I finally got my hands on the first Hornblower book, which I liked a lot, and I need to now find the next one. It is, however, kind of pathetic that I read that muse article (one of my favorite issues) years ago, and am only now reading the books. *sigh*
Does anybody have any good fantasy books to recommend? I seem to be finding less books of it that I want to read, and that’s not good.
1 – Lots of stuff by Vivian Vande Velde, such as Now You See It… and Heir Apparent (my favorite). She’s written over two dozen books, I believe, and she’s good.
Also the Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld. Good books.
The Hornblower books are great! Execpt for #10 witch is sort of weird.
Have you ever read the Dark is Rising Series by Susan Copper they’re really good.
3- OMG Heir Apparent was AWESOME! Now You See It… was less good but still pretty good compared to some of the crap I’ve been seeing on bookstore shelves these days.
1- The Bordertown books. Rather hard to find, but good. Finder by Emma Bull, (for that matter War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, though it isn’t Bordertown) Elsewhere by Will Shetterly, the Bordertown collections edited by Terri Windling.
1-
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Fairest by the same
The Wish by the same(very “girl” book! Beware!)
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by the same
2-Yeah. I thought they were pretty good, though it was a while ago. Maybe I should read them again…
3-Ooh. I’ve heard of her, I think…
I’ve read most of The Dark Is Rising, although I have to be in the right mood to read some of her books, because they sometimes go a little slowly. King of Shadows was probably my favorite book (so far) written by her, even though I guess it was meant for younger readers.
6-I’ll have to look for those… They sound good!
8-Oh, she’s fun. I’ll have to look for Fairest… And The Wish was a very “girl” book.
Loyd Alexander isn’t my favorite, although maybe I just haven’t read some of his best works. I don’t know. Did he write The Rope Trick (or something like that)? *thinks*
I need to steal the other Two Dark Materials from my brother, but I read the first and it wasn’t bad.
Alright kids. Before I proceed, I want you all to know that the following series are under the YOUNG ADULTS section at the bookstore. I will not be responsible for any young minds corrupted by this post. : )
Anybody here read any books by Darren Shan?
Creepy, supernatural, disturbing, but totally awesome.
I’ve read Twilight, but not the other books in the series.
Scott Westerfield is an amazing author.
17-the uglies series was pretty good. i liked it. i still have yet to read extras. i didn’t particularly like tally ending up with david. he was a gross little baby. and he had bad teeth. zane was da man!
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Alice sort of kind of almost but not quite wants to change her name says:
17- All of them, except Extras, which i’m still wating to come in from the library.
Anyone read…
1984?
The Mysterious Benedict Society?
Annie on my Mind?
Copper Sun?
Sabriel?
The Keys to the Kingdom books?
They are all REALLY good.
I’m reading All Creatures Great and Small for school….it is sooooooo long and boring!
27- Same here, I’ve read all but Extras. I’ve also read 1984, because I had to for school. I didn’t like it as much as Fahrenheit 451, but it was still a good book.
Has anybody here read any books by Ellen Hopkins (I think that’s her name)?
Crank
Burned
Impulse
Glass
(coming in August ’08) Identical?
I’ve read Crank and Impulse. There really cool books.
3 – I liked Now You See It… I should read Heir Apparent.
I just read The Golden Compass. It was great. My friend saw the movie before she read the book, and now she’s reading the book. I told her not to, but she didn’t listen. Ugh!
27- I’ve read Sabriel and the Keys to the Kingdom books (anyone know when Superior Saturday is coming out?) and like them. But I have to object to calling ACGAS boring.
17-I’ve read the first book in both of those. I liked Twilight but Uglies annoyed me because I’ve read books like it before that were much better in my opinion.
I am reading The Jungle for school and I’m going to have to read 9 more books for clubs this year.
I’ve been reading a lot of spiritual books this year. I guess it’s because most of the books for school are mediocre fiction books and they’ve managed to annoy me out of reading fiction for a while.
I’m getting so annoyed with the books being made into movies. Can’t they come up with great movies instead of chopping up books and making movies that aren’t even that good??!! When I have kids I’m going to check every movie they want to see and if there’s a book I’ll tell them they have to read it before they’re allowed to see the movie. My kids will probably skip school and rebel because of that. I also get so mad when i see a movie and then later I find out there’s a book. I think that they should be required to say that in the commercial if the movie comes from a book.
1984? I should.
The Mysterious Benedict Society? Check.
Annie on my Mind? Check.
Copper Sun? haven’t heard of it.
Sabriel? Check.
The Keys to the Kingdom books? I should.
10- Of course they are!!!!!!! Otherwise why would i put them? *scratches head*
13- i haven’t watched “The Golden Compass”(probably will be my next movie theater visit reason) yet, so i don’t know about that.
14- WHY did they try to do that? they’re the greatest series in the WORLD!!!!!!!
15- she’s a good author…the wish was my favorite out of all that. and “The Rope Trick” was by him. It was okay, though not one of my favorites. But I do recommend it for ppl who don’t have anything to read.
27- I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY! *gasp!!!!!!* How could I? every single museblogger must jump up this very moments and go buy it and read it until they end no matter what they have/had planned for the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. How do you make italics or that weird cross-out thing in blog entries?
Yes, it’s fun. A whole different way of writing a novel, though. I like it. Old books are such fun to read. I have a jokebook reproduction from the 18th century and it’s just the same.
and ppl, ive started reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes by arthur Conan Doyle and i love it!!!!!!! And the Russian holmes movies are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i haven’t seen the english ones.
I’ve read a lot of good fantasy based on fairy tales, especially collections edited by Terri Windling, and novels by Mercedes Lackey, and Diana Wynne Jones.
45-Cool! I just started reading a Sherlock Holmes book too! -pokes post 41- I think it’s really neat…the words are big and funny but that makes it fun to read!
46- yesssss. Terri Windling. Have you seen her Endicott Studio site? Have you read anything by Charles de Lint? Ellen Kushner? Midori Snyder? oooh yay for someone with similar taste as me… *is happy*
I hope the GAPAs won’t mind if I mention this subject again, but I realized that it would be more suited to a book thread.
As many of you probably already know, my most favorite book of all time, is the ecological sci-fi thriller, Primal Tears by Kelpie Wilson.
I got it for Christmas in 2006, and since then, I have made hundreds of drawings based on the characters and even written a couple of screenplays for it (although I never get very far because I’m terrible at omitting stuff from the book, so by the time anything interesting happens, we’re already at least 30 minutes into it).
I won’t tell you too much about the book, except to say that it offers a fresh new look at humanity, and what it means to be human. Are humans really that different from all the other animals on the planet. And if we are just the same, then certainly we ought to make more room for them.
But how?
This book offers an answer to this and many other questions.
So to anybody on the blog who is at least 17 years of age (or who’s parents approve) do me a favor, and buy this book.
I’ve already persuaded at least one of my friends (a grownup) to order it on the internet.
Primal Tears by Kelpie Wilson
From From Frog Lmtd Publishers (can also be ordered on Amazon).
And in 3 or 4 months, after everyone has had plenty of time to read it, we can start a book discussion thread about it.
PS: To tell you the truth, I’m hoping that eventually, the sales of this book will become just as much LOTR, Harry Potter, and The Da Vinci Code. It probably won’t happen, but I’m going to be hopeful.
To all those who I’ve befriended here, particularly Jadestone, please read this book.
51- If you have to be 17 or older to read it, I doubt it could really be discussed on MuseBlog…
Especially since only about five MuseBloggers are 17 or over.
Okay, maybe more. *thinks*
Oxlin, Grant O., Faye, Groundhog, Mel (?), you…
Yup. Five.
I read Twilight, finally, after everyone has been suggesting it to me for ages. I really liked it — it was one of those books that you couldn’t put down. After I finished it, though, I got really irritated with the characters. Yes, they have flaws, they just don’t seem flawed enough, and they’re annoying at times.
55- A Wrinkle in Time is really good. I really haven’t a clue whether they travel through time though. The Phantom Tollbooth is also great. It’s my favorite book.
I get so frustrated when I try to talk to people about books and they say they don’t read. If they don’t read how can they write? They’re usually the people texting their friends in class too. I guess they just know what they’re friends sent and don’t need to read it.
Keys to the Kingdom — they were addictive at first, but then they got boring because they all had the same plot line.
His Dark Materials — AWESOME! I finished rererererereading the series (again) this morning. Instead of doing homework. =D For anybody who doesn’t know the plot…Basically, there are lots of different universes that split off from one another when a choice goes two ways — i.e., if there’s a big war, there’s two possible outcomes — one side wins, or the other side wins. When the outcomes happen, one world has one outcome, and the other world has the other one. Etc. So the world of the main character is similar to our world, except people have their souls in animal shapes outside their bodies. In that world, the Church is the ruling force over the world.
In the first book, The Golden Compass, the main character, Lyra, has to save her friend from an organization the kidnaps children (no, it’s not your typical journey-to-save-from-bad-guys story, it’s a lot more complex.)
The second book, The Subtle Knife, is more like a transition book, where a boy named Will comes into the story, obtains a knife that can cut through worlds, and he and Lyra help each other.
The third book, The Amber Spyglass, is about how the Authority’s agents are trying to take over all the worlds, and how what Will and Lyra do relate to that.
I hope I didn’t give away too much. They’re really good and insightful.
As for Twilight, Eclipse, and New Moon — I read Twilight, and didn’t like it much. It seemed to have too much of “He looked at me, and I could feel my heart speeding up. I blushed again, as I always did when he looked at me…” etc. etc. An interesting idea, and maybe another way to tell that story would have been better, but I didn’t like this one much.
As to reading in general, I shall spare you all my rant against video games in favor of books, and save it for another time.
63- I have read…
The original version of Around the World in 80 Days three times, plus numerous adaptations.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea as a graphic novel and half of it in original form.
Journey to the Center of the Earth in original form, in simplified form, and as a graphic novel.
From the Earth to the Moon in original form.
I’ve never read Jules Verne. I started reading Journey to the Center of the Earth some time ago, but, like I do with most books that fail to hook me immediately, I put it down and never picked it up again.
60 & 61 – Alice & Cat’s Meow, respectively – Yes! I am new! Thank you for the gracious gift of pies. Mmmm… I found the address in a recent Muse and thought, ‘Hey, that seems cool.’ So here I am, ready to explore yet another fun way to procrastinate!
Back on books — Has anybody read the Ender’s Game series? (By Orson Scott Card.) How about The Wee Free Men and its sequels? (By Terry Pratchett.) Or…here’s one I’m almost positive nobody here will have heard of: the Moomintroll series. By Tove Jansson (Pronounced tov-AY YAHN-son.)
Actually, I’d always thought the Moomintroll books were somehow related to where I live… *thinks* But Tove Jansson lived in Finland, no? Hmm. There are a lot of Finns and Scandinavians around here.
There’s a book set in a teensy town half an hour away from where I live. The library put a sticker on it that said “Local Author”. They’re so wrong. I’ve got to tell them sometime.
I read Comet in Moominland, or something like that, which might be from the same series. I thought it was cute, in a good way. I’ve never really found any of the others…
I’ve never read any Jules Verne, except (*gasp*) the Wishbone adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth years ago. Any recommendations for a book of his that would be good to introduce me him?
*pies RainbowFish* Those are great books! (in your first post, 59.) I shall contemplate some to recommened to you. Have you read books by Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Ellen Kusher, Delia Sherman, Robin McKinley, Caroline Stevermer, Patricia C. Wrede etc before?
I am currently reading The Wood Wife by Terri Windling.
I’ve heard of the Moonintroll series but I’ve not read them.
Hooray for Wee Free Men!
I tried reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea last year, and I just couldn’t get through it. I loved Journey to the Centre of the Earth, though, when I read it in 8th grade.
67 – Haha, welcome, then! I’ve read Wee Free Men (In English class) and then I read A Hat Full of Sky on my own. Is there yet another sequel? I say that because you said “sequels”, so I’m not exactly sure what you meant. =P
79 – I totally agree. I thought my family was the only one who knew about them. All our copies are pretty old, they were handed down from my grandmother, I think. How did all of you other people who know about Moomintroll find out about them?
76 – You read Wee Free Men in English class?? Lucky! *jealous* I’ve always wanted to do fantasy books or books I really liked in school, but MCPS always kills the books. *sigh*
73 – Patricia C. Wrede — The dragons series, yes? I loved those in fifth grade, but I find they’re a little … how shall I say… you know what, I’m gonna steal Alice’s phrase: I find they’re a little young for me now. I haven’t heard of any of the other authors. What types of books do they write?
71 – Yes, that is part of the series.
69 – No, actually, my name doesn’t come from that book. In fact, it hadn’t even occurred to me. In other forums, I had used the name Goldfish, but I didn’t want to do that here, so I thought I might use GoldenFish, except that’s too…I don’t know. Rich and unfriendly, maybe. So it’s RainbowFish. Because I’ve always liked the image of a fish with lots of iridescent scales swimming.
Woww…that was long. I suppose I covered everything. Except, oh, whoever was refusing to read the Uglies series — don’t. They’re really good, and just because a lot of the people you don’t like read them, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. They’re about utopias.
81- Patricia C. Wrede has written many books other than the dragons series. She’s written the Maierlon ones, the Lyra ones (alone, they may be out of print) and also Sorcery and Cecilia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot and sequels with Caroline Stevermer.
