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- Comment on Winter is coming by POSOCI suppose I missed out on the traditional hazing squad welcoming committee.POSOC
- Comment on Winter is coming by FiddlerSo it's getting official-like now that Karen and I are going to be roommates next year, and that Colin and Jonah are going to be roommates and the four of us are going to get a suite somewhere. A fair amount of these decisions were made during various levels of intoxication. It's going to be great.Fiddler
- Comment on Winter is coming by MelI don't know. I intentionally work in ways not related to my studies. Also foreign school loans what the ballllllllllls. Also kinda why jobs = good idea. But then I'm afraid I'll never go back to the schooling...Mel
- Comment on Winter is coming by Fortune Cellwhich one do you LIKE more? academia or legit work?Fortune Cell
- Comment on Winter is coming by VendavalSounds like someone hasn't been stabbed in a while...Vendaval
- Comment on Winter is coming by POSOCWelcome! This place is not as scary as it may appear.POSOC
- Comment on Winter is coming by MelSo uh, grad school. >>Applied degree => job? >>Pure degree => go on / reclass to PhD? Wat do. Math, btw. >>ASKING THE INTERNET TO SOLVE MY LIFE. >>INCAPABLE OF MAKING DECISIONS.Mel
- Comment on Winter is coming by JadestoneHello hello! Welcome for coming!Jadestone
- Comment on Winter is coming by Rosebud2*lurks* *delurks* Hi. Eheheh. Um... please don't hurt me?Rosebud2
- Comment on Winter is coming by JadestoneWasn't me either, but yes, they did stop autodelete.Jadestone
1.
MontgomeryGurl | December 19, 2007 at 2:53 am
I’m reading Wicked. Soon I’m going to read Neverwhere.
2.
ebeth91 | December 19, 2007 at 3:11 am
ooh, both very good books
3.
Megan | December 19, 2007 at 3:13 am
i lurved wicked too. although i didnt get to read the sequel yet.
but i did see the play!!
4.
Fortune Cell | December 19, 2007 at 4:50 am
4- Man, the play was amazing…I cried at the end.
I’ve been rereading Marian Keye’s books. Borderline trashy, but nice and addictive.:D
5.
Fortune Cell | December 19, 2007 at 3:10 am
Oh, I looooved Wicked.
I really want to read it again, but I have a long list. You must read the sequel after.
6.
someone from elsewhere | December 19, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Anyone read the Bordertown books?
bah. eventually I’ll myself away by what I’ve posted.
7.
oxlin | December 19, 2007 at 8:19 pm
The Privilege of the Sword – Ellen Kushner
Someplace to be Flying – Charles de Lint
8.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | December 20, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Wicked is on my books-to-read list. My currently reading list is non-existent. I need Christmas break.
Actually, I’m reading The Daring Book for Girls. It doesn’t have a plot, it’s more of a how-to book. My mom saw it in the bookstore and got it from the library. It’s not girly at all, despite the title.
9.
Sweet Melpomene (Mel) | December 20, 2007 at 3:23 pm
1- I recently picked up Neverwhere!
7- Still can’t find the former; the latter was fantastic.
8- I read that! When The Dangerous Book For Boys came out, I heard all about it online. And had to get it. Then the Daring one came out and I would have felt like a total misogynist if I did not get it. I recommend both to people with either set of reproductive organs.
I’m re-reading Madeline L’engle’s Time Quartet. They = Love.
10.
Vendaval (Conrad) | December 20, 2007 at 3:24 pm
So at the moment I’m reading: Jonathan strange & Mr. Norellel (spelling?), but I’ve got a whole stack. Anyone read anything by Reza Aslan http://www.rezaaslan.com/ ?
11.
oxlin | December 20, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Ooh, Wicked and Neverwhere and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell!
Say, ‘manda and Julia, could we have a book club thread?
12.
MontgomeryGurl | December 20, 2007 at 4:21 pm
11 – What would the specifics of the book club thread be? We’ve tried and failed at this before, but I’m going to blame it on a lack of resolve.
*is resolved*
13.
ebeth91 | December 20, 2007 at 4:48 pm
12-also the huuuge difference in reading speeds. i suggest we have threads for everything up to a specific chapter or section, and then a thread for the book overall when people have finished it. It’ll be a lot of threads cluttering things up, but that would be easier to manage with so few people, and you could delete threads as people move past the chapters/sections.
14.
oxlin | December 20, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Or we could just announce the book and that the thread is coming on a different thread and then create a thread on a pre arranged deadline day.
15.
MontgomeryGurl | December 20, 2007 at 4:54 pm
14 – I like that idea. So we would just discuss the book as a whole, not chapters and sections?
16.
Vendaval (Conrad) | December 20, 2007 at 4:57 pm
I formally second the formation of an expeditionary force to test the plausibility and applicability of such a grand idea as stated in post 13 by ebeth91 the Magnificent.
I’ll give it a try.
17.
MontgomeryGurl | December 20, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Okay, but what book do we want? Should I just make a discussion thread and we can figure it out there?
18.
Fortune Cell | December 20, 2007 at 5:49 pm
17- Let’s just discuss it here, and make a thread once it has started.
I reaaaaally like the Weetzie Bat books.
19.
Sweet Melpomene (Mel) | December 21, 2007 at 4:05 am
14- I like that idea!
20.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | December 22, 2007 at 8:03 am
18- They sound good… library time!
I have no idea what book we should read… a lot of the books I read I get recommended from musebloggers, which means that you’ve probably already read them.
21.
Megan- VF | December 22, 2007 at 11:35 am
one we’ve already read is fine, as long as it’s got some good discussion potential. suggestions, anyone?
22.
ebeth | December 22, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Well i’m not sure what kind of book we want to read, but to the castle and back by vaclav havel is fantastic and i’d really like to finish it (dad lost it a while ago)
23.
(Sweet) Mel(pomene) | December 22, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is an amazing book. Nietzsche. Same pwntastical level as Rand’s Anthem.
24.
oxlin | December 23, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I really want to read Coyote Road, a collection edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow.
25.
ebeth | December 23, 2007 at 4:23 pm
23-i didn’t find anthem pwntastic at all. it actually annoyed the hell out of me. but the fact that i read it for english might have something to do with that.
26.
Bird of Purple | December 23, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Eeh, I hate reading books in English. Especially this year… I think that the only thing that saved me from hating Huck Finn was having read it already…
But I want to try Anthem, and all the other books mentioned on the thread (New books! Yay!)
I’m currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and it’s pretty good. His language is very original, as is the story. It’s kind of sad, though…
27.
ebeth | December 23, 2007 at 7:35 pm
26-ooh, that was my first neil gaiman book. good one, but i prefer anansi’s boys.
28.
PENTAY | December 23, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Must read Anansi Boys one of these days.
And I suppose now is a good a time as ever to order everyone to read George R. R. Martin. A Song of Ice and Fire. Yesplz.
Right now I feel like reading something ridiculously sappy and girly. Any recommendations?
29.
Fortune Cell | December 24, 2007 at 12:34 am
28- Marian Keyes. Sushi For Beginners or The Other Side of the Story.
30.
MontgomeryGurl | December 24, 2007 at 8:34 am
28 – L.M. Montgomery is always good for that.
31.
kricket | December 24, 2007 at 9:33 am
14- yay good idea!
I think that if we were to read something for a book discussion, we should pick something in a genre that everyone here likes. Then the next book should be a completely different genre. I don’t know, just spouting ideas here.
The book, “The Sea of Trolls” and the sequel “The Land of the Silver Apples” are really good. Read them now.
32.
Bird of Purple | December 24, 2007 at 5:10 pm
The Sea of Trolls was the one where the girl makes up the Jack and Jill rhyme, right? I haven’t read the other one.
L.M. Montgomery is fun. I’ll have to re-read her books, over vacation.
And I did end up liking American Gods, even though I wished he was happier in the end. So now I need to go read Anansi Boys.
I read the preview, and it sounded pretty good… a bit more cheerful? (maybe… or not)
Mhmmmmmmm… sappy and girly? Somebody told me The Secret Life of Bees was, like, the ultimate girly book, but I haven’t read it yet, so I wouldn’t know. *thinks*
33.
Jadestone | December 24, 2007 at 5:14 pm
27/28- …Guess who just told her father to go ahead and return that to the library today because she didn’t know if she’d have time to read it.
I saw a book I really wanted at B&N a few days ago, it was an anthology of fantasy stories… I think it had some de Lint, Gaimen, stuff like that but I’m not sure. I had a headache and couldn’t realy read titles let alone small print… Great cover though. Illustrated by Charles Ves. He’s done a bit of stuff I’ve been seeing recently… Statdust, maybe a de Lint book too.
34.
oxlin | December 25, 2007 at 4:02 pm
33- ooh was it Coyote Road (I want), Faery Reel (I own) or The Green Man (I own)? Anything edited by Windling and Datlow is good. Yeah, I’ve met Vess. He’s pretty cool and often collaborates with de Lint sort of how Dave McKean often collaborates with Neil Gaiman.
32- it isn’t sappy though, it’s along the same lines of The Bean Trees, girls like it but it isn’t a ‘girly’ book.
For the book group I still reccommend Coraline.
35.
Shadow Gallery | December 25, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I have a list of over sixty books that I have to read at some point. Right now I’m reading Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet (both for English classes, can’t stand the latter), I am America and So Can You! and theoretically Rebel Without a Cause.
I just finished Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman, and any metal/glam/rock fan should go and read it right now. It’s fucking badass. I highly disagree with him saying that Dream Theatre doesn’t have any musical significance (and — of course — the slight sexism pissed me off), but it is the most hilarious and well-written critique (or whatever) of music out there.
36.
ebeth | December 25, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Coraline would be a great start. it’s pretty short, right? (i still haven’t read it (shamefully) *hangs head) And i think just about everybody here is either a neil gaiman fan or has no opinion on him, am i right? (does anybody dislike neil? *grabs steak knife* Well? Anybody?)
37.
