Books talk

[Sila]

i am an avid reader and having access to as many books as i want is one of the best things about living overseas. so if any of you have any books you might want to share, maybe a thread for books would be nice.

i'll start (going to start with more obscure books and authors) that i would recommend to you

* Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
* "Uncivil Seasons" and "Time's Witness" by Michael Malone
* Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat
* Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje (who also wrote The English Patient)
* "Kushiel's Dart", "Kushiel's Chosen" and "Kushiel's Avatar" by Jacqueline Carey
* The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

aiyooo i'll never stop like this. so i stop now, and if you have any books to recommend, that would be great.

[LiLiaN]

good idea with this thread... esp for book lovers...
i love reading too, but sadly nowadays, lacking the time to...
have too much scientific papers to plow through every day....

recently read "the eight" by catherine neville...
something along the line of "da vinci code" style...
it was a very long book, but interesting all the same...

next to read : a short history of nearly everything by bill bryson...
i have never tried his books, so looking forward to this...

[Sila]

bill bryson is really cool. i read quite a few of his books, up until In A Sunburned Country - after that haven't quite gone back to reading him. i love Notes from a Small Island, and there's one book about the differences in language between US and UK (not sure which now, all his books are melding into one in my head). really funny stuff. A Walk in the Woods was also very funny. let me know if you like his Short History..

[Sila]

anything by Haruki Murakami is good. do not miss A Wild Sheep Chase :)

also, did you know that Fight CLub was originally a novel? written by Chuck Palahniuk. read Lullaby by him - very freaky and very good.

[dreamwh]

Hey Sila... a lot of critics say Fight Club the movie is at least as good as Fight Club the book, some actually say the movie is better. That's very-very rare!

What's your take?


Have you read any Arthur C Clarke? I read one "Childhood's End"... disturbing, uplifting and sad. Gila babi good book!!! Now i'm going to start a Clarke collection. Next on the list, Rendezvous with Rama.

I like James A Michener books too...

[Sila]

Hey Sila... a lot of critics say Fight Club the movie is at least as good as Fight Club the book, some actually say the movie is better. That's very-very rare!

What's your take?


Have you read any Arthur C Clarke? I read one "Childhood's End"... disturbing, uplifting and sad. Gila babi good book!!! Now i'm going to start a Clarke collection. Next on the list, Rendezvous with Rama.

I like James A Michener books too...

dream, Fight Club the movie was in my opinion at least as good as Fight Club, the book. it was very hard for me to read it objectively, like i didn't know what the twists were since i loved the movie so much, but it delivered. and it was Chuck P's first novel! his subsequent ones are really good too.

haven't read either of those arthur c clarke's - i may have only read him back when i was in secondary school - my brother's books. back then i was into Isaac Asimov (also have to re-read since it's been so long i can't remember any of the plot twists).

i think you would like Cloud Atlas, which i mentioned in the first post. it jumps from 1 story to another to another and there's a definite thread pulling it all together and is a novel, and not a short story collection. it is really cool and thought provoking and philosophical without being at all preachy!

[dreamwh]

The Foundation series!!! I still blur about that one... Hari Seldon, The Mule...

I read "A Hitch-hiker's guide to the Galaxy" in Uni... funny gila babi.

I've finished Moorcock's Corum series and now stuck at the third Elric book. Moorcock is one depressing b*st*rd!

Horror+Fantasy my favourite is Brian Lumley and his Necroscope series. I also have the third (and last) Psychomech book... but not gonna read it until i can find second hand ones of the first 2 books. Lumley books are expensive here.

But my favourite writer ever is Carl Sagan... brilliant bugger.

[Sila]

i can't read or watch any horror lah - i get too paranoid and am alone at nights after keep getting up and checking everything. so you have to talk to my brother about lumley - i think he has mentioned that name to me before.

although i will read Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Darkness Take My Hand, etc) and have also read a few Peter Straub (back in college when i had roommates and didn't have to get paranoid alone at night). tried to read stephen king's It once, made it to the end of the first chapter and put the book away, never to be seen again. i cannot tahan lah... can't even watch a movie like that, much less leave everything to my imagination

ya la, Hari Seldon and all that so confusing. the plan behind the plan behind the plan. actually the stuff i remember of asimov's were the smaller stand alone books in that universe - can't remember any of the titles now (maybe not THAT memorable after all, but there was one about centuries trading with each other through time travel and nothing being a surprise, etc. except for when time travel was invented and waaaaay far into the future when they couldn't see what was there, possibly blocked). that was great!

for those of you who want to read scifi/fantasy with a touch of violence, try Matthew Woodring Stover's Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle. first person - fantastic fight sequences.

also, Steven Brust's Taltos series (Orca, Jhereg, etc etc) are all really cool.

[dreamwh]

Horror is one of my favourite genre and the scariest ones i have read were from the "Bercakap Dengan Jin" series!!!! Did you know most of the stories take place around the Manjung/Dindings district? Scary as hell.

Western horror is not that scary... except maybe for HP Lovecraft. I prefer asian horror.

[dreamwh]

stephen king is not scary la... he's like the bon jovi of horror authors. lembik and over-rated.

Lumley's style is similar to lovecraft, that's why i likes it. I like books that are impossible to be made into movies...

[Hisham]

Horror is one of my favourite genre and the scariest ones i have read were from the "Bercakap Dengan Jin" series!!!! Did you know most of the stories take place around the Manjung/Dindings district? Scary as hell.

Western horror is not that scary... except maybe for HP Lovecraft. I prefer asian horror.

HP Lovecraft punya horror is quite unique. His heroes can scream and pass out at a drop of a coin, and wake up babbling like an idiot. I really love his bestiary of monsters with the near unpronounceable names: Cthulhu, Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, Nyarlathotep, Daoloth, Tsathoggua, and Yog-Sothoth, among others. I have the Call of Cthulhu RPG and never played the game, but the book is a great read as an encyclopedia of Lovecraftian works.

Modern fantasy horror such as the works of Clive Barker (Cabal, Great & Secret Show, Imagica) and Neil Gaiman (American Gods and Neverwhere) are also very much recommended.

Sila, apart from introducing me to Steven Brust's excellent Vlad Taltos series with its droll humour, also got me to read dozens of Orson Scott Card who writes science fiction with extremely believable and likeable characters, it's hard to believe they're fictional. The Homecoming series and the Ender series are all great books:)

[Hisham]

i can't read or watch any horror lah - i get too paranoid and am alone at nights after keep getting up and checking everything. so you have to talk to my brother about lumley - i think he has mentioned that name to me before.
No, I was talking about Joanna Lumley, la! Pay attention! ;)

for those of you who want to read scifi/fantasy with a touch of violence, try Matthew Woodring Stover's Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle. first person - fantastic fight sequences.
Ah, then it might be of interest to you that Matt Stover has got the assignment of writing the novelization of the movie where Obi-Wan and Anakin beat the crap out of each other this year.

[Sila]

No, I was talking about Joanna Lumley, la! Pay attention! ;)


eh really ah? who's joanna lumley then? obviously wasn't paying close attention.. ;)

Ah, then it might be of interest to you that Matt Stover has got the assignment of writing the novelization of the movie where Obi-Wan and Anakin beat the crap out of each other this year.

i checked him out on amazon and he's written a couple of stuff for star wars novels apparently. i didn't know that. you might want to cari Heroes Die - should be in the book room. s'very cool, not clear black and white between good and evil and lots of hand to hand viciousness...

