The Undomestic Godess

My oven is fuming and blazing since Christmas. 

Blueberry muffins, oh and my latest addition of dunno-what-plant-is-it to my gardening (with no garden) collection.

During New Year's holiday, i made a batch of blueberry muffin, with FRESH blueberry, impressive or not, hahaha ... The other day, Peter went all the way getting his hand dirty kneading dough and baking bread. Do check out the Basic bread recipe for details.   

According master Jamie Oliver, its just 6 simple steps of :

Stage 1: making a well

Stage 2: getting it together

Stage 3: kneading!

Stage 4: first prove

Stage 5: second prove, flavouring and shaping

Stage 6: cooking your bread

Sounds simple right, but truth be told, its more expensive and extremely time consuming to bake your own bread rather than just went to bakery at the corner of the road to buy a freshly made loaf of bread. Its only cost a penny and is equally good (or even better) with home made. However, its a different kind of satisfaction I would say. To eat from the fruit of your labour, literally. Oh, and it gives you great muscle exercise with all the kneading and mixing too!

We made a grilled chicken sandwich with the bread. hmm..hmmm... delicious. 

I was so into the baking stuff that the other day i bought this chick flick book by Sophie Kinsella named "The Undomestic Goddess". I can totally echo with the main character Samantha Sweating. She is a successful attorney but a total workaholic who did a major blunder in her career and went down all the way to zero. To make things worse, she become a housekeeper by mistake. 

I like the way how the author put this smart women (with flighty thoughts) into a beyond imaginary circumstances and come out better than everyone could have think of. There is this funny scene which describes her first bread baking experience. She had a total nervous breakdown when the kneading is going no where and to make it worse, she has to wait for the yeast to make the bread rise. In her own words:

"I look at the bowl, trying to think miracles. But it isn’t working. I can’t feel calm or serene..... I used to be in control of my time to the minute. To the second. And now I’m supposed  to stand here, in an apron, waiting for a...fungus?"

Yeast = fungus, priceless!

I was literally laughing out loud. but a couple of pages after, i was on the verge of shedding tears. 

".... A yeasty smell is rising up. I open my eyes to see a  loaf of bread in my arms. Proper bread. Real, proper bread like you’d see in a baker’s window. Fat and plump and golden-brown, with faint striations and a crusty, almost flaky top. It smells so delicious I can feel my mouth watering. 

“Tell me that’s nothing,” says Iris, squeezing my arm. “You made that, sweetie. And you should be proud of yourself.” 

Something hot is wadding my throat as I clutch the warm loaf. I made this bread. I made it. I, Samantha Sweeting, who couldn’t even microwave a packet of soup. Who gave up seven years of her life to end up with nothing, to be wiped out of existence. Who has no idea who she even is anymore. I made a loaf of bread. Right now I feel like this is the only thing I have to hold on to."

I guess that's the meaning of comfort food. When you pour all the hard works and love into whatever you cook/ bake, the food will comfort your soul in return. Its almost like a cleansing and rejuvenating process. Anyway, now you know i have a soft spot for stuff like this. ;) 

Death

Last night, i came across this quote about death in "Norwegian wood"- 

"Death exists, not as the opposite but as a part of life"

I believe everyone at one point of their life would have thought about the matter of death. In fact i've thought about it multiple times in my life, about the meaning of death, what's come after death, and how my love ones should continue to live their life happily after my departure.

I'm working with a company which provides informatics solutions to forensic institution (especially mortuary), hence in the 4++ years of my working life, i had saw many dead bodies- Fresh, exhumed, stored in freezer for 10 years, virtual body in 3D, you name it. I wont go into details as they were really not pleasant experiences, plus i dont want my boss to stumble across my blog through google search of keywords.  

I remember there was one Saturday night, about a month before my wedding, i have to witness bodies of 16 orphans who were buried alive in an orphanage hit by a landslide. It was nearly 11 pm when the forensic guy from the hospital called me to go to the morgue to assist them with our company's software system. I give a call to my boss to inform him about the situation, took off my pyjamas and put on my jeans, then drove straight to the hospital, all within 15 minutes.

