Why do some continued threads have parts, while others have versions? Who knows?
Earlier threads on this and similar topics include
Books and Reading, Part 2,
Books and Reading,
Libraries, Books, and Bookstores,
and
Books.
Patience, Please
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Books are froody! I’m currently reading The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau, sequel to The City of Ember. anyone read those?
yaaa second post
1- Yes, a while ago. The third one really had nothing to do with the others though.
I am reading (don’t laugh) the Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve. I read the first three, but the fourth one is only available in Britain. Ahh, post-apocalyptic tales…
I also read all of Michael Chricton and John Grisham. I think my favorite books that I have read are A Short History of Nearly Everything and In a Sunburned Country, both by Bill Bryson.
2-That is definitely an extremely pointless post.
3-I was wondering about that. I read a descrition of the third book and it seemed pretty different. Is it still good though? I really loved the first one. Never heard of any of those other books.
1-those were okay. when i read teh first one a few years ago it really scared me.
3-ooh! i love those really good! (the Philip reeve)
5-how did it scare you?
Has anyone here read a book by Ann Rinaldi? I really like all of her’s that i’ve read, but most people here seem to be more interested in Fantay and science Fiction, and she does really good historic fiction. o well
1- OOOH city of ember! I wish I had thought of that idea…
Er… I’m re-reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books… and I neeeeeed to get Lady Friday! I also just re-read the first two Molly Moon books… anyone else read those? They’re really good.
I have a copy of Canterbury Tales in old English due at the library next week. I’ll probably do that once I’ve read all the recent MB posts.
C&Q, Chaucer wrote in Middle English.
For comparison, here’s a sample of Old English from Beowulf:
Hwæt! We Gardena / in geardagum
þeodcyninga / þrym gefrunon
hu ða æþelingas / ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scefing / sceaþena þreatum
monegum mægþum / meodosetla ofteah
egsode eorlas.
Here’s Chaucer:
The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne,
Thassay so hard, so sharp the conquering,
The dredful Ioy, that alwey slit so yerne,
Al this mene I by love, that my feling
Astonyeth with his wonderful worching
So sore y-wis, that whan I on him thinke,
Nat wot I wel wher that I wake or winke.
By the way, if you can find an audiorecording, Chaucer’s English is much easier to read after you’ve listened to it a bit. Some of the words look strange until you hear them. On the other hand, some of the words sound stranger than they look.
In any case, GC=♥.
Has anyone read “Twilight” or “New Moon” by Stephanie Meyer? The books are SOO GOOD!!!
I’m reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman and The Harp of the Grey Rose by Charles de Lint.
I’m making a list of people who’ve read Someplace to be Flying. I know Ebeth and Robert have, who else?
Oh, and a case of HPB points plus a box of virtual chocolate to anyone who can identify the Chaucer quotation above (in comment 10).
Guess it would have been at home on the Valentine’s day thread, now that I think about it.
I don’t have a tv so I read all the time. Like all the time. I read everything I can get my hands on. If I there is nothing to read, I will find something or recite pi until there is something to read.
Asimov, Heinlein, Rowling, Jacques, Duane, Lewis… and a variety of others. Everything…
12-Me!
14-My family doesen’t get any reception on our TV, and we like it that way. Or at least I do. I know my younger siblings don’t!
Sometimes I find myself reading cereal boxes and nutrition lables, when I don’t have anything else to do. Then I know that I REALLY need to go to the library…
7-I read alot of books by Ann Rinaldi. I can’t remember all of them, but I liked them.
1-I read the first 2 of the series, but not the 3rd one. yet.
Ohh, I LOVE book threads!
14. Sounds like me….
I get into those huge fantasy series like Wheel Of TIme and Sword of Truth
Plenty of words to go around in those books
4- The third is like a prequel to the first, only hundreds of years before. Nothing “related” happens until the end, and that’s kind of short and summarized. I would still read it.
13- HA! Thank you Brit Lit. Stanza in Parliament of Fowls
(and, incidentally, I remembered how to use the HTML italics.)
(11) No, but my freinds have and they’re obsessed.
I’m reading The Origin of Species. It’s interesting, but I have to take it slowly.
1+11- yup, I’ve read those.
18- Is that the one by Darwin?
10- I am extremely sorry to have confused the two. Maybe it’s because after saying I’d go read it I stayed on MuseBlog instead. I’ll never have free time, but renewing it online should help.
14- I don’t recognize Jacques. Who/what/is it al the local library or do I have to inter-library-loan it?
Brian Jacques’s Redwall books, maybe?
I read the Belgariad, and it was pretty amazing how similar it was to Eragon. I still have to read the last 2 books of the Belgariad, but I noticed at least one part (in “Mister Wolf’s” tower, I think) where Paolini seemed to just take the whole scene, and just change a few words.Maybe I am blowing this out of proportion, (yes, I think I am) but still…
Anyway, the Belgariad was pretty good.
I
I read Pawn of Prophecy, then stopped. Dunno why… I’ll go to the library and grab the next one soon.
I NEED LADY FRIDAY!!! It’s Garth Nix.
(18) Yeah.
I just re-read His Dark Materials. The first one is the best. I am at a rather fantasy deprived point in my life right now.
Has anyone heard of a book called The Sunlight Dialogues?
Anyone who’s read Someplace to be Flying reading more de Lint books? Or wanting suggestions on what to read next? (of de Lint’s that is.
24- yay! His Dark Materials! Have you read Lyra’s Oxford, the small companion book to them?
Anyone read The War for the Oaks by Emma Bull?
i never finished his dark materials. it was kinda like what would happen if everyoned revolted against the church(sorta). i thought it was cool, all that angel and dark matter stuff. i will finish it(that is, the third book). i just read the 1st hungry city book and laughed my head off. i loved it! the ancients references had me rolling on the ground. i thought it was cool that it was the only science fiction book that had people in the future without really advanced technology, a very interesting veiwpoint. yes, i don’t watch tv either( i guess you can get much more done w/o digital entertainment….) oh well, i’m rambling
I liked His Dark Materials, should have had older protagonists though… And he should have played up the negative side of the church more. Because it is evil.
6-too realistic. you know? only like 200 people surviving the nuclear holocaust or whatever. and then them #^*^ing it up.
it amazes me how seemingly all of the books i read are aimed at girls.
27-really? i thought he did both sides very well.
25-yes, i read lyras oxford. its cool. and small. and red.
22-pretty good? it was awesome@
20-hes good for younger people his flying dutchman series is better than redwall.
8- yeah, read those.
currently reading peter abrahams. (behind the curtain, sequel to down the rabbit hole.) they’re very good. and as far as i can tell, totally aimed at girls
By the way, to the people who talked about Keys to the Kingdom last thread.
I can’t believe this! Despite the fact that three websites said that Lady Friday was coming out in march, I saw it at a bookstore near the beginning of February! My mom got it for me for Valentine’s day, and I finished it today! YES!
8- I read them too, they are really good!
i like the sisters grimm
anybody heard about that series
YAY.
I just finished Peaches.
But the library doesn’t have the sequel yet :[
I need more suggestions on books.
Or I shall die from boredom
(well, after I’m done with Goong).
have you read/what do you think of Harriet the Spy?
Hmm. I never remember the books when I’m thinking of my favorites, but looking at my bookshelf I spot The Indian In the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Bank. It’s one of those books that everyone’s heard of but no one has read. They really are amazingly well written and I’m always so sad they don’t go on when I get to the end of the series. Maybe someone here has read them?
i’m reading somplace to be flying, it’s uber cool!
and i requested the sunlight dialouges from the library, but it’s taking months to come in.
I’m almost done with The Green Glass Sea by someone-or-other, It’s REALLY good. Historical fiction, and it has RICHARD FEYNMAN in it!! Sadly, I left it in my friend’s car. AND IT WAS A LIBRARY BOOOOK!!!
34- I have. It was one of the books at my old school’s (regrettably tiny) library that was old, beat-up, and (apparently) checked out but never read.
I just started reading Tom Clancy stuff. I likeThe Sum of All Fears the best so far.
1 – Yes, Love those books!
11 – I just finished Twilight and am going to get New Moon ASAP.
20 – Brain Jacques – I believe he wrote the Redwall Abbey books, right?
24 – That is a great, absolutely wonderful, amazingly good series.
34 – I’ve read that, but it was several years ago.
okay, I have just finihsed reading The Stand, by Stephen King, and The Cry of the Icemark, by somebody else whose name I have forgotten. I am halfway through reading Firestar, by Chris D’lacey. And I also just finished Twilight, by Stephanie Mayer, and then recommended it to a freind who now spends most of Algebra reading it instead of paying attention because she’s so smart that she does the homework the night before we learn the lesson. *turns bright green with envy*
I haven’t been to the library in over five months. But then again, I’m getting so much homework that it has taken me months to finish the aforementioned books while I used to be able to sit down and read the entire Chronicles of Narnia in one day! *mutters about middle schoolers getting way too much homework*
38-cry of the icemark! that was good. and i got a proof from the library of the sequel. i
wtf? about half tha got cut off (or looks like it) and when i try to repos i get the duplicate post comment. whats happening?
brian jaques books are all the same… same storyline with different characters YAWN
33-love those books u read the sequal: the Summer secrit?