[Sila]

i've also been checking out some asian writers. the following are good:

* The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
* as mentioned before, anything by Haruki Murakami. his titles are cool too (i.e., The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Elephant Vanishes)
* Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
* The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan (who wrote The Joy Luck Club)

for hispanic writes, i think Julia Alvarez and Isabel Allende are really good. i've also read A Simple Habana Melody and The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O'Brien by Oscar Hijuelos (who also wrote The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love which was adapted into the movie).

all are fiction, of course ;)

[LiLiaN]

recently read "the fourth queen" by debbie taylor and found that to be really interesting...

for anyone planning on visiting rome, or those who has visited it and would like to know more about the sistine chapel, check out "michelangelo and the pope's ceiling" by ross king...

[euj]

recently read "the fourth queen" by debbie taylor and found that to be really interesting...

for anyone planning on visiting rome, or those who has visited it and would like to know more about the sistine chapel, check out "michelangelo and the pope's ceiling" by ross king...
i've just finished reading the agony and the ecstacy by irving steon again. it was written in 1961 and is a biography of michaelangelo in the form of fiction. really fun and gives you and understanding of those times. am currently reading the pickup by nadine gordimer, a south african who won the nobel prize for literature. it talks about inter-racial issues in south africa and immigration and emmigration. the other interesting thing about the book is that there is no actual dialogue. all you read is what the person listening hears in the their head, so it makes it a little difficult, but very novel and rewarding.

[LiLiaN]

i had to say, since starting my postgrad study, finding myself with less and less time for leisure reading.... and even when i have time, i don't want to read something with "issues" anymore, i just want some pure relaxing rubbish... i even resorted to reading back my old enid blytons..

by the way, another book with issue that i think is fairly good is "no logo" by naomi klein... it looks into the issue of cheap labours for the sake of rich multinationals such as mcdonalds and several other designer lines....

[dreamwh]

HP Lovecraft punya horror is quite unique. His heroes can scream and pass out at a drop of a coin, and wake up babbling like an idiot. I really love his bestiary of monsters with the near unpronounceable names: Cthulhu, Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, Nyarlathotep, Daoloth, Tsathoggua, and Yog-Sothoth, among others. I have the Call of Cthulhu RPG and never played the game, but the book is a great read as an encyclopedia of Lovecraftian works.

Modern fantasy horror such as the works of Clive Barker (Cabal, Great & Secret Show, Imagica) and Neil Gaiman (American Gods and Neverwhere) are also very much recommended.

Sila, apart from introducing me to Steven Brust's excellent Vlad Taltos series with its droll humour, also got me to read dozens of Orson Scott Card who writes science fiction with extremely believable and likeable characters, it's hard to believe they're fictional. The Homecoming series and the Ender series are all great books:)


If you liked Lovecraft, you'll probably like Brian Lumley... Psychomech and Necrocscope series are very famous. Check out www.brianlumley.com

Clive Barker is one wierd fella... so far i've read only one book back in uni. can't remember what... but i do have cabal, no mood to read.

[Sila]

i had to say, since starting my postgrad study, finding myself with less and less time for leisure reading.... and even when i have time, i don't want to read something with "issues" anymore, i just want some pure relaxing rubbish... i even resorted to reading back my old enid blytons..


i'm with you lilian - it took me a month to read The Name of the Rose (which is a really good book, but hard to read - definitely not a fast read). for some relaxation, but not rubbish try:

* The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
* "Jennifer Government" and "Syrup" by Maxx Barry (euj, he's an ozzie)

[Sila]

the only non fiction book i've read in a long time, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. which i read directly after i finished The Name of the Rose. very thought provoking and we malaysians should read and learn from both of these... different religions, but same theme.

[euj]

the only non fiction book i've read in a long time, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. which i read directly after i finished The Name of the Rose. very thought provoking and we malaysians should read and learn from both of these... different religions, but same theme.
the last non-fiction book i read was one i bought in hong kong last month called cannabis. can't remember who the writer is. it chronicles the use of cannabis throughout history. really informative...

[Sila]

i think marijuana used to be sold over the counter in the US, in 1904. and cocaine was actually an ingredient of Coca-Cola when it was first invented. :D

[euj]

i think marijuana used to be sold over the counter in the US, in 1904. and cocaine was actually an ingredient of Coca-Cola when it was first invented. :D
yeah, there was a marihuana act in the early part of last century. can't remember why they spelt it like that, but it was all in the book. the US government ran a propaganda campaign which was full of lies. they blamed rape and murder vie the news on marijuana smokers and also released some movies depicting crazed marijuana users - those movies are classics now. very expensive on ebay, ironically. anyone who's used it before, or knows those who've used it will tell you that if more people smoked, there'd be a lot less fighting and wars. peace man! ;)

[Sila]

make love, not war?? :D

anyway, to get back to books, has anyone read any of Dan Brown's books other than Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code? are the others as good? worth giving a try?

also, for those interested in mystery novels, i just tried 1 book by Ian Rankin, Black and Blue. loved it!!

[Alkapocino]

I strongly recommend this book to all especially the man. You can find it in most book stores for RM37.95 only. Extremely straight to the point book and Dr. Archibald Hart did really well in revealing what "sexuality" really means with crystal clear reports, case studies and explanations.

Below is some brief overview of what the book is all about.

"Dr. Archibald Hart discusses the average man's sexual worries and struggles with tasteful candor, responsible balance, and a controlling respect for biblical wisdom."
Larry Crab, director, Institute for Biblical Counseling

WHAT "GOOD MEN" THINK ABOUT SEX:
"Am I oversexed?" "Why do I think such X-rated thoughts?" "What is 'normal' when it come to sex?" "Do other men struggle the way I do?"

Dr. Archibald Hart, eminent psychologists and highly acclaimed author and lecturer, addresses these and questions men face daily in The Sexual Man:Masculinity Without Guilt. The result of research gained from confidentially surveying more than 600 men, The Sexual Man demystifies what men secretly think and feel about sexuality. In it, Dr. Hart reveals:

What satifies men sexually and what the limits should be.
Sexual fears, fetishes and failures that haunt males.
How to ensure healthy sexual development - from boyhood to manhood.
Keys to a fulfilled and guilt-free sex life.


Based on Dr. Harts groundbreaking nationwide research, The Sexual Man refutes the current myths surrounding male sexuality and provides a psychologically sound view of what men secretly feel about:

love and lust frequency of sex sexual harassment pornography,fantasy and masturbation oral sex sex and aging making sexual dreams come true sex and religion sex and the workplace sex and affection wives and lovers.

[euj]

make love, not war?? :D

anyway, to get back to books, has anyone read any of Dan Brown's books other than Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code? are the others as good? worth giving a try?

also, for those interested in mystery novels, i just tried 1 book by Ian Rankin, Black and Blue. loved it!!
i've read all of em. whilst da vinci code was good, it was the first one that i read. he's a one trick wonder. the rest are all with a similiar formula. i reckon david morrell and ken follet are a lot better.

[BohPian]

Are graphic novels classified as books?

In my opinion, "Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is the most outstanding graphic novel ever crafted. The storyline, art rendition, characterization, make this a wonderful reading experience.

Tragically, hollywood is going to make a mockery of this masterpiece but trying to adapt it.

[KoChun]

I read a lot of newspaper though. Is it classified as book also ah? :p

[BohPian]

Anyone read novels by Ursula Le Guin? She writes fantasies and science fictions. I've read one of the Earthsea Trilogy and was captivated.

