Books: Chapter One!

[mar_girl]

I've started reading Believing in Narnia, and so far it's good, if a bit... "Yay friends!" about Narnia. I pretty much know about all of the "spiritual secrets" (so far, anyway) in the book. But then, it is for kids, and I've been reading these for fifteen years or so. HOWEVER. She gets stuff wrong! In the LB synopsis, she says that Aslan blows Jill and Eustace to Narnia on his breath! And that Ginger is a leopard!! No. Just no. I get worked up about the little things, but if you're getting easy little things like that wrong, then WTHeck??

[Kate]

Jo: I'm jealous of your poster. I remember seeing that one in the movie theatre at age 12 and thinking, "Oh, that's a movie for those books Daddy likes so much."

PELS: Northanger Abbey is Austen's first novel and it's very fun and humorous. It's one of my favorites of hers. BBC has made a few adaptations, but there has never been a big screen one.

mara: oh, that's tough. I never know whether I can trust anything people say when they make mistakes like that.

I read Tolkein's "Smith of Wootten Major" yesterday. It was lovely, but very short. It seemed underdeveloped. I felt sad at the end like it could have been much better. I received a copy with the Pauline Baynes illustrations, so that made me happy. I thought it was interesting that she illustrated a Fairy ship as having a dragon head. I wonder if she was influeced by her prior work with VDT.

I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo yesterday. I think I'm going to like it. Edmond Dantes seems like just my kind of protagonist. What is the best translation in the opinions of the illustrious members of NarniaWeb? I'm reading the Penguin Classics version, so it's translated by Robin Buss.

[HappyGiant]

I read so much! So tomorrow I'll be reading something totally different, but today I'm eading this SUPER LONG AND SUPER, SUPER, BORING book, How To Read A Book.
The irony of it all!
Wow, everyone here sure likes books! 11 pages already! This seems like my kind of place.
Mar_Girl- Believing In Narnia is a fanfic right? wow. Gingern is so not a lepord!

[Rising_Star]

Oy, I had to read How To Read A Book for school and I absolutely HATED it. It was incredibly long and so frightfully boring, that it took almost a year. I swore never to pick up that book again for as long as I live.

On to brighter news, I'm almost finished with The Sherwood Ring and I must say that I am enjoying it greatly! I can't wait to see how it ends.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

[Queen Susan]

He kept stopping to ask me "Who's George?" "Who's Mr. Darling?" "Are they talking about Peter Pan?" "Are they talking about Wendy?" "What about Peter Pan?"

Oh dear. I'm sure my 4 year old brother would do the same.

That's okay! Better the Bible than nothing, I say!

Absolutely! I'm very thankful I'm in that habit... For "From the Lord comes wisdom, and from His mouth comes understanding and knowledge!" (Prov. 2:6 paraphrase, as I can't remember the exact wording.)

In the LB synopsis, she says that Aslan blows Jill and Eustace to Narnia on his breath! And that Ginger is a leopard!! No. Just no.

Hm. That's odd indeed.

(Interesting av and sig set, Rising_Star) ...? What (or who should I say) exactly is it? Looks like Dakota Fanning to me.) [/off-topic]

Yay! I finished http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/13720000/13723659.JPG The First Volume of Sherlock Holmes just today! On to Volume II, of the same (or possibly greater?) thickness. About 700 pages I believe.

[Rising_Star]

(My avatar and signature are of Dakota Fanning, Queen Susan. I'm using her as my character Alice in Unilluminated, a Role-play over in the Ditto Town part of the forum. I photoshopped her to look like the character, so that's why she looks different. The character is a Jinn (or genie) so that's why the signature says "what is it you wish for?" )[/off-topic]

I believe we have some Sherlock Holmes books in my house (or at least one of them), but I don't think I've ever read them/it.

I saw the trailer for the Percy Jackson movie and decided to check out the books. Has anyone else read them, and, if so, could they tell me if they're any good?"

P.S."Brooklyn!"

[greenleaf23]

I saw the trailer for the Percy Jackson movie and decided to check out the books. Has anyone else read them, and, if so, could they tell me if they're any good?"

I read them last year, and really liked them. You may not want to go by me though, I started them after about six months straight of Tolkien, so my brain was fried already:P. They start out pretty carefree and mostly funny (kinda like a Princess Bride sort of adventure) but the get more and more serious, and the last one is really good. Rick Riordan's writing gets from good to great (at least in my opinion). There's tons of Greek mythology stuff in it, which actually interested me a lot, and since the author give personalities to different creatures and such it made it pretty interesting for me.

[Lady Courage]

I'm a veterinary majour so I'm allowed to read books like this

Really? Awesome! I seriously wanted to do that when I was younger, but now I think I'll just study for a vet-tech. Sorry, off topic there...

Woah! This thread has progressed and left me far behind during my absence...

I started reading The Count of Monte Cristo yesterday. I think I'm going to like it. Edmond Dantes seems like just my kind of protagonist. What is the best translation in the opinions of the illustrious members of NarniaWeb? I'm reading the Penguin Classics version, so it's translated by Robin Buss.

That's what I just started reading! Even down to the same translation! But I have no clue as to whether it's the best or not.

[RubyGamgee]

Hey everyone! Just dropping quickly in to the book forum! A lot of people have told me that I need to get on here..so, yeah....here I am.