(35 otzi) Really? Whered you hear about it from? Because I just bought it from a second hand store completely randomly…it looked interesting and was only 3 bucks…but I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it.
41 – Yep, pretty much.
39 – I’m going to get the sequel ASAP. I really like the first one!
Okay, finally went to the library yesterday. Got out the last two books in the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy, by Clare Dunkle, Across the Wall, a continuation of the Old Kingdom Trilogy, by Garth Nix, and Jinx on the Divide, by “I forgot”. I finished reading second book of the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy this morning. Twas pretty good. Actually, I’m going to say that it was “hunky dory” because my algebra teacher usese that several times a day and it is getting pounded into my brain.
okay, I’m done.
Oh, and I got a library card! Yay! It’s nice and new and green and shiny and………
Am being forced to read the Odessy for english…have already read it, but memory isnt good enough to take tests, write essays…atleast I like the story, still I’m not big on rereading things…
(1) Yeah I read those. The only really good one was The City Of Ember, IMO.
(3) Philip Reeve wrote Larklight, didn’t he?
(4) I didn’t actually finish the third one. It was boring.
(8) Laura Wilder’s are very good! And I am now going to brag that I am first on the waiting list for Lady Friday at my library! Unfortunately, it’ll be ages before the book even comes in, so…
(24) His Dark Materials are quite possibly some of the best books I’ve ever read.
(28) I think that the Flying Dutchman series is definetely better. I was into Redwall when I was nine.
(29) LUCKY!!!
(34) I’ve read it!
(38) I’m still waiting for my library to get Firestar. And by now I hardly even care. : (
(43) I like the hollow Kingdom trilogy. And I just got the Divide books from the library.
I’m reading the Montmorency books. (Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman?; Montmorency on the Rocks: Doctor, Aristocrat, Murderer?; Montmorency and the Assassins.)
They’re great books, but its strange what a different charachter he appears in the second one. Or maybe it’s just been a long time since I read the first.
46-indeed. those are good.
42-its famous….
43-read he garth nix. good stuff. an awesome rpg in it. yeah, and the second one was great too.
29- Ooh, it’s out? I have yet to read Sir Thursday, though. The library’s getting it.
What about the Windsinger books? I forget the name of the series… the first was The Windsinger, then it was, umm, Slaves of the Mastery, and then Firesong. It’s been a while sence I’ve read them, I just rememberd because I just drew a swirly S thing on a post-it a while ago… heh heh heh… Annnd as always, Douglas Adams! w00t! Atually met someone who read the books and likes them. Had a breif bit of triva about it after arguing about weither I or he knew everything.
(after a few questions I don’t remember)
Me: What is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?
J: Forty-two.
Me: Have you read Douglas Adams?
J: Yes. What game does Arthur play in the cave with Ford and Neandrethals?
Me: Scrabble. What does Arthur chase across the plains after anouncing he will go mad?
J: A couch, I think.
ect, ect.
By the way, does anyone know the chemical formula for gold?
48- ooh, I really like those! It’s been a while since I’ve read them, too. The were good.
do you mean symbol? Au then.
48 – I’ve read the first Windsinger Book, but I can’t seem to find the other two. And my library doesn’t have Somplace to be Flying, either.
46. The montmorecy books are very good, quite well written. Anyone read the Abarat series by Clive Barker? only the 1st 2 books are out right now. there are supposed to be 4. I’m also just starting the Pretties, Uglies, and Specials series but Westerfield which should be good. I have the books 7, 8, and 9, of the series of unfrtunate events out of the library, but they are getting quite tedious. Any one read the book East? It’s got a big white bear and a girl on the cover, quite similar the the golden compass cover, but it’s way different. Wonderful retelling of East of the moon and west of the sun. I am so mad because my library doesn’t have Lady Friday yet!!
51- ooh, yes, I love Abarat! “oh woe is me, oh woe is me, I used to have a hampster tree” ^_^ I can’t wait for the third to come out! and, I’ve heard that they’ll be five.
But it was eaten by a newt, and now i have no cuddly fruit, oh woe is me, oh woe is me, i used to have a hamster tree.
Outside of a dog, a book is your best friend. Inside it’s too dark to read.
54–:D
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series is one of the most hilarious ones I know of. I could read those over and over and still laugh at the same jokes.
How about Ray Bradbury? I think he’s my favorite author. His last book, Homecoming, made me cry at the end. Although I cry at just about anything.
My library does not have the third hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy!!!! It makes me mad!!!! I’ve only read Farenheight 451 by Ray Bradbury and that was very good.
56-Mine does not have the 4th!!
55-I read Fahrenheit 451. We also read a short story or two by him in English class a while ago. He is so magnificently sad. I love his style of writing, but…*sob*
I read East. Do you know any other books by that author? I wish I did. I should probably do some research.
I read Uglies, but when I returned the book to the school library, the librarian said “That doesn’t look like a book that you’d read, ____________” The librarian probably meant it differently from what I interpreted it to mean, but I DO NOT ENJOY people who tell me what I “would like” to read. I mean, I LOVE recommendations, but… argh. So now I’m sort of scared to go check out Pretties.
I love Across the Wall. And the rest of the Abhorsen series.
I read The Onion Girl several months ago!
54-ha…ha… Will have to use that joke. Somehow.
7-Or Give Me Death was by Ann Rinaldi, I think.
51 – I love Abarat and East. They’re so fr00dy!
56 – I’ve read a short story by Ra Bradbury, ad it was just so amazing. I have, sadly, not read any of his other books.
Okay, in the local newspaper, there was something mentioned that I just wanted to put down because it’s so acorable.
At a book store, someone is explaining to a young boy that magical beasts go to a different dimension because they’re afraid of humans.
The little boy thinks about it, and then says. “It must be the second dimesion.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s how they all fit onto the pages of a book.”
58. – That’s cute!
57.-I agree with you, i hate it when people tell me they don’t think i would like something. My friend lent me twilight and my mom said that’s didn’t look like something i would read, and traditionally it isn’t, but i had to read it cuz it was a BIG thing at my school, like harry potter, and just to prove my mom wrong. What is the Onion Girl about?
I read East. Good book, like the greak myth..umm, I forget wa=hat its called. With the person today’s Cupid is based off of… Man, i’m normally really good at remembering this stuff. Grrr.
The Onion girl is by Charles de Lint too. I don’t think it was as good as Someplace to be Flying, but I liked it. My rough and rushed summary: a painter who was hit by a car and sustains serious injuries retreats to the “dreamlands” (a sort of other, magical world??). Her sister (who is unjustly angry at her) moves into the area, because she wants revenge. I can’t really tell you any more… You’ll have to read the book… That summary was pretty bad…
Anyone read Ambergate?
59, 61- I’d read other Charles de Lint Newford books first as then you know the characters better before reading Onion Girl. I haven’t read it yet, though I’ve read many other Charles de Lint books.
YAYAYAYAYAYAY! I LURV GRAPHIC NOVELS!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! ANY ONE READ WICKED OR SON OF A WITCH?
I attempted Wicked, but it didn’t work. I got sort of digusted by all the sexual stuff in the beginning of the book, and then i just got bored. sorry.
I read Wicked, the book. Yes, there were some…not-so-nice…parts, but i liked it. I mean, it was okay.
63-whoops! The Onion Girl was the first book of his that I read, I think… But I read alot of things out of order…
I just don’t think that i like The author of wicked’s writing style. what’s his name?
Does anyone read folktales? And if they do, could we please pretty please have a thread where everyone can post their favorite (short) folktales? Muchas gracias
Can anyone recommend a few good books for me? I’m running out and there’s no New Fiction at the library. HELP MEEEEEEEEEEE….
Kiki- Have you read keys to the kingdom, prophecy of the stones, eragon, eldest, which witch, island of the aunts, the great ghost rescue, dial a ghost, the secret of platform 13, the divide series, the gregor the overlander series, the princess bride, the artemis fowl series, the secret of epsilon. If you’ve read those, just ask again.
69 – How old are you? Maybe I could reccomend some more books
69- hero’s song and fire arrow both by edith pattou. The harp of the grey rose, the riddle of the wren and the dreaming place all by charles de lint robin mckinley books.
The Arkadians, the marvelou s misadventures of sebastian, the schwa was here,
51- I really like Abarat. I feel sorry for the villian though. I like East, too.
