What is the latest book you have read recently?

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MissLT
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Post by MissLT »

Rach wrote:Yes, "Never let me go" is not mainstream, certainly not a book to read just for relaxing*lol*. But I found his writting style very, very interesting, the way he describes characters in this book is amazing. Perhaps I will try "The remains of the day" too, after a while.
Oh it's definitely not. I read his the remains of the day first during my trip to L.A. I'd finished five pages in total when I got back to my city. It was so hard to concentrate on his work. The way he describes his characters is lifelike and characterful, but somehow they're so boring to me. I guess I don't belong to this reading level group.
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Post by Rach »

LennyeTran wrote:I read his the remains of the day first during my trip to L.A. I'd finished five pages in total when I got back to my city. It was so hard to concentrate on his work.
Was it harder to read remains of the day than never let me go? In never let me go he uses a quite simple language, but I guess that's normal since it's written in "I"-perspective, it's almost like spoken language. If remains of the day is more sophisticated I won't read it :shock:
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Post by MissLT »

Rach wrote: Was it harder to read remains of the day than never let me go? In never let me go he uses a quite simple language, but I guess that's normal since it's written in "I"-perspective, it's almost like spoken language. If remains of the day is more sophisticated I won't read it :shock:
Sadly to admit, I don't know which one was harder since it was hard for me to read his books even though they're not thick. That's why my books were overdue (forgot to renew them). Now I owe the library about 12 bucks for late fee. Gosh, I have to make a call to beg them to lower the fee. :cry:

Anyway, the remains of the day is not all bad. The language is the same, I guess. However, in this novel he's talking about an English butler who has an American owner. The way he describes the owner is quite funny. I think it's how people think of Americans, either easy-going or busy as a bee, chop, chop, chop type. And then his love. Just give it a try. You might end up liking it. :wink:
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Post by MissLT »

There's a movie about it Film You can give it a try. I haven't seen it yet, so I can't give my opinion about this movie.
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Post by pencil »

hi all
i have just read the book " seven habits of highly effective people, a book of Stephen R. Covey. i have tried to read it in english,inspite of having a version in my mother languege. my father has also spent some days on reading it with me, he has helped me much. but i have told him, right now i dont rely on his assistance any more. a great effort for me to understand fully what author wants to express, but i could catch some main meanings. what a difficult book it is! but what a useful book it is too.
anyway if you have time, take some days and have a look at it. i beg you will find something good from this material.
nice day!
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Post by Rach »

LennyeTran wrote: Now I owe the library about 12 bucks for late fee. Gosh, I have to make a call to beg them to lower the fee.

I know that problem, I regularly support the local library with such fees, too :cry:
LennyeTran wrote:There's a movie about it Film You can give it a try. I haven't seen it yet, so I can't give my opinion about this movie.
Of course, the made a movie about it! I knew I had heard the book title before, but I couldn't remember where... I haven't watched it yet, either, which is good, because I like to read the books first before watching the movie :). I think I will give it a try, what you're writting about the story sounds interesting, thanks for the introduction :)
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Post by Rach »

pencil wrote:i have just read the book " seven habits of highly effective people, a book of Stephen R. Covey.
What's it about? :) The book title sounds a bit like a guidebook, or is it a novel anyway?
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Post by MissLT »

:cry: Yeah, last time I had to call them and beg because I was supposed to pay 80 something bucks for late fee. I forgot the books and DVDs I borrowed; they were in my drawers for months. :oops: Gosh, luckily I had built a really good record of returning books early in the past, so they let me off that time.
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Post by zaman »

i want to read "my life "but i could not find a site to download from it this book
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Post by zaman »

any one have this book please send it for me
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Post by Dixie »

Just finished Alcoi-Nova York, by Catalan writer Isabel-Clara Simó.
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Post by Rach »

zaman wrote:i want to read "my life "but i could not find a site to download from it this book
You mean "My Life" by Bill Clinton? Here it is: http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/126155-ebook.htm
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Post by zaman »

you are wonderful person allah bless you , thanks a lot [color=blue][size=24]RECH[/size][/color]
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Post by zaman »

:lol: :lol: :lol: hy rach i mean i want to make free download, and thanks again
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Post by Rach »

zaman wrote::lol: :lol: :lol: hy rach i mean i want to make free download, and thanks again
Uuups sorry, with a free download I can't help you :lol:.
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Post by zaman »

ok thanks for you again , really you are make me so pleasure by this response .
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Post by illusion »

Currently I am reading "I know what you're thinking" by Lillian Glass...
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Post by Cypress »

Yesterday, I finished reading Jules Verne’s The Children of Captain Grant. Usually, when I finish reading a book, I feel some kind of little achievement and I’m eager to start reading a new one. However, when there were only a few pages left to read of The Children of Captain Grant, I didn’t want the novel to end. It was a little sad to part with the characters of the book and their adventures. Jules Verne is a great author!
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Post by Arale »

I'm rereading Chicken soup for the soul. It includes many sections. Very nice and touching short stories about love! The set of books are real examples about experience of life. I've learnt how to be stronger, braver and more self-confident when reading them.

