Bookclub - what are you reading?


alhana

New Member
Avid

Yes, I have Chasing Cars too...it's a nice song. Last ep was sad huh. Hee..I too am sick of Mere and McDreamy. Did u read abt the big hoopla caused by Isaiah Washington? He may be fired from the show.

Jade? Reminds me of the irritating one from the last season of America's Next Top Model..kekekeke.

Ambush

Thought of another nice C name..Claudia :p Well, I like it. Cathleen is oso nice..same meaning as Catherine and Caitlin.

Err second child? Not so soon lah. My babe is only 4 months old :p
 

beldry

New Member
hey bear..

hmm..can only get my pics on 24th march..still a long way to go.. wow you still have time for tuition despite ur heavy workload? you're one amazing woman!

hey avid..

im 26.. my sis's only 13.. hehe yah.. i literally watched her grow up.. well.. she was a pleasant little surprise for my parents.. and im like her surrogate mother.. think im more concerned abt her grades and homework than my mum.. guess maybe this's another reason why i dun wanna have a child of my own so soon.. i have a little sis to take care of and mother now haha..

hey alhana..

yah..claudia's nice.. but its oso my friend's name.. hey i like cathleen! think its really not easy juggling between ur little precious and work yah.. any pics of ur girl? hee..

talking abt the american next top model.. wonder whens the next season coming.. haha.. im actually quite addicted to the show.. my fave's naima so far..
 

alhana

New Member
Hi ambush

It's not that tough juggling work and baby, except that I feel kinda sleepy at work alot :p But if I'm really swamped, also got no time to feel sleepy :p

I think it's sweet that you're so close to your sis. Anyway you're still v young lah..still got plenty of time to go b4 u decide to try for kids :p I was married at 26 too, and we waited 5 yrs before getting pregnant. Actually I wanted to get pregnant before I hit the big 3O, but it actually took us longer than a yr to conceive. So if u want kids, also dun wait too long lah. But I must say I was nvr the maternal sort. Never imagined that I wld want a kid in the first place. Funny how we change our minds as we grow older
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Here's a pic of our lil tyke.

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beldry

New Member
hey alhana..

ur little girl is soo cute!! yah.. i love her chubby cheeks!! =)

yah.. i agree with you.. i may say i dun really want kids now.. but i dunnoe whether i'll change my mind another 1-2 yrs down the road.. but i'll like to see more of the world first before i can commit myself to having children.. there are so many things which i want to do.. but i havent actually gotten down to doing them..

im only starting to learn driving now..haha.. and my instructor said im no good at it.. i dun work well with machines.. computers and all things IT..hehe think my resolution to become a pc guru will never happen..

have you ladies got any unfulfilled resolution as of now? were there things which you wished you had tried but never got down to trying?
 

alhana

New Member
Hi Liping & Ambush

Yeah, aren't her chubby cheeks cute? My frens always say her cheeks look so pinchable and biteable :p

Yah, I hv unfulfilled dreams too. Since young, I've always wanted to be a fashion designer. But that nvr materialised lah. I hate sewing..hahaha. Also, my parents didn't think it wld be a very stable career choice, so I went down the 'traditional' educational route.
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Hello ladies,

Ambush, i have since cut my tuition hrs down to 2 hrs a wk. have been doing 10-12 hrs a wk for the last 2 yrs but since i wanna conc on my masters i decided to give it up.. so now my bank acc is kinda empty. heehee..

wah ur age gap with ur sis very big! oh well at least u are on gd terms with her.. me and my sis aren't close at all and she drives me nuts all the time.. ppl used to tell me that when she grows older, we will be closer, sharing gossips and clothes. but i realized that its not gg to happen for us. First, we can nv share clothes cos she so much bigger than me and 2nd, i don't understand how an adult can act so childish.

unfulfilled dreams ah?? hrmm i really wanna do my PhD, but i also want a baby. i dunno which one i shd give up... other than that i wanna spend a mth in each European country cos i loooove the architecture!

Alhana, why u nv show the pixs of baby Cate looking at the camera? the one i said makes me very stressed on. heehee...
 

lipingbooks

New Member
450690.jpg


Hi Alhana
My one year old niece pic ;p today is her birthday but she is sick from toothing.. she can walk now.. very cute also.. her name is jing jing.. she got lots of hair..