57- Umm… something about an arrow, maybe? Or fire. Or a warrior.
60- It’s not a greek myth. I think it’s from Norway, and it’s called “East of the Sun, West of the Moon”. There is a similar version called “The Black Bull of Norroway”, and a Russian (?) version called “Katerina and the Bright Falcon”. Well, the latter is less like East than the other two, but anyway, I’m a show-off.
70- Whoa!
57, 74- Hero’s Song and Fire Arrow are both by her. I should really read East. I started it once and I don’t really know why I didn’t finish it. Maybe I got distracted by another book…^_^
east is really good. bunnicula is an awesome book!
What’s bunnicula about? I’ve not read it. London Calling, a new book by Edward Bloor, is wonderful. T’is about a boy nowadays who dreams he’s in the 1940s in London when there are bombings from Hitler. He has problems at school, and whenever he listens to his radio that he got from his grandma he has what he calls ‘real-place dreams’. It’s good.
77- A rabbit whose a vampire and a dog and a cat who have adventures. Intended for very young readers, I think. I read them when I was six or seven or so. Not my favorite, but we all have our tastes.
46-montmorency was sweet.
what the heck was abhorsen about? i saw it every time i went to the library (about twice a week) and never found out.
yes, i hate it when people think they know more about what you want to read then you do. my YA librarian is really good though, she likes everything that i like.
i’ll have to read someplace to be flying
hs anyone read the DREAMHUNTER duology yet? i loved it! it was a great work of fantasy and …whatever else it falls under. author is elizabeth knox. oh, i finished his dark materials and fell in love with it. it should be a classic in……. alternative thinking!
i read FIREGOLD and thought it was great in a sort of coming of age book. like, ya see this kid become whole through his…wierd adventures. its fantasy. kinda like the hero and the crown.
Yay, Bunnicula!
How about Piratica? That’s good adventure. The second one is more boring, for about the first half, because Felix and Art aren’t getting along, but it picks up.
The High Seas trilogy by Ian Lawrence is SO GOOD!!! Well, 2nd and 3rd books are, the first is only medium good.
79- Is Firegold by -whats her name- Dia Somebody? Who wrote Pheonix Dance, and Aria of the Sea?
I got Piratica for my bday but I haven’t read it yet. It looks interestingly weird and therefore froody.
Has anyone read the naming or something like that? I got it for christmas and need a quick synopsis. I promised my friend i would read the series of unfortunate events, but they are so TEDIOUS!!! Nothing ever happend. I’m not yet to The End, but i’m getting close.
ive read the series of unfortunate events. they get a lot better and are kinda creepy
79- dreamhunter sounds interesting. What are the titles of the seperate books and what is it about? (no spoilers please!)
84-the two books are DREAMHUNTER and DREAMQUAKE and are about a YA named Laura who is a dreamhunter, someone who is able to enter the mysterious PLACE and catch dreams. the story is about how she finds out what the PLACE is and why it is actually there. that was a terrible synopsis but is basically the plot of the books. i loved them!
80- yes they are by i think dia ….. something!
82- my cousin read the Naming and i think it was okay, you’ll have to ask him(oh, wait. you don’t know who the heck he is. oh, well. i will have to ask him then!)
has anyone read Life As We Knew It, by susan pfeffer? i just got it out of my library and don’t know if it is any good. ian lawrence’s high seas books are good, but the 1st one was a mess!(i am entitled to an opinion!)
dreanhunter sounds really good
We have to reand a nonfiction book for class, and my teacher said the life of pi was unacceptable. is it true?
85- I read Life As We Knew it.. It was interesting.
87- Life of Pi is a very good book. I don’t think it’s nonfiction, though. How old are you? If your in high school I would recoment The Omnivore’s Delema if you have a lot of spare time and are interesting in eating habbits. It’s a bit hard to get through, but interesting. Or if your older Stiff is a good one, but not for the weak of stomach (it’s about cadavers). If you need a quick one, Born Free is good. Easier, and good for middle school +.
Well, it’s a novel. If you’re supposed to read nonfiction, then it doesn’t qualify. It’s fiction.
That’s what I thought. But I would recomend it for a book report that doesn’t have to be non-fiction.
88- Middle school? Define middle school. Plus, dilemma is not spelled delema. It is spelled dilemma.
I lurve to read.
Have any of you read Mr. Gonick’s Cartoon Guides? They are wonderful. And so is Attack of the Smart Pies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, I can’t spleel at all (alright, yes, that one was intentional). By “Middle School” I mean that people in th 6+ grades could read Born Free without a problem, but the others I listed are more for high school students. Actually, The Omnevore’s Dilemma is fine for younger but it takes patience to read.
87- Nonfiction? How about E=MC2, it’s a biography of the equation, not albert einstein, and very interesting. Or rachel carson’s Silent Spring, classic novel about the dangers of pesticides? Or Tuesdays with Morrie?
I read The Life Of Pi. It was extremeley… wow. Was the whole book (except for the end) a metaphor for what actually happened? Not that it actually happened. At least, I don’t think so. I was counfused! But the author was talented.
I read the Naming. It was OK. Not one of my favorites, but pretty good.
I read London Calling, and enjoyed it, but I liked Tangerine better.
I read Life of Pi…I thought it was okay. I go in phases of liking it and not liking it.
Can we have the Da Vinci Code discussion again? If people have read it….
What does define middle school? I’ve lived in places where its 6-8, 7-8, and 7-9. Which is it? Tuesdayw with morrie is nonfiction? I’m in 8th grade, but i’ll read anything. anything at all. shadow of the wind, for example, probably wasn’t a good choice regarding the 2-3 chapters that had to do with…sexual stuff. That book was OK, very intricate. the subplots of the subplots had subplots. I do reccomend it, but for older readers. MY MOM WON”T LET ME READ THE DAVINCI CODE!!!!! AHHHH. I’ll sneak it home from one of my friends.
Calhoun! Dia Calhoun! I looked it up. They’re kinda boring, actually.
96-It is sort of the same with me. I like a lot of authors, and somtiomes I have to voyage into the adult section of the library to find their books. Thus, I read some parts of books that are… well, might not be exactly age-appropriate. For 8th grade.
96- Don’t bother. The davinci code is just complete drivel. Tuesdays with Morrie is a memoir, so I believe it counts as nonfiction.
Tuesdays with Morrie… I had to read that last year before I gave up on religion, when I was still trying to get confirmed to please my grandmother. Not my favorite, but not horrible, I guess.
I just read a book. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. Anyone read that?
100- Yeah, I read it. I thought it was pretty good, but extremely strange.
100- Yes, but I on;y vaugely remember it. I read Death Be Not Proud for a book report last year, that was non-fiction. It was okay, a quickish read. The hard part was the actual book reprt, which was writing a 60-line poem(mine ended up being 120 lines or somthing, ^^)
Did you read the house of the scorpion by the same author? awesome.
102. You had to write a poem? was it prose or rhyming?
I read The Ear the Eye and the Arm. It was pretty good. Very strange… But I liked it. I must read House of the Scorpion.
I just finished Widdershins by Charles de Lint. I’m so glad that Jilly’s story has a happy ending! (well, not ending. An end to her problems, I suppose)
I hate the series of unfortunate events. they are so tedious!!!! I must finish them though…..must….keep…going!!!
105- I’ve read various Jilly stories (short stories) about her before the accident and the begining of Widdershins and none of Onion Girl and I like her Widdershins personality better than her personality in the short stories.
103- I read Sea of Trolls, but not House of the Scorpion or The Ear the Eye and the Arm.
Anyone read The 13 Clocks by James Thurber? It’s weird, but good.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is the best book ever.
103- Rhyming, if you stretch your imagineation. Actually, it rhymed better if you read it with an acent. Unfortunatly, I did not do the acent when I prsented to the class. Oh well.
Grr, I keep meaning to get that Charles de Lint book, Someplace to Be Flying, because its gotten good MB reviews. But I havn’t yet. Meh, I need to get to the library. Actually, I need to finish my new book report first. Grrrr…
I love the da vinci code! I know that i said earlier that my mom wouldn’t let me read it, but it borrowed it from my friend meghan and my mom doesn’t know. It is sooo awesome!!!
I’m reading The Antichrist by Nietzsche.
111 whats it about?
112: Proof that christianity is NOT something positive. Go read it.
112-*sigh* Once again, christianity IS positive. It’s peoples’ interpretations of it that aren’t.
I’m reading tapping the dream tree (de lint, w00t!) and the tale of genji
Ok, mixed feelings about the Da Vinci Code. What happened at the end? Where was the chalice? I don’t get it. I must be really stupid, or i read it too fast.
57: I loved Uglies!! And Pretties! And Specials! Hahaha.
