What can I say, I love to read. Whenever there's a legitimate reason to ask for presents, you'll always find a book title or two on my wishlist. I don't always find time to read all of them but I keep asking for more anyway. I know in my heart that one day, I will go through all of them. I really should stop collecting, at least for now simply because I move a lot and they're not the most convenient things to be hauling around. I probably should start getting into digital books. But for some reason, they just don't feel the same. Curling up with my laptop in bed to read an online book just doesn't sound or feel right. So until the day I can come to terms with that, I will need hard copies.
Below, I keep track of all the books I've read. From time to time, when
I feel like it, I'll actually write my thoughts about the
book. |
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(by Arthur C. Clarke) |
| 2010-January |
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For someone who fancies themselves as a sci-fi fan, it's almost embarassing to admit that
I had just read an ACC book for the first time ever. Talk about no closure though. This book was really
interesting and I couldn't wait to find out the mystery behind the Ramans, and then
I don't. But I guess that's the beauty of some of the good books out there.
They just leave you hanging.
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(by Elizabeth Moon) |
| 2010-January |
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Most of the book is written from the point of view of Lou, an autist. I
find it refreshing. Just like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time. Reading novels like this definitely opens my eyes to
the world of autism and broadens my way of thinking.
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(by Catherine Asaro) |
| 2009-December |
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I'm not sure who creates the cover art for Asaro's books, but I almost
didn't want to read this book cause I felt like I picked up one of
those Harlequin romance novels whose plots are all too predictable and
oozing with romantic crap. This novel definitely has a little bit of
that. And it was quite funny in parts. But the way it plays on science
facts and advancement in technology will definitely tell you it ain't
one of those cheap romantic novels. It's a very easy read, and very
entertaining. This is the first book of Asaro's that I have read. And
the author's background, if you read the "About the Author" part, is
really impressive.
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(by Robert Charles Wilson) |
| 2009-December |
| It wasn't hard getting sucked in to this book. The
premise was different (or maybe I just don't read enough), and the
intrigue made me really go and read this at a fast pace. Although the
book flipped between the past and the present, it was presented in a
way that wasn't too confusing. The closer you get to the end of the
book, the more it comes together. Nicely done. I think I'll be reading
more of this author.
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(by Iris Murdoch) |
| 2009-November |
| I believe the goal was to make you feel disgusted by the arrogance and self-absorption of the main character, then that is very much achieved in this book.
It was an interesting journey but I have to admit that towards the end, the whole self-introspection got boring.
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(by Irene Nemirovsky) |
| 2009-August |
| This was a very nice first hand account (though fiction technically) of how
people from all walks of life handled a Nazi-occupied France. Interestingly enough,
Tarantino's film Inglourious Basterds came out right after I finished the movie.
I enjoyed the book, and the movie =)
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(by Iain M. Banks) |
| 2008-October |
| A friend couldn't get in to this book and decided to
give it to me. I read most of it on the trip to Spain and back. It's kinda
interesting though I'm not sure if I should have read something that
introduces the Culture better, before reading this one. Maybe I would have
"gotten it" more.
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(by Neil Gaiman) |
| 2008-October |
| After reading American Gods, I thought this would make a
good "sequel". Definitely pretty entertaining in parts, but I can't say
it's as impressive as American Gods.
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(by Douglas Adams) |
| 2008-April |
| As I said, this is the last one of the 5-part series I
planned on reading and I've done it. It was a short one, but I really
struggled to finish it. Just couldn't find it funny or enjoyable at
all. It's probably just me....
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(by Neil Gaiman) |
| 2008-April |
| First book of NG's that I've read. And I loved it! Not
sure if it was because it was that good, or because I just haven't read any
of this particular genre (Fantasy/Americana) before and found it quite
refreshing and different from all other books I've read in the recent
past. Anyway, I got pretty pumped about this author so I'm definitely
reading more of his work hopefully very soon. Although, if I wanna finish
all the other books I'm reading right now first, I'm not sure how "soon"
that will be.