_Arale_
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Post by Tora »

Dixie wrote: I didn't know Perez-Reverte was so well-known outside Spain! In any case I thought his fame would come the moment the movie Alatriste was released...
this week I have started the first volume of aventuras de Alatriste! I'm feeling more and more excited by the author and also grabbed the second part of his short stories in el Semanal ending in 2001 8)
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Post by Dixie »

Tora wrote: this week I have started the first volume of aventuras de Alatriste! I'm feeling more and more excited by the author and also grabbed the second part of his short stories in el Semanal ending in 2001 8)
Good for you! ;) I have never read those books. I don't like the author, which of course doesn't mean I will never read them... We'll see :D
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Post by Dixie »

I'm reading Paulo Coelho's The Devil and Miss Prym.
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Post by Dixie »

Well I already finished Coelho's novel and now I'm reading Anne Frank's Diary.
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Post by Vega »

I'm reading John Steinbeck "The grapes of wrath"
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Post by Dixie »

Xkalibur wrote:I'm reading John Steinbeck "The grapes of wrath"
Good luck! I read it in college. Pretty interesting stuff.
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Post by losehi »

I´ve recently read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
It´s Harry Potter´s latest adventures in his sixth year at Hogwarts.
It´s a very interesting story with a surprise at the end.
I recommend this book to people who have read some Harry Potter´s books. And if there´s someone who haven´t read any Harry Potter´s story I can only say that this book it´s more than children book.
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Post by TearHere »

I've just finished The Brethren by John Grisham. Nice read. Grisham is good with twists. The story is a pretty real thing that could happen to today's political arena.tsk tsk..
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Post by Alfabeto »

The last book I read was by French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut "The Defeat of the Mind". I read it in Spanish translation, but I am giving the original title for those who read French. It's: "La Défaite de la pensée"(Paris, Gallimard, 1987).

To the person who mentioned Seneca (he spelled it in French I think): I have read his Letters to his disciple Lucillius. I highly recomment it. BTW, philosophy is right up my alley.
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Post by losehi »

I have to read for my English class the book
The curious incident of the dog in the night time. The author is Mark Haddon.
Is there any people who have read this book?
What´s the topic?
Thank you for the information
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Post by ilargia »

I hace recently read: Bomarzo by Mújica Lainez. I recommend you because it´s a complete text about History, Literature, Psychology...
The main character, Pier Francesco Orsini was a gibbous Italian prince who resulted awful to people. He found beauty and tried to be surronded by it.
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Post by ATIFIREHAWK »

My recent book that I read is The firm from John Grisham .
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Post by Dexter »

i've just read Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe... sad but nice...
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Post by Ksju »

Dixie wrote:
Xkalibur wrote:I'm reading John Steinbeck "The grapes of wrath"


Good luck! I read it in college. Pretty interesting stuff.
Hmmm, You really need a good luck !!!

:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Post by Ksju »

illusion wrote:I read this book called "Eureka Street" by an Irish writer Robert McLiam Wilson. It's a story about a couple of friends and their lives that takes place in Belfast. I must say I did enjoy it a lot :)

You say it's interesting book ?

Maybe it would be interesting for me to read this book too.
As to read more irish literature...

If you have a link in net please send :)
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Post by Tora »

Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol

it seems to be weird a bit but on the whole it's good. I'm completly sure if they are going to make a film based on the novel it will be a success...

has any one read it?
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Post by Dixie »

Tora wrote:Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol

it seems to be weird a bit but on the whole it's good. I'm completly sure if they are going to make a film based on the novel it will be a success...

has any one read it?
I had no idea it had been translated to so many languages!!!!!! I'm glad you are reading Catalan literature! 8)
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Post by Tora »

This guy was in moscow in september presenting his first book. I listened to his interview and was intrugued by the novel...
Thanks for your words but have you read the book? how do you find it? As i'm puzzled to give my final opinion.
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Post by Dixie »

Tora wrote:This guy was in moscow in september presenting his first book. I listened to his interview and was intrugued by the novel...
Thanks for your words but have you read the book? how do you find it? As i'm puzzled to give my final opinion.
Yes of course I read it... It's called La pell freda and I guess the title refers to the creature's skin... right? I must say I was expecting something very different while I was reading the book, so was struck by the ending. It's become a very popular novel here. In fact I bought it because I heard so many good critics about it that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
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Post by Tora »

Dixie wrote: ... In fact I bought it because I heard so many good critics about it that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about...
It is not that popular here but I also bought it due to the articles praising both the book and the author :wink: so nice to share opinions
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Post by purplewater. »

Scorpia.Has anyone read this book? :D
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Post by feanor »

i just finished reading the vienna assignment by olen steinhauer. it was a good espionage novel..
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Post by Crazyalb »

Hamlet by William Shakespeare
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lately I have read...

Post by LadyMacbeth »

Lately I have been reading a really good book about contemporary Poland and Poles. It is written in Polish by one German who has been living here for about 10 years. This is the best book about Polish reality I have read lately. Really. Some great things about Germans there too. Many sentences sound better than proverbs from Pablo Cohello books. many stories are really witty and full of humour. I am really enchanted with this book. Indeed.

