What book are you reading right now?

[Elendil3119]

I'm currently reading LotR (again :D) and The Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer. What about you guys?

[Talierin]

Something Rich and Strange by Patricia McKillip. Next up is The Changling Sea by McKillip.

[Anamatar IV]

I WAS reading Hiroshima but I lost the book.:(

So I am reading the fellowship of the ring again.

[Celebthôl]

well i have to admit i am again reading The Lord Of The Rings, im now on The Fellowship...;)

[Dragon]

the skies of pern by anne mccaffrey....the last book in the series.....so far n e ways

[FoolOfATook]

Right now, I'm re-reading The Two Towers, and I'm reading about three different books of analysis of the films of Stanley Kubrick, and since I just finished (about 2 hours ago) Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, and my school's library's copy of The Silence of the Lambs is checked out, I'm looking for a new book to read that I don't have to think too much about. I'm leaning towards something by either Douglas Adams or Rudyard Kipling (short stories) right now...

[Wolfshead]

I'm reading Closing Time just now, well, obviously not right now, but you know what I mean :rolleyes: It's the sequel to Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

And I recently finished The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. It's a novel of Arthur, incredibly good, I have the second part, Enemy Of God lined up for when I finish Closing Time. Then I have the 5th part of The Mallorean to read. So many books, so little time :(

FoolOfATook: Did you enjoy Red Dragon? I got about half way through a while ago, but I wasn't enjoying it. I think it's Harris' style. I got bored of Black Sunday as well. But I saw the old Red Dragon film, and it was very good.

[GuardianRanger]

The Atlas of Tolkien's Middle Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad.

I just started it....having just finished the Silmarillion

[FoolOfATook]

I actually liked Red Dragon far more than I expected to. I thought it was a cut above (no pun intended) most serial killer/police procedural novels that I've read. I didn't think Harris's style was exceptional, but it wasn't too offensive.

I ultimately decided to read Neil Gaiman's American Gods, a book which I've been procastinating about reading for something like 18 months now. I'm about 50 pages into it, and it's pretty good so far.

[Shiprah]

I am reading The Two Towers. Sadly I have never read it.

[FREEDOM!]

Curretnly I'm reading "Shaddow Warriors" by Tom Clancy.

[Courtney]

I am re-reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. It is one of my favorite books. I just finished reading The Least of These My Bretheren. I forget who wrote that, but it was really good. I cried.

[spirit]

lotr...ttt
very good

[Goldberry]

Red Branch by Morgan Llywellen. It's very good, based on the Irish legendary warrior Cuchulain.

[spirit]

cool.
has any1 read harry potter?
they are basically copies of lotr...but in a shorter and junkier version

**Edited by Tal**Please refrain from cussing, thanks**

[tookish-girl]

Yes, I've read all of the Harry Potter books. They're very funny books. Not junk at all, they're only junk when you compare them to Lord of the Rings.
Which is like comparing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Great Expectations.

Anyway, I've just finished Catch-22 which is one of my favourites (very pleased to hear it has a sequel!) And now I'm reading Scarlet and Black by Stendhal.

[Wolfshead]

I couldn't say how good Closing Time is, I'm only a few chapters in. Some people say it's rubbish, while others so it's as good as the original. We shall see.

[Frodorocks]

I'm currently reading TTT and Treasure Island. Treasure Island has a good storyline, but Stevenson's writing stlye's a little bland for my taste. Oh, and I'm reading Life, The Universe, and Everything. It's amazing how much more understandable it is the second time around.:) *Cackles over her library of books;) *

[Arvedui]

Currently, I am reading 'The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two'
(And to believe I once thought the Silmarillion was hard, wow).
Still, I will recommend it to all who haven't read it yet.

[Sam_Gamgee]

Right now im finishing my re read of LOTR im at the palantir.....
then i was gonna read the sil... and then im not sure

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by Frodorocks
I'm currently reading TTT and Treasure Island. Treasure Island has a good storyline, but Stevenson's writing stlye's a little bland for my taste.
Have you see The Muppet Treasure Island? A great film, not as good as A Muppet Christmas Carol, but still great.

[Jesse]

Right now I'm reading "The Fellowship of the Ring". My mom has the original 1967 version with the map included in the back.

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by FoolOfATook
I didn't think Harris's style was exceptional, but it wasn't too offensive. I didn't find it offensive, his style just didn't interest me for some reason. I couldn't say why.

[Frodorocks]

I have seen muppet Treasure Island.:D

[Thorin]

Originally posted by Arvedui
Currently, I am reading 'The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two'
(And to believe I once thought the Silmarillion was hard, wow).
Still, I will recommend it to all who haven't read it yet.

Isn't the "Fall of Gondolin" a fantastic chapter? What a hair-raising adventure that is!

I am reading a book called "The Outfit" which details the rise of gangsterism in Chicago from the early century to today. I've read alot on the New York mob, but I was not fully informed on the Chicago mob. It is amazing how they controlled the White House from Franklin Roosevelt to Kennedy. The Truman presidency was so mob-connected it is incredible. Very corrupt politics back in the 30s and 40s all the way to the top. It is a great read.

Just finished "The Summons" by John Grisham as well. It was pretty good as far as Grisham goes, but it ain't like reading a good Stephen King novel or a Tom Clancy thriller.

[Jon]

just finished Pelerandra by CS Lewis, and im reading LotR (only the second time!), Escape from Khatmandu by Kim Stanley Robinson (its a light hearted kinda fantasy-travel ish book); and im about to start South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami, which I`ve read before but i love.

also i like reading graphic novels: Ive just finished Ghostworld by Daniel Clowes (I think) - which is fantastic - and a graphic version of Guards Guards! by Terry Pratchett (cant remember the guy who actually drew the book). also want to start The Blue Lotus by Herge.

also in college as im doing english lit. i have to read books for it so im supposed to be reading Othello, Pride and Prejudice, The Color Purple, not to mention some poems..

so hmmm i think im reading a lot. actually, until i wrote this list i hadnt realised how much im reading. its quite impressive really..:D

[Jon]

also forgot to mention another book - CS Lewis collected Essays and Stories - which im reading but not, like, cover to cover

[FoolOfATook]

Wow, another English Major. Does the C.S. Lewis essay collection include any of his literature essays? I think that "On Stories" is pretty brillant.

[Jon]

yes it does, i liked it too. i think the book pretty much contains all his essays.
have you read `the dark tower` by the same author?

english major? actually im not doing that yet. what we call `college` here (UK) is the stage just before `college` in the US.
What you call college we call university (or uni for short). so what im doing now is trying to get to university (or college as you call it).

i might do an english `major` if i get to uni, but im not sure yet.

[FoolOfATook]

I thought you people spoke English over there... ;)

I'm actually a student in both a college and a university. In America, a university is made up of several colleges, so I'm a student of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, in North Carolina State University.

When you get to university, you definitely should major in English. Because English Majors rule. ;)

I haven't read "The Dark Tower" yet, but I'm planning to. I'm going to read Lewis's Space Trilogy over Spring Break, and after that I'm going to try to read "Dark Tower" and some of his other fiction.

[FREEDOM!]

I have to read "the miracle Worker" for english. I hate it.

[Elbereth]

I'm currently reading "The Lays of Beleriand"

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by FREEDOM!
I have to read "the miracle Worker" for english. I hate it. We had to watch the film of that about 3 or 4 years ago, in black and white. The words I shall use to describe it are, not and good.

[Zale]

Right now I'm on "A Shadow On The Glass", by Iain Irvine. I'll go through the whole quartet ("The View From The Mirror") and then I'll read "Chronicles Of The Raven" by James Barclay.

[FoolOfATook]

Hoom. My grand plans to spend Spring Break reading C.S. Lewis fell apart when I picked up a paperback copy of Stephen King's Dreamcatcher at the grocery store on Monday. I've been tearing through that for the past few days. It's not bad at all. Not as good as, say The Stand, but better than a lot of his novels (The Tommyknockers, The Dark Half, Cujo) No idea what I'll read next.

[Flame of Udûn]

Just finished The Silmarillion. Am now reading The Silver Hand by Stephen Lawhead, then Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan. I am also reading Deucalion, Day of the Triffids, Castle of Otranto, Frankenstein and Turn of the Screw for school.
Oh, and I read The Interplanetary Trilogy and Till we have Faces by Lewis a few weeks ago.

