Svetlana's Reads and Views

Books that need to be reviewed: The Promise-Chaim Potok Coyote Dreams-Jessica Davis Stein The Foreign Student-Susan Choi 'Till Morning Comes-Han Suyin Books I will read or am reading: The Joy Luck Club-Amy Tan The Fellowship of the ring-J.R.R Tolkien Gone with the wind-Margaret Mitchell The First wives club-Olivia Goldsmith The Mysteries of Udolpho-Ann Radcliffe Savage Conquest-Janelle Taylor Whisper of Death-Christopher Pike

Characters Warning: Spoilers alert.  Daughters: Jing-mei "June" Woo: daughter of Suyuan Woo The Twenty Six Malignant Gates 8. Two Kinds June begins to describe how America presented unlimited opportunities for her mother. Her mother desired for her to become a prodigy and both attempted through various methods to choose one for her. At first June was eager for the idea, but then she hated it and attempted to resist it. Finally the mother forced her to learn piano. June does everything she can to ruin it by not practicing properly. At the talent show she cared more for her appearance than skill and embarrassed herself and the mother by playing badly. Years passed and the mother gave the piano as a present for June and June briefly mentions how in other ways she has disappointed her mother. June decides to retune the piano and finds a song that she played at the recital, 'pleading child' and then discovers another one called 'perfectly contented' and she called ...

As of Saturday, August 21st 2010 Books I'm trying to finish: Gone with the wind-Margaret Mitchell 720/1037 The Promise-Chaim Potok 197/381 The Mysteries of Udolpho-Ann Radcliffe-223/620 Books awaiting book reviews: Coyote Dream-Jessica Davis Stein The Foreign Student-Susan Choi 'Till Morning Comes-Han Suyin Books I might read next: Whisper of Death-Christopher Pike First Wives' Club-Olivia Goldsmith The Chosen-Chaim Potok Savage Conquest-Janelle Taylor The Joy Luck Club-Amy Tan Quick Note: I will not focus on love scenes on romance novels. I might mention whether or not I found them good, but that's it. My focus is more on characters and plot than romance scenes. Hope everyone understands that.

Books I'm reading and how close I am to finishing them As of August 18th, Wednesday 2010 Coyote Dreams-Jessica Davis Stein 241/364 The Foreign Student-Susan Choi 252/325 The Mysteries of Udolpho-Ann Radclife 205/620 'Till Morning Comes-Han Suyin 572/620 Gone with the wind-Margaret Mitchell 687/1037 The Promise-Chaim Potok 115/381 Books I'm planning on reading after start of college: The First Wives Club-Olivia Goldsmith The Chosen-Chaim Potok Savage Conquest-Janelle Taylor The Tao of Sex-Jade Lee Natural Born Charmer-Susan Elizabeth Phillips The Joy Luck Club-Amy Tan Quick Note: I will not focus on love scenes on romance novels. I might mention whether or not I found them good, but that's it. My focus is more on characters and plot than romance scenes. Hope everyone understands that.

A Schizophrenics Tale Name of the Book: The Veritas Conflict Author Name: Shaunti Feldhahn ISBN: 1-57673-708-X Publisher: Mulnomah Publishers Type of book: Adult, christian, religious, contemporary Year it was published: 2000 Normally this is not a book I read for fun. Under any circumstances, I wouldn't have even touched it with a fifty foot pole, but because of my friend, I had to read it. At the time my friend was encountering difficulties with reading it and so he asked me to read it, promising me a dinner at my favorite restaurant along with a book at half price books under five dollars. I care for my friend a lot, so I agreed to read it.  This whole book was completely ridiculous in my opinion, and of course, my friend being a kind of a person that loves converting anything that moves, (an extreme Christian in other words who attempted to convert for me for the last three years,) I didn't expect anything less than that. ...

