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McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime

In this powerful and groundbreaking book, Misha Glenny takes us on a journey through the new world of international organised crime. For three years, he has been recording the stories of gun runners in Ukraine, money launderers in Dubai, drug syndicates in Canada, cyber criminals in Brazil, racketeers in Japan and many more.During his investigation of the dark side, he has spoken to countless gangsters, policemen and victims of organised crime while also exploring the ferocious consumer demand for drugs, trafficked women, illegal labour and arms across five continents.

The journey begins with an appalling and inexplicable murder in England’s stockbroker belt and continues with stories that are often horrifying, sometimes inspiring, usually bizarre and occasionally funny. But together they build a breathtaking picture of the shadow economy that has grown so fast that it may now account for about 20% of the world’s GDP.

(Read more at rbooks)

GOOGLED: THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

Description

There are companies that create waves and those that ride or are drowned by them. This is a ride on the Google wave, and the fullest account of how it formed and crashed into traditional media businesses. With unprecedented access to Google’s founders and executives, as well as to those in media who are struggling to keep their heads above water, Ken Auletta reveals how the industry is being disrupted and redefined.

On one level Auletta uses Google as a stand-in for the digital revolution as a whole – and goes inside Google’s closed door meetings, introducing Google’s notoriously private founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as those who work with – and against – them. In Googled, the reader discovers the ‘secret sauce’ of the company’s success and why the worlds of ‘new’ and ‘old’ media often communicate as if residents of different planets. It may send chills down traditionalists’ spines, but it’s a crucial roadmap to the future of media business: the Google story may well be the canary in the coal mine.

Googled is candid, objective and authoritative – based on extensive research including inhouse at Google HQ. Crucially, it’s not just a history or reportage: it’s forward-looking. This book is ahead of the curve and, unlike any other Google books, which tend to have been near-histories, somewhat starstruck, to be now out of date or which fail to look at the full synthesis of business and technology.

(Read more about Googled: The End of the World as We Know It)

Further information:

• Wall Street Journal
• CNN Money
• YouTube
• Ken Auletta

Rich Dad's Conspiracy of The Rich: The 8 New Rules of Money

Non-fiction

1. Rich Dad’s Conspiracy Of The Rich: The 8 New Rules Of Money by Robert T. Kiyosaki
2. Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus: A Practical Guide For Improving Communication And Getting What You Want In Your Relationships by John Gray
3. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
4. How to Win Any Negotiation: Without Raising Your Voice, Losing Your Cool, or Coming to Blows by Robert Mayer
5. Think Like a Marketer: What it Really Takes to Stand Out from the Crowd, the Clutter, and the Competition by Lauron Sonnier
6. Have a Little Faith: A True Story by Mitch Albom
7. The 5 Essential People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts by Dale Carnegie Training
8. Why Mars and Venus Collide: Improve Your Relationships by Understanding How Men and Women Cope Differently with Stress by John Gray
9. I Did Tell, I Did by Cassie Harte
10. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

Fiction

1. The Time Traveler’s Wife (Movie Tie-In) by Audrey Niffenegger
2. Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer
3. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
4. The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
5. The Book Lovers’ Appreciation Society: Breast Cancer Care Short Story Collection by Various
6. Tempt Me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas
7. If Tomorrow Comes by Sidney Sheldon
8. Cross Country by James Patterson
9. Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen
10. The Lost Army of Cambyses by Paul Sussman

Malay Novel

1. Yang Sebenarnya by Aisya Sofea
2. Cinta Kau dan Aku by Siti Rosmizah
3. Pelangi by Syud Hlovate Noor Suraya
4. Saksi Cinta by Wana Amani
5. Aku Bukan Billy Milligan by Norhayati Berahim
6. Rooftop Rant by Hlovate
7. Menunggu Cinta Tuhan by Lily Haslina Nasir
8. aA + bB by Hlovate
9. Siapakah Di Hatiku by Adilla Tasha
10. Bila Ada Rindu by Emma Maizura

Local Authors

1. Membongkar Misteri Dajjal by Muhammad Nurani Maarif
2. Benarkah Iskandar Bukan Zulqarnain by Afareez Abdul Razak Al-Hafiz
3. Money, You & Islam; Views on Contemporary Financial & Islamic Banking Issues by Zaharuddin Abd Rahman
4. Indahnya Hidup Bersyariat – Panduan Fardu Ain Lengkap Bergambar by Dato’ Ismail Kamus & Mohd. Azrul Azlen Ab. Hamid
5. Riwayat Bidadari Syurga by Munif Ahmad
6. Dialogue with the Coach by Michael Heah
7. Gerakan – Freemasonry: Musuh dalam Menghancurkan Islam by Hj Nik Azran Muhamed, Et Al
8. Revolusi IQ.EQ.SQ: Menyingkap Rahsia Kecerdasan Berdasarkan Quran dan Teori Neurosains Mutakhir by Taufik Pasiak
9. Millionaires Are From Different Planet (3rd Edition) by Azizi Ali
10. The Millionaire Real Estate School for Beginners by Wendy Koh

