Good Books You've Read Lately

[Ada]

How was Unbearable Lightness of Being? I saw it in Powerbooks and almost got it but opted for a "safer" choice.

I'm currently reading Memoirs of a Geisha . It got a lot of good reviews so I decided to get a copy.

Have any of you read the following:

Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist
Soul Harvest: The World Takes Sides
Tribulation Force: The Drama of Those Left Behind.

They cost so much and I don't know if they're worth buying, especially since they look like a trilogy of sorts.

Any Umberto Eco fans out there?

[BadGiRL]

ada: i've read memoirs of a geisha na before...ganda d ba? very enlightenning...

anyway... i also like the bridge accross forever by richard bach...ganda din noon...for those who like reading about soulmates or for those skeptical about soulmates...u'll believe in soulmates talaga... the hundred secret senses by amy tan and the kitchen God's wife..also by amy tan...

[Cy]

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

[Zen]

I'm having a Stephen King backlog, still on Nightmares and Dreamscapes.. real freaky stuff. :P

[Ada]

Peps,

I can relate. Seems all the good books are around the PhP500 range. Pretty heavy on the pocket.

I also need feedback on the following books. Need to know whether they're worth buying or not:

1. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
2. The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie

Anybody know where I can get a copy of Satanic Verses by Rushdie?

[slurbrun]

I just read Good Omen by Neil Gaiman and ooops I forgot the name of the other author. Anyway, it's a good read and so millennium-esque!

[weye]

Les Miserables - the unabridged version
Terms of Endearment
Tuesdays with Morrie
To Kill a Mockingbird

i'm now reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. it's kind of heavy though but it'll really set u thinking.

[slurbrun]

Now I remember, it's Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett. That's "Good Omen".

...and if u haven't read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, do check it out.

[Ada]

Slurburn: I've read "One Hundred Years..." and it is totally cool! Try reading Garcia-Marquez' "Chronicle of a Death Foretold." Not as long as "One Hundred Years" but interesting as well. I think I'll get his "Love In The Time of Cholera" soon.

Peps: Yipeee, you're gonna lend me Satanic Verses? Kewl! Hope you'll be able to make it to the EB later (with the book of course!) :)

*sigh* So many books and not enuf money to buy 'em all.

[Kamatayan]

Speed Reading for Dummies... I read it over and over.... I just can't get enough...

[emilie]

I bought a book in Singapore called "Veronika Decides to Die" by Paulo Coelho. Quite good. Don't know though if it's available here.

By the way, if you find books to be expensive, try renting instead of buying. I've tried "Armchair Reader" where you can rent books and magazines.

[JoeyRamone]

Eaters of the Dead - Michael Crichton
Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

[weye]

ada, i read 'love in the time of cholera' & it's just as good at 100 years of solitude & a chronicle of a death foretold. garcia-marquez is just wonderful!

how about the house of the spirits? any reviews? i've been meaning to buy the book.

[cLaRiSsE]

emilie, hi. where can i find Arm Chair reader?

[LonelyGal]

Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn...Phil society depicted...
will be reading The Street Lawyer soon...

[Cy]

lonelygal: i saw that book,bibilhin ko sana kaya lang mahal it costs P400+

[uptowngirl]

I recently read the book by Philip Shelby, Days of Drums, fast-paced!

After a lot of Sheldon, Steele, Crichton and Grisham, I discovered a new author, Patricia Cornwell... if you like mystery or detective novels...

[Ada]

Peps: Even if the book was made from papyrus, I wouldn't mind. Hope to meet you soon. :) Unfortunately, none of Garcia-Marquez' books have been turned into movies (which is probably a good thing since most movies don't do justice to their book counterparts.)

[ctv]

Shibumi by Trevanian
Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan
Couplehood by Paul Reiser
Until You by Judith McNaught
Key to Rebecca
Eye of the Needle by Ken Folett


[This message has been edited by ctv (edited 11-09-1999).]

[This message has been edited by ctv (edited 11-10-1999).]

[Jonny]

I'm mostly a sci-fi/fantasy reader.

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn
Jhereg by Vlad Taltos
Split Infinity by Piers Anthony

there's lots more.. :o)

[lynneth_20]

I've read Chicken Soup For The Soul and Chicken Soup For the Couple Soul. Ang gaganda ng mga stories and you will learn something.. Also pocketbooks by Daniel Steel and Sidney Shieldon. How great!! :)

[glass house]

The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
The Kitchen - Banana Yoshimoto (Di ba Cy?)
The Lion of Ireland - Morgan Lywellyn
The Twelfth Angel - Og Mandino

[jor-el]

THe Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is nice book...easy to read too, since the material's not that heavy...althought it costs about P500...

[kmunster]

i think most of John Grisham's works are good
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is #1 in my classics list

i'm still reading Sophie's World...has anybody read it? i'm in the middle of the book (around the Baroque period) ok ba yung ending? :)

[Aragorn]

I was on a Thomas Harris reading binge lately, and I've read Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon, Hannibal and Black Sunday, all in that order. The man certainly has a talent for portraying people with mental imbalances. Cool.
weye: I read an excerpt from 'Tuesdays with Morrie' in the Reader's Digest. Is it worth buying? I was touched by the excerpt.
kmunster: I'm still in the middle of it, too. Right about where you are. Interesting, isn't it?
I recently reread Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's a wonderful book on the Arthurian Legends, from the perspective of Morgan Le Fay. Marvelous reading!
I'm also reading First Man in Rome, by Colleen McCullough. It's about Sulla's rise to power in pre-Julius Caesar Rome. Intriguing.
For really light and enjoyable reading, try out 'Boy' by Roald Dahl. It's his autobiography (which has a sequel). Really funny.
'Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook' by Scott Adams left me in stitches...working people will really be able to relate to this one. =) If you want to have a great week at work, pick up this book!

[harley quinn]

Hemingway's Chair by Michael Palin is another good one for light reading---it's quaint and funny.

Tuesdays with Morrie is not only very moving but very courageous too. Must have taken a lot out of Mitch Albom to put into words the quiet suffering of a beloved mentor.

Am just starting a book by James Paterson---America's Boy. It's looking at part of our history through an Englishman's eyes.

[zyxthyn]

i just finish reading THE RULES II, i can say that its a very good book especially to the girls on how they would handle their relationships with guys. In that book several rules are listed in order for a girl to be respected and be a hard-to-get kindda girl to a guy. Example if a guy didnt call you he's not interested, period!, dont call a guy, limit ur call to 10 mins., there r also a lot of rules about cyberlove etc.

hope u can read it, its very applicable and interesting. :)

[megan]

The last book i just finished reading is HERE ON EARTH (Alice Hoffman)... it's very interesting and moving...about relationships. if you want a book which would make you think really hard about life & love, this one's highly recommended.

There's a new Nicholas Sparks book (author of The Notebook & Message in a Bottle)... i think the title is "Walk to Forever".... heard it's good but still no paperbacks available locally.

[weye]

kmunster, i've read Sophie's World already & i agree with u, it's very, very interesting. how's the ending? hmm... very imaginative if u ask me but the book and what u learn from it is worth the whole reading. so i guess it's the essence and not the plot that counts.

Aragon, Tuesday's with Morrie is a touching, heart-warming tale. sort of has the same (but deeper) effect as Chicken Soup for the Soul. it's a good buy. it'll really lift ur spirits & make u see life in a new perspective.

[Yoshi]

I usually read "backlog" pocketbooks so some of you may have read these stuff before:
Memoirs of a Geisha - read it two times and I want to read it again
The God of Small Things - Roy writes in a very interesting way, though a little bit of Indian culture knowhow would greatly increase reading pleasure
Falling Leaves - Aha! This is something relatively new and I'm recommending it. It by Adeline Mah, and its a true story of her being an "unwanted daughter" and how she struggled to make it big just to prove her worth to her family. Very touching story. Those of you who are Chinese could relate to the story well.

Since I'm kinda out of new reading materials lately (walang budget), I'm back to reading old books like The Firm, Chicken Soup books, and even an English translation of the Noli.