MontgomeryGurl | December 25, 2007 at 6:49 pm
I just finished Wicked. It. Was. Amazing.
“Sir,” she said, “I think you are a very bad wizard.”
I’m about to start Neverwhere. This will be the official end of me “I have no opinion” stage regarding Neil Gaiman. I don’t think you’ll have to stab me, Ebeth, because the back cover of the book made it sound freakin’ amazing.
38.
Bird of Purple | December 26, 2007 at 5:25 am
I’ve started Faery Reel, actually, because I borrowed it from a friend. That was the first time I’d ever read any kind of poetry-ish thing by Charles de Lint…does he write more, or was that a kind of one-time thing?
34-Ooh… Well, I’ll have to read it, because people keep on recommending it to me…
39.
Mel | December 26, 2007 at 6:46 am
36- Heehee, you’ll like it. And probably read the thing in an hour or less. Everyone likes Neil! I was really excited when he wrote one of the NaNo pep talks…
^__^ I have $75 of B&N gift cards! And they have a half-price sale today! Yay!
40.
ebeth | December 26, 2007 at 8:10 am
39-haha, every time i got an email i freaked out “PEP TALK? NEIL? NEIL? IS IT? NEILNEILNEIL…oh wait, it’s from one of those “friends”. I remember those people. I used to hang out with them last month…before nano started…”
41.
Mel | December 26, 2007 at 8:16 am
40- HAHAHAHA YES. And Garth Nix did one, too. Which also made me greatly happy!
42.
Bird of Purple | December 26, 2007 at 8:25 am
Yessssssss. Yays for Garth and Neil. I still haven’t read some of those pep talks… *goes off to look at e-mail*
I think that Garth Nix is publishing two more old kingdom books in about two years, so that’s exciting…
43.
Jadestone | December 26, 2007 at 11:10 am
34- Maybe Faery Reel. I own The Green Man, I like that one.
I have gift cards now so maybe I can get it, heh.
“Yeah, I’ve met Vess- ahhhhhhhhhg” (*sound of e~a being beaten with the wooden boards of envy*)
40- Haha, exactly. But it wasn’t in an email, it was on the site, sadly.
Oh well. It was still him XD
Does anyone have a recomendation for a good mythology book? I’ve reread the one I own to many times… and the library doesn’t have any good ones either…
44.
oxlin | December 26, 2007 at 12:34 pm
43- D’Aulaire’s book of Greek Myths?
*runs away from wooden boards of envy*
36- You’ll like it!
37- yay! Wicked and Neverwhere!
38- yes, de Lint often has poems in anthologies (well, the Datlow Windling Vess ones) and there are plenty in Triskell Tales and on the Endicott website (www.endicott-studio.com/)
*needs to go to a bookstore to spend her Christmas money* We’ve a really cool one near me, though and I’d like to go there. I suppose I could always walk to the nearby B&N. It is a mile ish though to get there and it is snowing. But it’d probably have Coyote Road. And Little Grrl Lost which I’ve not read yet either… Hmm.
45.
ebeth | December 26, 2007 at 1:30 pm
43-they’re actually emails. and then they repost them on the site. you’ve probably got that option turned off though…
endicott is lurve
i’ll prolly go to B&N tomorrow and spend money once i get it
i really want to get that napoleon dragon thing, because i can’t find it anywhere in the library
46.
kricket | December 26, 2007 at 1:55 pm
I would definitely suggest the book “Here There Be Dragons”. Just saying, but it’s such a good book, I loved it! Also, there’s these books by… well, the first one’s called “Peter and the Starcatchers”. Good books. Go. Read. Now.
47.
Jadestone | December 26, 2007 at 1:58 pm
45- Really? That’s odd. I got email talks from the not-as-famous people, like SUe Grafton, though. I thought they were emails origanally but then I didn’t get them, I only saw them posted on the site…
48.
ebeth | December 26, 2007 at 2:14 pm
46-peter and the starcatchers is good. that was dave barry right? and somebody else…
47-idk, i got them all as emails…maybe your spam filter decided they were spam and started deleting them
49.
MontgomeryGurl | December 27, 2007 at 7:48 am
So I am now an official Gaiman fan. His prose is love.
All of those pep talks were amazing, to me. I saved them all in a special folder for when I think that I don’t want to be a writer. I can go “look, Neil Gaiman emailed you. You must be amazing.” Okay, not quite, but something like that.
50.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | December 27, 2007 at 8:59 am
I just started reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I like it so far… I also read The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish last night (it’s a children’s book).
51.
ebeth | December 27, 2007 at 11:17 am
49-indeed ♥
so should we do a coraline book clubbing thing?
52.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | December 27, 2007 at 11:20 am
51- Sounds good…
53.
Mel | December 27, 2007 at 11:31 am
50- I finally got that movie… just can’t watch it yet because my sister is currently hogging up the DVD player…
54.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | December 27, 2007 at 11:46 am
53- I’m waiting until I read the book before I see the movie… probably I’ll do the same thing with Princess Bride, if I ever get around to reading it.
55.
oxlin (e~a) | December 27, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I’m for a Coraline book club!
56.
Jadestone | December 27, 2007 at 12:34 pm
As am I. I have read that one, so would be able to participate this time.
57.
ebeth | December 27, 2007 at 12:41 pm
54-for princess bride, i actually recommend watching the movie first…it’s one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book
58.
Dodecahedron | December 28, 2007 at 2:25 pm
I just went to the library! ♥ Libraries are love.
I took out Coraline (so I’m ok with book clubbing for that), Timequake (by Vonnegut), Wizards at War (Diane Duane, most recent/8th book after So You Want To Be A Wizard?), and The House of the Scorpion (by Nancy Farmer. Same person who wrote The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm, which was quite good.)
59.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | December 28, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I saw princess bride yesterday… I will read the book, eventually.
I’ll start Coraline once I finish Stardust…
60.
Megan- VF | December 30, 2007 at 4:38 pm
57- the movie was amazing, but i liked the book just as much. i always like books better actually cuz i can imagine everything for myself.
61.
oxlin (e~a) | December 30, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I just bought a ton of books *is happy*
Coyote Road, Interfictions, Through a Brazen Mirror, Elsewhere, A College of Magics, Liavek etc. etc….
mm, books.
62.
Lady Montague | January 1, 2008 at 8:57 am
In the past couple of days, I’ve spent about $80 at Books-A-Million. It is pure joy. It’s probably my whole Christmas gift from my parents, with maybe the Emily of New Moon series thrown in for good measure.
The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Life of Pi, Atonement, The Kite Runner, A Wrinkle in Time, Real Christianity (William Wilberforce), and four C.S. Lewis books in one volume (Surprised by Joy, Reflections on the Psalms, The Four Loves, The Business of Heaven). I am happy.
63.
Shadow Gallery | January 1, 2008 at 12:30 pm
…not Rebel Without a Cause. Now it’s Grab Onto Me Tightly As If I Knew the Way. It’s really good, kind of madly confused teenage writing, so it fits…but mostly I like it because it’s set in my hometown, and I always know exactly where the protagonist is. Like, after he loses his virginity, he looks across West Main at the plaza and Carousel…and I’m like, shit, I walk past there all the time. And he hangs out at Fourth Coast all morning. And Fourth Coast is my happy place.
…Anyway, it’s a pretty fucking weird feeling, but I love it.
*moving right along*
64.
kricket | January 1, 2008 at 1:25 pm
58- I liked the House of the Scorpion. Good book.
57- I own the movie, but haven’t read the book yet.
48- Yeah, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, I think. they finally came out with the third one! I’m sooo happy! My mom bought it for me on the condition that I had to read it on the way to Michigan! Yay!
I have read Coraline. ’tis good. Neil Gaiman is freakin’ amazing. I have read Stardust. Unfortunately for me, I saw the movie before I read the book. *sigh* ah well. ’twas still very good.
I need to go to the bookstore. Gah.
65.
Fortune Cell | January 1, 2008 at 9:22 pm
58- I’ve read the Ear, The Eye, and The Arm as well as as The House of the Scorpion, I liked them both.
I really want to read Cat’s Cradle,
66.
Vendaval (Conrad) | January 2, 2008 at 8:28 am
62~ These are some of my favorites: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Life of Pi. I haven’t gotten around to any of C.S. Lewis’ adult works.
67.
Lady Montague | January 2, 2008 at 3:26 pm
66 – I just finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. ‘Twas brilliant.
I highly recommend Lewis’ adult works, not just because I agree with him, but because he makes you stretch your mind and think about things you would rather ignore, and you walk away feeling smarter. Lewis makes you feel intellectual no matter if you are or not. His logic and writing patterns make the inconceivable easier to grasp. I lurve.
68.
Pan | January 2, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Lady Montague (67): The God, or the Dog? I loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, though I read it simultaneously with “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” (also a brilliant book), and I sometimes got the plot-lines confused. That’s the problem with reading multiple books at the same time.
The House of the Scorpion is one of my favorite books!
69.
Lady Montague | January 4, 2008 at 7:16 am
68 – Oh, haha, typo extraordinaire. Yes, it was a really good book. Short and sweet.
70.
Fortune Cell | January 4, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Wheee
I got my mom to buy me books at the bookstore, under the promise I’d clean my room/hall (which I need to do anyways, cus the mess is almost all stuff I’m bring back to school with me).
Anyways, I finally got Cat’s Cradle
this book called The Children’s Hospital which looks really interesting
and I got the The End by Snicket, even though it’s easy and a kids book I’ve read all the others and I’d like to finish the series.
71.
Jadestone | January 4, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I am reading Blink, a pyscology-ish book and Moonheart by CHarles de Lint. I also have Spirits in the Wires by de Lint
72.
Lady Montague | January 4, 2008 at 1:19 pm
71 – Would that be Blink by Ted Dekker? A few years ago I went through a massive Ted Dekker phase. I’m not sure if the books were actually any good, but I loved Blink, Thr3e, Black, Red, and White.
