Saturday, October 19, 2013

Imaginary Friends



A few weeks back, Mel released her ebook on Kobo. The timing of the release of her book came just at the right time when I was inundated with mountains of readings and journals on top of major POLS essays on really boring stuff (yawn zzzz). I knew this ebook will come in handy especially when I need to take a break from the mind numbing works of Karl Marx and scholars fighting for human rights law to be universal. 

You know how the saying goes 'Don't judge a book by its cover'? This is definitely one of those that you probably will take a glance and snigger to yourself. Also, you would probably be asking yourself like how can this be an adult book especially when the front cover illustration is so utterly cute and kiddy like! My friends, I just finished reading this book and I can tell you that it is for grown ups. 

Imaginary Friends is written by Melanie Lee, a local Singapore writer whose writings I adore the most. This ebook is a compilation of interesting and really quirky short stories with adult humour embedded in them. However, the best part of it all is that, all the stories come with a lesson for you to take with and they also serve newly grown ups like me a reminder on life and whatever that life will decide to throw me with. It is a light read, nothing too heavy nor mind paralysing. It doesn't require you to ponder and ruminate over the topics that she highlights in her stories. I find it really good because that is what I need after going through three 20 page journals on some political theory. On top of that, while reading the stories, I often find myself transported back to when I was a kid reading fables and imagining if I was one of the characters. It was a really nice feeling. I am a total kid at heart and when I have a chance to take a break from being an adult and immerse myself with a book that allows me to be a kid, I find that really precious to me. :)

An excerpt from one of the short stories in Imaginary Friends.
The photo above is from the first short story in her ebook. I found myself laughing at the end of it and this story pretty much double confirmed that this is indeed targeted at adults. And with that phrase 'shit will hit the fan', I know this book is off on a roaring good start. As the stories are mainly short stories, you can actually finish reading it maybe in an hour or so. I knew that was going to happen so I decided to read the book in phases and also help myself before I go completely insane with my assignments. Plus, due to the fact that all the stories have words of wisdoms at the end of it, most of them helped me to feel like I am not an essay churning machine or a robot who is just digesting chunks of information on theories.


It was hard for me to choose a favourite story out of all the stories in the book. It was a really stiff competition between them and in the end, V is for Valerie the Vicious Vespa came out tops. Loved the story especially with the psychotic plot, thoughts and actions and yes, that vicious blue Vespa. I am thinking twice for a bit right now if I should get a Vespa just in case it might be another Valerie but in pink. Hahaha!

I am a little sad that I have finished reading the book because the book was entertaining and it was really an easy read. There were no big words that I had to check the dictionary for its meaning. The stories were relatable like somehow you know you have gone through some of them before or might have witnessed your friends having to deal with such issues in life. Or, maybe one of your friends (or even you) might be a Valerie who has psychotic thoughts (hey, not judging at all... I too have such thoughts sometimes especially when I am churning a 3000 word paper on some old theories). The illustrations accompanying the stories are super adorable and each of them made me smile.

I highly recommend this ebook to everyone especially my adult friends who are looking for a new book to read, more so those who are sick of reading novels or the daily painful news. Take a break from adulthood for a bit and pick up this book on Kobo and download it on your smart devices. Read it on your way to work before you start your day (and before shit hits the fan) or before you retire for the day. It is light, entertaining and makes you feel good. I can vouch for that since I survived writing THREE 3000 words papers for the past three weeks. And you know what is the best part? It is cheaper than your Starbucks grande caramel latte frappe. Plus, your caramel latte frappe will eventually go out of your body, this book however will stay in your library forever. If you ask me, it is a darn good investment. And if you are a fellow Singaporean like me, support local talents leh! Don't every time complain that we don't have steady bom pipi writers or talent in the literary field. Support hor! ;)

You can buy the ebook on Kobo or at the following links below:
Kobo
Lybrary
Readerstore

Enjoy!


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