[Diong_Gar_Loon]

don't read much but if anyone mentions "Rich dad, Poor dad" to me, i am going to kick his/her ass. what a lame ass book.

[LiLiaN]

make love, not war?? :D

anyway, to get back to books, has anyone read any of Dan Brown's books other than Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code? are the others as good? worth giving a try?

also, for those interested in mystery novels, i just tried 1 book by Ian Rankin, Black and Blue. loved it!!
sila, the other two are CRAP!!! love the angels and demons and da vinci code... but deception point and digital fortress... stay away from them... unless you're bored....

[LiLiaN]

don't read much but if anyone mentions "Rich dad, Poor dad" to me, i am going to kick his/her ass. what a lame ass book.
i started 4-5 pages... then returned to the library....

[dreamwh]

Anyone read novels by Ursula Le Guin? She writes fantasies and science fictions. I've read one of the Earthsea Trilogy and was captivated.

I read one some years ago... The Dispossessed. She's really good, the best female author i know.

[dreamwh]

Has anyone read The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav... its a layman's introduction to quantum physics and relativity. Brilliant book. This is the same guy who wrote Seat of The Soul (haven't read that yet)

I have this photocopied book (from my uni library) called "From Black-Holes to the Infinite Universe" written by two hippie looking guys back in the 60s... another brilliant intro to the same field.

HG Wells' "An Outline of History" is one of my favourite non-fiction ever. This book is out of print now i think (Sila, if you can find it in the US, tell me... i'll pay). Gives a bird's eye view of history.

Of course any book by Carl Sagan is good for me.

Now i'm trying out Arthur C Clarke... read one, Childhood's End, hooked straightaway.

[dreamwh]

i had to say, since starting my postgrad study, finding myself with less and less time for leisure reading.... and even when i have time, i don't want to read something with "issues" anymore, i just want some pure relaxing rubbish... i even resorted to reading back my old enid blytons..

Hey lilian, to tell you the truth i hated Enid Blyton after my teen years (underlying racist tones, same as Tolkien, though many will disagree i believe)... but she wrote this 2 really moving stories called "The Family at Red Roofs" and "Six Bad Boys". Both quite good, totally different from her typical style.

My favourite books from that era (particularly about english boarding schools) is Anthony Buckeridge's "Jennings" stories... funny gila babi.

[Sila]

since euj and lilian both condemn the other Dan Brown books, they are stricken off my list!

dream, i just tried to find Outline of History by HG Wells, and you can get these used on Amazon.com. you should check it out. teruk2 i can order and get it shipped here and bring back in may for you (but only if you come to my wedding ;) )

eh, dream, enid blyton got racist overtones ka? i loved all of her books and never got that. now i don't want to re-read in case it taints my memories of her wonderful stories.

bohpian, graphic novels are counted as books. hisham will have plenty to say about them ;)

[Sila]

I strongly recommend this book to all especially the man. You can find it in most book stores for RM37.95 only. Extremely straight to the point book and Dr. Archibald Hart did really well in revealing what "sexuality" really means with crystal clear reports, case studies and explanations.

Below is some brief overview of what the book is all about.

"Dr. Archibald Hart discusses the average man's sexual worries and struggles with tasteful candor, responsible balance, and a controlling respect for biblical wisdom."
Larry Crab, director, Institute for Biblical Counseling

WHAT "GOOD MEN" THINK ABOUT SEX:
"Am I oversexed?" "Why do I think such X-rated thoughts?" "What is 'normal' when it come to sex?" "Do other men struggle the way I do?"

Dr. Archibald Hart, eminent psychologists and highly acclaimed author and lecturer, addresses these and questions men face daily in The Sexual Man:Masculinity Without Guilt. The result of research gained from confidentially surveying more than 600 men, The Sexual Man demystifies what men secretly think and feel about sexuality. In it, Dr. Hart reveals:

What satifies men sexually and what the limits should be.
Sexual fears, fetishes and failures that haunt males.
How to ensure healthy sexual development - from boyhood to manhood.
Keys to a fulfilled and guilt-free sex life.


Based on Dr. Harts groundbreaking nationwide research, The Sexual Man refutes the current myths surrounding male sexuality and provides a psychologically sound view of what men secretly feel about:

love and lust frequency of sex sexual harassment pornography,fantasy and masturbation oral sex sex and aging making sexual dreams come true sex and religion sex and the workplace sex and affection wives and lovers.

umm and :eek: and yoiiiks!! :D

[LiLiaN]

since euj and lilian both condemn the other Dan Brown books, they are stricken off my list!

dream, i just tried to find Outline of History by HG Wells, and you can get these used on Amazon.com. you should check it out. teruk2 i can order and get it shipped here and bring back in may for you (but only if you come to my wedding ;) )

eh, dream, enid blyton got racist overtones ka? i loved all of her books and never got that. now i don't want to re-read in case it taints my memories of her wonderful stories.

bohpian, graphic novels are counted as books. hisham will have plenty to say about them ;)
hmm... i won't say condemn but his other books are just not as good... maybe for some leisurely read and you're at the airport and those are the only books there... then get it by all means... otherwise, there are plenty more books out there to enjoy...

well... didn't realise enid blyton got racist overtone myself... well, i love her books and guess it'll still stay that way....

can't wait for the new harry potter book... already wondering who is the half blood prince... any guesses here..??

got a new book yesterday called around the world in 80 dates... whatever i've read so far, the author (lady) is funny, but i also think she's a bit of a walking dating disaster.... she really set herself up for failures... what a shame, as she seems like a very lovely lady with great sense of humour....

[Sila]

this was a well written, beautiful book - Three Junes, by Julia Glass. so touching and resonant, about families, and how well do you really know each other.

i agree with you lilian, i didn't catch the racist overtones of enid blyton and this late in the game, i refuse to see it. hah! so there! :)

[LiLiaN]

sila, where did you get all the time to read...??!

[piglet]

hmm... i won't say condemn but his other books are just not as good... maybe for some leisurely read and you're at the airport and those are the only books there... then get it by all means... otherwise, there are plenty more books out there to enjoy...

well... didn't realise enid blyton got racist overtone myself... well, i love her books and guess it'll still stay that way....

can't wait for the new harry potter book... already wondering who is the half blood prince... any guesses here..??

got a new book yesterday called around the world in 80 dates... whatever i've read so far, the author (lady) is funny, but i also think she's a bit of a walking dating disaster.... she really set herself up for failures... what a shame, as she seems like a very lovely lady with great sense of humour....

So many enid blyton lovers over here :D ... me too.. I luv all her books since young.. ... got my 1st enid blyton book whn I was 7 years old-Mr Galliano's Circus

[ausman]

I Like "The Magic of Thinking BIG!"
also lately I just finish reading Lexus and Olive Tree... (Recommended if u want to know th real world we are living in.)Scary....

[LiLiaN]

went in to bookshop yesterday morning and sat down for a cuppa viennese capuccino... then grabbed a book and started reading... it was "the lady and the unicorn" by tracy chevalier (also author of "girl with a pearl earring")... a very interesting book that incorporates nice little story behind real life arts and history.... fascinating way to weave in controversial issues of that time line...

finished the book and finished up my coffee, then wondered should i get another book by the same author... i opted to go for lunch instead....