My favorite books:
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer
Curse of the Blue Tattoo by L. A. Meyer
Under the Jolly Roger by L. A. Meyer
In the Belly of the Bloodhound by L. A. Meyer
Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray
The Mediator series by Meg Cabot
The Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
114: Why don’t you read the Antichrist and Nietzsche’s position on Christianity before making statements like that.
118-Why don’t you consider other people’s opinions and beliefs before making statements like that ?
119: Because research, thought, reflection and philosophy have gone into my statement, whereas the only thing reinforcing the opposite is years of dogmatic religious fascism.
120 – so only people who haven’t researched, thought, reflected, and philosophized can disagree with you, because you are by definition correct since it is your majestic wisdom that is saying all of this?
121: You can disagree with me anyway, but if there’s nothing to back your argument, why bother? You could at least read the Antichrist before disagreeing with it.
It is still unkind to insult other people’s beliefs just because you do not share them, no matter how much they “annoy” you.
115 – Yay! how do you like it?
GAPAs, will you make a thread for Musers who have written/are writing/want to write books? It would be a good place to bounce ideas off of other people who share that interest.
125-That’s a really good idea! I’d post there a lot. Is there a maximum length your post can be? If there isn’t we could even post entire chapters/sections for people.
I am appointing myself the Sci-Fi author database.
Anyone have any questions? Adams through Zykrenov on demand! If I haven’t read the anthology already, I will!
125- I second that!
No, wait… Third that!
127-Make that French- and English-language authors.
Any takers?
I’ve recently gotten into Joel Randolph. If John Scalzi, David Eddings, and Hunter S. Thompson had a love child, the kid would be eerily like him.
117-Are L.A. and Stephanie related? Just a thought.
Do you think Scalzi is going to be SFWA president? I’m a little scared by the thought. Here’s why:
1) He’s a reformed movie critic.
2) His daughter Athena thinks he shouldn’t be president.
3) His daughter’s named Athena.
4) He doesn’t really want the job.
5) He listens to the pretenders.
6) The book before his latest book (that would be The Android’s Dream starts out with a chapter long fart joke.
7) He tapes bacon to cats when a new book comes out and considers this amusing.
8) He lives in rural Ohio and isn’t even mildly ashamed of it.
9) He just got in a flame war that makes FrigidSymphony sound like the Dalai Lama. Very mature.
10) He clearly doesn’t listen to himself (see reasons 1-9 inclusive).
Come on, Sci-Fi Writers of America. Can’t you do a LITTLE bit better?
I’m currently reading Eva, by Peter Dickinson. (After reading The Weathermonger, I ordered a bunch of his books from the library.)
I’m not sure what my reaction to being given the body of a chimp would be, but even with shock-stopping drugs being pumped into my bloodstream, I don’t think it would be, “Oh, that’s okay, I can live with that, what next?” But then, I don’t have a deep connection to chimps.
117-i read the Phantom and loved it. it was wierder than the movie. the movie had awsome music( andrew lloyd webber rox me sox!)
Someplace to be flying is now in my top ten list of great books!
Purplefinch, lizzie and FrigidSymphony should stop posturing on how ever so wise they are and just read books objectively.
if i had to have a philosophy it would be always start a book with an open mind(no assumptions since assumptions are just making and ass out of U and Me)
yeah , what the heck i’m getting carried away
abhorsen has still not been explained to me!
132- What needs to be explained? I can explain it all! Well, that’s exaggerating.
I was not “posturing on how ever so wise” I am (I’m not wise at all), I was trying to explain to Fridgey that it might be insulting to other people to hear various religions always being put down. Maybe I was being too forceful, but he really wouldn’t like it if other people badmouthed what he believes in. Yet he insists on doing the same thing to other people…
We really should have taken this discussion to the Religions thread, or the Hot Topics thread. Forgive me! *falls to the ground is despair*
The Abhorsen trilogy is a great series. What would you like to know about it?
Has anyone read His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik? My pal Pollyhymnia (remember her?) recommends it. She says it’s like Horatio Hornblower with dragons. I’d be interested in hearing what Musers think.
135- REALLY?!?!?!
Horatio Hornblower with dragons? I must get my hands on it.
34-i would like to know what the heck it is the plot of abhorsen. i have never read them. are they good/bad/okay? what is the genre? sci-fi? fantasy? etc.
anyone ever read Great Expectations? i am currntly reading it and would like to have someones opinon.
Nancy farmer is a great author! sorry, that was completely random. is the pendragon series any good? i am in the middle of it and can’t quite form any opinion.
Pendragon is OK. It was a bit too out there for my taste, and i stopped after 6. The first 3 were good though.
I just read the Naming. Is the next one out yet? I htink it was a bit boring at the beginning, but it got much better.
The End was horrible! It was terribly inconclusive, and didn;t say where the Quagmires were or what VFD really did or what started the schism or anything! I’ll read the Beatrice files to see if it makes thing clearer.
Check out Inventing Eliot
What is it about?
137- Pendragon is meh, In my opinion. Before I had a card to the big chain library, I would read almost anything, so I read that.
Abhorsen is really good. They’re fantasy.
I’ve only ever read Sea of Trolls, but that was good.
138- I’m glad I didn’t read past 3, then.
138-Yeah, Pendragon=OK at first, then gets clichéd. I also completely agree about The End.
His Dark Materials pwns, and so does the Abhorsen trilogy, Abarat and Keys to the Kingdom.
I’m kinda surprised no one mention Terry Pratchett and the Discworld series. They are hilarious.
Queenie, seeing as you’re the sci-fi expert, do you like Larry Niven? I’m reading Ringworld currently.
142- I totally agree with that second paragraph. Totally.
I’m kinda unclear on what Discworld is. Anyway, I read:
Wee Free Men and A Hat Full Of Sky. Those two were really good.
Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents. That was funny.
Guards, Guards!
Which or all of those is Discworld?
I also read part of a book about some one called Johnny, but I stopped.
Nobady’s mentioned Swallows and Amazons either, maybe because we’re talking about sci-fi, so it seems, and maybe because most of the people here read adult books.
Anyway, are there any other, um, I guess the word would be fans out there? I am not a fan, but thats really the only word to explain it. I am not a fan of anything, at least not a “can I have your autograph” fan. Just clearing that up.
Also, How about E. Nesbit?
Just so you know, I am 13. I just like to read children’s books still.
I have read a grown-up book: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but I think I mentioned that, so bye.
Yay! A new Alexander McCall Smith No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Book has just come out! Anyone else read them?
By the way, why is No. an abbreviation for Number? There’s no “o” in number?!
It’s actually an abbreviation for “numero.” So says the Random House word site.
143-He’s not quite as hard as Watts, but he’s lighter than maybe Schroeder. If you liked him, try Kenneth Macleod: similar, but more Canadian and with slightly less epic plotlines.
144, 145-I love Swallows and Amazons! Have you read ‘We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea’? I heartily recommend that book. I think all of Pratchett’s books are Discworld, except for the Johnny series, which are darker but still good reads. Also, do you read any Hornblower?
I absolutely HATE Spider Robinson. Don’t get me wrong: I thoroughly enjoyed the Callahan stories and The Free Lunch is even readable. However, the book he wrote “””””with”””” Heinlein was completely unacceptable. You don’t do that to the master. Robinson owes his butt and his career to Heinlein and without that he would have his ass stuck in the service industry where he belongs. Robinson, you may live in Halifax, your wife may be the leader of a dance company, but you are not Robert Heinlein and you will never be, so stop trying. You should a) leave him alone and, if possible b) stick to the light, Callahan’s Bar stuff.
148- I have about half the Swallows and Amazons books, one of which is We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea. I love them all.
I have read the first two Hornblower books, that is, Mr Midshipman Hornblower and Lieutenant Hornblower.
I love Swallows and Amazons!! I haven’t read them in a really long time…
Swallows and Amazons! My blog name comes from those books!! Captain Nancy, Terror of the Seas! Only I changed it to skipper, which doesn’t exactly work but I don’t care.
I love them! Their my favorite!
I agree with Queenie, We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea is excellent. My favorite in the series.
I’ve been yearning for a slightly dark fantasy or adventure-ish type book, set in a large city anywhere in victorian or medieval times. (or anywhere in between) preferably with lots of adventure and dashing about said city and a cosy ending. Any ideas? (I’m not really looking for a specific book, just a book that gives me a sort of the oxford bits of his dark materials feeling)
152- Thats extremely specific, as far as books go. Fantasy? Maybe the Tamora Pierce circle of magic books, but I’m only guessing here. I’ve never read his dark materials, so I’m probably not much help. Sorry.
I’ve never read Swallows and Amazons, from the reactions on here I’m guessing they’re really good. I’ll have to put them on my wish list (my local library is notoriously unreliable in the whole having the book you want aspect)
Nobody’s read the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series? Despite having a strange name, they’re really good. Very relaxing read. I recommend them as easy reads that make you want to visit Botswana.