Hi Bear
me and my younger sis is two years apart, i have a big sis 11yrs older.. never close to anyone of them also..

i wanted to get a PhD too.. but since i started work, i see all of them stuggling (all cant finish in 3yrs,drag to 4yrs+) and then stuggling still after PhD (have to publish or perish or pay too high cant find job or become PI but no funding).. no point, i rather stay a small lab officer..

my dream is to be debt free of housing loan and then find a low-paying stress free job and still have enough money to backpack for at least 1yr around the whole world ;p
 

beldry

New Member
hey alahana!

haha i've thought of that before.. hehe.. i love clothes and accessories.. i've always thought it would be so nice to design my own clothes.. have my own fashion label.. dress people up and earn big money doing tt.. hehe.. but i ended up teaching instead..

oh yah.. i wanna try bungee jumping.. and diving.. but gotta learn how to tread water first..heh..

hey bear..

i would love to travel..really regretted not going for any student exchange programmes when i was still studying.. one regret.. or joined any work-and-travel programmes.. i dun mind working as someone who operates rides in an amusement park.. or wash plates at chinese restaurants..haha.. and i would love to teach in a less developed country for a year..

hey liping..

ur niece is soo cute! haha she has the same chinese name as me... hmm.. but ive always preferred two-syllable chinese names.. the name's very cute and sweet for little girls.. but not for me..tsk.. and my english name is worse..

hmm..but sometimes i feel working life really zaps away so much of our personal life and energy that all these unfulfilled dreams have to take a backseat.. but i hope to get my driving liscense by this year.. my instructor very fierce..tsk..*cross fingers*
 

lipingbooks

New Member
Good Morning everyone!

Hi Ambush,
I can swim but cant tread water too! and i also like to try bungee jumping ;p you are having a private instructor or school one? SSDC i know a few very nice friendly instructor.. i can recommend but i need to check whether they are still there first.. i pass my class2b in 2005 there, if i take my class3, i will chose my fav bike instructor ;p
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Gd morning.

Liping, doing a PhD ain't easy... u a lab officer? which co/ uni??? I did my driving at SSDC too. just do it and pass... i think to me, this is something i have to do myself and not the teachers.
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Ambush, diving is fun.. actually u dun have to thread water. i can't thread water either but still dive. cos u will be wearing the bouyancy vest so that will help u float.. the most impt thing when it comes to diving is not to panic.

I wanna cure my fear of heights too! thinking of trying skydiving!!

my ways of travelling is diff from u.. i m the type that needs to travel in comfort.. so that means gd hotels and food. I prob die if i have to do backpacking. that's not holiday for me! that's sheer torture!!!
 

alhana

New Member
Hi ladies

Liping, ure niece looks so sweet. I like her curly hair! Sometimes I can't wait for Catelyn to grow up quickly so that she can walk and talk. But other times, I feel that I will miss her baby days. She's so adorable now...also dun want her to grow up too fast. But time seems to pass by much more quickly once we hv children.

Bear,

Backpacking can be fun too lah. Don't really hv to confine ureself to staying in hostels or YMCA. If u go places like Europe, u can stay in B&Bs or inns...very nice! I much prefer them to impersonal hotels :p

Ambush

I was in NZ n didn't hv the guts to try bungee jumping. Was scared that I'll end up with whiplash or something :p Or worse..the cord breaks..hahaha. But i love thrill rides...hence I'm looking fwd to Universal Studios setting up shop here. I hope they dun dumb down the rides though (like what they did to Disneyland HK). The scarier the better!
 

lipingbooks

New Member
Hi Bear,
I am lab officer at NUS/GMS
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I actually like rough backpacking.. i like to torture myself with 36hrs of bus/train with dirty toilets or sometimes none! haha.. but cant find people to go with me now.. when i just graduated from poly, all my friends were still very adventurous..actually i panic when i was learning threading water.. when i kick a few times and still sinking i scared and swim to safety.

Alhana,
I love thrill rides!! those 360 turns and turns of rollercoster!! and ya, b&b have very friendly hosts..i also think time pass so very fast..my niece was just born and yet now she is already 1yr old..her hair was long when she was born, 1mth old shaved her head, now can tie to ponytail already. that photo was taken last oct.
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Alhana, i dun mind B&Bs.. in fact i think they are rather quaint.. i wanna stay in those cottages with a beautiful flower garden.. if i have lotsa cash, i would wanna buy one of such homes in the UK! i half expect Peter Rabbit to come visiting! heehee..

