Drama-Lovers Book Club

 LucianYaz:

There's no such thing as too much Pride and Prejudice! I think it's my most reread book. I have the 1995 A&E/BBC miniseries and I love it so much than 2005 adaptation. 

Hehe, Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle were very convincing as Mr Darcy and Lizzie, I agree. Matthew Macfadyen wasn't too bad, but my highlight was Keira Knightley. The 1995 version was probably more fleshed out since it was a miniseries compared to the 2005 feature film. They're both a wonderful retelling of this iconic tale :) 

Hellooo there. It's been about 5 years since I read a book in its entirety. The last one I read was the 6th volume in the Grave Robber's chronicles series. I loved it so much that it was hard for anything to capture my interest. Now that I have about 100 home projects I am working on as well as 30 some dramas, I thought now would be a great time to squish in some reading XD

 I picked up The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The synopsis sounded interesting. A girl who is barely hanging on with loads of regrets gets a chance to choose differently and make a "perfect" life. 

 fiflydramalover:

Ah! That sounds really frustrating and uncomfortable. Don't judge yourself too hard for not meeting your goal this month. Let's work harder with a better book in July! 

Yes, I can't believe that a writer could be so judgemental. Isn't he supposed to see from two sides. Thanks for your understanding. Let's continue with a better book or perhaps prepare backup books so you can change when it's not good.

 jubies33:

Hellooo there. It's been about 5 years since I read a book in its entirety. The last one I read was the 6th volume in the Grave Robber's chronicles series. I loved it so much that it was hard for anything to capture my interest. Now that I have about 100 home projects I am working on as well as 30 some dramas, I thought now would be a great time to squish in some reading XD

Welcome! Most of us here are also trying to get back to our old reading habits.
It's not easy, especially with all these dramas & movies tempting us , but we try to motivate each other!

Hello, I didn't get much reading done this last month.  I don't really have July plans except maybe try  reading books I had initially planned on reading in June.

Dropped:

Despite the good rating on Good Reads, it was just too depressing for me.   I cut my losses and moved on to something happier.

On Hold:

My first Indian period novel.  I was actually liking it a lot, but my library removed it from the virtual library to make room for its sequel (while I was in the middle of reading Henna Artist).  So now I have to get my hands on a physical copy the old fashioned way.

Finished:

My Rating: (3.75/5) - A sad yet touching memoir about the author losing her mother to cancer and in the process feeling like she lost the Korean part of her identity.  She spends a good amount of the novel trying to reconnect with Korean culture through food.

 Its You:

hey, are you reading translated books or are you reading the original? I want to get some translated books but dont know where to get them. TA

I don't read translated books anymore.  I'm reading them in Chinese.  I tried reading Harry Potter in Chinese and got stuck cuz I couldn't tell how they translated all the names.  It's not like in English where you can tell where a word ends and the next one begins.  I've also tried reading a translated version of Journey to the West and I gave up too.  I now only read the books in their original languages.  When I choose my Chinese books, I only read ones I've already watched as a drama so I have some reference.

Not sure where to get translated versions.  But I notice there are translated ones on Amazon.  At least from other languages into either English or Chinese.

hello friends, i'm a little late with my monthly update because I divided my time between work and binge watching The Long Ballad, so pardon me!

in june i managed to finish two books and re-read an old favorite.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. I really enjoyed a solid 3/4 of this book because of its dreamy atmosphere, lots of symbolism, literary references and beautiful, rich prose. The intertextuality of this novel makes the reading process extremely fun, especially if you are a bookworm or you studied literature. But all in all, surreal/oneirc aspect dominates over the narrative and in the end the whole story felt kinda... empty? I thought it was all about the meaning or the importance of reader in the reading process and how the story is not really told/doesn't have any meaning/or is loosing its meaning, if it's not interpreted/doesn't reach someone's heart in one way or another. But my biggest issue is the fact that I think the author overplayed the library-labyrinth motif and with the additional symbols that repeats throughout the novel over and over again, it gets pretty tiring and confusing. But I still think it's a solid piece of literature, maybe a little too pretentious, but definitely worth checking out. 

No longer human  by Osamu Dazai. Haunting, powerful, nerve wracking and deeply emotional story of deteriorating morality and psyche in post-war Japan. The inability to conform to social norms and expectations (being trapped between honne and tateme) and the constant fear of other people leads seemingly "normal" man to ultimate despair and self-destruction. There was something suicidal about this novel, it felt like I was reading someone's swan song. If you exclude the blatant misogyny (or maybe if you treat it as another thing that's suppose to show the collective mental state of "lost generation" in a new, post 1945 reality), it was a great read. And my copy has a dope cover, take a look:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. Ah yes, my favorite toxic people lol. That's a re-read I did during my short vacation. I've always loved this book, but it's interesting how my perception of it changed with my age. I think I first read it when I was in highschool and I thought it was disturbing, but fascinating gothic romance. Now I think it's HIGHLY disturbing psychological tragedy. I love how meticulous Bronte was with the way she wrote those characters, espcially if you take small foreshadowings and symbolic scenes into consideration (the symbolism of dogs really hit me this time). It's very dark and not easy to stomach because yes, all of these people need a therapy, but sadly therapy was not a thing during this time period. It's all about obsessions, mental demage done on children, desperation, misplaced and misunderstood feelings, regret and... death. Yeah, still my favorite lol.

I'm starting a new book this week, it's On Earth we're briefly gorgeous by Ocean Vuong . I'll propably read two books in July because my schedule is less tight, but I still haven't decided what to buy. 

See you next month! ♡

 jindreame:

I'm actually not that proficient in Chinese, which is why I can only read novels after I watch the dramas.  I've only gotten better by watching Chinese dramas and reading the subtitles in Chinese.  

One time I bought a Korean Drama but I didn't realize the subtitles were in Chinese.  It took 10 years later before I could watch it because I couldn't read the subtitles fast enough to understand what was going on.  

Even now I have to watch Chinese dramas with some kind of subtitles, either in English or Chinese.  I prefer Chinese because sometimes the English subtitles are wrong and they throw me off.  

I choose to read Chinese books so my Chinese doesn't disintegrate into nothing.  It took me forever to get my Chinese up so high.  

Oh wow! Thats pretty cool