152-whoa. way way way too specific. I can think ofbooks that fit some of those requirements, but not all at once. tamora pierce is good as Julieb said, though i can’t think of any specific Tamor Pierce book that fits all that. Maybe Terrier?
153,154- I’m going for a certain feel. my main qualifications are 1800s cities though I’d take some other not present time. If there is something that fits just that qualification, tell me! I’d like to know!
A few MBers have recommended Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. That certainly qualifies. I heard an excellent audiobook version of it last year. It’s very long but absorbing.
151- I thought it might.
156- A few? Cool! I thought it was just me.
152, 156- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell qualifies in some ways, if that’s what you meant, but not in others.
It’s set in the early 1800’s, it’s got the cities, (Venice and London). It has adventure and magic and fantasy, and it’s definetely slightly dark, but here we get to the main problem, and the point of this post. Cozy ending? Not exactly.
152- Oh my god, oh my god, I have it! The Wolves Chronicles! The ones with Dido Twite, that is.
Black Hearts in Battersea. The only thing it’s missing is fantasy. .
Nightbirds on Nantucket. That’s missing almost all your specifications, but it’s a practically essential follow-up to Black Hearts in Battersea.
The Stolen Lake. This one’s missing the specifications too, and it’s not essential, though it is good. It was written after it’s sequels, around the time Joan Aiken started writing fantasy, I guess.
The Cuckoo Tree. One of the best. And it has everything you want.
Dido and Pa. I can’t remember much, and it’s around here the series starts to deteriorate.
I checked Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke out. It’s a fat book.
152-Oh my god. Mercedes Lackey. I believe she wrote about thirteen million books that fit exactly that description. I read one and hated it, but I have a feeling they’re exactly what you want.
153-Tamora Pierce? Seriously? Come on, man. Swill. The Lioness books were OK, but the Trickster series were inexcusably bad.
Skipper Nancy, Terror Of The Seas? I just thought of something. After you read Ringworld, you might want to look into Frederik Pohl’s Gateway series. They’re parallel to Ringworld, essentially. Just something to think about.
134: Badmouth what I believe in as much as you want. I will neither wish you to eternal torment in hell or bombard you with dogmatic arguments for Odin’s existence. My beliefs and spirituality are personal and have no impact on your life whatsover. Meet me in the religion thread?
And to tie this in with the topic, does anyone know a good book on the Norse gods and heroes (apart from the Sagas, obviously, most of which I have already read and highly recommend- especially The Saga of The Volsungs (with Sigurd), the Saga Of King Harald and Egil’s Saga.
no, neither tamora pierce or mercedes lackey fit the description. Sorry. Black hearts in battersea is good. Isn’t it the sequel to the wolves of willoghby chase though? Joan Aiken is perfect.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell may be good too.
Thank you!
I love Terry Prachet, and I once tried to read the entire Discworld series in a week. it didn’t work. I couldn’t figure out which one was first, an how wee free men and a hat full of sky fit in. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is good too.
162- It is. That goes for both Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel being good, and Black Hearts in Battersea being a sequel to The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
163- I think they’re just there. They’re kinda their own series.
160- Thank you! I really have never been able to see the big hulabaloo over Tamora Pierce. Her style of writing I just find to be very boring.
It seems to me that the past six or seven books I have read have all been heart-wrenching and fantastically depressing. I’m getting a bit tired of reading things that make me weep my eyes out. Could someone recommend a book that doesn’t end badly? Really, any book. I’m open to all suggestions!
I didn’t say Tamora Pierce was a genius. Her books are light reading, filler. But fun.
161- Long Dark Tea Time of The Soul has a lot to do with norse gods, but I doubt thats what your looking for.
Uhg. I’m trying to read the “50 books you should read before the SATs” but I’m amazingly bad at reading “classics”
152 – The Land of Elyon. Good series, if not a bit below my age level for reading. I loved “His Dark Materials”, and aam planning to read Terrier sometime soon.
166 – They have pretty good plots, but they don’t stick out enough to me to buy or re-read them. I actually haven’t finished Trickster’s Queen yet because of return dates and late fees. *grumbles* I really hate it when I get halfway through a book and don’t know hat happens afterwards.
165 – I’m at a loss when I try to think of one of my favorite books that doesn’t end sadly or badly. Hmm…
*goes and looks through books*
Okay, the only ones that didn’t end depressingly I could find at the moment were The Secret of Platform 13, Inkheart, and some old Nancy Drew books. Most of my books are semi or really depressing in the end, even if they’re good stories.
163-They don’t fit in together. They’re grouped thematically. I would recommend checking Pratchett’s website.
165-Discworld! I know you’ll love it. Alternatively: John Scalzi
We’re reading To Kill A Mockingbird in LA class. Worst book ever. And I mean E.V.E.R. God. Harper Lee should have been shot.
e~a,
You might also consider one of my favorite books, Jack Finney’s Time and Again. It’s a time-travel story set in 19th-century New York. Not dark, and not a fantasy, but rewarding in many ways. New Yorkers love it.
those of you who don’t like Tamora Pierce:
Which of her books have you read? The earlier ones aren’t very good, but her more recent ones are much better. They still aren’t the absolute best written books in the world, but not bad either.
167-Inkheart ends well, but the sequel doesn’t, so beware.
168- I disagree. I think the world would have been much better off had John Steinbeck suffered an early death.
I really don’t like most of the Circle Of Magic books, but I think they are meant for younger readers. I read Terrier, which was definitely not one of Tamora Pierce’s best books. The first person diary point of view just really didn’t work, although it was an interesting change from her earlier works. Some of her others are pretty good.
Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar novels might not work, but she has some set in…London, I think. The Serpent’s Shadow??? Maybe its not what you’re looking for. Maybe you’ve already read it…
170-I used to love her…and then I started reading more sci-fi and I just got fed up with wimpy little Keladry.
171-That too. The Pearl has exactly one redeeming quality: it is short.
Happy Books:
Terry Pratchett
Tom Holt (the series always end weirdly, because Paul gets the short end of the deal but it’s hilarious, not depressing)
Ben Bova (some of them. These books are super-masculine.)
165- How about the Arkadians, or something by lloydd alexander. those usually end happy. what about abarat? hint hint…
i loved TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD! it was really realistic about the racial stuff and funny also. well, i would like it(i am currently enjoying Great Expectations) i’m wierd. classics are long, but cool.
161-nan nan a boo boo(just joking!) i am getting sarcastic lately.
not having good days these days. my parents punished me from books for a week! aaaggghhhh! well, i’ll be off the punishment on Friday.
Has anyone read the Hungry City Chronicles? I think that they are, if not the best books in the world, certainly the best dystopian steampunk sci-fi books in the world. At least, Mortal Engines is. I haven’t read the others. So NO SPOILERS FOR PREDATOR’S GOLD ONWARD, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway… If people have read them, what do they think about the mysterious absence of Australia from the world of HCC? I have a theory, but I won’t post it unless I know that someone might even be remotely interested.
I’m reading a book called Raven’s Gate. I really like that kind of fantasy, with the kid who seems ordinary, but isn’t (or is) and then they get involved in ancient magic and stuff.
Any suggestions?
I’ve read The Dark is Rising series.
144-Of those, only Guards! Guards! is technically from Discworld. The others are books he wrote for younger audiences.
168-True, but you can also read one and have it kind of make sense, and if you read all of them, the series as a whole is much clearer
176- I’m rather more than remotely interested…I’ve read HCC up to the third one, cuz my library doesn’t have the fourth one yet.
179- Cool! My theory;
Sydney and Canberra were struck by the same sort of “slow bombs” that separated America from the Nuevo Maya. This opened a fault line that allowed massive floods to spread across the Outback. The only parts of Australia left above water were the peaks of the mountain ranges in the east and west. Then the fault line threw up massive volcanoes that formed another island chain. What was once Australia is now the Hundred Islands.
180-So that’s probably what they mean when they mention that…
I really should read those books, I guess, since everyone’s talking about them and they sound good. But I think there was a hitch somewhere. Who’s it by? Philip Reeve?
I don’t think theres a hitch. Okay.
181- It’s just my theory. But I think it’s plausible.
Has anyone here read the sisters grimm series by Micheal Buckley? They are really good!!!! They are about two orphan sisters who’s parents disappeared mysteriously while the sisters, Sabrina and Daphne, were at school. All the evidence of the parents’ kidnappers was a large painted scarlet hand on the backseat of the car. After lots of evil foster families that the girls ran away from, they are sent to live with their “grandma” whom they believed was dead. The grandma tells them that they are decendants of the Brothers Grimm, the guys who invented the fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. The only thing is, the Grimm stories are true. Granny Relda, the grandma, also tells them that in the town they live in, called Ferryport Landing, almost every single one of the inhabitants is a fairy tale in disguise. What’s more, Daphne and Sabrina are supposed to take up the family business of being Fairy Tale Detectives. The girls believe the old lady is crazy, but right before they can run away, their grandma gets scooped up by a giant! There are two other books in the series and the fourth one comes out in May! TWO THUMBS UP!! REALLY FUNNY AND ADVENTUROUS! I met the author and he is really hilarious. I have also read the two other books and the second is my favorite.