73.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | January 4, 2008 at 1:56 pm
70- I like A Series of Unfortunate Events. That was my favorite series when I was younger…
I wish I could read in the car. Then I would have a lot more time to read. I’m still reading Stardust.
74.
oxlin (e~a) | January 4, 2008 at 2:06 pm
71- yay de Lint! I got Triskell Tales by de Lint as a present…
75.
Jadestone | January 4, 2008 at 4:02 pm
72- No, it’s by Malcom Gladwell. It’s about how you realize things and adjust without you consiously realizing it, and how it can this subconsicious part can anyalize things instantly and correctly, and training yourself to listen to it. It’s quite interesting.
74- Whee!
76.
kricket | January 4, 2008 at 6:53 pm
75- Sounds like an interesting book.
77.
Lady Montague | January 4, 2008 at 7:59 pm
75 – Ah, that sounds infinitely cooler than the version I read. In my version, there was this freaky genuis guy who could see the future and this middle easter princess and… well, it wasn’t as dumb in the book.
78.
Vendaval | January 5, 2008 at 6:32 am
75~ I’ve read The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell! It was superb, and dealt with how fads or things catch on and then “light” like a fire. Everything from shoes to heroin use.
79.
Jadestone | January 5, 2008 at 10:07 am
78- Yeah, we have that too. I started it, but then switched to Blink. When I finish it I’ll probably go back to it
80.
Megan- VF | January 5, 2008 at 11:24 am
actually that article in Muse about the IAT test and racial prejudice was an excerpt from Blink. the one about how people can be racially prejudiced without noticing, from their first impressions. i think it was the skin article? with the crayons on the front?
81.
Eccentric the Afterthought | January 5, 2008 at 8:57 pm
1 – Neverwhere! <3 Isn’t there a TV series to go with the book? Wicked is on my list of eventual reads – too many books too little time! I can’t wait for summer.
10 – I just got that from the library, but I haven’t had a chance to start it yet. Is it good?
18 – Me too! I’m in the middle of Missing Angel Juan now.
22 – Also on my “to read” list.
32 – I had to read “Secret Life of Bees” for a book club. It didn’t seem too girly at the time.
34 – You met him? *envious*
36 – I haven’t read Coraline yet either…I’m in the middle of the Sandman series now. It is AMAZING.
40 – I saw “Neil Gaiman” in my inbox and freaked out, lol.
44 – That’s the book that got me interested in mythology! Yay, good memories. I just got Little Grrl Lost from the library; hopefully I can start it tonight.
58 – Thanks for the reminder! I forgot about the Young Wizards until now, but for awhile I was obsessed with them and I really need to go read the latest book.
63 – I think a bunch of people here had that feeling with that movie “Elizabethtown”, but no books come to mind. It’s my goal to write one someday and rectify that.
80 – I remember that issue but not the article. *goes issue-hunting in the massive clutter that is her room*
I just finished “The Neddiad” by Daniel Pinkwater. I recommend it if you like your stories off-the-wall!
So, is Coraline the final choice for the discussion? *scurries off to find her copy*
82.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | January 6, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Barnes and Noble!
I bought Coraline, Stranger in a Strange Land (the uncut version), and The Princess Bride.
My mom thinks that Stranger in a Strange Land is an awful book. Then again, my mom hates sci-fi… but I haven’t read it yet.
83.
Alison | January 7, 2008 at 9:04 pm
81-Oh my god, Sandman! I’m reading that too, I keep having to tear myself away to do boring things like brush my teeth or eat. I LOVE how I keep putting pieces of one book together with another book, because I’m not reading it in publishing order.
(And Stardust too: <3)
84.
Lady Montague | January 7, 2008 at 9:35 pm
83 – *jealousy* I want to read Sandman so bad, but none of the libraries in my area have it and the books are too expensive to buy. I’m thinking that I may pop down to the local book store and sit in geek corner where all the comic books are and just read them there. Who knows, with all the nerds around I may pick up a boyfriend (kidding, but not entirely).
I just finished “Atonement” which was freakin’ brilliant and made my whole life suddenly make sense. Okay, not quite, but it definitely ranks among the best books I’ve ever read. It was nearly impossible to put down, which accounts for why I haven’t had much sleep the last three nights.
After an emotionally draining experience like Atonement, I wanted something light and fun. Unfortunately, all I own are these long, thick, depressingly brilliant novels about the state of humankind. So I started rereading H2G2, which didn’t work out so well because I wasn’t in the mood for literary comfort food. Now I’m reading Life of Pi, which looks intriguing, but I haven’t gotten to the intriguing part yet so I’m not really hooked. So at the moment my life is not caught up in a book, and I feel so lost at sea I don’t know what to do with myself. It’s probably just as well, because I can’t afford another night reading a book for three hours after I should have gone to sleep.
85.
ebeth | January 8, 2008 at 4:59 am
82-stranger in a strange land is great. it’s a little weird (which is probably why your mom doesn’t like it) but it’s a really good book.
84-eh, life of pi was ok…not great though
atonement is still on hold >.<
86.
Jadestone | January 8, 2008 at 1:41 pm
84- Saaame about Sandman. *waaanttsss*
87.
Eccentric the Afterthought | January 8, 2008 at 2:09 pm
83 – That’s the great thing about them; you can pick up any volume and they’re all equally amazing on their own.
84 – That’s an outrage! *stabs non-Gaiman-fan librarians*
20 bucks per book is pretty pricey, though. Forget college savings…I need a job so I can earn Sandman money!
I haven’t started Life of Pi yet. Is it good enough to be worth investing reading time in?
88.
Lady Montague | January 8, 2008 at 2:24 pm
87 – Yep, the libraries around here are horendous. I can’t ever seem to find the book I want.
I like Life of Pi so far. It’s interesting, a very different writing style. I think it’s worth reading, but I’m not very far in yet.
89.
ebeth | January 8, 2008 at 3:05 pm
88-well in my opinion, almost any book is worth reading, if only for the entertainment value of “haha, this got published?!”
i ♥ my library/librarians…they’ve gone out and bought every book i’ve requested so far (sometimes it takes a while though). also, they have a sweet movie section that i’m going to be able to check stuff out of when i turn 17, and a sweet cd section with just about everything you can imagine (mozart to pearl jam. really, it’s amazing)
and they have almost every terry pratchett/neil gaiman/heinlein/wodehouse book in existance
90.
Lady Montague | January 8, 2008 at 3:49 pm
89 – Well, most books may be “worth reading” for the fact that you get something out of them, but not worth reading if you could have read something better. The only book I’ve ever read that I absolutely hated with a fiery and pure passion was Flowers for Algernon, and no one should ever read that. Little Women sucked, but at least it’s kind of enjoyable on sentimental level. And The Scarlet Pimpernell is one of the funniest books in existence. But Flowers for Algernon was just purely awful.
I wish I had your library. Actually, my own personal library is growing nicely and I may soon need the local library system only for school. Thank goodness for that.
91.
Jadestone | January 9, 2008 at 5:19 pm
90- I liked Flowers for Algernon. Why didn’t you, out of curiosity?
92.
Shadow Gallery | January 9, 2008 at 6:21 pm
We read bits of Flowers for Algernon last year…I should really read that, too.
But now my list has expanded to have over seventy books. Latest additions include The Doors of Perception, Naked Lunch, and Detroit Rock City.
93.
Lady Montague | January 9, 2008 at 7:00 pm
91 – For starters, it had a brilliant premise and I really wanted to feel emotionally involved. But the author didn’t have enough skill to pull off the first hand style, and it left me feeling like he had no idea how intelligent people wrote or thought. The pop psychology all felt fake. Charlie was just purely unlikeable. I’ve read stories where unlikeable characters were made identfiable, but Daniel Keyes was just not a good enough writer to pull it off. I wanted to identify with Charlie so much, but I just couldn’t. I wanted to identify with his journey, but the author squandered that chance and made it impossible by putting in the plot point about retarded Charlie being a seperate person. So instead of feeling wonder and a sense of the loss of it all at the idea that Charlie was retarded, became intelligent, and then lost it all, I had the sense that two forces were battling. It just wasn’t intriguing to me. While there were some good points about intelligence, they were heavy handed. It wasn’t like we could gather the themes from the text, Charlie had to step out and say “Intelligence doesn’t make us more or less valuable” because the author didn’t know how to say it with the story. And the writing style was awful, because when Charlie was supposed to be retarded we didn’t hear a different way of looking at the world, we just saw misspelled words. And when he was a “genius” we didn’t hear interesting thoughts, we saw long words and heard that Charlie could speak tons of languages. All the dramatic tension was wasted by telling us what was going to happen too early. I really wished the story had been told about Charlie, not by Charlie. It felt inept.
That is the end of my rant. Gosh, I hated that book.
94.
Fortune Cell | January 9, 2008 at 7:11 pm
93- Yes.
HATEHATEHATE
95.
The Skipper | January 9, 2008 at 9:52 pm
In seventh grade, we read the short story version of Flowers for Algernon, which my english teacher said she preferred to the book. I guess I liked the short story. I mean, it had interesting points about the value of intelligence, as Lady Montague said. I think it was good as a short story because it didn’t slog on about things. But I’ve never read the book version, so I can’t compare them.
I LOVED the Scarlet Pimpernel! Except I found the ending a bit unsatisfactory. But it was fun anyway. And I read it just after I went to France and got all interested in the French Revolution, so it was even better.
Has anyone read The Poisonwood Bible? Should I attempt it?
Right now I’m reading a nonfiction brief history of Darfur. It’s really interesting, in a confusing and depressing sort of way.
96.
Lady Montague | January 10, 2008 at 8:16 am
95 – The Scarlet Pimpernell struck me as cheesy and kind of melodramatic. The story itself was good, but the writing made me laugh. LIke the way the author would pick one word for each character: Sir Blakeny is “inane” so everything about him is inane. So Marguerite was constantly listening for “his inane laugh”. Marguerite was childlike, the bad guy was fox like, and every time you looked at someone you “seemed to see their very soul”. It also bothered me because it portrayed the revolutionists as the bad guys and the artistocrats as the good guys, and it was so much more complicated than that. It was a breezy, fun, dramatic story, though, if you ignore the writing and don’t hate Marguerite with a fiery passion and want her to die a terrible and painful death (if you couldn’t tell, I did).