Charles de Lint- Books about his city, Newford, that encorporate magic and myth with modern times. I’d start with Someplace to be Flying.
Emma Bull – The War for the Oaks, Territory, Finder (a bordertown book I’ll talk about Bordertown at the end of this post that shall be long.)
Will Shetterly- Elsewhere, Nevernever (both Bordertown) and most likely more that I can’t think of right now. Edited the Liavek books with Emma Bull (out of print now)
Ellen Kusher- wrote the Swordspoint books. I’d read The Fall of the Kings last and Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword first. (TPOTS and Swordspoint being two different books read in any order before The Fall of the Kings)
Delia Sherman- Changeling, The Fall of the Kings (with Ellen Kushner), Through a Brazen Mirror
Robin McKinley- The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, Sunshine and many others
Caroline Stevermer- Sorcery and Cecilia and sequels with Patricia C. Wrede, A College of Magics, A Scholar of Magics
Diana Wynne Jones- Many, many wonderful books. Some of my favorites include: Fire and Hemlock, the Chrestomanci books, Cart and Cwidder and sequels etc, etc…
Pamela Dean- Tam Lin, various others
Keep in mind that I’ve probably not talked about every book each has written and I’ve not read all of these books
Editors: Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, Sharyn November
Bordertown: Terri Windling was told to create a world for some of the above authors to write stories in that would appeal to teens. (this was back in the eighties or so, subsequently the books are often out of print) She created Bordertown, a world on the border of our world and Faerie and edited four anthologies set there. There are also novels set in Bordertown.
Post 82’s recommendations are for anyone willing to listen to them. The books are fantasy, though many are mythic fiction, myth based stories set in modern times.
82- Ooh, I liked Sorcery and Cecilia. Except I stopped because I felt uncomfortable with it after a while. I don’t remember precisely why. Up to that point, though, I liked it.
87- err, no I didn’t. that was my list, not yours. if you want to list Tamora Pierce go right ahead, I’ve nothing against her. but you aren’t the one to decide who I list.
90, 91, 92 – You know, that’s kind of what I suspected. -glances up to see “Resistance is Museless”, “Mostly Harmless”, and “Hitchhiker’s Guide To MuseBlog”. Hmmm…
92 – My library doesn’t have it right now, but they think that one will be available in about 2 days, and I have the other ones, so then I can just read right through!
Oh, great…I just checked the library website and it said that the wait for getting the book back in is “undetermined”. I wonder if that means somebody didn’t bring it back. That worries me, since two other books in the series got taken from the library as well. =/
My dad got me “The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide: Five Complete Novels and One Story” and it’s so prettyful….
Considering the prettyfulness I’m not sure if I should take it to school; it could become damaged.
I must go hug my dad now.
105 – No, it’s just that a couple of days ago it said “Estimated wait: 2 days” and now that it’s been 2 days it just says “Estimated wait: undetermined”.
I’m finally reading War for the Oaks, which I got out of the library. It reminds me of Charles de Lint, but a bit… lighter? I don’t know. I like it, though.
My brother also found The Wave, which was mentioned on some thread forever ago that I thought sounded interesting. So now that he’s done, I’ll read it. I must say, it’s kind of embarrassing to be reading the same books as my younger brother. I know it shouldn’t be, but still…
Yay for Silas Marner!
I want to read the Scarlet Pimpernel, but I haven’t yet. I still need to go read Lord of The Flies…
My mom got The Elements of Style out of the library for me… I guess it’s a grammar-ish writing type book, but it seems interesting, and it has cute illustrations (I haven’t actually read an illustrated book in a while, actually).
I am currently reading Emma, by Jane Austen. Did you know that a movie called Clueless was based on it? Yeahhh…. I saw the movie a while ago. I liked it, I remember.
And some awesome trashy books are the Clique books. They are hilariously awful. But they’re addictive. (ing? ive? I don’t know.) There’s ten of them at the last count, and they’re about these really ridiculously preppy rich seventh graders who are really concerned about popularity and boyfriends and fashion. And lip gloss. xD
There’s a book I want to read.. What was it? Oh yeah: The Catcher In the Rye by JD Salinger. I have no idea if it is “appropriate” for my age or not, however. I hope it is I hope it is..
I’m in 7th grade, 13 years of age. Most of the books I read are “7th grade and up” but I’ve read the first 3 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and on the second one it said “8th grade and up”. *nodnod*
Well, The Catcher In the Rye does have a lot of swearing, and some references (and more) in it, so you’d better be prepared for that. But it’s a great book, especially if you’re feeling confused or depressed or lost, or if you just want to read something original and new. I wouldn’t know to compare it to TSotTP, because I’ve only read the first one, although people were saying that they got more… um, yeah. Anyway.
I’ve got an English project, and it involves reading a gripping book that isn’t what you’d normally read. So, any suggestions?
For reference, I usually read 18th to 19th century adventure stories (set there, not written there), modern fantasy, and anything involving an alternate world. Help?
125-You’re welcome! I’m sorry you’re not allowed to read it. Parents? Still, I think it’s great that they let you buy it, and trust you enough to have it and not read it.
125-You’re welcome! I’m sorry you’re not allowed to read it. Parents? Still, I think it’s great that they let you buy it, and trust you enough to have it and not read it.
127-I’m not certain… *thinks* You’ve probably read most of what I’d say… Gripping as in a fast-paced plot, or emotionally gripping?
I can’t wait for the 6th Keys to the Kingdom – “Superior Saturday.”
Oh, and LOTR verse:
Three Rings for the elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
138- I agree with you on Drowned Wednesday. That was my personal favorite. It was less formulaic than the others because the Trustee wanted to cooperate, but a new villain (Feverfew) was getting in the way. Also, if I had to live in one of the demesnes, the Border Sea would probably be my choice.
Plus, who doesn’t love the Raised Rats?
I am reading Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. It is pretty good so far. I am just about to read where he gets murdered and the plot comes out in the open.
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Kokonilly [who feels lonely without any points, hint hint] says:
I need reccomendations for books. Please. Whenever I go to the bookstore I come out with manga (which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I want books too).
I’d prefer nothing that says the age group is anything above 7th Grade (I’m 13, but still..) because most of the books I’m interested in all say “grades 9 and up”. *pokes post 158* Meh. If you have read something good that says that that might still be okay, please reccomend.
Thanks!
Oh my.
I have discovered that I have read a book that says “grades 9 and up” on it.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I LOVE THAT BOOK.
So, yes. Maybe some are okay. *searches websites for good books*
okay. what happened to MB? all the threads are different, well, the layout is different, the ‘website’ box is back and there aren’t any numbers! Did WordPress change your layout? what happened?
157- Hey if you go by the back of the book I’m too young to read it but seriously I don’t really think it matters. Boos shouold not have age limits. I’m not saying that three year olds should read it but seriously I think people should ge able to pick books out themselves.
174 – I agree. Once, when I was 5 or something, I looked at the back of my American Girl book, and what do I see? An Ages 9 and Up sign. I tell my mom, thinking “Oh no! I can’t read this! I’m only 5!” She told me that it didn’t matter. If you can understand the content and it’s appropriate, that’s fine.
173- That’s all right. If you haven’t read the Wee Free Men, you probably wouldn’t get it. (Unless he’s mentioned in other books?…. unlikely, as he dies in that one)
On another topic, I just read UnLunDun and quite liked it.
178- In a way. In type of book they might be called similar but in tone they are quite different. Neverwhere is much darker though Un Lun Dun is dark in its own way. Un Lun Dun is whimsical though Neverwhere is too but Neverwhere is darker and Un Lun Dun is more whimsical.
The setting of both is fascinating though Un Lun Dun’s is somewhat more unique. Neverwhere’s London exists within the actual London while Un Lun Dun’s is a different place almost entirely (it is London after all but in a different world.) Neverwhere focuses more on the unseen bits that are within our world.
(179) Thanks! I’ll probably read them both eventually. (I’m in the middle of War and Peace right now.) Amazon seems to think I’d like Un Lun Dun, and I’ve seen the first couple of episodes of the TV mini-series of Neverwhen.
I liked Un Lun Dun very much, although I was busy and it took me too long to read (if I can’t read a book quick enough, I stop enjoying the writing style). Plus I sort of identify it with the old house, and all that…Isn’t it rum how I can avoid really remembering the other house even when I drive past the blackened skeleton, and yet any book I read there now has that connotation for me. Well, except Shakespeare.
There’s sort of a line between my memories. There was the house when it was cold, which tends to be far more vivid and pretty much encompasses all my reading, and then there were the days I enjoyed, which are very fuzzy and mostly involve sitting in front of the fireplace.
I didn’t like that house very much. I just realized. It was huge and hard to heat and there was all sorts of stuff lying around that didn’t belong to us. I like this house a lot better. It’s cosy.
Wow. That was a revelation.
ANYWAY, back on topic, Un Lun Dun was good. It was surreal.
And I don’t remember Sneebs. Sorry, POSOC.
There’s no way I’m going to get The Book Thief in time for my English project. Crumbs.
Septimus Heap ~ far too easy vocabulary, but a good plot. I’m on book 3. Warriors ~ also a bit easy, but it has a good story. I’m rereading book 1. Lord of the Rings ~ Need I say more? I’m rereading The Two Towers.
174 – But the thing is, I’ve read books that say they are for younger age groups than I fall under, and been somewhat disturbed by some of the content. Also, if the age group is higher than what I fall under, my mom looks it up, and so far 100% of the time, I won’t be allowed to read it.
I pretty much trust the rating on the back. If it says 9th grade and up, it’s for 9th grade and up.
I find book “ratings” pointless. I used to think that if I looked in the juvenile section of the library, all the books would be fairly safe. But I’ve found worse books in the juvenile section than in YA! Of course, it’s really up to the library people where the books go (although why they would put the Lioness quartet in the children’s section, I honestly don’t know).
All ye fans of JS&MN, heed what I say! There is another book by Susanna Clarke! It’s called The Ladies of Grace Adieu, and it’s an anthology of short stories. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m looking forward to it.
201- Freddy the Detective. I think that’s a Freddy the Pig book. It was about a pig. Named Freddy. I enjoyed it, although I can’t remember what it was.
I read every Freddy book still in print. My favorite was Freddy the Pilot. There’s just something so awesome about a bunch of skunk and rabbit commandos laying siege to a couple of crooks in an abandoned farmhouse.
Aw, dang. I suppose I’ll never see that… *wistful*
However, what POSOC said reminded me of those picture books… what are they called… Little Grey Rabbit? I dunno. They were definitely for a younger audience than Freddy, think more like a slightly older Beatrix Potter, but they were great fun. There was one about a battle, so that’s what reminded me of it…
Hmm. I’m off to go find more Freddy books, since you two esteemèd MuseBloggers give it such good reviews.
I just read a great series of books. They’re called Outcast, and they’re by authors whose names I can’t remember. They can be read in a few hours, but there’s 4, so they kept me entertained while going back and forth to a soccer tournament, plus a bunch more back home.
I’m reading Maddigan’s Fantasia. I have this weird feeling that I’ve seen it before, looked at it and thought, “nah, I’ll pass.” OH! OH! I just remembered where! Powell’s! It was on the sale shelf and I only had about six more dollars on that card and I didn’t want to use the other one ’cause I didn’t know what happened to gift cards if you only use some of the money, so I didn’t get it.
I’m reading House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. It is excellent. It isn’t exactly published yet though; it is an advanced reader’s proof. It says June as the publication date on the back of it and I would recommended seeking it out then!
I’m reading various books at the same time. Mostly, I’m trying to reread A Series Of Unfortunate Events… Huh, I read this when I was little! That’s probably part of how I got morbid. Tim Burton probably adds to this.
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ZVX, formerly known as Mouse. (210 piepoints, says:
-183, Kokonilly, you said you liked Warriors, right? she’s just come out with a new series, Power of three. these books are VERY good and you should read them.
212 – It’s not very new, to tell the truth. There are already 2 books out in that series.
Oh, and The Sight is pretty bad IMO, but Dark River is a lot better.
The end of New Prophecy and The Sight wasn’t very good…
I think the best part of the whole series was Firestar’s Quest. That just pwned.
Can anyone tell me a series that is good for kids who like fiction and fantasy type stuff? I am currently in a position where I can’t find a decent series with both genres. I don’t know if I haven’t been looking hard enough or something but PLEASE HELP!!
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 116 piepoints] says:
212 – Yeah, I know, but I’m still trying to get ahold of the sixth book in the New Prophecy series. ;(
214 – ACK NO SPOILERS NO SPOILERS NO SPOILERS
216 – *cough* Harry Potter *cough* Artemis Fowl *cough* Warriors *cough* Lord of the Rings *cough* et cetera *cough*
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The Delphi Oracle (Formerly known as Hypatia and more appropriately known as Miss Procrastination and who is going through an intense name-changing phase) says:
I just finished a 500 page book with only 4 (or maybe 3, I can’t quite remember and am too lazy to check) chapters. And I always thought chapters were meant to be around ten pages. S’pose not. Really odd.
Oh! This is my new favorite thread!
216 – Definetly Artemis Fowl.
218 – That is really weird. And I like your name.
217 – What’s New Prophecy?
Does anyone else like Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic books? I think they are better than the Tortall ones.
Also, I really like the Bone comics. Do those belong on this thread?
That was an extremely changing-topic-type-comment. Wow, my English sucks today.
