These few weeks have been busy, and the coming ones are gonna be much worse, which means that I won’t have that much time to read.

But, “won’t have that much time” doesn’t mean “completely no time”, so you can expect me to be reading still. Reading stuff like the Her World magazine which I requested for the last time but have yet to get.

Because no one lent me a copy of Her World, I had to settle for these books:

Save The Cat! by Blake Snyder

The subtitle of the book boldly claims that this is the “last book on screenwriting you’ll ever need”. I’m not exactly into screenwriting, but I heard from a few trusted sources that this is a great book, so I decided to check it out. Besides, I sometimes read books about stuff that I’m not into, just so that I can widen my perspective.

After reading this, I now understand why some movies work and some don’t. And why we felt sad when King Kong died, but didn’t feel as sad when the other humans die. The only problem with it is that it can only explain the success or failure of conventional movies, not unconventional ones films like Memento. Very good book nonetheless - you’ll learn a lot about storytelling, if nothing else. Required reading for film enthusiasts and aspiring screen writers.

Improv Wisdom by Patricia Ryan Madson

Since I’m still on topics that I’m not exactly into, here’s another.

I know very little about improv, not even enough to know whether I like it or not, but it certainly sounds interesting, so I thought I could learn something about it, and this looked like the book to read. Just to doublecheck, I went over to Amazon.com to look at the ratings. Almost everyone gave 5 stars.

What I didn’t notice is that all the identifiable reviewers were female. And that the book is really a self-help book. I was expecting something more concrete and technical with quick tips, but what I got was the improv philosophy and approach to life, so this book didn’t quite meet my expectations. The maxims in the book were quite thought-provoking: “say yes”, “don’t prepare”, “just show up”, “start anywhere”, “be average”, “pay attention”, “face the facts”, “stay on course”, “wake up to the gifts”, “make mistakes please”, “act now”, “take care of each other”, “enjoy the ride”, but I found the illustrative stories somewhat bland (with some great exceptions). It’s a thin book (about 150 pages), but it took me weeks to complete. If you’re the type that likes self-help books (few men do), go ahead and check it out if you want to learn something about improv. Otherwise, I don’t really know. All I know is that I still know very little about improv.

Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers by John Beardsworth

Speaking of things I know little about… a lot of people think I’m some kind of Photoshop expert. I guess that’s not too far from the truth, since I can make my mom look young enough to be my sister, I can make my dad as handsome as I am (ok that’s easy), or I can make myself as sexy as Angelina Jolie (quite easy too - just expand my lips a little). But, I feel a tinge of guilt whenever I claim to be an expert, because I know that I haven’t conquered the world of blending modes. (In Photoshop, blending or blend modes can be accessed from the drop down list which says ‘Normal’ by default, found on the layers palette.)

Which is where this book comes in. Although I use blending modes quite often, some of the blend modes are still not intuitive to me, and I go through a lot of trial and error. I basically can’t visualise the exact effect without trying it out.

I haven’t had time to try out much of the stuff in this book yet, but it’s comforting to know that there’s such a book ready for me at my disposal. Once I’m done with it, I can guiltlessly call myself an expert. Check it out if you’re a Photoshop pro.

‘Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!’ by Richard P. Feynman

If you’re creative and unconventional and funny and you love science, you’re probably already a fan of Richard Feynman.

In this book, Feynman recounts many memorable incidents in his life growing up, as a student, as a researcher in the Manhattan Project (building the WWII atomic bomb), as a Nobel Prize laureate professor with curious interests, and his insights into human nature from those incidents. Although he’s best known as a brilliant physicist, this book also talks about his exploits as an artist (with his own show), as a drummer in Brazil, as an expert lock-picker in the nuclear bomb facility, or a womaniser in Las Vegas. Loads of fun stuff to read, even though he sometimes geeks out and talks about technical stuff which I don’t understand. What I like most is that it gives insight into how he thinks - how he simplifies complex concepts in his own mind to the astonishment of those around him, how he views the world with its systems and cultures around him, and how he survives and thrives even though he’s so different from everyone around him. He’s such a genius - your IQ and creativity levels will be raised a few levels after this book.

Now, for some fiction…

The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder

After my last books review where I reviewed Sophie’s World, too many people asked me to read this, which is by the same author. I finally buckled under the pressure.

This novel has an interesting structure (I lurve interesting structures), although not as strange as Sophie’s World. Like Sophie’s World, it’s basically about philosophy, but this one has less philosophy history and more of the (ideal) mindset of a philosopher - someone constantly curious, constantly questioning, constantly misunderstood. Which really resonates with me (like Feynman’s book above). Definitely worth a read - it’ll set you thinking.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

I normally avoid bestsellers, unless I’ve got other reasons to read them. I chose to read this because this novel is written in the voice of an autistic boy with Asperger’s syndrome. According to an autistic Amazon.com reviewer, this book “got it right”.

This book gives fascinating insight into the autistic’s mind - how logical to the point of illogic, how blithely unemotional and anti-emotional in an environment of emotions, how brilliant and knowledgeable yet idiotic at the same time. The language of the book may be simple - a pre-teen could easily enjoy it - but the issues are deep and sophisticated. No wonder it won a whole bunch of prizes and awards. A wonderfully unique and fresh novel.

Ok, that’s it for now.

Will someone kindly pass me a copy of Her World???