Claustrophobic Room Name of Book: Breathing Room Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips ISBN: 0-06-103209-3  or 978-0-06-103209-7 Publisher: Avon Books Type of book: Adult, contemporary, romance Year it was published: 2002 Quick Note: I will not focus on love scenes in there to be honest. This is something private and my blog is not made for that. I will focus on plot and characters in there however. For a college graduation present, a friend gave me Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Natural Born Charmer. I read the novel a number of times and loved it for its unpredictability and characters. The first few pages for me were award winning and hilarious. I enjoyed the storyline and even the ending. (Normally I'm not the type that likes happy endings,). So when I saw this novel, I thought I could expect the same thing; likable characters and an ending that really touches one's heart. What I didn't expect is to feel alienated by the book and disliking...

Reading History Part III: James Clavell's Asian Saga To be fair, these are the novels I have read: Shogun, Taipan and Gaijin . I have made attempts to finish Noble House but wasn't able to. Since finishing up a review on Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka,  I couldn't help but started to think of James Clavell, in particular the three novels I have read. While some parts were informative with Asian culture, I detested all three novels which I will go into in the next several paragraphs. I will briefly discuss the novels then move on to my reactions towards them.  I cannot remember how I have heard of them, maybe through amazon, maybe by luck, I forget, but I remember starting with Shogun I believe, or was it Gaijin, I forget.I started reading these books when I was in high school, possibly a junior or a senior (I was eighteen or nineteen at the time,) Shogun is about an Englishman working for dutch people who goes looking for the mysterious Island of Japan. The book ...

Reading History Part II: Asian Male and White Female Novels For the people who are in interracial relationships it is difficult and an almost impossible task to find novels that portray their relationships in an accurate way, especially for those who love reading, it becomes twice as difficult. Although things are a slightly more easier now, and the novels are more varied, that difficulty is there. And what if you're an atypical reader? You want to read more in depth novels rather than cookie cutter 'happily ever after'? In this part I will discuss some novels that are more atypical in nature and that deal with Asian male and white female pairings. I will discuss Marguerite Duras' novel, a rewriting of sorts titled The North China Lover , as well as Han Suyin's 'Till Morning Comes and Susan Choi's Foreign Student and Kate Furnivall's Russian Series (Will be reading Jewel of St Petersburg soon.Unfortunately I haven't been able to discover atypical...

Slow River Name of book: Vicomte de Bragelonne Author name: Alexandre Dumas ISBN: 978-0-19-283463-8 Publisher: Oxford Type of book: Adult or young adult, historical, one of French classics, 17th century, Louis XIV Year it was published in: 1995 (originally was from 1847-1850?) Part of a series: D'Artagnan Romances Summary: It is May 1660 and the fate of nations is at stake. Mazarin plots, Louis XIV is in love, and Raoul de Bragelonne, son of Athos, is intent on serving France and winning the heart of Louise de la Valliere. D’Artagnan, meanwhile is perplexed by a mysterious stranger, and soon he learns that his old comrades already have great projects in hand. Athos seeks the restoration of Charles II, while Aramis, with Porthos in tow, has a secret plan involving a masked stranger and the fortification of the island of Belle-Ile. D’Artagnan finds a thread leading him to the French court, the banks of the Tyne, the beaches of Holland, and t...

Reading History Part I: Discussion of Christopher Pike Books have been a very large part of my life. In this post I will discuss my history with reading Christopher Pike novels, as well as favorite and least favorite novels that I like. The outline shall be like this; history of reading Christopher Pike's novels, then discussion of favorite novels and then discussion of least favorite novels.  My earliest memories of reading Christopher Pike emerged at the time I was a preteen reading R.L Stine books. I recall that during or before 1997 I heard mention of him from my sister's friend's older sister who had a collection. There was an encouragement that I should try him out.  Possibly around the time I became a teenager I checked out two Pike books from the library,  See you Later  and  Whisper of Death.   At the time, or perhaps because they were very different from Stine's novels, and also due to alien nature in  See You Later,  immediately I was warned off from Pike. Th...

Books I am reading now: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Coyote Dreams by Jessica Davis Stein The Foreign Student by Susan Choi 'Till Morning Comes by Han Suyin Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe Miriam's Tambourine by Howard Schwartz  Books I have finished: The Immortal by Christopher Pike The Lost Mind by Christopher Pike Dance of Death by R.L Stine The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas THe Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas The Red Tent by Anita Diamant Cloud of Sparrows Book I decided to drop: LIttle Women by Louisa May Alcott