221 – The Warriors series? Who are they by? I’m going to the library later and I need a new series to read.
220 – Yes you do.
I only have one more Hitchhiker’s Guide book left! Is Fenchurch in Mostly Harmless?
There are SO many books that are better than Harry Potter, like Inkspell and other books written by Cornelia Funke , Eragon and Eldest, books by Andrew Clements and especially books in the Children of the Lamp series! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Well, here’s my opinions.
The Cornelia Funke books are good, but I feel that the characters are not very developed and her books generally do not hold my attention for very long.
Eragon and Eldest are incredibly overrated. Honestly.
Andrew Clements is good, especially Things Not Seen and Things Hoped (or was it Wished?) For, but they are generally aimed for younger age groups without very developed plots at ALL.
Children of the Lamp? Never read it, but it looks like another fantasy gimmick.
By the way, is there anyone who is a Pendragon fan but does not want to read Rivers of Zadaa because of the School Library Journal review on Amazon? If so, I have one thing to say to you: IT’S A PACK O’ LIES!
I just read two really good books from a trilogy called “the mortal instruments” the first one is called city of bones. read it, you know you want to. i also read a good book called “beige” for more info on either of these books just ask me, i’ll write a reveiw. or you could just read the book yourself…..
199-Is Rash the one with the pizza factory/polar bear thing, by the author of Godless? Because I think I read that… I always think that his books will be funny, but then they always make me kind of depressed.
I think Andrew Clements is really good, but I agree that his books are usually meant for younger people. The whole grandad-in-the-freezer thing was kind of creepy, though. Still, I like reading his books. I never realized that those book titles were quotes from the bible, though, until I saw a poster with the phrase outside my piano lesson…
I should probably re-read the Twilight series, because now everybody is reading them, and it’s been forever…
And I’ll need to get my hands on The Ladies of Grace Adieu!
(*struggles against comment box*)
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The Man For Aeiou (10 Wung Points, Creativity Ceylon 31)(2 Temp Bday points) says:
234- I like fantasy, I just don’t like how all the books being written these days seem to be photocopies of one another. (A few notable exceptions, but that’s the vast majority.)
235- definately, thats what i meant when i said the thing about fantasy, the less popular stuff seems like these never ending series books that just have more and more crazy things happen that dont mean much.
but i havent read loads of fantasy so i cant critique it much,
i finished the book thief a month ago and im still ranting and raving about it to people
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The Man For Aeiou (10 Wung Points, Creativity Ceylon 31)(2 Temp Bday points) says:
239- Re: neverending series books- I hate sequel-for-the-sake-of-a-sequel-sequels. The idea for the sequel should come before you resolve to write it, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
I’m also bored with trilogies. Why is it that every fantasy or sci-fi series has to be a trilogy? I’d like to see more quartets or stand-alones.
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 111 piepoints] says:
244- Agreed. There are also way to many books like HG2G (Five books trilogies. Eg. Artimas fowl, the third book was the last book, then The fourth, five, sixth, and now seventh.)
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 111 piepoints] says:
245- I’m not saying LOTR was bad. It was very, very good. And it was also one of the first trilogies. But now trilogies seem ubitiquous.
246- Heavy as in number of pages, or heavy as in subject matter? If it’s number of pages you’re worried about, read it all. No matter how many days it takes- it’s a book to be savored. If it’s the subject matter, there’s plenty of comic relief to lighten it up. Look at the John brothers and the Sea-skippers. Not to mention the infamous hamster tree song.
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 111 piepoints] says:
254- Ohh, right. I didn’t count the Files.
Do you know, I once decoded the entire fairy alphabet without using a key? All I had access to were the covers of the Arctic Incident, the Eternity Code, and the Opal Deception (as well as the message in the hardcover edition of this last.)
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The Man For Aeiou (10 Wung Points, Creativity Ceylon 31)(2 Temp Bday points) says:
240/243- Actually, most of my favorite fantasy books are written after 2000.
244- That’s what I’ve been saying for months. Trilogies are getting boring. In fact, we can even rule out the quartets. I like stand-alones.
257- It is three books, or maybe even more, but I don’t know when the next one’s coming out. Last time I checked I could get no info.
I’m reading Anne Frank. We have to read banned books for English, and I was looking through a long list of banned books and saw that one, which I’ve been meaning to read for a while.
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 111 piepoints] says:
264- i strongly suggest ‘the master and margerita’ by mikhail bulgakov. it’s my favorite book. to sum up the plot: satan and his posse wreak havoc in moscow/pontius pilate does something (i don’t remember what, it tells two stories, but the one about the devil in moscow is ultimately far more interesting). i haven’t read it in a long time, though, i should get around to rereading it.
And I’m beginning to see how one could hate Jack. In fact, they’re all getting really scarily bloodthirsty. But Jack’s one of the more central characters, so he’s scarier.
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
I have just finished reading
Dovey Coe
AotSP
Queste
The Penderwicks On Gardam Street
The Thief Queens Daughter
The Never Ending Story
My favorite Books
Inkheart
Inkspell
Septimus Heap series
Percy Jackson series
AotSP
The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme (series)
Grey Griffins (series)
Young Wizards (series)
and MUCH MORE!
I’m a neophyte, and this is my 1st ever blog!
250. Yes, 6th Artemis Fowl coming out in July! It’s an awesome series, if you like magic-science-time quandrey genre.
Has anyone read Brian Jacques Redwall series? Squirels and otters rule!
279- We have a little ritual for neophytes. Perhaps you know about it? *SPLAT*
279- I used to love Redwall. I haven’t read it in a while, I sort of grew out of anthropomorphic animals. But Watership Down is amazing.
Speaking of WD, I really want to read “Plague Dogs” by the same author.
Oh, and I finished The Lord of the Flies today. That was an INTENSE book. Some of it reminded me of The Most Dangerous Game, but much, MUCH worse. *shudder* Manhunts scare me…
I really want to re-iterate Tumsy’s suggestion of that book. Its superb. And its probably one of the funniest things you’ll ever read. The plot is basically Satan strewing discord in Moscow, but its embellished by so many wonderful funny scenes and character developments. Ugh! I want to rant about them, but I don’t want to post a spoiler. Ah well. Ignore my excess of emotion, just READ IT. Its soo good, and I want to be able to talk freely about it. You will love it!
I just finished Rebel Angels last night. Sooo good.
I also read The Boy Who Couldn’t Die, which was good too…but not amazing. Better than some stuff I’ve read..
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 111 piepoints and 5 Punxsutawney points] says:
Right now, I am reading L’Etrangere by Camus, and trying to do it in French. I’ll probably end up in English though, since so far my attempt has been mostly futile. I also just finished Lost Illusions by Balzac, which was wonderful. I can’t wait to pick up the second one.
Series I LOVE
Warriors
Pendragon
Twilight
Harry Potter
Artemis Fowl
Books I LOVE
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Wesing Game
….I can’t think of anymore right now….
A question (well, okay, two):
Has anyone read The Gate of Worlds, by Robert Silverberg? If so, is it any good? It sounds good, but I’ve learned from experience not to trust the cover blurb…
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 111 piepoints and 5 Punxsutawney points] says:
The Westing Game? The movie version, Get a Clue (w/out Lindsey Lohan) is utter stupid. They got rid of Flora, framed the judge, got rid of Mrs. Hoo and Theo also. STUPID.
297- I know, it was really stupid.
Redwall is a great series, I especially like “Rackety Tam” Brian Jacques is a great author! I just have 1 more book to go until I finish the series.
Also, the Bartimaeus Trilogy is not undiscovered! Everybody has read it! It’s a great trilogy, but sad, and adventurous, very adventurous!!! I would recommend it.
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
298- Really? I think Rakkety Tam was when it started to go downhill. Eulalia and High Rhulain both stunk. I’m not reading any more of that series. Some of the earlier books were good, though.
I am about to start The Spy Who Came in From the Cold alongside the sequel to Lost Illusions. So far, the latter is good, but as I haven’t started reading the former I don’t have anything in particular to say about it yet.
298/299-I never read Redwall, so I can’t very well contribute to the debate…
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Kokonilly [10 spdzk points and 111 piepoints and 5 Punxsutawney points] says:
298,299- My very favorite one ever was Mariel of Redwall, followed by Pearls of Lutra.
I couldn’t get into the earlier ones, probably because by the time I started reading them I was already growing out of it all, and the same with the later ones. Rakkety Tam was all right; I read it after a long period of no Redwall at all.
I do like Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, by the same author, despite all the angelic appearances. The first one was the best though.
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
304- Did it get good after the first few chapters? Because that’s when I put it down.
Seriously, Loamhedge was the last one that was original. After that, they started getting formulaic. You know, the “youngbeast-sets-off-on-important-quest-to-beat-bad-guys-and-fulfill-OMGZPROPHECY-while-animals-back-home-solve-crucial-riddle-while-using-OMGZHOUSEHOLDIMPLEMENTS-to-beat-other-bad-guys” formula. Jacques needs to do one of two things:
1) SLOW DOWN. Stop churning them out. Take time to round out characters and come up with original plots. Don’t release one every year. Don’t listen to rabid fans.
2) STOP WRITING THEM. If you’ve used up your ideas, you’ve used them up. There’s no shame in ending a series. Work on something else for a change. Or if you can’t bear to give up the Redwall universe, write something that doesn’t involve the Abbey itself. Don’t listen to rabid fans.
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
306- A book a year? COME ON. No one can do that and still have something that resembles originality. Stuff like is ridiculous. Or the Guardians of Ga’Hoole. OK, I’ve never read them, but if you can get a dozen or more books in a few years, you’re going too fast. Or Warriors. That’s the main reason why I haven’t read them.
So many authors are just so formulaic. Like Diana Wynne Jones. And Tamora Pierce. And Brian Jacques. And pretty much anyone who’s written that many books. I think eventually the human brain becomes so clouded with old stories and characters that you can’t think of anything new.
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
Yes (!), and so is Mercedes Lackey. I had an obsession with her books a couple months ago–but now…ugh… I mean, she’s still good, but I just read too many of them, I guess.
I liked Mariel when I read it, and I think Triss was pretty good too (I liked the ones with the female characters most, I remember). But yeah, that was years ago. And I totally agree with Guardians of Ga’Hoole, too. Same thing. 5th grade, okay, but after a while, no. The comment box is shrinking, but soon I’ll write my Gone With The Wind rant. New htread? Please?
An amazing quote:
“youngbeast-sets-off-on-important-quest-to-beat-bad-guys-and-fulfill-OMGZPROPHECY-while-animals-back-home-solve-crucial-riddle-while-using-OMGZHOUSEHOLDIMPLEMENTS-to-beat-other-bad-guysâ€
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
redwall annoys me. you read one, you’ve read them all. then again, you read one, you think “why did i read that?” and you find something better to read. so.
LOTF annoys me, if possible, even more. typical conversation with whatever teacher happens to be cramming it down my throat…
T: We’re going to read lord of the flies! who’s read it?
E: me. i hated it.
T: Well it’s one of those books that you have to read multiple times. you’ll like it better the second time.
E: …no, it sucked the second time too.
T: oh, you’ve read it twice? well it needs some time, maybe now that you’re older…
E: we read this like last year. because it is one of those books that you are forced to read over and over and over.
T: well you’ll love it this time
E: that’s what they all say…
this post sounds extraordinarily grumpy. but hey, i am so deal. >.< *needs sleep*
313- I thought some of the earlier books were more original, but yeah, that’s how it’s been. Bleh. If he’d just make his characters more rounded, I might like it better.
314- That’s far too rushed a schedule for my taste. This is how it should go:
2 years: Write. Revise. Second draft. Revise. Third draft. Revise. Ad infinitum/until you’re satisfied.
1 year: Edit.
The rest of the schedule you’ve gotten approximately right.
Robert (181): Hey, wow. I just noticed that back in March you were reading War and Peace. Oddly enough, I’ve been reading it too. (For the first time.) I just finished it. I loved it! I can’t believe I never read it until now. The edition I have is an old one that had an introduction by Clifton Fadiman. That was also really interesting. He wrote it in1942 and drew parallels between Napoleon and Hitler. It was strange reading something written about WWII before they knew how it would end. But enough about THAT. I thought the story was WONDERFUL
Did you finish it? Did you like? What possessed you to read it??
LOTF depressed me for the first ten minutes after reading it. Then I went out to walk the dog, thought about it, and then kind of preferred to stop thinking about it.
Gone With The Wind Rant:
A thousand-something page book on a selfish, nasty girl that’s filled with racist ideas and unrealistic characterizations just to get to the famous line that you always hear people quote… and they don’t even say “frankly”. And that was my favorite part of the whole quote! Seriously, though, eveno though the author’s writing was pretty interesting for the first little while (and you thought that the character would end up being more open-minded in the end) The n ovel never changes except to be more depressing and racist and embarassing. *grumble grumble*( anyway, I lost my train of thought and the comment box is shrinking. So if this doesn’t make sense, then
OOh well.
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
I’ve realized I don’t like The Diary of A Young Girl at all. It really doesn’t hold my interest. I always thought it would be intense and scary and depressing, and it’s just a teenage girl complaining about how she doesn’t love her family and all her housemates are annoying and she feels put upon. It’s boring!
320- Sorry about the following Rant about that saying:
Why is it that most people say that slow and steady wins the race is the moral The turtle and the hare? it’s not. the moral is don’t quit while your ahead.