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

9781401398033

Slightly more than a week ago, I lost my drawer keys and had to break my drawer to retrieve my belongings. The more I thought about the significance of the keys, the more I was reminded of Mitch Albom’s novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. In this story, Eddie, a wounded war veteran thought his life was lonesome and uninspiring to others.  Eddie works at an amusement park where he fixes rides, until on his 83rd birthday he is tragically killed while trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. Eddie awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is a place where our lives are explained by 5 people who has affected, or were affected by it. I don’t remember the 5 people, but I remember that everything that happened was caused by one small key.

The other two books by Albom which I have read are Tuesdays with Morrie and For One More Day.

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9780786891177

In Tuesdays with Morrie, Albom chronically recounts on the last months he spent with his former college professor , Morrie Schwartz, who was dying from a motor neurone disease. They met up every Tuesday, just as they used to and here Albom shares wth us his final lesson with Schwartz – on ”how to live”. Within his lessons, Schwartz encompasses acceptance, communication, love, values, openness, and happiness and describes why we should forge our own culture, in oppose to today’s popular culture under which human communities suffer.

In For One More Day, Charley “Chick” Benetto, faces problems with his career, finances, family and alcohol abuse. Feeling suicidal, he leaps from a water tower in a failed attempt to end his life. When he looks up , Benetto sees his dead mother. He returns to his old family home, and spends one more day with his mother. His troubled childhood and poor relationship with his dad is revealed to him. His mother helps him to resolve the issues and get his life back on track. The day ends when Benetto regains conciousness in the arms of a police officer. Inspired, Benetto quits drinking and reconciles with his family, including with his daughter (and narrator) Maria.

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I am now reading Albom’s latest release – Have a Little Faith: A True Story. The chapters alternate between Albom’s visits to his family’s church rabbi, who has asked him to deliver his eulogy, and a Detroit pastor who preaches to the poor and homeless in a hole-in-the-roof church. These two starkly different men of God has the same hunger and faith in believing in something bigger than themselves. This inspirational book is about our life’s purpose, about losing our faith and finding it again. It is about the divine spark in all of us. It is what we need, and what we can share with others this holiday season.

Yasmin Ahmad

Yasmin Ahmad (January 7, 1958 – July 25, 2009) was a critically-acclaimed multi-award winning film director, writer and scriptwriter from Malaysia and was also the executive creative director at Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur. Her television commercials and films are well-known in Malaysia for their humour, heart and love that crosses cross-cultural barriers, in particular her ads for Petronas, the national oil and gas company. Her works have won multiple awards both within Malaysia and internationally.

(Read more at Wikipedia)

Book about Yasmin Ahmad:

• Yasmin Ahmad’s Films

Yasmin Ahmad's Films

Events and Happenings:

Matahari Books is cordially inviting everyone to witness the Malaysian launch of the book Yasmin Ahmad’s Films.

Location: Level 4, Sunway University College
Time: 3:00PM Wednesday, November 18th

(Click here for more details)

Going Rogue: An American Life

Going Rogue: An American Life is a memoir by former American Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, co-written by ghostwriter Lynn Vincent of San Diego, and edited by Adam Bellow, son of novelist Saul Bellow, for HarperCollins. The release date is slated for November 17, 2009. The book’s title is a reference to a phrase that arose during the latter part of the 2008 presidential campaign. Palin embraced it after the question, “Has Sarah Palin ‘gone rogue’?”, appeared in the lead of an article in the magazine, Slate. The subtitle, “An American Life”, is the same as the title of Ronald Reagan’s autobiography.

(Read more at Wikipedia)

Money Origami Kit

Make The Most Of Your Dollar!

Need a snazzy new idea for a gift, or trying to make a great first impression? Try folding some amazing origami out of a dollar bill and watch the reaction! Money Origami is a fun and creative book full of unusual origami designs specific to the dollar bill. Imagine the response if you gave a dollar bill butterfly to your girlfriend, or a talking ape to your boss. With twenty-one projects, and lots of ôdollarö practice sheets, Money Origami is sure to be a hit!