Could anyone tell me about Nicholas Sparks' new novel? I want to buy it but I'm not really sure if it's as nice as Message in a Bottle and The Notebook.

[megan]

Yoshi: my friend said Nick Sparks' new novel is super nice din....medyo different siya compared to the 1st two na sobrang heavy. It'll make you smile daw sa first parts... and of course tears sa ending.

Here's an excerpt: "It wasn't that long and it certainly wasn't the kind of kiss you see in the movies these days. But it was wonderful in its own way. And all I can remember about the moment is that when our lips first touched, I knew the memory would last forever."

Will tell you more once I actually read it. :)

[Wangie]

WEYE and ARAGORN: Tuesdays with Morrie is really nice...very very touching. I was crying within fifteen minutes of reading it.

I would also recommend the NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks (same author as MEssage in a Bottle).

[Kamatayan]

"I Will Not Eat Green Eggs And Ham" - Dr Seuss

[BoNiTa]

i just started reading Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt and i really find it interesting, it's all about a memoir of childhood of the author...

[emilie]

bonita: i liked angela's ashes too. very interesting. the author has a new book called 'Tis. still waiting for it to come out here in the philippines. then will wait for it to come out in paperback! sigh, wait, wait, wait...

peps and clarisse: yes, the armchair reader is still open. at least the branch i know which is in park square II.

on my to-read list (books on my shelf i haven't read yet):

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
Till We Have Faces - CS Lewis
The Christmas Box Collection - Richard Paul Evans
The Target - Catherine Coulter
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in love
Stone Diaries - Carol Shields
Numbered Account - Christopher Reich

Whew! Hey, maybe we can swap books in one of the EBs?

[weye]

Kamatayan, i prefer 'the grinch who stole Christmas' :D

Yoshi, hmmm... 'falling leaves' is about chinese family traditions then. might buy that as my birthday present for my Chinese friend. is it that good? where can i get a copy & how much?

[Yoshi]

weye: It's really nice. It comes in paperback at National or Powerbooks, mga P250 yata.
megan: Hmmm...sounds very Sparks indeed. Maybe I'll try to get a copy.

[This message has been edited by Yoshi (edited 11-20-1999).]

[Mister Dean]

Right now I'm going through Arundhati Roy's "God of Small Things." I think it's shaping up to be an excellent work.

[Ada]

Okay, that's it. I'm getting The God of Small Things next.

I'd have to disagree with some of you about The Notebook . I found it pretty boring.

[bunny]

I loved the NOTEBOOK...it made me cry...thanks to Caramba for lending!

THE CHRISTMAS BOX COLLECTION by Richard Paul Evans was also very very heartwarming...

[emilie]

I've read a review about Powerful Prayers in the Inquirer a few days ago. I want to get a copy too!

[sagrado]

well, I finished reading, "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Person" by Stephen Covey and the "One Minute Manager" by K. Blanchet... its nice, just read it... and you will find out why do I said so... ah yeah!!!

[shiva]

i've just recently (kawawa naman ako!) read the Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - fantastic story-telling there. some of the most endearing and despairing moments were written so well that you couldn't help but feel for the characters. fantastic!

and i also just read 'family happiness' which is this short story by tolstoy. i highly recommend it!

umberto eco's focault's pendulum is a wonderful read!

i've just purchased 'the brother's karamazov' by dostoevsky! i can't wait to start reading it!

unbearable lightness of being is very poetic. not many authors are able to 'show' you a novel. this one does.

happy reading!

[Kamatayan]

Shiva: Wow you actually READ Umberto Eco's Focaults Pendulum ??? I couldn't get past the first chapter... Mas naintindihan ko pa yung "Brief History Of Time" ni Stephen Hawking...

[asterisk]

Let me see...

I read a number books at the same time, switching from one to another.

Just finished "Into Thin Air" By Jon Krakauer (thrilling true-to-life Everest climb that ended in targedy. Great prose)
In the middle of "God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy (exotic language, keep stumbling about though)
In the middle of "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King (this man churns books faster than you can read them)
Just finished "My Dark Places: Memoir of an L.A. Crime" by James Ellroy (the author of "L.A. Confidential" recounts his dark past. Really fascinating)
Starting "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Tugenev (always include a classic in my list)
For the Filipiniana, I just finished "Memories' Fictions" memoir of Bienvenido N. Santos and "Ochre Tones" second poetry collection of Marjorie Evasco.

[Ada]

I just finished reading Tuesdays With Morrie. It got great reviews from the people on this thread so I just had to read it. I also finished with She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. It's about a woman who finally takes control of her life after the pathetic first two decades of her existence (great read, especially for females.) Now I'm reading "Where Is God When It Hurts?" by Philip Yancey.

[Rita_rits]

Yoshi: it's "A walk to Remember"
by nicholas sparks
*I've read it already...nice story...kinda sad ending...*

[jepoy]

I just finished reading "When Kiko Went to the Market".. it's about the human struggles of trying to get to the market. Just ignore me.. nanggugulo lang po. Buh-bye! :)

[BadGiRL]

i just finished reading The Bondmaid by Catherine Lim... it's good... if u like the books of amy tan and if u loved memoirs of a geisha... u'll like this one too...

[stArGazEr]

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL series

[Ada]

Part II: http://www.pinoyexchange.com/Forum12/HTML/000633.html

[dUcHeSs]

i loved the TRILOGY OF GRIFFIN AND SABINE!
and any CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL book is good! :)

[mizzcherrypie]

siddhartha by hermann hesse proves to be a compelling & thought provoking novel...it's a story of a man's search for nirvana & the obstacles he encounters along the way to gain the ultimate enlightenment...i recommend it to anyone who is trying to find their spirituality...i don't guarantee that this book will help you find yours but it will help you with your spiritual quest...gulat nga ako dahil i thought i wouldn't like it but i did because it brilliantly delves into the profundity of the human soul...

[wAgKaNgMaKuLiT]

chicken soup for the soul series
messege in a bottle - nicholas sparks (mas
maganda sa movie)
sleepers - lorenzo carcaterra (luma na to eh) (may movie rin to)
judith mcnaught and john grisham books

[jack]

"tough times never last but tough people do!"
"small miracles"

[chez-o]

just read jakob the liar nung holidays.....great book!!!!!! nakakaiyak!!!!

i didn't like the whoopi goldberg book....dunno why...didn't laugh.....

[*~AzY~*]

mizzcherrypie: i also read hesse's siddharta and i found it interesting (which most ppl found odd bcos they thought it was boring). i loved the way the river was personified in the book as Siddharta's teacher. However, there's a question that's still on my mind. It's whether Siddharta loved Kamala and vice versa since at first they really dont know how to love.

[*~AzY~*]

a good book that i've read lately is Antonio Skarmeta's Burning Patience (Spanish translation by Katherine Silver). it's a bit perverted but it's pretty funny so try not to read it at 2 in the morning cos ur mom might just start pounding on your door askin what d hell is goin on. hehe ;)

[flyderman]

Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre
-H.P. Lovecraft

BTW, I'm into those horror/psychological/conspiracy books. Any recommendations?

[tRiStAn]

I just read Roy's The God of Small Things and I find it very heavy. I hate to sound like a critic (that I am not), but her style is totally new!! Try to read it!

[Cala]

Tristan, I really enjoyed The God of Small Things. Maybe it's heavy because Arundhati Roy's style is a little unfamiliar in some way, but it's precisely the language snd imagery used that I love, among other things.

I've just read The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera. Again, more on the "heavy" side. But Kundera has a way of imparting thoughts and thought-provoking ideas without pounding them into your brain. He doesn't drag you down. Plus, he's a very good storyteller.

Other books I just read:
Iyanla Vanzant's One Day My Soul Opened Up. If you're familar with her, it's a great insight to her person and "wisdom" from everything she's gone through and the struggle that she continues to face, emotionally and spiritually. To those interested about being *centered*, it's worth a check out.

The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho. It's a book for dreamers and the search for what's essential.