Liping, ha! GMS = Grad Medical Sch? I m from DBS.. ppl who go diving and catching fish.. heehee...
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as i said, it is not possible to sink while diving IF u inflated ur BC vest. ppl drown when they panic and forget how to come out of the water safely... that's why to me, the crucial bit is not to panic and keep a cool head.

I hate roller coasters cos i suffer from motion sickness.. take MRT also can get it.. nowadays i drive myself but still get sick.. :p so when i go diving, its popping pill time!

Eh, where Levynn ah? i wanna recommend her this very very gd crime write!! Tessa Gerritsen's newest book gave me nitemares!!!
 

alhana

New Member
Poor Bear

Even driving gives u motion sickness.

I stayed in a B&B in Edinburgh. It was this really quaint old house with a back garden. Our bedroom even had a four poster bed! And it was so much cheaper than staying in a 3 or 4 star hotel. The owners were this really sweet old couple who obviously took alot of pride in keeping their home clean and cosy. Buying a cottage in UK..sounds wonderful! I can imagine the bubbling brook/stream running behind the house..hehehe. Sometimes I really hate this concrete jungle we live in.

Liping

Hee..not many gals I know like thrill rides. I've been hooked since I went to Disneyland as a kid. Of coz Disneyland rides are quite mild..even their roller coasters aren't v scary. So I hope the rides at our Universal Studios will be scary :p Hehehe.
 

avid_reader

New Member
Finally get to watch Super Nanny. The boys are such monsters!

Ladies, mark this date in your calendar.. 21 July.. date of release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! I told my hubby to plan a holiday on 22 Jul.. then I can bring my book to some nice beach resort to read!

Been very busy at work.... sometimes I just wish I have the courage to just quit my job and take a break.
 

alhana

New Member
Dang avid...u beat me to it! Was gonna announce the HP release date :p But u write the wrong title lah....it's HP & the Deathly Hollows :p Yay!! So happy!! Jul 21 is a Sat..so I'm gonna spend that weekend holed up w the book and not stop till I finish it :p Catelyn will just have to take a backseat to the book that weekend. And I def wun be surfing the internet that weekend! Sure to be lotsa idiots spewing spoilers everywhere!

Now, if only George RR Martin announces that his 5th book will be published this yr...my year will be complete book wise :p
 

avid_reader

New Member
Alhana hahahahaha yah I wrote the wrong title!

I'm happy/excited but sad at the same time leh..... it's going to be the last book..
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Alhana just told me the gd news!! i can't wait to be able to pre-order the book!!

Avid, i agree.. i m both happy and sad that the series is finally ending... like we grown up with Harry.. seen him through puberty and stuff... heehee.. u think J.R. Rowling will be able to resist writing a spin off? may be once she realised that her income cut by a lot she might just wanna do it again...

Abt ur job, why dun u start looking just in case? if u managed to land another job, then move.. if not then u gotta stay lor..

Alhana, may be we'll be the spewing the spoilers! rem the last time Chin Leng had to put "spoiler alert" on our thread?
 

avid_reader

New Member
Bear, you and Alhana do call each other? I ordered from SingPost the last time and have the book delivered to my door step. Yah I can't wait to place my order!

I'm quite sick of working for people. Want to be my own boss! :p I guess I'm just really tired....
 

alhana

New Member
Yes, this will be a bittersweet ending for sure, esp if JK Rowling kills off another beloved character. No more HP to look fwd to after that..sad sad. Wonder if I can resist flipping to the back page to find out what happens at the end once I get hold of the book :p

Avid, we r chatting on MSN. Wanna join us?
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Hello gals.. so long nv chat liao... Happy Belated V Day to u all and also an early Lunar New Yr too!

I went to check at MPH for pre-orders for the Harry Potter 7th book.. they have not started taking them.. if any of u gals know where started taking pre-order, do update this thread...
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Avid, how's life? still very stressed ah? I went over to Alhana's place last Sun and played with Baby Cate!! she is soooo cute.. i managed to carry her without her crying! YAY!!! much better than you-know-who hor Alhana? *wink*
 

avid_reader

New Member
Hello all! Happy belated V Day to all too and wishing all happy CNY!!