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(by Nikolai Gogol) |
| 2008-April |
I wouldn't have known about N. Gogol if not for Jhumpa Lahiri's
Namesake. It's the sad and embarrassing truth. I happen to see this used
book at the Boston Book Annex while shopping for a present for my BIL. For
2 bucks it was worth owning it despite the fact that this book is freely
available (click on the title link above).
But anyway, I did enjoy reading this. Made me laugh at various
points. Gogol was probably one of the more courageous writers who was
openly critical about Mother Russia.
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| (by Keith Donohue) |
| 2008-February |
| Pretty neat 'faery' tale. Creeped me out at times when I
was alone in the bedroom reading it at night. |
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| (by Marilynne Robinson) |
| 2008-January |
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| (by Edward P. Jones) |
| 2007-December |
| Bet you didn't know that before the Civil war, there
were free black people who actually owned slaves. This book is what Jones
imagined that world would have been like. Awesome book. |
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| (by Shirley Hazzard) |
| 2007-December |
| The plot isn't really complicated. But it's told so
beautifully. I really enjoyed reading this. I would like to see if
Hazzard's The Transit of Venus is any good. |
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| (by Cormac McCarthy) |
| 2007-December |
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| (by Lily Tuck) |
| 2007-December |
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| (by Kiran Desai) |
| 2007-November |
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| (by T. Coraghessan Boyle) |
| 2007-November |
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| (by Joan Didion) |
| 2007-November |
| Being reminded of our mortality is never fun. But at
the same time, it's a good way of making you think twice about
sweating the small stuff, making mountains out of molehills,
etc. Also, and probably more importantly, makes you learn to
appreciate even more the time you are able to spend with the ones you
love. |
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| (by Frederik Pohl) |
| 2007-November |
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| (by Pat Barker) |
| 2007-October |
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| (by Anne Tyler) |
| 2007-October |
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| (by Jhumpa Lahiri) |
| 2007-October |
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| (by Alice McDermott) |
| 2007-October |
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| (by Greg Bear) |
| 2007-September |
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| (by Daniel Keyes) |
| 2007-September |
Loved this book. Could have easily been written into a full novel, as
opposed to a short story(I think that's its category). But because
the progression of the rise and fall, if you will, of the main
character, Charlie has been compressed into just a few hundred
pages, the whole experience was quite intense. Highly recommended.
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| (by Marilynne Robinson) |
| 2007-August |
Good story-telling. Very lyrical. Wasn't so much about the story but how it
was told. I look forward to reading Gilead. I hope it's just as good or better.
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| (by J. G. Farrell) |
| 2007-August |
Parts of this book is just funny. And a great insight as to what could have
really been going on with the English when they were in India in the
1850's. I wish I can say that I enjoyed this immensely, but the truth is, I
had the hardest time picking it back up everytime I put it down. I don't
really know why as I can't think of a good reason not to love it.
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| (by John Updike) |
| 2007-August |
I think this is the first John Updike book I've read. I looked at all the
books he's written and none of them looked familiar. I know there's a
couple more Updike books on my list and after reading this one, my
expectations are pretty high. I hope I'm not disappointed.
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| (by Geraldine Brooks) |
| 2007-July |
This is Geraldine Brooks' take on what happened to the Dad in Louisa May
Alcott's "Little Women". It's a good read.
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| (by Norman Rush) |
| 2007-July |
Not one of those you can finish in a single sitting, that's for
sure. It got a little too historical/political for me in
parts. Also, made me realize how limited my vocab
is. There were quite a few words I didn't know the meaning of. And
some Latin and French phrases that are, I guess, assumed to be
well-known, but maybe I'm just not the intended audience. There
were some hillarious tidbits. And I did enjoy a major chunk of
it.
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| (by Lisa See) |
| 2007-July |
If you want gory details on Chinese footbinding, this is the
book for you. It also covers "nu shu", a writing system used exclusively by
women. Entertaining read.
