Goodreads Malaysia discussion

Menarik jugak ni! Hehe, dah senaraikan macam ni nampak banyak la pulak. Ingatkan tak sampai 10 buku lagi tahun ni. . . .


1. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
2. Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer
3. The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K Dick
5. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
7. Niccolò Rising by Dorothy Dunnett
8. The Spring of the Ram by Dorothy Dunnett
9. Cygnet by Patricia A McKillip
10. George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl
11. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
12. The Little Prince and Letter to a Hostage by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
13. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
14. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
15. Race of Scorpions by Dorothy Dunnett
16. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
17. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
18. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
19. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
20. Superior Saturday by Garth Nix
21. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
22. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
23. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
24. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
25. Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
26. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
27. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
28. Scales of Gold by Dorothy Dunnett
29. Matilda by Roald Dahl
30. The Owl Service by Alan Garner
31. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
32. The Unicorn Hunt by Dorothy Dunnett
33. The Lying Carpet by David Lucas
34. To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett
35. Caprice and Rondo by Dorothy Dunnett
36. The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
37. Gemini by Dorothy Dunnett
38. The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers
39. Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
40. Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones
41. The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin


Semuanya fiction, semua dalam BI. Memang jenis tak baca buku BM dengan non-fiction sangat -- segan pula bila tengok list orang lain. ;)


[A note: This list is being edited as I add more books to the thread. Leceh nak scroll jauh-jauh. :P]

Tidak mengapa jikalau tidak membaca buku bukan fiksyen :). Wah banyak buku ni Yati :)

Boleh tahan ni senarainya. Yati, tak mau cuba baca buku-buku FT yang terhangat di pasaran ke? Kalau tengok Ujana Ilmu dua tiga hari lepas, semua 10 buku topseller beliau saja yang pegang - mungkin kesan promosi pesta buku juga.

Jika dibandingkan dengan senarai saya yang penuh dengan buku kanak-kanak..huhuhu

Midnight's Children?

Apa komen tentang buku itu?

Najibah, saya ni dah lama sangat tak baca buku BM, sampai tak tahu siapa penulis popular sekarang ni. Kalau tak sebab baca thread yang lain yang keluar nama FT, memang saya tak kenal agaknya. Nothing against the language, or the writers, or the books, it's just that I've lost touch and can't even imagine where to start. Mungkin saya boleh pinjam buku FT dan tengok suka ke tak. :) Ada cadangan nak mula dengan buku mana?

Xara, dalam list ni pun ada satu buku kanak-kanak (George's Marvellous Medicine), dan dua lagi buku untuk remaja/young adults (Howl's Moving Castle and The Goose Girl). Saya suka buku budak-budak! :)

Tok Mudin,

Saya suka bahasa dia, tapi bahagian awal buku Midnight's Children ni saya terasa macam sangatlah lembab, walaupun bahasanya cantik. Narrative yang tak berapa linear pun kadang-kadang mencabar kesabaran jugak, but I think it's worth it in the end.

Yati,

Sebenarnya saya pun tengah kejar semula pembacaan novel BM. Saya hanya mula baca balik novel BM selepas terlekat dengan 1515 Faisal Tehrani, lebih kurang dalam tahun 2003. Sebelumnya, saya banyak mengulit novel Inggeris walaupun zaman kanak-kanak dulu membesar dengan novel BM. Bolehlah dikatakan saya berhenti baca novel BM sejak 1998.

Kalau tanya saya mahu bermula dengan karya FT yang mana, saya sarankan Manikam Kalbu. Saya sudah pinjamkan buku ini tiga kali kepada kawan-kawan, hasilnya ketiga-tiga ada potensi jadi pengikut setia karya FT (terutama kalau kita minat kucing, mesti lagi menjadi - Yati minat kucing?)

3 orang rakan saya tu, seorang borong bukunya di MPH Warehouse Sale tempoh hari sampai 3-4 buah dan beli lagi di PBAKL baru-baru ni. Seorang lagi walaupun tak sempat ke pesta buku, sudah beli atas talian di Ujana Ilmu. Dan lagi seorang, pun dah beli satu lagi karyanya malah bukan novel pun, Bila Tuhan Berbicara.

Saya rasa buku Manikam Kalbu tu sangat sesuai dengan anak muda yang baru mahu berkenalan dengan karya FT, ada elemen santai dan lucu yang lain dari yang lain.

Najibah,

Suka jugalah kucing. Ada seekor kat rumah ni. Kalau macam tu, saya akan cuba cari Manikam Kalbu, nanti bila dah baca nanti saya bagi laporan ya? ;)

Najibah wrote: "Yati,

Saya rasa buku Manikam Kalbu tu sangat sesuai dengan anak muda yang baru mahu berkenalan dengan karya FT, ada elemen santai dan lucu yang lain dari yang lain."