[Sila]

sila, where did you get all the time to read...??!

lilian - it is a matter of making the time, more than anything. i do have to do a lot of air travel (for work) and i do tend to read on planes and in airports. but i read to chill out before bed, and i read to relax on the weekends. basically, i cut down on excessive tv - i watch stuff i want to watch and try to read if nothing is on (instead of what i used to do which was fruitlessly channel surf for hours to make sure that indeed, nothing worth watching is on...) :D also what i try to do is go to the bookstore every 3 or 4 months, buy 10-12 books, and work off of that. when i get down to 2 books or so, it's time to go to the bookstore! so this way, i have a choice of books to pick from to read at any time and i start hyperventilating thinking i will run out of books when i am down to 2 "spare" books...

although i have to say that this forum is cutting in on my reading time!! hahahaha :D

[dreamwh]

sila, where did you get all the time to read...??!

Sila is a speed-demon when it comes to reading... she used to read like 3-4 times faster than me. (Sila, remember the time you made me read a particular page on the King of the Murgos to get to the punchline and got pissed when i didn't read fast enough???).

Now I'm sure she's gilababi fasterer... What's the speed now? 5000wpm? 10000?

[LiLiaN]

wow, that's some speed...!!! not sure what mine is, probably around 600-700 wpm... still not fine-tuned enough... and yes, forumming is taking over my reading time too!

[Sila]

Sila is a speed-demon when it comes to reading... she used to read like 3-4 times faster than me. (Sila, remember the time you made me read a particular page on the King of the Murgos to get to the punchline and got pissed when i didn't read fast enough???).

Now I'm sure she's gilababi fasterer... What's the speed now? 5000wpm? 10000?

waah don't make me shy lah... paiseh only. i just get so impatient and into the book and want to keep reading faster so i can know what's going to happen and how the book is going to end...

sorry i was mean to you dream. i didn't mean it that way - sometimes i just get into the book :) and i just wanted to share it with you.

never clocked myself but depends on the book lah. it took me a long time to read The Name of the Rose (so much history and theology involved which then becomes integral to the plot) but normal fiction is usually fairly quick.

[Sila]

went in to bookshop yesterday morning and sat down for a cuppa viennese capuccino... then grabbed a book and started reading... it was "the lady and the unicorn" by tracy chevalier (also author of "girl with a pearl earring")... a very interesting book that incorporates nice little story behind real life arts and history.... fascinating way to weave in controversial issues of that time line...

finished the book and finished up my coffee, then wondered should i get another book by the same author... i opted to go for lunch instead....

i read The Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Virgin Blue by tracy chevalier. i haven't read her other 2 books yet but will eventually. i like her style and makes the art more approachable and human somehow.

in a similar historical fiction vein, i did like The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory but have been advised not to read her next novel, i forget the title.

[LiLiaN]

i read The Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Virgin Blue by tracy chevalier. i haven't read her other 2 books yet but will eventually. i like her style and makes the art more approachable and human somehow.

in a similar historical fiction vein, i did like The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory but have been advised not to read her next novel, i forget the title.
hmm... good review for tracy chevalier so guess i'll be trying her out then...

current read, bill bryson "neither here nor there"... he's a bit strange... shall finish the book first before giving my verdict...

[Sila]

hmm... good review for tracy chevalier so guess i'll be trying her out then...

current read, bill bryson "neither here nor there"... he's a bit strange... shall finish the book first before giving my verdict...
Girl With a Pearl Earring was much better as a book than the movie..

currently re-reading Pride and Prejudice so i can read Mr Darcy Takes a Wife by linda berdoll which is supposed to be the continued story of Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy. can't just read the "sequel" without refreshing the first story, right? :)

[LiLiaN]

Girl With a Pearl Earring was much better as a book than the movie..

currently re-reading Pride and Prejudice so i can read Mr Darcy Takes a Wife by linda berdoll which is supposed to be the continued story of Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy. can't just read the "sequel" without refreshing the first story, right? :)
haven't seen the movie so no problem there at all...

have only read emma by jane austen... a bit long winded so it put me off reading her other books...

[Sila]

haven't seen the movie so no problem there at all...

have only read emma by jane austen... a bit long winded so it put me off reading her other books...

i couldn't get through emma sad to say. i read Pride and Prejudice for english lit in form 5 and loved it. have read it a few times. also read Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. you have to get into the mood to read these, i think. but don't let emma throw you off. start with Pride and Prejudice. the first 5 chapters of emma was like a lesson in victorian manners and fashion... i wanted to kill my teacher for making us read it...

[LiLiaN]

i couldn't get through emma sad to say. i read Pride and Prejudice for english lit in form 5 and loved it. have read it a few times. also read Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. you have to get into the mood to read these, i think. but don't let emma throw you off. start with Pride and Prejudice. the first 5 chapters of emma was like a lesson in victorian manners and fashion... i wanted to kill my teacher for making us read it...
emma was part of my exam syllabus too... after going through the whole book day after day in the class, i was done with jane austen!! maybe it's time to get afresh and try her other books...

[euj]

i can't really remember any of my high school lit, except for romeo and juliet. absolutely love it. went to watch the West Australian Ballet perform R & M last year. was stunning!

[Sila]

i read R&J sometime back. i read Hamlet for my english lit - loved that! :) also did really love Richard III and Much Ado About Nothing. that's about all the shakespeare i ever read though...

[euj]

i read R&J sometime back. i read Hamlet for my english lit - loved that! :) also did really love Richard III and Much Ado About Nothing. that's about all the shakespeare i ever read though...
i had a date last year where we went to watch a play with a modern interpretation of hamlet. fell asleep and started snoring!!! :p

[euj]

can't wait till bride and prejudice comes out at the movies. it's by the director of bend it like beckham!

[Sila]

i had a date last year where we went to watch a play with a modern interpretation of hamlet. fell asleep and started snoring!!! :p

we had to enact a scene of it for my lit class. i was one of the three witches. it was really fun :D

[euj]

we had to enact a scene of it for my lit class. i was one of the three witches. it was really fun :D
cool. and then after that my date had to wake me up! :D

[euj]

i just bought a nice hard cover book for my coffee table last week. it's called cigars. it's all about cigars and is layed out in a really funky way...

[LiLiaN]

i read R&J sometime back. i read Hamlet for my english lit - loved that! :) also did really love Richard III and Much Ado About Nothing. that's about all the shakespeare i ever read though...
hey, i did hamlet too!!!! it was a good one... and i love horatio... such a loyal friend...

[euj]

hey, i did hamlet too!!!! it was a good one... and i love horatio... such a loyal friend...
i prefer the comedies except for macbeth and r & j - the tragedies, too tragic lah...too depressing, but so insightful. the man was a genius...

[LiLiaN]

i prefer the comedies except for macbeth and r & j - the tragedies, too tragic lah...too depressing, but so insightful. the man was a genius...
yeah, bart was a genius.... i like his tragedies though....

[euj]

yeah, bart was a genius.... i like his tragedies though....
well, we'd better not ever go on a date at the theatre then, cos if we watched a shakespeare tragedy, i'd definitely start snoring... :D

[LiLiaN]

well, we'd better not ever go on a date at the theatre then, cos if we watched a shakespeare tragedy, i'd definitely start snoring... :D
not that big into theatre though... just the books... i love watching opera, strangely... :D

[euj]

not that big into theatre though... just the books... i love watching opera, strangely... :D
opera? cool. which ones? we don't get much here...

[LiLiaN]

opera? cool. which ones? we don't get much here...
we talk this is my namesake thread... after all this is a very italian thing too... we keep this thread clean for books, ok!!