[This message has been edited by Cala (edited 04-01-2000).]

[astr0girl]

Memoirs of a Geisha- by Arthur Golden
I highly recommend it to people who love those periodical themed books, this one is truly amazing, and it seems so real...

[acridmouth]

Chicken Soup for the Soul (Third and Sixth Course)
The Diary of Anne Frank
Mutation and Outbreak by Robin Cook
Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court bY Mark Twain

It's summer, so I'm planning to spend a lot of time reading more good books!


[This message has been edited by acridmouth (edited 04-02-2000).]

[Gilbey]

any book is good, which is why it got printed. i love books - although my mom hates my collection. the last time i had an inventory of all the books in the house, umabot ng 800(inclusive of pocketbooks and textbooks).

daming husay

[harley quinn]

I thought Arundhati Roy's play with words in The God of Small Things was at times excessively redundant. I realize the phrases were written the way they were because the story was told through the eyes of a child but there was a point when I was annoyed by the repetitiveness. The plot was unique, the cultural backdrop fascinating. It's probably one of those things that one has to develop 'a taste for.'

[Sophocles^]

I've always loved The Thornbirds...I forgot who wrote it though.

I like books by Judith McNaught and Jude Deveraux.

You guys read any of Jessica Zafra's collection of essays? of Karen Kunawicz's for that matter? Both of their works are really nice.

[cannabis sativa]

The Alienist by Caleb Carr was a preety damn good book I read recently.

Its about a psychologist in New York during the late 1800s (very Sherlock Holmes kind of atmosphere) who is trying to catch a butcher serial killer who climbs walls, kills boy ****** and feasts on their butts.

pretty damn cool

[kingofpain]

For a dose of reality, try "Public Lives", a collection of Randy David's essays.Intelligent insights, lucid views, and philosophical reflections the Filipino individual and society. A refreshing break from all the sound and fury and fancy stuff.

[wAgKaNgMaKuLiT]

sidney sheldon's "if tomorrow comes" is really good. :)

[uptowngirl]

i enjoyed:
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
:)

[christine]

"The Heart of a Woman" & "And Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

[This message has been edited by christine (edited 06-26-2000).]

[bing2x]

i liked the bone collector by jeffery deaver.

http://www.geocities.com/adashki/hearts.gif

[Mister Dean]

"Tuesdays With Morrie" by Mitch Albom. If I had to recommend any book this year, it would be this. READ THIS BOOK! You won't be disappointed!

[BlueFire^]

try the books of Francis J. Kong namely:

1. Life's Works
2. Only the Real Matters
3. Three Little Words

[KamiyaKaoru]

1.) The Incarnations of Immortality Book 7
- If you are interested in mythology and the many different incarnations like time, death, nature, good and evil. The way they presented god and satan completely challenged my previous beliefs....

2.) Harry Potter Series

3.) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

[suklayin]

1. i just finished reading william dalrymple's "in xanadu: a quest". it's a very good read, a nicely written travel book that retraces the route that marco polo took to kublai khan's summer palace in xanadu.

2. then, there's judith merkle-riley's "the oracle glass". have always been fascinated with the renaissance, and this gives an engrossing account of louis xiv's court.

3. syempre, si harry potter. aliw talaga sya.

sophocles: colleen maccullough wrote the thorn birds

[*Zaphne*]

Nicholas Sparks' THE NOTEBOOK and LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE. :)

[denslim]

Originally posted by Sophocles^:
I've always loved The Thornbirds...I forgot who wrote it though.

Colleen McCullough wrote it.

the good books i've read lately...
1. foundation series - isaac asimov
2. on a pale horse - piers anthony
3. hannibal - thomas harris (debatable ending some say its a let down some like it. personally...its a letdown)

[Cala]

"Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith"
by Gina B. Nahai

it touches on magical, mystical realism the way asian and other cultural readings do. it reads almost like a personal epic, but the narrative is fairly simple and quite compelling. it crosses from the middle east to the america's hollywood. it's my type of modern literature.

yes, i enjoyed it.

[nick]

"Possession" by A.S. Byatt. Raves left and right for that book--and raves it deserved, I think, if it's Byatt's skill and effort we're talking about. As a piece of writing, "Possession" truly was amazing--stories within stories, faux Victorian poetry and a mystery that ties the whole thing together. But truth is, it was an original, extremely well-written book that left me cold. "Possession's" story never quite pulled me in, and I was bored reading it half the time. Of course, that's just me,and I'd still recommend it to people, not because I enjoyed it myself, but because of my awareness that I'm probably in the minority when it comes to opinion on this work.

[jace14]

Read TIMELINE by Michael Chrichton -- if u like midieval ages, knights and ladies those kinds of stuffs =)

Kung Sci-fi, Star Trek iyong latest novel na continuation ng isa pa which I 4got the title

kng novel naman, ***** Jeffrey Archer any book niya is good!

dont ask romance coz' i only read Danielle Steele and that was years ago pa

[jace14]

Chicken Soup for the Soul iyong series!!

mahal kc ng books dito horap bumili but i tell you its worth it kpg CS4daS

[_Mase_]

I loved reading William Bernhardt books.
I love reading about courtroom antics kasi. Hehehe.
William Bernhardt is just as great as John Grisham. Go read one of his books and you'll find out. He's even funnier than Grisham, if that's possible.

[angelicDAW]

the last great book i read was THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING. the words just seem to flow, and the insights deep and philosophical. i like his concept of "poetic memory", his use of metaphors, his explanation for womanizing etc etc. it's a must-read!

[juve_grrrl10]

I'm a Stephen King freak so I love all his books. The Harry Potter books are also addicting--can't wait for the 4th book! :) I've recently finished Angela's Ashes and it's unbelievable how Frank McCourt was able to condense his early years into a great novel! Also can't wait to read his next installment, 'Tis. I'm waiting to get my hands on Hannibal. Of course it's better to read the book before you see the movie...


Other books I like:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
<LI>The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
<LI>Lord of the Flies by William Golding
<LI>Watership Down by Richard Adams
<LI>A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
</UL>

For the sappy (?) stuff, The Bridges of Madison County is one beautiful love story, too sad the movie didn't deliver anywhere near the novel.

[FarOutFreak]

As juve_grrrl10 said, Watership Down is really good. A bunch of talking rabbits, yes, but good nonetheless. A classic story.

And yes, Harry Potter.

http://www.pinoyexchange.com/silly.gif

[scully]

for those who are seeking the real God, read "Conversations with God 1". that's my personal bible.

[flyderman]

Finished my Bag of Bones, and it was a good book (and it's my first Stephen King book). I especially loved the final 4 chapters. I bet you wouldn't know what everything is all about until you reach the "action" part. :)

Bag of Bones was supposedly Stephen King's last novel, but he was able to make another by using a current short novel and combining it with his other short novels and short stories. The result: Hearts In Atlantis. This would be one of the next in my read list. ;)

[tRiStAn]

I finished Wilbur Smith's River God and The Seventh Scroll last week. The other day I did Knowledge of Angels, a philosophical discussion on the (non)existence of God, which we were required to read for our Philosophy class. Last night I finished Sidney Sheldon's The Master of the Game, a not-so-good book actually, but fun to read. :)

[This message has been edited by tRiStAn (edited 07-04-2000).]

[rain4love]

tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
the Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland

great books....trust me

[Margarita]

Tuesdays With Morrie
Girl Interrupted

[*happy*phantom*]

The books I read and enjoyed this past month include:

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

Both are quite good but I would recommend Tuesdays with Morrie more.

[miguel n]

actually, this is more of a list of my fave books of all time. given na yung bible, which i personally think is timeless. although i havent read much of it : )

1. chronicles or narnia by cs lewis
-its like a fantasy/fairy tale book for children but the insight is great for anyone. alegory sya about christianity...i think.

2. star wars books by timothy zahn
-his own trilogy (heir to the empire, dark force rising, last command) were the ONLY star wars novels that captured the essence of the original trilogy. his present duology (spectre of the past, vision of the future) continue the brilliant work of this hugo awardee.