[Rhiannon]

Right now I'm reading Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, the sequal to The Eyre Affair, and loving it. Also reading vol. I of Manchester's The Last Lion (biography of Winston Churchill), which is very interesting but slow-going, as well as kinda-sorta reading The Kin: Suth's Story by Peter Dickinson and Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee (meaning I started them, but haven't picked up either one in the past few days because I got distracted by other things).

I just finished reading The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer last night, and The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon a few days ago.

I also read three Daredevil trade paperbacks that my brother brought home with him, but I forget which ones.

[e.Blackstar]

I am reading (again) Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce

I will have to re-read The two princesses of Barreme(sp) for book report

[Rhiannon]

I will have to re-read The two princesses of Barreme(sp) for book report

I think it's Bamarre, but I'm too lazy to go check. I didn't like it as well as some of her other books.

I'm still slogging through The Last Lion; after a brief sabbatical I made fifty pages of headway in the car yesterday. No progress on Suth's Story or Biting the Sun, but I've started Black Swan, White Rave, a short story anthology, and The Friendly Persuasion, by Jessamyn West. I also read a couple of fluffy chick-lit mysteries, which my ego will not allow me to name, and finished Lost in a Good Book.

[legolasismine]

I'm reading:
Two Princesses Of Bamerre
The Two Towers
The Diary Of Cleopatra the 7th
The Diary Of Amber Billows
The Holecost(sp?)

[LegolasLuver]

im reading

The Fellowship of the Ring
A Walk to Remember

and thats it i think

[Frodorocks]

Oooh, I've read Magic Steps and some other books by Pierce. They were good.:) Right now i'm reading Dune by Frank Herbert, and it's great, the best book in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre(and possibly any genre) that I've read since LotR. Check out my Dune thread in S&B.:D

[elf boy]

I am currently reading Debt of Honor by Tom Clancy. I have like 3 tolkien books I own that i still have to finish though...

[Melko Belcha]

Evermeet by Elaine Cunningham, then Ascendence by RA Salvatore.

[Rhiannon]

Last night I started Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip- I'm halfway through and I love. McKillip at her best; it also has a fantastic Kinuko Y. Craft cover.

[Lomelinde]

I am currently in the middle of:
re-reading TTT
re-reading The Bourne Identity
re-reading The Taming of the Shrew
re-reading The Secret Garden

some people say I do too many things at once...but I think it just adds spice

[legolasismine]

Originally posted by Lomelinde

re-reading The Secret Garden


I have read the secret garden beofre and I have the movie,I cried every time too,but I also read The Little Princess by(I believe but correct me if I'm wrong)Francis Hudgson Brunette I love her books,but I have the little princess movie too and I always cry at the end.

[Rhiannon]

I'm always reading multiple books. Always. Not happy otherwise. I finished Ombria in Shadow and I am now working on Black Swan, White Raven, edited by Terry Windling & Ellen Datlow and The Giver by Lois Lowry. I've also decided I really need to read some Virginia Woolf- we must have something by her somewhere in this house.

I just watched 'The Secret Garden' (the Hallmark movie) for the first time in forever last night (wow, it really was Colin Firth playing the adult Colin at the end!) and decided I needed to re-read the book- It's been *counts on fingers* eight years.

[Scatha]

LOTR, for the fifth time.

[Kelonus]

Im reading the Reurn of The King, which I'm almost done and I am also reading Barbarian Isle.

[Talierin]

Beauty by Robin McKinley, and slowly working my way through Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

[FoolOfATook]

I've been tearing through Richard Bachman's book Roadwork this week, while also working through Stephen Jay Gould's Tragedy and Triumph in Mudville, while obsessively reading and re-reading T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and a lot of W.H. Auden (from whom I took my current...whatever one calls that little message above one's avatar.)

[Ecthelion]

I'm reading the Sillmarillion (1st time).

[Rhiannon]

I finished The Giver last night; awesome book.

[Wolfshead]

I'm currently reading two books

Closing Time - Joseph Heller
and
Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett

The really annoying thing is that with loads of school work I just don't have the time nowadays to read that often. Argh! :mad:

[Rhiannon]

Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett

One of my very favorite Pratchett's and it has a Tolkien reference. What's not to love? ;)

[FREEDOM!]

I have to read "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" for English. I wish i could just watch the movie!

[Kementari]

Right now I'm reading the New Testament...

[Feanorian]

I just got The Letters of JRR Tolkien even though its not a story its great information, I am re-reading The Prince by Machiavelli, and have started some of Aristotles' works. I am looking to buy all 10 books in HOME that I dont have.

[Frodorocks]

My English class just finished reading The Giver, and I think they all died, what do you think Rhiannon? Don't worry Freedom, after the first couple of chapters, 20,000 Leagues gets better.:D Verne's one of my favourite authors, what a genius.

[Rhiannon]

Originally posted by Frodorocks
My English class just finished reading The Giver, and I think they all died, what do you think Rhiannon?

I prefer to think that they lived, and I have read comments by Lois Lowry that while she left the ending ambiguous on purpose, she personally thinks that they lived too. I like that it's left up to the reader, though. I think they lived for personal reasons: I have got to have hope. I could hardly bear the ending of Brave New World , and I had to ask my brother how Farenheit 451 ended before I would finish it.

Last night I started Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, the 'companion' book to The Giver, and enjoying it very much- I understand her next book will link the two and I'm looking forward to it.

I just got The Letters of JRR Tolkien even though its not a story its great information

I just got that the other day too, and my dad got a big kick out of Tolkien's comments on Zimmerman's movie storyline (from way back when). My dad is very anti-LOTR-movies.

[Rhiannon]

Let's see; I finished Gathering Blue and enjoyed it a lot, but it didn't touch me the same way The Giver did- I can't put my finger on why, though. I also finished re-reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (I love it so much more now than when I first read it; I blaim that unhappy first-reading on the Introduction, which mentioned the existence of a certain character, assuming I already knew the plot, took away all the suspense and ruined things for me. Also Jane herself really annoyed me, but she doesn't now. I see the error of my interpretive ways), and am now a little more than half-way through Manchester's The Last Lion. I've also been reading issue #4 of The Readerville Journal, and because of one of its reviews I got Sixpence House by Paul Collins today, which I am fifty pages into and absolutely loving. I'm also a good ways into Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle, which I started last night and like very much (though I have a very low freak-out level for the supernatural, so it's a daylight-hours-only book).

[FoolOfATook]

I could hardly bear the ending of Brave New World , and I had to ask my brother how Farenheit 451 ended before I would finish it.

I can't imagine Brave New World ending any other way- or are you the type of reader who gets caught up with the characters more than the plot? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[MacAddict]

Right now I'm reading this post :D .



~MacAddict

[Ol'gaffer]

Kalevala

And I just finished The Crucible

[Arvedui]

New week, new book:
Right now it is "Goose Green - a battle is fought to be won" by Mark Adkin.

Highly Recommended!!

[Niniel]

I am currently busy reading as many of Tolkien's works as I can, so right now I'm reading the Book of Lost Tales 1.

[Rhiannon]

I can't imagine Brave New World ending any other way- or are you the type of reader who gets caught up with the characters more than the plot? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I am- I get attached to characters, and how much I love a book is wrapped up in them. And no, Brave New World really couldn't have ended any other way, but I could still hardly bear it.

[Gandalf White]

I just finished Jane Eyre, and for some reason I loved it. I had to read it because of some College-bound Reading List thingy, but it was actually pretty good. :eek: :rolleyes:

[Thorin]

Right now I'm reading a book called "Mafia Kingfish". It is about the rise of Carlos Marcello who was mafia boss of the New Orleans crime family. It also focuses much of the book on the fact that he was involved with the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Now before anyone criticizes me for being some sort of conspiracy buff, this book lays out some pretty convincing information from very reliable sources, including political, government and mob sources from the time. These resources aren't hidden or exclusive either. Many have been made public and just ignored. The book points out the HUGE flaws of the FBI in withholding and burying information. It also shows the lengths of ignorance Hoover went to to ignore not only key witnesses, but incriminating and convincing evidence that came through his desk and how much he covered up to save his and the FBI's reputation. It also shows the flaws of the Warren Commission and much evidence that the Commission didn't even see because J.Edgar Hoover with held and buried it.

IMO, no matter who or what conspiracy one believes might have occured in the assassination of JFK, you'd have to be a complete idiot to believe that Oswald did it alone and Jack Ruby killed him out of "patriotism". This book shows how deep both Oswald and Ruby were connected to Carlos Marcello and who had the most to gain with Kennedy dead and the most to lose with Kennedy alive.