[euj]

we talk this is my namesake thread... after all this is a very italian thing too... we keep this thread clean for books, ok!!
haha. ok. forgot that you were little Miss Follow-the-rules! :)

[LiLiaN]

haha. ok. forgot that you were little Miss Follow-the-rules! :)
don't like this ler.... :p

[Sila]

hey, i did hamlet too!!!! it was a good one... and i love horatio... such a loyal friend...

oops i forgot i did Macbeth also in a different class. if you liked hamlet, you should read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the 2 guys who go with Hamlet and have been given orders to have Hamlet killed (in a letter). and Hamlet foils it by substituting the letter ordering his own death with a letter ordering the deaths of the poor messengers, R&G. :D i read this a looong time ago though but i remember enjoying it, if not all of the details ;)

[LiLiaN]

oops i forgot i did Macbeth also in a different class. if you liked hamlet, you should read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the 2 guys who go with Hamlet and have been given orders to have Hamlet killed (in a letter). and Hamlet foils it by substituting the letter ordering his own death with a letter ordering the deaths of the poor messengers, R&G. :D i read this a looong time ago though but i remember enjoying it, if not all of the details ;)
yeah, i remember them two... didn't like them for being the death messengers... i was rather attached to my hamlet... and isn't ophelia such a drama queen..???

[Sila]

yeah, i remember them two... didn't like them for being the death messengers... i was rather attached to my hamlet... and isn't ophelia such a drama queen..???
yeah this is a play that is a comedy about these poor guys R&G who were apparently friends of hamlet whose deaths were really unnecessary and unlamented. Tom Stoppard doesn't change anything in the original Hamlet but works within the framework.

i agree that ophelia is such a drama queen. that's one thing about shakespeare - seems like the women characters aren't portrayed in the best way. the witches in macbeth, lady macbeth, ophelia, hamlet's mother... hmmmm

[LiLiaN]

i bet you since bart was already allegedly homosexual, i think he hated women....

[Sila]

i bet you since bart was already allegedly homosexual, i think he hated women....
i don't think i knew he was allegedly homosexual. speaking of alleged homosexuals, have you heard of the new book that came out about Abraham Lincoln, alleging that he was a homosexual?? i dunno the title of the book but i might be interested in reading it ;)

[LiLiaN]

i don't think i knew he was allegedly homosexual. speaking of alleged homosexuals, have you heard of the new book that came out about Abraham Lincoln, alleging that he was a homosexual?? i dunno the title of the book but i might be interested in reading it ;)
really..? seems like everywhere now people like to report all these poor dead and famous people as homosexual... maybe to sell more books...? afterall, these deads can't defend themselves...

[Sila]

really..? seems like everywhere now people like to report all these poor dead and famous people as homosexual... maybe to sell more books...? afterall, these deads can't defend themselves...
dunno la. could be. apparently the Abraham Lincoln one had documents written by people men who may have been his lovers (commenting on the perfection of his thighs and stuff).

but for sure Oscar Wilde was gay :D he owned up to it himself and was even jailed for it, i believe.

[LiLiaN]

dunno la. could be. apparently the Abraham Lincoln one had documents written by people men who may have been his lovers (commenting on the perfection of his thighs and stuff).

but for sure Oscar Wilde was gay :D he owned up to it himself and was even jailed for it, i believe.
those were the days you have to be homosexual and nothing else....
but hey, writing, could be anything... commenting on maybe his portrait (a bit risque if lincoln really posed nude! :eek: )

my favourite gay guy in the world - tv presenter graham norton.. have you ever seen his show..?
next comes george michael and elton john, for their lovely songs...

[Sila]

those were the days you have to be homosexual and nothing else....
but hey, writing, could be anything... commenting on maybe his portrait (a bit risque if lincoln really posed nude! :eek: )

my favourite gay guy in the world - tv presenter graham norton.. have you ever seen his show..?
next comes george michael and elton john, for their lovely songs...
i have watched graham norton a bit - but harder for me to get the cultural references/current affairs sort of jokes :)

here's a great guy who is gay and writes great books: David Sedaris. he writes humorous essays. you should read Me Talk Pretty One Day which relates his difficulty in learning french and living in france. :D

[LiLiaN]

i have watched graham norton a bit - but harder for me to get the cultural references/current affairs sort of jokes :)

here's a great guy who is gay and writes great books: David Sedaris. he writes humorous essays. you should read Me Talk Pretty One Day which relates his difficulty in learning french and living in france. :D
hmm... david sedaris sounds interesting.... will check him out...

hehe... graham norton is just like the funniest guy alive... a bit naughty, by still good... he's so much fun and i read him autobiography just recently, i could nearly hear him speak while reading, it was so him...

[LiLiaN]

just finished bill bryson's neither here nor there... decided i don't really like him very much... he criticise so much about europe, and they are sooooooooooo not true...!!!

[Sila]

euj, if you are into nobel/pulitzer prize winners and that sort of thing, try reading Jose Saramago (in english translations, of course). i've read 2 books by him: The Cave and All the Names. pretty good. i wish i can read portuguese i bet these books are so much cooler in the native language..

[euj]

euj, if you are into nobel/pulitzer prize winners and that sort of thing, try reading Jose Saramago (in english translations, of course). i've read 2 books by him: The Cave and All the Names. pretty good. i wish i can read portuguese i bet these books are so much cooler in the native language..
thanks sila. i thought that would be a good way to find writers since i've almost run out of books to read and too lazy to conduct an extensive search...

[Sila]

i finished Mr Darcy Takes a Wife last week (by Linda Berdoll) - it is the sequel to austen's Pride and Prejudice. it was ok i guess. a bit flighty for the sequel to P&P but i guess i knew it would be sort of fluffy. i don't think austen would've liked it at all though...

also over the weekend i read Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin (mystery). that was quite good.

am currently reading a collection of short stories by Sherman Alexie. the title of the book is Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. i am thoroughly enjoying this one! like little bits of poetry! Sherman Alexie is a spokane indian and writes about life as a modern day indian and life on a reservation.

if you are looking for some serious writers, try Milan Kundera. i have read a few of his books (The Joker, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and a couple of short story collections). very interesting, profound, sometimes difficult books to read. these slavic writers are very interesting.

[euj]

i finished Mr Darcy Takes a Wife last week (by Linda Berdoll) - it is the sequel to austen's Pride and Prejudice. it was ok i guess. a bit flighty for the sequel to P&P but i guess i knew it would be sort of fluffy. i don't think austen would've liked it at all though...

also over the weekend i read Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin (mystery). that was quite good.

am currently reading a collection of short stories by Sherman Alexie. the title of the book is Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. i am thoroughly enjoying this one! like little bits of poetry! Sherman Alexie is a spokane indian and writes about life as a modern day indian and life on a reservation.

if you are looking for some serious writers, try Milan Kundera. i have read a few of his books (The Joker, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and a couple of short story collections). very interesting, profound, sometimes difficult books to read. these slavic writers are very interesting.
i'm going through a historical romance novel binge at the moment. does anyone know some good authors. i don't want normal fluffy romance novelists, but ones who are historically accurate! :)

[Sila]

i'm going through a historical romance novel binge at the moment. does anyone know some good authors. i don't want normal fluffy romance novelists, but ones who are historically accurate! :)
i am not really into this genre but maybe The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory? anyone else read this? i thought it was OK, but again it's not really my favorite genre. actually, Tracy Chevalier's books are cool, and tied to artwork (Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Virgin Blue) so i guess it is somewhat historical fiction. i liked her better than philippa gregory. that's really about the only ones i can think of. maybe someone else can help out with this?

books by Paulo Coelho which you might find interesting: Veronika Decides to Die, and The Alchemist. currently i have bought By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept but i haven't read it yet. he writes in his original portuguese, but there are english translations available.

