Good Books?
#79208 - 06/15/04 05:06 AM
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tlc
Reged: 03/06/03
Posts: 207
Loc: Australia
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Hi all! With the holidays coming up, I was wondering if you'd read any great books lately. I love autobiographies and just finished 2 fantastic ones, "Mao's last dancer" and "Autobiography of a Geisha."
Any other great holiday reads?
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You must have missed the great thread we just had on this. Do a search for "Summer Reading" in the Living Room with an unlimited time frame and I'm sure you'll find our thread.
My personal fave, if you are looking for a good, long, nerdy book, is The Magus by John Fowles. It's really just the best.
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Amanda
I live in the Big Apple, but I don't eat the skin
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yeah.. I really can't help you here. I read a ton.. but lately its been complete chick lit. I'm talking red dress ink kinda stuff.. think the devil wears prada, and other goofy girl books. Not exactly intellectual.
I think the fact that I just finished college a year ago.. and that I am starting grad school this fall kinda persuaded me to stay away from the more serious books I used to read.
Anyways, I did used to read "real" books.. memoirs of a geisha is a fabulous book.. so is belle canto.. and the girl with the pearl earring. I also loved Fortunes Rock and Eden Close by Anita Shrieve.
As for biographies... that was never really my style, but hopefully someone else can help you out...
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The DaVinci Code. What an amazingly written book. Although, I will admit, as a Catholic it was a tough read. But, all in all, once I put my faith aside I was able to enjoy the book. After all, it is fiction.
Another good book, this one is an oldie but goodie. Kane & Abel by Jeffrey Archer. Excellent read.
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A Real Winner!
#79243 - 06/15/04 07:33 AM
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Bevvy
Reged: 11/04/03
Posts: 5918
Loc: Northwest Washington State
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"Escape From Sobibor." It was so good, I picked up another ("From the Ashes of Sobibor") written by one of the escapees in the first book.
"Escape" was extremely well-written, like the best novel writer EVER -- except it's all totally true. Fascinating! Absolutely incredible stuff.
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<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~letsrow/smily3481.gif">Bevvy
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Like Spicey, I'm currently into the chick lit stuff so my recommendations would probably not help you out much! 
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I'm in the middle of the Da Vinci code right now and I have mixed feelings about it. First of all, I just don't think Dan Brown is a terribly gifted writer. His prose is amateurish and kind of a letdown after the great classics I usually read. That being said, he does write an exciting story and he seems to have his research in line. I also am putting my (strong) faith aside and just trying to read the story. I've got a couple hundred pages left -- I'll let you know how I feel at the end. 
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Amanda
I live in the Big Apple, but I don't eat the skin
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This book is hilarious, I am just in the second chapter, took it to the allergy doc yesterday. I was waiting my 20 min. after the injection, I was laughing and reading outloud to the other patients, they were cracking up too!!!
They must have thought I was a kook!!!! I am !!!!! hehehe
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I'm a reader, too, but autobiography isn't really my genre. I'm currently reading The Things They Carried which is based on one man's experience in Vietnam. A couple of years ago I read Thousand Pieces of Gold, a "biographically inspired" novel about what happens to a Chinese girl after her family basically sells her and she is shipped off to America.
Both are good.
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Christine
Those who can do; those who want it done better teach.
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Oh Amanda, I think you have been reading too many Law School Books!  I will admit that his prose is amateurish though. Maybe that's what I like about it. I don't know. The research seems to be about right. I don't know, maybe my faith is so strong that I refuse to think that what I have believe din my whole life is wrong.
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It's not an autobiography but i loved this book anyway."A Thousand Acres" by Jane Smiley. I think she won an award for the book? It was hard to put down for me.
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HI!
It's not an autobiography, but A FINE BALANCE by Rohinton Mistry is excelent. Probably my favorite! I couldn't put it down. Also The Reader was great. Reading is so wonderful, especially on a hot day at the beach!
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Life responds when we risk.
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I just finished John Nichols' The Magic Journey (1978) a few weeks ago. Wow. I cried and I laughed. In one scene, all the opportunists and all the lawyers and all the naive town leaders are sitting at a table trying to resolve some legal issues, when one of them just loses his patience and takes out his ancient gun and starts shooting people. Another scene involves an embalmed whale as a tourist attraction. Ghosts, hippies, tortured martyrs, farm animals - they all have a role in the dark story of the oh-so-slightly mythical town of Chamisaville, New Mexico.
I also recommend all the Harry Potters if you're looking for something a little lighter and haven't already enjoyed them.
sperry_twiggins
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Isn't it just the greatest??
I read a review in "me talk pretty some day" or something like that, and it's supposed to be good too..........but I've not seen it or thumbed thru it yet so don't know. How can anything top the SPQ's?????
Kandee
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Hey, we can't knock chick lit books! They may not be exactly the most intellectual type reading, but I sure find them enjoyable.
Have you read the Shopaholic Series? They're some of my favourite, and I just finished her new book "Can you Keep a Secret" and really enjoyed that as well. I find whenever I'm not in school, I like to read lite fluff It's great!
Kelly
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Thanks all for the great tips. Now I'll go and find out about some of them. I love the Geisha stuff and I loved reading "wild swans"
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