97.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | January 10, 2008 at 1:17 pm
We read the short story version of Flowers for Algernon in school… I was thinking of reading the actual book, but now I might not. We had to do a debate on whether Charlie should have had or not had the surgery. I was sick that day… it actually wasn’t on purpose, but I was a bit relieved.
I’m now reading Dangerous Angels (the Weetzie Bat books). Some of the references I don’t get, mostly of people’s names, and I don’t really know Los Angeles, being from New York State… but skipping over that stuff, I really like it so far.
98.
oxlin (e~a) | January 10, 2008 at 1:22 pm
So who here has read books by John Bellairs?
99.
Fortune Cell | January 10, 2008 at 1:25 pm
97- Yay! Weetzie!
I need to finish the series, I finished all of them, but I still have one more to read, I think.
Definitely my favorite works of hers.
100.
Vendaval (Conrad) | January 10, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’ve read The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
101.
The Skipper Nancy | January 10, 2008 at 5:07 pm
(96 Lady Montague) Yes, I see what you mean. Now that I come to think of it, Marguerite was definitely described as “clever” about fifty times. It kind of annoyed me how helpless she was in the end, too, and how The Scarlet Pimpernel just magically seemed to know everything.
102.
Pan | January 10, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I have the Poisonwood Bible on my bookshelf, on my to-read list. However, it always gets bumped back by dozens of other books. I read the first few chapters, and they didn’t really interest me, but then again, they were only the first few chapters. My mom liked it, but I don’t know anyone else who has read it.
103.
kricket | January 10, 2008 at 5:57 pm
102- Haven’t heard of that. What’s it about?
I definitely need to go to the bookstore. Normally, I just browse around looking for books that look good. Does anyone have any suggestions? (I am probably going to get a book whose title I can’t remember by Neil Gaiman)
104.
Lady Montague | January 10, 2008 at 6:16 pm
101 – The way the Scarlet Pimpernell knew everything actually made me laugh out loud at a few points. It was so ridiculous sometimes how he would pop up and save the day. And I totally could see through all of his disguises, and he’s danged lucky those French people were just idiots. Also, I found it annoying how Marguerite realizes suddenly that she loves Sir Blakeny when she finds out he’s the Scarlet Pimpernell (not spoiling it, you can see this plot twist a mile away) even though she’s only known him as an idiot. Suddenly she’s madly in love and would conquer the world for him (except that she can’t, because he has to save her in a dramatic fashion). I didn’t hate the book, though, it was really enjoyable.
105.
S&Mel | January 10, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I finally read Ender’s Game. ‘t was teh pwn.
106.
Pan | January 10, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I just finished Twilight, which was recommended to me by about a zillion people. It was really good!
107.
oxlin (e~a) | January 10, 2008 at 7:46 pm
105- now you ought to read Speaker for the Dead! *nod*
108.
Bird of Purple | January 11, 2008 at 4:08 am
Oh, I liked Speaker for the Dead. I read Enchantment by Orson Scott Card, too, and I think I would recommend it. I didn’t think I’d like Ender’s Game, but then I did…
Now I’m curious… I’ll have to read The Scarlet Pimpernell.
I’ve seen the Poisonwood Bible (maybe my mom read it?), but I’ve never read it before.
But (YAYS) I’m going to la bibliotheque today (I hope), so I can get some more books.
109.
ebeth | January 11, 2008 at 4:21 am
Speaker for the Dead was fantastic. one of my favs.
also, i really liked the one..whose name i can’t remember but it was the same time period as ender’s game, except it followed Bean. love that kid.
it’s pretty cool, especially if you’ve already read ender’s game.
i’m going to start sparticus soon, dad got it from the library for lb’s latin test but i doubt lb will have time to read it.
110.
S&Mel | January 11, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Ender’s Shadow = has Bean? Bean rocks so hard.
I’ve been told to read those two. So I guess I will… eventually.
111.
Megan- VF | January 11, 2008 at 2:05 pm
i love those books. i like the bean ones best, especially shadow of the hegemon and shadow puppets.
112.
kricket | January 11, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I’ve only read Ender’s Game, and I loved it. It was very good, with a lot of twists and turns. I didn’t know there were others though. Must go to the library + the bookstore!
Bean is amazing.
Yes, I think I’ll have to read The Scarlet Pimpernell just because I want to know what it is.
Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse… Mary-Sue-fest but still really good books. I know that doesn’t make much sense in… well anyone’s opinion, but I liked them a lot.
Conclusion: MUST GO TO LIBRARY + BOOKSTORE!!!
113.
Alison | January 11, 2008 at 2:42 pm
95- I read The Poisonwood Bible and really liked it. It was a bit hard to get through in places, but I thought it was really well written and the characters were very interesting. You really end up getting into their lives and the issues presented. I say attempt it!
114.
ebeth | January 11, 2008 at 4:52 pm
110-ender’s shadow, that’s the one. great book.
i’ve never read the poisonwood bible. pronounced “poisonwood bib-lee” right? (izzard fans? hello!)
115.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | January 11, 2008 at 6:05 pm
My friend was talking about Twilight the other day… Stephenie Meyer, right? (I’m not sure about the spelling.) I’ll probably read it before the movie comes out.
I’m almost done with the second Weetzie Bat book.
116.
oxlin (e~a) | January 11, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I read The Arrival by Shaun Tan today. To quote bookslut, ‘Wordless yet containing worlds…’ It tells the tale of an immigration to a strange land through pictures that are truly worth a thousand words.
117.
Alison | January 11, 2008 at 10:34 pm
114- Oo! Oo! Izzard fan! Of the highest degree. I’ve converted a few of my friends, too, including Julia. =D
118.
Shadow Gallery | January 12, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Aah, there’s another? I knew there was Speaker for the Dead (which I’ll have to read at some point), but I was not aware of Ender’s Shadow.
Also, I need to actually read H.P. Lovecraft <.<
…but right now, I’m off to read Rebel Without a Cause. Fun?
119.
Eccentric the Afterthought | January 12, 2008 at 8:47 pm
89 – Sounds like a dream library! The libraries here don’t have a huge music collection yet, but they are expanding their DVD offerings, and unless it’s an extremely old or new book, they usually have what I’m looking for. They have so many books they can’t keep them all, though. I was horrified when I found out that they actually throw away books in less-than-immaculate condition! I don’t care what condition they’re in; I just can’t stomach putting books in a dumpster. Gah.
90 – Well said. It used to be rare for me not to finish a book once I’ve started, but now that I don’t have as much leisure time as I used to I’ve started being more selective about what I read in that time; I don’t want to waste it forcing myself to finish a book I don’t enjoy or get anything out of.
96 – I’ve only read sections of The Scarlet Pimpernel, so I can’t really speak for the book as a whole, but the sections I read did seem to have a solid storyline, if not the best writing style to go with it. Is anyone else picky about writing style? For me, there are some books that just “click” and others than I can’t even get through the first chapter of because even if the story is good, something about the style in which it’s written doesn’t engage my mind enough to keep me interested.
97 – Same here; the characters and their setting are completely foreign to me, but the story is so good that it doesn’t matter.
98 – *waves hand* I was raised on Bellairs…I really want to re-read his books, actually *adds to list*. I think I might get more out of them now since the last time I read them was when my mom read them to me.
106 – Everyone keeps yelling at me to finish the trilogy…I don’t usually like romance, but Twilight was actually pretty good. Except that now no guy will be good enough for me if he isn’t Edward Cullen.
I haven’t read Ender’s Game, but need to do so as soon as possible.
118 – Lovecraft…that’s next on my list, once I finish the stack of library books I need to right now. Here I am promoting a Lovecraft tribute band on the music thread, and I haven’t even read any of his stories yet! Or rather, I read a short one – Dagon, I think – but I want to read more.
Just finished Little (Grrl) Lost last night. T.J was eerily like me…now I wish there were Littles in my walls to befriend.
120.
oxlin (e~a) | January 12, 2008 at 9:26 pm
119- haven’t read Little (Grrl) Lost yet but I find Wendy to be eerily like me. Bellairs is great. I was raised on it too, especially old hardcovers with Gorey illustrations from the library. mmmm…
121.
Jadestone | January 13, 2008 at 6:17 am
I am reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen (The Omnivore’s Dilemma, anyone?) and Dad just got The World Without Us from the library, yay. The second’s about what would happen if humans just vanished, how the Earth would take everything back. I started it, it’s interesting so far.
I have been meaning to read Lovecraft for years… but every time we go to the library I forget or can’t find him.
122.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | January 13, 2008 at 6:53 am
At some point I am going to make a list of the books on this thread, or maybe just the ones that aren’t on my reading list already.
I’m reading the 3rd Weetzie Bat book now…
Is it just me, or is it hard at first to get the approximate age of the characters in those books?
Can anyone recommend some Heinlein? I plan to read Stranger in a Strange Land, but I don’t know where to go from there…
123.
kricket | January 13, 2008 at 2:16 pm
“Little (Grrl) Lost” is a book I saw at the bookstore today. (YES I finally got there!) I didn’t get it because… well, I didn’t.
I instead got “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman and “Runemarks” by… someone. They both looked pretty good and I think there had been an earlier discussion about “Neverwhere.” “Runemarks” I actually had heard about through a newsletter that I got. I read the summary and thought it looked pretty good, but wasn’t thinking of going out and getting it. I actually was looking for “The First Book of Pellinor” (part of a series, wasn’t sure of the actual name… I forget things a lot), but they didn’t have it. So I saw “Runemarks” and decided to get it. Besides, it said it had Norse mythology in it. hehehe, I love Norse mythology ever since I read “The Sea of Trolls” by Nancy Farmer.
Here’s an interesting question for discussion. “Did you always like to read since you could remember? If not, what started you reading?”
