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June15
I’M NOT PERFECT. I’M A MOM
Jasmine Han & Shelly Holly
Epigram Books | 183 pages
This is no
The Baby
Whisperer
and no
TheNewContented
Little Baby Book
– instead, it’s a
h i gh l y i n fo rma l
a n d g e n e r a l l y
humorous account
of pregnancy and
early motherhood.
Apart from some
genuinely alarming
descriptions of the
aftermath of natural
childbirth (witness,
“my vagina was
swollen to the size of a small pig”), expect dozens
of anecdotes of scatological and other mishaps, the
funny and embarrassing things that kids do, and
what happens to your sex-life when you become
parents.
Singaporean Jasmine Han, sometime
bodybuilder and now full-time mother
(without
a helper!)
of a three-year-old and a one-year-
old, is currently the co-owner of SLAP Dance
Studio in Telok Ayer Street, where she teaches
pole-dancing and striptease. BFF Shelly, who
describes herself as an EWSAHMWSACHAC
– an “expat wife stay-at-home mom who sucks
at cleaning house and cooking” – met Jasmine
at the condo pool after relocating to Singapore
from her native Houston a little over a year ago.
They’ve clearly been there, got the T-shirt, and
now written the book.
Essential reading for parents-to-be? Maybe yes,
but at the risk of being put off the whole business
of babies for life.
Verne Maree
THE ROMANCE OF THE
GRAND TOUR –
100 YEARS OF TRAVEL
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Kennie Ting
Talisman | 208 pages
T h e s u b j e c t o f t h i s
handsome, gorgeously
illustrated coffee-table book
is travel-worthy destinations
that lie “east of Suez” – a
phrase that appears in a popular poem by Rudyard Kipling and which
refers to the colonial dominions of the European powers that lay east
of the Suez Canal. It was only after the Canal’s opening in 1869 that
leisure travel became possible to some of the destinations so gloriously
covered in this tome: Rangoon (Yangon), Penang, Malacca, Batavia
(Jakarta), Surabaya, Bangkok, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Manila,
Hong Kong – and, of course, Singapore. Leafing through the faintly retro
pages with their evocative period photographs, etchings and drawings
would be a lovely way to find out more about the history, geography
and cultural context of your next Southeast Asian destination – or even
decide which one it is to be.
JUST FOR KIDS
SEUSS-ISMS!
Dr Seuss
Random House | 70 pages
Subtitled “A Guide to Life for Those Just Starting Out… and Those
Already On Their Way”, this delightful compilation of verse from a variety
of Seuss titles –
Green Eggs and Ham, McElligot’s Pool, The Lorax, The
Cat in the Hat
and many more – is designed to motivate and inspire
young readers and listeners.
Each is colourfully illustrated in true Seuss style, and titled according
to its uplifting theme, from Be True to Yourself, Surround Yourself with
Good People, and Think Before You
Speak, to Focus!, Face Up to Adversity,
Don’t Obsess, Try New Things, and
Expand Your Horizons.
Grownups, too, could take a leaf from
this book. How about this little gem, Be
Proud of Who You Are:
Of all
The shapes
We MIGHT have been,
I say, “HOORAY
For the shapes we’re in.”
– The Shape of Me and Other Stuff
For a chance to win one of three signed
copies of
The Romance of the Grand
Tour
, just send your name and postal
address to
verne.maree@expatliving.sg,with Book Giveaway in the subject line.
ON THE
PAGE
ARTS&LEISURE
If you’re looking for a good read
this month, here are our thoughts
on a selection of recent releases.