3. federation by judith and garfield reeves-stevens
-its actually a star trek book that bridges generations of star trek history. a classic for the critical star trek fan.

4. noble house, tai pan and shogun by james clavell
unique insight into how the world works from an asian-european perspective. its an epic din that spans generations

[cloud]

Hey, juve_grrrl10, Watership Down is great! If you try R. Adam's later books though (Traveller - it's about the American civil war as told by Robert E. Lee's horse), you'll be a little disappointed.

[PauTOT]

chronicles of narnia by cs lewis
and i've read all of douglas coupland's books, all of them are highly recommended (well maybe not all, there's Polaroids From The Dead that I can't seem to make heads or tails of, maybe you guys can help me)

[sardonic wench]

the bridges of madison county. sappy but wonderfully romantic. the movie's a bore but the book is good. (dont read other robert james waller books! they're bad.)

she's come undone by wally lamb - it's a "talking to you" book. it's surprising because a guy wrote it and it tells the story of a girl named dolores.

paula by isabel allende - very historical yet very loving.

im trying to read dr. zhivago by boris pasternak (the one made into a movie) has anyone read it?

and of course, the harry potter series. haven't read anything by roald dahl but i've sure seen the movies that were inspired by his books; james and the giant peach (the animation) and mathilda (directed and starred by danny de vito)

[*happy*phantom*]

Just finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. It was a good read but a little on the pessimistic side. Still, I like it a lot. It's very philosophical and at the same time it offers a beautiful plot as a backdrop of the author's ideas.

In a world where everything happens but once...

If you have time, read it.

[This message has been edited by *happy*phantom* (edited 07-17-2000).]

[chez-o]

juve_grrl: we have the same taste in books!!!! i love stephen king!!!! i also loved angela's ashes, i'm still bothered by his "nonchalance" abt. his father's eternal "disappearance".....

i have yet to read "'Tis"....critics say it's not that good...well.....

[angelicDAW]

i went to powerbooks and looked around, and read a few paragraphs here and there. these 2 books intruiged me:
QUICKSAND
LIFE BEFORE DEATH
EMOTIONAL WEIRDNESS (i'm not sure if it's the correct title)

[colet]

og mandino's the greatest miracle in the world. try and you will not be disappointed. a truly great book.

[davanita]

Just finished with Tuesday's With Morrie...good book! I didn't cry, though, but I'm sure the movie's gonna be a tearjerker! http://www.pinoyexchange.com/crying.gif

Am about to start on The Alchemist. From the critiques I've read, I hope I won't be disappointed in buying the book, such price to pay for such a slim book! :D

[*happy*phantom*]

Am about to start on The Alchemist. From the critiques I've read, I hope I won't be disappointed in buying the book, such price to pay for such a slim book! :D[/B]

The Alchemist had mixed reviews from people but I liked it a lot. It's the kind of book that changes the way one perceives life. I hope you enjoy it too!

Ang mahal nga lang... :)

[dorian gray]

'the handmaid's tale' by margaret atwood. it really gets u involved with the characters, but the ending sorta leaves u hanging. the atmosphere throughout the book is very personal but she sort of cuts that off at the end. i think i know why, but still, it's not what i wanted.... http://www.pinoyexchange.com/boom.gif it's still a good book, though. :D :D :D

[Mateen Cleaves]

Dragons of a Fallen Sun. (The War of Souls, Vol. 1) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

The latest in the Dragonlance saga

[BODACIOUS]

I've been reading a lot of books by Mary Higgins Clark and they really are good reading material.

Fact is am starting a collection of her books. http://www.pinoyexchange.com/blush.gif

[chelsea]

One of the good books that I've read lately is a book by Gwen Shamblin called the "Weigh Down Diet". It truly changes your view of dieting and food. That you should put your focus away from food and put your focus on God. That you don't need to diet but eat the best portions of your fave foods until you are full. And check out the accounts of the participants of this diet, how God has provided a ways of escapes for those who just feel like eating but aren't hungry. It's a must read, whether you want to eat right or have a right relationship with God.

[hippiechick]

I have to say Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" a plain neurotic! It is a pretty cool semi-auto biogrophical book. And her book of poems rock too...too bad she's dead.

[cultured pearls]

oh i love harper lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" favorite novel ko to ever..

[cultured pearls]

oh i love harper lee's "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" favorite novel ko to ever..

[pseudocute]

the hundred secret senses
by amy tan


the first book i didnt obligate myself to finish

[sampaguita]

Mario Puzo's "The Godfather". My tita handed me an old copy when I was in Manila over the summer. And lemme tell you I haven't read as good as a book in such a long time! Puzo is genius! I haven't seen the movie but I'm betting, of course, that the novel has so much more to offer.

I recommend this novel to those who thrill in reading about action, wit, blood, and philosophy.

Unfortunately, the copy my tita gave me was older than my lola and the last few pages of the book were missing! Aaaarrrrggghh!! Imagine my frustration! So I'm hunting for a complete copy in the library! I'll also be checking out his other novels including "The Last Don", "Omerta", and "The Sicilian". I'll let you know if they're any good.

[This message has been edited by sampaguita (edited 08-04-2000).]

[anKh]

top-of-mind favorite novels:

däs parfüm by patrick suskind.
fountainhead by ayn rand.
post office by charles bukowski.
the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood. <;or maybe cat's eye>;
lost souls by poppy z brite.
interview with the vampire by anne rice.

[bing2x]

i enjoyed reading 'If only it were true' by Marc Levy :)
and 'The Coffin Dancer' by Jeffery Deaver :)

http://www.geocities.com/adashki/hearts.gif

[dominicus]

The Paris Review. I love reading literary criticism.

[iostream]

i just finished "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. first published in 1984, it was the the novel where the word "cyberspace" was coined. William Gibson also invented the word and the literary genre "cyberpunk". hell, this was the novel where he invented the term "Matrix" to describe cyberspace! (but since its from 1984, he makes 2MB RAM a really big deal already ehehehehe...) if you're into sci-fi, i really recommend this novel!

(i think William Gibson was also the one that wrote Johnny Mnemonic... )

[Poltergeist]

JOSE DALISAY'S "PENMANSHIP"...it is so good...and by the way, i think chicken soup for the soul sucks...give me a break. http://www.pinoyexchange.com/cyclops.gif

[fosca]

Originally posted by Poltergeist:
JOSE DALISAY'S "PENMANSHIP"...it is so good...and by the way, i think chicken soup for the soul sucks...give me a break. http://www.pinoyexchange.com/cyclops.gif

Poltergeist, I must agree. Please, enough with the chicken soup! Gad. If you have to live vicariously, choose something more worthy than a bunch of sentimental blah.

[booster_j]

i read OF LOVE AND OTHER DEMONS by gabriel garcia marquez... hindi naman recently pero sobra shang ganda... as in probably the best book i've read in my life...

ofcourse... HARRY POTTER... i'm 20 but when i get my hands on one of the books... grabe.... as in one sitting tapos sha... dang! ang ganda!

[DELISYUS]

was reading Anne Rice's Lasher...but stopped...

i did re-read MARRYING LATER, MARRYING SMARTER...and finished the entire book in just a night... :)

sigh...realized things i've ignored abt myself... :(

[sj the great]

Memoirs of a Geisha!!! by Arthur Golden.

[sj the great]

Memoirs of a Geisha!!! by Arthur Golden

[rinoa_gurl]

sj the great: ey! i've read that! grabe, it's really good. thought it was boring because of the title (memoirs?) pero it's really worth reading. di ka ba na-obssess sa geisha thing? ;)

[sj the great]

i know...great book. anybody else read the book?

[flyderman]

sj the great: every other poster in this forum has read that book ;)

[cindz]

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Follow Your Heart by Andrew Matthews
Love (Ten Poems) by Pablo Neruda (from the movie THE POSTMAN)

I am reading House of the Spirits problem is nde ko matapos.. daming books.. no time to read.. :(

[FarOutFreak]

I haven't read Memoirs... and I'm thinking I might not... ever...

