What BOOK ?

by **bellabella** » Tue May 30, 2006 8:24 am

We have a movie thread and a music thread so I thought i'd add a book thread for a bit of variety.
Well I'll start off

I've just finished reading The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho. And as all his books are it was inspirational. Semi-autobiographical I think about a man in search of his guardian angel and what he has to do to find it. It's just so beautifully written and very easy to read. It makes me want to go to the top of a mountain and meditate!

Another one of his books that I love is The Alchemist, I think his most famous book, it makes me want to go travelling again! (but it doesn't take much to do that!)

His books are available here too - I saw quite a few of them (maybe all) at the Foreign Language Bookstore on fuzhou lu the other day, and not super expensive either.

ok now it's your turn - what are you reading right now?

by **Lesi** » Tue May 30, 2006 8:28 am

The t¡betan Book of Living and Dying. By Sogyal Rinpoche.
Another view how to accept the death, how to help, and true meaning of life etc...

by **Henry_Chinaski** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:12 am

Hmmm. Interesting post about Paulo Coelho. I presume his translations must be pretty good, because the originals in portuguese are horrible: he has no regards for grammar whatsoever and his sentences are mostly crap (and hence accessible I guess). On the content side however I do agree he can be pretty inspirational, although there are claims he is a major plagiarist (couldnt know as I dont read any of his books other than the alchemist, which is a pretty good book I have to admit).

I've been reading a lot of eBooks lately, the latest of them called The World is Flat, from Thomas Friedman. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to understand what is going on with this globalization, outsourcing world.

by **mels** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:16 am

I think Paulo Coelho is a great author too. I've just finished reading The Zahir by Paulo Coelho and it's really good!

by **Magnolia** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:47 am

Was under the weather last week so had lots of reading time...

The Orchid Thief - Susan Orlean

Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

Chasing Shakespeares - Sarah Smith

The Bondwoman's Narrative - Hannah Craft

Going Gently - David Nobbs

Three Daughters - Letty Cottin Pogrebin

The Dante Club - Matthew Pearl

A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

The Bookman's Wake - John Dunning (currently reading)

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

by **hammerforlife** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:21 am

Last week:

- A Year in The Merde, &

- A Biography of Warren Buffett.

2 very different books...

by **aquagirl** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:05 am

paulo coelho.... the only book i read of his was about a brazilian girl who gets lured to switzerland and becomes a prostitute. '11 minutes' i think it was called. it was a little trashy, but it had several very good moments. all in all, it was an enjoyable read and not that poorly written. a little crap toward the end tho.

hc -- how can you know his books are written like crap if you only read 'the alchemist,' which you admit you liked? (tho you are probably right...)

finishing up 'thinking in pictures' by temple grandin the author is an autistic who designs livestock equipment and such. interesting read about how people and animals think. can totally tell it was written by someone with autism tho...

by **benkloepfer** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:15 am

Hi Mag's
How did you like A Prayer for Owen Meany ?

Its been a few years since I read it but I remember it involved making alot of sacrifices to do the right thing. The christ analogy was pretty interesting even though it was really blatant.

by **chebolsk** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:32 am

currently reading e-myth revisited by michael gerber. very nice read. makes a lot of sense. very good for people wanting to get started in business...or are already in business...

on a side note, just want to ask aquagirl here...
christopher walken for president? is this for real? i mean i'm not american and i don't know much about american politics but i know a lot of people don't like bush...
but walken? i only know him as an actor and nothing more...

by **benkloepfer** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:38 am

actor = president
Either way there is someone behind the curtain telling them what to say.

Anybody ever read The Coffee Trader ?
Kind of a historical fiction like the Girl with Pearl Earring, except its about the stock markets.
It made a really good attempt to explain how the market works, but I must admitt, I still don't understand the stock market.... does anybody? The Coffee Trader also had some interesting social/religious/political commentary about 17th century Holland. Plus it makes you want to drink good coffee when reading.

by **Henry_Chinaski** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:41 am

paulo coelho published books through newspapers in column form and also has a bunch of other columns published in dozens of newspapers. his writing sucks but has great appeal. i presume his translators are great. he is a great lyrics writer, that he is.

paulo coelho is very smart in identifying what is it that his (mostly) subintelligent audience wants: a tiny blade of green grass of hope.

by **aquagirl** » Tue May 30, 2006 12:01 pm

hm. subintelligent. i don't know. i guess i just like reading about hookers. it all turned to crap toward the end, too much fairytale happiness and hope for my liking. acutally, it was comical. inspirational writing usually makes me gag, right up there with 'self-help' books.

no, i am not serious about walken. tho i dare say it would be a vast improvement over the incumbent. and as soon as they change that law about only natural born citizens being allowed to hold the presidential office, watch out for arnold....

uh, currently flipping through my bible, 'the associated press stylebook and libel manual.' great for bathroom reading as well.

by **Fathai** » Tue May 30, 2006 12:09 pm

-How to make somone love you forever in 90mn or less by Boothman.
-Survival Chinese dictionnary on how to hook a Chinese girl ( Found it in Fuzhou Road and nearly pee on my pants!)
-All men are JERKS! by I dont remember?

by **mulffett** » Tue May 30, 2006 12:27 pm

Tuesday with Morrie- Mitch Albom

Good book!

by **bellabella** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:18 pm

HC wrote:I've been reading a lot of eBooks lately, the latest of them called The World is Flat, from Thomas Friedman. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to understand what is going on with this globalization, outsourcing world.