I’ve never read LOTF. I’m afraid it will depress me to much. And after reading purplefinch’s comment (219), I have decided again to not read it. I’m sure it’s an excellent book but I just don’t have the fortitude.
I read the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I liked it. Admittedly, there’s an air of dark dreariness over the whole thing, which made me feel bleak at times, but that was more than balanced by humor, creative plot and likable characters. That reminds me, I’d like to read the rest of the triology.
Haven’t read any of the Redwall series. I’m curious about it after reading the discussion it stirred up.
And here’s another “yay” for the Westing Game I think the woman who wrote it, Ellen Raskin, is a genius. She wrote and illustrated one of my other favorite books: A picture book called Spectacles. And she wrote another favorite: The mysterious disappearance of Leon (I mean Noel).
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
POSOC (325): I was thinking of the awful childhood. But now that you mention it, Bart’s cynicism is a downer too. But he’s funny so that tempers it.
Alice (326/7): It had sad parts but they didn’t hit me very hard. I think it’s because the whole book had such a light feel to it with the funny names and entertaining footnotes and the fun of solving the mystery.
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POSOC, who urges you to attend the Museican Constitutional Convention says:
328- That’s odd. I remember thinking that it didn’t have a light feel to it all. Maybe I just wasn’t comfortable when I was reading it, but I couldn’t imagine settling into the story and feeling comfortable and safe. If felt sort of cold. Which is odd since it wasn’t cold at all…
I am presently going through a phase of infatuation with French writing (mostly translated to English ). I read the Red and the Black by Stendhal last year and I adored it passionately. Same goes for Cousin Bette and Black Sheep (both by Balzac). I also read Le Grand Meaulnes by Alan-Fournier. Its a strange mystical book, basically discussing fleeting moments of joy that can never be relived, but very beautiful. And then there’s Camus, though he doesn’t fit in so well with the former three as his style is more concise and outright. Anyway, my only reason for ranting on about this is that if anyone is looking for a style/genre to get hinged onto, I strongly recommend trying some of the aforementioned books. Balzac and Stendhal both launch into extensive descriptions, but they really don’t drone on at all. They’re not prosaic; they’re vibrant and engaging and amusing to read. Balzac had a fixation with trying to portray every type of human character (Comedie Humaine), and as a result his characters are really human, flaws and strengths alike. Stendahl’s strengths and style are very similair, though his writing always strikes me as somehow more dramatic. Alan Fournier’s style is difficult to describe, but it goes with the themes of the book. Its fleeting and wistful, like the lost joys the writing describes. Camus is much later, much more intimate, and much less prolix than the others. Recommend ’em all fiercely.
332-
Stendhal and Balzac’s plots are mostly about young provincial writers making their way into rigid Paris society. Le Grand Meaulnes is about a very charismatic and popular boy whose life is suddenly flipped upside down when he is lost and encounters an enormous dream estate. And the Plague by Camus is about Oran (a town in Algiers) that is seized with an epidemic of Bubonic Plague.
For some unfathomable reason, I decided to compile a list of EVERY BOOK I HAVE READ.
Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. What hath possessed me? There are far too many forgotten books to write them all down, but I’ve written down a lot. Mostly by authors who’ve written more than one thing (that I’ve read).
What was I thinking? I have six pages in Appleworks, 12 pt Helvetica font, single-spaced, and I’ve barely grazed the surface of my reading. What about the dozens of Pern books I read, each indistinguishable from the others? Those little old paperbacks from times gone by, with plots that I can’t remember? The Boxcar children? Nancy Drew?
OH GREAT. Now I’ve gone and got myself thinking about one of the aforementioned paperbacks with a plot that I can’t remember. I think the cover had a girl with red hair, against a background of rocks with the sea crashing. It was called “The Stranger” or “The Stranger on the Rocks” or something like that. Oh, I had it in my journal for ages! But I threw it away…
Remind me to write down the Montmorency books. And The Mermaid Summer and the Kelpie’s Pearls.
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Patience, Please
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Yay!
I finally got my hands on the first Hornblower book, which I liked a lot, and I need to now find the next one. It is, however, kind of pathetic that I read that muse article (one of my favorite issues) years ago, and am only now reading the books. *sigh*
Does anybody have any good fantasy books to recommend? I seem to be finding less books of it that I want to read, and that’s not good.
1-Have you read the lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce? Those are interesting, at least.
1 – Lots of stuff by Vivian Vande Velde, such as Now You See It… and Heir Apparent (my favorite). She’s written over two dozen books, I believe, and she’s good.
Also the Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld. Good books.
The Hornblower books are great! Execpt for #10 witch is sort of weird.
Have you ever read the Dark is Rising Series by Susan Copper they’re really good.
3- OMG Heir Apparent was AWESOME! Now You See It… was less good but still pretty good compared to some of the crap I’ve been seeing on bookstore shelves these days.
1- The Bordertown books. Rather hard to find, but good. Finder by Emma Bull, (for that matter War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, though it isn’t Bordertown) Elsewhere by Will Shetterly, the Bordertown collections edited by Terri Windling.
1 – I like the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper and the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.
1-
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Fairest by the same
The Wish by the same(very “girl” book! Beware!)
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by the same
The Prydain Cronicles are so awesome!
8 – Those are good books.
9- Lloyd Alexander is a good writer, but all of his books seem to be the same characters in a different setting.
11 – I don’t think I’ve read any of his books except the Prydain Chronicles (which each have different plotlines).
8-my favourite is his dark materials…my biggest fear of those books is that the movies will inaccurately portray them…
13- Don’t worry they will :D. The hick state I live in tried to ban the movies and the books.
Well, they tried to ban me too, come to think of it…
2-Yeah. I thought they were pretty good, though it was a while ago. Maybe I should read them again…
3-Ooh. I’ve heard of her, I think…
I’ve read most of The Dark Is Rising, although I have to be in the right mood to read some of her books, because they sometimes go a little slowly. King of Shadows was probably my favorite book (so far) written by her, even though I guess it was meant for younger readers.
6-I’ll have to look for those… They sound good!
8-Oh, she’s fun. I’ll have to look for Fairest… And The Wish was a very “girl” book.
Loyd Alexander isn’t my favorite, although maybe I just haven’t read some of his best works. I don’t know. Did he write The Rope Trick (or something like that)? *thinks*
I need to steal the other Two Dark Materials from my brother, but I read the first and it wasn’t bad.
2 – Yay yay yay yay yay! Good books! So are the rest of the series too. Have you read any of them?
Alright kids. Before I proceed, I want you all to know that the following series are under the YOUNG ADULTS section at the bookstore. I will not be responsible for any young minds corrupted by this post. : )
But they are good books.
Series:
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Uglies
Pretties
Specials
Extras
anyone read ’em?
the only thing ive read of lloyd Alexander is time cat. i tried another and got bored. but time cat is very good.
17- Oh I’ve read a little bit of Twilight (over my friend’s shoulder in math) I should probably actually read it.
I refuse to read the Uglies series because they are the only books that the cheerleaders will read at my skool.
19- You really should read it…. my friend wrote a poem about that, maybe i should post it…
17- ZOMG UGLIES SERIES LURRRRVE. I’m soooo being Tally for Halloween this year.
I just
moochedborrowed two Maximum Ride books from the school library. They’re really interesting.Although all the chapters are, like, two pages.
22- ZOMG MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES LURRRRVE. I was so Maximum Ride for Halloween last year.
*giggle*
Anybody here read any books by Darren Shan?
Creepy, supernatural, disturbing, but totally awesome.
I’ve read Twilight, but not the other books in the series.
Scott Westerfield is an amazing author.
17-the uglies series was pretty good. i liked it. i still have yet to read extras. i didn’t particularly like tally ending up with david. he was a gross little baby. and he had bad teeth. zane was da man!
3- Ooh! Me encanta Heir Apparent!
1- I’ve read Mr. Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower, but that’s all. I had Beat to Quarters for a while but I wasn’t really interested…
11- You’ve noticed that too? Tamora Pierce does it also on a smaller scale. DWJ, too, but she has several sets of characters.
17- All of them, except Extras, which i’m still wating to come in from the library.
Anyone read…
1984?
The Mysterious Benedict Society?
Annie on my Mind?
Copper Sun?
Sabriel?
The Keys to the Kingdom books?
They are all REALLY good.
I’m reading All Creatures Great and Small for school….it is sooooooo long and boring!
27- Same here, I’ve read all but Extras. I’ve also read 1984, because I had to for school. I didn’t like it as much as Fahrenheit 451, but it was still a good book.
Has anybody here read any books by Ellen Hopkins (I think that’s her name)?
Crank
Burned
Impulse
Glass
(coming in August ’08) Identical?
I’ve read Crank and Impulse. There really cool books.
3 – I liked Now You See It… I should read Heir Apparent.
I just read The Golden Compass. It was great. My friend saw the movie before she read the book, and now she’s reading the book. I told her not to, but she didn’t listen. Ugh!
27- I’ve read Sabriel and the Keys to the Kingdom books (anyone know when Superior Saturday is coming out?) and like them. But I have to object to calling ACGAS boring.
27- do you mean the All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot? Those are so good! I read all of his books and they are all really awesome!
17-I’ve read the first book in both of those. I liked Twilight but Uglies annoyed me because I’ve read books like it before that were much better in my opinion.
I am reading The Jungle for school and I’m going to have to read 9 more books for clubs this year.
I’ve been reading a lot of spiritual books this year. I guess it’s because most of the books for school are mediocre fiction books and they’ve managed to annoy me out of reading fiction for a while.
I’m getting so annoyed with the books being made into movies. Can’t they come up with great movies instead of chopping up books and making movies that aren’t even that good??!! When I have kids I’m going to check every movie they want to see and if there’s a book I’ll tell them they have to read it before they’re allowed to see the movie. My kids will probably skip school and rebel because of that. I also get so mad when i see a movie and then later I find out there’s a book. I think that they should be required to say that in the commercial if the movie comes from a book.
1984? I should.
The Mysterious Benedict Society? Check.
Annie on my Mind? Check.
Copper Sun? haven’t heard of it.
Sabriel? Check.
The Keys to the Kingdom books? I should.
32) The books are always better. My friend and i can spend hours talking about how books made into movies aren’t half as good.
Has anyone here read To Kill A Mockingbird? We have to read it after finals, and I want to know how it is.
As for fiction, I like Jules Verne a lot.
27-Keys to the Kingdom is really good. I like how it’s not really obvious which characters are “good” and which are “evil”.
10- Of course they are!!!!!!! Otherwise why would i put them? *scratches head*
13- i haven’t watched “The Golden Compass”(probably will be my next movie theater visit reason) yet, so i don’t know about that.
14- WHY did they try to do that? they’re the greatest series in the WORLD!!!!!!!
15- she’s a good author…the wish was my favorite out of all that. and “The Rope Trick” was by him. It was okay, though not one of my favorites. But I do recommend it for ppl who don’t have anything to read.
27- I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY! *gasp!!!!!!* How could I? every single museblogger must jump up this very moments and go buy it and read it until they end no matter what they have/had planned for the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. How do you make italics or that weird cross-out thing in blog entries?
38-I direct you to the HTML stuff right under the comment box. Strike is cross out, strong is bold, i is italics, etc.
27- Oooh, I loved The Mysterious Benedict Society.
I’m reading The Hound of the Baskervilles now. So far it’s pretty good.
I’m reading Tom Jones By Henry Fielding.
It’s glorious, I love it! All that strange capitalization, and inconsistant spelling…..yum. &hears; ♥ ♥
Yes, I know you’re all rolling your eyes at me now….
42- Yay! I love Strange Capitalization too!
Yes, it’s fun. A whole different way of writing a novel, though. I like it. Old books are such fun to read. I have a jokebook reproduction from the 18th century and it’s just the same.
35- I read his trilogy.
and ppl, ive started reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes by arthur Conan Doyle and i love it!!!!!!! And the Russian holmes movies are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i haven’t seen the english ones.
I’ve read a lot of good fantasy based on fairy tales, especially collections edited by Terri Windling, and novels by Mercedes Lackey, and Diana Wynne Jones.
45-Cool! I just started reading a Sherlock Holmes book too! -pokes post 41- I think it’s really neat…the words are big and funny but that makes it fun to read!
46- yesssss. Terri Windling. Have you seen her Endicott Studio site? Have you read anything by Charles de Lint? Ellen Kushner? Midori Snyder? oooh yay for someone with similar taste as me… *is happy*
Memory Boy by Will Weaver is excellent; I just finished it.
i liked study in scarlet a lot.
I hope the GAPAs won’t mind if I mention this subject again, but I realized that it would be more suited to a book thread.
As many of you probably already know, my most favorite book of all time, is the ecological sci-fi thriller, Primal Tears by Kelpie Wilson.
I got it for Christmas in 2006, and since then, I have made hundreds of drawings based on the characters and even written a couple of screenplays for it (although I never get very far because I’m terrible at omitting stuff from the book, so by the time anything interesting happens, we’re already at least 30 minutes into it).
I won’t tell you too much about the book, except to say that it offers a fresh new look at humanity, and what it means to be human. Are humans really that different from all the other animals on the planet. And if we are just the same, then certainly we ought to make more room for them.
But how?
This book offers an answer to this and many other questions.