Not going away during CNY afterall (long story).... so now mad rush to get ready for CNY!!! But it's going to be a fun CNY! Looking forward to the long break!

Bear, wow you get to meet Princess Cate in person!! You must be very good with babies? Oh I wrote to Singapore Post too about pre-ordering the Harry Potter book. They will keep me updated.. I want the book to be delivered to my doorstep like the last book
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alhana

New Member
Hiya ladies

Wishing every bookworm here a very Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year. Hope the Year of the Piggy will bring us more wonderful books to read..already eagerly anticipating the last HP book
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Yes! Post details of pre-orders if you gals hear anything.

Now busy with spring cleaning, and I haven't gotten any new clothes for the new year yet
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Look fat in everything..SIGH. Catelyn has loads of new clothes tho :p All gifts..hehehe.

Hee..Bear so proud of being able to carry Cate w/o her starting a crying fit. She's like dat now..won't let unfamiliar pple carry her. My MIL tried and Cate started a scream fest.

Am now reading (or rather trying to find time to read) The Time Traveler's Wife. It's a love story where the guy time travels at random..and according to my sis, it's quite sad. The author is Audrey Niffenegger. Will let everyone know how it turns out
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Bear..still no luck getting The Golden Compass?
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Avid, not gg for a hol liao ah??? nvm just rest during the long wkend can liao.. Am i gd with babies? Hahahah... i would like to think so... I guess u better ask Alhana for her opinion! I must be gd enough for Baby Cate cos she bestowed a couple of smiles at me!! heehee...

Alhana, finished ur spring cleaning? got some new clothes to wear i hope? Nopes, Golden Compass still not in leh... may be aft CNY?

I m so tired! looking forward to the long wkend.. will only be back in sch on the 22nd but my holiday will be burnt as i have a major assignment due on 23rd.. sian sian sian...
 

alhana

New Member
Hi ladies

Hope everyone had an enjoyable CNY! Gong Xi Fa Cai and all that jazz. Are the newly marrieds sad abt having to dish ang pows now? :p

Just finished reading 'The Time Traveler's Wife'. It's good! Not a cheesy sappy love story, but rather, a poignant tale of how love can withstand the test of time. Here's a review I lifted from Amazon.com:

From Publishers Weekly
This highly original first novel won the largest advance San Francisco-based MacAdam/Cage had ever paid, and it was money well spent. Niffenegger has written a soaring love story illuminated by dozens of finely observed details and scenes, and one that skates nimbly around a huge conundrum at the heart of the book: Henry De Tamble, a rather dashing librarian at the famous Newberry Library in Chicago, finds himself unavoidably whisked around in time. He disappears from a scene in, say, 1998 to find himself suddenly, usually without his clothes, which mysteriously disappear in transit, at an entirely different place 10 years earlier-or later. During one of these migrations, he drops in on beautiful teenage Clare Abshire, an heiress in a large house on the nearby Michigan peninsula, and a lifelong passion is born. The problem is that while Henry's age darts back and forth according to his location in time, Clare's moves forward in the normal manner, so the pair are often out of sync. But such is the author's tenderness with the characters, and the determinedly ungimmicky way in which she writes of their predicament (only once do they make use of Henry's foreknowledge of events to make money, and then it seems to Clare like cheating) that the book is much more love story than fantasy. It also has a splendidly drawn cast, from Henry's violinist father, ruined by the loss of his wife in an accident from which Henry time-traveled as a child, to Clare's odd family and a multitude of Chicago bohemian friends. The couple's daughter, Alba, inherits her father's strange abilities, but this is again handled with a light touch; there's no Disney cuteness here. Henry's foreordained end is agonizing, but Niffenegger has another card up her sleeve, and plays it with poignant grace. It is a fair tribute to her skill and sensibility to say that the book leaves a reader with an impression of life's riches and strangeness rather than of easy thrills.

It's a really easy read..finished it during the long weekend break (when Cate was either sleeping or being passed ard our relatives :p) I recommend it to those who are looking to read a sweet love story. Warning tho...it can be quite sad at times.
 

witch

New Member
Hi all! I have just finished Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret (bought from a second-hand bookstore in Bali) and would like to put it up for swap for any book from Kinsella's Shopaholic series.