Read The Class by Erich Segal. Sad story...

Now, on to something else...

*P.S. It's still good to be back*

http://www.pinoyexchange.com/silly.gif

[walangdila]

after two years, i've read these stuffs:

Austen, Jane Pride and Prejudice
Barrett, William E. The Lilies of the Field
Bautista, Lualhati Gapo
Bode, Richard Beachcombing at Miramar
Bronte, Emily Wuthering Heights
Clancy, Tom Executive Orders
Crichton, Michael Airframe
Crichton, Michael The Lost World
Crichton, Michael Disclosure
Crichton, Michael Rising Sun
Crichton, Michael The Great Train Robbery
Crichton, Michael Congo
Crichton, Michael Jurassic Park
Crichton, Michael The Terminal Man
Crichton, Michael The Andromeda Strain
Crichton, Michael A Case of Need
Crichton, Michael Sphere
Dahl, Roald James and the Giant Peach
De Saint-Exupery, Antoine The Little Prince
Dickens, Charles David Copperfield
Dickens, Charles Oliver Twist/Great Expectations/A Christmas Carol
Doctorow, E.L. Ragtime
Donleavy, J.P. The Ginger Man
Dostoevsky, Fyodor The Brothers Karamazov
Ellison, Ralph Invisible Man
Faulkner, William The Unvanquished
Follett, Ken The Third Twin
Gaarder, Jostein The Solitaire Mystery
Gaarder, Jostein Sophie's World
Golding, William Lord of the Flies
Grisham, John The Client
Grisham, John The Runaway Jury
Hamill, Pete The Gift
Hamilton, Wallace Coming Out
Hemingway, Ernest Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises)
Hugo, Victor Les Miserables
Irving, John The Hotel New Hampshire
Irving, John A Son of the Circus
Irving, John The Water-Method Man
Irving, John A Prayer for Owen Meany
Irving, John The Cider House Rules
Irving, John The World According to Garp
Irving, John A Widow for One Year
Jose, F. Sionil Po-on
Joyce, James A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Kafka, Franz The Basic Kafka (The Metamorphosis)
King, Stephen Bag of Bones
Lamb, Wally She's Come Undone
Le Carre, John Our Game
Lee, Harper To Kill a Mockingbird
Mann, Thomas Death in Venice/ and other stories
Morrison, Toni Song of Solomon
Nabokov, Vladimir Lolita
Orwell, George Animal Farm
Rizal, Jose Noli Me Tangere
Rizal, Jose El Filibusterismo
Roth, Philip Portnoy's Complaint
Salinger, J.D. Catcher in the Rye
Skarmeta, Antonio Burning Patience
Tan, Amy The Joy Luck Club
Updike, John Rabbit, Run
Vonnegut, Kurt Jailbird
Walker, Alice The Color Purple
Wilde, Oscar The Picture of Dorian Gray

[Kurama]

Originally posted by Mateen Cleaves:
Dragons of a Fallen Sun. (The War of Souls, Vol. 1) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

The latest in the Dragonlance saga

What's the story about? This is not an anthology, is it? I hope not.

I'm into vol. 2 of the Raistlin Chronicles. Mayhap u have any idea where to get vol. 3, if there is one? :)

[Kurama]

Originally posted by Mateen Cleaves:
Dragons of a Fallen Sun. (The War of Souls, Vol. 1) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

The latest in the Dragonlance saga

What's the story about? This is not an anthology, is it? I hope not.

I'm into vol. 2 of the Raistlin Chronicles. Mayhap u have any idea where to get vol. 3, if there is one? :)

[singollo]

i just finished The Return of the King, book three of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

[sheik]

I've read "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy recently.

..."Where do old birds go to die?"...

[eponine07]

"city of joy" by alexander lapierre -- story of a priest and a rich medical student who discover the realities of living amidst the poor of calcutta, india

"beyond love" by alexander lapierre -- story of how AIDS was first discovered and the race to find a cure

"road less travelled" by m. scott peck

"future shock" by alvin toffler

"the french lieutenant's woman" by john fowles

[sea sprite]

been on a poetry trip lately. i got two poetry compilations for my birthday from a really special person: Pablo Neruda's Twenty Poems and a Song of Despair and ee cummings's collected poems. i'm a romantic mush! grabe yung imagery at yung passion ni neruda.

i'd really like to sit under the stars on a still but cool night with my sweetie's arm around me as he reads those poems to me <kilig!>.

ok lang ba if i include one of his poems?

"Here I Love You"
By Pablo Neruda

Here I love you.
In the dark pines the wind disentangles itself.
The moon glows like phosphorous on the vagrant waters.
Days, all one kind, go chasing each other.

The snow unfurls in dancing figures.
A silver gull slips down from the west.
Sometimes a sail. High, high stars.

Oh the black cross of a ship.
Alone.
Sometimes I get up early and even my soul is wet.
Far away the sea sounds and resounds.
This is a port.
Here I love you.

Here I love you and the horizon hides you in vain.
I love you still among these cold things.
Sometimes my kisses go on those heavy vessels
that cross the sea towards no arrival.
I see myself forgotten like those old anchors.
The piers sadden when the afternoon moors there.
My life grows tired, hungry to no purpose.
I love what I do not have. You are so far.
My loathing wrestles with the slow twilights.
But night comes and starts to sing to me.

The moon turns its clockwork dream.
The biggest stars look at me with your eyes.
And as I love you, the pines in the wind
want to sing your name with their leaves of wire.

[flyderman]

Thomas Harris' Red Dragon!! Absolutely fascinating!

[flyderman]

Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Oh yeah.

[sallybrown]

Here are a few of my all-time faves:
1) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy= the most beautiful of words ever put together...her sentences sound lyrical...almost like poetry.
2) The Catcher in the Rye= no one beats Holden Caulfield!
3) The Little Prince by Saint Exupery= beautiful in its simplicity
4) The Harry Potter books by JK Rowling= the first one continues to be my favorite. the sorting hat rocks!
5) The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl= children's writing at its finest
6) The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
7)Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea...by LM Mauntgomery
8) The World According to Garp by John Irving
9) The Narnia Chronicles by CS Lewis
10) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

[*happy*phantom*]

Originally posted by sallybrown
Here are a few of my all-time faves:
1) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy= the most beautiful of words ever put together...her sentences sound lyrical...almost like poetry.
2) The Catcher in the Rye= no one beats Holden Caulfield!
3) The Little Prince by Saint Exupery= beautiful in its simplicity
4) The Harry Potter books by JK Rowling= the first one continues to be my favorite. the sorting hat rocks!
5) The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl= children's writing at its finest
6) The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
7)Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea...by LM Mauntgomery
8) The World According to Garp by John Irving
9) The Narnia Chronicles by CS Lewis
10) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I know this is a little off topic but I noticed how sallybrown and I have the same taste in books. :)

The last book I finished was a rereading of The Death of Ivan Illych for the Book Club.

[TrueNorth]

Waking Ice by Ricky de Ungria
Intsik: an anthology of Chinese Filipino Writing edited by Carol Hau

[sheik]

Irving Stone's autobiographical novel "Lust for Life" on Vincent van Gogh...A good one. At par with his other autobiographical book on the life of Michelangelo entitled "The agony and the ecstasy." Got the Van Gogh novel at a book store in Greenhills...(medyo wasak na nga yung back cover e)...

[harley quinn]

I recently finished the debut novel by Zadie Smith titled White Teeth and I highly recommend it! It was a complex novel peppered with wit and humor. Through a dysfunctional Bangladeshi family transplanted to the UK, Smith probed into cultural and religious conflicts between generations of immigrants. She also masterfully succeeds to weave parallel conflicts between generations of human society.

[Ateneo Guy]

I like reading Terry Pratchett

[theSkeptic=P]

I believe at least one of you has already read "Sophie's World". I was forced to take Greek Philo as a first step in developing my interest in Philosophy coz of that book, although my course is engineering. Jostein G is great! I'd love to see it on widescreen as well :) And yeah, The Little Prince is another fave.