A great, and exhaustive non-tabloid book.

[BlackCaptain]

Right now im on the Alakalabeth of the Silmarillion. This stuff is great.

[Anamatar IV]

Lays of Beleriand History of Middle-earth volume three.

Lay of the Children of Hurin. It's a good book but I wouldn't read it until you read Book of Lost Tales II.

[legolasismine]

I'm such a bookacholic, I bought five books in one day, and so far there all really good!

Artemis Fowl

The Call Of The Wild

Just Ella

The Diary Of Princess Elenora

The Upatairs Room

And cute little book marks for all of them, and it all costed me $23!

[Rhiannon]

La la la, the thirteen books I bought at the library sale today only cost me $10....Though I was about ready to really start knocking down some of those people, especially the woman who snatched a Susan Cooper book right out from under my nose *mutters sulkily* They kept giving me funny looks, too. Like crawling around on the floor to get at the stacks of books was weird, or something.

Just Ella is very good; I know I've read Call of the Wild, but I can't tell you for sure what I thought about it because I always get it mixed up with White Fang (I think I liked White Fang better, but I don't know for sure). I haven't read the others.

I'm halfway through Sixpence House and loving it; Highly recommended to all bibliophiles and lovers of eclectic, useless trivia.

[Courtney]

I just finished reading Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell, and I am now reading Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (my favorite author of all time!), and MacBeth (for school). And it was weird because the title "Something Wicked this Way Comes" is actually a line in MacBeth. "By the pricking of my thumbs/something wicked this way comes." or something like that. Pretty weird, eh?

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by legolasismine
The Diary Of Princess Elenora That wouldn't have anything to do with the TV series Sir Gadabout would it? King Artur's daughter is called Princess Elenora. However, I suspect it isn't...

Currently reading Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett, then going to move onto Knights Of Dark Renown by David Gemmell.

[gilgalad]

Originally posted by legolasismine
I'm such a bookacholic, I bought five books in one day, and so far there all really good!

Artemis Fowl



I've met the guy who wrote that book. For anyone who doesn't know his name is Eoin Colfer. He lives in a place called Wexford, about three and a half hours from where i live. He was in my school during our "Arts Week" giving a talk. He's really funny. My English teacher gave him some of my essays and the guy gave me the name of his publishers straight away! I was so delighted.

At the moment I'm reading a few things: Sauron Defeated (HoME vol. 9), David Eddings' "The Tamuli" and Homer's The Odyssey.

The Odyssey is excellant, anyone who is a fan of Tolkien should read it as (IMO) there are an awful lot of ME events that can be seen to be inspired by it.

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by gilgalad
David Eddings' "The Tamuli" How would you rank that? As good as The Belgariad and The Mallorean? I have a couple of them waiting in a mass of books to read, and naturally, I'm curious as to what other people think about them.

[gilgalad]

I haven't read the mallorean or the Belgariad (too many other things waiting to be read) but the Tamuli is nowhere near as good as the Elenium, if you've read that.

For a real top class series, try the sword of truth books by Terry goodkind. Brilliant.

[Wolfshead]

No, I haven't read the Elenium yet, but I shall before I read the Tamuli. And you should read those two I mentioned - they're superb.

I shall try Terry Goodkind at some stage, again, it's a case of so much to read, so little time. And while we are recommending, I shall add David Gemmell - probably the best writer of heroic fantasy out there, simply superb!

[gilgalad]

I've never actually tried Gemmell for some reason. I guess with that kind of recommendation id better read some of his books. Have you read Raymond E. Feist?

[Aglarthalion]

I'm currently reading Goldfinger by Ian Fleming. :)

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by gilgalad
I've never actually tried Gemmell for some reason. I guess with that kind of recommendation id better read some of his books. Have you read Raymond E. Feist? You should read Gemmell, definately. Be careful not to pick a pick that's in a middle of a series to start off with - that's quite easy to do with him. I've read, let's see, 5 or 6 David Gemmell books, and so far, they've all be great. So, you can't really go wrong :D

And I haven't read Feist either, again, it's a case of never having gotten round to it. I said a while ago that I'd move onto him once I finished The Wheel Of Time, but I'm still waiting for the library to get the 6th part of that in for me...

[legolasismine]

Originally posted by gilgalad
I've met the guy who wrote that book. For anyone who doesn't know his name is Eoin Colfer. He lives in a place called Wexford, about three and a half hours from where i live. He was in my school during our "Arts Week" giving a talk. He's really funny. My English teacher gave him some of my essays and the guy gave me the name of his publishers straight away! I was so delighted.


Wow that is so great, I have never met any authors well except for Rowling I met her she was nice but we didn't talk for long she just signed my book and asked me if I saw the movie and what I thought of the first two books, that was it, but I've never met any other one's I liked, but you are so lucky too have met him!

[Wolfshead]

I haven't met an author. Actually, now I think of it, I have, several years ago but I can't remember who the author was. What I was going to say was that a year ago I found a mistake on the Amazon.co.uk synopsis for Gallow's Thief by Bernard Cornwell (of Sharpe and Warlord Chronicles fame). So I emailed him via his website, and then he sent me a signed hardback copy of the book as thanks! I was well chuffed, understandably :D

[Idril]

I'm reading the third part of The Elenium. Actually, my husband read the first one then he started to read me the second book - so now I have to go backwards and read the Diamond Throne as well as reading Sapphire Rose. I'm really enjoying this series.

[Thindraug_2]

I'm reading many books right now well there's daughts of the Moon: night shade, daughts of the Moon: book 1, the fellowship of the ring, Smallville: Strange visitor, and lord of the rings: movie guide. I have been reading alot.

[Rhiannon]

I enjoyed Feist, but not enough to read the whole series; the first three were enough.

Meeting authors...I met Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series, several years ago, and I spoken (through online reading groups) to Patricia McKillip (The Riddlemaster Trilogy, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld), Robin McKinley (The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, Beauty), and Elizabeth Moon (The Deed of Paksennarion).

*edit* Patricia Wrede (The Enchanted Forest Chronicles) also visited.

[Talierin]

I've met Brian Jacques (Redwall), James Gurney (Dinotopia), and Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted, Two Princesses of Bamare), and me grandma :D (mile by mile guides to all the tourist railroads in colorado)


On the last book of the Archives of Anthropos now (they're a lot like Narnia, which they were modelled after)... next up is a whole bunch of Stephen Lawhead books, and an 'autobiography' of Long John Silver.

[Kementari]

Im still reading the New Testament and Im also reading through Unfinnished tales again.

I LOVE Artemis Fowl, those books are so incredibly funny, their fantastic!!!

Eoin Colfer, Brain Jacques, and Patrica McKillip are all great authors, your so lucky to have got to meet and talk with them!

[Rhiannon]

next up is a whole bunch of Stephen Lawhead books

Yaaaaay, Lawhead rules! Which ones are you reading?

Eoin Colfer, Brain Jacques, and Patrica McKillip are all great authors, your so lucky to have got to meet and talk with them!

I didn't meet McKillip in person: she visited Readerville.com for the YA Reading Group's discussion of her Riddlemaster Trilogy last December to answer questions, and was a great guest: you can read back over the discussion here (http://readerville.com/WebX?50@204.ukWVarqdjP4.15@.f1f96f0/149) if you're interested- R'ville is a great thing, especially for people living in cultural vaccummes, like me. </Readerville plug>

I finished Sixpence House yesterday, and immediately wished I hadn't read it so quickly because I didn't want it to be over.

I'm halfway done with Tamsin, and contemplating what to read next: I have a ton of books borrowed from people that I should be reading, including The Friendly Persuasion for my book group, but I think I'll probably end up reading Winter Rose by McKillip next.

Speaking of, does anyone know of a list anywhere of which McKillip's have Kinuko Y. Craft cover art? I've been collecting them, and I think I might have them all now (!).

And this afternoon I read a cute little childrens book that I picked up at the library book sale called Trouble With Dragons; about 80 pages with nice illustrations, a nice dose of random fairy tale cuteness.

[Talierin]

Uhh, Dreamthief, Avalon, and some series about Nin (I think)... haven't started any yet

[Rhiannon]

The Nin series isn't Lawhead at his best; very disappointing compared to his other work. I haven't read Avalon (but I have it) or Dreamthief yet. My favorites by him are Taliesin and The Celtic Crusades Trilogy.