[Sila]

an excerpt from the story "Because my father always said he was the only Indian who saw Jimi Hendrix play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Woodstock", by Sherman Alexie from his short story collection Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven:

My father's mind always worked that way. If you don't like the things you remember, then all you have to do is change the memories. Instead of remembering the bad things, remember what happened immediately before. That's what I learned from my father. For me, I remember how good the first drink of that Diet Pepsi tasted instead of how my mouth felt when i swallowed a wasp with the second drink.

Because of all that, my father always remembered the second before my mother left him for good and took me with her. No. I remembered the second before my father left my mother and me. No. My mother remembered the second before my father left her to finish raising me all by herself.

[euj]

an excerpt from the story "Because my father always said he was the only Indian who saw Jimi Hendrix play 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at Woodstock", by Sherman Alexie from his short story collection Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven:

My father's mind always worked that way. If you don't like the things you remember, then all you have to do is change the memories. Instead of remembering the bad things, remember what happened immediately before. That's what I learned from my father. For me, I remember how good the first drink of that Diet Pepsi tasted instead of how my mouth felt when i swallowed a wasp with the second drink.

Because of all that, my father always remembered the second before my mother left him for good and took me with her. No. I remembered the second before my father left my mother and me. No. My mother remembered the second before my father left her to finish raising me all by herself.
wah, very confusing lah...i don't like short stories, cos if i like the story then i feel frustrated and sad cos it's too short... :(

[Sila]

wah, very confusing lah...i don't like short stories, cos if i like the story then i feel frustrated and sad cos it's too short... :(
well, the good thing is this collection of short stories is all linked together without being in any sequence or anything. so you get snippets of the same characters drawn together. i just love how he expresses himself though.

[LiLiaN]

euj, i agree with sila that tracy chevalier is good for historical romance... there are more illicit affairs in there than romance though, i think...

but if you do feel like fluffy historical romance some day, try julie garwood... :D

[Sila]

ahem! well, i've read a bunch of julie garwood (don't tell anyone), but i think her books emphasize more Romance and Fiction than History.. :D

[LiLiaN]

hehe... yup, yup... but they're quite good, don't you think..? :D
have you tried jude deveraux and/or judith mcnaught..?

[Sila]

ahem! again, yes to both jude deveraux and judith mcnaught. i've *ahem* also read a few others. :D i donno if these are the kinds of books euj is looking to read. more fluff than history, so to speak. and besides, i don't think i should say too much more or my reputation as a serious reader will go down the toilet.. :o *ahem*

[LiLiaN]

i don't think it's euj's kind of book but hey, variety is the key to enjoyment, no...?
i read a combination of serious and fluffy stuffs... it's all good.... :D

[Sila]

that's true. actually i have a system now when i go to the bookstore. i stick to this rule very strictly. i will always buy an even number of books, half the authors male, half the authors female. regardless of genre! try to mix and match. try authors just for the heck of it.

btw, lil! long time no see :D

[LiLiaN]

yeah, long time since i see you in here... i can see from the posts that you've been busy with your work...!

hmm... that sounds like a good system of selecting book... i have to say i just pick books on random some days, whatever on the shelf that caught my eyes.... sometimes, nice covers and catchy titles can be very beneficial... :D

[Sila]

a lot of what i pick to read these days is random. and if i am in a bookstore to browse and not to buy, i carry a small notebook in my handbag and i jot down authors/titles that i might be interested in. also if i read a book review and think i might be interested to read the book, it goes down in my little notebook as well. i check it off after i buy so i don't accidentally buy it twice! :D i carry a pink ink pen in my purse for this purpose.

i like making sure i read both male and female authors because it's so interesting to see the differences and similarities in what's important to the different genders. when i was a teenager i read mostly sci fi authors, which at that time used to be mostly male. i also like to mix it up and make sure i have some serious books and some not so serious books. if i just read serious books all the time nanti sit down and cry all the time lah. you need a bit of lightness to balance out the dark.

[LiLiaN]

i have enough serious stuff with my readings for lab work, then art and history etc... so when it comes to fiction, i inevitably choose something quite fluffy... or something about travel... never really into sci-fi at all... my cousin has a big collection of sci-fi books though, along with fantasy....

[Sila]

you should seriously give some sci-fi/fantasy a go, lilian. sometimes it is really thought provoking because really it deals with issues which are relevant to our lives, but just the story takes place in an environment which is not our own. try reading Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen and Kushiel's Avatar). i just could not put down any of these books once i started reading them. some sci-fi can be difficult to get through due to excessive techno-babble, but a good place to start is Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. you cannot help but get involved in the main little boy Ender's life. seriously!

[LiLiaN]

hmm... i'll go home and check what kind of sci-fi/fantasy my cousin has....

[Sila]

hmm... i'll go home and check what kind of sci-fi/fantasy my cousin has....
yaaaaaay!! :D

btw, i do recommend The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. very quick read too, and gives you insight on being an american indian and reservation life. bit heartbreaking really.

will start By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept tonight! maybe i should learn portuguese so i can read these books in the original language they were written in.

[LiLiaN]

i have just finished a short book about elisabeth, empress of austria...
more like a picture book, but i like it... :)

[Sila]

i have just finished a short book about elisabeth, empress of austria...
more like a picture book, but i like it... :)
you like european history, lil? who wrote this book?

[LiLiaN]

you like european history, lil? who wrote this book?
it's not quite a book as such, by brigitte hamann... it's like souvenir book you get just before exiting museum... got lots of pics etc... plus some stories... as i visited sissi's apartment in the hofburg over the summer, though it'd be nice to read it... i nearly bought the book but can't carry as i was on one-backpack-only type of holiday...

i've just recently got into european history... it's quite complicated but they're really interesting at the same time... shame so many royal families have now gone into "extinction"...

[Sila]

the whole "anastasia"/russian tsar family's annihilation is quite interesting to me too. it is pretty scary how interbred the european royalties are! everyone is/was related to everyone else somehow. and still got disagreements and wars.

[LiLiaN]

the whole "anastasia"/russian tsar family's annihilation is quite interesting to me too. it is pretty scary how interbred the european royalties are! everyone is/was related to everyone else somehow. and still got disagreements and wars.
yeap, that's right... maybe cosanguinity made them lost rational thoughts...? :rolleyes:

[Sila]

yeap, that's right... maybe cosanguinity made them lost rational thoughts...? :rolleyes:
i would agree if i knew exactly what cosanguinity meant! :p is that "shared blood" (co + sanguine)?

[LiLiaN]

i would agree if i knew exactly what cosanguinity meant! :p is that "shared blood" (co + sanguine)?
yes, that's what it means....

[Sila]

yeap, that's right... maybe cosanguinity made them lost rational thoughts...? :rolleyes:
in that case, they're lucky they didn't turn out offspring with 2 heads or 12 fingers or something.. :D

[LiLiaN]

in that case, they're lucky they didn't turn out offspring with 2 heads or 12 fingers or something.. :D
yeah, but they turned up bloodthirsty and quite mad...