[DELISYUS]

IN THE MEANTIME......iyanla vanzant

[RöttenMind]

harry potter chamber of secrets.. :D

forgive me guys im not fond of reading books, but im starting to love it.. thanks to j.k rowling! :D

[winterswirl]

THE WISDOM OF KAHLIL GIBRAN...:love: it!!!

[walangdila]

mrs frisby and the rats of NIMH.. i found this a really really great book.. :D seemingly children's lit book but it talks about civilization stuff.. it's cool.. and you won't look at rats the same way again after reading this one.. :D

[k!]

i've read 'Jay's Journal' but i forgot who wrote it . it's really good...it's about this guy dealing with peer pressure and drugs and orgies... i don't know if they still have it in the stores.

[DELISYUS]

the girl who loved tom gordon :)

[DELISYUS]

Originally posted by k!
i've read 'Jay's Journal' but i forgot who wrote it . it's really good...it's about this guy dealing with peer pressure and drugs and orgies... i don't know if they still have it in the stores.

mygoshhhhhhhhh......i lost my copy of that book!!!! kainissss nga eh...pero dear...i have the twin....if Jay's was the diary of a boy destroyed by occult.....the other one is a diary of a girl destroyed by drugs...nalimot ko lang ang title kasi mas mahal ko yung Jay's Journal....

do you remember his poem to his parents??? soemthing that ended with the lines...

for i alone must blaze
this sometimes lonely
sometimes hurting trail...

gosh.........

[Nirrti]

my favorite book so far (which is i consider as a great book) is a contemporary novel by Glen Duncan....
"Hope"
its puzzling, widely disturbing.

[Bellarine]

*bump*

[ivanisevic22]

1. harry potter Iv and V
2. flower from the rumbles by conrado de quiros (****king great politically toned articles)
3. nine stories (j.d salinger)

[isabellachick]

has anyone read and liked emily bronte's wuthering heights? i've read it but didn't enjoy it. there was too much negative emotions involved in it. plus, had to do a lot of cross-referencing with the characters.

[isabellachick]

eva luna's house of spirits is a good read. it may be more interesting for women who like observing gender-dynamics in a book.

[6am]

highly recommended reading :

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag by Edgardo M. Reyes
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

[*happy*phantom*]

Originally posted by isabellachick
eva luna's house of spirits is a good read. it may be more interesting for women who like observing gender-dynamics in a book.

I believe Eva Luna and The House of Spirits are books by Isabel Allende. :)

[PUGSLEY]

The books I've read and posted in this thread are A-1.

http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php3?threadid=23341

[dArKaNgeL #1]

i've just finished reading that Jeffrey Archer book entitled "Kane and Abel" it's a totally good book....a must-read...:) i just kept on turning every page until i get to the ending....it's a great book!!! :D

recently, i'm reading this psych book entitled "the friendship factor" ... funny as it may seem it speaks of the truth and nothing but the truth....la lang, just wanted to recommend it if ever you ppl happen to encounter the book...:D

ciao! :D

[*happy*phantom*]

Originally posted by dArKaNgeL #1
recently, i'm reading this psych book entitled "the friendship factor" ... funny as it may seem it speaks of the truth and nothing but the truth....la lang, just wanted to recommend it if ever you ppl happen to encounter the book...:D

The Friendship Factor is by Alan McGinnis, I think.

[amazing grace]

i highly recommend Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah. a true story of an unwanted chinese girl whose mom died while giving birth to her.book tells of her sufferings and triumphs.. makes you feel that there is still hope for us who are living our miserable lives.

Angela"s Ashes by Frank Mc Court is a good one too.and funny. saw this on film too at Shangri La, when the British Council sponsored a Film festival last year. also an auto biography.

Rules to live and love by... just read this recently, surely opened up my eyes and made me love myself more.Made me realize what my lola always tells me was indeed true... men should do the pursuing, not us, women. strategies galore here on how to make him want you more.

i don't know what's the big hype on Tuesdays with Morrie. The book is very simple! sayang lang ang pera if you buy this. I've read better books before. Good thing I was able to finish it on one sitting. Thank God for Powerbooks!( I know, I know... you'll tell me if it's not a good book, why did I finish reading it. Kasi nga, I've read so many reviews about it and even saw Oprah giving all praises to Morrie and the author. so I checked the book out. I was disappointed. ) Sorry , author! I even forgot your name.

Hope for the Flowers is a book I read when I was in my elementary years, and it has made such a big impact on me, I still read it every once in a while. It's an easy read, with illustrations. A story about catterpillars and how they are just like us ,people. A must read!

Let me know what you think about my recommendations.

[amazing grace]

i've always wanted to read "while I was gone " by sue miller. can't find it in any bookstore. tagal ko na nagpa reserve sa powerbooks, still no luck. anybody out there who has a copy? pahiram naman!thanks.

[PUGSLEY]

Originally posted by dArKaNgeL #1
i've just finished reading that Jeffrey Archer book entitled "Kane and Abel" it's a totally good book....a must-read...:) i just kept on turning every page until i get to the ending....it's a great book!!! :D



Kane and Abel really is a gripping book. :D You should also try his other books First Among Equals and The Eleventh Commandment

I haven't read the sequel to Kane and Abel - The Prodigal Daughter but they say it was an upset to his Kane and Abel book.

[Manco]

I just finished re-reading Stephen Hunter's THE DAY BEFORE MIDNIGHT some hours back. I re-read it because I recommended it in another thread and it's one of two, maybe three books I know which made me say, "Oh, sh*t!" out loud at some of the plot twists. Heh... it's my second reading of the book and I was still surprised at some of the twists.

[Edited by *happy*phantom* on 04-05-2001 at 07:01 AM]

[6am]

Another good read : Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost. Beautiful language and imagery. Absolutely magical.

[chez-o]

6AM: is anil's ghost good???? ive wanted to buy it.

[walangdila]

the hobbit by jrr tolkien
the pearl by john steinbeck

:D

[CharlotteSC]

By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paolo Coehlo
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

[walangdila]

ganda nung Slaughterhouse Five ni Kurt Vonnegut Jr. :D

[Krakista]

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Nakakaiyak!!!! :~(

Here's something I highlighted:

"The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it."

[DiVeR]

Season Of Passage by Christopher Pike...ganda yun!
pero medyo old na. hope you guys can find it....:teehee:

[^^XTC®^^]

We Were Soldiers Once....and Young
-WWII book set in Vietname. Kakaiyak. It's now a movie (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0277434) starring Mel Gibson.

[hannah_li]

ive just read The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaardner. After Sophie's World, people have been raving about this -- now i understand why..

[Awiyao]

let me share with you some passages of the book:

"And while the wedding party passed by--to the accompaniment of the booming bells and the cheers of the masses and a pelting shower of coins--Grenouille broke out in a different jubilation, a black jubilation, a wicked feeling of triumph that set him quivering and excited him like an attack of lechery, and he had trouble to keep from spurting it like venom and spleen over all these people and screaming exultantly in their faces: that he was not afraid of them, that he hardly hated them any more, but his contempt for them was profound and total, because they were so stupid they stank, because they could be deceived by him, let themselves be deceived, because they were nothing, and he was everything!"
--page 160, Chapter 32

The main character Jean Baptiste Grenouille has no human odor. And he uses this "extraordinary" factor of him to be part of the humanity he despises and which despises him in return. The writer, a german, is so clever with his olfactory sense that he uses this while he intermingles with ironies and contradictions of a human being against another. Antisocial at its finest/best!!!
The book was published in 1986. But i only got to know it through a friend six years ago. I am so glad I have found it.
:)

[chai]

of saints and shadows by christopher golden. it's the start of another trilogy about vampires, but there's an interesting twist to it. I had to order the next two books from Amazon. :)

[Sally_Sheerz]

"A Grief Observed" by C.S.Lewis

[arnivorous]

After juggling four other books, I'm now into Daniel Schacter's The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers. I became interested in this book because I'm a very forgetful person. :D

I love his terms for the seven sins of memory namely:

1) The Sin of Transcience
2) The Sin of Absent-mindednes
3) The Sin of Blocking
4) The Sin of Misattribution
5) The Sin of Suggestibility
6) The Sin of Bias
7) The Sin of Persistence

[tear2drop]

Og Mandino's "The Choice" is good :)

"A Walk to Remember" - tho i read it before, it still made me cry. Sparks' way of storytelling seems so simple, but it's his unique style that makes his books good :) imma read "The Rescue" and "The Notebook" next. Hope they're good!

i read john grisham's "The Brethren" a few months ago - didn't like it that much. "A Time to Kill" still rules!