[FoolOfATook]

After finishing W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe (which was the basis for the film Field of Dreams), a novel that includes the novelist J.D. Salinger as a character, I, naturally, found myself needing to re-read some Salinger. Since I pretty much know [The Catcher In the Rye[/I] inside and out, I decided to re-read Nine Stories, and after I finish it, I'll probably go back and read Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction again.

I haven't met many authors- I had a writers' workshop with the poet Jeffrey Beam once, and I've met Clyde Edgerton, but they are both local North Carolina authors, and I doubt that many people outside of the region have ever heard of them. I met Nick Meglin, who writes and edits MAD Magazine once, when he gave a speach on campus. I've had several profs who have published books, but I've only read one of them.

[gilgalad]

Has anyone ever heard of John B. Keane? He died just recently and was one of Ireland's most celebrated playwrights, poets, observers and several other things to do with the english language.

He lived just about half an hour away from where I do so I met him a couple of times.

His most famous works would have included The Field (made into a movie), Sive and Big Maggie.

[MacAddict]

I'm reading The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, its pretty cool.


~MacAddict

[The-Elf-Herself]

I'm struggling through The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. It's very interesting and fun, it's just taking a long time to read, nasty tiny print.

[tookish-girl]

I'm trying to get through Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf. My word, it's hard going, I've never read anything like it (and not in a good way!) It's so hard to get into and there's so little to actually keep your attention. I will persist, I might love it by the time I've finished it or it she might get on my list of authors who are completely irritating and should never have even picked up a pen (Thomas Hardy being at the top!) :D

[Courtney]

currently reading: Winter of Fire, by Sherryl Jordan
I bought it at a book fair in 7th grade, and you can tell how much I love it by the yellowing pages and crackled edges...

[Rhiannon]

I finished Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle (it was excellent), and then I tried to start Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip, and the beginning was wonderful, but it wasn't what I needed. I ended up burning through four Stephanie Plum mysteries in as many days (pure biblio-crack; they make me laugh, and they don't require the use of any braincells), and yesterday I started re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; I've haven't read it since it first came out, and I've forgotten pretty much everything, so I figured I'd better read them all again before the next book comes out (if it ever comes out...and even when it does I'll be the last person in the house to get it, but oh well. It's my younger siblings that are the drooling, frothing HP fans).

Courtney, Winter of Fire sounds familiar, but I can't place it. What's it about?

[CelebrianTiwele]

Well, I just finished Sutter's Cross. I will warn you rite now. don't read it. It is incredibly boring except for like the last 20 pages. I want to read the 'in Death' series by Nora Roberts but my evil stepmom won't let me. Ah well, must find other book. Maybe I should read 'Holes' before getting dragged to the movie.

[Talierin]

I'm now reading Long John Silver, by Bjorn something-swedish... it's an "autobiography" of Silver, quite interesting so far!


And I think I've read Winter of Fire.... did Sherryl Jordan also write The Raging Quiet? If so, I think I've read Fire too...

[Eliot]

On Friday, I finished Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden. Very good. I'm re-reading The Lord of the Rings the third time through, and after that, I'll start (don't shoot me) Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Adolf Hitler.

I'll eventually start How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove, and 1984 by George Orwell.

[Rhiannon]

Turtledove, there's a name I recognize. My brother discovered him recently - I'll have to pick up one of his sometime soon.

[Zale]

Having just finished Asimov's "I, Robot" (BUY! READ! NOW!), I'm reading "Inquisition" by Anselm Audley. He's at the same college as my sister!

[Aglarthalion]

I am now reading The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, upon reccomendation of my father. :D

[Lantarion]

I read 1984 a while ago.. It's truly magnificent, though it's really disturbing as well..
We have to read a book for Finnish class, called Seitsemän veljestä ("Seven brothers").. It's pretty humorous, and written in quite an old dialect of Finnish; but it is considered to be one of the jewels of Finnish literature. It's actually not bad, but the language sort of gets to you if you read too much at once..
Still it's nowhere near as wierd as the Kalevala, which I have told myself I am going to read from front to back during the summer vacation.
I really want to read "Richard III" by Shakespeare, it seems very complex and cunning. Maybe I'll read that next..
But I also want to read the BoLT 1 and 2! And I should re-read Animal Farm.. Aargh!
;)

[Thindraug_2]

Has anyone read the fever

[Eliot]

Originally posted by Lantarion
I read 1984 a while ago.. It's truly magnificent, though it's really disturbing as well..

....And I should re-read Animal Farm.. Aargh!
;)

I'll eventually get to Animal Farm. My list of books I want to read is endless... :rolleyes: :)

[FoolOfATook]

Blackhawk Down is an extraordinary book. If I could only remember the author's name... He did a marvelous piece about the Husseins in Atlantic Monthly a few months back. (Yes, I'm part of that East Coast Literati that reads AM and The New Yorker and worships Bloom. ;))

Pretty much anything by Orwell is worth reading.

[Eliot]

Originally posted by FoolOfATook
Blackhawk Down is an extraordinary book. If I could only remember the author's name...

His name is Mark Bowden.

[FoolOfATook]

Bowden. That's it. Anyway Eliot, here's the story I was talking about it. I think that you'll appreciate it. ;)

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/05/bowden.htm

[FREEDOM!]

I just got done reading "Shaddow Warriors". RangerDave, You should read it.:)

[Rhiannon]

My list of books I want to read is endless...

Ditto that- as the resident YARG goddess CK likes to say, 'Must. Read. Faster!'

[FoolOfATook]

I really want to read "Richard III" by Shakespeare, it seems very complex and cunning. Maybe I'll read that next..

"Was ever woman in such humour wooed?
Was ever woman in such humour won?
I'll have her, but I will not keep her long."

I absolutely love Richard III. If you have a chance, read the entire Henriad (Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2 and Henry V) as well.

[Lantarion]

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this son of York;
And all the clouds that lowered upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
;)
I've actually read a little bit of it; and I just saw "Looking for Richard" with Al Pacino, which is great.

[Beleg]

Sabrina the Teenage Witch, LOL.

[Rhiannon]

Has anyone here read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde? It takes place in an alternate universe that is obsessed with books, Shakespeare in particular, and there's a wonderful scene at a theatre where Richard III is performed every week; the director auditions people from the audience half an hour before the show, and everyone has the play memorized, and joins in for the battle, etc., and shout out additional lines. "WHEN IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT?" "NOW is the winter of our discontent..."

[e.Blackstar]

I am reading Conquerers' Pride by Timothy Zahn. Excellent book:D

[Elbereth]

Well...I have just finished "the Lays of Beleriand"...and since I don't have a new Tolkien book to continue on my Middle earth journey...I have opted to read my copy of Socrates, "The Aedipus Cycle".

I read this book in college...but couldn't give it full attention that it deserved because I had six other classes that semester ended up skimming much of it for the sake of time constraints. But so far I am enjoying it. I'm sure it will be an easy and quick read for me. At least I hope so...because I am excited about moving onto my next Tolkien book in the series.

[FoolOfATook]

-whispers- Sophocles, not Socrates-


;)

[Arvedui]

Well, after finishing 'Goose Green,' I am now reading a book called 'The Peoples of Middle-earth.' It is written by this person called Christopher Tolkien. Maybe some of you have heard of him? ;)
A rather good book, actually. But it takes some time to get into it.

[Lhunithiliel]

I have just finished HoMe-3 - The Lays of Beleriand. Now every though I have, every sentence I make ... it comes out in rhymes! :D

I am now plunging into next vlume - The Shaping of the ME. It promisses to be even more interesting!

Hey, BTW, what's the purpose of this thread?
We could at least share opinions on what we're reading, right?

[Elbereth]

Originally posted by FoolOfATook
-whispers- Sophocles, not Socrates-


;)

*turns bright red*

My god, that is bad. You are absolutely right. My only excuse is that I was very tired last night. :(

[Rhiannon]

I had to figure out what you meant, Elbereth, because I've always seen it written as 'Oedipus'. I haven't read the other two, but I absolutely love Antigone. Once you've read Sophocles' play, you must read Jean Anouilh's- It was written during the German occupation of France, and is wonderful. I was costume mistress for an HS production of it last year (v. fun).

