Bookclub - what are you reading?

avid_reader

New Member
Binbin, yes Stephen King is a good writer. 2 of my all time fav movies are based on his books, The Body (movie name- Stand By Me) and The Shawshank Redemption.
 


binbin

New Member
helo avid reader!
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The Body? its one of his short stories right? Yes i love the ShawShank Redemption. i read the story 2-3 times. But the movie is sitting in my tv console, i have no time to watch!!! arrrggghhhh..... :p
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Heya!

Alhana, the last triology got Alhana's son meh? I thought was Tanis and Laurana's son Gilthas or something. He is the puppet king of the elves if i didn't rem wrong. I got all the D&D books written by Hickman and Weis. But haven't picked them up to re-read. Heehee. I like to re-read my books. May be i re-read my last triology of D&D. I like the other set of books by the same authors. The Dead Gate series. quite funny to read abt Haplo and Alfred.

Stephen King! I read them while i was in Sec 2. The Pet Cementary and The Shining gave me nightmares at the tender age of 14! That was when i got into the Goth/Horror phase. Another gd horror master is Graham Masterton. One of his books was the scariest i ever read. Can't rem the title liao....
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Ya lor.. i didn't dare to watch the show man... the room 714 i think, got one dead woman right??? so bloody freaked out aft reading it.. my imagination went wild and i was all alone at home.. so scared!!! still can rem the fear....
 

och

New Member
bear, i read the same two stephen king's books as u! every time i read his books, i didn't dare go to the bathroom at night.
 

levynn

New Member
haha... talking abt horror stories. used to b very brave... watched those horror shows (the shining, exocist, horror express...) til late at night wif my father. now if i even read a horror story... it will stay wif me for a long time.

hi avid...
r all charles de lint's books related?? i went to the library yesterday n managed only to find "the dreaming place". juz started on it. if they r related n followed in a series, i'm going to start in order.
 

binbin

New Member
Hi! i am so glad there are stephen king lover's here too.
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most of my friends dun like his books coz they said its wordy. The Shining and Pet Cemetary is nice, but i kinda forgot The Shining is what story already, its one of the first few I read...oh dear, make me wanna go borrow it again! okie, i will do so later. :p. i din watch the movie though, so duno about the scene with the twins the lift. but that sounds eerie oredi. My favourite Stephen King novel must be Insomnia. and also the short story The Mist in his Skeleton Crew collection. I also love Regulators, which is the other version of Desperation. These two books are of the same kind of evil, they even have the same names. But he wrote two diff story line on them, with the characters in the story using same names but interchanged identities. I prefer The Regulators.
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binbin

New Member
hi levyn, thats funny, me too. I used to love watching horror, used to rent horror video tapes and watched with my childhood friends huddled in the dark in my living room in the middle of the night. but now, i dun dare watch ANY horror show in the theatre....wierd....less gutsy as we grow older? or our life experiences make us more susceptible to scary thoughts? :p
 

avid_reader

New Member
Hi Levynn, the books are not related but most of his books are set in the same place, "Newford" and the same characters more or less go in & out of the different books. "The Dreaming Place" is one of his early work. I suggest you start with his short stories series (earlier works), "Dreams Underfoot" and "The Ivory & the Horn". The newer short stories series are "Waifs & Strays" and "A Handful of Coppers". You can see his writing style from his short stories, and perhaps then it'll get you hooked on his other books.
 

avid_reader

New Member
BinBin, The Shining is quite good.. Jack Nicholson's acting is superb! But I wouldn't suggest that you watch it.... cos the images of those scary scenes kinda stay with you for life! hahhaa.. I still remember those scenes/lines till now!
 

levynn

New Member
binbin...
i also find it very strange. shld b that as we grow older, we'll think more maturely n feel that such things r unreal. but it doesn't seem so...

anyway, the only scene i can rem fr "the shining" is that the boy cycled along the corridor or sth, then suddenly the 2 girls r standing in front of him.

n "the exorcist" one is the one where the words "help me" r being shown on the girl's stomach, slowly being written fr the inside of the body...

hi avid...
thanks for the suggestions. i'll try to look for his other books.
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man_tou_bear