124.
ebeth | January 13, 2008 at 3:42 pm
122-have spacesuit, will travel is a great one. there’s also one about twins and telepathy that was ok (not great, but good) that i forget the name of. Don’t read anything that mentions survival on the back cover (or wherever) unless you like that kind of thing, but they’re completely different from his other stuff (i don’t like them much).
oh, also the door into summer(?) i think was good (i’m really bad at associating titles with content, both in books and music, but i think that’s right. if it’s something different, apols) i believe that was the time-traveling one, with the guy and his cat.
norse mythology is win.
about the q…i’ve always liked to read, and as far as i can remember, i’ve always been able to. my parents read to me all the time (my dad read me shakespeare as a baby for crying out loud) and according to my mom, i was begging her to teach me to read around the end of kindergarten (i learned in the summer between kindergarten and first grade, when i was 4). I’ve been reading almost constantly ever since then.
hence my complete inability to teach anybody else how to read, or how to read fast. it’s just something i’ve always done.
125.
S&Mel | January 13, 2008 at 4:32 pm
121- Aw. Lovecraft is amazing! In a oh-no-not-the-Colour! way!!!
123, 124- Yusss. Norse Mythology is probably my favourite.
122- The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress? Actually, I don’t know yet; I just got it today and haven’t yet started it.
I also finally picked up a copy of Dune.
In response to: “Did you always like to read since you could remember? If not, what started you reading?”
YES. Definitely. I can’t remember much but an old friend of me tells me that I brought books [her most cited example: "Island of the Blue Dolphins"] to preschool and read them. And then basically I had no friends until high school and read. A lot. All the time. Yay books!
126.
Jadestone | January 13, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Funny, mom taught me to read when I was… 4? And I told her I hated it every time she made me sit down and read something to her. I grew to love it, of course, but hated the learning bit apparently.
I was looking for Norse mythology books at the library as I’ve read most of the Greek myths, but they didn’t have any other than little kid books. :/
127.
oxlin (e~a) | January 13, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I don’t think I learned how that young but I certainly enjoyed reading from when I did learn how.
128.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | January 13, 2008 at 6:36 pm
124/125- Thanks!
I’ve been able to read since kindergarten. I’ve always loved reading, but I’ve been reading a lot more than usual lately.
129.
Lady Montague | January 13, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I was a very quiet, shy child. I didn’t like talking to people. So basically my whole life was spent with my nose in a book, up until I was about eleven and learned how to talk to people. I think I learned to read at the normal age, just because my mom didn’t really want me to be a freaky genius child. But as long as I can remember we would sit down and read books aloud every night, and we listened to books on tape every time there was a quiet moment. So, yeah, my whole life has been books since I was very young.
130.
ebeth | January 14, 2008 at 6:25 am
129-we would have been best friends! i never talked either.
books were more interesting than the people around me though
131.
Lady Montague | January 14, 2008 at 7:25 am
130 – One of my best friends a few years ago was this girl who was about four years younger than me. All we did was sit around and read books. It was teh awesomeness.
132.
Fortune Cell | January 14, 2008 at 8:11 am
126- I learned around then too, but I liked it.
I can’t find Cat’s Cradle or The End, forcing me to -gasp- actually read the book I’m supposed to for history.
133.
kricket | January 14, 2008 at 5:07 pm
For me, I liked reading and my parents would always read to me when I was little. When my sister was born, I was three years old and according to my parents I would go over to her, bring her toys and mostly read her little books that I liked to read like “The Hungry Caterpillar” or whatever it’s called. When I lived in Tennessee, my one friend was reading a Nancy Drew book. I picked up one in the library and loved it. So my mom gave me all of her Nancy Drew books and I read them all and bought most of the ones I could find. (This was in like 1st and 2nd grade) My best friend, my “twin” (we have the same name) in Tennessee also loved to read Nancy Drew books and we almost wrote our own too. We always pretended that a robber was outside her window. In fact we were drawing with markers once and I remember we had a conversation about how we didn’t like the quality of the markers but couldn’t say so because the maker was listening outside the window and would break in if we said anything bad. Also we had pretend/ imaginary friends that were fairies called “Moon Fairy” and “Star Fairy”, Moony and Star for short. For the record, I thought of Moony way before J.K. Rowling published Harry Potter.
I didn’t really get into the magic and sci-fi type books until aruond the end of 3rd grade. My dad was living in Maryland and we were living in an apartment waiting for the school year to end so we could move to Maryland. I was very depressed and missing my dad. Well, I had gotten HP 1 for my birthday or something. It took me AGES because I was depressed to read, but after I did, I loved it. So… yeah. 
I always liked to write though, kinda. Just wasn’t that great when I was little.
134.
Jadestone | January 14, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I still don’t talk, and would have my nose in a book if it weren’t for that silly thing called ‘education.’
Or, as I told my friends today, I am going to just read through all my classes, fail finals, quit school and become a hobo with Kathy. Yes. Then I will have all the time I want to read. I will sleep in the bushes next to the library.
135.
ebeth | January 15, 2008 at 4:29 am
134-why the bushes? sleep in the library! warmth and books in the middle of the night if you want to.
136.
Bird of Purple | January 15, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Yes. Break into the library at night, and put the books in order. Then you can be the Mysterious Library Elf, and they will leave you offerings of milk and cookies, and sacrifice (i.e. destroy) television sets to you every couple weeks… XD
I learned to read mostly in kindergarden, and a bit in first grade. My mom read to me alot, she says, when I was little, and she reads every night to my younger siblings. My first introduction to the fantasy world was Redwall, forever ago (3rd, 4th grade-ish).
137.
S&Mel | January 17, 2008 at 4:02 pm
OOO Yes.
My first actual novel intro was LOTR, 4th grade. Same time I got into Bradbury.
129- Hahaha, that sounds like me.
I begged to be homeschooled ever since I started school, because everyone else in the class had a tiny IQ. Sadly it was not so. So I’m finally getting out of HS this year.
138.
kricket | January 17, 2008 at 5:26 pm
136- Yay for the Mysterious Library Elves!!!! COOKIES!!!!!!
I finished “Runemarks” today. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!!!!!!!! Amazing, really. LOKI IS AMAZAZAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! hehe. And I’m ready to throw Mirmir’s head down into a fiery pit of DOOM right now. Gah. Die. Hehe, yes it was that good, it made me want to kill the antagonist!! YES! GO READ IT!!! Yay for Ethel and Maggy and… I’m just going to stop now. Still love Loki, the Trickster!
139.
S&Mel | January 17, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Am rereading the Foundation trilogy. It’s brilliance.
Maybe I’ll do LOTR again afterwards.
Also An Acceptable Time.
140.
The Skipper Nancy | January 17, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Hmm. My Dad always read to me. He read me all the Swallows and Amazon books, and then All of the Lord of thin Rings books. I think I that made them better for me, because he was a LOTR nerd and explained all the interesting back-story.
I guess I learned to read in kindergarten. Gee. It kind of makes the first six years of my life seem like a waste of time.
141.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | January 18, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I just finished the Weetzie Bat books.
They were really good.
I’m either reading I, Robot or Sweeney Todd next, since I have both of them from the library.
I read the Hobbit over the summer, but not the rest of LOTR.
142.
kricket | January 19, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I went to the bookstore again today. Yay-eth! I got the First, Second, and Third Book of Pellinor. Not sure how good they’ll turn out to be, but they sounded good so…
I have yet to read “Neverwhere”, but am going to finish it after I finish the english project I should have done over the summer. Heh. I blame my schedule for tempting me to procrastinate. Hmph.
143.
oxlin (e~a) | January 19, 2008 at 4:11 pm
142- the Pelinor books are indeed good. I own the second as an uncorrected advanced proof which also means I read it before it was published. ha. Or at least I think you’re talking about the same books I am. Is one called The Naming? I’ve only read the first and second though.
I went to the library with A today. We sat and talked for a while and wandered around also. I managed to loose my scarf but ah well. I have more. But, I checked out Nevernever by Will Shetterly (bordertown), Territory by Emma Bull and The Wood Wife by Terri Windling.
144.
oxlin (e~a) | January 22, 2008 at 9:52 am
Copy-pasted from the MB books and reading thread because it outlines all of my favorite authors.
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.
145.
kricket | January 22, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Yeah, it’s called “The Naming”. I haven’t gotten a chance to start it yet. I was going to start it in English but… didn’t really get a chance to. Will read tonight and probably be dead tomorrow for staying up a few hours after I am supposed to.
146.
Alison | January 22, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Yay! Today I am finally unbroke, and because I need books for English and will happily splurge on books anyway, I’m going to go crazy in B&N. I love this thread! I have like 20 books written down because of you guys. Thank you! =D
147.
kricket | January 23, 2008 at 3:17 pm
146- Yay-eth! I would recommend “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman, “Runemarks” if you’re into that stuff, the books of Pellinor, the Pendragon series, “Peter and the…” series, and I would recommend getting anything that catches your eye and sounds fantastical. That’s what I do most of the time, and I always end up with great books. Oh, and if you like cats, then read the Warrior series (however you make that plural). Read the ones about Firestar (or whatever he gets called in the books… too many name changes, but it always starts with “Fire”) first.
I still haven’t finished “The Naming.” I got three pages in before I was interrupted. I mean, really… Three pages. That’s just sad.
148.
darkdukeofdarkness | January 23, 2008 at 3:38 pm
144-tam lin and bordertown, both awesomeness. and diana wynee jones, of course.
currently reading: anything i can find by Christopher Moore. his writing style i find is very similar to pratchett, but i actually prefer it. everyone here should look into him, he is god.
149.
oxlin (e~a) | January 23, 2008 at 5:29 pm
148- ooh, ooh, ooh! you’ve heard of Bordertown! that is awesome! And yes. Bordertown is awesome. As is Tam Lin and Diana Wynne Jones.
150.
oxlin (e~a) | January 24, 2008 at 3:49 pm
146- ooh, tell us what you end up buying!
151.
