Singapore Wed Book Group 2008 archive



 


Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008

 

Christmas Drinks and Discusions

 

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Cheryl's house:  #01-02 Kellett Court, Shelford Road

 

The Zigzag Way by Anita Desai has been postponed until January.

 

 

Come to this December gathering with just with a reading suggestion for everyone -- whether a favorite book, a poem, an article, or whatever....

 

FYI:  The "Best of 2008" lists are starting to appear.  Here are some links for you:

-- New York Times -- 10 Best Books of 2008 (drawn from a longer list they also provide a link to)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/books/review/10Best-t.html

-- Amazon.com's list

http://www.amazon.com/Best-2008-Books-Holidays-Seasonal/b?ie=UTF8&node=1239030011

-- The Times (UK)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/system/topicRoot/The_Times_Christmas_Books_Speci/

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article5236390.ece

-- Guardian (UK) -- Season's Readings

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/29/best-books-year-2008-review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/30/top-reads-2008

-- The Age (AUS)

http://www.readings.com.au/collection/the-age-book-of-the-year-shortlist-2008-non-fiction

 

Updated post-December: 

 

Books mentioned at the December get-together.....

 

For those who wanted to read Doris Lessing, do have a look at a very unusual online collaboration on The Golden Notebook (which many consider her masterpiece).  The whole text is available online.

 

Adult:

 

Children's:

 

I also recommended the TED talk on foie gras.

  


 

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

by David Wroblewski

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Cathy's house

 

 

ADDRESS/DIRECTIONS:  60 Greenleaf View.  Approach via Maryland Drive off Holland Road opposite Jelita, or from Ming Teck Park off Sixth Avenue.  Greenleaf Road continues from Maryland Drive and Greenleaf View is the next turning after the restaurant on the RHS.  60 is second on the right.

 

On David Wroblewski's website, there are even "questions for book group discussions" (probably because the book was selected for Oprah's Book Club -- though that's not why we selected it, I hasten to add...).  

 

Also check out his list of Further Reading (re dogs and their relationship with humans).

 

Wroblewski has a page called Tangents, which he describes as, "a pushdown list of curiosities, miscellany, recommendations, and generally fun stuff. It's not quite a blog, but I try to keep it updated with whatever has caught my eye recently."  For example, one of the recent items is about a TED talk on how the study of population genetics can tell the story of human development.

 

Other links you might want to explore:

 

 

 

Follow-up notes from the evening's discussion, e.g., books mentioned:

 

Another recent "dog" book:  The Art of Racing in the Rain -- Garth Stein -- review in The Bookreporter, and an interview with the author in Library Journal

 

Review of the film, "Talk to Me" -- from the New York Times

 

Fugitive Pieces -- by Anne Michaels -- 1997 review in the New York Times

 

David Foster Wallace on Life and Work -- from the Wall Street Journal

Adapted from a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. Mr. Wallace, 46, died last Friday, after apparently committing suicide.

 

And Megan just sent me these links to add:

Here is the link to the article about David Foster Wallace http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23638511/the_lost_years__last_days_of_david_foster_wallace
And here is the wikipedia entry about the woman with Asperger's who hung out with the gorillas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_Prince-Hughes

 

Netherland -- by Joseph O'Neill

"But here’s what “Netherland” surely is: the wittiest, angriest, most exacting and most desolate work of fiction we’ve yet had about lifein New York and London after the World Trade Center fell." -- from a New York Times article commenting on 9/11 novels...

 

The Sorrows of an American -- Siri Hustvedt

"This novel is easily described as wonderful, although, like a lot of great novels, it doesn't sound so good in the retelling. You have to read it to believe it. The Sorrows of an American does have a lot of plot, but that is not the main attraction: its beauty lies in the ability of the narrator to reveal the frailties of the human mind." -- from a review in the Guardian (UK)

 

List of recommended recent publications sent to Sonia by a friend who works in publishing:

1.     The Northern Clemency, Philip Hensher 

2.     Hurry Down Sunshine, Michael Greenberg

3.     Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, Rick Perlstein     

4.     The Forever War, Dexter Filkins

5.     The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel, David Wroblewski 

6.     The Likeness: A Novel, Tana French     

7.     Serena: A Novel, Ron Rash 

8.     So Brave, Young and Handsome: A Novel, Leif Enger     

9.     The Lazarus Project, Aleksandar Hemon     

10. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, David Hajdu 

11. The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America, Thurston Clarke 

12. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson     

13. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves (The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, M.T. Anderson 

14. Sitting Bull, Bill Yenne 

15. Netherland: A Novel, Joseph O'Neill 

16. Home: A Novel,Marilynne Robinson     

17. Duma Key: A Novel, Stephen King

18. Lush Life: A Novel, Richard Price

19. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Michael Pollan 

20. The Underneath, Kathi Appelt 

21. Knockemstiff, Donald Ray Pollock 

22. A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes, David Tanis 

23. Pravda: A Novel, Edward Docx

24. 2666: A Novel, Roberto Bolano

25. Alinea, Grant Achatz

 

Plus, I just saw this list of the 50 Best Winter Reads (Independent UK)

 

Review of biography of VS Naipul that describes how he treated his wife...