[Courtney]

I loved Antigone! Those are some of the few plays I actually enjoy reading.:)

[Eliot]

Well, I just finished Animal Farm this morning, and it was very good. I'm serious. I'm still working my way through The Fellowship of the Ring, I'm a little over half-way through it.

[Courtney]

EEEEE!!!!! I loved Animal Farm too!!! Isn't it wonderful when you find out that there are other people who enjoy the same books as you??? :) Orwell is another one of my all-time favorite authors. Have you ever read 1984, or Keep the Aspidistra Flying? That one was my favorite.

[Eliot]

Originally posted by Courtney
EEEEE!!!!! I loved Animal Farm too!!! Isn't it wonderful when you find out that there are other people who enjoy the same books as you??? :) Yes, it is actually. 8^)

Originally posted by Courtney
Orwell is another one of my all-time favorite authors. Have you ever read 1984, or Keep the Aspidistra Flying? That one was my favorite.

I plan on starting 1984 sometime later this evening, and I'm not sure what Keep the Aspidistra Flying is about. I might get it from my library.

[Aragorn*9]

Well right now I'm reading "Two Towers" by.. we all know who! "The Rescue" by Nicholas Sparks and "Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman

[Wolfshead]

I'm currently reading Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson, it's the first in the Thomas Covenant Chronicles. I'm not too sure about it - the main character is a leper and he has recently raped a young women. Maybe I'm just odd, but normally I don't like the hero doing that kind of thing. Plus the name of the bad guy is incredibly lame - Lord Foul The Despiser :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'll finish it, despite those negative aspects, it hasn't been a bad story so far.

[lossenandunewen]

at the moment i'm reading "Last of the Crazy People" by great canadian author, Timothy Findley. none of his novels have dissapointed me yet

[FoolOfATook]

Right now I'm reading a lot of poetry- Robert Browning, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, John Keats- stuff like that. Plus I'm reading Alan Moore's graphic novel From Hell, which is pretty insanely awesome so far.

[gilgalad]

WB Yeats' poetry is top class FOAT, isn't it? Seamas Heaney is my favourite poet, thank God he's on the English course over here!

[FoolOfATook]

Yeats is incredible. I haven't read much Heaney, mostly because my literary mentor despises him. Not the best reason, I suppose... ;)

[gilgalad]

Heaney is excellant, you (as you know yourself, im sure) shouldn't let narrow minded people hinder your appreciation of poetry, although I can't understand how anyone could despise someone who could write a poem like "Sunlight".

[Rhiannon]

I've only read a little Heaney, but I really liked it (I can't read poetry in large doses). We have his translation of Beowulf, which I will eventually get through

[Eliot]

Wow. 1984 is harder to read then I expected. :) I'm only a little bit through it, so I'll finish The Fellowship of the Ring first, then continue it (1984) later.

[tookish-girl]

Definitely stick at 1984, it's so great, it makes alot more sense if you get through all the Newspeak glossaries!

By the way, Heaney? Heaney is so annoying, I had to do him in High School and I find his poems about digging peat and walking in muddy fields completely tedious. He isn't a patch on Keats or Robert Browning (Porphyria's Lover -:D)

Gave up completely on Mrs Dalloway, merrily going through Dr Zhivago now!

[Eliot]

Just finished The Fellowship of the Ring a few hours ago. I was pretty disappointed, because I promised myself I'd finish 1984 first, right after FOTR. Oh well. From what I hear from many people, I'll really like 1984. I guess I'll have to wait to start The Two Towers. :(

[Thindraug_2]

Now I'm reading Be Good Lady and The Fellow ship of the ring Going to start reading Fever 1?87

[Ol'gaffer]

I've just finished reading Interview With A Vampire
and The Vampire Lestat and I'm now starting Blackwood Farm

[Thindraug_2]

'Interview With A Vampire' Is a good movie how's the book?

[Ol'gaffer]

The movie was also great but the book is better. Go look at the movie thread, we're talking about it there.

[FoolOfATook]

Now it's the usual suspects in poetry (Eliot, Auden, Yeats, Keats, Donne), plus Stephen King short stories, from Night Shift and Skeleton Crew, plus a little bit of short fiction by Hawthorne and Poe, to supplement the King reading.

[Eliot]

Wow. 1984 was so good. :) I loved it. I'm starting Treasure Island by R. L. Stevenson. It won't take too long to finish that, then I'll start The Two Towers.

[Gil-Galad]

Now I'm reading "In Cool Blood"by Truman Capote.I would say it a very interesting book,I do like Truman Capote's style of describing things and acts.

[Lantarion]

I'm reading a Finnish classic, called Tulitikkuja lainaamassa, which tells about how a pair of guys get drunk and lost on the way to borrow some matches. :D Well, not quite, but that's the rough of it. The name means 'In the Process of Borrowing Matchsticks". :rolleyes:
Not that anybody here is ever going to read it; just wanted to mention it!

[Elendil3119]

Right now I'm reading Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe. It is a much deeper book than most novels, and is one of my newest fav. books. :)

[33Peregrin]

I am reading HP, for the sisxth time. I haven't read it since I read LOTR four times, but have decided to read it again. Just to see.

I am also reading The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman, pretty good.

I am also reading the Sil again (kind of) I was about half way through ist when my evil brother got rotten banana juice and peices all over it. I need to get another copy before I forget what I have read so far.

I just started The Great Gatsby for my English class.

Even with all of this..... I am longing to reread LOTR. It's all I want to do, everything reminds me of it.
My parents want me to 'take a break.'
I probably won't read it till a lot later this year....
I have only read it once this year so far.:(

[Rhiannon]

I loved The Amber Spyglass, but by the third book in the trilogy the plot got submerged under Pullman's very anti-religious views, and I couldn't enjoy it.

This week I read my first mystery in a while, A Grave Talent by Laurie R. King; all right, but I didn't like it nearly as much at her Mary Russell books- and last night I finished The Darkangel, by Meredith Ann Price (I think). Wow. That was one of the most awesome books I've read in a while. I started the second book in the trilogy, A Gathering of Gargoyles is afternoon and so far it to is awesome.

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by Rhiannon
I loved The Amber Spyglass, but by the third book in the trilogy the plot got submerged under Pullman's very anti-religious views, and I couldn't enjoy it That is a great book, I loved it - so moving at the end, with Will and Lyra. I've gotta say that almost reduced me to tears, and that's quite something - I'm 16 and a guy.

I liked his religious opinions, I do think we could be better off without religion (anyone seen The Second Coming? Done by ITV, examined what life would be like if the aforementioned event happened now. Ended up with religion being ended). I might read The Amber Spyglass again sometime soon - I'm older now, and I'll be able to examine his views more :)

[Rhiannon]

I would have loved it, only I kind of felt like he abandoned the plot in order to make his religious points. As it was I felt attacked. It's perfectly all right for people to dislike religion, but I think Pullman takes it to extremes. In interviews he's said some pretty offensive things about Christianity, and he seems to particularly hate CS Lewis. That's OK, Robin McKinley doesn't like CS Lewis either, but Pullman is just so...I don't know, rabid about it. I loved His Dark Material up until that last book, though. I need to go back and read the first two.

I finished The Pearl of the Soul of the World, the last book of the Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce last now. Wow. Excellent trilogy. The ending was one of those bitter sweet things, and I didn't want a bitter sweet ending, so I am purging the last two chapters from my memory and replacing them with 'and everyone lived happily ever after'.

[Eliot]

In the midst of The Two Towers, and also reading The Gladiator: The Secret History of Rome's Warrior Slaves by Alan Baker.

[Devushka]

Even though an elementary book, one I enjoy rereading often: Holes, by Louis Sachar. Wanted to get through it another time, also, before the movie came out.

Also Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew.

Oh, and also trying to manage Fellowship of the Ring.

[Thomas Baggins]

Oh About a trillion books at the moment LOTR, ROTK being one of them alos i'm reading Caterbury tales too, *wicked hard to understand.* Anyway to many more to list so that's all I'll say.

[FREEDOM!]

I'm reading the newest Left Behind book now.

[Rhiannon]

Yesterday I finished Watership Down in the car right before we hit the Alabama state line (and then I found a ten dollar bill in the rest stop parking lot). Great book- the awful animated movie traumatized me when I was little, so I put off reading it for a long time, and I had trouble getting in to it at the beginning- it took 100 pages for me to be interested in what happened to the rabbits- but I was very involved by the end. Also 'hrududu' is now a permanent part of my vocabulary. I brought something like 20 books on this trip with me (you never know what you're going to want to read) and I think next up I'll tackle A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin, which also has a slow start- last time I started it but got distracted 20 pages in.