No, I haven’t read them. I’ve seen someone else who was reading them, though.
184- I saw those at the library, but they didn’t look ‘specially good, and I wasn’t desrerate for things to read, so I didn’t get them. I’ll have to read them now, though, to see if they really are as good as you say.
WHat is Jonathon Strange and Mr.Norrell about? I went to barnes and noble yesterday, and I picked out about 20 books so my grandma could pick three and I wouldn’t know what I’m getting… sort of… whenever she tries to pick out books for me, i’ve already read them all. Of course, when she tells me what s he picked i always love those books, so she has good taste. I love my grandma.
187- It’s about a couple of magicians, and a black butler, and a fairy, and one of the magician’s servant, and about a girl who was raised from the dead, and about someone called The Raven King.
My mom was doing a swap with someone, and that someone worked at a book store, so guess what?
We got a box of books today! The ones for me are:
The Shamer’s Daughter
The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio (uncorrected proof)
The Swan Maiden (uncorrected proof)
and a book about cryptids called Monsters and Water Beasts.
It’s all very exciting. And now I have three uncorrected proofs. Wow. To think I didn’t even know there was such a thing in November.
I have an uncorrected proof from a knitting thing I went to at the library. What exactly is an uncorrected proof?
Has anyone read The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking, and the Search for Lost Species by Scott Weidensaul? It is REALLY good.
89- I’m not sure what an uncorrected proof is, but you’re not allowed to sell it.
Nope, I haven’t read it. What’s it about?
190-It’s about extinct animals and some that may be still alive. It has a lot about the thylacine/tasmanian tiger and a smaller amount about cloning, as well as a chapter about his own expedition to find a certain species of possibly alive finch. He didn’t find it, unfortunately, but who knows… Anyways, it’s the best book about the subject I’ve read.
to all those wondering what an uncorrected proof is, uncorrected proofs are the books they send to libraries, bookstores, and people-who-they-want-to-read-and-review-the-book before its publication. My mother, a librarian, occasionally brings them home. I usually get to keep them. I have plenty of books in proof form including The Naming, Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War, Olive’s Ocean and various others. What they actually want you to do with it is read it and send in reviews/tell people about it’s release/publicize. Yup. It’s a method of publicising.
191- I really should read that.
To answer your previous question, about what an uncorrected proof is, I think it’s before they change the grammar, etc. There are minor differences.
The Shamer’s Daughter is good. Anyone read it?
Does anyone like reading biographys?? I just dont see whats so interesting about them. Unless its about ME of course… lol
192 and 193: thank you! And 192, no, I haven’t read it, but I’ll look it up.
I occasionally read biographies of my favorite authors, but I have noticed a pattern: If it’s an autobiography, it tends to be at least comparatively cheerful and if it’s a biography, then many depressing things are brought up and things are read into the life that may or may not be true, such as introversion, depression, dissatisfaction in love, unhappy marriages, etc.
The Shamer’s Daughter is a pretty standard adventure story of a kind I particularly like, i.e., someone is trying to take over a seat of power and some other people try to stop him.
196-very interesting. I shall find it at my local library.
teehee. I got to meet Charles de Lint, Jane Yolen, Jane Yolen’s son Adam S.- something (funny guy, he writes too), Charles Vess, Pamela Dean (chatted with her about Carleton College – she went there and so did a ton of my family members, I’m thinking of applying there too), saw Lois McMaster Bujold but didn’t really talk to her. It was fun. I met them all with my good friend Alena and some of her other friends.
198-i am burning/crying at the unfairness! jealous!:mad:
you are so lucky. jane yolen….didn’t she write the pit dragon series?
i read TRADER, another Charles de Lint book and loved it also. he is now my fav author
Go to Books(part 2) AND CHECK OUT 132. Highly unusual.
OMGOMGOMG!!!!! Readers of Loving Fantasy, READ THE ENCHANTED FOREST CHRONICLES!!!!!!!!!! Highly amusing, rich in colorful text, fairytalish w. a twist, you’ll be sure 2 luvvitt!
201- I read it. I could manage to read and enjoy one of them at a time, but after that I couldn’t concentrate.
177 (Alice)- The RRR. Heck yes. A Song of Ice and Fire. George R.R. Martin. The whole series. Now. (The warning is for sex, violence, swearing like sailors, and other such lovely things.) But do not be dissuaded, because those books are some of the most realistic, fascinating fantasy I have ever read.
203- I’ll read them when I’m older, then. Thanks.
203 (m’self)- Half my post got eaten. -eyetwitch- It was the part where I expressed my very literate jealousy for e~a, and plugged the RRR some more.
bloody wordpress.
Try Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. that was very good, especially if you live in london.
206 (KTR)- Have you read any other books of China Mieville’s? They came very highly recommended to me, but I’m not sure where to start.
Just to clarify: There is no sex, little violence, and mild swearing like a sailor (this last by Ehmer) in the RRR. It would have been clear, except bloody WordPress ate the line break distinguishing the RRR from A Song of Ice and Fire.
I’ve not. they are books for adults, and this one is his first book targeted at teens. His picture scares me so i am not sure i want to read other books by him.
Oh, good. I’ll read the RRR now, then, and A Song Of Ice And Fire when I’m older.
I was at Borders yesterday, and I found the hard cover Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell for about six dollars! It was, apparently, on sale. I was so happy! I saw Un Lon Don there, but I did not buy it. Perhaps another day.
That’s a score! I want to get a copy of that book for one of my friends, because she’s borrowed it twice and she loves it. Half of our conversation is speculating on the movie.
I read The Giver, by Lois Lowry, in school. I also started reading a series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It’s pretty good.
Read the Book of Flying. It is beautifully written, though it does have some sexual content (OK a lot)
but they never actually say the word ‘sex’ they say made love. And it is so wonderful. I will now post quotes :
“Reality’s lying a flight of stairs above me.”
“My loyalty is to my heart. My heart follows my eyes, and my eyes have moved on.”
“How alien, alas, are the streets of the city of grief.”
“Bridges are between places, they bend through time and soace and who knows on what shore they’ll cast you.
” I must find my wings or perish in the undertaking.”
“At journey’s end, at evening,
arriving in a remote town,
I walk through deserted streets
to a certain house, knock upon a certain door,
and only as it opens do I see
I stand on my own doorstep
and beyond the threshold a road descends
anew through a landscape I left
so long ago.”
“Courage is the swallowing of one’s life, whole.”
“The kiss is the keenest dagger.”
“The first step on a tightrope must carry you to the other side.”
213- that book looks really good. I think you’d like Charles de Lint’s books. For a start, read Someplace to be Flying.
Who wrote the RRR? I can’t find it.
Oh, duh. That RRR. I get it now. Haha, I thought it was a published book.
212-read the giver(thought it was awesome but the end was infuriating! i still don’t get it) i read the percy jackson series(well, the first two, the third isn’t out) and thought that they were funny/adventure novels. loved the greek/roman gods stuff but thought it a little…..too fantasy. i still am going to finish it though.
i got punished from books again(my parents are like NAZIS!) and cannot read again until tuseday the 17. waahhhh! my life sucks.
oh, i was just looking over the old threads and i saw that JAMMIN J claimed he was not new but WHOKNOWS claimed he was new. but if you go to who’s here they turn out to be the same person! i will explain-my !#@$*)€€* older brother stole my identity and posted on MY blog!!!! outrage! pies brother.
oh, GAPAS i have an idea! u know how u can put smiley’s and stuff on your posts? why don’t you make a pie icon that we can put on!!!!!! that would be awesome! PLEASE!
I ordered the Satanic Bible today. God knows when it’ll come… No, strike that. Satan knows when it’ll come…
219-hahahahaha! that was clever. i always appreciate cleverness…even if its satanic. yur such a pagan!
And what’s wrong with Satanism, may I ask? Do you know what the teachings of the Church Of Satan or the Abbey of Thelema are? And please, satanism is NOT paganism. I’m pagan, but I support the true satanic views (as opposed to the untrue satanic views- bloody charles manson).
221-does this have anything to do w/ books?
i just got out another chris wooding book-he wrote Poison, which i loved. the book is Storm Thief. i hope its good ’cause i have to wait a week to read it(see above remark on punishment) i was in the middle of the book Basilisk when i was punished. it was good as far as i got. has anyone else read that? did they like it?