I'm actually not reading anything at this moment, because I'm really overloaded with homework. But I just finished reading Ted Dekker's Blink and I'm hoping to start the Pendragon Cycle soon by Stephen R. Lawhead. I've heard they're really good.

[Rising_Star]

Thanks for your opinion, greenleaf! It all sounds really interesting. I'm definitely checking them out as I really like the Ancient Greek/Roman myths and such. Anything set in Ancient Times really. In school we did more than one year of Ancient Times and more than one year of Medieval Times, and both fascinate me.

Anyway, I finished The Sherwood Ring last night, and you can read my review of it here.

After I finished it, I went ahead and read another one of my sister's books. Escape from Warsaw (previously titled The Silver Sword which I think is a better title personally consider the important part the silver sword played in the story) by Ian Serraillier. It was a very easy read and I finished it off in a few hours. It's about these four children who escape Warsaw during World War II and go off to Switzerland to meet up with their long-lost father. It was good, if somewhat rushed in some parts. The author did not dwell on descriptions and covered a lot of ground with only a few sentences (i.e. "They made their way up the road to the village. Passing the village, they continued on to the next, and then the next, until they had reached the border."). I suppose it makes sense to do so, as it would end up being an incredibly long book otherwise.

The characters were a little two-dimensional, without much character development (aside from a couple of them). But you grew to care for them in a fond way, and wanted them to make it to their father. All in all it was good story told fairly well. It's based on actual events (although the characters are fictitious), so that was cool.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

[Rachel111]

Books, my obsession. Here is a list of my favorites.

1. Jane Eyre
2. The Hobbit
3. Emily of New Moon
4. Romeo and Juliet
5.A Wrinkle in Time
6. The Chronicles of Narnia
I am about to start Pride and Prejudice.
I have a good literary taste for an eleven year old. Do I not?

[Kate]

Welcome Happy Giant and Rachel111!

Lady Courage: Very nice! We'll have to trade opinions.

Rachel: I've read all of those books except Emily of New Moon and I liked all of them that I've read that are on your list.

I figured out what books are on the reading list for my lit class this quarter:

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

It seems like a bit of an eclectic mix to me, although I see some common themes. I haven't read any of them yet, so that's fun. It's my second quarter in a row reading something by Shelley. Hopefully Frankenstein is better than The Last Man. I can never go buy books without comparing my class reading list to others' and getting envious. Oh well.

I'm also reading Phaedo by Plato for a Philosophy class as well as something by Descartes. I know just about nothing about either of them.

[johobbit]

Ruby, how did you like Blink? Have you read any of Dekker's other books?

Welcome here, Rachel111. Great favourites you have listed! There are a lot of book lovers on NWeb, so you're in good company.

Kate, out of your reading list I've read the Camus, the Miller, and the Douglass. Actually, The Stranger I struggled through in French (L'Étranger) for my grade 12 high school French class. Both Stranger and Salesman I found depressing; Douglass' life narrative was fascinating, and I have always meant to read Frankenstein. Never heard of Metamorphosis. I'm curious to know your thoughts, particularly on Camus and Miller.

Can I invite myself to this party? I'm pretty good at moving books around. I promise not to get distracted and read too many...

Most definitely. I can't promise not to get distracted, though.

[Glenstorm the Great]

HappyGiant wrote...

I read so much! So tomorrow I'll be reading something totally different, but today I'm eading this SUPER LONG AND SUPER, SUPER, BORING book, How To Read A Book.
The irony of it all!

I have to read a similar book for school- How to Read Slowly . Now who wants to do that?

I went to the dump today and found a few things- Last of the Mohicans (a nice old copy), Lord of the Flies, Little Women, The Red Badge of Courage and a few other books.

Kate: I read Frankenstein last year for lit class and I liked it alot. It was kind of despressing but it was interesting and the worldview analogy was great (though I severly disagree with it.)

I finished Sense and Sensibility and loved it to bits- I was crying by the end! More on that later though, right now I have to go to bed

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

You disagree with mankind playing the role of God by creating a Frankenstein monster? I'd think that was a fairly kosher belief?

[arabesque]

I finished Sense and Sensibility and loved it to bits- I was crying by the end! More on that later though, right now I have to go to bed

Oh! I love Jane Austen! I just recently finished reading Pride and Prejudice and I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately for my family I walked around speaking as the characters did for two days afterward!
I had read the book a few years back for school but there's nothing that takes the fun out of reading more than being forced to read something and tear the work apart. As it was, I do not remember liking it even HALF so well as I do now. It has become one of my favorite books!
Currently I'm reading Northanger Abby. (I'm in a Jane Austen mood. ) And next I plan on reading Sense and Sensibility.

I am about to start Pride and Prejudice.
I have a good literary taste for an eleven year old. Do I not?

I like them! Emily Of New Moon has been my favorite book for years! I just finished re-reading it a little while ago and was reminded of how lovely it was. I'm in the middle of Emily Climbs right now. (Also a re-read.) And congratulations on reading Pride and Prejudice at such a young age! I only read it in high school but I wish I had read it sooner.

I also just finished reading a book called The Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. (yes, I do often have more then one book going on at the same time.) It was a take-off of the 12 dancing Princesses fairytale. It was alright and fairly entertaining but it's not the best book ever. The plot had loopholes and I kept thinking "How did he know how to do that?" or "Why did that happen?" and so on.....