New Member
Hahaha.. I stop reading Stephen King for a long time liao.. feel that aft his accident, his writing like not very the same as before. I rem the short story book The Skeleton Crew. There were 2 stories that scared the shit out of me. One was abt an astronaut then flew over a planet, came home to find 9 eyes growing out of his hands and then later his chest. Another one was a machine that tasted human blood and went on a rampage to kill humans... scary....
 

och

New Member
count me in as another person who doesn't watch horror movies or read horror books anymore. my husband was so surprised when he knew that i read stephen king's novels, since i am always so insistent about not watching horror movies.

has anyone both read n watched hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy? did u prefer the movie or the book?
 

alhana

New Member
Hi Bear

Yup, it had Alhana's son too...he was called Silvanoshei, or something. And yes, it also featured Tanis & Laurana's son Gilthas. That trilogy was quite bad..the characters were all so annoying. Anyway if you do read GRRM, lemme know if you like it k? His books are all quite long (almost 1k pages per book..3rd book is so long it had to be split in 2)...so it guarantees at least a few weeks of enjoying a wonderfully written story. Have recommended it to people who don't even read fantasy, and now they are hooked! Unlike Dragonlance, they don't have different races like elves, dwarves etc. the only mystical creatures are dragons, and this evil being called 'The Others'. Also has wights (scary!) and direwolves. For people who are into medieval history and characters, this may also appeal to them. There are jousting tournaments, heroic battles and heartbreaking fights to the death. The unique thing about his books is that each chapter is written from the point of view of one particular character, and they range from the good, bad to adults, children.

Oops avid..thought you read 'normal' fantasy too. Heh. Well, yeah LOTR does count. It's the granddaddy of all fantasy books. Oh yeah, am a fan of LOST too. Last week's Locke episode was so cool.

Am also a Stephen King fan. My favourite King book of all time is The Stand. Have not read his newer stuff though. I love horror, and other horror books I've enjoyed are by Richard Matheson (he wrote Stir of Echoes - the kevin bacon movie, and also the twilight zone episode that featured the gremlin on the plane)
 

alhana

New Member
hi och

I read the Hitchhiker's guide a long time ago. It was such a funny book. Have not watched the movie coz I read from reviews that it wasn't very good, and that it detracted from the book's storyline. Prob wait for the DVD release.

Anyone read Neil Gaiman's Good Omens and American Gods? Love those 2 books too. Funny thing..nvr read any of Gaiman's Sandman comics.
 

avid_reader

New Member
Levynn, yes that's another scary scene from The Shining!

Come to think about it, there are a lot of Stephen King's books that were made into movies. "Carrie" is another one which gave me nitemares for days. "Misery" is based on Stephen King's books too right? So is "The Green Mile". There was one about a guy driving on the highway and being stalked by a truck driver..... a pretty old film but I think it's based on his book too?

Alhana, yes who could forget that gremlin on the plan scene on Twilight Zone! I don't read horror books.. cos I usually read before I sleep. Don't want to get nitemares!
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Hey so happy it's Thursday! Can watch "lost" tonite!! Alhana, Locke saw the "thing" right?
 

alhana

New Member
Yup he saw it! He's really an oddball, that Locke. Anyone wanna take bets on what the monster is? I believe I read somewhere that it's NOT a dinosaur. Heh..guess that would be kinda silly...too Jurassic Park!

Sorry gonna detract abit..do you guys watch Arrested Development? It is such a funny show!
 

och

New Member
wow, so many lost fans here. i'm also a fan of lost, even though i got really frustrated by the endless repeats n recaps towards the end of the season.

hi alhana, yeah, the movie changed certain elements fr the book n i was somewhat disappointed. it's kind of strange cos douglas adams was one of the producers, so u would think the essence of the book will be preserved.
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Heeehe... books lah gals we are talking abt books.. I tell u guys a secret ah, i don't watch TV.. in fact in my new place, FH and I already decided not to buy a TV set until die die need to buy then we will buy... heehee strange right? in fact if i m bored at home, i never once considered TV as my solace. I prefer to look at my mini lib to re-read my books again... very no life hor?

Alhana, ya i rem liao. Silvanshoei or something.. the irritating, self centred brat. U know their fathers and mothers were all heros but how come their children all turn out like shit? Palin, Cameron's son, also became very twisted in the end right? the only 'normal' one was Steel Brightblade.. Kit and Sturm's child.