I have translated some of the author's remarks into English. Of course I know my English isn't such perfect as his Polish.

For example:

" (...).There is a very stiff hierarchy in Poland. There are too little brave people that would be able to oppose their bosses. poles are polite, yes, but that's why they don't speak out what they really think. Pupils are scared of teachers, students don't tell their professors into eyes that they behave like punishless gods. Noone will criticise a chief at work. noone will oppose when a colegue in job is obviously mobbed. Behind closed doors everyone is Napoleon but to take a risk - good Lord- people will rather put up with injustice and only will write annonymous complaints. The cowardness and fear prevail at work, at schools, in universities.
And those who are promoted forget at once how they had shivered in front of the boss the day before. So instead of reforms they continue a system of fear, it is so good to be on top..(...)"

I love this man for these words and many other.
I would like to read the same book in English.

LM
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hehe - some little correction and two other cities

Post by LadyMacbeth »

PS. I would like to put here two other parts from my favourite book. Of course there are many others - really humorous ones. Specially I like comparing Polish and German trip to the wood and story about the author's walking around Cracow's bookshops with one PHD student -Jórg who studied slavian languages and came to Poland to do some research for the needs of his disseartation.

But first some little language corrections as deals my previous letter:

my English isn't as perfect as his Polish.

And two other GOLDEN thoughts about contemporary Poland from the book mentioned above:

"(...) I miss another thing - it's financial generosity or even generosity of time. Too rarely you can meet people who will pay for a bench in a nearby park., who will support their old school or will be active on a charity field. When people are engaged in something, it serves to their careers or to their children career. Both pessimism and misery are trendy. We boost everywhere about discounts, savings, last minutes. Hospitality, gesture, yes, but only at home, for family and friends, There is no generosity in public life. However, behind a curtain of hard times, you can care egoism in a perfect way.(...)"

Great words you must admit - though I don't understand what he meant by generosity of time - can you explain it to me?

And the last cite from book in Polish about Poland - the cite in the series "not too funny and no optimistic at all".

"(...)Sometimes I miss optimistic words or even constructive criticim- in newspapers, in politics and specially at work. People praise one another too rarely, they only kick one another. I am not an idealist, I don't expect supermood from taxi drivers but sometimes on Monday I am really fed up when everyone talks the same style. time and again. Compaining is so fashoinable that most of the time I can predict the next sentence of the speaker.
Either it will be ironical pessimism or pessimistic irony. I like such a life attitude in reasonable amounts but I don't like it as a permament lifetime philosophy(...)".

Hehe - I would like to pay my attention on constructive criticism. In my country people aren't able to make up anything like that:(. And this omnipresent complaining - this is also an element of the daily reality. But I he didn't write the most important - the better you live here, I mean - the more you thrive the more you have to complain. It is really weird but true.
Of course the author didn't write many chapter that should be written in this fantastic book. Maybe in
the next edition of it.

See you,
LM
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Post by illusion »

I'm reading "Lux Perpetua" a great polish fantastic book written by Andrzej Sapkowski. :D
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hi people,

Post by LadyMacbeth »

Specially illusion - have you read the chapter about Jórg in Cracow and the word pun "aim at"= grammar Dativ? I was crying with laughter reading it. The same when reading descriptions of Polish and German trips as well as the author's visit in Licheń sanctuary where people were buying out all pots taking bank credits. Many other things were also funny - for example the chapter " what does it mean to arrange".
Well...in my opinion it is much better than Sapkowski cause it is real life. It is reality. All in all Sapkowski will never be another Tolkien. What I miss in my favourite book is that Mr. Muller knows very little about Polish politics and political connections/ideas/post-election reality.
These are really funny things . Or pitiful. Many people got heart-strokes and are in hospitals now!
he didn't write anything like that in his book at all!!!
Well - to sum up this thread of mine "to arrange - that's the essence of Poland whatever it means":(.

Congratulations to Mr Muller - he wrote my Bible and my guidebook for these dark and gloomy autumn days.

I hope next chapters will still be written. Like "importance of driving licence in Poland" or "taking driving licence in Poland in the year 2006".
That's reallllllly funny - but not to me:(.

LM
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Post by Ksju »

Tora wrote:Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol

has any one read it?
Me... Not...
But it sounds familiar...
What's it about???
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Post by Tora »

Ksju wrote:
Tora wrote:Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol

has any one read it?
Me... Not...
But it sounds familiar...
What's it about???
The new weather official arrives at his Antarctic island outpost only to find that the man he should be replacing is nowhere to be found. His only company is the Austrian lighthouse-keeper, who seems to have gone insane. What has happened? When night falls upon the island, the answer becomes horribly clear...

It may be easily found in all big bookshops in your town :wink:
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Post by Vega »

Francois Mauriac 'L'Agneau' (1954) I'm reading it, has anyone read it? I like books where psychological analysis of person soul is the main theme of exploration...
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Post by zaman »

this time i am stop read cause i become very exusted by reading
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