When the midnight came, the bodies started to reach the mortuary one by one. Despite of the multiple ambulances and so many bodies, the entire forensic department was eerily quiet. One of the medical personnel told me later that it was because the deceased were orphans, so there were no families came with the body. I was speechless when the words struck me. There are many deaths in this world which are not been mourned, and there are many souls passed away unnoticed by the world.

Suddenly the silent was no more uneasy nor eerie. It was deafening, with a deep sense of sorrow.

Then the autopsy started, body was opened up, one by one. It saddened me to say this but I have to re conditioned my mind to view those body images displayed on the screen as an object and not a human who no longer can breath, talk nor move. That was the only way i can carry out my work and deliver what i should, with a total detached emotion.

When i drove back home at nearly 2 in the morning, my heart was heavy. I don't know how the forensic pathologists can go back home every night have their dinner with the family, have normal conversation, go into bed and sleep soundly after facing so many death during the day. Maybe they have compartmentalised their personal feelings towards the living and the dead, maybe death had become a routine in their life.

Sometimes, life itself has a way to remind us about death. Death is not foreign, nor its opposite of life. In fact, its part of life. We are all part of this vicious cycle of life and death which no one can be exempted. And i asked myself from time to time, am i ready to face it if it comes today? or i will be like the rich fool in one of the parable in the bible- unprepared and poor in spirit?

Do you think about death constantly? i know its a taboo for some, but maybe we can talk about death openly sometimes. Inevitably, we all have to face it one day, cuz death is the only certainty in life. 

Xian

Its a slang for boring by the way.

Life has been pretty mundane actually. Everyday is the same as yesterday, work, gym, watching downloaded drama series, weekend, gym, movie, dinner ....

Moving out/in and renovating the house has keep me occupied for a few months. Now, am slowly getting used to living alone (which is one of the best thing happen in my life!!), and since the excitement of moving in finally wear off, its kinda xian when everyday falls back to the same routine. It even felt like the empty pages in New Moon whereby Stephenie Myres had left it blank purposely to indicate how mundane Bella's life was after Edward left.

However, one thing which was constantly good even during these predictable days is my book reading. In fact, since i have move in 3 months ago, i have finished reading more than 10 books.

1. Sookie stakehouse series (book 1-9) by Charlaine Harris

I have a good time reading this. During those night when my adrenaline runs high, i will read 4 hours consecutively until my brain went numb. Its about this cheeky telepathic waitress named Sookie Stakehouse whom encountered all sort of adventures in the world of supernaturals (Vampires, warewolves, witches, fairies etc.). I love her spirits and agility. Am anxiously waiting for the tenth book "dead in the family" to be released now.

2. When God writes your love story by Eric and Leslie Ludy

Its a christian contemporary books on dating guide, its kinda 'mild' for me if you know what i'm saying, but i love the part whereby there are a sort of dialogue between male (Eric) and female (Leslie) which shows different perspective towards topics related to love.

3. Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

It was a book whereby it took me a few nights just to get through first few chapters. Not because its bad, but because of the fact that the words was so real it sends shivers through my spines. Its about a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon who narrates the story from heaven after she is raped and murdered on her way home from school. As the girl adjusts in her own heaven, she watches her family members as they try to recover from the feelings of despair that have invaded their everyday lives after her death.

I have scenes and images running through my mind as though i am going through it myself since the book is written from the narration of the victim herself.

"We lay there as I shook, a powerful knowledge took hold. He had done this thing to me and I had lived. That was all. I was still breathing. I heard his heart. I smelled his breath. The dark earth surrounding us smelled like what it was, moist dirt where worms and animals lived their daily lives. I could have yelled for hours. I knew he was going to kill me. I did not realize then that I was an animal already dying..."

Reading this took me another 3 day before i can pick up the book again.

And no, i have yet to finish the book.