Gonna go to Sunny bookstore to get the books.. cannot tahan liao... if not this sat will go to the lib to look for George R.R. Martin's books. cannot tahan liao.. need my fantasy fix... heehee..
 

alhana

New Member
Hi bear

That's exactly right! I hated how all the subsequent books featured their worthless children...it kinda tarnished the memory of their parents for me
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Oh yeah..Palin..what a namby pamby jerk. Gilthas wasn't too bad...didn't he try to lead a rebellion?

My favourite second hand bookshop is San. They have one in Funan and one in Millenia Walk (last time in Suntec) The lady boss there always reserves books for us coz she knows what kinda books we like
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Already asking her to 'chope' GRRM's upcoming book for us. Liked that she would also try to reserve books that are currently out of stock. Service like that..hard to find these days. And good thing abt second hand shops..if you hate the book, you can sell it back :p For GRRM, the first book is called 'A Game of Thrones'. If you like it, then get the other 2 (Clash of Kings, followed by Storm of Swords).

Heh..hubby and I can die w/o TV. We're homebodies..into reading, watching TV and now our addiction is playing MMORPGs. Jialat...but at least it's cheaper than going out every weekend :p

Hi och

How involved was Douglas Adams, seeing that he died quite awhile back?
 

avid_reader

New Member
Alhana, when is Arrested Devt showing? On cable? Heard about it but didn't get to watch it yet.

Och, you downloaded the 1st season of Lost? Very frustrating to wait every week for that 45mins of Lost.

Bear, haha yes from books to movies/tv.
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Reading is such a joy! Don't worry you didn't miss much on tv. I've 3 TVs at home and sometimes I really wonder why we need so many TVs! Nowadays the tv in my bedroom is used for a different purpose, my hubby plays games on the xbox on it. I've been waiting for weeks now for my turn to play The Sims Urbz on it. Do you play computer games (though I doubt so!)?
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ok back to books. I'm very keen to get my hands on Haruki Murakami's books as recommended by Sakurasan. I can't stand not having anything good to read right now also. Will feel very "lost"!
 

och

New Member
bear, u do what i want to do but cannot - live without tv!

hi alhana, movies take so many years to make. it was while reading his death announcement that i realised hitchhikers was being made into a movie n he died while working on the screenplay, so i would think he had at least some say in the direction of the script: how to start, what's important in the ending. dun want to spoil u since u hvn't watched the movie yet, but the ending was quite a disappointment n totally distracted from the tone of the books.

hi avid,
i'm staying in the us, so i caught the season while it was playing here. if u cannot wait, consider downloading, then u won't hv to sit thru the recaps later.
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binbin

New Member
helo helo, back for a short break before delving into work again.

avid reader, yep misery is by stephen king, but dnno why i have not much inclination to watch his movies before you mentioned, coz i watched one before and i find it not as good as the book. yes green mile, i have the whole series of books, coz it comes in 6. i dun rem the truck driver one though, what happens in the end? I rem one of Stephen King's short stories is called The Long Walk, about a group of young boys who joined this marathon walk as a competition or proof of manhood. forgot whats the prize, but the gruesome thing is there is an army truck following them throughout the route, and if any of them walks below 10miles/hr they get shot in cold blood in front of their counterparts, even if its due to muscle cramps or you bent down to pick up something. wierd but intriguing.

yes Lost is on tonight! yes Locke saw the thing, and Alhana, i also read that it is def NOT a dinasaur. so it keeps u guessing what it really is. some ppl say this producer (same one who did Alias and Felicity) may keep you in suspense until the end and only reveal the creature in the last episode of the season. bbrbrrrr....
 

avid_reader

New Member
Binbin, the truck driver clashed off the cliff and died I think. After that movie was shown in the States (not sure in the 70s or 80s), a lot of people were so paranoid about driving on the highway.

Och, I see, no wonder you've finished watching the 1st season!

As much as I'm curious about the "thing", I'm more interested to know more about each survivor. There's a story behind all of them and I can't wait for them to unfold one by one. Last week's episode also showed a man in a suit. I was asking my hubby who is the man in suit but he said he didn't see it.

