tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post116731496350894769..comments2024-01-06T00:28:45.062+08:00Comments on Bibliobibuli: My Best Books of 2006bibliobibulihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167993965515156472007-01-05T18:46:00.000+08:002007-01-05T18:46:00.000+08:00intellectually tall - not so many hits - not like...intellectually tall - not so many hits - not like paul tan who get 20,000 hits a day blogging about cars<BR/><BR/>when the internet is working well and the posts are interesting i get 250-300 hits a day, fewer at weekends.<BR/><BR/>most of my blog readers are malaysian (70%) and klang valley people <BR/><BR/>the most number of hits a day i've had was 770 <A HREF="http://thebookaholic.blogspot.com/2006/11/jeffooied.html" REL="nofollow">when i was "jeffooied"</A><BR/><BR/>thanks for the kind words, much appreciated. will keep up the entertainment - or try to anyway!bibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167929217475171162007-01-05T00:46:00.000+08:002007-01-05T00:46:00.000+08:00Machinist: Thanks already! Mr Intellectually Tall ...Machinist: Thanks already! Mr Intellectually Tall is "stalking" me I think hehe. He's rather intrigued by my literary predilections, <BR/><BR/>So you've deciphered my name huh. Thats quite impressive! Do keep it to yourself though!! ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167880604319446162007-01-04T11:16:00.000+08:002007-01-04T11:16:00.000+08:00ANNA, I shall go to the bookstore and get a russia...ANNA, I shall go to the bookstore and get a russian dictionary or buy one of those silly little books of phrases to DECIPHER YOUR NAME <BR/><BR/>MACHINIST, you could save me a lot of trouble , time and energy by posting her name. haha<BR/><BR/>SHARON, your blog is excellent. People, from here and afar, Bipolar(me) or Bi, Bohemian or chic gravitate towards it. How many hits do you have in a day?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167869320515092822007-01-04T08:08:00.000+08:002007-01-04T08:08:00.000+08:00ms d - i bought "beasts of no nation", leon - i bo...ms d - i bought "beasts of no nation", leon - i bought "so many ways to begin"bibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167869078018207042007-01-04T08:04:00.000+08:002007-01-04T08:04:00.000+08:00intellectually tall - glad you are after all suffi...intellectually tall - glad you are after all sufficiently tall. i dunno her real name but i can malayise her blog name which may or may not be it.<BR/><BR/>actually once i identify people by their blog name i find it hard to think of them by any other. all i can remember about anna is that she was one in a group of young ladies who seemed much too glam for our rather bohemian readings that afternoon - but didn't get a chance to talk to her.<BR/><BR/>machinist - i get to meet you for the first time tonight hahabibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167867332609123562007-01-04T07:35:00.000+08:002007-01-04T07:35:00.000+08:00well, since I can't resist puzzles, I've deciphere...well, since I can't resist puzzles, I've deciphered anna's name. Come on i.t., can't expect sharon to give u everything...<BR/><BR/>*hat tip to anna*Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167848926270150212007-01-04T02:28:00.000+08:002007-01-04T02:28:00.000+08:00Intellectually tall:I've been sheeshing non-stop e...Intellectually tall:<BR/><BR/>I've been sheeshing non-stop ever since I read your post! I detect a smidgen of narcissism here.(hehe) Correct me if I'm right!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167840841509513032007-01-04T00:14:00.000+08:002007-01-04T00:14:00.000+08:00ANNA, FYI I am 186cm , and that's tall for a Malay...ANNA, FYI I am 186cm , and that's tall for a Malaysian so you don't need to be sorry about what you had suggested. <BR/><BR/>SHARON, Since you can read cyrillic, what is Anna's real name? She cant be thattt attractive can she.( Sorry Anna)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167830635785979522007-01-03T21:23:00.000+08:002007-01-03T21:23:00.000+08:00subashini - ahah that accounts for wide tastes and...subashini - ahah that accounts for wide tastes and is one of the most powerful arguments for the establishment of good libraries i've come across for a long time. i had the benefit of v. good school library growing up ... there's stuff here i keep meaning to blog ... how i became a reader<BR/><BR/>i don't like libraries now because i don't like to give books back ... and i always get fined. i have only borrowed one book from the british council library over the past year even though i'm a member and even though i've drawn up the lists for book purchase and they include titles i want myself. wish there was a budget for more non-fiction as i often just want to skim through a non-fiction book<BR/><BR/>*slaps forehead* sorry anna am so bloody blur sometimes. i should be called giant sotong instead of giant sotong.