4. Vampire diaries series by LJ Smith
I know, i know. You will think that now i am a vampire fan or what (come to think about it, i finished all the twilight series, sookie stakehouse series and vampire diaries, cheesy..), actually i do like the thought of having the supernaturals co exist with human, it never occur to me that romance between two species (do you call it species?) can be quite addictive to read. Anyway, the story focus on Elena, a human who was turn to vampire by two vampire brothers, and her after life in a small town named Fells church. Anyway, it was interesting but too teenage-ish, like Sookie series, it focus alot on killings and blood sheds with a twist of romance in between, but somewhat less realistic compare to the former.

Anyway, anyone wanna join my book club?

My first 'house warming' present

I was drowned in joy when i saw the surprise present peter bought for me the 1st day i moved into the new place. He was greatly amused by the half dreamy half stupid (i-cant-believe-you-secretly-bought-for-me-this) smile which i carried for the rest of the day.

"This is for you to kill your time in case you felt boring in your new place", said Peter.

Behold, Charlaine Harris's True Blood series (7 books)!

Boy how i LOVE the present! and within 2 days, i had finished the 3rd book " Club dead". Yeah, i kill not just free time, but A LOT of time by reading it.

Well, i owned another copy of the first 2 books, if there is any interested takers, i'm wiling to let go my old ones half the price i bought. ;)

Am starting on the 4th book tonight-Dead to the world (yay!). Eric Northman is having memory lost and Sookie will find him hard to resist.... Ignore my gibberish, am still in hyper mood.

Book review: 纸婚

Am reading a chinese novel-纸婚 for the past two nights. The book describes the reality of marriage life of a young couple of different background: A city girl and a village boy. It was written beautifully. Just to share with you all a passage which touched me deeply.

今天看见一个女作家写的话：爱情就像一把匕首，深深刺进我的心脏，在以后的很多年里，令我深陷于此、永志不渝。

永志不渝，这真是个美丽的词汇，在这个女作家年老的时候，回忆那场爱情的刹那，动人心扉。

她爱他，却无法和他生活在一起。
她的爱永志不渝，于是终生未嫁。

我想起，婚礼上，人们喜欢用这个词宣誓：我宣誓，无论疾病、贫困、灾难都无法将我们分开，我将深爱我的丈夫/妻子，永 志不渝。

那么多的新人，都曾用青春宣誓。可是，很多年过去，还是有很多人分开。
他们分开的时候，“永志不渝”就像一场稍纵即逝的烟火，它的美丽，只能用来嘲笑“永远”本身的短暂。所以，我想，“永志不渝”原来就是一场年轮的考验—— 这个词，这句话，本不是20岁的人可以说，并能说出味道来的。

就好像那位女作家，年轻的时候，没有人相信她所谓的“永远”。直到她老了，嘲笑她、奚落她的那些人，才相信“永远”的存在。

原来，“永志不渝”的意义，要靠时间来证实。
原来，说“永志不渝”的那个人，一定要白发苍苍。
原来，永志不渝，这不单是一个关于爱情的承诺，还是一个关于生命的承诺。

Book Sale!

Check this out!

Photo-blogging 040810

Finished the first two books of the Sookie Stakehouse vampire series. i would sum it up by saying its an adult version of twilight. Entertaining, bloody, nothing inspiring though. The drama series "True Blood" wasn't that great either, it loosely follows the original storyline, too much nudity, am surprised they even allow it to be aired on HBO.

i think i will stick with the book rather than the drama series at the moment. Anyway, my hand is itching to buy the entire series now. Amazon offered it at the price of 34.99 for the collection of 8 books, quite an amazing bargain i must say. Anyone bought anything from Amazon before? would need some advice here.

Am hooked with "The Host" for the past 3 nights. The book is much much better compare to the twilight series. The only flaw of the book is that the story flows at stephenie meyer's pace, if you know what i'm saying. Will come out with a proper review once i finished the book, another quarter to go.