Anyone keen, please email me at [email protected]
 

ann_t

New Member
Hi all,

I am reading Battlefield of the mind by Joyce Meyer.

Its kinda cool book. Got it at 3 for 2 @ borders yesterday.

Annie
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Hello gals.. busy busy busy...

Alhana, CNY was ok.. just tiring lor... ya first time giving ang baos.. pocket one big hole liao.... Will give Time Traveller's wife a try since u rate it so highly.. currently re-reading Feist cos i have no books to read! must go to the 2nd hand bkshop soon...

Annie, wat is that book abt??? Thriller? Psychology?
 

alhana

New Member
Hi avid

Just wanted to let you know that Channel V (channel 85) has started showing the latest season of America's Next Top Model. It's on every Sunday (7pm and 11pm). More bitchy backstabbing galour!
 

avid_reader

New Member
Thanks Alhana! Probably try to catch the 11pm slot on Sundays!

I was too busy watching DVDs & I only realised that Amazing Race All Stars have started!
 

monicaeng

Member
Used to really love reading, now too just tat have not found much time to read. But recently i got the book Marley and Me from a friend.... i couldn't put it down and finished the entire book in 3 days. Maybe it's got to do with the fact i was adopting a Lab at tat time. But tat book got me laughing and weeping like mad. Dog lovers especially if you're a lab owner, it's a MUST READ!
 

alhana

New Member
Hey Bear

The 2nd hand bookshop in marine parade has already started taking orders for the last HP book! I may order from him if his price is lower than the normal retail price (think it was the last time i bought fr him). Since so near my plc i can just go and pick it up real quick :p
 

necrosis

New Member
hello everyone.

new here. book club in a wedding site! amazing.
i love reading....maybe a little too much sometimes... :p

anyone enjoys fantasy/sci fi books?
thrillers/crime/mystery/detective kinda books?
any recommendations?
 

alhana

New Member
Hi nec

Welcome! I love fantasy, horror, humour and certain romance novels (not Mills & Boons type..more Jane Austen type :p) And I love reading comics too..from Archie, Tintin, Asterix to Calvin & Hobbes, Baby Blues, Foxtrot, X-Men etc. Who are some of your favourite authors? My favourite fantasy author is George R R Martin.
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Hello!

Alhana, thanks for the heads up! i want the book to be delivered over.. too lazy to go and collect.. heehee...

Hi Nec, welcome. yups, there are a couple of fantasy readers here, like me and Alhana. I am also a fan of thrillers and crime... Would strongly recommend u Tessa Gerristen.. she is DAMN GOOD! the last one i read from her was Memphisto club.. it disturbed me very badly.. couldn't slp for a wk...
 

necrosis

New Member
hello alhana,

gosh, i dunno where to begin...i like terry goodkind, mercedes lackey, piers anthony, Elizabeth haydon,robin hobb... etc etc..even david eddings, tolkein....
like george r r martin too, but he's taking damn long to get the next book out for this king of thrones series man.
oh yeah, stephen eriksson is also one of my faves...
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me too cowardly to read horror.. lol..
enjoy comics too, altho not as avidly as books, and jap (translated) manga/anime. :D
actually only 2 of the mangas, naruto and bleach.
used to have hunter x hunter too, but they stopped.
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hello bear,

thanks for the rec, will go down to the lib today to check out Tessa Gerristenn later... hope they have her! :p
one of my faves is agatha christie...and for a more modern one, patricia cornwell, her kay scarpetta series....

i like medical thrillers too...like robin cook.
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Hello Nec,

I like Pier Anthony too!! i have the very first book abt Blink the boy that has no magic. Finished most of Eddings' books except the newest few like The Elder Gods... Other than that I am a fan of D&D! Weis and Hickman's books were a staple when i was younger.. but Alhana recently introduced me GRRM and i have managed to finish all the books in the Fire and Ice series.. waiting for the next one.. Oh ya i like Raymond E Fiest too!!

Hrmmm horror ah? i used to like Stephen King but then it was a lil' draggy for me.. I like Anne Rice too! Yups I also finished Cornwell too, but i prefer Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series.. heehee... another crime author u can try is James Patterson..
 

alhana

New Member
nec

My hubby is also a big Stephen Eriksson fan. I've not started on his books yet though. Will do so one of these days. Hubby is now complaining that his latest book is also taking so long to come out. Yes, GRRM is taking too damn long to finish his series. We all fear he will die before he finishes it! And he actually addressed this qns on his website! I think some fan had the gall to ask him if he had some rough plot lines saved some where..just in case he kicked the bucket b4 finishing the series, we wld know what he intended w his characters. He said 'NO'. He said if he died, the story dies with him. Ugh.

