Now Reading (Book)

[Cyndadile]

Just finished Heir of Mystery, sequel to The Fall of Fergal. Going to buy the last in the series, The Rise of the House of MacNallys, soon. I love dark humor.

[sifira]

twilight
not to sure 'bout it though

>.o Ew.

Finished Echoes of Honor by David Weber, now reading Ashes of Victory by the same author.

[MewLoverEX]

*squee* Twilight!

*ahem.* Reading Unwind by Neal Shusterman.

[ImmunityBow]

Finished Dune. It was interesting.

Started on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (as opposed to one of the numerous spinoffs by other authors), and I'm really enjoying it. Victorian vocab dumps are pretty cool when actually in context. "Simious", "disquisition" and "prognathous" are definitely not used as casually today.

[Cyndadile]

I don't even know what they mean. If I did, however, I would start using them in my everyday comunications with others.

Reading The Crucible in school, but we are going WAAAAAAY to slow. At least it is better than last year's first book in class.

I'm really happy in my English class despite that, because we have 20 minute reading in class once a week.

[totodileman]

We all watched the crucible. With the witch hunt?

[MK94]

Ink heart , its a really good book

[Reliability]

I recently finished Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels for class. It's Canadian literature that's now a movie, but I thought it was awful.

I'm hoping to actually finish Pride and Prejudice over the winter break. I really want to find out what happens, but I don't have time until then...

[NyteFyre]

wow, we just finished The Crucible not too long ago, ourselves! Mrs. Hill is annoying at times though......My English Teacher...

[XTS]

/read Crucible in English a month or two ago, but that's neither here nor there

Just read A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin. Hopefully gonna check out and read the next book in the series, A Clash of Kings, soon. They're very well written.

[Silver]

bad dawg on mars,
love that book

[Tyrannigon64]

Just finished reading The Alchemist in school. It's not as bad as my classmates say it is (not saying much), but it isn't as good as it would sound from reading the back. Just started reading Acceleration, again for school, so far it seems a bit strange, but not bad.

[Reliability]

DID NOT read Pride and Prejudice and I'm going to have to start over, its been so long.

Instead, for class, I've been reading What We All Long For by Dionne Brand, The Tempest, Paradise Lost, and I've begun to wade into As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross. (More Canadian literature).

I'm also supposed to be reading Heart of Darkness, but my previous attempt proved nearly fatal, so I may just skip it, like of done with countless other works for this university English class. :$ I do not condone this type of behaviour for any of you. Stay in school, don't do drugs.

[SilentSentinel]

I got a Kindle for christmas, and have been going insane with reading ever since. Right now I'm working my way through the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

[MeekRhino]

Already read those, very funny. Have you read the Wheel of Time series?

[Cyndadile]

Starting on the Dresden Series.

[MeekRhino]

My bro likes that one. Haven't read it myself

[XTS]

Tongues of Serpents, by Naomi Novik. It is the...6th book in the His Majesty's Dragon series, which is very good and you should all read it pronto. It's basically the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. And more awesome (also more awesome than just adding dragons to stuff is).

[MeekRhino]

Everyone should read the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pulman (the Golden Compass, the Subtle Knife, and the Amber Spyglass). The story is great, and has a very moving conclusion. I warn you, however, that those with religious affiliation may be somewhat offended by the content.

[Reliability]

Everyone should read the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pulman (the Golden Compass, the Subtle Knife, and the Amber Spyglass). The story is great, and has a very moving conclusion. I warn you, however, that those with religious affiliation may be somewhat offended by the content.

I'm pretty religious, and I really wasn't offended at all by the series. It depends on what affiliation and how much you know about theology. But I also HIGHLY recommend the series. It's one of my favourite series of books.

I finished As For Me And My House, which was actually quite good. Next, I'll be reading The Wasteland by T.S. Elliot. This is the last thing I have to read for English (other than all of the things I've skipped over) but I probably won't have time to read anything until the summer. I'm hoping to finish a bunch, because I really miss reading.

[ImmunityBow]

Wait what. We're actually reading The Wasteland right now in English. Funny how things work out.

[Reliability]

We'll have to start a Topaz book discussion group. I'm sure I'll be able to tell you all kinds of strange things about it by the end of next week. University English is... interesting in that way.

[MK94]

now im reading deltora quest by emily rodda

[sifira]

Tongues of Serpents, by Naomi Novik. It is the...6th book in the His Majesty's Dragon series, which is very good and you should all read it pronto. It's basically the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. And more awesome (also more awesome than just adding dragons to stuff is).

It's a wonderful series, though I've only read 3 of the books. I also recommend it.

Just finished The Big Meow by Diane Duane. Loved it, though I'm going to have to re-read the entire series again. Going on to read Guardians of the Flame: The Heroes by Joel Rosenberg.

[Cyndadile]

Starting on the Dresden Series.

SUCH a good choice. Very good series. On book 5 now.

[ImmunityBow]

I just finished rereading the first three Harry Potter books, and I must say that The Prisoner of Azkaban has jettisoned itself back up to the top of my all-time favourites list. There's just such a beautiful causality that permeates the entire story, and I get this awesome feeling that Rowling wasn't intending to write to conform. She uses tropes and caricatures liberally, paints her world with a wonderful narrative, and doesn't seem to worry what others think as long as she can tell a great story. This is my first rereading in years (though I've read the series many times when I was younger) and I'm noticing so much more now, which is the mark of some truly great books.