MMORPG -massive multiplayer online roleplaying game
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och

New Member
hi avid,
i'm also more engaged in the backstory parts n how the survivors r reacting to each other n their surroundings.

n i apologize if my last post might be spoilerish. i posted it thinking that it was common knowledge in the us b4 the season ended, but now kinda regreting.
 

alhana

New Member
Hi och

Nah..it doesn't really spoil the story. Better than you telling us what the monster is :p But I've read interviews where JJ Abrams said that they want to move the focus away from the monster..it's more about the survivors. So folks..the monster will prob take a back seat for now. It'd prob just pop up now and then to scare the survivors..and us!

avid

Thanks for explaining MMORPG :p Fellow gamer eh! I don't play console games though..only PC. Arrested Development airs every Thurs, 9.30pm on Star World (channel 18) It is hilarious!
 

avid_reader

New Member
Och, not to worry, I also don't think it spoils the story. No hurry, Lostzilla can take its time, ruffling the trees & scare the survivors now & then. Just don't tell me who it kills first! I figure eventually someone (1 or more) will be killed by Lostzilla.

Alhana, no I got to know the term from my brother. He's an addict.
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man_tou_bear

New Member
Heehee... Yups Avid, i dun play games online either. gives me motion sickness.. actually all i do is read.. read read read... no life one...

I dun really do much.. either reading or playing with my guinea pigs.. nothing else lor.. cos i work very long hours mah....
 

alhana

New Member
Hi avid

Oh yeah..Thursday nites are the best!

Heh..gamers are usually addicts.

Hi Bear

Reading is my passion too....only thing is it's hard to find a good book to read sometimes.

Haha...i know what you mean. SOmetimes playing games gives me a migraine. But I guess I'm used to it by now. The first time i played DOOM, i became giddy and had a migraine after that!
 

sakurasan

New Member
avid_reader, I lurved Jung Chang's Wild Swans. I went through this phase in University where I would read the book once during every examination in between my studying. Beats me why - but it kind of motivated me somehow.
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levynn

New Member
sakurasan...
i tried to read "wild swans" once but i dunno y it doesn't have the "push" factor to make me go on. but i did read "the chinese cinderella"... made me feel real fortunate to b born in this period... hehe...
 

binbin

New Member
helo morning ppl. i heard of wild swans but didn't buy it. my dad did ask me to read it even though he prefers me to read chinese books. it must have been something to be able to motivate you during exams.

avid reader, u mentioned before that charles de lint books can only be found in second hand bookstores and library right? i went Sans last evening at plaza singapura but they have never heard of him. got the number to millenia branch, maybe shld go and ask. do you tink neighbourhood libraries will have?
 

avid_reader

New Member
Bear, do you work long hours frequently? Nevermind it's the weekends! Other than reading, I'm also into gardening. Those partying days are gone! It has to do with age I guess..
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Sakurasan, you're not the only one. My hubby loves Wild Swans and must have read it many times now. He got me started on reading those China books. I'm not in the "China phase" now. Otherwise I'll pick up The Rape of Nanking (by Iris Chang, who committed suicide recently) to read. There are many other China-kind of books sitting on my shelves but I just don't feel like reading them...

Levynn, did you read Adeline Yen Mah's Falling Leaves? It's good too.

Binbin, honestly I think there are Charles de Lint's books at our libraries cos I do recommend his books to NLB (esp. when new books are out) very often! Check out the listing http://vistaweb.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/cw_cgi?resultsScreen+12911+1+10+0

Alhana, last nite's Lost was spooky right!? The empty coffin..
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Hi Avid, ya i work late 4 times a wk. Sat mornings still tuition.. really no life.. the only day i can slp is Sun, but i have to do my chores. surviving on 6hrs a slp a day, if i m lucky...

Just finish Fiona Wood-Steward's book, Finding Savannah.. Not nice at all... Well I am all dry.. finish my books liao but luckily I will be going to the lib tmr! Yay.. going to get George R.R. Martin's books!
 

binbin

New Member
helo avid, okie i will try lib.

to avid and alhana, pls dun write LOst spoilers here! coz i din manage to watch last night episode, recorded it and watching this weekend.. pleeeeaaaaseeee.... :p
 

och

New Member
hi, hi,

thanks for the reassurances avid, alhana. shall avoid talking abt lost at all, in case blurbs come out again.
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avid, rape of nanking isn't a good read. for a book claiming to be historical, the tone was very emotional, n imo, that robs the book of the gravity that the subject deserves.
 

levynn

New Member
actually i took quite a long time looking for charles de lint books at seng kang library. was looking thru the fiction section... then realised they r under young adults fiction.

hi avid...
i didn't read that book. will try to get it after i finish "the dreaming place". sis "stole" it to read fr me when i juz started it... hmph!
 

sakurasan

New Member
avid_reader I find Wild Swans very inspiring - and how fortunate I am not to have to go through so traumatic times. I felt really sorry for Jung Chang's father..to have died such a broken man at the end of his life; to realize that the idealogy that you've been so faithful to and which you've dedicated your life to had let you down at the end of the day. Whenever I come to this part, tears will always roll.