So to anybody on the blog who is at least 17 years of age (or who’s parents approve) do me a favor, and buy this book.
I’ve already persuaded at least one of my friends (a grownup) to order it on the internet.
Primal Tears by Kelpie Wilson
From From Frog Lmtd Publishers (can also be ordered on Amazon).
And in 3 or 4 months, after everyone has had plenty of time to read it, we can start a book discussion thread about it.
PS: To tell you the truth, I’m hoping that eventually, the sales of this book will become just as much LOTR, Harry Potter, and The Da Vinci Code. It probably won’t happen, but I’m going to be hopeful.
To all those who I’ve befriended here, particularly Jadestone, please read this book.
Goodbye.
51- If you have to be 17 or older to read it, I doubt it could really be discussed on MuseBlog…
Especially since only about five MuseBloggers are 17 or over.
Okay, maybe more. *thinks*
Oxlin, Grant O., Faye, Groundhog, Mel (?), you…
Yup. Five.
52- you could have a discussion with just five people.
I read Twilight, finally, after everyone has been suggesting it to me for ages. I really liked it — it was one of those books that you couldn’t put down. After I finished it, though, I got really irritated with the characters. Yes, they have flaws, they just don’t seem flawed enough, and they’re annoying at times.
does anyone know any GOOD, thick Time-Travel?
55- A Wrinkle in Time is really good. I really haven’t a clue whether they travel through time though. The Phantom Tollbooth is also great. It’s my favorite book.
I get so frustrated when I try to talk to people about books and they say they don’t read. If they don’t read how can they write? They’re usually the people texting their friends in class too. I guess they just know what they’re friends sent and don’t need to read it.
People who don’t like reading books make me sad.
How can you say “I don’t read?” It’s like saying “I don’t breathe.”
57- Ditto. I don’t eat chocolate, but I still read.
Keys to the Kingdom — they were addictive at first, but then they got boring because they all had the same plot line.
His Dark Materials — AWESOME! I finished rererererereading the series (again) this morning. Instead of doing homework. =D For anybody who doesn’t know the plot…Basically, there are lots of different universes that split off from one another when a choice goes two ways — i.e., if there’s a big war, there’s two possible outcomes — one side wins, or the other side wins. When the outcomes happen, one world has one outcome, and the other world has the other one. Etc. So the world of the main character is similar to our world, except people have their souls in animal shapes outside their bodies. In that world, the Church is the ruling force over the world.
In the first book, The Golden Compass, the main character, Lyra, has to save her friend from an organization the kidnaps children (no, it’s not your typical journey-to-save-from-bad-guys story, it’s a lot more complex.)
The second book, The Subtle Knife, is more like a transition book, where a boy named Will comes into the story, obtains a knife that can cut through worlds, and he and Lyra help each other.
The third book, The Amber Spyglass, is about how the Authority’s agents are trying to take over all the worlds, and how what Will and Lyra do relate to that.
I hope I didn’t give away too much. They’re really good and insightful.
As for Twilight, Eclipse, and New Moon — I read Twilight, and didn’t like it much. It seemed to have too much of “He looked at me, and I could feel my heart speeding up. I blushed again, as I always did when he looked at me…” etc. etc. An interesting idea, and maybe another way to tell that story would have been better, but I didn’t like this one much.
As to reading in general, I shall spare you all my rant against video games in favor of books, and save it for another time.
RainbowFish- Are you new? If so… *pies* If not so… *pies anyway*
I love His Dark Materials.
59 – You’re right on Keys to the Kingdom. The characters kind of got old. I still want to finish the series, though.
And as Alice asked, are you new? -pies either way-
Does anybody else like Jules Verne? I think his stuff is dynamite!
62- No kidding! He’s awesome!
63- I have read…
The original version of Around the World in 80 Days three times, plus numerous adaptations.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea as a graphic novel and half of it in original form.
Journey to the Center of the Earth in original form, in simplified form, and as a graphic novel.
From the Earth to the Moon in original form.
I’ve never read Jules Verne.
I started reading Journey to the Center of the Earth some time ago, but, like I do with most books that fail to hook me immediately, I put it down and never picked it up again.
65- See if you can find a graphic novel adaptation.
60 & 61 – Alice & Cat’s Meow, respectively – Yes! I am new! Thank you for the gracious gift of pies. Mmmm… I found the address in a recent Muse and thought, ‘Hey, that seems cool.’ So here I am, ready to explore yet another fun way to procrastinate!
Back on books — Has anybody read the Ender’s Game series? (By Orson Scott Card.) How about The Wee Free Men and its sequels? (By Terry Pratchett.) Or…here’s one I’m almost positive nobody here will have heard of: the Moomintroll series. By Tove Jansson (Pronounced tov-AY YAHN-son.)
67- I’ve heard of the Moomintroll series! I read one of them a few months ago. It was actually really good.
I also like The Wee Free Men.
RainbowFish- Does your name come from that kid’s book?
Actually, I’d always thought the Moomintroll books were somehow related to where I live… *thinks* But Tove Jansson lived in Finland, no? Hmm. There are a lot of Finns and Scandinavians around here.
There’s a book set in a teensy town half an hour away from where I live. The library put a sticker on it that said “Local Author”. They’re so wrong. I’ve got to tell them sometime.
I read Comet in Moominland, or something like that, which might be from the same series. I thought it was cute, in a good way. I’ve never really found any of the others…
I’ve never read any Jules Verne, except (*gasp*) the Wishbone adaptation of Journey to the Center of the Earth years ago. Any recommendations for a book of his that would be good to introduce me him?
I read the Moomintroll books a long time ago. They were very good.
*pies RainbowFish* Those are great books! (in your first post, 59.) I shall contemplate some to recommened to you. Have you read books by Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Ellen Kusher, Delia Sherman, Robin McKinley, Caroline Stevermer, Patricia C. Wrede etc before?
I am currently reading The Wood Wife by Terri Windling.
I’ve heard of the Moonintroll series but I’ve not read them.
Hooray for Wee Free Men!
I completely agree about Twilight, RainbowFish.
I tried reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea last year, and I just couldn’t get through it. I loved Journey to the Centre of the Earth, though, when I read it in 8th grade.
Has anyone read any science-fiction by Connie Willis? I used to live in her town and heard her speak at the library once.
67 – Haha, welcome, then! I’ve read Wee Free Men (In English class) and then I read A Hat Full of Sky on my own. Is there yet another sequel? I say that because you said “sequels”, so I’m not exactly sure what you meant. =P
76- Wintersmith. It’s very good.
I practically worshipped Moomintroll when I was younger. They were excellent.
Wow, I didn’t know so many people knew about Moomintroll. I feel they’re a bit young for me now, but I don’t object to reading them.
71, 74- The UnMuseum has 20,000 as a graphic novel.
79 – I totally agree. I thought my family was the only one who knew about them. All our copies are pretty old, they were handed down from my grandmother, I think. How did all of you other people who know about Moomintroll find out about them?
76 – You read Wee Free Men in English class?? Lucky! *jealous* I’ve always wanted to do fantasy books or books I really liked in school, but MCPS always kills the books. *sigh*
73 – Patricia C. Wrede — The dragons series, yes? I loved those in fifth grade, but I find they’re a little … how shall I say… you know what, I’m gonna steal Alice’s phrase: I find they’re a little young for me now. I haven’t heard of any of the other authors. What types of books do they write?
71 – Yes, that is part of the series.
69 – No, actually, my name doesn’t come from that book. In fact, it hadn’t even occurred to me. In other forums, I had used the name Goldfish, but I didn’t want to do that here, so I thought I might use GoldenFish, except that’s too…I don’t know. Rich and unfriendly, maybe. So it’s RainbowFish. Because I’ve always liked the image of a fish with lots of iridescent scales swimming.
Woww…that was long. I suppose I covered everything. Except, oh, whoever was refusing to read the Uglies series — don’t. They’re really good, and just because a lot of the people you don’t like read them, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. They’re about utopias.
81- Patricia C. Wrede has written many books other than the dragons series. She’s written the Maierlon ones, the Lyra ones (alone, they may be out of print) and also Sorcery and Cecilia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot and sequels with Caroline Stevermer.
Charles de Lint- Books about his city, Newford, that encorporate magic and myth with modern times. I’d start with Someplace to be Flying.
Emma Bull – The War for the Oaks, Territory, Finder (a bordertown book I’ll talk about Bordertown at the end of this post that shall be long.)
Will Shetterly- Elsewhere, Nevernever (both Bordertown) and most likely more that I can’t think of right now. Edited the Liavek books with Emma Bull (out of print now)
Ellen Kusher- wrote the Swordspoint books. I’d read The Fall of the Kings last and Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword first. (TPOTS and Swordspoint being two different books read in any order before The Fall of the Kings)
Delia Sherman- Changeling, The Fall of the Kings (with Ellen Kushner), Through a Brazen Mirror
Robin McKinley- The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, Sunshine and many others
Caroline Stevermer- Sorcery and Cecilia and sequels with Patricia C. Wrede, A College of Magics, A Scholar of Magics
Diana Wynne Jones- Many, many wonderful books. Some of my favorites include: Fire and Hemlock, the Chrestomanci books, Cart and Cwidder and sequels etc, etc…
Pamela Dean- Tam Lin, various others
Keep in mind that I’ve probably not talked about every book each has written and I’ve not read all of these books
Editors: Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, Sharyn November
Bordertown: Terri Windling was told to create a world for some of the above authors to write stories in that would appeal to teens. (this was back in the eighties or so, subsequently the books are often out of print) She created Bordertown, a world on the border of our world and Faerie and edited four anthologies set there. There are also novels set in Bordertown.
Has anybody here read any books by Anne Rice?
No offense to all the Twilight fans, but if you want a real vampire story, read Anne Rice.
Post 82’s recommendations are for anyone willing to listen to them. The books are fantasy, though many are mythic fiction, myth based stories set in modern times.
Thanks for the suggestions, Oxlin! Maybe if I ever find time to go to the library (so, in a few decades, then) I’ll look up some of those authors.
82- Ooh, I liked Sorcery and Cecilia. Except I stopped because I felt uncomfortable with it after a while. I don’t remember precisely why. Up to that point, though, I liked it.
82- You forgot Tamora Peirce
87- err, no I didn’t. that was my list, not yours. if you want to list Tamora Pierce go right ahead, I’ve nothing against her. but you aren’t the one to decide who I list.
I just read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Has anybody here read it?
Dumb question, I know.
Considering that I found 3 inside jokes on this website out just by finding the titles of the books in the series.
-prepares to get swarmed-
89- YES!!!!!!!
89- Absolutely. I loved it.
89 – Who here hasn’t? I read it over Winter Break. I’m still trying to find the second book. My library doesn’t have it.
90, 91, 92 – You know, that’s kind of what I suspected.
-glances up to see “Resistance is Museless”, “Mostly Harmless”, and “Hitchhiker’s Guide To MuseBlog”. Hmmm…
92 – My library doesn’t have it right now, but they think that one will be available in about 2 days, and I have the other ones, so then I can just read right through!
92-I haven’t but I plan to.
HHGTTG is AWESOME! They’re all pretty good except for the fifth one….which is really depressing. xD That series is soooo good for cheering you up. =)
62- once again, ive read the “trilogy”, but nothing else.
I still haven’t gotten the second book.
Oh, great…I just checked the library website and it said that the wait for getting the book back in is “undetermined”. I wonder if that means somebody didn’t bring it back. That worries me, since two other books in the series got taken from the library as well. =/
Maybe it means a librarian is reading it and doesn’t know how long it will take.
100 – It’s possible. xP
Looklooklook!
My dad got me “The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide: Five Complete Novels and One Story” and it’s so prettyful….
Considering the prettyfulness I’m not sure if I should take it to school; it could become damaged.
I must go hug my dad now.
17 – I do! I love them!
I haven’t finished Specials yet though.
102 – Congratulations! I saw it in the library catalog, but they didn’t have any copies, so I didn’t get it.
99- is it a new book? it could also mean that they are adding it to the catologue.
105 – No, it’s just that a couple of days ago it said “Estimated wait: 2 days” and now that it’s been 2 days it just says “Estimated wait: undetermined”.
Have any of you read the original hg2g
107 – The first book in the “trilogy”, you mean? Yup.
I’m finally reading War for the Oaks, which I got out of the library. It reminds me of Charles de Lint, but a bit… lighter? I don’t know. I like it, though.
My brother also found The Wave, which was mentioned on some thread forever ago that I thought sounded interesting. So now that he’s done, I’ll read it. I must say, it’s kind of embarrassing to be reading the same books as my younger brother. I know it shouldn’t be, but still…
I just finished “The Stolen Lake”. Oh god.
It’s so good! *sniff* And so sad. *sob*
I just read Silas Marner, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and The Hobbit, all of them very good books.
I’m still reading Tom Jones By Henry Feilding…It’s taking awhile.
11~ I’ve never read The Scarlet pimpernel, but I love the movies. *shudders at hearing self say those words*
I think I’ll be able to read soon.
Yay for Silas Marner!
I want to read the Scarlet Pimpernel, but I haven’t yet. I still need to go read Lord of The Flies…
My mom got The Elements of Style out of the library for me… I guess it’s a grammar-ish writing type book, but it seems interesting, and it has cute illustrations (I haven’t actually read an illustrated book in a while, actually).
Breaking Dawn is coming out on August 2nd!