We’re starting to read “Flowers For Algernon” in my english class. I’m halfway through and I just got it today. Finally, a decent book.
213 – I LOVE THAT BOOK!! Although some parts were a little…inappropriate.
Has anyone read The Secret Life of Bees? That’s what I’m reading now…
198- *is still insanely jealous*
223- Oh, that’s such a sad book! But still very good. My friend is reading that. Are you reading the abridged or not abridged version?
(225, 223),
Flowers for Algernon started out as a short story and was later expanded into a novel. I liked the short story better.
I don’t know whether it’s abridged or not. I think I had heard that is was a short story though. I’m going to have to look it up on the web now, thanks Robert.
224- I’ve read it. It’s really good.
226- I’ve read the short story and seen the play.
222- Storm Thief is very good, though I was a little confused at parts.
has any one read Halo: the fall of reach it is awsome
230- I heard about it, but I haven’t read it.
Has anyone read By These Ten Bones, by Clare Dunkle?
It’s a pretty good romance/werewolf story; not something I would usually read, but I liked it. A tad gory in places, I’m afraid.
I just finished Lionboy, which was OK. Not the best writting style, but a good plot idea.
233- What’s it about?
I looked it up. Sounds good.
Ack, I’m reading too many books at once and having strange dreams involving elements of each. I need more sleep. I’m reading The Hound of The Baskervilles (a Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), Silent Spring (a nonfiction book written by Rachel Carson in the early 60’s warning of the toxic affect of pesticides), and trying to re-read the Harrry Potter books (I’m really upset, my copy of the second book has gone missing). So you can imagine how strange my subconcious is right now.
I dreamed about LotR for weeks after finishing it. Once I think I may even have had a dream about LotR and one of the RRRs, but I may be mixing it up a bit.
I’m reading Mortal Engines. So far so good, but I’m only on the third chapter.
I’ve been reading The Onion Girl. I’m really loving it. ^_^ I’m going to read Widdershins next. yay.
Lately I’ve also read the entire Dalemark Quartet, Black hearts in Battersea (re-read), Wolves of Willoughby Chase (re-read), Dogsbody, Enna Burning, Deep Secret, various other Diana Wynne Jones I hadn’t read before and I’m still in the middle of a few random books that I’m not really currently reading. I’ll get back to them, though. Give me time. I just like to read a ton of books at once.
Woah, sounds like we like a lot of the same books. Diana Wynne Jones, the Wolves Chronicles. Actually I’m sorta over Diana Wynne Jones, but I still like The Lives Of Christoper Chant and Howl’s Moving Castle. And I like the Dalemark Quartet. Well, the Spellcoats and The Crown of Dalemark are really good, and Drowned Ammet is okay. Alright, it’s boring for the first few chapters, and then it picks up. I didn’t like Dogsbody, and I’ve never read Deep Secret (I heard that it’s for grown-ups. Am I right?)
Enna Burning looks good.
I just read Peeps, by Scott Westerfeild. It was good, more for teens though. I thk the school library has the sequil, so I’m going to go check that out when I can too.
240- haha, deep secret does indeed have a “grown up” and “childrens” or maybe it’s supposed to be teens edition but the only difference between them is that they edit out the swearwords in the teen or children’s one and replace them with amusingly strange things. So either version’s fine. Ironically, I read the supposed “adult” version which I checked out from the “teen” section of the library. The teen version has a leaping centaur on the cover (as well as various people), the adult version has the centaur standing in a hotel room with less people than the teen version and there’s a portal like hole-thing in the wall with stars in it and a boy and a girl are walking towards the hole. The teen version’s artwork is by Charles Vess though.
How can you grow out of Diana Wynne Jones though? I liked all of them but Spellcoats which I found a bit boring but read (and enjoyed a bit) to get to Crown of Dalemark. I enjoyed dogsbdy.
If you read Enna Burning, read The Goose Girl first.
242- That’s funny. I’d like to read the teen version. Not because swearwords bother me, but because that sounds really wierd and cool.
I’m not grown out of Diana Wynne Jones, I just read a lot of them at once, and I’m exhausted with her writing style. In a few months, I’ll probably read Christopher Chant again, and then I’ll be obsessed with Chrestomanci for a while.
I would definitely read The Goose Girl first, because I am very strict when it comes to chronological order.
243- yeah, I’d kind of like to see what they use too. It’s funny though, I don’t remember many swearwords at all.
Enna Burning and the Goose Girl were both very good. The Princess Academy which i think is by the same lady is good also. I don’t like Dianna Wynne Jones much. She bores me (sorry). Currently I am beginning the Crucible, LoTR,HP1 and the House of Dies Drear at the same time. T’will be interesting.
Gosh. If I was reading all those, I’d have dreams about Frodo and Harry saving a universe that was a house from rings and trolls. Sounds cool!
Once, shortly after seeing Ringers, I dreamed about the Beatles’ production of LotR. Super weird.
aww shoot….my parents raised my punishment from books to “indefinite until further notice”. my life sucks……well, i can still visit MB! its the next best thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(gives up on patronizing MB cause he dosen’t get anything in return)
i read lotr and was just nonplusses for like a week…..i think it made me depressed or something….wateva.
problem w/ adventure books: they usually have some sort of “save humanity from the evil people!” those plots are always corny and always end usually the same….although some books deviate from the path of “happy ever after”.
halo books are cooooolioooo!!!!!! lost of blood and gore and adventure and not-always-happy endings! also set in the future and very sci-fi. :love:
I know it’s totally cliche, but I love “save humanity from evil people” and I also like tragic endings where everyone dies. I like it less if only a few people die, though. And LotR can be a bit depressing. I kept crying about it. I cry so easy sometimes.
One adventure book that doesn’t do that:
Treasure Island
Oh, and the one I’m writing, of course. That’s “save two countries from war invoked by an evil man high in the ranks of the government.” There’s a difference!
can i read your book you’re writing? i loved Treasure Island(read it twice….yeah i was bored) loved long john silver and everything else. it was the original pirate book. also loved the muppets movie on it
249- It’s not done yet. A very un-revised, two-week-old version of half of the first chapter is on the Books in Progress thread, and I’ll post some newer excerpts eventually. Especially if the GAPAs make a new book writing thread. There’s also a summary there.
Oh, and I somehow forgot to mention that Treasure Island is my favorite book EVER and the movie version sucks. I mean the one where the doctor, the squire and the captain all die and Jim, Long John Silver and Ben Gunn all run off with the treasure. If you haven’t seen it, don’t. It’s disturbing.
I finished The Onion Girl a couple of days ago and enjoyed it immensly. I am now reading Widdershins.
Right now I’m reading It’s amusing.
Did my link work?
Well, technically it did, but it didn’t turn out like I thought it would. Hmm.
I finished Mortal Engines today. I don’t like tragic endings half so well as I thought. Sniff.
jammin j, you wanted to read my book. Here’s the prologue
247- What did you do to get you banned from books? Besides, there are plenty of sites online where you can read full e-versions of print books. My mother tipped me off to one by ArcaMax publishing. Hopefully this link won’t be snipped, but if it is you can just google it. www. arcamax.com/shortstories/b-1050-1-bookread (It should open up to My Man Jeeves, by P.G. Wodehouse, but you can get to numerous other books by clicking around)
[The site looks mostly or entirely harmless, but I’ve taken out the “http” and added a couple of spaces to keep it from being a link. (Links attract spam, and we get too much of that already.) –Robert]
I recently finished Terrier, by Tamora Pierce, and Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. Now I’m working on Jane Eyre. All good books.
I also reread M or F? the other day. I love that book.
I’m reading The Black Tattoo and Clay.
I finished Lady Friday!!!
Twas gude.
Anybody know where to get a copy of Lyra’s Oxford by Phillip Pullman? My library doesn’t have it. And, er, what exactly is it? A kind of guidebook to HDM?
Aw! I want to read Lady Friday! But it’s better I wait, because then the lag-time between friday and saturday is shorter.
Lyra’s Oxford is a short story. A VERY short story. You could probably get it on ABE books.
I just finished Saint Iggy. It was a good book, but really sad. I kind o knew it would turn out sad, though. The main character (Iggy) is so sweet…
I’m reading a biography of James Stewart, and a book by Dale Peterson that’s hilarious. I am also in the middle of “To Say Nothing About The Dog” by Cattie Willis. So far, she’s a good writer but is OBSESSED with Jerome K. Jerome.
Jerome K. Jerome is worth it.
Who on earth is Jerome K. Jerome?
A Victorian writer, acquaintance of Lewis Carroll’s, author of a very funny book called Three Men in a Boat.
Does anyone like Daphne du Maurier? If you haven’t read Rebecca you should. It’s really, really good.