<BR/><BR/>*blush* for the praise. v. many thanks. <BR/><BR/>ya chustvayu orchen harashaw lah!!! cpaceeba<BR/><BR/>that's as good as it gets anna. i understood your message and it is clever of you to use capitals as cyrilic scriptbibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167824868433060682007-01-03T19:47:00.000+08:002007-01-03T19:47:00.000+08:00Sharon(WAPOH);ZRASVUITE!!PRIVET!KAK DILA?Yes I am ...Sharon(WAPOH);ZRASVUITE!!PRIVET!KAK DILA?<BR/><BR/>Yes I am a Malaysian and I think you've seen me once before at the ELARTI reading before I left with my 3 friends.Didn't get to introduce myself and will do it the next time.<BR/><BR/>I do agree with Intellectually Tall that your blog is one of the most comprehensive and prolific blogs in Malaysia and it is at par with my other favourite blogs!<BR/><BR/>Intellectually Tall; <BR/>Sorry if I called you mmm Short! hehe.<BR/><BR/>CnACN6O WAPOH!!!THanks sharon<BR/><BR/>This is my name (spelled) in Russian; TEH2KY WAXPN3AH.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167726364559449282007-01-02T16:26:00.000+08:002007-01-02T16:26:00.000+08:00sharon, i am glad that i finally got around to rea...sharon, i am glad that i finally got around to reading <I>the little prince</I>. some books you can return to over and over again at different stages in your life and get something out of it, and this is one of those, i suspect. i read it just last week during the long christmas break; got out of my noisy house and sat in starbucks for a couple of hours and read it and felt totally... transported.<BR/><BR/>as for where i heard about the books - i was in winnipeg, manitoba (where? canada *grin*) for about 4 years, and while winnipeg has its occasional charms, the best thing about the city for a frequently-deprived book-loving malaysian like me was the public library. i was able to check out any book that looked remotely interesting... and the library had a wide selection of graphic novels, as well. i still think that a well-equipped, easily accessible public library is of the cornerstones of creating a well-read, literate society. i understand the undeniable pleasures of *owning* a book; but it's harder to take chances on books and expand your reading choices if you're strapped for cash and needing to buy a book everytime you wanted to read one. even if you're not strapped for cash, you can't be buying every single book that captures your interest. there are bills to pay and groceries to buy (unfortunately!) i've been back for about 3 months now, and every time i think of winnipeg and the library i left behind my heart still constricts with pain. *wry grin* all the books you could ever want - for free! what's not to love about that?<BR/><BR/>i've joined the british council library since returning, which is nice... a really interesting selection of books so far. the only problem is that it's a little out of the way for a pj-ian like me, but at least it's accessible by LRT.<BR/><BR/>anyways, i'll stop my rambling... a happy new year to you, sharon, and everyone here... here's to more book-binges and empty wallets!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167715379024501142007-01-02T13:22:00.000+08:002007-01-02T13:22:00.000+08:00I wrote a comment here the other day but it got lo...I wrote a comment here the other day but it got lost. Anyhow, I'm back, and sorry to be late :-)<BR/><BR/>The two best books I read this year were Jose Saramago's "Blindness" and "Seeing". I read each in a single seating and am still feeling the words eating me from inside out.<BR/><BR/>JG Ballard's "Crash" was the most-reread book this year. I took "Crash" with me to Europe because I can't bear to part with it, and read it for the fifth time -- it gets easier every time. I hope that isn't a bad thing, considering the subject matter. I will be reading it more in the future; still not sure what makes it so fascinating. Have you read it yet? :-)<BR/><BR/>Gregory Maguire's "Wicked" was wicked fun (sorry), and it got the most laughs this year. Since my brother and sisters also read it, and we have the songs from the musical, we had a lot more laughs beyond the book. [caveat: has explicit content]<BR/><BR/>Another memorable read was Milan Kundera's "Immortality" and I will start on "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" soon. <BR/><BR/>I also finally finished Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle series (huge!) and will recommend it to anyone interested in adventure and science-fantasy novels. Good fun!