*spins in circles*
I read the second Cirque Du Freak book recently… Personally, I think they’re kinda overrated… They’re not bad, but they’re not all that great either.
Some other great books include: Ghost Soldier, Eragon, Eldest, Pride and Prejudice, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
We should have a Douglas Adams Thread. we had one back in 2005.
w00t Douglas Adams! =D
I am currently reading Emma, by Jane Austen. Did you know that a movie called Clueless was based on it? Yeahhh…. I saw the movie a while ago. I liked it, I remember.
And some awesome trashy books are the Clique books. They are hilariously awful. But they’re addictive. (ing? ive? I don’t know.) There’s ten of them at the last count, and they’re about these really ridiculously preppy rich seventh graders who are really concerned about popularity and boyfriends and fashion. And lip gloss. xD
I finally got the rest of the HG2TG books. I’m on the third right now. Or maybe I just finished it. I forget. xD
I’m reading The Eyre Affair. So far it’s good.
120 – ooh! I like The Eyre Affair!
I’m reading: Perdido Street Station -China Mieville, The Ladies of Grace Adieu – Susanna Clarke, Blood and Iron -Elizabeth Bear.
I also read the books Julie of the Wolves and the Witch of Blackbird Pond ; both of them excellent and very well written.
There’s a book I want to read.. What was it? Oh yeah: The Catcher In the Rye by JD Salinger. I have no idea if it is “appropriate” for my age or not, however. I hope it is I hope it is..
I’m in 7th grade, 13 years of age. Most of the books I read are “7th grade and up” but I’ve read the first 3 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and on the second one it said “8th grade and up”. *nodnod*
Well, The Catcher In the Rye does have a lot of swearing, and some references (and more) in it, so you’d better be prepared for that. But it’s a great book, especially if you’re feeling confused or depressed or lost, or if you just want to read something original and new. I wouldn’t know to compare it to TSotTP, because I’ve only read the first one, although people were saying that they got more… um, yeah. Anyway.
124 – Swearing is okay. References…I’ll see. And I really want to read it. Thank you!!
I like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Bridge to Teribithia and Star Wars books of all kinds
I’ve got an English project, and it involves reading a gripping book that isn’t what you’d normally read. So, any suggestions?
For reference, I usually read 18th to 19th century adventure stories (set there, not written there), modern fantasy, and anything involving an alternate world. Help?
Yup, I’m officially not allowed to read The Catcher In the Rye.
So it is in my room, waiting until I’m old enough.
127- Try reading The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.
129- Thankee.
125-You’re welcome! I’m sorry you’re not allowed to read it.
Parents? Still, I think it’s great that they let you buy it, and trust you enough to have it and not read it.
125-You’re welcome! I’m sorry you’re not allowed to read it.
Parents? Still, I think it’s great that they let you buy it, and trust you enough to have it and not read it.
127-I’m not certain… *thinks* You’ve probably read most of what I’d say… Gripping as in a fast-paced plot, or emotionally gripping?
I’m waiting until I’m 12 to read The Da Vinci Code.
132- Something that holds my attention. And I have to like the characters. Most of the time I don’t like the characters, though.
I can’t wait for the 6th Keys to the Kingdom – “Superior Saturday.”
Oh, and LOTR verse:
Three Rings for the elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Supe Sat. is (hopefully) going to be good.
136- Hopefully. They haven’t been so good lately. My favorite was Grim Tuesday.
Mister Monday was very good.
Grim Tuesday was OK.
Drowned Wednesday was very good.
Sir Thursday and Lady Friday were kinda bad to OK.
138- I agree with you on Drowned Wednesday. That was my personal favorite. It was less formulaic than the others because the Trustee wanted to cooperate, but a new villain (Feverfew) was getting in the way. Also, if I had to live in one of the demesnes, the Border Sea would probably be my choice.
Plus, who doesn’t love the Raised Rats?
I should have liked Drowned Wednesday best, because it was all watery and I love ships, but I didn’t.
I remember being very upset because I’d waited a long time for it and it was hardback and it looked so long, and then finishing it in a night.
I need to make a pilgrimage to the library.
On the subject of Garth Nix, I just bought and finished Abhorsen. Pwnage.
Has anybody read the Chose Your Own Adventure series? The great-grandaddy of pick-your-path gamebooks.
LOTR, HP, Attack of the Smart Pies, the Young Royals books (I am fascinated my Tudor history), all of Larry Gonick’s books, etc, etc, etc….
Ah!
The cast for Twilight is up! The site has pictures of ’em!
…
Hmm…
Not bad, not bad at all! Huh!
Flipping randomly through, and what is that I spy?
THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY?
*ahem* That was a wonderful book.
*flips out*
145- *has read the mysterious benedict society* *still watches TV anyway*
146 – Yes, I didn’t watch TV for a month after reading that.
I don’t really watch TV in general… But I have read that.
148 – Yes, it’s a good book, right? At the end, it says “Can you guess Mr. Benedict’s first name?” That question has tortured me… WHAT IS IT???
149- Arnold?
I knew what it was but I don’t have a copy on hand right now. I found it though.
ARGH NO SPOILERS!!!! *hides eyes*
150- maybe, but You’d have to read the book.
I am reading Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. It is pretty good so far. I am just about to read where he gets murdered and the plot comes out in the open.
-spoiler-
It’s Nicholas… in Morse code in the inside flap of the cover.
Has anyone else read the book A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray? It SOOO good!
156 – I have it. But it said “grades 9 and up” so I’m not allowed to read it. Meh.
Pirates! by Celia Rees is a good book. I read it *coughyearscough* ago.
Can’t believe I haven’t posted here yet!!!!!
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer is my favorite series.
Yes, I have read A Great and Terrible Beauty and LOVED it.
I also like:
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Saint Iggy (don’t remember the author)
Bad Kitty by Michelle Jaffe
Boy meets Boy by David Levithan
And many many others. I’m a big reader. I speed read. I read Harry Potter 7 in three hours.
156- check. (I’ve read.)
I need reccomendations for books. Please. Whenever I go to the bookstore I come out with manga (which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I want books too).
I’d prefer nothing that says the age group is anything above 7th Grade (I’m 13, but still..) because most of the books I’m interested in all say “grades 9 and up”. *pokes post 158* Meh. If you have read something good that says that that might still be okay, please reccomend.
Thanks!
Oh my.
I have discovered that I have read a book that says “grades 9 and up” on it.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I LOVE THAT BOOK.
So, yes. Maybe some are okay. *searches websites for good books*
The Book Thief is an AWESOME book. Even my MOM liked it.
I think I’ll do The Book Thief for my project. Thanks, guys.
Oh, that was a good book. I loved it.
We need a new Harry Potter thread. I’m reeeeeally obsessed right now. All things r/hr, yo.
okay. what happened to MB? all the threads are different, well, the layout is different, the ‘website’ box is back and there aren’t any numbers! Did WordPress change your layout? what happened?
Maybe the typing gnome had something to do with it.
I am rather near finished with Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear. Though rather confusing, it is also good.
165 – Yeah, there was some weird glitching stuff. It’s described on the “Strange Days” thread.
168- yup. I posted my earlier post at the very beginning of said glitches when I was lost and confused and couldn’t find a thread other than this one.
Sneebs.
(If you don’t get this reference and are a Pratchett fan, shame on you.)
Yeah, I’m not allowed to read high school books.
But I’m rereading Uglies, so that’s good.
Poor you. I enjoy YA books, more than the traditional kind.
Oh, the Book Thief was clever… I liked it very much.
170-*is shamed* But I’m only a beginning Pratchett fan… can I be excused?
167-Ooh, I’ve heard of that. I can’t remember where, though…
157- Hey if you go by the back of the book I’m too young to read it but seriously I don’t really think it matters. Boos shouold not have age limits. I’m not saying that three year olds should read it but seriously I think people should ge able to pick books out themselves.
174 – I agree. Once, when I was 5 or something, I looked at the back of my American Girl book, and what do I see? An Ages 9 and Up sign. I tell my mom, thinking “Oh no! I can’t read this! I’m only 5!” She told me that it didn’t matter. If you can understand the content and it’s appropriate, that’s fine.
173- That’s all right. If you haven’t read the Wee Free Men, you probably wouldn’t get it. (Unless he’s mentioned in other books?…. unlikely, as he dies in that one)
On another topic, I just read UnLunDun and quite liked it.
176- ooh, I like Un Lun Dun! I like the drawings in it and all the eclectic characters and the details of the city of Un Lun Dun.
Oxlin,
I haven’t read either Un Lun Dun or Neverwhere, but they sound similar. Are they?
178- In a way. In type of book they might be called similar but in tone they are quite different. Neverwhere is much darker though Un Lun Dun is dark in its own way. Un Lun Dun is whimsical though Neverwhere is too but Neverwhere is darker and Un Lun Dun is more whimsical.
The setting of both is fascinating though Un Lun Dun’s is somewhat more unique. Neverwhere’s London exists within the actual London while Un Lun Dun’s is a different place almost entirely (it is London after all but in a different world.) Neverwhere focuses more on the unseen bits that are within our world.
Neverwhere is by Neil Gaiman and Un Lun Dun by China Miéville.
I hope that clarifies things and I’m glad you asked! (are you planning on reading either?)
177 &c. After I finished, I immediately started inventing an abcity for my hometown.
(179) Thanks! I’ll probably read them both eventually. (I’m in the middle of War and Peace right now.) Amazon seems to think I’d like Un Lun Dun, and I’ve seen the first couple of episodes of the TV mini-series of Neverwhen.
I liked Un Lun Dun very much, although I was busy and it took me too long to read (if I can’t read a book quick enough, I stop enjoying the writing style). Plus I sort of identify it with the old house, and all that…Isn’t it rum how I can avoid really remembering the other house even when I drive past the blackened skeleton, and yet any book I read there now has that connotation for me. Well, except Shakespeare.
There’s sort of a line between my memories. There was the house when it was cold, which tends to be far more vivid and pretty much encompasses all my reading, and then there were the days I enjoyed, which are very fuzzy and mostly involve sitting in front of the fireplace.
I didn’t like that house very much. I just realized. It was huge and hard to heat and there was all sorts of stuff lying around that didn’t belong to us. I like this house a lot better. It’s cosy.
Wow. That was a revelation.
ANYWAY, back on topic, Un Lun Dun was good. It was surreal.
And I don’t remember Sneebs. Sorry, POSOC.
There’s no way I’m going to get The Book Thief in time for my English project. Crumbs.
I am reading 3 series at once:
Septimus Heap ~ far too easy vocabulary, but a good plot. I’m on book 3.
Warriors ~ also a bit easy, but it has a good story. I’m rereading book 1.
Lord of the Rings ~ Need I say more? I’m rereading The Two Towers.
eeeeeeeeeee! *fribble*
I have The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet!!!!
eeeeeeee!
*skips off, excited to no end*
184-
puzzled
I just finished reading a Young Royal’s book on Anne Boleyn. It was sad and very interesting. I like reading books about different people in history.
185- it is a collection of stories originally published in a Zine called Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet
186 – I looove that series. I also loove the Tudor era.
174 – But the thing is, I’ve read books that say they are for younger age groups than I fall under, and been somewhat disturbed by some of the content. Also, if the age group is higher than what I fall under, my mom looks it up, and so far 100% of the time, I won’t be allowed to read it.
I pretty much trust the rating on the back. If it says 9th grade and up, it’s for 9th grade and up.
I find book “ratings” pointless. I used to think that if I looked in the juvenile section of the library, all the books would be fairly safe. But I’ve found worse books in the juvenile section than in YA! Of course, it’s really up to the library people where the books go (although why they would put the Lioness quartet in the children’s section, I honestly don’t know).
190 – Really? Then maybe I can convince my mom to let me read The Da Vinci Code before I’m 12!
191- I’ve never read The Da Vinci Code, so I don’t know. But aren’t you eleven? Waiting till you’re twelve shouldn’t be too hard.
192 – True, but July is a long ways away.
I am now reading whatever I can get my hands on. LOTR has been temporarily stalled.
193- You’re two days older than my sister.
You act two years older.
194 – Wow, thanks!!! My birthday is July 3. I have never been told before that I acted mature (by a kid).
I feel happy!!!
All ye fans of JS&MN, heed what I say! There is another book by Susanna Clarke! It’s called The Ladies of Grace Adieu, and it’s an anthology of short stories. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m looking forward to it.
196- ooh, I’ve read that! It is good, I enjoyed it! It was fun to read stories from different eras in time than JS+MN
197- I haven’t got to the different eras yet, but I’m enjoying it immensely.
Any one Read:
Unwind?
The Freddy The Pig Books?
Rash?
199- I read a Freddy the Pig book once!
200- which one!
*is excited*
201- Freddy the Detective. I think that’s a Freddy the Pig book. It was about a pig. Named Freddy. I enjoyed it, although I can’t remember what it was.
I read every Freddy book still in print. My favorite was Freddy the Pilot. There’s just something so awesome about a bunch of skunk and rabbit commandos laying siege to a couple of crooks in an abandoned farmhouse.
Aw, dang. I suppose I’ll never see that… *wistful*
However, what POSOC said reminded me of those picture books… what are they called… Little Grey Rabbit? I dunno. They were definitely for a younger audience than Freddy, think more like a slightly older Beatrix Potter, but they were great fun. There was one about a battle, so that’s what reminded me of it…
Hmm. I’m off to go find more Freddy books, since you two esteemèd MuseBloggers give it such good reviews.
