Fooh! I’ve finished reading Amy Tan’s Saving Fish From Drowning! *syiok*But actually no lah, not exactly syiok. You know the sense of lost? Like, “OOOO kayyy so now what?” after you come to the end of every book? Yeah. That.
Incidentally, today’s actually World Book Day! Do you know that since 1925 in Catalonia, a woman would give books as gifts to her lover who presented her with roses? Regardless that’s really the case or not, I thought that was really, really sweet! I just love books! Don’t you? Books and reading are just so sexy! Yum!
Did I tell you before that my sister and I would pester my dad to bring us to MPH warehouse sales in Jalan 223 every year to sapu books for keeps?
Oh how we love books. Back then, warehouse sales means WAREHOUSE SALES. Everything going cheap, cheap, cheap! Imported magazines would cost like RM1.00 and boy were they beautiful! All glossy and colourful! *heart* And the books! Glorious books! Best sellers were going for five, ten, twenty bucks. And alot were hard covers! It was that cheap! I have a rather impressive collection of John Grisham’s books and the Anne of Green Gables series! And because of those sales, I was introduced to the American classic - To Kill A Mockingbird - a beautiful, beautiful story, I tell you. I read until I cried! T__T You just have to read it!
But now warehouse sales really just means sell more reading materials and toys in the warehouse.
Sigh.
And why are books so expensive anyway? How to encourage reading? -_- The last book I splurged on was Marley and Me, which set me back about thirty three bucks and got me crying for days on end (the story lah!) But I really couldn’t resist it (the splurging lah! Tsk). I mean, it’s a real story about a dog, people! If anything, dogs are a gift from the heavens! Besides potatoes.
How I wish I can write like those people. One word strings another, one sentence flows to another, weaving stories is like breathing to the writers!
Sigh.
So now what? No more saving fish from drowning (which by the way, is stunning, you should read it also, really. Amy Tan. Read.). What genre do you read (yes, besides porn)? Indulge me! Recommend me some titles, yes please?
8 comments:
check out Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland. Super exciting, mind-blowing, filled with twists till the very end - you wont regret. Very interesting kind of novel - divided to four chapters named Cheryl, Jason and two other persons. the chapters are first-person stories of about the same incident or person, but because its different views, and that different people has different knowledge of the incident.. it makes it a mind-boggling journey. Highly recommended!
I read Historical Romance.
I loooooooove love looooooove stuff like that. Hahaha it just makes it all so much more realistic when you read about the fictionary love life of people that actually existed in the Dark Ages or something.
The Historical factor just ups a notch on everything. It can really really really show the talent and brains of the writer.
Jean M. Auel's "Earth Children" series is by far my favorite so far. She is a master of mixing very, very real archaelogical, biological evidences with human characters that are complex, yet very, very real. You can feel the characters, they're so alive and believable. A master of storylines, with vivid imagery.
I like what one of the critics from the papers said about her books, the critic said that he experienced culture shock when he put down the book, because he felt like he was thrust out of a vivid world of prehistoric Europe in the Ice Age....to his living room. And he had to take a few minutes to remember that he lived in the 21st century instead.
It was my "arm extension" for months, and I just couldn't put it down at all. Addictive. I brought them EVERYWHERE.
Available at Pay Less Books, hardcover and softcover. I got the whole set (5 books - 3 softcover, 2 hardcover) at RM45. Cheap, no? Deliriously so. Best buy I probably ever had.
She is a bestseller, and I read somewhere that even students who study archaelogy and/or the history and culture of the people, as well as studies on the flora and fauna life during the Ice Age ACTUALLY refer to her books, even though it's categorised under Historical Romance.
Cool huh.
Oh oh!! You know what? That time Gabby and I got sidetracked and we found this bookshop (tiny one lar) that acually sells and rents books. Uh, but I think most of them second-hand wan. Aiyah, dun matter right? As long as it's readable dah cukup kan? Okaylar, they're not like super old and teruk until gonna disintegrate lar. Pretty modest books. Haha! Anyway, if you're interested, the shop's at SS19. I dun relaly know where. Ask Gabby. LOL.
Have you read Perfume? If no, it's a must read!! I love the book!!
And uhh... you know the fella who wrote "my sister's keeper"? i havent read lar, but if you read adi give reviews please~ ^^
otherwise...i really sucka t recommending books to people. i also run out of books to read adi
my sister's keeper is by jodi picoult. havent read any myself though. melissa low has the tenth circle, so ask her.
um. actually leishia, i was gonna ask you to intro me some books. any that has a story telling mood. the kind that describes everything in this calm, flat, held-back, but descriptive kinda tone. not sure if you get me.
i've read peter carey's "my life as a fake". which was pretty good to me. um. twelve bar blues by dunno who, very interesting read. one of these won the putlizer and the other the booker by the way.
btw, have you ever read george orwell stuff in college or something? cause im wondering if i should... or tolstoy's war and peace..
So...basically we're all on the hunt to find books where the authors write like how Ming Yan talks.
=/ Me is thinking that will be veli hard.
^_^; Sorry, can't help here. I personally like author's whose writings can make me feel it.
Like "Juniper Tree Burning", by Goldberry M. Long. She was so descriptive that when she talked about piss, I felt like I could actually SMELL it, even though I was perfectly fine and in a clean, sanitized room with an empty bladder.
Her descriptions are awfully real. Are you interested, Ming Yan? =P
uh... esther, you do mean "like how ming yan described" right? cause i dont think i cant make anyone smell piss by giving a verbal description..
although, that would be cool.. i could be like that famous evangelist who could make people feel hell's fire when he preached.. imagine all the money i'd make... wahahahaha....
anyways, that earth's children series sounds pretty cool.. except that it's romance, which i dont do much.. i prefer that in chinese, mandarin specifically.. it's a cultural background thing. heh.
although juniper sounds cool as well. but, what kinda book talks about piss? actually.. im looking at books with either good character insight, or are philosophical in nature.. anything, anyone? =)
I like all books by John Grisham and Sydney Sheldon. I also have some classics because they're the only books my parents will buy without complaining abt the pricing...it's sooooo hard to read those unabridged books.
Personally, I dont care who writes them or what genre they are...i'll just read it anyway. Heck, I read a medical manual in Form2.
And Ming Yan, can you like read normal books (i mean books dat are not philosophical) ?
ling, essie, juju, gabby, mingyan,
woah! i didn't know you guys are such a reader! i feel... under-read O_o
but yes, yes, will definitely take time out to check out the books and titles you guys so kindly recommended!
and MING YAN lol (ur just always blardy observant in picking out, usually, grammatical errors! scary lah u!)
in uni days, we were made to read french literature so no, i can't give u any thumbs up or down. although i havent read tolstoy's work, but i always heard lecturers recommending them, so. maybe u should read after all and give us a thorough review? :) (liddat i dun need to read ady! hehe)
and i totally got what u mean about the calm, flat, held-back tone! it's just my mind's too blank to draw u any titles at the moment. lol
anyway, i'm not a very "genre-focus" kinda reader, i'd just pick up a book, read a few pages down (normally the first half chapter is the most difficult to swallow!), and then decide if i like it. so yeah. i'm random like that. nothing professional like u guys! lol
hey i enjoyed this thread of comment tremendously! maybe i should feature more books i read in the future here! :)
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