<BR/><BR/>I missed many non-fiction titles in 2006 but a great anthology of fantastic writing with real meat is "The Best American Science Writing 2006" ed. by Dr. Atul Gawande -- and it's really accessible writing for everyone too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167666454450002662007-01-01T23:47:00.000+08:002007-01-01T23:47:00.000+08:00i love bill bryson and paul theroux too annai lear...i love bill bryson and paul theroux too anna<BR/><BR/>i learned russian at school and have now forgotten it apart from one or two daft expressions "brusselskya kapusta" is brussel sprout, for example. very useful. and i can sing "kalinka kalinka kalinka moya" very expressively.<BR/><BR/>am so proud as to be mentioned in the same breath as grumpy old bookman, sho is a litblog hero of mine too.<BR/><BR/>anna - where are you blogging from? you're here in malaysia, right?<BR/><BR/>yes, intellectually tall is implying he's otherwise not tall. which is fine. we can't all be super beings. (i'm six foot!). <BR/><BR/>anyway am very glad to have you both herebibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167655451021149302007-01-01T20:44:00.000+08:002007-01-01T20:44:00.000+08:00Intellectually Tall: LOL, What does your pseudonym...Intellectually Tall: LOL, What does your pseudonym indicate? That you're physically short? hehe.<BR/><BR/>I'm a quasi-russophile. I do speak, read and write in Russian and Anna Akhmatova is my favourite poet.<BR/><BR/>Non-fictional is my staple as mentioned above and Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson are among my favourites.<BR/><BR/>I stumbled upon Sharon's blog about 2 months ago and it has become one of my most preferred blogs,( the others are " The Grumpy old Bookman" and Prof Kaufman's blog on Russian literature )<BR/><BR/>So what do you read, I.T.?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167650568147070742007-01-01T19:22:00.000+08:002007-01-01T19:22:00.000+08:00oh subashini - i read the little price in french w...oh subashini - i read the little price in french when i was about 11 and it was such magic ...<BR/><BR/>it doesn't matter when you come to a book. i have so many gaps in my reading. and let's never get hung up about reading last year's books as if books were perishable commodities.<BR/><BR/>incidentally - where do you find out about the books you want to read??? just curious ...bibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167650372672468412007-01-01T19:19:00.000+08:002007-01-01T19:19:00.000+08:00subashini - a wonderful list. a humbling list. a...subashini - a wonderful list. a humbling list. am off to read up on your choices ...<BR/><BR/>intellectually tall - thanks so much for the kind words, and glad you came out of the shadows at last. ... so where's your own list??<BR/><BR/>btw if any of you without a blog feel like sounding off about books, you're welcome to guest blog a postbibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167645967558793092007-01-01T18:06:00.000+08:002007-01-01T18:06:00.000+08:00ANNA, are you a russophile? Your reading material ...ANNA, are you a russophile? Your reading material and pseudonym indicate so. I've been following Sharon's blog since last year but I notice that you started posting only about a month ago.Has anybody on this blog seen you in the flesh?<BR/><BR/>BIBLIOBIBULI, Happy New Year! Your blog rocks! One of the best ever. Prolific! Been following it but have never commented until today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167622732103241352007-01-01T11:38:00.000+08:002007-01-01T11:38:00.000+08:00i went crazy when i read this post; it made me wan...i went crazy when i read this post; it made me want to make lists upon lists... until i couldn't remember if these were the books i read this year, or <I>last</I> year. *grin*<BR/><BR/>but a few stand-outs from this year are actually books that were published before, but i understand that we're not limited to those books that were only published this year. so here's a small list of favourites (as far as i can remember - therefore, resolution for 2007: keep a book journal!)<BR/><BR/><I>on beauty</I>, zadie smith<BR/><I>the river</I>, rumer godden<BR/><I>the little prince</I>, antoine de saint-exupery (yes, my first time reading it!)<BR/><I>the lonely londoners</I>, sam selvon<BR/><I>against love: a polemic</I>, laura kipnis<BR/><I>box office poison</I>, alex robinson (graphic novel)<BR/><I>epileptic</I>, david b (graphic novel)<BR/><I>fun home: a family tragicomic</I>, alison bechdel (graphic novel)<BR/><I>incendiary circumstances: a chronicle of our times</I>, amitav ghosh<BR/><I>english, august</I>, upamanyu chatterjee<BR/><I>the rachel papers</I>, martin amis<BR/><I>kiffe kiffe tomorrow</I> faiza gueneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167619791492705352007-01-01T10:49:00.000+08:002007-01-01T10:49:00.000+08:00wrote this comment once in great detail and then l...wrote this comment once in great detail and then lost it arrghh!!<BR/><BR/>love these lists because i hear about so much good stuff i wouldn't discover otherwise (especially sufian's list ... am bobsmacked that he always manages to find so much out of the way stuff)<BR/><BR/>ms d - bought your recommendation!<BR/><BR/>leon - of course you can find the book in BC library! it was on my list! tons more great fiction coming in in 2007. enjoyed your list as i think your tastes are v. close to my own <BR/><BR/>so too are fei's! love "the reader" "never let me go" and "interpreter of maladies", have the joan didion and pual auster and will look out for the rest<BR/><BR/>burhan - how did you come upon the icelandic sagas? unusual choice ...<BR/><BR/>aryan - how on earth did you manage to get up to 496 books??? do you have a life???<BR/><BR/>greenbottle - i'd like 5,000 books. love art books but can never afford them ...<BR/><BR/>songshards, animah - thanks. have a soft spot for kid's books too.<BR/><BR/>anna - will recommend good stuff as i stumble across it. (but here are some of <A HREF="http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?tag=favourites%21" REL="nofollow">my favourites</A> apart from the russian greats on your list so many titles i haven't heard of and must investigate ... thanks!<BR/><BR/>yvonne - you're too nice! just jump in and tell me the book that has made you happiest this yearbibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167455929866987562006-12-30T13:18:00.001+08:002006-12-30T13:18:00.001+08:00Greenbottle: YOU ,I envy!!! I wish that I had kept...Greenbottle: YOU ,I envy!!! <BR/><BR/>I wish that I had kept all of my books instead of giving them away or lending them to friends without the books being boomeranged!!!<BR/><BR/>Sharon: My staple is non-fiction,but I do periodically read good fictional works. Care to recommend me some excellent ones? <BR/><BR/>Here's me list;<BR/><BR/>1.Skeletons on the Zahara-Dean King<BR/><BR/>2.Metro Stop Dostoevsky-Ingrid Bengis <BR/><BR/>3.When Courage was Stronger than Fear- Peter Hellman<BR/><BR/>4.Trans-Siberia, Inside the Grey Area- Paddy Lineman<BR/><BR/>5.Elizabeth I- Anne Somerset<BR/><BR/>6.The Brothers Karamazov(a reread)- Dostotevsky <BR/><BR/>7.Resurrection(another reread)-Tolstoy<BR/><BR/>8.Napolean- Christopher Hibbert<BR/><BR/>9.Natasha's Dance- Orlando Figes<BR/><BR/>10.Grace and Power- Sally Bedell SmithAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167453792463946722006-12-30T12:43:00.000+08:002006-12-30T12:43:00.000+08:00yvonne - judge by which gave you the GREATEST read...yvonne - judge by which gave you the GREATEST reading pleasure.bibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167452677373744102006-12-30T12:24:00.001+08:002006-12-30T12:24:00.001+08:00the two books (fiction) that affected me most were...the two books (fiction) that affected me most were the last two that i completed recently<BR/><BR/>1: ali and nino by kurban said<BR/>any book that make you want to go to deghestan is definitely a good book<BR/><BR/>2: the paper house - carlos maria dominguez<BR/>this book all the more make me want to build a decent library...(probably the opposite of what this book intended...)<BR/><BR/>and my resolution?<BR/><BR/>want to step up another gear in book buying especially art books.<BR/>in 5 years time i hope to have about 5,000 books which should make it a fairly decent personal library...(currently at aaround 2000 or so)...Greenbottlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15316111272589161400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167452676686127792006-12-30T12:24:00.000+08:002006-12-30T12:24:00.000+08:00Aiyo.... Sharon. How can you actually rate your bo...Aiyo.... Sharon. How can you actually rate your books like that? :P I mean, I can't put my finger on which books I like best. All of them are touched me differently. And all of them provided different reading pleasure.Yvonne Foonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12908132837504150283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167450639303887022006-12-30T11:50:00.000+08:002006-12-30T11:50:00.000+08:00The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan StroudCold Tom ...The Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud<BR/>Cold Tom by Sally Prue<BR/><BR/>These are excellent children's books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7912730.post-1167444327172978792006-12-30T10:05:00.000+08:002006-12-30T10:05:00.000+08:00swifty - the book you read that you liked best. o...swifty - the book you read that you liked best. otherwise it's too restrictive!bibliobibulihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456636355933524132noreply@blogger.com