18 Mar February 2017 Bestsellers

It’s already the first day of the new month – with the time seemingly passing in a blur – and an opportune moment to look back at what moved off our shelves last month. Thanks to the Penang launch, Punk, Penentangan dan Politik Transnasionalisme [Punk, Resistance and Political Transnationalism] by Sharifah Nurstahidah, Muhammad Febriansyah and Muhamad Takiyuddin Ismail (SIRD) made its first appearance in the top-ten, at the pinnacle of the pile, an interesting study of the values ​​of resistance, rebellion and independence embodied in Malaysia’s punk movement. Once again, the engaging memoir by the late Benedict Anderson, A Life Beyond Boundaries (SIRD), found new readers – imbibing the late-life reflections of a truly remarkable man. There was a really strong Penang theme for many of the titles in the top-list. Once again both of A. Shukor Rahman’s collections, More Penang Stories and 101 Stories of Old Penang (Think City), sold well; Tan Yeow Wooi’s definitive handbook on George Town’s iconic built form, Penang Shophouses (Tan Yeow Wooi Culture & Heritage Research Studio) has a consistent new readership; it’s a very appropriate complementary volume to Chin Yoon Khen’s Traditional Trades of Penang (Areca Books), a survey of the astonishing range of age-old trades that underpin the traditional lifetyles of the local community; and Cheah Jin Seng’s nicely produced Penang: 500 Early Postcards (Editions Didier Millet) sold well. It was very pleasing to see Orang Asli Animal Tales, edited by Lim Boo Liat (Center for Orang Asli Concerns) doing well. The final two titles in the top-ten focus on different aspects of Malaysia’s colonial history. Mohamad Rashidi Pakri’s The Fiction of Colonial Malaya (Universiti Sains Malaysia), offers a concise introduction to four colonial-era writers, including Anthony Burgess. Meanwhile, thanks to a deal with the publisher for a special Malaysian price, Anthony Milner’s classic The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya (Cambridge University Press) appears for the first time. Here’s the full list:

1. Sharifah Nursyahidah, Muhammad Febriansyah and Muhamad Takiyuddin Ismail, Punk, Penentangan dan Politik Transnasionalisme (SIRD)
2. Benedict Anderson, A Life Beyond Boundaries (SIRD)
3. A. Shukor Rahman, More Penang Stories
4. Lim Boo Liat, Orang Asli Animal Tales (Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC)
5. Mohamad Rashidi Pakri, The FIction of Colonial Malaya (Universiti Sains Malaysia)
6. Tan Yeow Wooi, Penang Shophouses (Tan Yeow Wooi Culture & Heritage Research Studio)
7. Chin Yoon Khen, Traditional Trades of Penang (Areca Books)
8. Cheah Jin Seng, Penang: 500 Early Postcards (Editions Didier Millet)
9. A. Shukor Rahman, 101 Stories of Old Penang (Think City)
10. Anthony Milner, The Invention of Politics in Colonial Malaya (Cambridge University Press)