Tiba-tiba terasa nak tergelak pula baca line ni -- mungkin maksud Najibah "anak muda" secara umum, tapi saya sendiri taklah muda mana ... lagi seminggu dua dah nak masuk 29!

Yati,

:D - sebenarnya semua yang saya pinjamkan Manikam tu, rata-ratanya jauh lebih muda dari saya, sebab tu baris tu jadi begitu bunyinya. Adik-adik tempat kerja saya, lebih kurang 7 tahun lebih muda. Tapi bolehlah, kita kira masuk kategori yang agak muda lagilah :)

Najibah wrote: "Yati,

Sebenarnya saya pun tengah kejar semula pembacaan novel BM. Saya hanya mula baca balik novel BM selepas terlekat dengan 1515 Faisal Tehrani, lebih kurang dalam tahun 2003. Sebelumnya, saya b..."

Eh eh sama lah. Saya pun betul-betul terlekat selepas 1515. I was like, hmmm, so Malay novels aren't that bad after all. Never read all the sasterawan negara sort of stuff because frankly speaking being in a science stream, and in my sekolah tu, memang sastera tak diberi perhatian langsung. Kalau lesson BM aje, siap ada yang tertidor lagi. Tapi bila English lesson tu semuanya terbukak mata. Tapi takda la kitaorang baca English Literature pun, cuma nak sebut, kenkadang kalau cikgu tu boleh mengajar dgn menarik, boleh mempengaruhi minat bacaan kita.

Dah lepas SPM lagilah. Tak menyentuh langsung buku Melayu. Sebelum2 tu ada juga membaca dan mengumpul kumpulan cerpen sastera utusan tu (seronok .. saya suka). Kemudian waktu cuti belajar ada juga membeli karya Usman Awang dan cuba baca tapi tak boleh lah, terlelap.

Mungkin kalau sekarang terjumpa semula boleh baca kot, wallahualam.

Yati wrote: "Semuanya fiction, semua dalam BI. Memang jenis tak baca buku BM dengan non-fiction sangat -- segan pula bila tengok list orang lain. ;)"

Samalah kita... Tapi kadang2 saya rasa sedih gak... Mana taknya, I think I missed out on a lot of great malay books. Lately, ada gak teringat nak beli buku sastera balik... Dah terlalu banyak sangat baca buku English... Takut nanti Bahasa Malaysia pulak broken nanti...

Jack wrote: "Samalah kita... Tapi kadang2 saya rasa sedih gak... Mana taknya, I think I missed out on a lot of great malay books. Lately, ada gak teringat nak beli buku sastera balik... Dah terlalu banyak sangat baca buku English... Takut nanti Bahasa Malaysia pulak broken nanti..."

Haha, Jack, I don't think there's such a thing as "terlalu banyak sangat baca buku", tak kisahlah in what language. Tapi kalau nak start baca buku BM balik, ramai kawan-kawan kat GR ni yang boleh tolong cadangkan buku rasanya. :)

---

New book finished:
14. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday

Yati wrote: "Haha, Jack, I don't think there's such a thing as "terlalu banyak sangat baca buku", tak kisahlah in what language. Tapi kalau nak start baca buku BM balik, ramai kawan-kawan kat GR ni yang boleh tolong cadangkan buku rasanya. :)"

I can't disagree with you on that statement Yati - There's really no such thing as reading too much... Tapi kalau ikutkan, tahun ni belum lagi baca buku Bahasa Melayu... Ni yang nak start with few suggested books... Mungkin hujung bulan ni bolehlah mengunjugi DBP... Stock balik buku melayu... Penting tu... ^^

Jack wrote: "I can't disagree with you on that statement Yati - There's really no such thing as reading too much... Tapi kalau ikutkan, tahun ni belum lagi baca buku Bahasa Melayu ..."

Huhu, kurang-kurang Jack tak ada baca buku BM lagi tahun ni saja -- saya ni sampai tak ingat dah bila kali terakhir baca novel Bahasa Melayu. Masa sekolah agaknya.

Mungkin kena join pergi DBP jugak ni ... ;)

----


Tambah lagi satu buku!

15. Race of Scorpions by Dorothy Dunnett

Yati wrote: "Huhu, kurang-kurang Jack tak ada baca buku BM lagi tahun ni saja -- saya ni sampai tak ingat dah bila kali terakhir baca novel Bahasa Melayu. Masa sekolah agaknya.

Mungkin kena join pergi DBP jugak ni ... ;)"

Mana taknya, time poket tgh barai, sbb x nak otak mati... Saya bleh baca balik buku-buku novel melayu... Tapi bnyk yg x kena selera...

Bolehhhh... Jom kita raid DBP heheh

Baru habis lagi satu buku:

16. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

About a housekeeper with a ten-year-old son who is entrusted to look after a brilliant mathematics professor whose short-term memory spans only eighty minutes. Recommended!

17. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Young adult science fiction. Set in a dystopian world where all the women died and the men can hear each others' thoughts. Todd Hewitt is the last boy in his town and discovers that things are not as they seeem . . . jeng jeng jeng.

Highly recommended.

18. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Time travel + Victorian England = lots of fun.

19. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden
Carrie and her brother are sent away to Wales during WWII. They meet new people, learn new things: they grow up.

Also read: Descendants of Darkness (Yami no Matsuei) by Yoko Matsushita volumes 1 to 4, tapi tak nak masukkan dalam main list. :D

20. Superior Saturday by Garth Nix

Better than the previous book in The Keys to the Kingdom series! (Still not one of my favourite YA series around, though.)

21. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Argh. Just. Argh. I know many people love it, but it's just not my type of book.

22. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
Direct sequel to The Knife of Never Letting Go, didn't feel as urgent as the first one book, but there were still some heart-stopping moments.

23. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Set in the same universe as To Say Nothing of the Dog: more historians and more time travelling, but this book was darker.

24. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
Science fiction, time travelling ghost story? At least the answer isn't 42.

25. Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey
YA fantasy, Book 1 in the A Resurrection of Magic trilogy.

26. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett
Historical fiction, set in 16th century Scotland. First book in the Lymond Chronicles.

(Fifty by year end? Macam tak sampai je . . .)

27. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle
Too many people sharing the same name. I get the point, but surely it's more than just lineage that determines what you are? Makes me wonder whether I should give Many Waters a go.

28. Scales of Gold by Dorothy Dunnett.
Fourth book in the House of Niccolò series. This one was really thick. And the ending. THE ENDING. I should've known better and made sure I had the next book before finishing this one. XD


. . . Haih, baru 28?

29. Matilda by Roald Dahl
Favourite Roald Dahl book ever. Perhaps my favourite children's book -- what's not to love about a tiny girl who reads books that are probably heavier than she is? :)

30. The Owl Service by Alan Garner
Kids in a Welsh countryside get caught in a Welsh myth.

31. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Somewhat mediocre historical fiction set in 18th century Scotland.

32. The Unicorn Hunt by Dorothy Dunnett
Interesting developments (this is book five of eight) and political machinations from Bruges to Scotland to Cyprus and back. The year is 1468. Surprisingly, it looks like I'm reading more historical fiction than fantasy this year.

Not so surprising: Dorothy Dunnett will probably end up being author being read most this year.

33. The Lying Carpet by David Lucas
Illustrated children's book about a statue looking for its real identity, and a carpet (which may or may not be lying) that it befriends.

34. To Lie with Lions by Dorothy Dunnett
More political machinations and scheming as the two main characters play a destructive game that may consume them both.

35. Caprice and Rondo by Dorothy Dunnett
More revelations, and the redemption of Nicholas. I think my heart was broken and then carefully put back together a few times while reading this book.

36. The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Um. YA steampunk. Rather choppy. Interesting concepts, horrible execution. Stick with The Golden Compass (Pullman) or Mortal Engines (Reeve) for better steampunk stories.

I almost bought Court of the Air at BookXcess a couple of weeks ago. It's not very good, is it?

There's another new steampunk novel which has been receiving good reviews: Boneshaker. Check it out.

Khairul H. wrote: "It's not very good, is it?"
A'ah. To be more precise, it was rather bad! One of those cases where less would've been more; it had too many ideas crammed in and never fully explained.

Yeah, Boneshaker is on my radar. Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan has been getting good reviews as well.

37. Gemini by Dorothy Dunnett
Historical fiction. Final book in the House of Niccolò series. (The whole thing: epic.) A fitting ending, if somewhat too long.

so far so good. teruskan!

Aidura, thanks! Tapi rasanya tak sempat sampai 50 tahun ni, hehe.

38. Star Wars: The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers
Fanfiction! For Star Wars! Admittedly I haven't read that many of the expanded universe books and most of those are not set this close to the original trilogy (geez, how nerdy is that -- I admit to not have reading many of the books but I know these terms) -- this one opens merely hours after the end of The Return of the Jedi, but I think this is one of the better books. Not terribly good, but not terrible either. Also, it amuses me how Luke always falls for someone who later dies/rejects him/disappears/mysteriously leaves. Poor farmboy. XD

For the record, I like the person he eventually ends up with, many books later.


39. Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Second book in a series. As good as the first one, The Lies of Locke Lamora, if not better. Though some things are getting rather formulaic. A lot of good things in this book -- action! adventure! pirates! -- and the dialogue is hilarious. Definitely looking forward to the next book.

40. Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones
DWJ is really good with combining myth with contemporary characters. Anyone with an interest of Norse mythology might want to give this book a go. Highly readable, though I imagine it'd be a bit hard for those who don't know their mythology to make the connections.

41. The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin
Strange anarchist utopia in a distant future. I expected more of it, actually.