Another author I like is Bernard Cornwell. Read his King Arthur series. Pretty good.

Also am a Robin Hobb fan. Hv u read the first 2 books of the Soldier Son trilogy? I'm waiting for the 2nd to be released in paperback.

I tried reading manga, but my mandarin sucked so din get far
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Ended up watching the animes instead..hehehe. I'm kinda annoyed Animax shows dubbed animes (in English!) w chinese subtitles. Even tho I can swap to Jap language..I still can't read the chinese subtitles fast enough
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As for horror, I've not read any good ones recently. Most are not scary. I like stuff by Richard Matheson, Stephen King (his older works) and I remembered Jay Anson's The Amityville Horror scared the crap out of me when I was in P6.
 

necrosis

New Member
hi girls,

have ya guys tried jenny wurts? she's good too...she had a collaboration w raymond e feist also..
yeah, read all her books and raymonds also..
also read the elder gods, now just waiting for the last book to reach the library...

heehee...weis and hickman, this couple must have accompanied many young teens
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when i was young, read them like crazy too..
even read forgotten realms and RA salvatore series then...last time also read pier anthony, but lately his xanth series doesnt seem to be so exciting liao, but he has his "adept" series which is pretty cool and a few more i cant quite remember now...

Lol...I also scared these authors die before they finish ah!! can't imagine someone so blatantly ask!!! eeks.

got "the apprentice" by tess Gerristenn...only 1 of her books available when i went to the lib on sunday...quite shiok man...like patricia cornwell style i find... :D

havent read robin hobb's latest series, read all the others tho...am confined to what's available in the library as i don't buy books generally...

aiyah, the manga i read has eng translations lah..last time they only had chinese...took super long to finish one book cos so difficult to read chinese!!! :D now in eng, just breeze thru...
anime also in ENG subs liao...if it's in chinese, i'll have to pause at every screen!!:p
 

alhana

New Member
Hi nec

I usually rent books...seldom go to the library. Funny thing is..my sis works in NLB..hahaha. Robin Hobb's latest series is not bad, but like most of her other stories, she takes quite awhile to get things moving. But I don't feel that this series is as strong as her previous 2 series..the Fitzchivalry and Liveship ones.

Haha..I know what you mean abt reading Manga in chinese. But they say that the chinese translation is more accurate than the english ones. Yah, AXN used to show animes w Eng subs, but now Animax doesn't..all chinese sub, except for a couple of animes. SUCKS. The modern stories are quite ok, but those with magic spells/fighting techniques etc..wah..very hard to follow w chinese subs. I used to watch J dramas w chinese subs tho..quite ok..hahaha.

Gonna catch 300 this weekend. Anyone else watching this movie?
 

man_tou_bear

New Member
Hello!!

I haven't tried Stephen Eriksson.. shd i try it? wat exactly does he writes? Dragons? quests? Mages? warriors? medieval politics (like GRRM)?

Alhana, still waiting for the Golden Compass... no news leh... sigh... last wk nv go and get new book so now re-reading Potter Book 6...

Nec, i read Janny Wurts only when she cowrote the Kelewan series with Fiest... i can't seem to find a gd series to start reading... the last gd one was GRRM's Fire & Ice series...

Tess Gerristen like Patricia Cornwell? i disagree leh.. Kay Scarpetta is more of the CSI kind while Jane Rider is more the kickass detective... If u really like Cornwell's kind of character then u must read Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series... Start with The Bone Collector... u will fall in love with Rhyme immed!! heehee... or else u can try Kathy Reichs's books also.. the lead character is a forensic anthropologist.
 

avid_reader

New Member
Hello nec... welcome to the bookclub! :) So you like fantasy books.. how abt urban fantasy books? Read any of Charles de Lint's books? I'm a huge fan..

Bear is complaining that I haven't been in the thread for quite a while.. well the reason is that I haven't been reading for a long long time (since even b4 CNY?!). Reading 8Days & papers don't count right? SO........ I'm going to talk abt TV!