Btw, did anyone here read A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford? That's another of my fave novel.
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alhana

New Member
I read Wild Swans a long time ago (think in JC or Uni) and even though I'm not into Chinese history (i know..for shame) or biographies...I thought the book was riveting. Still, it wasn't something I could read more than once..so I've totally forgotten the story by now :p

For classics, I enjoy reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It's so funny to see that society today, and the problems faced by courting couples now, isn't that much different from those encountered in Jane's time. Although we've made good progress..the prejudice and pride still lives on strong to this day.
 

alhana

New Member
Ehh..anyone read VC Andrews stuff? I was addicted to her books (and Sidney Sheldon's) in Sec school. Haven't read them since..but they were so addictive then.
 

levynn

New Member
VC andrews is virginia andrews??

anyway, i read "flowers in the attic" when i was in sec sch. but i didn't like it. maybe i'm stil a more traditional person at heart... i find the incest story line quite disturbing.
 

sakurasan

New Member
alhana Pride and Prejudice is also one of my fave books!!
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And I absolutely agree with you that the issues discussed in the book is still relevant till today. I have read and re-read the book so many times! I find the courtship between Mr Darcy and Liz Bennet so sweet. Darcy is one of my fave characters! I went around hunting for the BBC series and I managed to find it.

I'm a fan of Colin Firth and it's such a bonus that he acted as Mr Darcy in the BBC series...so I kept watching and rewatching this show until my husband got absolutely sick of it. Then Colin Firth acted as Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones' Diary - not only was his character so similar to Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, the development in his relationship with Bridget was similar to that with Liz Bennet!
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I was also a VC Andrews fan in Sec school. But it was only the Flowers in the Attic series that really captured me. Very disturbing and dark but I found the plot v good. Yah, me also Sidney Sheldon fan - as usualy, I thot the earlier books were better. I hvn't read the latest one yet but I heard that it isn't fantastic..but will still read it!
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alhana

New Member
Hi sakurasan

Heh...I love the BBC series too! Have the DVD, and I think I've watched it at least 5 times. Hv also re-read the book so many times that I've lost count. Oh yeah...Colin Firth is PERFECT as Darcy, and so is Jennifer Ehle as Eliza/Lizzie. Did you know that a P&P movie will be out later this year? It stars Keira Knightley as Eliza Bennet. Somehow I doubt the movie will capture the charm of the book as well as the miniseries did. Who did you feel is the most irritating character? I feel that it's a tie between Mrs Bennet, Mr Collins and Lydia (slut!) Actually Bridget Jones is loosely based on P&P (Guess Helen Fielding is also a big fan
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As for VC Andrews, I loved the Heaven & Flowers in the Attic series. It's weird that all her books have incest themes..and while it is kinda disturbing and sick, the drama all the characters go thru is really addictive. It's like a really bad soap opera you just can't tear your eyes away from. I can't remember the last time I read Sheldon's works....but I remember that the last one I read wasn't very good. My favourites are still the Master of the Game and If Tomorrow Comes.

For those who are into the Da Vinci Code...National Geographic is showing a 2 hr documentary on the theories raised in the book. I've actually read one of the books that Dan Brown referenced...Holy Blood, Holy grail. Pretty interesting stuff, although it can be dry at times.
 


sakurasan

New Member
alhana Ooh, I didn't know that Keira Knightly is gng to be Eliza Bennet altho I did hear that a P&P movie is coming up. I like Keira Knightly... altho the only movie that I've seen her in is Love Actually
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I felt that her story in Love Actually was the most touching.

In the P&P story, I found George Wickham to be the most irritating character..but for the BBC show, I must say Mrs Bennet wins hands-down with her perpetual whining and lamenting.
 

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