Other than that, i am still a bit homesick i think. All i did since i came back from Kuching trip was just lying on the bed and reading, non stop....

which justify why i should buy more books. ;)

Book Review: My sister Keeper

Here comes my reviews for "My Sister's Keeper".

Lets just say this, i wont bother to try out her other books.

I don't really like how Jodi Picoult writes her books entirely based on manipulation of controversial issues and human emotions. Questionable medical ethics, designer or test tube babies (its not cloning, where most have misunderstood), stereotypical dysfunctional familiy whereby everyone is selfish yet sacrificial in their own way. Its like smacking a whole lots of questions which doesnt has a right and wrong answers into one confused plot, and justified with the most abused word called "love".

There is no doubt that the storyline is interesting and out of the norm, and the author knows she definitely hits the right button with all the 'right' controversial and emotional elements. However, the story has too many cliff hangers (a.k.a build up big plots but don't deliver), too many narrators and characters, and did i mentioned its stereotypical? oh not to forget the super super bad ending. When Anna finally won her rights for medical emancipation, she died tragically (ok, that's a big spoiler), and of course her liver still goes to her leukemic sister despite how much she wants to give up her life. Seriously, what sort of ending was that????

Anyway, someone told me that the ending in the movie is totally different from the novel, and it was directed by the same director who did the "the notebook". Well, hopefully the movie is not as disappointing as the blue print.

Sunday Night

I think my antisocial-ness is pretty much at its height nowadays. Other than occasionally went out with my colleagues and churchmates, most of the time i prefered to just hybernating in my comfort little room and enjoy the moments of solitude of my own.

At the age of 26, and soon to be 27, i have to say that my enthusiasm for outdoors activities and party hangouts had pretty much go downhill together with the rate of my metabolism. I cant remember when is the last time i've actually went for clubbing or party. Good food and great movies, yes, but shaking your body like adrenaline pumping teenage girl all night long, sorry am way too old for that.

Its not that i am really THAT old, but whenever i watched how silly and careless Carrie Bradshaw acted in the "Sex and the City", i cant helped but felt, does every woman really have to walk through the confused, wrecked and jaded road, being screwed left and right, fall in and out of good and bad relationship.... in order to gain THAT final ultimate happiness? And most of the time this ultimate happiness is nothing but a self realization of understanding thyself in a way thy never did before, and realizing the fact that thy shall not need another person to make thy happy.

I cant say that i understand myself 100%, but i am comfortable the way i am. And frankly, i think i am walking towards the direction of "understand thyself", swiftly and firmly. The only thing is my Modus Operandi may not involves so much of Carrie Bradshaw's way if you know what i'm saying. My road was kinda predictable, occasionally there are some diversions and pits stop but overall its pretty much boring i would say.

And most of the time, it involves alot of reading.

When i browsed through my collection of books for the past 3 years, i felt a sudden rush of satisfaction, for a moment, i really felt like one of those old man who keep a precious collection of old coins whereby occasionally they will take out those coins to polish and wipe until its shiny. And if you dare to ask him, he will tell you a story behind each and every pieces of those coins, and how does the coins relates to his own life.

In a way i felt the same about my collection of books.

When it comes to romance, i love Dorothy Koomson. All the girls in her stories are imperfect, but beautiful in their own way. Amber in "the chocolate run" is a choco-holic and a commitment phobe; Nova in "Goodnight Beautiful" willing to have a baby for the man who she can never have; Kam in "my best friend's girl" would do everything for her best friend including adopting the daughter of her betrayed fiance.

When it comes to philosophical, i love Jostein Gaader and Paulo Coelho. Jostein Gaarder is a Norwegian intellectual who often writes from the perspective of children, exploring their sense of wonder about the world. He often uses metafiction in his works, writing stories within stories. Peter loves "Sophies's world" (which i can never finish the book as its too philosophical), and i love "Through a Glass, darkly", cuz it taught me what death is all about and how an angel will come and prepare us to face the unspeakable fear when its knocking on the door.

I'll give Coelho a skip here, cuz i think i've said too much about his book which makes me sounds like some kind of cult addict.