S&Mel | January 25, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I finally finished The Sweet Far Thing and am now depressed.
*sulks and goes to find another book*
152.
kricket | January 25, 2008 at 3:57 pm
yay-eth! I am now half-way through the First Book of Pellinor! It’s taking me a depressingly long time to read it. I like reading at night though so… maybe that’s just me.
153.
oxlin (e~a) | January 25, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I’ve finished Nevernever and The Wood Wife and now shall read Territory…
154.
oxlin (e~a) | January 26, 2008 at 9:07 pm
mm, hooray to random excursions to bookstores. I now own Freedom & Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull, Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear, Changeling by Delia Sherman and Thomas the Rhymer by Ellen Kushner.
I’m reading Freedom and Necessity and it is gorgeous.
155.
kricket | January 27, 2008 at 11:38 am
Yay-eth! My mom went to the bookstore to get a book for some book club she’s in and let me tag along and get some random books. I got “The Looking Glass Wars” and a book by Charles de Lint (I’m having memory problems today… has the word “blue” in it…).
I am happy to report that I finished the First Book of Pellinor! FINALLY!!!! Now onto the second! Teeheehee… I’m just happy that I have four books to read for the week. Then I get to go to the library on Friday, hopefully. I am making a list of books that I need to get from the library. 
156.
oxlin (e~a) | January 27, 2008 at 2:36 pm
155- The Blue Girl?
157.
Alison | February 9, 2008 at 11:54 am
151- Was The Sweet Far Thing good? Someone in my French class recommended it, but I was skeptical. We don’t share the same tastes in books normally.
158.
potatochip42 | February 12, 2008 at 4:03 pm
There isn’t an original princess bride by Morgenstern?
Wow. William Goldman is so convincing…
159.
kricket | February 16, 2008 at 12:32 pm
156- YES, that’s it. It was amazing. PROSE=LUV
160.
Jadestone | February 16, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Heh. I finished Spirits in the Wires by de Lint a few weeks ago, I recommend. Read a Pratchett book too, Witches Abroad.
161.
Bird of Purple | February 18, 2008 at 9:50 am
Oh, I just read a Pratchett… Maskerade, or something… and it was really good. I want to read more of him, now. He sounds kind of like Eoin Colfer, once in a while, and I hadn’t realized that before.
My library has almost no De Lint, so I’ll have to go inspect the local bookstore/interlibrary loan.
162.
Eccentric the Afterthought | June 14, 2008 at 4:14 pm
123 – With an aspiring librarian for a mother, I was raised on reading, so as far back as I can remember I’ve been hooked on it.
131 – Sounds like bliss.
Ooo, this is inspiring me to go read more DeLint, Wynne Jones, and Pratchett. I’ve only read one or two books by each of them, but I liked them all so far.
I finally got around to reading more Lovecraft, and now I’m addicted! For awhile that was all I wanted to read. Now I’m reading “The Diamond Age” by Neal Stephenson for a book group, though. I’ve never been into scifi, but it’s actually pretty good aside from the lengthy technical descriptions (that’s why I usually like fantasy more than scifi). Maybe I just haven’t been reading the right scifi authors. Any suggestions?
163.
Jadestone | June 14, 2008 at 5:11 pm
WOOOO. PAT[librarian friend who runs book club] GOT THE SANDMAN BOOKS.
I bugged her for six months to get them, then I found them on friday on a shelf! There were two huge volumes, with the books split up in them. Good thing I’d been using the huge Modest Mouse totebag I bought as a purse, or I wouldn’t have been able to get it ^^
164.
Lizzie | June 14, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Is this Absolute Sandman?
165.
Jadestone | June 14, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Yes. And it is big and black and has a face on the front, and a key/lock imprint. *covets*
166.
tetracontakaidigon | June 14, 2008 at 7:58 pm
162- What was The Diamond Age about, would you recommend it? (I’ve read Snow Crash by Stephenson, will read more eventually. Should I seek this out?) What subgenre of sci-fi would you prefer for suggestions? There’s a lot of variation, science fiction is basically defined as anything involving science… for example, Stephenson- action, with future tech (computers! earth-centric, near alt. future ) being important in plot.
What else have you read that counts as sci-fi, and what did you think of it in general? I’m tempted to suggest a few classic authors just because I like them and feel everyone should know what I’m talking about when discussing Asimov or Heinlein, but that may not be the best approach…
165- *envy*
167.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | June 15, 2008 at 9:43 am
de lint! i just started rereading someplace to be flying. *crow girl love*
old sci-fi is the best. the asimov and heinlein and all that. HG wells…yeah, they were good. newer stuff is mostly either lame fantasy wannabes with a few numbers or a rerun of the older stuff. or just plain bad, sometimes.
unless i’m just not reading the right new stuff. any suggestions anybody?
168.
penguini | June 15, 2008 at 4:41 pm
166- to be specific, it’s cyber punk…
169.
glasseh (DEATH) | June 15, 2008 at 7:39 pm
167- Don’t forget Frank Herbert…Dune…
170.
Jadestone | June 16, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I like Bradburry, but I haven’t read much sci-fy really… it’s one of those things that’s on my “to-read” list but the lack of a physical list and increasing problems trying to remember what I went into the library for make it hard.
And seriously they better have some Lovecraft in by now, I asked Pat about that before even Sandman I think.
171.
tetracontakaidigon | June 16, 2008 at 6:06 pm
169- Dune was ok, I guess… tech wasn’t so all-pervasive, I don’t tend to think of it as sci-fi. Science fiction is shiny and bluish, like Caves of Steel for example. Dune was brownish and sandy.
Bradbury has some sci-fi, but a lot of varied genre too. I wouldn’t say Dandelion Wine or Death is a Lonely Business are sci-fi. The Illustrated Man sometimes is, as are The Martian Chronicles…
also, I recommend Vonnegut highly if I haven’t said that already, and even if I have. not usually sci-fi, but anyway… Kilgore Trout is sci-fi, right? (most recent book I have read: Breakfast of Champions, which was good but I wouldn’t say the best one to start with. I love Cat’s Cradle and Sirens of Titan best.)
172.
glasseh (DEATH) | June 16, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Dune had blue eyes! xP
173.
kinky (aka yesterday's kinked moose from mb) | June 16, 2008 at 9:02 pm
So is the Coraline book club official? Does anyone have a deadline in mind? I started that book a while ago, but then school happened and it was due back to the library before I finished it. As a matter of fact, the same thing happened with Dune. But what I read was excellent in both cases. Although Herbert had this habit of having sentence fragments stuck on the end of real sentences after a comma. That kind of bugged me, but other than that, Dune was alsome and more engaging than I anticipated.
174.
potatochip42 | June 17, 2008 at 10:34 am
Coraline… sure! It’s been a while since I read it, but I own it, so I could easily reread it/skim to refresh my memory.
175.
penguini | June 17, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I have it somewhere *rummages and digs*
176.
Dottikance | June 17, 2008 at 1:31 pm
So apparently I have summer reading for AP English next year… yuckyuckyuck. But one of them is a non-fiction book of our choice. Any recommondations? I really don’t read non-fic. I checked out from the library The House of Mondavi and Same Kind of Different as Me. They both seem pretty good, from the online summaries, at least. I’m trying to go for non-fiction-that-seems-like-fiction.
177.
kinky (aka yesterday's kinked moose from mb) | June 17, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin is a most excellent nonfic book. If you like animals that is. The Weird [blank] books are also cool. I mean, it’s not really the writing that’s especially good; it’s mostly stuff people sent in. But to date they have several states and England. They’re about weird buildings, statues, legends, ect. in the area given in the title. I haven’t actually read this book yet, but if you’re into underground music, check out Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad. It sounds super froody and got good reviews. That’s all I can think of now. None of those are non-fiction-that-seems-like-fiction. But they’re good.
178.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | June 18, 2008 at 10:01 am
176-lit or L/C?
179.
Dottikance | June 18, 2008 at 10:54 am
177: Thanks, I’ll have to look into some of those!
178: Both.
180.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | June 18, 2008 at 2:41 pm
179-what, at once? daaayom that’s a lot of english
181.
kinky (aka yesterday's kinked moose from mb) | June 18, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Are they both in-person classes? Because at my school, both are offered, but l/c is online.
182.
Dottikance | June 18, 2008 at 7:24 pm
180/1: It’s one year-long class that prepares you for both tests.
183.
Shadow Gallery | June 20, 2008 at 8:40 am
182– Oh fun. I’m taking AP English next year (my sophomore year) too, but I don’t know if I’ll need to do any summer reading…they haven’t sent us anything yet. For my English class this past year I nearly killed something for having to read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. If you must read Twain, never, ever start with that book.
I probably should’ve read World War Z before Max Brookes came to the library…oh well. I’ll probably finish it by the end of the summer, I’m just lazy as fuck. And I was occupied with The Heroin Diaries, which I highly recommend for those of you who are into narratives of insanity.
184.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | June 20, 2008 at 10:18 am
183-hey! that’s pretty much my favorite Twain ever. why didn’t you like it?
185.
kinky (aka yesterday's kinked moose from mb) | June 20, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I didn’t like Connecticut Yankee either. It just wasn’t like Twain’s other works. Although, that was a while ago that I read it, so I should probably give it another chance.
186.
penguini | June 20, 2008 at 3:10 pm
It was decent. I think it got a little impossible after a while…
I am currently reading Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson. Excellent book.
187.
Shadow Gallery | June 20, 2008 at 8:05 pm
184– It was the driest…thing…I…have…ever…read…
I mean, the concepts were good and everything, but I hated the narration style and Hank whats-his-face. It was not something I desired to finish. Frankenstein was a lot like that.
185– Don’t.
186– Exactly.
188.
tetracontakaidigon | June 21, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Connecticut Yankee was okay. I wouldn’t list it as a favorite book, but it wasn’t that bad.
187- I think LOTR was drier. I couldn’t get more than a hundred pages or so through Fellowship. It was a few years ago… anyone else read it, is it worth trying again?