[Tyrannigon64]

I like how she mentions characters that don't appear until later books. For example

Sirius Black was mentioned in the first or second chapter of Harry Potter, but wasn't important until the third book.

[ImmunityBow]

Yeah, when I read I was wondering if she had been planning out in advance or not.

[XTS]

It is a series, she probably had the basic plot planned out from the beginning. It's a little literary tool called foreshadowing.

Being without internet for a week = a lot of reading got done. Read The Emperor of Nihon-Ja, the last book in the Ranger's Apprentice series, definitely one of my favorites. Then went on to read a pair of books by the highly amusing Jasper Fforde: The Last Dragonslayer, a stand-alone, and The Eyre Affair, the first book in the Thursday Next series. I've heard bits and pieces of most of the books in the series while my parents were listening to them on tape in the car, but I definitely look forward to reading them in full, because they're hilarious. And, again, I recommend the series to...well, anyone older than, say, 13.

[ImmunityBow]

I don't know whether Rowling was planning the whole thing out from the start. From what I understand the first book was written basically on napkins from fast-food chains, I don't think she was really expecting Harry Potter to be the success that it was. I do know what foreshadowing is, and Rowling makes absolutely excellent use of it throughout the first few books, probably the best of any author I know (along with caricature, take that Dickens!)

The Ranger's Apprentice series came out a while ago, right? Something like 6-7 years ago? If so, I remember wanting to read that at some point, because the cover was cool. XD

[Reliability]

Okay, summer is here, reading has recommenced: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I love so much of her stuff, and this book (though I'm only 50 pages in) is no exception.

[Cyndadile]

I don't know whether Rowling was planning the whole thing out from the start.

I doubt it. She may have thrown it in to fall back on if she wanted another idea, but she almost certainly didn't decide the future of the ENTIRE series beforehand.

I've been thinking of reading The Ranger's Apprentice for a while, never got around to it.

About to start Slaughterhouse 5 in English, if I heard my teacher correctly.

[Tyrannigon64]

I doubt it. She may have thrown it in to fall back on if she wanted another idea, but she almost certainly didn't decide the future of the ENTIRE series beforehand.

No, she might have. I heard she spent two years figuring out the limitations of magic.

[XTS]

In regards to Ranger's Apprentice: the series has been around for a while (the 3rd came out when I was in 5th grade...so, 5 years ago), but more and more books have been coming out more recently, until the 10th and final one about a month ago. And if you were interested in it, you should definitely read them all. Jus' sayin'.

[Cyndadile]

And if you were interested in it, you should definitely read them all. Jus' sayin'.

Good to know.

No, she might have. I heard she spent two years figuring out the limitations of magic.

Well, I spent 5 years "figuring out the limitations of magic" (aka pretending to shoot spells and telling people that you can't get a million dollars, destroy the world, or make me stop being annoying by saying "abrakadabra").

If this discussion escalates, we might end up with a "Literary Devices and Plot Analysis of Harry Potter and Rowling's Planning of the Series" Thread.

[SilentSentinel]

Actually, I heard that most of the first book did not have the grand plot in mind,

aside from larger themes like the eventual return of Voldemort. For instance, when Dumbledore tells Harry that James saved Snape's life at the close of book 1, she did not currently have the details regarding that event or how it might affect the story in mind.

I would think that she had the central ideas planned out, but brought the details in after the first book or two became so successful.

[Tyrannigon64]

Shouldn't you be using spoilers?

HIJACK EDIT: Added them in. Really, though, I don't think it's too big a deal. ~Reli

[ImmunityBow]

Finished The Goblet of Fire. The final exposition scene thrills me every time. They really are wonderful mystery novels.

It's also cool how there's one major-ish character each book that's just extremely well developed.

1: Hermione
2: Gilderoy Lockhart
3: Remus Lupin (Sirius kind of just sits around, looks cool, and twists the plot. I love him as a character but he's not developed much. Not that he really needs it.)
4: The Crouches

I haven't reread the other ones yet, but obviously 6 is Snape and 7 is probably Dumbledore. 5 I'm iffy about. Neville or Fudge seem like the best contenders.

[Cyndadile]

Lupin is totally my favorite character.

Anyways, you forgot to mention how well developed Riddle became, and, if I remember correctly, Sirius did later on. I thought it was especially good seeing Voldemort's rise from the perspective of those near him as a child.

[ImmunityBow]

Riddle was developed, but I don't feel he really has that much depth of character. He's a pretty stock "handsome, smart, good at everything kid with the heart of the devil" character, without that much real deviation. He's even a poor orphan. Definitely good enough, considering the huge cast of Harry Potter, and the fact that the development of Riddle would compete with his development as Voldemort, but still not in the league of some of the others in the series. Maybe I just need to reread the 5th book, which I'm dreading because of capslock Harry and the Harry/Cho relationship (which is terrible), but which I remember develops Sirius more. I remember not hating the 5th book as much as others since I don't mind Luna, some of the scenes, Umbridge (yeah she's annoying but Snape, Lockheart, Fudge and Skeeter all fill the same roles in other books) and liked the ministry scene, but I really don't want to see Harry for the last three books.