This week I'm listing 13 books about books, 10 of these are on my bookshelves, but I didn't have enough for 13, so the last three are from my wishlist. =)

 

 

 

 

<----------------------- 1. The Shadow of the Wind

                                                by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I read this and I really enjoyed it, although I felt the ending seemed a little bit rushed and confusing.

 

 

 

 

 

2. The Bookwoman's Last Fling ------------------>

by John Dunning

I bought this book last month but I haven't read it yet. Has anyone read this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<--------------------------- 3. The Thirteenth Tale 

                                                by Diane Setterfield

I absolutely LOVED this book! One of the best books ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Reading Lolita in Tehran ---------------------->

by Azar Afisi

I've heard a lot about this book, but I haven't read it. I'm reading Lolita now though, so maybe I'll read this after that.

 

 

 

<-------------------------------------- 5. Mister Pip

                                                         by Lloyd Jones

This is an amazing book. It's slow and quiet but it screams at you and stays with you for a long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Reader  ------------------------------------>

by Bernhard Schlink

I had to read this after Kate Winslet won the Globes. Beautiful book that makes you think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<------------------------------- 7. The Poe Shadow

                                                    by Matthew Pearl

I'm in the middle of reading this book, but it's slow starting and I've put it aside for now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. The Eyre Affair -------------------------------->

by Jasper Fforde

My DH bought me this book for my birthday a couple of years ago. I loved it, and I read Jane Eyre after that and loved it too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

<------------------ 9. Why We Read What We Read

                              by Lisa Adams and John Heath

This is one of the funniest and most entertaining books I've ever read about books!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. So Many Books, So Little Time --------------->

by Sara Nelson

Bought this ages ago, but haven't read it. Afraid to coz it'll probably add lots more books to my wishlist!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<------------------------------- 11. The Book Thief

                                                    by Markus Zusak

This book is on my wishlist! I've heard so many good things about it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Inkheart -------------------------------------->

by Cornelia Funke

All the press about the movie has got me really wanting to read this! And watch the movie too, of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<------------------------ 13. Reading Like A Writer

                                                   by Francine Prose

I saw this book in a bargain bin and was intrigued, but didn't buy it because I could only choose a few books. I've regretted not buying it ever since! =(

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

 

I chose this book for my Reading Dangerously Challenge 2009 because it was a controversial book, but I had no idea just what a challenge it would be to read it.

 

It wasn't the subject matter that made it hard for me, since I kind of already knew what to expect. I've heard so many references to Nabokov's Lolita to the point that I almost didn't appreciate that the book was about pedophilia, in fact.

 

What made the reading of this book hard for me, was the writing style. Nabokov tends to write in long sentences and paragraphs, and more often than not, I found my eyes struggling to stay open.

 

The truth is, although the book was amusing at times, mostly I just didn't like it at all. I didn't like Humbert Humbert, and neither could I like Lolita. I probably would've given up completely on this book if it wasn't because it was meant to be a challenging read. But again, I didn't realize that it would be challenging in this sense.

 

The last part of the book is even worse, because it just went on and on without much happening at all, and me just thinking, get on with it already! Even the ending was anti-climatic.

 

The best thing I can say about having read this book, is that at least I'll be able to have 'intellectual literary discussions' about it. Honestly speaking, I think the only reason this book is popular at all is because of the subject matter, if Nabokov had written about anything else, we probably wouldn't even know his name now.

The Poison That Fascinates by Jennifer Clement

 

First of all, the title by itself is fascinating already!

 

Secondly, I got this book from a Bookcrosser; they were having a readalong on the BC forums (Spoiler alert! Please do not read the discussion until you've read the book!) and I had a lot of fun reading the discussions

chapter by chapter while reading the book.

 

The story is about Emily who loves to collect facts and information about women criminals. She was abandoned by her mother when she was a baby, and was brought up by her father and a nun at the local Catholic orphanage.

 

Life is simple until one day, when her cousin Santiago comes back to live with her and her father. He brings mysteries and family secrets with him and turns their simple life completely upside down.

 

I quite enjoyed the book and Clements' staccato style of writing in short, sharp sentences. The facts about women criminals and Mexican saints are very interesting too.

 

Although the book is filled with sadness, obsession, and mystery, it is an easy book to read because of the short, poetic sentences, and the interesting facts sprinkled throughout the book helps to hold our attention as well.

 

I thought it was a very well-written book, and very cleverly woven by Clement, because there were a lot of references in the story that some readers may or may not realize when reading the book. I probably wouldn't have realized myself, if I didn't read the readalong thread in the BC forums. Wonderful book!

Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I thought I'd do a romance themed TT this week. Presenting 13 quotes about love and romance:

 

 

1. “Romance is the fiction that owes no allegiance to the God of things as they are. In the novel the writer's thought is tethered to probability, but in romance it ranges at will over the entire region of the imagination.” Ambrose Bierce

 

2. “A historical romance is the only kind of book where chastity really counts.” Barbara Cartland

 

3. “Love stories are probably all I've ever been able to write or want to write.” Wally Lamb

 

4. “Perhaps they were right in putting love into books, . . . Perhaps it could not live anywhere else.” William Faulkner

 

5. “Love is more pleasant than marriage for the same reason that novels are more amusing than history.” Chamfort

 

6. “Romance and novel paint beauty in colors more charming than nature, and describe a happiness that humans never taste. How deceptive and destructive are those pictures of consummate bliss!” Oliver Goldsmith

 

7. “There is no happiness in love, except at the end of an English novel.” Anthony Trollope

 

8. “Women want love to be a novel, men a short story.” Daphne Du Maurier

 

9. “I really don't like when things are all polished and perfect - the perfect love story and the hair is perfect.” Marisa Tomei

 

10. “Then there's the story of ill-fated love. It's universal.” Rita Moreno

 

11. “We always felt we have male readers who say they don't read our romance novels — but they do.” Marleah Stout

 

12. “I don't write romance novels, any more than Tom Clancy writes legal thrillers. Yes, I write about love and relationships and Tom Clancy writes a thriller, but what I do would not be accepted by romance publishers, since the romance genre has numerous requirements and I don't satisfy any of them. I write love stories, a completely different genre.” Nicholas Sparks

13. “Somebody would say, `Can you write us an article about big, bodice-ripping, blockbusting romance novels?' And I'd say, `Yes, of course,' because I was a hungry young journalist.” Neil Gaiman

What's your Thursday Thirteen this week?

 

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  

My Teaser:

 

"I was careful to make sure Hugh never smelled alcohol on my breath. He rarely came close to me anyway and I developed a trick of having my head bent over some task - mending or washing up - when he came home, so he just used to kiss the top of my head." ~p. 155, Linda Gillard's A Lifetime Burning

I finished this book a few days ago, but it's stayed on my mind until now because it was such an emotionally intense book.

 

It's about the hopeless life of a woman, Flora, who has only ever wanted to find happiness but suffers so much trying to achieve it. In childhood, her musically talented twin brother outshines her, so she decides to go to drama school. Then she tries to find love and at age 21, marries a man twice her age. Later when she's older, she has a scandalous affair with her brother's son, her own nephew.

 

At the beginning of the book, Flora isn't portrayed as very likable at all, and later you realize that she'd been misunderstood. While you may not agree with the things she does and the way she feels, you understand why she's the way she is, and you can't help but feel sorry for her.

 

This book is extremely controversial and some people may hate it, but if you can keep an open mind and allow yourself to look through Flora's perspective, you may gain something valuable from it.

 

It's emotionally difficult to read, and can be quite depressing too, but that's how I feel about Wally Lamb's books, and I think his books are worthy reads.

 

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Teaser Tuesdays post, or share your 2 Teasers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks!

Alice from Alice's Restaurant awarded me this Lemonade Award last week. Yayyy!

 

This is the "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade" Award, for bloggers who make the best out of everything they have.

 

I'm honored! Thank you so much, Alice!

 

 

So how it works is:

 

1) You must link back to the person you received the award from.
2) You have to nominate 10 bloggers who are deserving of this award!

 

 

 

I've also received another award, from Natasha at Ulat Buku in the City.

 

The Premio Dardos Award is given in recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing.

 

I am doubly honored! Thank you, Natasha!

 

 

 

 

The rules are as follows:

1. Accept the award; post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted you this award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgement. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know that have been chosen for this award.

Here's what I'm going to do though, instead of me awarding these to particular bloggers, I'd like to instead ask for nominations of bloggers *you* think deserve these awards, and I'll award these to them.

 

It would be a great way for me to discover new, great bloggers too! =)

 

You can nominate a blogger for either one of the awards, or you can nominate them for both. Let me know which in your comments! And remember to leave the links to their blogs!

 

Thanks in advance! =)

Today's topic is going to be fun! 13 fun facts about The Rock Bottom Remainders:

 

 

1.  The Rock Bottom Remainders is a band made up of 11 famous authors!

 

2. They are:

a. Mitch Albom

b. Dave Barry

c. Roy Blount Jr.

d. Greg Iles

e. Kathi Kamen Goldmark

f. Stephen King

g. Matt Groening

h. James McBride

i. Amy Tan

j. Ridley Pearson

k. Scott Turow

 

3. Amy Tan, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, and Scott Turow are on vocals. Both Dave Barry and Greg Iles play the lead guitar. Stephen King is on rhythm guitar. Ridley Pearson plays the bass. Mitch Albom plays keyboard. James McBride's on saxaphone. Matt Groening plays the....uh, cowbell. And Roy Blount Jr. plays the crowd.

 

4. The Rock Bottom Remainders were founded by Kathi Kamen Goldmark.

 

5. Some of the original members of RBR include Barbara Kingsolver, Dave Marsh, Josh Kelly, and Joel Selvin.

 

6. Some famous stars who have played with RBR include Gloria Gaynor and Bruce Springsteen!

 

7. They have the funniest website! Check out their FAQs!

 

8. Watch Mitch Albom sing a Billy Joel song:

 

 

9. You can check out more videos of them in Youtube; Stephen King sings! And Dave Barry too. There's also a video of them on The Late Late Show!

 

10. Their latest tour was in June, 2007 in NYC, with special guests Frank McCourt, Roger Mcguinn, and Andy Borowitz!

 

11. The RBR have also formed a charity organization, The Remainders Foundation, to support various literacy efforts.

 

12. I was absolutely tickled when I found out about RBR!! I think they're great!

 

13. I'm probably gonna join their groupies made up of librarians in their 50s and 60s with passion for cats! =D