So, my English summer reading is done. The Bean Trees was okay. I’d never pick it up on my own, but it was tolerable. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime was okay too. I didn’t get how some people I know were like “this is the best book ever.” I think the story was more interesting than Bean Trees but it wasn’t as flowing. It was supposed to be like that, though… I don’t know.
189.
kinky (aka yesterday's kinked moose from mb) | June 21, 2008 at 6:41 pm
LOTR is most definitely worth trying again. The writing can be a little dry or maybe over-descriptive at times, but the story is the best. Ever. Plus, most fantasy stories I can think of rip off of it in one way or another, so it’s worth reading just for the sake of literary history.
I’m still working on my summer reading. I have to read A Lesson Before Dying. Anyone read it?
190.
glasseh (DEATH) | June 22, 2008 at 8:46 am
188- Yeah, you should read it again…in today’s society you’re expected to have knowledge of LOTR.
189- LOTR ripped off a lot of older books…
191.
potatochip42 | June 22, 2008 at 1:09 pm
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is on the English summer reading list. I’m planning to read 2001: A Space Odyssey for that, but I’m not starting the English reading until I’m finished with the Global, as that’s due August 13th.
I’ve read the Hobbit, but not the rest of LOTR. I really will sometime, it’s just that there are more interesting books that take priority.
I really liked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
192.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | June 22, 2008 at 2:29 pm
189-wait…maybe. i recognize it anyway. who wrote it?
191-the movie is sooo trippy. love it. (2001, i mean)
193.
kinky | June 22, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Ernest J. Gaines wrote A Lesson Before Dying. It’s about this mentally retarded black guy who is accused of a murder he didn’t commit. Then this school teacher is asked by the guy’s aunt to teach him before he dies. And that’s as far as I’ve gotten. I don’t know exactly when it’s set, but it’s in a southern community where segregation and racism are still generally accepted.
Lol Space Odyssey.
194.
kinky | June 29, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I need some help identifying a book. I saw it once in the children’s section my library. I only read the inside jacket, but it seemed to be about some sixth sense that some people possessed and, I assume, some people didn’t. Anybody have any clues? I seem to recall that the cover was black-and-whitish and that the book was medium sized, but I could be completely wrong.
195.
Shadow Gallery | June 30, 2008 at 1:15 pm
188– I tried Fellowship in fourth grade…fucking dry…I should try it again, but I like the funny looks people give me when they feel I’m culturally deprived. Like, today, I lost my Slurpee virginity.
Gahhh, I got my reading list for AP English…Bless Me, Ultima, Reservation Blues (it was on the optional reading list last year) and there’s one more…not excited about it…teeny print…
Right now I’m working on World War Z, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, and I am America (And So Can You!). I started them all ages ago…haven’t gotten ’round to finishing any of them yet. But I’m just effing lazy.
196.
oxlin (e~a) | July 20, 2008 at 7:53 pm
oxlin is reading Territory by Emma Bull. She is enjoying it.
197.
Pan | July 23, 2008 at 10:02 am
196 (oxlin): I’ve been meaning to check that book out of the library for months, but it’s always checked out.
I love LotR — you have to read it relatively slowly to catch all of the detail, but they’re really good once you get into them.
198.
Jadestone | July 23, 2008 at 10:31 am
RARR guess who finally was able to get The Absolute Sandman, Volume II from the library!
I also got about 4 Pratchett’s I haven’t read and the second in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King (Mom is obsessed with those books now, it’s all her fault).
199.
Hold Fast To Dreams (not using real blogname) | July 23, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Right now I’m in the middle of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.
200.
oxlin (e~a) | August 5, 2008 at 3:55 pm
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis is quite enjoyable. It combines time travel with historical fiction and humor but it is mainly a comedy of manners. It is superb and I think (F)MBers would like it.
201.
FrigidSymphony | August 19, 2008 at 11:40 am
I have finally found a book that manages to revolt even me and make me wince.
Marquis De Sade, “120 Days Of Sodom”.
The goddamm murderous passions are too much for even me to handle. I was fine throughout the whole thing, shitting, vomiting, raping, incest, necrophilia, torturing, but the sick ways he dreams up for people to kill each other is just… Brrr. I highly recommend him. Read at all costs.
202.
ebeth | August 19, 2008 at 4:36 pm
198-WANT! i’m jealous, my library only has the first one and i made them get that
201-that is quite possibly the funniest book review i’ve ever read….
203.
Beavo | August 19, 2008 at 7:51 pm
201-Yuck yuck. *reads* I’d have to hide it though, I bet Mom knows exactly who the Marquis De Sade is (hell, she told me what S/M meant) and I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t approve of my reading choice.
204.
Jadestone | August 19, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Mother doesn’t believe in censorship (however she also apparently doesn’t belive IN PERSONAL SPACE AND PRIVACY). She was the one who gave me the Stephan King Dark Tower books to read (band teacher: “Isn’t that a bit…racy for that age?”
Mom: “It’s only R.”)
205.
Jadestone | August 19, 2008 at 7:56 pm
…That was a ” ), not a “;)”, as usual. Stupid smilies.
Also, been reading my physics book. WHo the hell gives a test the 3rd day of school on NOTHING THEY’VE TOUGHT.
206.
FrigidSymphony | August 20, 2008 at 2:10 am
You don’t read De Sade for sexual stimulation (unless you’re really, really, REALLY, perverted), but for greater insight into the psychopathy of sex, and the sexual mind. It’s brilliant, really. Oh, and see if you can find the version that has Simone De Beauvoir’s essay on how De Sade is a real femminist and stuff.
207.
Pan | September 10, 2008 at 3:22 pm
oxlin (200)- I got To Say Nothing of the Dog from the library today, and I really like it so far. Thanks for the suggestion!
208.
Mel | September 22, 2008 at 8:40 am
200- That sounds really spiffy…
201- Huh. I read Dialogue between a Priest and a Dying Man, same author, and it wasn’t so bad. Maybe I’ll look for that one in the library.
206- Now I’m going to have to read it.
I just got Journey to the End of the Night from the library
209.
oxlin (e~a) | September 23, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Yay! I’m glad you like it, Pan!
210.
penguini | September 24, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.
*rants about how awesome the book is*
211.
kinky | September 24, 2008 at 6:15 pm
*adds more books to her list she of books she never has time to read*
So I’m reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Anyone else ever read it? I’ve never seen the movie. So far, it’s great. But I am somewhat confused. I can’t tell what’s actually happening and what is not due to the fact that the narrator is supposedly insane.
212.
Mel | September 26, 2008 at 7:59 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Linderman.jpg
-brags about her school’s library-
213.
ebeth | September 26, 2008 at 8:39 am
212-*jealousy*
214.
dark duke of darkness | September 26, 2008 at 12:58 pm
210-fuck yes. IT being licensed under the CC makes it about 60 times more awesome than it already is. Which is difficult.
215.
Potato Chip (Kelly) | September 26, 2008 at 1:33 pm
212- oooh. *also jealousy*
I am currently reading The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett. I’m not very far in it even though I’ve been reading it for almost a month because I have absolutely no time, but it’s pretty good so far. It’s the first Pratchett book I’ve read. I’m finding it a little difficult to follow all the characters, but I’m sure this would be easier if I had started at the beginning of the Discworld series.
We’re currently doing a short story unit in English. The first story we read was The Birds by Daphne du Maurier (the basis for the Hitchcock film). I highly recommend it.
216.
penguini | September 26, 2008 at 2:38 pm
212- *want*
Little Brother is so far the only book I’ve every read that has a bibliography thing that is as interesting as the book.
217.
kinky | September 26, 2008 at 4:43 pm
215 – That was a good one. But my favorite so far is Going Postal.
212 – You know what, you suck. Actually, it’s possible that I’d go to Lehigh, so I shouldn’t complain.
218.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | September 27, 2008 at 10:21 am
210-i started that, but haven’t had much time to finish. especially since whenever i spend large amounts of time on the computer without wandering upstairs once in a while, i start to get nagged at which is very annoying. and it’s not in bookstores, at least not around here, and i don’t feel like ordering it because then i can’t make my parents buy it (yes i go on errands with them with the demand that they stop at B&N and get me a book. XD)
219.
Beavo | September 27, 2008 at 5:24 pm
My school library is pitiful. I got a couple of books my friend reccomended, all about Vampires. Twilight was totally just a remake of the book Shattered Mirror, which is pretty good. I’m currently in the middle of Companions of the Night, which is plotless but good writing and lots of blood (ew). The Black Book of Secrets caught my eye because I thought it was a publication of someone’s Book of Shadows, which I really want to get my hands on. They don’t have Thelema.
But while looking for a book called Kissing Coffins (yup, they were all vampire romances…) I found Inkspell, which I’ve heard is pretty good but haven’t read, so I checked it out. Shooter was also checked out, as was 999 (the reviews are upside down, so you can tell that the book is REALLY called 666 but you can’t put that in a school library) but it’s supposed to be really bad.
Ugh. My school library SUCKS. And my town library is going through eighteen month renovations.
220.
Mel | September 27, 2008 at 10:44 pm
215- Ooh! I read that in school, eighth-grade-ish. It was win!
I was a horrible person Friday and went book shopping. Got The Princess Bride and Neuromancer.
221.
Fortune Cell | September 29, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I just got almost everything by Kurt Vonnegut, an older edition of Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence (one of my favorite books, but the earlier editions have some passages cut out…), The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English dictionary, David Sedaris’s new book When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and Augusten Burrough’s new book A Wolf at the Table.
oh goodness.
222.
Pan | September 30, 2008 at 5:28 am
Anyone read David Levithan?
223.
Bird of Purple | December 11, 2008 at 8:04 pm
I’m reading Catch-22 for English, and it is amazing.
222-I think I might have read a book of his short stories…? The name is definitely familiar.
I’ve been thinking I should read some Jules Verne… any recommendations?
