Thursday, February 17, 2011

The general discussion #spbkchat list

High on most people's lists for this general chat was the news that Borders and Whitcoulls in Australia and New Zealand have gone into voluntary administration, which sparked a very interesting discussion.

Books mentioned:
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
What Maisy Knew
Wings of the Dove
The Bostonian
Silence by Shusaku Endo
Liebe deinen Nächsten' by Erich Maria Remarque
Child of Awe
Salem's Chapel by Margaret Oliphant
Beijing Coma
Plays and Petersburg Tales by Gogol
Three Men in a Boat
Waverley by Sir Walter Scott
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
Embedded by Dan Abnett
The Baron In the Trees by Italo Calvino
Smoke and Mirrors by Kevin Cudby
Hemingway In Spain by David Reiter
Dwarf Stars 2010
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
Kafka On The Shore
Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
After Dark
Enough About Love by Herve Le Tellier
The Raven's Heart by Jesse Blackadder
Wish I Was Here by Jackie Kay
Gifted by Patrick Evans


Authors mentioned:
Henry James
Jane Austen
The Bronte sisters
Haruki Murakami
Cherie Priest


Websites/links mentioned:
www.amazon.com
http://historicaltapestry.blogspot.com/2010/12/historical-fiction-challenge-2011.html
http://projectdblog.wordpress.com/
http://rosamirabooks.com/
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/68841/book-giants-whitcoulls-and-borders-in-receivership

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The #spbkchat Japan discussion list

This week's list, from the chat :-)

Japan-related books:
Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
The Word Book by Mieko Kanai
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
The Hunger Games (off-topic)
The Master Of Go by Yasunari Kawabata
Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka
Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
Nightingale Floor (series) by Lian Hearn
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
Sea of Fertility (tetralogy) by Yukio Mishima
Paprika by Yasutaka Tsutsui
Basho; Issa; Buson (haiku poets)
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
The Farthest Edge of the Islands


Website links:
http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/the-apex-book-of-world-sf-vol-ii-table-of-contents/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiun_Award
http://www.inspringitisthedawn.com/2011/01/japanese-literature-book-group-2011.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_science_fiction
http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2011/02/harry-potter-and-unfulfilled-destiny.html (off-topic)


Authors mentioned:
Koushun Takami
Yukio Mishima
Masayuki Taguchi (illustrator)
Yasutaka Tsutsui
Yoko Ogawa
Natsuo Kirino
Banana Yoshimoto
Ryu Murakami
Kazuo Ishiguro (off-topic)


Non-book titles:
Spirited Away (film)
Kiki's Delivery Service(film)

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The #spbkchat China discussion list

In honour of the Chinese New Year, this week's #spbkchat was all about China.

On to the list :-)

China-related books:
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
The Year of the Shanghai Shark
Shanghai Baby by Wei Hu
The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang
Paper Butterfly by Diane Wei Liang
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Empire of Heaven by Linda Ching Sledge
The Love Wife by Gish Jen
In the Shadow of the Cypress by Thomas Steinbeck
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
Eon by Allison Goodman
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
Temerarie by Naomi Novik
Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon
Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S Choi
The Painter of Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Tears of the Moon by Guo Sheng
Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang
Country Driving by Peter Hessler
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell
The Vagrants by Yiyun Li
February Flowers by Fan Wu
The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Website links:
http://centerforfiction.org/magazine/yiyun-li-talks-to-noreen-tomassi/
http://chineseliteraturechallenge.blogspot.com/

Authors mentioned:
Wei Lang
Liz Williams
Xiaolong Qiu
Lloyd Lofthouse
Lisa See
Amy Tan
Guy Gavriel Kay
Maxine Hong Kingston
Marjorie Liu
Anchee Min
Mo Hayder
Iris Chang
Yiyun Li
Kate Furnivall
Peter Hessler
Kylie Chan