Let me be the first...

[Marisha25]

Lady Zurah,
I really enjoyed Arthur Golden's book too, but it's disturbing that he makes his book feel so real that I had a hard time convinving myself that it's fiction. Liza Dalby also wrote about mizuage experience that one of the older geishas described to her and it was different from Mikeo's, making for a very interesting comparison. Youtube.com, this curse and blessing of a web site has some great clips of geisha's dances...and going off this topic again, I founf 2 fantastic clips of Naimi Akef dancing on the same site. I want to dance like that when I grow up!
Demezla, I looove Moomins! I read the books in Russian when I was young and I still love them now. I love other short stories by Tove Jansen as well. I bought a box of candy on the airplane because it had moomins on it, plus so I could get a moomin toy. My friend (they're Finnish & Swedish) named their daughetr My, just like the character. The name matches her personality!

 

[Zurah]

Oops! Forgot to reply to your Q, Zaahirah... no, I can't recall anything like what you described in my copy, so maybe it was an error.

It's such torture when you're hooked in a series and you have to wait for the next installment to come... I'm embarrassed to admit I'm hopelessly hooked in a manga series I ordered through my book club - now I can't wait 'til next month when I get the next two books... worse, I keep going to the one shop in my town that carries them sometimes to check out more series... I have to say, I love manga comics - I can see why it's such a phenomenon in and out of Japan.

 

[Angela/Kalila]

Hi everyone. I don't have much time for reading lately, though I love to do so. But with a 4 year old running around harassing me my concentration level is about nil these days. It is hard for me to read a novel, but I love the poetry in 'The Prophet' by Kahlil Gibran. Simple truths that are expressed so beautifully they make me cry.

 

[Demelza]

have any of you ever read any of the sad stories about the saudi arabian girls etc ? I've read a few but the first was probably the most moving (probably because I subconciously thought that others started writing to make money as the first was such a success - harsh I know, tried not to feel that way but the first was still the most convincing) - it's called Princess, and It's an autobiography of a saudia rabian princess but written through a french lady called Jean Sasson..she wrote it from the princesse's words who had to hide her identity anyway cos at the time the book was written she was still on the run from Saudi and couldn't reveal her identity. Very nice, very moving, very sad and very real.

there are others like 'mirage' by Soheir Khashoggi and 'Desert Royal' by Jean Sasson aswell. All good but i would recomend reading Princess first

oh yes, i also like the cook book - Rick Stein's seafood oddessy !!!! xxx love

 

[slinks]

"you have to wait for the next installment to come"

This is actually why I have read the Clan of the Cave bear series so many times !! when the book would come out I'd go over the others to remember the story and catch up .... plus waiting 12 years for the last installment after being hooked on the first 5 was very painful so reading and reading kept me happy.... don't know when this last installment is coming out though !! WAITING

I like to read a lot of romance too I don't have a favourite Author if the cover looks good I'll read it....

For an inbetween quick read I like Richard Laymon... he is gory and nasty bad he writes in such a way that you are hooked and can't put it down then before you know it you've finished the most gory book you've ever set eyes on !!! Word of warning never snack while reading full on gore :-/

 

[Amulya]

I am reading The Silmarillian of Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings). I am reading all his major books this year. I have 2 more planned after this one.

 

[Babylonia]

Demelza, I immediately wondered about your name and the Poldark connection! I remember Poldark had a sexy scar.
Right now I'm reading my way through the Jean Plaidy monarchs of England series. I started at William the Conquerer and am now at Henry the Eighth. I've got a few more centuries to go until it finishes with Victoria. And then she has monarchs from other countries to read about!

 

[da Sage]

have any of you ever read any of the sad stories about the saudi arabian girls etc ? I've read a few but the first was probably the most moving (probably because I subconciously thought that others started writing to make money as the first was such a success - harsh I know, tried not to feel that way but the first was still the most convincing) - it's called Princess, and It's an autobiography of a saudia rabian princess but written through a french lady called Jean Sasson..she wrote it from the princesse's words who had to hide her identity anyway cos at the time the book was written she was still on the run from Saudi and couldn't reveal her identity. Very nice, very moving, very sad and very real.

there are others like 'mirage' by Soheir Khashoggi and 'Desert Royal' by Jean Sasson aswell. All good but i would recomend reading Princess first

Hi Demelza, I have read the Princess books, I think there are 3 of them? And I did find it harder and harder to believe them as they went on. Whether it is all true or not about the Royal Saudi lifestyle, it's definitely a good (trashy?) read.

I just got done reading Stolen Lives, which is about a family who was imprisoned in terrible conditions in Morrocco because their deceased father/husband was part of a rebellion against the King. It's a very depressing book, but it's an excellent reminder that open trials and a "transparent" justice system are incredibly important.

*edit* that's "Stolen Lives: Twenty Days in a Desert Jail" by Malika Oufkir

 

[gwinity]

I'm also Waiting on Author for a series I've been reading. Ian Irvine's Tale of the Three Worlds mega-series (12 books in all) is a fantastic series for believable sci-fi .. but the last 4 books are yet to be written. Argh!

I picked up James A. Michener's Hawaii this morning to give me something to read on the train, but at the moment it's simply acting as a weight-lifting tool instead.

I don't have a favourite style to read - I like epics, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, chick-lit, quirky-non-fiction...

 

[Yshka]

I Love Amy Tan, I also have the bonesetter's daughter at home (in Dutch), and Im halfway through "The hundred secret senses". I also have 2 other books by Amy Tan at home, waiting for me to read them ("the joy luck club" and "The kitchen god's wife" (if that is the right title in English).

Right now I am also reading Wild Swans, three daughters of China by Jung Chang, it is very historical with lot's of facts about the history of Manchuria and China, but I absolutely love it, it is probably the most beautiful thing I've ever read.
I have a book by Jean Sasson at home, which is called "Mayada", but have been unable to read since my to-read bookpile is getting bigger day by day.

I have recently read Salman Rushdie's "Shalimar the clown", which I found wonderful.

Originally Posted by Marisha25:
I really enjoyed Arthur Golden's book too, but it's disturbing that he makes his book feel so real that I had a hard time convinving myself that it's fiction.

Me too! After Memoirs of A Geisha I had this image of the geisha life in my head for days, I felt exactly what Sayuri must have felt.. seemed so real.

The Lily Theatre by Lulu Wang, a book by Fatima Mernissi, and Ye Zhaoyan's "Nanjing 1937" are waiting also to be read

I figured I'd better get busy lol.