Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

Hmmm, this book was a delight. I could get lost in it again. It was short, it was sweet...but it was a delight. Thank you Dai Sijie... :)

Out of the Blue

What the? This book is vaguely familiar. Why is it that some books I read really take root in my heart and my brain, while others are just long long long forgotten?

Interpreter of Maladies

Mmhmhmhm, now here's a book. So so so beautful. I love it and recommend it any chance I get. I also need to re-read this one. I actually need to own it. I think I borrowed it from Marlene, and it was also her recommendation. And my favourite recommendation by her to date. *thumbs up*

Soulmate

So, this is a fiction book and I actually didn't realise who Deepak Ch"oprah" was at the time. I believe in soulmates and all that jazz...sure. So I wanted to believe in this book. Didn't work out. I didn't need to find out who the author was to know that this book was just a dud. :( A book on soulmates, a dud?! WHY?!

Lamb

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christs Childhood Pal. What a hilarious title. Another one of Tom's recommendations. :) I read this and laughed and laughed, and I may have even cried once.
Really really really great overall. I need to re-read this one again!

Green Angel

Isn't the cover art beeeautiful?! This one is another teen book I read. It was strange...a little melancholy... :(

Da Vinci Code

I started reading this one 3 days after my birthday in 2003. It hadn't even come out yet. So i was one of the first ones. You could say that I was *driving* the bandwagon that everyone jumped on. I was definitly psyched about this one when it came out. I always felt like it was a little Indiana Jonesie, and i liked that. But then it just really got too big. Bigger than a book like this should get, in my opinion.

Must Love Dogs

Wow. I read a lot of books about dogs and I am not even a dog person. And I remember that it was cute, but not cute enough for me to have seen the movie. Hell, when the movie actually came out, it didn't even register to me that I had read the book. That's how much I didn't care. I suck at reading. :)

My Last Movie Star

I really really liked this one. It reminded me of home. :) I will read anything that reminds me of home. I like the references to the buildings and the streets, los angeles sunsets and los angeles rain. Los Angeles noise and los angeles days. :)

Crimson Petal and the White

Wow. This book, was...well it felt like that time I tried to read Marquis De Sade. I felt a little dirty...It had an ok story..but well, wow.

Red Dog

Natacia is the only person I know who is awesome enough to have read this book. A book about a silly dog who changes a town. A book written by none other than Louis De Bernieres. Natacia and I were both really excited when we found out that each of us read this one. That may be the only reason we're actually friends. Its that bond that brings us together.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

At the time I thought it was dreadfully boring and dull and about as dry as a saltine cracker.
I thought that about this masterpiece at one time!!!! What was wrong with me?!

Ill Met By Moonlight

A world where Shakespeare meets fantasy (and fairies, wtf?) I thought it would have been interesting but I have really high standards for fantasy and this didnt even come close. :( Oh, Shakespeare, I still love you though :)

Last Girls

I don't know what compelled me to read this one guys. It did remind me a little of the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but I really don't have too much to say about this one because I don't remember it that well. :(

Neverwhere

I read this on Tom and Rich's recommendation. And don't get me wrong-I love Neil Gaiman, but I always felt like his imagination and his creativity was better than his ability to write. His creativy and his writing didn't seem to meet up at the right times.

All that Lives : A Novel of the Bell Witch

Hmm..I read it because witch stories are kind of awesome.I thought it was going to give me the heebeegeebees though, but it didn't. Parts of it were creepy but the only book that has actually given me the heebeegeebees is House of Leaves which wont appear on this list anytime soon because I had to stop reading it. Dude, that book is creepy. Im even getting the heebeegeebees now!

Last Chance Saloon

This Marian Keyes book really disappointed me and its the reason I stopped reading chick lit books in the end. Every book became the same. The gay friend, the brunette, the blonde..It became so predictable. There was the neurotic sexual one, the shy one who doesnt have any luck with guys...i mean, cmon already.