 


 

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008

Kafka on the Shore

by Haruki Murakami

 

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Adele's house

 

ADDRESS/DIRECTIONS:   63 Cavenagh Road, 01-01 Cavenagh Mansions, Singapore 229618. Nex to the Istana. /  MRT: Dhoby Ghaut/Somerset

 

Other links you might want to explore:

  

Haruki Murakami homepage

 

Ten things you need to know about Haruki Murakami: the key facts about the coolest writer in the world today -  July 20, 2008 article in the Sunday Times (UK)

 

Wikipedia entry on Haruki Murakami

 


 

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008

 

Everything is Illuminated

by Jonathan Safran Foer 

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Barb's house

 

ADDRESS/DIRECTIONS:  42 Pasir Panjang Hill, #02-10 Le Hill, (h) 6777-5835, (m) 9006-2495

 

 


 

 

Thursday, June 12, 2008

 

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 

by Jonathan Safran Foer 

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Cathy Elliott's house

 

ADDRESS/DIRECTIONS:  60 Greenleaf View.  Approach via Maryland Drive off Holland Road opposite Jelita, or from Ming Teck Park off Sixth Avenue.  Greenleaf

Road continues from Maryland Drive and Greenleaf View is the next

turning after the restaurant on the RHS.  60 is second on the right.

 

 

A few links you might find of interest:

 

 

By the way, I found these links by using the Book Reviews Search Engine (link at top of page)... 

 


Wednesday, May 14, 2008

On Chesil Beach

 by Ian McEwan

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Cecilia's house (Address: 10-12 Bassein Road ( v close to Tan Tock Seng hospital) my tel 91193500 - if you get lost! -- Directions from Newton circus - turn up Newton Road ( left if coming from West ie along Dunearn Rd/ straight on from Scotts Rd) Go straight across traffic lights at junction with Thompson Rd into Moulmein Road.(Novena/Velocity shopping mall on your left across the junction). Take 4th left off Moulmein - Mandalay road - and Bassein Rd is the first turn on the LEFT - over the hill.  Our house is at the top of the road on the right.)

 

A few links you might find of interest:

 


Wednesday, April 9, 2008

 

Animal's People -- by Indra Sinha

&

Mr. Pip -- by Lloyd Jones

 

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Cheryl's house:  #01-02 Kellett Court, Shelford Road

 

Links of interest re ANIMAL'S PEOPLE:

 

 


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The Gathering

by Anne Enright

 

7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Barb Philip's house

 

 

The Man Booker Prize 2007 winner

 

 


Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Emperor's Last Island: A Journey to St. Helena

by Julia Blackburn

 

TIME/PLACE:  7:00 for 7:30 pm -- at Cecilia's house (Address: 10-12 Bassein Road ( v close to Tan Tock Seng hospital) my tel 91193500 - if you get lost! -- Directions from Newton circus - turn up Newton Road ( left if coming from West ie along Dunearn Rd/ straight on from Scotts Rd) Go straight across traffic lights at junction with Thompson Rd into Moulmein Road.(Novena/Velocity shopping mall on your left across the junction). Take 4th left off Moulmein - Mandalay road - and Bassein Rd is the first turn on the LEFT - over the hill.  Our house is at the top of the road on the right.)

 

<<<<<<<<<<

Description:  In 1814 Napoleon Bonaparte arrived on St. Helenad surreal exile that would last until his death six years later. "A resonant meditation on exile, fame, the stories we tell about ourselves (and) the bigger stories we tell about our great figures."--Los Angeles Times Book Review.

 

 

Julia Blackburn is the author of three books of nonfiction, Charles Waterton, The Emperor's Last Island, and Daisy Bates in the Desert, and of two novels, The Book of Color and The Leper's Companions, both of which were shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She lives in England.

>>>>>>>>>>

 

The National Library has several copies available.  It was published in 1997 and is still in print, so we should be able to find it in Kinokuniya.