224.
tetracontakaidigon | December 11, 2008 at 8:21 pm
223- Around The World in 80 Days was good, as I recall. I vaguely think Journey to the Center of the Earth was ok-ish… I don’t think I’ve read anything by Verne since I was in middle school, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but I really liked the geographic plot twist in Around The World in 80 Days when I was 11. I might realize it sooner now, though.
Catch-22 is amazing.
I went to the library today! Haunted- Chuck Palahnuik, Johnny and the Bomb- Terry Pratchett, Quicksilver- Neal Stephenson are for reading over holiday break if not sooner
The local branch of the library doesn’t have Fight Club, but it has all the books in the Baroque Cycle. I don’t know whether to love or hate it.
225.
glasseh (DEATH) | December 11, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I’m reading Njal’s Saga and the Bible right now. Njal’s saga is an old Icelandic saga, and the Bible is fucking hilarious. Moreso when one considers that people believe it. It’s terrible writing. xD
226.
Lizzie | December 11, 2008 at 8:45 pm
224 – I’m reading quicksilver right now, actually – am about 2/3 of the way through it. Love love love.
227.
Jadestone | December 12, 2008 at 2:36 pm
SOmetime in November I got the Absolute Sandman volume III. Whee…
Looking to get more Vonnegut for Christmas/birthday, maybe some Pratchett. Rereading Making Money currently.
228.
Vendaval | December 12, 2008 at 3:13 pm
224- That “geographic plot twist in Around The World in 80 Days” blew my mind.
225- No, the bible is scary because the writing is good enough for people to believe everything in it literally. Njal’s Saga sounds interesting.
Catch-22 is great.
229.
potatochip42 | December 12, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’m reading Speaker for the Dead (the second book in the Ender series). (thank you, Annie
) It is really good so far.
230.
Beavo | December 12, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Recently Read:
Impulse, Burned and Identical by Ellen Hopkins. Burned was the first book I’ve read with a sad ending, if you don’t count Impulse which has two of the MCs falling in love and the other jumping off a cliff. Identical just left you like “whoa, that was weird” feeling. I highly reccomend all three, especially Impulse. The three MCs have all attempted suicide, and it’s about their road to recovery through this crappy asylum.
A Gift of Magic by Lois Lowry. Below me. Wasn’t great.
Teenage Undergound by I don’t know: Meh. Ish. Better than A Gift of Magic, and kind of insightful.
Reading Currently:
The Giver. It’s great.
Dracula (the real, unabridged one): Great. Except the letters between Lucy and whoever else. She’s so bland.
Oh, I forget the rest.
22-Journey to the Center of the Earth. Definitly.
231.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | December 12, 2008 at 9:05 pm
i’m actually go with 20k leagues under the sea for verne. major <3s to that book. i lurves it
225-to be fair, a lot of that is probably translation
229-i love the entire ender’s series. even xenocide, which i didn’t think was all that terrible but apparently other people do (randall munroe, for instance)
232.
potatochip42 | December 12, 2008 at 9:27 pm
230- I love The Giver…
231- oh, now I get what that comic (304) is referencing… 241 as well.
233.
oxlin (e~a) | December 14, 2008 at 1:54 am
uh. I need to show up here more often for this thread. yeah.
Has anyone read Laurie J. Marks’ Fire Logic, Earth Logic and Water Logic? (three separate books) They explore a fantasy world through processes of thought that are entirely different than the usual fantasy world ones. Quite excellent books.
234.
Pan | December 14, 2008 at 6:11 am
Beavo (230): I liked A Gift of Magic in elementary school, but haven’t read it since. I can definitely see how it can be a bit shallow. The Giver is my favorite Lowry book.
oxlin (233): No, I haven’t, but I just requested them from the library.
235.
Beavo | December 14, 2008 at 3:20 pm
We’re reading The Giver for English, not on my own (although I’ve tried to get it out of the school library before). Naturally, people have to be immature about the bathing part. And the stirrings. And birthmothers.
They were like “ooh he has stirrings for the old lady” and I was just wondering how washing dirt off of some old woman could get you horny. It’s actually kind of nasty, bathing someone. Not sexual at all.
236.
kricket | December 14, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I wish I had read The Giver before I read it for English in 7th grade. I can’t stand it now. Just awful memories of that class… We had to practically disect it. Argh. And then it just kind of stopped at the end… I never really got the gist that it really ended, in the sense of the term. I don’t know. Maybe if I had read it beforehand…
Has anyone read Lord of the Flies? Thoughts? I have to read it for english class this year, and everyone else I’ve talked to despises it.
237.
groundhog22 | December 14, 2008 at 7:07 pm
235 – He wasn’t getting horny over the old lady, he was fantasizing that the girl who normally helps him bathe the old people would ask him to bathe her too.
The Giver was a freaky book. The way everything was so sterile…
238.
tetracontakaidigon | December 14, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Did I mention reading Anathem here? ’cause I did. And it was awesome and I had trouble not talking about the Hylaean Theoric World instead of Plato’s Theory of Forms in that history essay Friday. I would highly recommend.
I finished Haunted, and that was disturbing as fuck but so awesomely written… (idea! we should read that in English instead of Lord of the Flies! Same principle, but doesn’t suck as much!)
236- Reading that in English now. The book is so unrealistic and I can’t identify with any of the characters and it’s just depressing but not redeeming. Also, the end=bludgeoning the point of the book. No subtlety. Going through it in English is the only thing more painful than reading it.
239.
dark duke of darkness | December 15, 2008 at 1:58 pm
apropos Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon is amazing. Really amazing.
240.
Vendaval | December 15, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I liked Lord of the Flies. I read it once when I was about ten, and then again last year. I thought it was pretty good, what sucks so much?
241.
Shadow Gallery | December 15, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Lord of the Flies was a fantastic book…allegorical to hell, but that’s part of the fun. I got to write a 12-page critical essay on it in eighth grade, whoo!
I’ve never read The Giver…no real desire.
I just finished The Odyssey (Robert Fitzgerald translation), and I’m trying to finish Anthem by Ayn Rand before I have to read Gilgamesh over winter break…anyone else doing the Ayn Rand essay contest this year?
230– Crank, by Ellen Hopkins, is very good. Depressing as all hell, but beautifully written…as I imagine her other books are. This one is about her daughter, I guess, and her addiction to meth.
242.
tetracontakaidigon | December 15, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Lord of the Flies is painful to read. The kids are all like “I’m going to ignore/laugh at/blind Piggy, who actually kind of knows what’s going on, and start killing people because some six-year-olds think there’s a beast. Isn’t it fun not planning ahead!” I hate them taking away his glasses, but it isn’t well-enough written for me to sympathize with Piggy. Occasionally one will be sensible, but then they get killed. That isn’t what kids are like! I was never like that. I was ostracized, though, and I mostly ignored everyone around me because they were stupid… It’s probably because I hate my English teacher.
243.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | December 16, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I HATE lord of the flies. it’s unrealistic, sickeningly allegorical, obnoxiously annoying, and i hate every character in it. also parts of it are just kind of sick and the rest sounds like it’s trying to be sickening but fails epically
244.
FrigidSymphony | December 16, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The Giver is like a simplified version of Brave New World.
245.
Shadow Gallery | December 16, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I’m not gonna say anything about Lord of the Flies…it’s a brilliant book, I’m sorry that not many people appreciate it…
246.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | December 16, 2008 at 4:22 pm
245-and i’m sorry i don’t appreciate it. believe me, i’ve tried…read it like five times now, and i just can’t get into it
247.
groundhog22 | December 16, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I never had to read Lord of the Flies, but I looked it up on sparknotes, and while it’s definitely dystopian, that doesn’t make it bad. *shrugs*
What I don’t like about reading books in English is the fact that the book may be very good, but the analysis completely ruins it.
248.
Bird of Purple | December 20, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I want to read Anthem, and I have heard about the essay contest… I can’t find the book, though, which is a shame (I did get Around the World in 80 Days and Fire Logic…).
We’re going to read LOTF in English, and it is going to be miserable. I didn’t really like it when I read it, before… The characters never seemed…human? I don’t know.
I need to re-read The Giver.
249.
Jadestone | December 20, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I liked LotF when I read it. The first time I did though was on my own in like… 7th grade? We did it again last year in english, but we had an awesome teacher, so…
Plus I’m rather good at symbolism and picking things up, and enjoy it mostly.
250.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | December 21, 2008 at 10:50 am
249-subtle symbolism is great. LotF is blatant, in-your-face, “look at me, i’m symbolic!” kind of symbolism. i just think it’s bad writing
251.
Lizzie | December 21, 2008 at 11:32 am
248 – you could just read the Fountainhead – Anthem is basically Fountainhead for 9th graders.
250 – ergh. Think A Separate Peace for “look at me I’m symbolic”
I hated LotF, but that was 3? 4? years ago, so I don’t remember why.
252.
kricket | December 21, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I finished the ENTIRE Alex Rider series in the past 3-4 days! WHOO! Amazing books by the way. Is there going to be another one after Snakehead?
I’m also reading Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. Anyone read it? I like it so far, but then again I’m into stuff like that. I have to think of some way to present it to my english class… I’m thinking some sort of powerpoint but… not sure.
253.
groundhog22 | December 21, 2008 at 5:14 pm
251 – Isn’t “A Separate Peace” that book where the boy spends most of the story talking to a tree?
254.
Mel | December 21, 2008 at 6:00 pm
A Separate Peace was one of the worst books evar.
255.
ebeth who is too lazy to sign in | December 21, 2008 at 6:43 pm
oh god, a separate peace. my mom liked that book. we had somewhat of a disagreement there…
in other news, watchmen is fantastic. it’s the second (complete) graphic novel i’ve read (sandman doesn’t count, i can’t find the rest of it) and both have been surprisingly good (the other was v for vendetta)
256.
Bird of Purple | February 2, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I’m reading How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers… It’s a collection of his short stories, and it’s wonderful. He’s just wonderful, in fact. XD
I loved Italo Calvino’s If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler, which I think Mel mentioned on the MB books thread.
The Alchemist is another book that screams “look at me, I’m symbolic”. ewwww.