202- I like that one.
203- I’m ReReading that one! It was for $5 at My Local bookstore!
Good for you!
So, I just finished the Book Theif. It was life-changing.
I just read a great series of books. They’re called Outcast, and they’re by authors whose names I can’t remember. They can be read in a few hours, but there’s 4, so they kept me entertained while going back and forth to a soccer tournament, plus a bunch more back home.
I’m reading Maddigan’s Fantasia. I have this weird feeling that I’ve seen it before, looked at it and thought, “nah, I’ll pass.” OH! OH! I just remembered where! Powell’s! It was on the sale shelf and I only had about six more dollars on that card and I didn’t want to use the other one ’cause I didn’t know what happened to gift cards if you only use some of the money, so I didn’t get it.
I’m reading House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones. It is excellent. It isn’t exactly published yet though; it is an advanced reader’s proof. It says June as the publication date on the back of it and I would recommended seeking it out then!
I’m reading various books at the same time. Mostly, I’m trying to reread A Series Of Unfortunate Events… Huh, I read this when I was little! That’s probably part of how I got morbid. Tim Burton probably adds to this.
I’m reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini for the 34th time right now and also HP and the deathly hallows for the 6th time.
-183, Kokonilly, you said you liked Warriors, right? she’s just come out with a new series, Power of three. these books are VERY good and you should read them.
212 – It’s not very new, to tell the truth. There are already 2 books out in that series.
Oh, and The Sight is pretty bad IMO, but Dark River is a lot better.
The end of New Prophecy and The Sight wasn’t very good…
I think the best part of the whole series was Firestar’s Quest. That just pwned.
213- I read the prologue. SPOILER!
*
*
*
*
*
*
A SIXTH CLAN! *mind boggles* Maybe I’ll get it.
-213, yes i agree. i was disapointed when i bought the sight. but DARK RIVER TOTALLY PWNS! okay, i haven’t read Firestar’s Quest
yet though.
Can anyone tell me a series that is good for kids who like fiction and fantasy type stuff? I am currently in a position where I can’t find a decent series with both genres. I don’t know if I haven’t been looking hard enough or something but PLEASE HELP!!
212 – Yeah, I know, but I’m still trying to get ahold of the sixth book in the New Prophecy series. ;(
214 – ACK NO SPOILERS NO SPOILERS NO SPOILERS
216 – *cough* Harry Potter *cough* Artemis Fowl *cough* Warriors *cough* Lord of the Rings *cough* et cetera *cough*
I just finished a 500 page book with only 4 (or maybe 3, I can’t quite remember and am too lazy to check) chapters. And I always thought chapters were meant to be around ten pages. S’pose not. Really odd.
Oh! This is my new favorite thread!
216 – Definetly Artemis Fowl.
218 – That is really weird. And I like your name.
217 – What’s New Prophecy?
Does anyone else like Tamora Pierce’s Circle of Magic books? I think they are better than the Tortall ones.
Also, I really like the Bone comics. Do those belong on this thread?
That was an extremely changing-topic-type-comment. Wow, my English sucks today.
Speaking of Artimis Fowl, I have to read that. Soon.
-219 new prophecy is the second part in the warriors series.
i’m rereading the return of the king for the seventy-billionth time.
221 – The Warriors series? Who are they by? I’m going to the library later and I need a new series to read.
220 – Yes you do.
I only have one more Hitchhiker’s Guide book left! Is Fenchurch in Mostly Harmless?
222 – Erin Hunter.
I have never read Artemis Fowl and don’t plan on it. *cheesy grin*
There are SO many books that are better than Harry Potter, like Inkspell and other books written by Cornelia Funke , Eragon and Eldest, books by Andrew Clements and especially books in the Children of the Lamp series! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
224- well, let’s look at it.
Andrew Clements: These are very Different from Harry potter.
Eragon Books: Please never mention these agian.
225- What about Cornelia Funke books and books in the Children of the Lamp series?! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Well, here’s my opinions.
The Cornelia Funke books are good, but I feel that the characters are not very developed and her books generally do not hold my attention for very long.
Eragon and Eldest are incredibly overrated. Honestly.
Andrew Clements is good, especially Things Not Seen and Things Hoped (or was it Wished?) For, but they are generally aimed for younger age groups without very developed plots at ALL.
Children of the Lamp? Never read it, but it looks like another fantasy gimmick.
I think I’m finally going to try to get Twilight from the library, since all of my friends have been repeatedly recommending it.
By the way, is there anyone who is a Pendragon fan but does not want to read Rivers of Zadaa because of the School Library Journal review on Amazon? If so, I have one thing to say to you: IT’S A PACK O’ LIES!
I just read two really good books from a trilogy called “the mortal instruments” the first one is called city of bones. read it, you know you want to. i also read a good book called “beige” for more info on either of these books just ask me, i’ll write a reveiw. or you could just read the book yourself…..
I just discovered the Twilight books.
I am obsessed.
199-Is Rash the one with the pizza factory/polar bear thing, by the author of Godless? Because I think I read that… I always think that his books will be funny, but then they always make me kind of depressed.
I think Andrew Clements is really good, but I agree that his books are usually meant for younger people. The whole grandad-in-the-freezer thing was kind of creepy, though. Still, I like reading his books. I never realized that those book titles were quotes from the bible, though, until I saw a poster with the phrase outside my piano lesson…
I should probably re-read the Twilight series, because now everybody is reading them, and it’s been forever…
And I’ll need to get my hands on The Ladies of Grace Adieu!
(*struggles against comment box*)
232- Yeah!
Are there two Andrew Clements? Isn’t he the person who wrote firindle?
ughhh i am sickk of most fantasy…
i like realistic fiction, sometime deep and thought provoking without the need to transport you into another world.
dont get me wrong, thats great, just not all the time.
234- I like fantasy, I just don’t like how all the books being written these days seem to be photocopies of one another. (A few notable exceptions, but that’s the vast majority.)
231 – I requested Twilight from my local library yesterday.
235 – Yeah, you’re right.
Vocalization of Feline = Cat’s Meow, by the way.
235- Yeah.
235- definately, thats what i meant when i said the thing about fantasy, the less popular stuff seems like these never ending series books that just have more and more crazy things happen that dont mean much.
but i havent read loads of fantasy so i cant critique it much,
i finished the book thief a month ago and im still ranting and raving about it to people
235- thats to kind. it’s more like they were photocopied on to paper with coffee stands on it.
I refuse to read any fantasy written after 2000.
240-
/ 
You’re right…
Boo
Eragon. NEVER MENTION IT AGAIN.Cornelia Funke is okay.
Harry Potter = awesome.
Bartimaeus Trilogy = UNDISCOVERED (sort of) TALENT!
240- don’t discount all fantasy books published after 2000! I can recommend some excelent ones. First of all, read Abarat and Abarat: Days of Magic Nights of War both by Clive Barker. Read Un Lun Dun by China Miéville.
239- Re: neverending series books- I hate sequel-for-the-sake-of-a-sequel-sequels. The idea for the sequel should come before you resolve to write it, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
I’m also bored with trilogies. Why is it that every fantasy or sci-fi series has to be a trilogy? I’d like to see more quartets or stand-alones.
244 – *cough* seriesofunfortunateevents *cough*
Hey, LOTR was a good trilogy. Don’t criticize trilogies.
243- Ugg. I’ve been meaning to read Abarat, But it’s so heavy.
244- Agreed. There are also way to many books like HG2G (Five books trilogies. Eg. Artimas fowl, the third book was the last book, then The fourth, five, sixth, and now seventh.)
247 – There’s a sixth and seventh Artemis Fowl book??? *google*
245- I’m not saying LOTR was bad. It was very, very good. And it was also one of the first trilogies. But now trilogies seem ubitiquous.
246- Heavy as in number of pages, or heavy as in subject matter? If it’s number of pages you’re worried about, read it all. No matter how many days it takes- it’s a book to be savored. If it’s the subject matter, there’s plenty of comic relief to lighten it up. Look at the John brothers and the Sea-skippers. Not to mention the infamous hamster tree song.
Hey, no there isn’t! There are only five so far!!!!!
Double post?
249 – Ahh, okay. *calms down*
249- neither. Real Wheight. all those pages are very heavly lamanated, or something. It’s more heavy then Even HP5
I know there’s a sixth being written, but Eoin Colfer said in an interview that that would be the last one.
250- Well, There’s the files (The one with the short storys, and other stuff), and there’s a new one in may.
254 – Sorry, I wasn’t counting the files. I know there’s a new one soon.
254- Ohh, right. I didn’t count the Files.
Do you know, I once decoded the entire fairy alphabet without using a key? All I had access to were the covers of the Arctic Incident, the Eternity Code, and the Opal Deception (as well as the message in the hardcover edition of this last.)
any one know when the last Abart is out (isn’t it three books?)
240/243- Actually, most of my favorite fantasy books are written after 2000.
244- That’s what I’ve been saying for months. Trilogies are getting boring. In fact, we can even rule out the quartets. I like stand-alones.
257- It is three books, or maybe even more, but I don’t know when the next one’s coming out. Last time I checked I could get no info.
I’m reading Anne Frank. We have to read banned books for English, and I was looking through a long list of banned books and saw that one, which I’ve been meaning to read for a while.
258 – Her diary? Yeah, I’ve read that twice. It’s really good.
Abarat is five books. Absolute Midnight is the next one, and will be the longest and darkest yet.
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown… uh… the Illuminati… camerlengo… Pope… antimatter… cardinals… *spins around, gets dizzy, falls down* confused… ending… Langdon… plane… evil… brand… diamond… HUH??? *is so confused* *passes out*
I’m reading A Great and Terrible Beauty. I’m not very far yet, but I like it a lot. VERY glad that I can read it.
I’m reading Sunshine by Robin McKinley. ‘Tis excellent.
I need a new book to read!
For my birthday, I got a few of the American Diary and Royal Diary series. They are some of the neatest books, since they have some history in them.
I finished The Book Thief.
I’m going thru a non-fiction phase.
I’ve finished Sunshine and am now reading Devices and Desires by K. J. Parker. Last weekend my friend lent me four books!
264- i strongly suggest ‘the master and margerita’ by mikhail bulgakov. it’s my favorite book. to sum up the plot: satan and his posse wreak havoc in moscow/pontius pilate does something (i don’t remember what, it tells two stories, but the one about the devil in moscow is ultimately far more interesting). i haven’t read it in a long time, though, i should get around to rereading it.
I am currently reading:
Macbeth
The Diary of Anne Frank
Lord of the Flies (which is really good, no less)
Word Myths (more of a book to skim)
And I got several books on the Black Plague a while ago that I ought to read.
270- I read The Diary of Anne Frank and LOTF for school…they made me so depressed…
But they also made me angry! I hate Jack! I hate Roger! And I hate the Nazis!
*fumes*
271 – I agree. Nazis are EVIL. See Indiana Jones No. 1 and Anne Frank’s diary.
271- O.O I can understand hating Roger, but not hating Jack…yet.
As you can see, I’m not very far into it. But it has some of the best descriptive passages I’ve ever read.
Oh, and I’m with you on the hating Nazis.
And–well, I don’t really hate them, but I think Mr. and Mrs. van Pels (or “Daan, as Anne calls them) are extremely annoying.
274- Ooh, they are.
And I’m beginning to see how one could hate Jack. In fact, they’re all getting really scarily bloodthirsty.
But Jack’s one of the more central characters, so he’s scarier.
274- Yeah, Mrs. Van Daan in particular.
–ANNOYING–VAN DAANS–AND THAT OTHER GUY–DUSSEL MAYBE–I DUNNO
I have just finished reading
Dovey Coe
AotSP
Queste
The Penderwicks On Gardam Street
The Thief Queens Daughter
The Never Ending Story
My favorite Books
Inkheart
Inkspell
Septimus Heap series
Percy Jackson series
AotSP
The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme (series)
Grey Griffins (series)
Young Wizards (series)
and MUCH MORE!
I’m a neophyte, and this is my 1st ever blog!
250. Yes, 6th Artemis Fowl coming out in July! It’s an awesome series, if you like magic-science-time quandrey genre.
Has anyone read Brian Jacques Redwall series? Squirels and otters rule!
279- *pies* That’s for being a Neophyte and *pies* this is for mentioning Redwall. It is indrectly related to the pie wars.
279- Hello. *pies*
279- We have a little ritual for neophytes. Perhaps you know about it? *SPLAT*
279- I used to love Redwall. I haven’t read it in a while, I sort of grew out of anthropomorphic animals. But Watership Down is amazing.
Speaking of WD, I really want to read “Plague Dogs” by the same author.
Oh, and I finished The Lord of the Flies today. That was an INTENSE book.
Some of it reminded me of The Most Dangerous Game, but much, MUCH worse. *shudder* Manhunts scare me…
279 – Welcome to MuseBlog! I’m Cat’s Meow/Meow, and I hereby present thee with a pie (in the face) to welcome you to our noble Blog. -pies-
280- How is it related to the pie wars? Nobody mentioned Redwall, as far as I know.
269- I adore that book, Tumsy! It was incredible. I read it over winter break. Squee! I don’t know anyone else who has read it. So excitingly cool!
284- there was a small discussion on the first one.