[Eliot]

I just finished Book Three of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (the first half of TTT :) ). It took me a while because I was busy, but I'll eventually finish it.

Before I read Book Four, I'm going to finish The Gladiator: The Secret History of Rome's Warrior Slaves by Alan Baker. From what I heard from my brother (who read it), it's really interesting.

[*Lady Arwen*]

I'm almost done with The Seventh Tower: Above the Veil, its a really good collection.

[Elendil3119]

I just finished Farmer Giles of Ham and Smith of Wooton Major, both by Tolkien.:) Now I'm rereading The Sil, RotK, BoLT1, and also The Manual of Christian Doctrine, by Louis Berkhof.

[FoolOfATook]

I just finished the first two chapters of H.G. Wells' novel The Time Machine, a book on the long list of books that I've just never gotten around to reading. While I was at the library, I picked up the graphic novels Supreme and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, both by Alan Moore, one of the most under-rated writers in recent memory, in my opinion. Perhaps because he picked a media that never will get the respect it deserves...

[Eliot]

I started reading The Adventures of Tom Bombadil today. It's all right. I'm only in the beginning, though.

I hate to read a few books at a time, but I had to give in to the temptation. :D

[Courtney]

Oh gee. i haven't been on in a while! Well I read Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley, Animal Farm by George Orwell, and now I am finishing Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I love Animal Farm, but it makes me so sad. All I want is for the animals to be happy... and think of how well-off they could have been! Hot and cold water, and electricity in every stall! It makes me cry!:(

[Rhiannon]

I read Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

One of my most favorite books by one of my most favorite authors ever. Adore/worship/grovel etc. etc. Did you like it? *hopes very much that you did* I also love Austen, though I haven't managed to finish S&S- I was reading it during our move, and when we painted my room it got kicked under the bed and I only found it recently.

I finished A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin, as well as I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb- an interesting novel, if a little long and complicated (a lot of converging plots) to absorb in two days, and The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris, which was great fun. I tried to make a start on Rebecca by Dauphne de M-something, but fifty pages in I started to feel very sick, and had to stop. So much for training myself to not to get car sick.

[FoolOfATook]

. I tried to make a start on Rebecca by Dauphne de M-something,

Just watch the Hitchcock film. It's his only one that won best picture. ;)

[Rhiannon]

I haven't seen the film (don't tell me anything!). I'm having trouble getting in to the book. The first person narrator doesn't have a name, for one thing. I find that this bothers me very much. And, as is my rule, I've gotten a solid 100 pages in, and decided that if I put the book down now, I will not spend the rest of my life wondering what happened to these people, because at the moment I don't particularly give a hoot about them. I'm going to persevere, though, because so many people have told me they love it. I think I'll start another novel on the side- either The Road Home, which I've been hearing lots and lots of wonderful things about, or do as my brother is urging and re-read Taliesin and Merlin, and hopefully get around to reading the rest of the Pendragon Cycle.

[Emma]

Currently reading Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson and am eagerly awaiting book 4 of A Song of Ice and Fire series. :D

[Courtney]

I just finished reading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton(I hope I spelled his name right) for about the 6th time. I love anthing and everything about dinosaurs... I always have. I used to want to be a paleontologist.

Now I am reading Invasion by Robin Cook (again) and The Eternal Champion by Michael Moorcock (again). I used to read a lot of Robin Cook's stuff, but now I don't really care for his writing style... It just annoys me...

About the Eternal Champion series, I know I have probably asked this before, but does anyone know anything about the last books in the series? There is a list inside the book I am reading now, with 15 books from the series, but I have never been able to find any past book 7 or 8. If anyone knows anything about them or where I could find them, I would really be grateful!!!

[My_Precious]

I am in the middle of "The Wishsong of Shannara", and started reading... "The Fellowship..."...yet again.:)

[LegolasLuver]

I just finished TTT and I started on RotK....:)

[FoolOfATook]

For my summer class, I'm reading a whole lot of John Donne. I'm also finishing up Stephen King's novel Firestarter.

[Beleg]

I am re-reading Jeffery Archer's Prodigal Daughter. IMHO he has better wit and writing style then King.

[Rhiannon]

I am in the middle of "The Wishsong of Shannara"

That's one of the ones I liked- I tired of Shannara pretty quickly, but I liked the main character- was it Wren? It's been a few (five, six) years. Have you read Terry Brooks Running with the Demon?

I went away for the weekend, and got to spend four hours at a Half Price Books because my parents were going to a gun show (boring). I got a whole mess o' books (hb = hard back, tp = trade paper, mm = mass market):

Antigone by Jean Anouilh (script) - I'm going to type up some excerpts from this, if no one objects.

Sophocles I - Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone by Sophocles (mm)

John Donne - Selected Poems (Thrift tp) - Love that Donne.

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (tp) - I have it already- excellent, dark, scary, gothic, atmospheric fairy tale retellings- but I got another copy to lend out.

Parsifal's Page by Gerald Morris (hb) - very humorous King Arthur retellings- I've only read his The Squire's Tale and The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, but I loved them both.

Shadow of a Hero by Peter Dickinson (hb) - an excellent book- hard to summarize, though. Dickinson created a fictional European country, complete with history and language; you kind of need to read it to understand the concept, and I can't quote the cover because I left it at Rai's for her to read.

The Blue Hawk by Peter Dickinson (mm) - It's by Peter Dickinson. At the moment that's the extent of my knowledge.

The Boggart and The Boggart and the Monster by Susan Cooper (tp) - I read The Boggart a few years ago, just after it first came out, and loved it (of course I did, it's by Susan Cooper). Roughly, an American family accidentally brings a boggart- a primarily Scottish spirit that belongs to a place or family, if I have my definitions right- back to America with them and it wrecks havoc. I haven't read its sequal, The Boggart and the Monster, yet.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (mm)

Beasts by John Crowley (mm)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman (mm), which I split with Rai (the cost, not the book)

I also found The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, but since Rai had been looking specifically for it and I only found it by happy chance, I let her have it on the understanding that I will be borrowing it. A lot. And I found Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede, hb, Trina Schart Hyman dustcover, and Snow White & Rose Red: A Modern Fairy Tale by Regina Doman, but as the money was running low Rachel fronted the cost for both of them, but says they may live on my shelves.

I'm 2/3 of the way through with Rebecca- not loving it, but will probably finish it- but I put it aside to sink my teeth in to some of my new books, specifically Beasts, which I am enjoying very much.

[My_Precious]

It is Brin, I believe. I like it, but it goes pretty slowly--usually I read much more slowly in engish anyway, but I've been reading this one for a month, and only half way through it.

[Eliot]

I'm reading What If? with essays by Stephen E. Ambrose, John Keegan, David McCullough, James M. McPherson, and others. It's where the worlds foremost military historians imagine what might have been. It's edited by Robert Cowley, if you really wanted to know that . . . . :rolleyes:

[Aragorn21]

Currently I'm reading one of the most BORING books in the world! It's The Diary of Anne Frank . I'm like SNOOOOOORRRR!!!!!

[Eliot]

Is it really boring? I was thinking of eventually reading it, but skip that idea if it's boring.

[FoolOfATook]

Is it really boring?

No, it's not. It's definitely worth reading.

[Aragorn21]

It's not boring knowing about the Frank's experiences, and what it was like being in hiding. But the parts about Anne's personal feelings really aren't very exciting.

[Rhiannon]

It depends on which edition you're reading- the 'definitive edition', which is the one just out in pb now, has every single word of out of Frank's diaries that they've found: the original edition was edited by Frank's father and cut out a lot of things like her arguments with her mother. It's definintly worth reading, though I agree the parts about her emotions got dull and repetitive (like most journals).

[Blue Wizard]

I'm reading The Silmarilllion now.

[My_Precious]

Originally posted by Aragorn21
Currently I'm reading one of the most BORING books in the world! It's The Diary of Anne Frank . I'm like SNOOOOOORRRR!!!!!
It is not boring! First of all, it is real life, so if you are bored with the reality, than... Second of all, yes, it does not contain the cool fight scenes and all, but it is more interesting on the spiritual level... Try being locked up in the building for that long and writing a thriller. I read it when I was 9 the first time, and then the second time my sophomore year, and it deeply touched me. The only surviving family member was Anne's father...:(

[Underhill]

Right now I'm reading the dragon reborn by robert jordan.it Is cool but it copies Lotr,and it gets kinda boring at some parts.The story is cool,and all but I have stoped reading it for about three weeks. I'm on the third book,and there's supposed to be sixteen.