Dragonworld

Heck yes I loved this book. It was a mass market, but it was also whole volume because the pages were that of a text book. Not so newspapery...so I remember that it was strange but nice. And if books could rock, this one would play some pretty mean electric guitar.
I couldnt keep it in stock to recommend though because it was always due out. :(

Tara Road

I feel older than I am...I liked this one, but I didn't love it.

Fellowship of the Ring

The fellowship strikes again. The third times the charm though, for I fell in love the 3rd time.

Plane Insanity

I always wonder what goes on in professions unlike my own. This book was pretty insightful and it was also pretty outrageous! :) Some of the stories in this book! I could never fly the friendly skies for a living though. I couldn't deal with all the packing all the time. Or uncomfy hotel beds...

Jemima J

Another really popular chick lit author..this one was better than any of the other books in that craze. I even read another book by her years later!

Fleeced

This one was an advanced copy and I still had time on my hands to try something new and it was a cute mystery. :) Oh, but I still feel like books like these were such a waste of time for me. Reading for me is so hard now and I certainly do not look down on the type of person who reads this type of book-not at all. I have just always loved profound stories. I live for the profound.

The Bean Trees

Bean Trees...it was...oh, it was ok. Nothing to shout about. Poisonwood Bible was a way better book by this author.

I'm A Stranger Here Myself

Oh Bill Bryson. You make me laugh. :)

*whispers* Plus, I love how honest he is.

Picture Book

So, not the cover of the book *I* read...if you'd have seen it, you would understand. :( It was pretty beautiful. The book didn't measure up. I need to stop reading books based on the cover, I know.

Stone of Tears-again

Haha, don't worry. I eventually stop reading the series.

Mermaids Singing

I don't really care for this one, and I don't really remember anything about this book except that I read it on the plane on my first trip back home after two years of being here!!! Why on earth do I remember that?! I dunno, but I was nervous about going back home and I didn't even have a good book to get lost in. I've learned my lesson though. I now pack books the way most people pack clothing...something new, something comfortable and something fantastic! Last trip I took, I brought with me a copy of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet for comfort, Lord of the Rings for fantastic, and I had newspapers with me for something new. :)

Close to Shore

Look out everyone, its the story that inspired Jaws! And I've got chills, theyre multiplying..sharks terrify me. *looks around nervously to see if there is a shark looking over my shoulder-ok coast is clear*
SHARKS TERRIFY ME. I AM NEVER GOING TO GO INTO THE OCEAN EVER. EVER. Maybe a toe. Surely a fingertip. *i am still getting chills, by the way...* Sharks scare me, a lot. But I love learning about those silly creatures. I try to learn as much as I can about the things that fear me most..so that when Im scared..im not scared stupid. :)
This shark, the one in this book, yeah he totally survived in fresh water. So next time youre thinking about jumping into a swimming pool, you've got to ask yourself one question. "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do you punk?

Dead Famous

So I am not sure I know who Ben Alton is. He looks so familiar, but whatever. I am not curious enough to look him up. This book was...clever. A reality show whodunit. I would read more books like this if I were into that sort of thing, though. And I am not.

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants is great because the author is local and I really really do believe that there is a perfect pair of jeans out there. I still haven't found them yet, but with two the pair that I have, I am not looking very hard.
I love that the circle of friends in this book all went their seperate ways in the summer but shared the pair of jeans. I love the idea that they mailed the jeans to each other. Mailing a specific item back and forth between friends has always made my heart really happy.

Memoirs of Cleopatra

Mmhm..this book and I were somehow linked. I read it and immersed myself into its desert. I sunbathed along its words and dreamt in heiroglyphs. An amazing story of Cleopatra. How she moved me so. I learned more about Rome in this book than in any other, too.
It's a tough one to recommend though, just because it is really really dry. And historical. You have to really into Cleopatra to enjoy it. And its ginormous!