[Sila]

yeah, but they turned up bloodthirsty and quite mad...
hmmm they'd fit right in with the other cosanguines in arkansas!! :D

[LiLiaN]

mormon communities..?

[Sila]

no mormons are mostly in utah. but ppl make jokes about many states like arkansas where "your mother is also your aunt" sort of things... :D

[LiLiaN]

that's right.. forgot that mormons are concentrated in utah...

[euj]

that's right.. forgot that mormons are concentrated in utah...
i went for a 6 week mormon course once just to see what all the hoo ha was about. after a few weeks they called me up and said i shouldn't come anymore cos i didn't 'get it'... :p silly buggers. just because i didn't agree didn't mean i didn't get it...

[LiLiaN]

i think they want you to "share" more than just your presence at the course... :p

[euj]

i think they want you to "share" more than just your presence at the course... :p
i went through a stage when i was a teenager where i read and researched all the major world religions...

[LiLiaN]

wow, that's quite profound... i've been doing some reading but don't have much time to do further research into them... one day, maybe, one day i'll find time to do everything... maybe i'll take a year out after finishing phd...

[dreamwh]

I finally read Fight Club... ok, but not that great. i actually preferred the movie (?!).

Chuck Palahniuk has got this quirky style that irritated me after a while. (it works very well in the movie though; "Red-and-blue Tuinals, lipstick-red seconals").

Marla Singer was a stronger, independent character in the movie... in the book she's basically a loser. But Marla Singer fits better in the love triangle between Tyler Durden and Jack in the book. Also, the car accident dialogue in the movie was pivotal, in the book it was a distraction...

Taken in combination, the book and the movie complement each other well.... but i still prefer the movie.

I learnt a lot about the connection between soap, lye, human fat, napalm, orange juice concentrate, kitty crumble, gasoline and parafin from the book though...

[Sila]

i think chuck palahniuk's books are always quirky and a fun read. try reading Lullaby. i think i must have read all of his books now..

[Sila]

btw, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger - awesome book, man! i cried like a baby at the end. i really felt personally involved in the characters' lives, and completely affected by what happens in the book. :D

[shiruikage]

btw, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger - awesome book, man! i cried like a baby at the end. i really felt personally involved in the characters' lives, and completely affected by what happens in the book. :D
what's it about? is it the same with "The Astronaut's Wife"?

[Sila]

what's it about? is it the same with "The Astronaut's Wife"?
no lah. not like the astronaut's wife. it is about 2 people who are in love, 1 of whom is a time traveler due to something whacked in his genetic makeup. it's really cool...go read it lah. :D

[shiruikage]

saw the book at a book sale. thot it is the same with the astronauts wife. so skipped it. on another note, bought 12 book for SGD69. wat a bargain. normal price is like sgd 17 for paperback novels (i got 7) and others hard cover goes for 30-70+ on some editions. and i got it for like 8 a book! like i said, a real BARGAIn!!! :laugh:

[Sila]

good going! congrats! i just went to the bookstore over the weekend too - have to bring some books on my trip home what :)

[yee keong]

anyone into fantasy books? does Robert Jordan rings a bell to any of you guys? if you are into fantasy books, try reading Wheel of Time. a real good read. now at Book 10. the first 6 books are real good, then the 7-10 are a bit draggy. guess it's due to the popularity of the books and therefore he's milking the franchise. anyway, the fella promised that the story will end in Book 12. crossing my fingers and whatever else

[Sila]

haven't read any robert jordan myself. try Glen Cook's shadow company series. SO good... also as i've said before in this thread - Stephen Brust's Taltos series, freaking AWESOME man. i love first person narratives. plus where can i get a jhereg of my own?? :)

[shiruikage]

fantasy? i prefer melanie rawn myself. anyone has her books?

[Sila]

not read melanie rawn either - :( can't get into it. try orson scott card's Ender series. damn cun man.. ask hisham...

[h2o]

good idea with this thread... esp for book lovers...
i love reading too, but sadly nowadays, lacking the time to...
have too much scientific papers to plow through every day....

recently read "the eight" by catherine neville...
something along the line of "da vinci code" style...
it was a very long book, but interesting all the same...

next to read : a short history of nearly everything by bill bryson...
i have never tried his books, so looking forward to this...
but can hardly be classified as one nowadays - too busy.
very nearly purchased bryson's short history last sat whilst browsing in the corner cafe bookshop in my street, but ...... later i think.
just got the pease's why men lie and women cry and why men don't listen and women can't read maps
funny stuff
read two of michael connelly's (harry bosch) last year and .....don't waste ur time

[LiLiaN]

serena told me to stay clear from fantasy series...
too annoying to try to follow every single book in the series...
and in the event of author passing away, the series is inevitably doomed...
(i'm just paraphrasing, and in any case, i don't have interest in fantasy)...

oh, i have both the books by peases... funny indeed...
but very much generalisation, i read just out of curiosity... :)
bill bryson, never got round to reading the short history of nearly everything...
instead i read "neither here nor there" and didn't enjoy that... so bill is history now...

[Hisham]

Lilian, there are run of the mill Tolkien-apers fantasy books, and there are those that transcend that. Sila's taste in Sci-Fi & Fantasy is very much the latter and not run of the mill. The Taltos series she spoke of is very good. Witty and entertaining.

Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, also very well written. You can even read the 1st book only. Good standalone book.

[LiLiaN]

i don't know... it's hard to try to sell fantasy to me...
plus i'm so busy lately, books are at home gathering dust...
must find chance to finish those up first... sigh... :(

[Sila]

when's your birthday, lil? :)

Ender's Game by orson scott card is a fabulous stand alone book but i guarantee you will be back at the bookstore to get the sequels..

[LiLiaN]

september... a long way to go lar... :laugh:

[Hisham]

i don't know... it's hard to try to sell fantasy to me...
plus i'm so busy lately, books are at home gathering dust...
must find chance to finish those up first... sigh... :(
I understand. My books also. Just today I finished my first book THIS YEAR... :weird:



which is THIS (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441003257/103-7339809-2684668?v=glance), btw. THanks, Adik. Damn funny book.

[Sila]

september... a long way to go lar... :laugh:
oh darn!!! :) well i'll think of something then.. :)

[Hisham]

when's your birthday, lil? :)

Ender's Game by orson scott card is a fabulous stand alone book but i guarantee you will be back at the bookstore to get the sequels..

Yes. Sometime last year I tried rereading Ender's Game. I finished the whole thing in less than a day because it's so engrossing, just had to read it to its end, even though I read it once already.

[LiLiaN]

in that case i've read a bit more than you this year... :laugh:

[Sila]

I understand. My books also. Just today I finished my first book THIS YEAR... :weird:



which is THIS (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441003257/103-7339809-2684668?v=glance), btw. THanks, Adik. Damn funny book.
awesome! :)

hmmm...methinks i'll have trouble getting you out of my library here when you visit... ;)

[Hisham]

Maybe we can recommend to you Orson Scott Card's "Enchantment", very atypical fantasy, Lil.

[Sila]

well, the Time Traveler's Wife can be classified as fantasy, lil. try that. it's really really good...