[Talierin]

Heh, just wait till the 4th book... snooooooooooore


*avoids asha'man*

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by Underhill
Right now I'm reading the dragon reborn by robert jordan.it Is cool but it copies Lotr,and it gets kinda boring at some parts.The story is cool,and all but I have stoped reading it for about three weeks. I'm on the third book,and there's supposed to be sixteen. Speak quietly, or Ash will have your head ;)

Oddly, though, it doesn't copy LOTR - not any further than the unavoidable similarities between all books in the fantasy genre. I've read the first 5 - I've been waiting for the 6th to come into the library since October, I think I may end up buying it! However, I've got a huge pile of other stuff to read, so we'll see when we run out :D

I love the story - it's so complex and you really get into because you get so much detail. Perrin's thread is definately the most interesting one, though :) And those girls, Nynaeve and co running round just get on my nerves...

There are 10 books just now, but I believe the plan is for 13 rather than 16.

[Aragorn21]

It is not boring! First of all, it is real life, so if you are bored with the reality, than... Second of all, yes, it does not contain the cool fight scenes and all, but it is more interesting on the spiritual level... Try being locked up in the building for that long and writing a thriller. I read it when I was 9 the first time, and then the second time my sophomore year, and it deeply touched me. The only surviving family member was Anne's father... Didn't you read my post after that? And by the way, they only had 9 months until the end of the war with Germany, then they would be free. It's kind of depressing knowing only the father survived when they were SO close.

[Rhiannon]

Originally posted by CraigSmith
Speak quietly, or Ash will have your head ;)

Oddly, though, it doesn't copy LOTR - not any further than the unavoidable similarities between all books in the fantasy genre. I've read the first 5 - I've been waiting for the 6th to come into the library since October, I think I may end up buying it! However, I've got a huge pile of other stuff to read, so we'll see when we run out :D

I love the story - it's so complex and you really get into because you get so much detail. Perrin's thread is definately the most interesting one, though :) And those girls, Nynaeve and co running round just get on my nerves...

There are 10 books just now, but I believe the plan is for 13 rather than 16.

Somewhere in the book 4-7 area, the story got much, much too slow. Everything was going in circles and nobody accomplished anything until the 9th book. It just drags on and on and on and on and on....I haven't even bothered with the most recent one. But oh well- if you like 'em, more power to you.

I finally finished Rebecca last night, after taking a break from it to read Snow White and Rose Red: A Modern Fairy Tale (which was extremely predictable, but still enjoyable because of the number of similarities between the main characters and my sister and I- long story, sort of, behind that). Goodness. I was not expecting that ending. I did not like the first 2/3rds of the book (Rebecca) very much at all, because the narrator was so irritating. Completely spineless and dull. But the last third I enjoyed very much, once things livened up.

[FoolOfATook]

Given that the last post was about a book that became a Hitchcock film, it's almost appropriate that right now I'm reading Raymond Durgant's study A Long Hard Look at 'Psycho. Very good so far, for anyone interested in film. I'm also reading and re-reading Donne's Satyres for class- brillant, but difficult works...

[Eliot]

I finished What If? a few days ago, I'm now reading Great Battlefields of the World by John MacDonald. It's very good.

[Elendil3119]

I'm currently reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, and The Annotated Hobbit. Both are extremely good!

[Wolfshead]

I gave up on The Thomas Covenant Chronicles, it just wasn't doing anything for me. So now I'm reading Belgarath The Sorcerer by David Eddings - it's the prequel to The Belgariad.

[Eliot]

Hey Elendil, what's the difference between the Annotated Hobbit, and just the normal one?

[FoolOfATook]

A book is considered annotated when someone adds notes to a book to enhance and clarify the text. Douglas A. Anderson did this for The Hobbit, pointing out the origins of elements of the story, interesting links between the book and Tolkien's other works, notes about the origins of some words, notes about translations, and, perhaps most interestingly, notes about where the text was changed in the various revisions that Tolkien made. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in Tolkien.

[Eliot]

OK, thanks.

[Eliot]

Continuing The Two Towers, a little over halfway through Book IV. A lot better then I remembered. :) :p

I have Mein Kampf (My Struggle) reserved at my library right now. All I have to do now, is to go pick it up.

[Idril]

1984. I found this old copy in my bookcase and it has my maiden name in it! I don't even remember buying/owning it. It must be a good 20 yrs old! About time it got read I think:)

[Rhiannon]

I finished The Road Home by Ellen Emerson White- Awesome, awesome book. Whoever let this book go out of print needs to be shot.

Now I'm hovering in between books and can't really seem to get started on anything.

[FoolOfATook]

I just finished Humphrey Carpenter's The Inklings, and am currently reading Roverandom, written by Our Favorite Philologist. After that I'll probably begin on C.S. Lewis' space trilogy. Of course, there's also the enormous amount of Donne that I'm reading for school- we finished the Satyres and are now working on his Elegies.

[Eliot]

OK, this is what I'm still in the middle of:

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien,
Great Battlefields of the World by John MacDonald,
Roverandom (well, I'm still reading the preface) by J.R.R. Tolkien,

and I just finished reading The No Spin Zone by Bill O'Reilly. That's a really good book. Seriously! It's good! And it's not just Right-Wing propaganda. It's very interesting. I read it in less then one day. :)

I also finally got Mein Kampf from my library. I'm looking forward to reading it, for some weird reason. Don't worry, I won't become a Nazi. Though, I am half German. :p

[Rhiannon]

I really, really should be reading Obertwyn for the discussion this month, or at least be reading one of the many other books I'm supposed to be getting read, but I'm in one of my slumps, so I'm re-reading The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson, and enjoying it very much. I'd forgotten how much I liked it.

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by Eliot
I also finally got Mein Kampf from my library. I'm looking forward to reading it, for some weird reason. Don't worry, I won't become a Nazi. Though, I am half German. :p Can you post what you think of it? I'm thinking of getting it as well, it'd maybe give a helping hand towards my History grades :D

[Eliot]

Originally posted by CraigSmith
Can you post what you think of it? I'm thinking of getting it as well, it'd maybe give a helping hand towards my History grades :D

I'm not sure if I'd be able to. Sorry. I won't be reading it until I'm done with two other books, so it'll take a while to read Mein Kampf.

I finished The Two Towers last night. Not sure about when I'll be reading The Return of the King.

I bought Unfinished Tales and The Atlas of Middle-Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad today. They look really cool.

[Wolfshead]

Originally posted by Eliot
I'm not sure if I'd be able to. Sorry. I won't be reading it until I'm done with two other books, so it'll take a while to read Mein Kampf. Whenever, I don't mind - I've got loads of other things to read :D

I finished Belgarath The Sorceror by David Eddings today, so I'm about to move onto Enemy Of God by Bernard Cornwell when I eventually get round to going to bed.

[Eliot]

A couple days ago I read The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes. I liked the movie a LOT better. The book is kinda weird. It's more of a childrens story, that's probably why I disliked it so much.

[FoolOfATook]

I just picked up Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's work Batman: Dark Victory tonight, and I'm looking forward to starting that, since it's something of a sequel to their masterful Batman: The Long Halloween. They are quite possibly my favortie writer/artist team in comic books, alongside Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely and Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.

[Rhiannon]

Speaking of comics, my like-new tradepaper of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Volume One finally arrived, and I spent this afternoon enjoying it immensly.

I'm fighting my way out of a reading slump, and working on Obernewtyn by Isobel Carmody, which I was supposed to read last month because I've already missed half of the discussion on it, as well as reading The Boggart and the Monster by Susan Cooper (one of her younger books, sequal to The Boggart- I wanted to read it before I passed it on to Young West, who I've happily introduced to Susan Cooper).

[Talierin]

Obernewtyn is good stuff... can't wait for the 4th book to come here!

I'm in the middle of Narnia, for the 15th bazillionth time, heehee...

[Rhiannon]

Carmody is in house at the R'ville YARG, Tal, if you have a chance to stop by- I'm only halfway through, so I haven't been in yet.

[FoolOfATook]

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a tremendous work- another piece of evidence in the already persuasive case that Alan Moore is the greatest comic book writer alive.