And there are some others of my random collection such as those wacky disc world madness from Terry Pratchett; novels of simple english coupled with strong emotions from a China writer-Xiao Lu Guo; the great political-historical series of George Owell and etc.

All these books taught me something about myself, and at some point of reading, i can totally relate to what the author is trying to tell. This may sound funny, but sometimes its like a spiritual process of re discovering myself as i find that the words explain pieces of me in a perfectly crystal clear manner.

Hence, i guess its no surprise that on a Sunday night like this, while some are enjoying great drinks and happening parties outside. I am sitting on my bed, with a great book and a cup of hot chocolate milk, am 100% contended woman inside.

Book Review: Brida

I finished reading "Brida" by Coelho at 2am last night. Its about the story of a girl named Brida who went on a quest to search for her destiny, of becoming a witch. And along the journey, she realized her soul mate wasnt the person she falls in love with .... well, read the book if you want to know the rest of the story. Frankly, I wont say its a fabulous book because i've expected so much more from the international bestseller author. Overall, its a joy to read the book but it didn't send me to the land of ponder and bewilderment like his other books did.

I love the way Paulo wrote his book, how each of the story started, progressed and ended in whole dedication to bring out one particular message. In The Alchemist, the message was about living out one's destiny-"when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true"; In "The fifth mountain", Paulo wrote the sequel message whereby to live out one's destiny, it never just submit, but continue to choose, cuz therein lies his strength: the power of his decisions.

'He who makes no choice is dead in the eyes of the Lord'

How true it is.

Anyway, back to the book. Though Brida is not as resplendent with its messages as some of his classics, i can gather a few points but couldnt make up my decision on which is THE message that Paulo wants to bring out:

1. Everyone possess spiritual gift (1st Cor: 12) which we need to recognize.

2. Love isnt about being possessive. The fact is love is an entity which cannot be possessed. Like a flower which Magnus gives to Brida when he decided to let her go, it's most beautiful when it is blooming in a field.

'Anyone who tries to possess a flower will have to watch its beauty fading. But if you simply look at a flower in a field, you will keep it forever, because flower is part of the evening and the sunset and the smell of damp earth and the clouds on the horizon.'

3. Finding one important thing in life does not mean giving up all other important things.

4. Everyone is in the journey of searching of our soul mates. Only soul mate is able to of teaching us what we need to know.

5. Spoken words are the bridges between visible and invisible, in another words the act of speaking out what is in our thoughts is an act of manifesting what is virtual to real.

Anyway, if you like to try out some of Paulo's books before deciding whether are you susceptible to provocative thinkings, you can download the e book from http://paulocoelhoblog.com/pirate-coelho/

Enjoy reading!

Book review: The fifth Mountain

English is always a secondary language for me. Its not that its less important or less of priority compare to my mother tongue (Chinese of course), but if the 'ease' of using the language is the yardstick, i have to say that English always comes second.

I read from Manglish's post "On Writing" a few days before:

"it is hard to compose in Chinese inside our head and then write in English. We are perpetually seeking the right word to convey the right feeling."

That was exactly my 心声.

Here comes the perfect example, When the Chinese word 心声 came naturally to me, my fingers which were reflexively typing on the keyboard stopped momentarily in the air. The word supersedes the rest of all other English adjectives. So like what Manglish mentioned, i was 'Perpetually seeking the right word (in English) to convey the right feeling (which i can do it effortlessly in Chinese)'.

**心声 means the voice of your heart, sometimes when you cant find the right words and during that time a person speaks the same thoughts you had, its as though the person heard the voice of your heart.

(After a moment of re collection) Let me rephrase myself again.

That was exactly what's on my mind. (but again, there is sort of reduction in the intensity and emotion which i attempt to express here).

I am always aware of the fact that i am a Chinese who is speaking English. Not that its difficult, but its a constant awareness whereby the linguistic part of my brain have to work extra hard in putting the sentence together, finding the right vocabularies, right grammar. And my research project's mentor used to tell me that unless i am thinking in 'English' i can never 驾驭 (ok, the clostest i can think of the word for this is 'mastering') the language.