(Tuttle Publishing)

Saving Globalization (ISBN: 9780470825037)

It is a truth (somewhat) universally acknowledged that globalization has given us the most remarkable sixty years of economic growth in world history. It is a process that has lifted hundreds of millions worldwide out of extreme poverty, and has helped raise life expectancy and literacy rates.

However, the rate at which economies have globalized and integrated is not congruent with that of international institutions and their processes. Extreme inequality, corruption and environmental degradation threaten the stability and legitimacy of many developing countries. These factors – combined with the growing confidence of anti-globalization campaigners, particularly in the recent economic crisis – have given rise to protectionist rhetoric about market control and regulation. How did we get to this position and how should we move forward?

Read more at John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Book Description:

Saving Globalization departs from its analysis of the globalised economy in the twenty-first century to answer these question by tracing the development of what Moore considers to be ‘the big ideas of history’: democracy, independent courts, the separation of church and state, property rights, independent courts, a professional civil service, and civil society. Democratic capitalism has worked for most people. Why? It is a remarkable story, from the Greeks to the Geeks, encompassing technological progress and the corrections and contradictions between liberty and equality, technology, growth and the environment. In defence of the many virtues and opportunities that globalisation offers, Mike Moore makes the case for a fresh and new approach to our international Institutions and for domestic policies that promote equity and fairness.

The book controversially attacks the new enemies of reason and evidence. The threats now come from all sides, especially workers in developed countries who fear for their jobs. Mike Moore is a political practitioner turned theoretician.

Rick Warren

Richard Duane “Rick” Warren (born January 28, 1954 in San Jose, California) is an American evangelical Christian minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States (this ranking includes multi-site churches). He is also a bestselling author of many Christian books, including his guide to church ministry and evangelism, The Purpose Driven Church, which has spawned a series of conferences on Christian ministry and evangelism. He is perhaps best known for the subsequent devotional, The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 30 million copies, making Warren a New York Times bestselling author.

Warren holds conservative theological views. While holding traditional evangelical views on social issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and stem-cell research, Warren has called on churches worldwide to also focus their efforts on fighting poverty and disease, expanding educational opportunities for the marginalized, and caring for the environment. During the 2008 United States presidential election, Warren hosted the Civil Forum on The Presidency at his church with both presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. Obama later sparked controversy when he asked Warren to give the invocation at the presidential inauguration in January 2009.

(Read more at Wikipedia)

In The Hope You Need: From The Lord’s Prayer (the latest book), Rick Warren invites readers to plug into the unparalleled power that exists within the words of the best-known prayer on the planet-The Lord′s Prayer. With his classic approachability, passion and candor, and structured according to the prayer′s seven key phrases-addressing themes such as surrender, dependence, cleansing and fulfillment-Warren provides helpful insight and necessary inspiration for reviving whatever seems to be dying in life. “It may be your marriage, your bank account, your career or a long-held, deep-seated dream,” Warren says. “Anything needing renewal today can actually be brought back to life.” The Hope You Need takes aim at today′s most challenging realities-both those we face as a nation, and those we know in our own hearts-and proves that sometimes the respite we long for in life has been right in front of us all along.

(HarperCollins)

Writings by Rick Warren include:

• The Purpose Driven Life
• The Purpose Driven Church
• The Purpose of Christmas
• God’s Answers To Life’s Difficult Questions
• The Hope You Need: From The Lord’s Prayer

9780316075633

9780316078245

I can’t wait. It’s been more than a year since Twilight was screened. And everyday, more so now, there is a bombardment of updates on the cast, clips, trailers, posters, images, music previews etc on New Moon. I have changed my desktop numerous times to feature different New Moon posters, because there are just so many choices of images to choose from.

So, tell me, whose team are you on? Edward’s or Jacob’s? Mine is Edward… and though he leaves Bella after a small bloody incident, I knew he would soon be back. Except, I didn’t expect him to be involved such a big showdown with the Volturi in Italy! Oh, I should stop there and not leave you with too much details. To know more about why Edward ended up at the Volturi meet (no thanks to Bella jumping off the cliff) and when Jacob and his pack of friend change into a pack of werewolves, read the book (or catch the movie).

Recently, when I ventured around the bookstore looking for early Christmas gifts, a tin box set containing 4 journals - with covers from Stephenie Meyer’s saga of 4 books (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn) caught my eye. There are also quotes from the saga and other books that inspired Meyer while writing her bestsellers. Yes, I think my cousin will love this. I would.

Twilight Journals Set