I really want to re-iterate Tumsy’s suggestion of that book. Its superb. And its probably one of the funniest things you’ll ever read. The plot is basically Satan strewing discord in Moscow, but its embellished by so many wonderful funny scenes and character developments. Ugh! I want to rant about them, but I don’t want to post a spoiler. Ah well. Ignore my excess of emotion, just READ IT. Its soo good, and I want to be able to talk freely about it. You will love it!
I just finished Rebel Angels last night. Sooo good.
I also read The Boy Who Couldn’t Die, which was good too…but not amazing. Better than some stuff I’ve read..
279 – Hello. *pies*
I am reading The Da Vinci Code behind my mom’s back. She’ll never know…
Right now, I am reading L’Etrangere by Camus, and trying to do it in French. I’ll probably end up in English though, since so far my attempt has been mostly futile. I also just finished Lost Illusions by Balzac, which was wonderful. I can’t wait to pick up the second one.
Series I LOVE
Warriors
Pendragon
Twilight
Harry Potter
Artemis Fowl
Books I LOVE
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Wesing Game
….I can’t think of anymore right now….
287- May you tell us the title/author?
291- yay! The Westing Game! and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH!
292-The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov!
292- I like The Westing Game. Very strange ending, though.
294-True
A question (well, okay, two):
Has anyone read The Gate of Worlds, by Robert Silverberg? If so, is it any good? It sounds good, but I’ve learned from experience not to trust the cover blurb…
The Westing Game? The movie version, Get a Clue (w/out Lindsey Lohan) is utter stupid. They got rid of Flora, framed the judge, got rid of Mrs. Hoo and Theo also. STUPID.
297- I know, it was really stupid.
Redwall is a great series, I especially like “Rackety Tam” Brian Jacques is a great author! I just have 1 more book to go until I finish the series.
Also, the Bartimaeus Trilogy is not undiscovered! Everybody has read it! It’s a great trilogy, but sad, and adventurous, very adventurous!!! I would recommend it.
298- Really? I think Rakkety Tam was when it started to go downhill. Eulalia and High Rhulain both stunk. I’m not reading any more of that series. Some of the earlier books were good, though.
I am currently reading….nothing. How sad. Homework has deprived me of almost any free time to just read.
I am about to start The Spy Who Came in From the Cold alongside the sequel to Lost Illusions. So far, the latter is good, but as I haven’t started reading the former I don’t have anything in particular to say about it yet.
298/299-I never read Redwall, so I can’t very well contribute to the debate…
I want to read Redwall. But I keep forgetting.
302- Don’t read any of the ones after Loamhedge. Those are a waste of time.
you should! it’s really good. OY, YOU! all of the books are good! you stupid HPB:idea: of a…you can’t a MBer POSOC! eulalia was one of the best.
298,299- My very favorite one ever was Mariel of Redwall, followed by Pearls of Lutra.
I couldn’t get into the earlier ones, probably because by the time I started reading them I was already growing out of it all, and the same with the later ones. Rakkety Tam was all right; I read it after a long period of no Redwall at all.
I do like Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, by the same author, despite all the angelic appearances. The first one was the best though.
304- Did it get good after the first few chapters? Because that’s when I put it down.
Seriously, Loamhedge was the last one that was original. After that, they started getting formulaic. You know, the “youngbeast-sets-off-on-important-quest-to-beat-bad-guys-and-fulfill-OMGZPROPHECY-while-animals-back-home-solve-crucial-riddle-while-using-OMGZHOUSEHOLDIMPLEMENTS-to-beat-other-bad-guys” formula. Jacques needs to do one of two things:
1) SLOW DOWN. Stop churning them out. Take time to round out characters and come up with original plots. Don’t release one every year. Don’t listen to rabid fans.
2) STOP WRITING THEM. If you’ve used up your ideas, you’ve used them up. There’s no shame in ending a series. Work on something else for a change. Or if you can’t bear to give up the Redwall universe, write something that doesn’t involve the Abbey itself. Don’t listen to rabid fans.
305- Yeah, Mariel and PoL were both quite good.
306- A book a year? COME ON. No one can do that and still have something that resembles originality. Stuff like is ridiculous. Or the Guardians of Ga’Hoole. OK, I’ve never read them, but if you can get a dozen or more books in a few years, you’re going too fast. Or Warriors. That’s the main reason why I haven’t read them.
So many authors are just so formulaic.
Like Diana Wynne Jones. And Tamora Pierce. And Brian Jacques. And pretty much anyone who’s written that many books. I think eventually the human brain becomes so clouded with old stories and characters that you can’t think of anything new.
308- Exactly- they need to either slow down or stop.
Yes (!), and so is Mercedes Lackey. I had an obsession with her books a couple months ago–but now…ugh… I mean, she’s still good, but I just read too many of them, I guess.
I liked Mariel when I read it, and I think Triss was pretty good too (I liked the ones with the female characters most, I remember). But yeah, that was years ago. And I totally agree with Guardians of Ga’Hoole, too. Same thing. 5th grade, okay, but after a while, no. The comment box is shrinking, but soon I’ll write my Gone With The Wind rant. New htread? Please?
An amazing quote:
“youngbeast-sets-off-on-important-quest-to-beat-bad-guys-and-fulfill-OMGZPROPHECY-while-animals-back-home-solve-crucial-riddle-while-using-OMGZHOUSEHOLDIMPLEMENTS-to-beat-other-bad-guysâ€
310- Believe it or not, I made that up on the spot.
303 – I haven’t a clue what you are talking about, but I will try to take your advice.
311-i believe it
redwall annoys me. you read one, you’ve read them all. then again, you read one, you think “why did i read that?” and you find something better to read. so.
LOTF annoys me, if possible, even more. typical conversation with whatever teacher happens to be cramming it down my throat…
T: We’re going to read lord of the flies! who’s read it?
E: me. i hated it.
T: Well it’s one of those books that you have to read multiple times. you’ll like it better the second time.
E: …no, it sucked the second time too.
T: oh, you’ve read it twice? well it needs some time, maybe now that you’re older…
E: we read this like last year. because it is one of those books that you are forced to read over and over and over.
T: well you’ll love it this time
E: that’s what they all say…
this post sounds extraordinarily grumpy. but hey, i am so deal. >.< *needs sleep*
308- Look Below:
2 months- WRite! Like NaNo!
1 month- first edit
1 month-secand
1 month- Grammer and spelling
1 week- send to puplisher.
2 weeks- edit with editor
1 week- finsh up.
7 months- puplisher puplishs book.
314- Yes, I’m sure it’s possible, I’m just saying that if you’re cranking out a book a year, the books are going to get pretty formulaic pretty fast.
313- I thought some of the earlier books were more original, but yeah, that’s how it’s been. Bleh. If he’d just make his characters more rounded, I might like it better.
314- That’s far too rushed a schedule for my taste. This is how it should go:
2 years: Write. Revise. Second draft. Revise. Third draft. Revise. Ad infinitum/until you’re satisfied.
1 year: Edit.
The rest of the schedule you’ve gotten approximately right.
316- Your never going to make it in the writing world. I Like to have three scripts In work at differnt places.
Robert (181): Hey, wow. I just noticed that back in March you were reading War and Peace. Oddly enough, I’ve been reading it too. (For the first time.) I just finished it. I loved it! I can’t believe I never read it until now. The edition I have is an old one that had an introduction by Clifton Fadiman. That was also really interesting. He wrote it in1942 and drew parallels between Napoleon and Hitler. It was strange reading something written about WWII before they knew how it would end. But enough about THAT. I thought the story was WONDERFUL
Did you finish it? Did you like? What possessed you to read it??
LOTF depressed me for the first ten minutes after reading it. Then I went out to walk the dog, thought about it, and then kind of preferred to stop thinking about it.
Gone With The Wind Rant:
A thousand-something page book on a selfish, nasty girl that’s filled with racist ideas and unrealistic characterizations just to get to the famous line that you always hear people quote… and they don’t even say “frankly”. And that was my favorite part of the whole quote! Seriously, though, eveno though the author’s writing was pretty interesting for the first little while (and you thought that the character would end up being more open-minded in the end) The n ovel never changes except to be more depressing and racist and embarassing. *grumble grumble*( anyway, I lost my train of thought and the comment box is shrinking. So if this doesn’t make sense, then
OOh well.
317- Slow and steady wins the race, pal.
I’ve realized I don’t like The Diary of A Young Girl at all. It really doesn’t hold my interest. I always thought it would be intense and scary and depressing, and it’s just a teenage girl complaining about how she doesn’t love her family and all her housemates are annoying and she feels put upon. It’s boring!
321 – Yeah, she does ramble a lot. And gripe.
320- Sorry about the following Rant about that saying:
Why is it that most people say that slow and steady wins the race is the moral The turtle and the hare? it’s not. the moral is don’t quit while your ahead.
I’ve never read LOTF. I’m afraid it will depress me to much. And after reading purplefinch’s comment (219), I have decided again to not read it. I’m sure it’s an excellent book but I just don’t have the fortitude.
I think the woman who wrote it, Ellen Raskin, is a genius. She wrote and illustrated one of my other favorite books: A picture book called Spectacles. And she wrote another favorite: The mysterious disappearance of Leon (I mean Noel).
I read the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy. I liked it. Admittedly, there’s an air of dark dreariness over the whole thing, which made me feel bleak at times, but that was more than balanced by humor, creative plot and likable characters. That reminds me, I’d like to read the rest of the triology.
Haven’t read any of the Redwall series. I’m curious about it after reading the discussion it stirred up.
And here’s another “yay” for the Westing Game
324- What parts of it were dreary? Bart’s cynical worldview, or Nathaniel’s awful childhood? Or both?
324- The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I mean Noel)! That was a great book. But it was kind of sad.
Only it wasn’t really very sad. But it was. But at the same time…
I could probably debate this for ages.
POSOC (325): I was thinking of the awful childhood. But now that you mention it, Bart’s cynicism is a downer too. But he’s funny so that tempers it.
Alice (326/7): It had sad parts but they didn’t hit me very hard. I think it’s because the whole book had such a light feel to it with the funny names and entertaining footnotes and the fun of solving the mystery.
327- You’re the only person I know who can debate with herself and lose.
328- That’s odd. I remember thinking that it didn’t have a light feel to it all. Maybe I just wasn’t comfortable when I was reading it, but I couldn’t imagine settling into the story and feeling comfortable and safe. If felt sort of cold. Which is odd since it wasn’t cold at all…
I am presently going through a phase of infatuation with French writing (mostly translated to English
). I read the Red and the Black by Stendhal last year and I adored it passionately. Same goes for Cousin Bette and Black Sheep (both by Balzac). I also read Le Grand Meaulnes by Alan-Fournier. Its a strange mystical book, basically discussing fleeting moments of joy that can never be relived, but very beautiful. And then there’s Camus, though he doesn’t fit in so well with the former three as his style is more concise and outright. Anyway, my only reason for ranting on about this is that if anyone is looking for a style/genre to get hinged onto, I strongly recommend trying some of the aforementioned books. Balzac and Stendhal both launch into extensive descriptions, but they really don’t drone on at all. They’re not prosaic; they’re vibrant and engaging and amusing to read. Balzac had a fixation with trying to portray every type of human character (Comedie Humaine), and as a result his characters are really human, flaws and strengths alike. Stendahl’s strengths and style are very similair, though his writing always strikes me as somehow more dramatic. Alan Fournier’s style is difficult to describe, but it goes with the themes of the book. Its fleeting and wistful, like the lost joys the writing describes. Camus is much later, much more intimate, and much less prolix than the others. Recommend ’em all fiercely. 
331- What are the plots like?
I have read two pieces of French writing:
The Future is in Eggs
The Little Prince
I know, sad.
I’m reading Mr. Midshipman Hornblower again. I forgot how hard it was to put down!
332-
Stendhal and Balzac’s plots are mostly about young provincial writers making their way into rigid Paris society. Le Grand Meaulnes is about a very charismatic and popular boy whose life is suddenly flipped upside down when he is lost and encounters an enormous dream estate. And the Plague by Camus is about Oran (a town in Algiers) that is seized with an epidemic of Bubonic Plague.
I really want to read Les Miserables….
334-Me too! Though I am having trouble summoning up the courage…
I’m reading Rhinoceros, it’s very good. And French.
So who knew there was a sequel to Watership Down? Sure, it’s only short stories, but it’s better that way anyhow. And they’re very good short stories.
For some unfathomable reason, I decided to compile a list of EVERY BOOK I HAVE READ.
Ugh. Ugh ugh ugh. What hath possessed me? There are far too many forgotten books to write them all down, but I’ve written down a lot. Mostly by authors who’ve written more than one thing (that I’ve read).
What was I thinking? I have six pages in Appleworks, 12 pt Helvetica font, single-spaced, and I’ve barely grazed the surface of my reading. What about the dozens of Pern books I read, each indistinguishable from the others? Those little old paperbacks from times gone by, with plots that I can’t remember? The Boxcar children? Nancy Drew?
OH GREAT. Now I’ve gone and got myself thinking about one of the aforementioned paperbacks with a plot that I can’t remember. I think the cover had a girl with red hair, against a background of rocks with the sea crashing. It was called “The Stranger” or “The Stranger on the Rocks” or something like that. Oh, I had it in my journal for ages! But I threw it away…
Remind me to write down the Montmorency books. And The Mermaid Summer and the Kelpie’s Pearls.