I only started to speak English after i've met Peter (i think its around my final year of college studies, dont ask me why, i never find the need of speaking the language before that), of course the command of the languge was accelerated during my days in UK. However, i do aware that i am far from conquering it. In fact, if i count the years i've actively communicate and interact with others using English, it was only a short 5 years, which basically makes me not only a amatuer, but a kid in the world of English.

However in this short 5 years, i have found immense joy in using the language, especially in reading. Although Chinese vocabulary is rich, English is equally great. For example 'Serendipity', the way chinese would describe it is "美丽的意外", but it doesnt sound as beautiful as 'serendipity', in fact, a single word "疲惫” has so many parallel word in English, "tired, exhaust, fatigue, weary, lassitude, feeble, prostration, debilitation, enervation" which can be used in different context with explicit meaning.

I had just finished reading "The fifith mountain" by Paulo Coelho recently. It was a not-so-biblical story based on an Old Testiment's prophet called Elijah in the bible. The book describes the "word" as one of the most powerful weapons of destruction. During that time highest priest is the only one who has the privilage to inherit the history of a nation, of which they passed from mouth to mouth, generation by generation. When, the 'alphabet' was introduced by Merchant to the country and was slowly being practiced by the layman, the high priest decided to declare war and destroy its own nation in order to prevent the spread of the language.

Daggers and spears left traces of blood; arrows could be seen at a distance. Poisons were detected in the end and avoided… but the word managed to destroy without leaving clues.-Paulo Coelho

How true it is.

Anyway, highly recommended book. (*Warning, read it as a story, without any religious presumptions, it can be mind provoking as Coelho described the liberation and thinking of ownself are important in one's relationship with God and His calling)

A timeless message from the book which i really love.

Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy –for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision.

Manga freak

我非常好奇陪伴我长大的漫画是否也是日本人所认同的，所以google了“最受欢迎漫画奖”... 结果出现的是小學館漫畫賞。小學館漫畫賞從1955創立到現在，逐漸豎立起權威的地位，一直都是日本漫畫界的年度盛事，賞金100萬日元. 100万耶！难怪日本人都超爱成为漫画家的。

以下是近20年的发表，我的战绩将标上。

[編輯] 第35回

少年向部門：なかいま強 《うっちゃれ五所瓦》
少女向部門：榛野奈奈惠 《PaPa told me》
一般向部門：浦澤直樹 《YAWARA!（以柔克剛）》

[編輯] 第36回

少年向部門：結城正美《機動警察》
少女向部門：細川知榮子 《尼羅河的女兒》〈另譯：王家的紋章〉 渡邊多惠子 《雙星有約》
一般向部門：六田登 《F 極速悍將》

[編輯] 第37回

少年向部門：藤田和日郎 《潮與虎》〈另譯：魔力小馬〉
少女向部門：藤田和子 《真コール！》 柴門文 《家族的餐桌》《愛情白皮書》
一般向部門：谷口次郎 《Feed the Dog 犬飼》

[編輯] 第38回

少年向部門：椎名高志 《GS美神極樂大作戰》
少女向部門：田村由美 《BASARA 婆娑羅》
一般向部門：新井英樹 《宮本先生》 一丸 《女將》

[編輯] 第39回

少年向部門：冨樫義博 《幽遊白書》 I love this!!!!! cant remember how many time i read the comic over and over again.
少女向部門：吉村明美 《薔薇之戀》
一般向部門：坂田信弘‧かざま鋭二 《風之大地》

[編輯] 第40回

少年向部門：井上雄彥 《灌籃高手》 who can ever forget the famous SLAM DUNK!!
少女向部門：羅川真里茂 《天才寶貝》
一般向部門：森秀樹 《墨攻》

