I have been eying The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, so I am so glad that you posted your thoughts on it.
Currently, I am reading Transformation by Carol Berg and I am loving the narrative and the characters. This is one book I will probably recommend over and over again.
Have also gotten sucked into All The World's A Grave by John Reed - sort of a Shakespeare twist. It was a little difficult to get into at first, but I really like the idea of Juliet being a cheating spouse, Iago being a disgruntled employee passed over for promotion with revenge issues, and Macbeth being a man riddled with uncertainty and doubt while his mistress then wife (the queen) calls all the behind the scenes shots.
Warning - if you don't get on well with the writing style of Shakespeare, this book is not for you. It's my experience that people either love him or hate him. :)
In nonfiction, I completely enjoyed, and couldn't recommend enough, My Life In Shanghai by Nien Cheng. It is one woman's autobiography of her life in China at the time of Mao's Cultural Revolution and her survival of mental and physical torture. It is an amazing story of courage under fire and sheer determination in the face of chaos and loss. I have utmost respect for Nien Cheng (who past away just last year at 94) and her struggle.
What I am really looking forward to that keeps staring a me from my "to read" shelf is Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. I got a copy randomly, haven't heard a thing about it (haven't even read the back summary which is sometimes a very exciting thing not to do!) and I am excited to give it a try.
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Date: 2010-06-07 04:23 pm (UTC)Currently, I am reading Transformation by Carol Berg and I am loving the narrative and the characters. This is one book I will probably recommend over and over again.
Have also gotten sucked into All The World's A Grave by John Reed - sort of a Shakespeare twist. It was a little difficult to get into at first, but I really like the idea of Juliet being a cheating spouse, Iago being a disgruntled employee passed over for promotion with revenge issues, and Macbeth being a man riddled with uncertainty and doubt while his mistress then wife (the queen) calls all the behind the scenes shots.
Warning - if you don't get on well with the writing style of Shakespeare, this book is not for you. It's my experience that people either love him or hate him. :)
In nonfiction, I completely enjoyed, and couldn't recommend enough, My Life In Shanghai by Nien Cheng. It is one woman's autobiography of her life in China at the time of Mao's Cultural Revolution and her survival of mental and physical torture. It is an amazing story of courage under fire and sheer determination in the face of chaos and loss. I have utmost respect for Nien Cheng (who past away just last year at 94) and her struggle.
What I am really looking forward to that keeps staring a me from my "to read" shelf is Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. I got a copy randomly, haven't heard a thing about it (haven't even read the back summary which is sometimes a very exciting thing not to do!) and I am excited to give it a try.