I've been interested to read this book (as you mention it in every other post :wink:

) did you download it as an ebook? Do you have a good link for downloading ebooks? I haven't been able to find one yet. I'm assuming it's free too - who wants to pay for anything??!!!

by **benkloepfer** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:38 pm

A friend of mine who works at CEIBS borrowed The World is Flat from their library. She says it is really interesting even though the author tends to repeat himself after a few hundred pages.

by **Michael** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:48 pm

Currently reading Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurweil... non fiction about where we are going with technology.. some pretty far out conclusions.

by **sclgren** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:00 pm

Finished The Geographer's Library (author's name escapes me), right now I'm reading China Inc. by Ted Fishman... still unsure how I feel about that book

by **teanosugar** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:09 pm

i picked up Freakonomics at the airport and felt quite miffed about wasting my money through a rush purchase...i do not recommend this book, even though it's interesting to read about some aspects of American society.

also I am reading Genghis Khan by John Man which is interesting, though apparently he filled in some of the gaps in fact with fiction, he brings the events to life. and I am reading Brothers, the second part by Yu Hua.

benkloepfer, I tried to read the coffee trader but gave up after a few pages.

Paul Coelho, I picked also tried to read one of his books once and it was really odd...why is he popular again? =/ Perhaps I will try the one bellabella recommends...

by **drummissimo** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:36 pm

bellabella wrote:Another one of his books that I love is The Alchemist, I think his most famous book, it makes me want to go travelling again! (but it doesn't take much to do that!)

The Alchemist is P.Coelho's most famous book (sold over 12 million copies in many languages). In my opinion one of the best books written in the last 10 years! Easy to read, and it does get its message accross!

Just read: DaVinci Code (which is much better than the movie - believe me) and Angels & Demons (same author), which tells the store of R. Langdon at the Vatican one year before the store of the DVC!

I can recommend both books, if you are interested in some good fiction (with some historical facts of course...but thats another story)

by **sarahs** » Tue May 30, 2006 6:44 pm

Recently finished Silent China by Xu Lun. A composition of essays, poetry, short stories and reminiscences by one of China's great modern and first vernacular writers. Some good stuff here.

Currently reading Lyric Poems by John Keats and Benvenuto Cellini's autobiography...so far so good. The autobiography is a very colorful depiction of an egotistical goldsmith's life during the time of Michaelangelo and the Medicis.

by **Dazza** » Tue May 30, 2006 7:50 pm

Good Idea Bella...

However I have'nt read a good book in ages.

This thread will help show me and others what we are missing!!

by **yinyin** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:30 pm

Foreign Babes in Beijing by Rachael DeWoskin, about a fresh graduate from Columbia landed a job in a PR firm in Beijing and stars in a Chinese TV soap. So far, not as entertaining as I expected.

Alchemist is one of my favorite book! And I read "Veronika Decides To Die" later, also by Paulo Coelho...well, don't know what the heck Coelho was trying to say.

by **drummissimo** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:19 pm

check out "by the river piedra i sat down and wept" (if i remember correctly) also P.C.! tells a really nice store about falling in love and is easier to read than "veronika...".
if you are interested in P.C. also check out "The Pilgrimage"!

by **xat** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 4:46 pm

The sum of all fears - Tom Clancy
Good but a little slow-paced.

by **bellabella** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:55 pm

I've just started reading the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, it's about a boy growing up in afghanistan,pretty good so far and well written

by **drummissimo** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:31 pm

just read Angels&Demons by Dan Brown. is the prequel to the davinci code. nice thriller!

by **bellabella** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:38 pm

have you read any of his other books drummissimo? I liked Angels and Demons and da Vinci Code, but after that his books got boring, they basically follow exactly the same formula - it's like he has a Dan Brown template that he writes from!

by **zang** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:38 pm

Bought "the kite runner" on the weekend but haven't started yet. Reading "a short history of tractors in unkrainian" at the moment. Quite funny about an old Ukrainian living in the UK who's marrying a young Ukrainian gold digger!
both bought at Charterhouse bookstore. Don't agree on any of Dan Brown's books. THink they are just horrible, but that's just my opinion!

by **shanghaiceltic** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 4:07 pm

Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler. Just did a revue on this section of the site.

Rattelsnake: A book about an RN Captain Owen Stanley who commanded a ship of the same name to survey the Great Barier Reef and the Gulf of Carpentaria in Australia. This was the first complete survey of a safe inner passage of the reef. It sounds dry but in fact it is very good as it covers a lot of early Australian history and the exploration of Australia. I realy enjoyed it.

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