[編輯] 第41回

少年向部門：滿田拓也 《棒球大聯盟》
少女向部門：神尾葉子 《流星花園》 yeah, i do read shoujo manga as well, and yes, i do like F4 in manga.
一般向部門：細野不二彥 《真相之眼》〈另譯：王牌鑑定人〉《KO太郎》 村上紀香 《龍》

[編輯] 第42回

少年向部門：曾田正人 《火線先鋒大吾》
少女向部門：齊藤千穗 《花音》
一般向部門：能條純一 《月下棋士》

[編輯] 第43回

少年向部門：森末慎二・菊田洋之 《奧運高手》 The one and only Gymnastic manga i've ever come across!
少女向部門：渡瀨悠宇 《夢幻天女》
一般向部門：小山由《あずみ》

[編輯] 第44回

少年向部門：皆川亮二 《ARMS神臂》
少女向部門：從缺
一般向部門：倉田吉味‧安部善太 《AJI-ICHIMON-ME》〈另譯：美味第一〉

[編輯] 第45回

少年向部門：河合克敏 《馳風！競艇王》 堀田由美‧小畑健 《棋魂》〈另譯：棋靈王〉
少女向部門：育江綾 《薔薇色的明天》
一般向部門：從缺

[編輯] 第46回

少年向部門：青山剛昌 《名偵探柯南》 西森博之 《魯莽天使》
少女向部門：篠原千繪 《闇河魅影》〈另譯：赤河戀影〉
一般向部門：浦澤直樹 《怪物 MONSTER》〈另譯：魔剎〉

[編輯] 第47回

少年向部門：高橋留美子 《犬夜叉》
少女向部門：清水玲子 《輝夜姬》 吉田秋生 《YASHA -夜叉-》
一般向部門：武論尊、池上遼一 《HEAT 灼熱》〈另譯：盜火線〉
審查委員特別賞：黑鐵弘 《赤兵衛》

[編輯] 第48回

少年向部門：雷句誠 《魔法少年賈修》 An old manga which i've just finished reading recently, love the story
少女向部門：渡邊多惠子, 《光之風》 矢澤愛 《NANA》 Nana the rocker rules!
一般向部門：浦澤直樹 《20世紀少年》

[編輯] 第49回

少年向部門：荒川弘 《鋼之鍊金術師》 橋口隆志 《烘焙王》
少女向部門：中原亞矢 《戀愛情結》who can resist the love story of a tall girl and a shorty!
一般向部門：山田貴敏 《孤島診療所》

[編輯] 第50回

少年向部門：久保帶人 《BLEACH 死神》
少女向部門：蘆原妃名子 《砂時計》 小畑友紀《我們的存在》 I cried while reading these two manga, by the way anyone have the last book of <我們的存在>?
一般向部門：永井明‧乃木坂太郎 《醫龍》

[編輯] 第51回

少年向部門：藤崎聖人 《野性之聲 Wild Life》
少女向部門：和泉兼好 《戀妹思春期》
一般向部門：安部讓二‧柿崎正澄 《少年犯之七人》/ 〈另譯：《少年犯罪檔案》〉

[編輯] 第52回

少年向部門：田邊伊衛郎《結界師》
少女向部門：田村由美《7SEEDS 幻海奇情》
一般向部門：井浦秀夫《流氓律師》另譯：垃圾律師

[編輯] 第53回

少年向部門：寺嶋裕二《鑽石王牌》
少女向部門：青木琴美《我的初戀》 *I read the other manga of hers "妹妹戀人", better check this out as well.
一般向部門：黒丸、夏原武《詐欺獵人》關家徹治《料理新鮮人》


[編輯] 第54回

少年向部門：安達充《Cross Game》
少女向部門：櫻小路鹿乃子《黑鳥戀人 ~ BLACK BIRD》
一般向部門：石塚真一《岳》


[編輯] 第55回

少年向部門：篠原健太《SKET DANCE》
少女向部門：岩本奈緒《天狗的女兒》
一般向部門：安部夜郎《深夜食堂》

There are so many other manga which i never heard before, better catch up soon.