Enna Burning and The Goose Girl are wonderful books. The Princess Academy is not as good (it is still all right, but I think it is for younger readers. But maybe not. I do not know) .
I read Waifs and Strays by Charles de Lint, recently.
I did enjoy Jane Eyre. I’m reading Great Expectations now (I think it is pretty funny), and I’m trying to get through Pride and Prejudice.
I loved Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The ending was rather upsetting, but it could not have really worked any other way.
I think Susanna Clarke might be writing a sequel. No, it’s short stories. It’s called The Ladies of Grace Adieu.
Books I’ve been meaning to read that Museblog just reminded me of
– Someplace to be Flying
– On the Origin of Species
– Mien Kampf (had part of it read to us in History today… it’ll be crazy, but in an odd way I want to know what he actually thought)
– The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
I’m reading Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, the third book in the Ender series. Anybody else read them? My friend tells me the whole Bean series is basically the same thing. I don’t know if I’ll read them, it seems to be overdoing it a bit. I mean, don’t you feel he’s just marketing on the success of Ender’s Game by writing the books from an alternate point of view?
I got Poison and The God of Mischief from the library today.
268- how did you like Waifs and Strays?
271-Enders game is my favorite series! if you didn’t know, speaker for the dead was supposed to be his first book-enders game was just a prequel. the bean series was really good. it was not from an alternative viewpoint, it was a different stoy altogether. it showed what happened on earth after the bugger war. VERY GOOD!!!! kinda sad.
272-poison was good, and i just read storm theif and loved it,very original. what post was your short story on?
257-the reason i got banned from books was because i neglected to finish homework and instead read my books….and that happened numerous times. (i should stop getting caught…or just get off my obsession with books and stories)
i just finished a book called Uglies and i loved it!! its a series right? Uglies, Pretties and Specials. i’ll have to read them. MBers feedback??? what did you peoples think of that book?
also got these books called Art of the Catapult and Backyard Ballistics. i think the former was once mentioned in a MUSE mag.
274- Let’s see if this link works. I’ve never tried linking to comments before. And it’s not a short story, it’s a novel-in-progress. I think.
https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=815#comment-19
Yes! It worked! Hooray hooray!
Anyway, to be on topic, I’m reading The God of Mischief right now. It’s a very bizarre brand of magic; really subtle and kind of not-quite-in-the-imagination. It’s woven in with the mystery, too, which prevents the book from being labeled “fantasy” even though there’s magic. Because you’re not actually sure if it is magic, though it couldn’t be called anything else. That was a very inadequate description.
On another note, I think that they need to wrap up the loose ends from The Printer’s Devil.
Re-reading all my Dan Brown, in the hope that the ending changes and the Vatican WILL blow up…
And finally: The Prose Edda! Sturluson was genius.
274- Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us. My chemistry teacher actually called my parents in for a parent-teacher conference because I was reading in class. Mind you, my chemistry teacher is certifiably insane.
276- those books sound interesting. Care to elaborate?
278- so is my choir teacher and soooo many others.
279- Okay. There might be vague spoilers, but nothing really bad. (I don’t think.)They’re set in the 1830s, the first in London and the second in the English countryside. The first one is called The Printer’s Devil, and it’s about (surprise, surprise) a printer’s devil, in other words, an apprentice. His name is Mog Winter, and he gets caught up in this huge rather complicated knot of people such as “the man from Calcutta.” He gets death notes, meets a boy who looks exactly like him, hears mysterious music coming from a house that was burned down, discovers that the aforesaid house was rebuilt for a single night, and has all sorts of other sinister and interesting adventures.
The second one, The God of Mischief, is about Mog, Nick, the man from Calcutta, and others in a murder-mystery kind of story, more creepy than the first one, and set in an old mansion. I can’t say more without spoilers for The Printer’s Devil sneaking in.
alice-oooohhhhh! i read your prologue thingy and now i want to read the whole story! post it somewhere. or something. think of an idea and send it telepathically to me!
does anyone know anymore REALLY good Charles de Lint books?
i am reading the book Enchantress from the Stars; does any one here like that book? have they read it?
282- Cool, I’m glad you liked it! I feel very flattered. I’m not even done with the second chapter, but I’ll post more eventually. (okay, soon. Maybe in a few minutes, even.)
282 – what have you read? I’ll recommend Moonlight and VInes, Tapping the Dream Tree, Dreams Underfoot and The Ivory and the Horn (all Newford collections)
Here’s the first chapter, jammin j.
https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=815#comment-89
Charles De Lint’s short stories are excellent. Some are sad… But I enjoyed all of them.
I read Enchantress from the Stars; then I read The Far Side of Evil (or something like that). They are great!
So many people have given rave reviews of Charles De Lint books, yet I’ve never read anything by him. I figure I should try them. Can anybody tell me what I should start with?
287- Someplace to be Flying! It is the first one I read, it gives you a nice introduction to Newford and, most of all, it’s a good story.^_^ I think I’m the original Charles de Lint influence, glad to see you guys enjoying his work! He’s an excellent author and a nice person too!
286- yeah, I especially like his short stories. They help you open your eyes to the every day magic in the world, helping you see the little joys you may have forgotten, to see more potential in everything that you encounter in your day to day life.
ooh! Enchantress from the Stars! I liked that book. Haven’t read The Far Side of Evil though.
285-hhmmmm…..well, it sounds good, but you should definitely develop the emotion more. it sounds like being a representative is a really big thing. maybe have the townspeople muttering aobut her age. make it a big event. have your main character be more emotional. like, WOW! i just got picked to represent hundreds of people in front of an important board of people! you’ve got to add more in as to what is goin on. more description of how the town works and what it is like. so far the story is interesting! i want to find out what happens next….so thats a very good sign! write more!
i will try to get those charles de lint books!
oops..my name is just jammin…here the j! J
It’s only the first draft. In the original one, people WERE muttering about her age, but then it started reminding me of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so I scrapped it. Thanks for the advice; I will definitely do that. I’m realizing that I need to devolop things more thouroughly, that is, if I, as the writer, don’t understand the workings of the government in a book where the government is prominent, then it won’t be very good.
Bleh, I hate emotion, though.
I’m reading Lady Friday. The series is getting less… I don’t know, surreal? as time goes on, but the story is as addictive as ever. It’s a very short book. *frowns* It doesn’t look it, but I’m almost done and I haven’t even been reading it steadily all day. Anyway, it’s good and I’ll be sorry when it’s over. ‘Specially since it’ll be like another year till Superior Saturday comes out.
At least it won’t be THREE years, like the House of Windjammer probably will be. I’m not sure what my opinion on that series is. I like it, but the first one was… boring. At first. For a while. And I still can barely recall the plot, but I enjoyed it.
Weird.
Pretty soon we’ll have a new thread.
Just got back from the library a little while ago, yay! I remembered to get The Origin os Species and The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, but I was greatly saddened when I found out they didn’t have Somepace to be Flying, which e~a has given very good reviews. The didn’t have another De Lint book I was looking for, either. I think it was just checked out, though. How sad.
293- go to a bookstore and buy Someplace to be Flying! Which other one were you looking for?
My mother has limited the amount of time I can read each day to an hour! It is torture! *dies*
I highly recommend the Prose Edda. Which I just finished, and thus rendered bookless. Argh.
295- Why? What is the rationale behind that? Why the heck is reading supposed to be so bad for you that you’re limited to an hour? Even I can’t finish an entire book in an hour, and I’m a fast reader.
Well it’s not that it’s bad for me I just need to ‘be creative’ and ‘do something different’. I can read while she’s gone though. She’ll never know…
295- We don’t really go to the bookstore that often, unfortuanately (*sobs of pain*). Or maybe not so unfortunate because I’d never have any money… but what else is worth buying? (well, I suppose music, but not as much). The other one I was looking for was one by him that the library did have (besides The Blue Girl, which I have read) and said was checked in but wasn’t on the shelf. I don’t remember the title.
Hmm, just finished Daughter of Time, the title interestingly enough having little to do with the story; which focuses on a bedridden scotland yard detective and his discoveries regarding the life of Richard III.
(300) If I remember correctly, the title came from the idea that truth is the daughter of time. And 300 posts is the mother of new threads, so here you go.
This thread is still open!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*has last-post hopes*
Last posts are hard to get, you know.
I vant to be last!
Well, I’ll thwart you both. (I don’t actually care that much, about first or last posts.)
teehee I do like writing on this thread though. but really, why first or last? why not second? or forty-second? ^_^
Well, first and last seem to have more competition. eSpecially last. and first. that was quite redundant
And its stll open? Man. 42nd posts are awsome, because you don’t know who’s going to get them because moderation isn’t as predictable. When you see a thread just opend you know your posts going to be moderated right away.
This thread is STILL open!!! There’s been a new one up for days! But I’m last again.
The very last, comment 308. Good for you! Congratulations!