[taurus1976]

Anyone a Robert Ludlum fan ? I have just started reading the last of the Bourne series .... 'Bourne Legacy' and once I finish that I am going to start with the 'Covert One' series.

Has any of you guys read any of the Covert One novels ?

I have a DVD on 'Cracking Da Vinci's Code' .... would be happy to lend it out if anyone is interested.

[KnowItAll]

>> I am sure I know nothing about Java, J2E, XML, ADA,C++....

All new stuff .... I retired from programming in the early 90s

[helles]

Originally Posted by Shoegal

Helles
I love Asian novels too. Do you read Chinese? If so, I can recommend tons.
Japanese novels are also very good. Especially Japanese detective stories.

I can 'read' chinese, but don't think I'm ready to read chinese language novels!!

I prefer either translated novels or biographies.. Actually I read 'Binding Chair' by a western author (can't remember her name) who wrote an asian style novel really well.

[Shoegal]

helles

I see. I thought you meant you read Chinese literature. No matter, there are tons of translated works by Japanese and Chinese authors. I prefer to read the originals because some meanings are always lost through translation. Especially for poems and Ku Fung novels. Can we say "lost in translation"?

Amy Tan's Joy Luck Club and her other works are quite Asian.

[HKfornow]

Rani, Was a bit disappointed with the latest Potter book. Seems like there is a lot more that she needed to cover and only 1 book left?? So wonder how many pages book 7 is gonna be.

[KnowItAll]

>> So wonder how many pages book 7 is gonna be.

Enough to destroy a medium forest for sure. Its almost gone from telling a story to writing the movie script. Very disappointed with #6.

[Melkir]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

>> So wonder how many pages book 7 is gonna be.

Enough to destroy a medium forest for sure. Its almost gone from telling a story to writing the movie script. Very disappointed with #6.

If it's anything less than a large forest I'll be rather disappointed, as an individual book I don't think HP6 made a good dent, the progression through the story was much faster, and the idle subject matter, which makes the books a 'world' I thought was missing.

[Tezza]

Chica - Mao's Last Dancer is a really great read. I highly recommend it to anyone. It's a true story about a world famous classical ballet dancer, Li Cunxin, who spent his childhood in horrendous poverty with his family in China. One day he got a lucky break that changed his life...I won't say anything more as I'll give away the story!!!!!!
Li Cunxin is a great friend of mine as I'm also a professional dancer. Li is currently living with his family in Sydney Australia, after dancing for many years with the Australian Ballet Company, American Ballet Theatre and numerous other companies.

The book isn't just about dancing...it's fascinating reading about the culture and what life in China was like during that time. Just a biography of his whole life really.

My older brother isn't an overly big reader and doesn't know a thing about ballet, but he read the whole book from cover to cover in 2 days and loved it!
It's a great book for anyone!

[Tezza]

I'm currently reading the biography of Goldie Hawn. I've almost finished it and that's another very good read!

[Vix]

Originally Posted by chica

read all 4 books of dan brown, but personally i prefer angels and demons, his first book over the da vinci code.

i can suggest a few indian writers to you as i am trying to read more of them now...

the god of small things - arundhati roy (love the way she plays with words and her style - she won the booker for it)
the river sutra - gita mehta ( a sequence of stories along the banks of the river narmada- beautiful storyteller)
karma cola - gita mehta again ( must read if you are going travelling to india :-)
red earth and pouring rain- vikram chandra ( magic, myth, mysticism enjoyed the book)

and so many autors like vikram seth, jhumpa lahiri, amitav ghosh, r.k.narayan, salman rushdie....

There are some amazing Indian writes that really deserve to be better known...I read a novel entitled 'River of Fire' which I would definitely recommend, but to back up my earlier point I can't remember the name of the author....'Anil's Ghost' by Michael Ondatjee (sp? author of 'The English Patient' is also worth a read)

Chica...'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' and 'Siddhartha' are two of my all time favourites as well!