Alhana, have you been watching Amazing Race All Stars? Rooting for any team? My hb likes Rob & Amber but they can be quite irritating sometimes... so competitive! More abt tv.. been watching Heroes.. but it gives me weird dreams at night! Oh.. were you the one who told me season3 of Veronica Mars is good? & also.. did you watch Ugly Betty? I missed it on sunday.. is it good?
 

necrosis

New Member
hello avid reader/tv addict
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i think i've seen charles de lint books in the lib....but somehow never manage to pick them up ...
what's your definition of urban fantasy?

i watch prison break (now season 2), House MD (medical drama/comedy)...CSI Las Vagas

don't really fancy Ugly Betty altho my sis loves the series and Veronica Mars and Heros..
gosh, you guys shld be talking to her abt these...
she's crazy abt this guy in Ugly Betty (the accountant) LOl.

am still reading the tess gerristen one..

Bear:
the bone collector...i think i've read something like this, but it was a fantasy one...maybe it was bone doll...anyway, there was 'bone' in the title.. :p
i don't find the female dectective in tess's books to be very kick ass....she keeps feeling scared etc, but must put on a brave front...
i think kay scarpetta bit braver :p
haha, gossip on fictional characters...

actually, all these books are very similar...always some serial killer on the prowl...tageting the lead female cos she somehow managed to beat him/decipher his clues/hunt him down/put him behind bars/all of the above...

as for fantasy, isn't it also in a similar vein...
take one unwilling/unwitting hero(male/female)that didn't set out to save the world initially....add journey...meet some strange folks with extreme skills(assasin/thief/rouge/wizard/mage/sorcerer/warrior/elven ranger/dwarven dude....become a party...face minions of big bad guy...obtain quest item(s)/reveal inner power/discover hidden talent that will defeat big bad guy...fall in love... have friends who are kings/princes/dukes/commanders of human armies... wage battle against overpowering odds of big bad guy's minions....defeat big bad guy....find that big bad guy is minion of bigger badder guy...vow to stop bigger badder guy...

and then the next book begins. :D

what do you guys think?
 

avid_reader

New Member
It's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nec, it simply means fantasy set in the modern world I guess. I'm feeling lazy today.. I've copied & pasted the following:

Urban fantasy
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Urban fantasy is a subset of contemporary fantasy, consisting of magical novels and stories set in contemporary, real-world, urban settings -- as opposed to 'traditional' fantasy set in wholly imaginary landscapes, even ones containing imaginary cities, or having most of their action take place in them. The modern urban fantasy protagonist faces extraordinary circumstances as plots unfold in either open (where magic or paranormal events are commonly accepted to exist) or closed (where magical powers or creatures are concealed) worlds.

Although history of modern urban fantasy can be traced as far back as the 1920's (particularly in the field of children's fiction), it was in the 1980's that the term became widely used among adult fantasy writers and readers — and that the form grew in popularity to become a sub-genre of its own. Pioneers of this genre were Charles de Lint (author of Moonheart and the Newford series), Emma Bull (War for the Oaks), John Crowley (Little, Big), Megan Lindholm (a.k.a. Robin Hobb, The Wizard of the Pigeons), Jonathan Carroll (The Land of Laughs), Matt Ruff (Fool on the Hill), and Terri Windling (in her role as editor of the Ace Books fantasy line, and as creator of the Borderlands series). Subsequent authors to enter the field and expand its territory include Kelley Armstrong, Richard Bowes, Francesca Lia Block, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Holly Black, Mercedes Lackey, Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Caitlín R. Kiernan, China Miéville, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Kim Harrison.

Give Charles de Lint's books a chance the next time you come across his books in the library? http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/

Currently been hooked on Heroes.....

Save the cheerleader, save the world!!!
 


man_tou_bear

New Member
Avid, u finally posted.. heehee... u and ur tv shows.. wanted to watch Ugly Betty but i forgot all abt it... guess tv shows will nv stick in my brains...

Nec, if u like Kay Scarpetta then u really must read the Lincoln Rhyme books.. very gd... or the Kathy Reich's (author) books.. i think Jane Rider is not scared lah.. Tessa Gerristen is trying to personify her to someone we know.. making her characters more likable..
happy.gif


I agree with u abt the fantasy... abt the same mold one, all the books.. heehee...
 

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