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(by Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
(translated by Edith Grossman) |
| 2007-July |
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| (by David Brin) |
| 2007-July |
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| (by J.M. Coetzee) |
| 2007-July |
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| (by Ian McEwan) |
| 2007-June |
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| (by Walker Percy) |
| 2007-June |
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| (by Jhumpa Lahiri) |
| 2007-June |
This was a great read. Basically 9 short stories, totally unrelated to
one another. Yet, you get the feeling that in some ways, they are
not so different. I highly recommend reading this, if you have one
afternoon to spare. I learned that Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake"
was turned into a movie by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding). I think
I'm gonna have to rent that movie.
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| (by Philip Roth) |
| 2007-June |
I'm still debating whether it was worth my time reading the entire
book. I did give up at some point. But after finishing Forever
Peace, I felt obligated to finish it before borrowing more
books from the library. I didn't like this story at all. Maybe I
just didn't get it. Oh well.
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| (by Joe Haldeman) |
| 2007-June |
This was a nice read. Pretty anti-climactic ending. But still worth
reading. Reminiscent of "the matrix". Still not sure if the
matrix was based on Haldeman's ideas or the other way around. I'm gonna
have to find out...
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| (by Don DeLillo) |
| 2007-June |
I'm not sure if DeLillo's other books were written in this style, but
it was definitely different. It was hard to differentiate who was
talking in the book because he made them sound all the same. Even
the kids spoke like the grown-ups did. This was quite funny in
parts and just plain weird in others. I believe this book falls
under the absurdist category (just like Camus' The Stranger),
hence the weird parts. Raises a lot of questions, though doesn't
really attempt to answer any. I did enjoy this book. I'm now
curious about DeLillo's other works.
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| (by Max Barry) |
| 2007-June |
This was such a fun read, if you can ignore the computer-y
stuff/details. Basically, if you know computers and how they really work
and all that business, some of the dialogues were just a bit hillarious,
even when they're not supposed to be. Did that make sense? Anyway, still a
great read. Adrienne was cleaning out her bookshelf and this book was put
in the "to donate" pile. I asked her if it was any good, and she thought
so, so I became the new owner of the book.
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| (by Lois McMaster Bujold) |
| 2007-May |
This won the Nebula award in 1988. It's a good enough story, but not sure
that it was award-quality. But then again, I haven't read the contenders
for that year, so can't legitimately defend my opinion. It was still an
entertaining read.
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(by Steven Millhauser) |
| 2007-May |
The author has written a few other books, and this is the first one of his
I read. There something about the way Millhauser tells a tale that makes
you wanna pay attention to all the details that he gives you. I liked this
one. Definitely thinking about picking up another one of his novels. Just
as a side note, the movie The Illusionist was apparently loosely
based on one of his stories, "Eisenheim the Illusionist".
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(by Douglas Adams) |
| 2007-May |
I didn't find this as enjoyable as the first one in the series. It just
didn't have the same effect on me as the first. I do own the third one in
this 'trilogy' and I will probably read that one at some point. But will
probably not go any farther.
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| (by Conrad Richter) |
| 2007-May |
I have to admit, this was a little hard for me to finish, despite the short
length of the book. It's really one of my weaknesses, description-heavy
stories. Walden would fall into that category for example. And this book
mostly felt like that. Though there was more going on and more
dialogues. Still an interesting read.
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(by Mark Haddon) |
| 2007-May |
This was a pretty interesting book. Fairly short, and an easy read
really. Though it's really set apart from all other books I've read merely
because it's told from the point of view of an autistic boy. It's quite
funny and parts, and heart-wrenching in others. I really enjoyed this one.
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| (by Jeffrey Eugenides) |
| 2007-May |
This is definitely nothing like any other book I've read before. You know,
how when you start reading some book, it makes you think of another
author(due to the style of writing) or another novel(just because of the
similarity in the story line) you've read in the past? Well, this is isn't
one of those books. At least, not for me. Very educational, in places. Good
read.
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| (by Pearl S. Buck) |
| 2007-May |
The book follows the life of Wang Lung, the main character. From his
marriage to O-lan and to the last days of his life. A lot happens in this
short book and you go through so many emotions as you read through the
entire thing. Pity, joy, sadness, anger, all toward Wang Lung. Make sure
you're in the right 'mood' before you take on this book.
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