[durmstrang]

tuesdays with morrie. ganda nya *** talaga. i even bought a copy so i can give it to my friend's bday. may kamahalan pero worth it naman.

one of the lines that struck me the most was "when you learn how to die, you learn how to live"

hope you can read it too.

[TheFly]

White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Outstanding first book.

[severin_severin]

Ken Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Everyone, you have to read this book.

[rains_delight]

Love, Lust and Life by Dra. Margarita Holmes.

[sagan]

Originally posted by severin_severin
Ken Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Everyone, you have to read this book.

I'm currently reading it right now. I've started with Sometimes a Great Notion and was duly impressed. Unfortunately, I've already seen the movie 'One Flew Over the cuckoo's nest' ...

[rors]

the last i've finished reading is Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. a light and easy read, but definitely moving. i really recommend this one for everyone to read.

[yanyancutiepie]

i jst finished reading the international bestseller "the alchemist" by paolo coelho. it is a great book! in fact, i didnt let go of the book till i finished reading it.

right now, im reading "the god of small things" by arundhati roy.

[Marherliani]

I just finished reading The Kindly Ones (Sandman - Neil Gaiman) and True Love by Robert Fulghum! :)

[tukid]

Another World by Pat Barker, Border Crossing by Pat Barker, The Italian Girl by Iris Murdoch.

[Awiyao]

Michel Houellebecq's "The Elementary Particles." France's new .L'enfant terrible Read it!

[sea sprite]

Frank Herbert's Dune

Amazing book! Not as hard to swallow as some of the sci-fi books I've read. Engaging characters, well-thought out plot with a good blend of action and meditation, science and religion and politics. Pretty wild ride. Enjoy.

Some quotes:

Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. I must not fear.

It is by will alone that I set my mind in motion.

[rors]

Originally posted by yanyancutiepie

right now, im reading "the god of small things" by arundhati roy.

*okay* great prose by arundhati roy.

just finished with vagina monologues. great book. very enlightening. wanna catch a stage production of it soon. :)

[Wacky_R0na1d]

"Catcher in the Rye" by Jerome David Salinger aka. J.D. Salinger

[Ada]

I'm reading Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day right now. Wonderful, wonderful book!

[mintymalone]

I was waiting to be disappointed but Jewels of Tessa Kent turned out to be a good book.

[Endymionn]

Carl Sagan
Contact

[hazelwitch]

Fight Club - great book though the movies better (wierd huh?)
LOTR-Fellowship of the Rings

[^^ambiguous^^]

stephen king's "bag of bones"

[kelboinks]

Originally posted by pseudocute
the hundred secret senses
by amy tan


the first book i didnt obligate myself to finish

hey Amy Tan fan ka rin pala! I read Joy Luck Club and i got hooked with her, so i read all of her books excpet the other one which is intended for the children.

also read the Bonesetters Daughter

[cHarL!e's AngEL]

The Little Prince
The Alchemist
A Walk To Remember

[wends]

chinese cinderella and falling leaves by Adeline Yen Mah

The Essential Drucker - Peter Drucker (business book)

[chez-o]

wends: ang ganda nyang falling leaves. parang tanging yaman with all the family drama. pero ang galing kasi hindi cheezy kasi nakakrelate tayong lahat, kasi may pamilya tayo!

am done with the ground beneath her feet by rushdie. a must read! astig!!!!!

[TriBeCa]

books that i had the luxury to read these past weeks:

abnkkbsnplako?! of bob ong
boymeetsgirl of joshua harris
coming to terms edited by l. kalaw-tirol
the unbearable lightness of being of milan kundera

still reading:

the alchemist of paulo coehlo

...hay, sarap magbasa...:)

[amazing_grace]

i havent read the entire thread since its way too long and im in quite a hurry. anyway, im looking for more books to read before school starts again and im stuck with accounting textbooks so can anyone recommend a nice reading list for me? =) im not sure what my taste is exactly but here are some of the books i thoroghly enjoyed:

-Veronika Decides to Die, By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept, The Alchemist all by Coelho
-Theater by Maugham
-Jostein Gaarder books (except Maya, which they say was bad)
-Love in the Time of Cholera by G. G. Marquez

i suppose i lean towards the philosophical and magical realism genres...i also read The Lover by this French authoress, i forgot her name, but i thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed it. Pls help! =)

Merci beaucoup!

[Cerberus]

Nobel Laureate Jose Saramago's The Tale of the Unknown Island. :)

[amazing_grace]

cerberus : what do you think of jose saramago's book All the Names? i was reading it but i never got to finish it as i left the book in a hotel. and i cant find a copy anywhere here.

[TrueNorth]

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell: brilliant writing about social epidemics like the success and failure of Vans; why Blue's Clues uses better teaching strategies than Sesame Street, the rise and dramatic fall of New York's crime rate, etc.

The Power of Myth (Q&As with Jonathan Campbell by Bill Moyers) for those who love mythology, anthropology and life in general.

[pathosmelody]

Naomi Wolf's thesis on women and society, The Beauty Myth

Caroline Kennedy's The Right to Privacy

An anthology of poems containing Philip La Mancha's works.

[iori2]

hello book lovers!

i rily love books, love their smell everytime i turn a page, i love the imprint of ink on my figer tips. but, when i read a book, i feel bored or too tired? to continue with the story, dunno..

i started liking books from comic books and graphic novels.

maybe i just find it more fun to read from books with pictures.

what good books can you guys suggest for a "new reader" ??
:)

[^^XTC®^^]

Originally posted by iori2
hello book lovers!

i rily love books, love their smell everytime i turn a page, i love the imprint of ink on my figer tips. but, when i read a book, i feel bored or too tired? to continue with the story, dunno..

i started liking books from comic books and graphic novels.

maybe i just find it more fun to read from books with pictures.

what good books can you guys suggest for a "new reader" ??
:)

Depends what genre' appeals to you, kasi mahirap magbigay nang kung anong title na gusto namen tapos di mo pala magu-gustuhan dahil iba genre' niya.

Well seeing you're into 'comics/graphic-novels', maybe the 'fantasy-genre' might appeal to you compared to the 'contemporaries which take on a different form -- form what you're used to.

You might want to check out books by Neil Gaiman ;) Or any sci-fi thriller would prolly keep you company. :)

[iori2]

hey xtc! *** nanaman!
hehe... m glad m not the only one who like what i like.

haha... i was rily intrigued by the gaiman fans with their posts. hehe. now i kept thinking of buying gaiman books!! damn!
laki na ng gastos ko! and with my growing number of comic titles!

w/c book by gaiman do u like best?
do u have stardust? the collab with charles vess graphic novel?
****** i rily like to get my hands on that book!

[^^XTC®^^]

Originally posted by iori2
hey xtc! *** nanaman!
hehe... m glad m not the only one who like what i like.

haha... i was rily intrigued by the gaiman fans with their posts. hehe. now i kept thinking of buying gaiman books!! damn!
laki na ng gastos ko! and with my growing number of comic titles!

w/c book by gaiman do u like best?
do u have stardust? the collab with charles vess graphic novel?
****** i rily like to get my hands on that book!

Hey there!

Hmm you might want to check out the other 'gaiman-threads' around pEx, I'm sure you'll be able to get 'feedback' on availability of this novel you're looking for.

