What are you reading now?

[evets]

just bought dan brown - the lost symbol. lol

am also reading Michael Lewis - the big shot.

 

[macarons]

bernhard schlink's the reader. reading this again! love the movie too.

 

[belgarathc]

I was just looking for "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" in the library today.

You might like this: http://www.amazon.com/Jia-Novel-North-Hyejin-Kim/dp/1573442755

I'm not a very avid reader, but I really like the books mentioned below because nothing beats reading real-life accounts than fictional stories:

1. "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" by Kang Chol-hwan (Just finished reading the last page on NYE 2010!)

What it is about: A North Korean male defector who survived a concentration camp (gulag) for a decade before settling in Seoul. It also tells of the horrors of gulags, how he escaped to South Korea via China and finally the difficulties of adjusting to the capitalist South Korean lifestyle.

2. "Long Road Home" by Kim Yong & Kim Suk-young (Completed reading!)

What it is about: Another North Korean male defector who survived 2 concentration camps before escaping to South Korea. It also tells of small-scale capitalism seeping in North Korea, which is very ironic, considering its iron-fist communist rule. Worth mentioning from the book is that any North Korean citizen with a clean background can easily transform into a lowly political prisoner overnight by just "automatic association of guilt", a term for associating the immediate kins/relatives of a sinner with his/her sin.

3. "The Tears of My Soul" by Kim Hyun-hee (Just loaned it from National Library at an admin fee of $1.55 because it was a very old book, published in 1987, hence not found at any library branches! But my instinct tells me it is a must-read!)

What it is about: A biography of a former spy agent who was trained to hijack the Korean Airlines 858 in 1987, before being handed to the authorities for interrogation & execution to appease public anger. But as she was about to be executed to death, a particular South Korean president gave her a full pardon, saying she herself was also a victim of extensive brainwashing by the Kim Jong-il regime. After several months of deprogramming her mind, she realised that she was in the wrong and thereafter dedicated her life to atoning her sins by writing this book and helping the bereaved families.

As you may notice, I'm quite intrigued by the events in North Korea.. So yeah, don't blame me for it!

 

[belgarathc]

my sister's keeper

When the movie came out, I dismissed it.

Then someone recommended the book to me. It's surprisingly good.

Now, I want to watch the movie.

 

[AnimeNewbie]

Reading Burst now.

 

[macarons]

When the movie came out, I dismissed it.

Then someone recommended the book to me. It's surprisingly good.

Now, I want to watch the movie.

This book has kept me up all night. I highly recommend you to watch the film but I must warn you first, it's quite different from the book, much to the dismay of the author (and me!!). There has been a lot of controversy about it, I was disappointed with the absence of a few key parts. Having said that, it's still an awesome film, there were moments which had me in tears, and others in laughter. No spoiler here as I'd like you to experience the film yourself. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did

 

[davidquah]

reading Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II by robert leckie

 

[phoenixndragonrfrens123]

This book has kept me up all night. I highly recommend you to watch the film but I must warn you first, it's quite different from the book, much to the dismay of the author (and me!!). There has been a lot of controversy about it, I was disappointed with the absence of a few key parts. Having said that, it's still an awesome film, there were moments which had me in tears, and others in laughter. No spoiler here as I'd like you to experience the film yourself. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I did

the movie was totally out of context,not worth watching at all.Its nothing in comparison with the best book[in my opinion] at all.plus the ending was totally different,totally different story line,plus there were a lot of gaps in the movie when compared to the book.plus i felt kinda pissed off that the director of the movie did not do justice to the book

 

[AnimeNewbie]

Reading "How to be a Presentation God".

Not a very good book.

 

[alfcrazyhorse]

Reading "Dark Summer" by Iris Johanssen.

 

[blue_line]

Reading "Eye of The Viper" by Aleshire Peter

 

[Cro-Magnon]

Reading "A Kingdom Besieged", Raymond E.Feist's latest book.

 

[gigigigi]

Reading the crippled god by Steven Erikson.

last installment of the long running series of Malazan Book of The Fallen.
Highly recommended.

 

[Pocoyoz]

 

[eclairily]

finished harry potter #6 yesterday, started on #7, almost finishing #7 today...


it really is SO much more than just a 'children's book', if you ask me. the philosophically mature implications and allusions to real-world scenarios is not something a child can comprehend, and that is where the real gem lies for the whole series.

did i also mention Rowling has such bloody brilliant humour?!

yes! i agree.
there are so many hidden underlying meanings within some of those paragraphs..
maybe it was intended to be purely children book.
but after book 4, it definitely veered towards adults' inclinations as the storyline became darker.
I like the way Rowling was able to let me visualise their world by cross-referencing with the reality.

 

[disenyu]

im reading The Life of Pi now. It was suggested to me by a friend.

 

[ZingyWoo]

I'm reading Outliers. Great book so far. Much more interesting than I thought it would be!

 

[pomlala]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. surprisingly interesting!

 

[darkhell26]

With The Old Breed by Eugene B Sledge.

The author was part of WW2's US 1st Marine Division that fought in Peleliu and Okinawa. He fought as a 60mm mortarman.

The 1st Marine Div lost 8769 men killed, wounded or MIA in 10 weeks of fighting in Peleliu with the Japanese losing 11000 men. The author's H company 3rd Battalion 5th Marines Regiment lost 150 men out of the original 235.

12500 Americans were killed in the Battle for Okinawa. Casualties totalled 50000.

Very very nice read if you are interested in WW2 or military history. Highly recommend. This book is one of the materials used by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg when producing the HBO miniseries The Pacific.

 

[belgarathc]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. surprisingly interesting!

Did you read the whole series of books?

Should they be read in sequence?