[Sila]

..Sila's taste in Sci-Fi & Fantasy is very much the latter and not run of the mill...
awww thanks for the vote of confidence, yop ;)

[LiLiaN]

maybe during my hols... right now, simply no time for reading...
the server at work finally restored but i lost a few days work...
i was out sick when email sent to tell everyone to backup...
when i was back at work, the installation of new server was in progress...
so i need to figure (once again) how to extract some dataset...
need to rewrite the programs as well... :crying: :crying: :crying:

[Hisham]

awww thanks for the vote of confidence, yop ;)
w00t! You owe me lunch.

[Sila]

maybe during my hols... right now, simply no time for reading...
the server at work finally restored but i lost a few days work...
i was out sick when email sent to tell everyone to backup...
when i was back at work, the installation of new server was in progress...
so i need to figure (once again) how to extract some dataset...
need to rewrite the programs as well... :crying: :crying: :crying:
damn! that sucks.. :(

[Sila]

w00t! You owe me lunch.
i repeat, damn! that sucks!! :(

just kidding ;)

[LiLiaN]

damn! that sucks.. :(yup, a bit pening like that....
anyway, back to books, can't wait for the new harry potter!!! :laugh:

[yee keong]

well, for those with PDA, microsoft reader is a damn good companion. makes you be able to read e-books very well. i finish loads of books on e-book last year. avg 3-4 a month. mostly harry potter and dan browns and RA salvatore's books. this year kinda bad. i read about 5 books only. mostly re-reads.

[Sila]

ashamed to admit this but i have not yet read any harry potter!!! :o vin even has the first 3 books or whatever...

[LiLiaN]

sila, you should try them... i really enjoyed them....
nice on there yk, using PDA for reading... but i don't have one lar... :(
then again coming to reading, still like the feel of bound papers... :)

hey, can we do harry potter theme for july (the month of release of new book!)!!???

[LiLiaN]

by the way, there's 5 harry potter books out there...
the new one will be the 6th, the penultimate (supposedly)...

[Sila]

i will! i should put harry in my pile of "to-read" books, that'll get it on the radar..

currently reading a short story collection called Werewolves in their Youth, by michael chabon. pretty good so far. but so excited - got a bunch of books over the weekend. need to bring some for my trip home what - long plane ride some more.. :D but i have to control myself, finish reading what i'm reading before i'm allowed to start another book!!!

[LiLiaN]

i haven't even been to bookshop lately - daren't, in case i got stuck in there... :o

[Hisham]

I would guess Naz & me will want to be one of those creepy, robed things, Dementors.

[LiLiaN]

that'll be pretty cool... hmm... who will i want to be...? prof mcgonagall..? :p

[Sila]

wow i better read up on harry potter so i can make an informed decision about my avatar!! :D

[LiLiaN]

hahaha... if not informed (like me and SW) then just pick one that you're happy with the way it looks lor... :laugh:

[Sila]

and you look nice, amidala.. :)

[LiLiaN]

i think it was ath who suggested amidala... (thanks ath!!)
i just googled the pic, sent to vickyboy to adjust size and voila!! :laugh:

[h2o]

sila, you should try them... i really enjoyed them....
nice on there yk, using PDA for reading... but i don't have one lar... :(
then again coming to reading, still like the feel of bound papers... :)

hey, can we do harry potter theme for july (the month of release of new book!)!!???
i had to screen harry potter for my kids when the first came out
also e nesbit's the phoenix and the carpet and five children and it
i mean the printed matter of course

[PreciousPearl]

1) The Compleet Molesworth by Willans & Searle (boarding school comedies, gave me hope when i was stuck in the "youth rehab centre" in Teluk Intan)
2) Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (Guido Waldman's prose translation from the mediaeval italian is the best version) - i did not realise that a book written in 1532 became the basis of pretty much every sci-fi fantasy story ever!
3) His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, about pre-pubescence, self awareness, organised religion and parallel universes. Meant to be children's books, but the storyline is quite dark/ adult.
4) the Sally Lockhart quartet again by Pullman, quite cleverly written about women and other disenfranchised groups in the Victorian era. The last book of that series, The Tin Princess does a very good take on political/ historical commentary and the destiny of nations, despite the best efforts of the main characters.
5) Anything by Ursula le Guin.......but my favourite one is Always Coming Home, not as obvious as the more famous Earthsea quintet, Left Hand of Darkness or the Dispossessed. Truly the Godmother of modern sci-fi/ fantasy, and imho, makes most of the current writers look like amateurs.
6) Any Pearl S. Buck (based in China/ Japan/ Korea at the turn of the 20th C)or Daphne du Maurier (based in Cornwall!) - historical romance with accurate history, characters who are real and stories which are convincing without being maudlin.

(could go on all night....haven't even started on the Bard or any poets yet!)

[dreamwh]

Lilian, there are run of the mill Tolkien-apers fantasy books, and there are those that transcend that. Sila's taste in Sci-Fi & Fantasy is very much the latter and not run of the mill. The Taltos series she spoke of is very good. Witty and entertaining.

Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, also very well written. You can even read the 1st book only. Good standalone book.


Hey Hisham, Sila... any of you guys tried Tad Williams before? I keep hearing that this guy is America's answer to Tolkien (i even read an online thesis written on a comparison between the two by some post-graduate literature student).

[Hisham]

Hey Hisham, Sila... any of you guys tried Tad Williams before? I keep hearing that this guy is America's answer to Tolkien (i even read an online thesis written on a comparison between the two by some post-graduate literature student).
Not yet. Do you have a link to that thesis?

Hey! I just remembered reading good things about China Mieville's Perdido Street Station. I should try to look it up and read it.

[Sila]

Hey Hisham, Sila... any of you guys tried Tad Williams before? I keep hearing that this guy is America's answer to Tolkien (i even read an online thesis written on a comparison between the two by some post-graduate literature student).
no, unfortunately. the first time he was ever recommended to me it was by this guy who i disliked, and therefore it has colored my view of tad williams from then on (shallow, but it's the association in my head). i believe the book that was recommended to me was The Once and Future King (arthurian legend?).

[Sila]

6) Any Pearl S. Buck (based in China/ Japan/ Korea at the turn of the 20th C)or Daphne du Maurier (based in Cornwall!) - historical romance with accurate history, characters who are real and stories which are convincing without being maudlin.
i read The Mother when i was in form 2-ish...i remember being pretty affected and perhaps brought into the real world a little bit with the disillusionment and stoic perseverance that the mother went through... heck, the childbirth scene has stuck in my head all these years - made a big impression on me. :unsure: haven't read anything else by her since then...

[dreamwh]

Not yet. Do you have a link to that thesis?


I donno where i downloaded from, but i think i have a printed copy somewhere in my room.... somewhere.

[dreamwh]

Ok found it.... the guy's website is http://dr.morgenes.tripod.com/start.htm the file itself can be found at http://dr.morgenes.tripod.com/THESIS.zip

[PreciousPearl]

no, unfortunately. the first time he was ever recommended to me it was by this guy who i disliked, and therefore it has colored my view of tad williams from then on (shallow, but it's the association in my head). i believe the book that was recommended to me was The Once and Future King (arthurian legend?).
The Once & Future King was written by TH White, quite a good read
(there is a reference to it in the 2nd Xmen movie by Dr Xavier)

[PreciousPearl]

i sometimes do a trawl of 2nd hand bookshops for real & oso online, but can be a bit expensive (even 2nd hand) cos tempted to buy lots! So Sila, if u have time, u could try the pre-owned p/back section of an obvious retailer like Amazon/ or look in ebay if u can tahan the auctioning! quite astonishing what range is available of older or out-of-print stuff, like "the existential pleasures of engineering"........