Personally -- I'm a bit partial to "American Gods". :)

[Spring_Chicken]

i'm not a fast reader, (plus, i have a job that requires me to burn as much brain cells as i possibly could <--nope, hindi po ako addict.) so i've been trying to finish--over the past month--Yukio Mishima's Thirst for Love.
Lupet ng book na to, mainly becasue rock n' roll yung lead character, Etsuke--a Japanese widow with an overabundance of libido and a countenance comparable to that of the character in Camus' The Stranger.

[greggytorned]

the book version of A WALK TO REMEMBER and as babyish and shallow this may sound, SVH: SENIOR YEAR .

[xtx]

WISH YOU WELL - David Baldacci

a really good book! *okay*

[degamits]

About a Boy by Nick Hornby was a good and worthwhile read. so is Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh and Generation X by Douglas Coupland.

[sterling]

The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve

[tEaMooN]

A Stone From A River by Ursula Hegi

[tofi]

The Alchemist

*okay*

[iori2]

just finished reading "American Gods" a little confusing at some points of the book but i was really amazed by the story! a very good read! my first Gaiman book:)

[chemit_guy]

ARTEMIS FOWL!

[yobex]

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

[DannyBhoy]

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett.

[suselle1]

Originally posted by sterling
The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve

just read that book kaya lang parang ayoko intindihin yung ending. so all those events were not true? imagination lang nya yun? sayang... :(

have you read the other novels of anita shreve?

[Chelleme]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

by Betty Smith

:)

[sneezy]

Originally posted by suselle1


just read that book kaya lang parang ayoko intindihin yung ending. so all those events were not true? imagination lang nya yun? sayang... :(

have you read the other novels of anita shreve?

ok ah.

next time, pls use the spoiler function.

[okashira]

interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri [won pulitzer prize for this short story collection in 2000]

south of the border, west of the sun
after the quake
norwegian wood
all by haruki murakami [one of japan's leading postmodern fictionists]

[suselle1]

Originally posted by sneezy


ok ah.

next time, pls use the spoiler function.

sorry...

[zeddiculus]

memoirs of a geisha---really nice book
the bronze horseman
the sword of truth- part 1 lang

a lot of good books that i like to read but not enough time. i wanna try 'the alchemist'. the book costs around Php200, so it's tempting to buy. :D

[suselle1]

books by dave pelzer. have read two, the child called it and the lost boy. actually trilogy sya kaso laging out of stock yung part 3 the man named dave kaya still waiting for the 3rd part. after reading his books medyo maninikip ang dibdib nyo sa story especially the 1st book. i think it's the third worse case of child abuse on record in the entire state of california.

[Illusion]

books by dave pelzer. have read two, the child called it and the lost boy. actually trilogy sya kaso laging out of stock yung part 3 the man named dave kaya still waiting for the 3rd part. after reading his books medyo maninikip ang dibdib nyo sa story especially the 1st book. i think it's the third worse case of child abuse on record in the entire state of california.

i agree.. i have all books na rin ... i think they still have the part 3 sa goodwill sa mega if u wanna buy it

[suselle1]

Originally posted by Illusion


i agree.. i have all books na rin ... i think they still have the part 3 sa goodwill sa mega if u wanna buy it

maganda ba yung 3rd part? the 2nd book kasi is not as "intriguing"... na-establish na ba yung reason behind the abuse? may kwento ba about his mother?

[severin_severin]

herman hesse / demian.

absolutely lovely. :heart:

[eydryth]

recently read

Chocolat (Harris) - loved it, couldn't put it down
The Law of Love (Esquivel) - an unusual way of reading because it came with a music CD. loved it too.

Am in the middle of "Daredevil: The Cutting Edge" - liking it so far. :)

[theXan]

"A Painted House"

[annunerin]

Just read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy ( The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass ) --> they're all good read!!!

I'm currently reading The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder and ok din sya.

[farfalla]

can anyone suggest a good book that describes the culture of a certain place, like Mexico in "Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel, or Les Lavauses in France in "Five Quarters of an orange" by Joanne Harris? pero yung tipong may good story. thanx. :)

[rains_delight]

Bakit Baligtad Magbasa ang Mga Pinoy.

[cheesielicious]

me talk pretty one day by David sedaris. it's so funny!

[starsky]

farfalla

I'm just about to finish a book 'A Fortune-Teller told Me' by Tiziano Terzani. Very good and interesting read. It's an autobiography-cum-travelogue of a journalist who travelled by foot all around SouthEast Asia because of a warning from a fortune-teller. A book can't get more cultural - and historical - than this. Not really storyish though - more like a diary, but his words weave like a poem. Highly recommended ;)

[ahwen]

Christ Clone Trilogy - James BeauSigneur (oist bats tnx sa pgpapahiram)

Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco

parehong may kinalaman sa Knight Templars... may books pa ba kayong alam about the "Poor Crusaders of Christ"?

[flygurl]

innocence by Jane Mendelsohn

the invisible circus by Jennifer Egan

[indigo24]

Asleep by Banana Yoshimoto

[annunerin]

I just read Like Water for Chocolate ni Esquivel. Ang ganda nga nya! ;)

I'm now reading The God of Small Things by Roy. :D

Ei guys, do you recommend getting Coelho books or okay na manghiram na lang?

[degamits]

additional books

On the road by Jack Kerouac
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter Thompson
Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac
Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The Stranger by Albert camus

[annunerin]

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

*okay* *okay*

[ahwen]

By The River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept - Paulo Coelho

[mintymalone]

Thumbsucker by Walter Kirn was surprisingly good.

[PearlM]

Originally posted by farfalla
can anyone suggest a good book that describes the culture of a certain place, like Mexico in "Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel, or Les Lavauses in France in "Five Quarters of an orange" by Joanne Harris? pero yung tipong may good story. thanx. :)

Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai would give you a glimpse of Sri Lankan upper-class culture.

Stolen Lives (Twenty Years in a Desert Jail) by Malika Oufkir, a true story of a Moroccan family. the story is heartbreaking, but it also gives you insights of Morrocan culture...esp. the lifestyle of privileged families and life inside the palace.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy...set in exotic India.

[elle_xxiv]

Originally posted by PearlM

Stolen Lives (Twenty Years in a Desert Jail) by Malika Oufkir, a true story of a Moroccan family. the story is heartbreaking, but it also gives you insights of Morrocan culture...esp. the lifestyle of privileged families and life inside the palace.


yup! I totally agree! This is such a good read! I have the hardback one but I found that they're selling a softbound version entitled, La Prisionniere . I was so touched with this book and how Malika and her family survived such a devastating ordeal in their lives. you will be amazed at the strength of this family. ganda talaga!

Originally posted by ahwen

Christ Clone Trilogy - James BeauSigneur (oist bats tnx sa pgpapahiram)

Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco

parehong may kinalaman sa Knight Templars... may books pa ba kayong alam about the "Poor Crusaders of Christ"?

Have you read the The Templar Revelation by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince? It's very intriguing stuff about Christ. I also have this book on the Turin Shroud (i think it's from the same authors) and they also have something about the Templar Knights.

[sweet_wednesday]

Originally posted by annunerin
I just read Like Water for Chocolate ni Esquivel. Ang ganda nga nya! ;)

I'm now reading The God of Small Things by Roy. :D

Ei guys, do you recommend getting Coelho books or okay na manghiram na lang?

Hi! Maganda nga yung Like Water!:)

Yung God of Small Things naman nedyo may boring parts pero ok din naman

I think meron ng cheaper versions ng Coelho books like The Alcemist, meron ng copy for around P199. But personally, I think it's better to buy your own dahil yung books naman nya e tipong di nakakasawang basahin.:)

[farfalla]

pearlm and starsky: Thanx a lot!!! will look those titles up. :D

i have read The God of Small Things and i must agree, it gives a good insight of Indian culture. i really didn't mind the boring parts. :)

suggest pa kayo ng iba please. :)

[*keyah*]

Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler and Milan Kundera's The Joke.

*okay*