I just picked up Clyde S. Kilby's book Tolkien and The Silmarillion from my school's library- it looks interesting, and hopefully will be worth reading...

[Lantarion]

I just started to re-read the Silmarillion today, but when I've read that I will start my endeavour to read the Kalevala.. :eek:
I'll tell you when I begin with it.. :)

[Eliot]

I finished Roverandom today. It was pretty good, especially for young children. I've started Mein Kampf. So far, it's very interesting.

[FoolOfATook]

This week I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books, in anticipation of Book 5- It's my third time reading them, and I still am finding new things to enjoy in these wonderful stories.

[Courtney]

I just finished reading Flowers for Algernon *sniff sniff* and now I am reading Last of the Mohicans, which is one of my all-time favorite books, and one of my all time favorite movies although the movie is not much like the book.................

I, too, am waiting for Harry Potter... it has been a loooooong wait.

[Rhiannon]

I'm plotting on how to get it before the rest of my family. Mom only reserved one, silly woman.

[Aerin]

I pick up my reserved copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Saturday! :D :D :D I can't wait!

Hm, let's see, I've been doing tons of reading the past two weeks or so; maybe I'll get back up to the level I was at two years ago.... reading 8-10 hours a day, every day. :D Tonight, I'm going to start The Subtle Knife (yes, I know book titles should be underlined, but I'm too lazy right now) by Philip Pullman. When that one is over (or I'm bored with it), I'll start the book my sister has been bugging me about, The Dragon and the George. We'll see how that turns out...

[Rhiannon]

Ooh, The Dragon and the George is great! As is the rest of that series. All wonderful and great good fun.

[Aerin]

My sister's in love with that book, I'm not sure if she's read the others in the series. From what she's told me, it should be worth a few laughs, at least.

[Rhiannon]

It is really funny- it's been a while since I read it, but it was great fun.

[Lantarion]

Originally posted by FoolofaTook
This week I'm re-reading the Harry Potter books, in anticipation of Book 5- It's my third time reading them, and I still am finding new things to enjoy in these wonderful stories.
I just read a little snatch from the Golden Goblet.. I have read the series through twice, but I had forgotten how immersing they are! I at least get really into the whole world, and begin to relate to all the characters.
I was going to just skim a few lines of it, and I ended up reading two chapters! :D

[Inderjit S]

Wondering if anyone has read Margaret Atwwods The Handmaids Tale. A very good book but as far as dystopian books go it's no 1984. Also Mario Puzo's The Godfather is a classic..plus it has no part 3. ;)

[Rhiannon]

I read The Handmaid's Tale in AP Lit and really enjoyed it, (though dystopian lit isn't really my thing- I tend to get depressed). I liked Atwood's The Blind Assassin much more (it's the only other thing I've read by her so far).

[Wolfshead]

I wonder if we're gonna get an influx of people tomorrow saying that they're reading Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix? I'll get in first and I say I'm reading it. Well, not yet, it won't arrive until tomorrow, but come tomorrow I will be. I'm having to temporarily suspend my reading of Enemy Of God by Bernard Cornwell to accomodate it :D

[Luthien Tunivel]

This is an easy question; Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix of course! The Silmarillion has been put on hold for a while due to the new book, and also due to the fact that it is boring me to death.

[FoolOfATook]

Having now made it through Harry Potter V twice, I'm reading Michael Lewis' book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. It's an absolutely fascinating study of the changing approaches to the general manager position in baseball.

[Rhiannon]

I didn't get to start HP5 for three whole days because my sister got it first, but I'm now halfway through it and enjoying it very much. While I was waiting I started One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I am also halfway through and loving. It's my first magical realism. Must...have..more...

HP first, though.

[Elendil3119]

I'm currently re-reading UT, just started BoLT2, and I'm also reading On the Incarnation by Basil of Caesarea.

[Jesse]

I am currently reading the July/August edition of the Sierra magazine. It's the bi-monthly magazine of the Sierra Club.

[Eliot]

I'm in the middle of a few books:

Mein Kampf (My Struggle) by Adolf Hitler. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it a 9.

The Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underword in the Shaping of Modern America by Gus Russo. I'm still in the Prologue, because I haven't had much time to work through this book.

And, The Guns Of The South by Harry Turtledove. So far, it's really good!

[FoolOfATook]

Dude, between quoting Hitler in your sig, and giving rave reviews to his book, you're really begining to freak me out. Seriously. This is NOT cool.

Majorly NOT cool.

[Rhiannon]

And, The Guns Of The South by Harry Turtledove. So far, it's really good!

One of my brother's favorites. Eventually I'll get around to reading it.

Finished HP5, enjoyed it very much, though dangit, I liked that person...

I'm trying to decide if I should get enveloped in One Hundred Years of Solitude again, or start on Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which is the July discussion for my reading group (speaking of, I saw Gaiman on the History channel the other day. It was a plate o' shrimp moment. It was a special on comic book heroes- really interesting).

And I am savoring the latest issue of The Readerville Journal, the best literary magazine out there.

[Idril]

Well after the mammoth task of HP5 - which I enjoyed, I'm on to something a bit lighter:) it's called 'The Big O: How to Have Them, Give Them, and Keep Them Coming' by Lou Paget. Excellent read and funny too.

[Eliot]

Originally posted by FoolOfATook
Dude, between quoting Hitler in your sig, and giving rave reviews to his book, you're really begining to freak me out. Seriously. This is NOT cool.

Majorly NOT cool.

Hey "dude", it's not like I'm a neo-Nazi or anything. I just thought it was a kinda cool qoute, and I just think his book is interesting (though probably half of it is just pure baloney).

[Elendil3119]

I'm reading three books right now:

On the Holy Spirit, by St. Basil
The Space Trilogy, C.S. Lewis
BoLT2

[Lady Legolas]

Hi all. Right now I reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phinix.

[Feanorian]

Eliot how is Mein Kampf? I am considering reading that after I finish The Communist Manifesto.

[Manveru]

I'm near the middle of LotR (I'm reading chapter 5 of TTT: 'The White Rider'). It's my third time reading LotR (but first in English;))...IT's amazing as always!!!

[Eliot]

Originally posted by Feanorian
Eliot how is Mein Kampf? I am considering reading that after I finish The Communist Manifesto.

It can be a little boring at times, but it can also be VERY interesting. I'm taking a small break from it to read The Guns Of The South by Harry Turtledove.

[Rhiannon]

I started Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Holy cow. FoaT, you were right- I've zoomed through the first 200 pages and I'm wishing I remembered my mythology better.

I'm taking a trip over the 4th of July, and now I have to decide what books to take, other than American Gods. Right now I'm thinking-

-Emma by Jane Austen
-Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
-Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip
-The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
-One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
and
-Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

(Eliot, I thought the Scottish flag was green)

[FoolOfATook]

. Holy cow. FoaT, you were right-

It happens every once in a great while. ;)

Lately I've been reading and re-reading The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll and The Beatles Anthology- which is sort of the group's collective autobiography.

[Aerin]

<subliminal message to Rhiannon>Take Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Winter Rose.</subliminal message to Rhiannon>

I'm in the middle of reading Ragwitch by Garth Nix right now, although I have probably a dozen books I need to read (again, hehe). I finished the fifth Harry Potter two days after it came out (I didn't have time until then! *weepsob*); I was sad about it, but it didn't seem all that unexpected. Yes, I am trying to keep from giving out spoilers!

AH HA! I just found my copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! I've been looking for it for months! And it's been sitting on my bookshelf, not two feet from where I'm sitting....:o

[Rhiannon]

(I think I'm going to take Emma, Winter Rose, andTombs of Atuan)

[Manveru]

Originally posted by Rhiannon:
-The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
This book is great... All the 'Earthsea' trilogy is worth reading:D

[Captain]

Exodus *gag*. It's summer reading for high school.

[Rhiannon]

Exodus as in the Bible, or something else?

[Eliot]

Originally posted by Captain
Exodus *gag*. It's summer reading for high school.

If it's the Exodus from the Bible, then I think you'll enjoy it. :) It's pretty interesting.

[Rhiannon]

Yeah. There's mass genocide, lots of war, plagues, giants...

[Finduilas]

Amm...right now I'm reading 'Catch 22'.
Has anyone read it (except GG ;) )?

[Captain]

It's not from the Bible. It's historical fiction around WWII

[Rhiannon]

I was supposed to read that too- I don't think I finished it, because we were moving at the time.