiography

Description         : A zipper tycoon ‘reveals’ his ‘private’ life and shares his stories living in the ‘fastener’ lane.

Special Prize       : Samsung Wave S8500 + Bluetooth Headset Samsung WEP 470

Winners               :

1. Ho Joon Ming                                     : A Handful of Dreams & 10 Copper Coins
2. Teh Chong Foo                                   : Absence Makes the Heart Grow Bonkers
3. Oh Teik Peng                                      : Sixty Six Successful Steps for Staying Single Single-Handedly
4. Chong Soon Kit                                  : One Season of Solitude, One Reason for Gratitude
5. Christina Soh Ling Xian                     : 1001 Ways Not To Piss Your Mom Off

Consolation Prize             : Bluetooth Headset Samsung WEP 470

Winners                               :

1. Lee Mei Jin                                         : The Puny Purple Pumpkin FromPoland
2. Nur Amalina Binti Mohd Amin    :OMG!
3. Wong Chin Wei                                 : Jack and Jill: Impossible to Ignore
4. Chong Kwok Leong                         : Stupid Cupid, Simply Splendid!

The focus and narrator of the story is Hayat Shah. He lives with his parents in America in a household riven with accusation and recrimination. His father is a successful doctor who has long ago abandoned his faith, in no small part because of the behaviour of the more orthodox members of the local Pakistani community, whose hypocrisy and intolerance he cannot abide. But he also has a taste for alcohol and Western women, much to the contempt and despair of his long suffering wife whose only confidante is her too-young son.

Read the rest of the review here.

In Out of Oz, the fourth and final book of his series (with previous volumes comprising Wicked, Son Of A Witch and A Lion Among Men), Maguire comes full circle with the characters that brought him fame, concluding their adventures in a fantastical, gripping tale of political intrigue and generational struggles. A warning however, this is nothing like the world of the Wicked Years book series.

Read the rest of the review here.

Judge a book by its cover and you would probably give Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone a pass. Featuring a dark adn mysterious image of an entity in a blue-feathered masquerade mask, the cover looks like something you would expect to see on a badly-themed high school prom poster.

Read the rest of the review here.

Non-Fiction

1. A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

2. No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline – 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success by Brian Tracy

3. Train Your Brain to Get Happy: The Simple Program That Primes Your Gray Cells for Joy, Optimism, and Serenity by Teresa Aubele, Stan Wenck, Susan Reynolds

4. We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever by Benjamin Mee

5. Life Is What You Make It by Peter Buffett

6. The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

7. Body Language At Work: Read The Signs And Make The Right Moves by Peter Clayton

8. Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week by Joel Osteen

9. I Moved Your Cheese: For Those Who Refuse to Live as Mice in Someone Else’s Maze by Deepak Malhotra

10. Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald W. Clark

Fiction

1. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

2. Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin

3. One Day (Movie Tie-in) by David Nicholls

4. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

5. Switched (Trylle Trilogy, #1) by Amanda Hocking

6. The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern

7. Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga

8. Aleph by Paulo Coelho

9. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

10. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

Local Author

1. A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

2. Beduk Diketuk by Pahrol Mohd Juoi

3. Indahnya Hidup Bersyariat (Panduan Fardu Ain Lengkap Bergambar) by Dato Ismail Kamus & Mohd Azrul Azlen

4. Di Mana Dia Di Hatiku? ALLAH itu Hampir Tapi, Kenapa Aku Masih Meminggir? Akalku Alpa Berfikir, Hatiku Lupa Berzikir… by Pahrol Mohd Juoi

5. Dare to be a Champion: Lee Chong Wei by Dato’ Lee Chong Wei

6. Beyond Policing: The Strategic Shift by Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah, Khoo Kheng-Hor

7. Lessons Of Success: The Legacy of Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow by Victor S.L. Tan

8. MYDIN: The Untold Story by Datin Dr. Hajah Siti Hawa Mohamed

9. Ensiklopedia Solat: Kombinasi Fakta Hukum dan Sains (Fiqah, Falsafah, Sejarah , Saintifik) (Ilustrasi & Foto Menarik) by Datuk Haji Md Hashim Yahaya

10. Ikhtiar Penyembuhan Penyakit Dengan Ayat-Ayat & Doa-Doa Mustajab by Tuan Guru Dato’ Dr. Haron Din

Weekly list compiled by MPH Bookstores, Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur.

Catch Australia’s leading authority on the property market – John Lindeman LIVE in Kuala Lumpur from 9am – 5pm, 18 Feb 2012 (Sat) at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

MPH Click Facebook Fans is able to enjoy a 50% discount on all tickets by entering the promotional code: MPH-promo which is limited to the first 50 people only! So hurry, click here to purchase your discounted tickets now.

Check out the latest edition of Quill Magazine here.

Non-Fiction

1. A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

2. Steve Jobs: A Biography by Walter Isaacson

3. Life’s Little Detours: 50 Lessons to Find and Hold onto Happiness by Regina Brett

4. The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma

5. Body Language At Work: Read The Signs And Make The Right Moves by Peter Clayton

6. I Moved Your Cheese: For Those Who Refuse to Live as Mice in Someone Else’s Maze by Deepak Malhotra

7. Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week by Joel Osteen

8. Train Your Brain to Get Happy: The Simple Program That Primes Your Gray Cells for Joy, Optimism, and Serenity by Teresa Aubele, Stan Wenck, Susan Reynolds

9. You Are Made for More!: How to Become All You Were Created to Be by Lisa Osteen Comes

10. No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline – 21 Ways to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success by Brian Tracy

Fiction

1. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

2. One Day (Movie Tie-in) by David Nicholls

3. Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin

4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Movie Tie-in) by Stieg Larsson

5. Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga

6. The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

7. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

8. American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar

9. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

10. 44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel

Local Author

1. Anda Bertanya Ustaz Azhar Idrus Menjawab Berkenaan Permasalahan Semasa by Ustaz Azhar Idrus

2. A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

3. Lessons Of Success: The Legacy of Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow by Victor S.L. Tan

4. Looking Back: Monday Musings And Memories by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al- Haj

5. Growing up with Ghosts by Bernice Chauly

6. MYDIN: The Untold Story by Dr Hajah Siti Hawa Mohd

7. PS I Laugh You! by David Tong, Cheryl Tong

8. Straight A’s Student: Secret Revealed: A Perfect Gift For Every Student by Chin Wynn

9. Beduk Diketuk by Pahrol Mohd Juoi

10. Ensiklopedia Solat: Kombinasi Fakta Hukum dan Sains (Fiqah, Falsafah, Sejarah , Saintifik) (Ilustrasi & Foto Menarik) by Datuk Haji Md Hashim Yahaya

Weekly list compiled by MPH Bookstores, Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur.