I'm back at it again. Making lists of forms of entertainment. Because I like making lists. And I like discussing things that entertain me.

This time it's a list of books that sounds good, and I haven't read yet. If you have, probably you can give some comments about whether they are worthwhile reads. Most of them have won some award or other/are written by award winning authors/appear in online lists of 'best books'

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1)

OK, to start my list, the new book by Yann Martel (who wrote The Life of Pi)(incidentally Martel's birthday is 2 days from now, I found out on Wikipedia). Beatrice and Virgil, a story about a donkey and a monkey. And about the Holocaust. I suppose it's going to be something in Pi style, starting with a calm and simple background story, and then suddenly shocking you towards the end.

Incidentally, I found this short story by Yann Martel online as well. If you haven't read his books before, maybe it will be a good sample:

We ate the children last

2)

Next up, something that has been appearing regularly on lists of the best books of all time. A classic; Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I know, it's a little bit dodgy, being a book about paedophillia. If I'm not mistaken I first heard about it from one of Amy Tan's books, where she talked about the beautiful writing style (no Amy Tan books on this list though. I like her stories, but they always make me feel angry towards men, so lets look for something less distressing) But I'm thinking if all else fails, I shall read this book while pretending that Lolita is a boy instead XD

On a side note, I'm surprised this book isn't banned in Malaysia. And Anne Rice's The Vampire Armand(no,actually all her books). Maybe they just ban books by the title or according to what mood they are in on that particular day *shrug*
3)

Moving on to what is called 'magic realism'(I learnt this from Wikipedia). Perfume, by Patrick Suskind(originally in German). The one that got turned into a movie, which I haven't watched. But the storyline sounds sadistically interesting. A man who is born without any body scent but having a strong sense of smell, murders women to collect their scent.

BTW is my list starting to sound a little bit dark? Oh well...

4)

A Hannibal Lecter novel. I haven't watched any of those movies, but anyways everyone seems to find them interesting, so maybe I should check out the novels. I think it is a series of 4 books.Silence of the lambs is the second one...but the title sticks the most. Psychological mystery kind of stuff. Interesting.
5)

Next up,a steampunk novel(Wikipedia improves my grasp of terminology). The Prestige, by Christopher Priest. It got made into a movie, which I am watching halfway. The original novel is a little bit different , but basically it's about 2 friends who are a stage magician's helpers, but later turn into fierce rivals when one of them accidentally kills the other's wife during a performance mistake.
6)

Last one, His Dark Materials series, by Philip Pullman. I just found out that the Golden Compass is part of this series. But anyway it's been a mainstay on lists of best fantasy novels, so it must be good.I'm usually a bit sceptical around lists of fantasy series since they mostly seem to revolve around knights and kings and all the rest of the royal cast, plus dragons. Sounds a bit too geeky and dry to me(especially if it's targeted at adults).But this looks promising.