I'm currently reading Anne of Ingleside. And when I finish it, I'm going to read Rainbow Valley. I got both books on the 13th when we went to our favorite used book store in KC while we were visiting family. I started AoI on Sunday, I have read 130 pages so far. And I love it. So glad I got it.

ohhh!!!
Have you read them before?! I think I've read all of the "Anne books" except Rilla of Ingleside... and I believe I even started it once. Can't remember for sure. But, getting off of my tangent... I LOVE Rainbow Valley!!! That's probably my favourite of the lot! I can't wait to hear what you think! (even if it has been awhile since I've read it )

I have read the first 5 books once, first time for Anne of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley. I finished AoI yesterday and started Rainbow Valley. It's excellent. I'm not sure which book is my favorite, I probably should read them all again before I decide.

Spoiler

(I really enjoyed the part in AoI about Jem and "the globs of gore".

Now, I'm thinking it's time to watch the movies again, but that's for another thread.

Another thread, indeed! *will probably pm you thoughts on THOSE*

Please do!

SnowAngel

I discovered a great book by a great author: "Peak" by Roland Smith it's a wonderful read, totally intriguing and beautifully written
here's the basic plot:

Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in him has strings attached. Big strings.

I highly recommend it for anyone

Has anyone here read "The Owls of Gahoole" series? I just saw the movie and I'm wondering if they're decent reading.

It seems I post in here every few years, and each time I forget how to quote someone, but MountainFireFlower wrote: "I first got interested in it when I first heard about the upcoming movie with Hugh Jackman in it, though I'd heard about it many times long before that."

I saw the movie trailer for that the other day, and was also tempted to pick up the book (again). I've only read the abridged version, and I'm pretty sure that's some kind of crime if I want to be considered a serious reader. (Besides, I don't really want to be left out of the 'sewers of Paris' loop for much longer). I guess I'll have to read that and Anna Karenina before the films come out.

I recently (that is, a few months ago) had to read The Hunger Games for a children's lit class, and I was actually really surprised at how good the story was. I think Collins' idea was very clever- taking the Roman games and making them into a believable futuristic event. I don't like the actual writing very much, but the idea makes up for it and I couldn't put any of the books down until I'd finished them all. (I think I'm starting to understand the best-seller equation; it's something like brilliant idea+simple writing=big hit). Although I couldn't put them down, I have to say that Katniss really got on my nerves by the end of the series- and I was disturbed by the ending for ages. Come to think of it, most characters could easily have ended up in psychiatric wards...I think the story wandered way too far off into bleak territory by the end of the series.

After reading this thread for a few pages, I'm keen to check out 'Entwined'. I think this summer will be perfect for some light-hearted reading.

Bella! *coughs* In the 2+ months since you posted you were reading Swallows and Amazons, I'm assuming/hoping you've finished it? And, if so, did you like it? I hope so.

Well, I happened to have loved it, but someone at the library requested it so I had to give it back early. I haven't given up on it, though! I'll try get it for winter break so I have all the time I need to finish it.

I have, unfortunately, not been reading much lately. However, after really needing to read some fiction, I picked up To Kill A Mockingbird and made it to the second chapter for the first time. I had picked it up some times, read the first two pages, and remembered I had to do something/read something and never got back to it. But not this time! I am liking it so far.

RE Les Mis: My sister has read it once, and so I know the story, but I might read if if I'm feeling particularly ambitious during winter break. Right now, though, that would be nigh impossible.

On the topic of large books, I wanted to get back to War and Peace. I picked it up two years ago at this time and never finished it. (If you haven't guessed, this is the story of my life.) So... maybe I'll add that one to my winter break list. (And, by the way, I never finished my summer break list! :O )

I have been wanting to read more poetry of late, but it's hard to find some really good stuff. So far, I've read several Longfellow poems (he is one of my favourites now; his nature poems, that is.) and I really, really, really want to get The Seaside and the Fireside by him. It sounds really lovely. I love his usage of words and the lyrical nature of his poetry.
I read one English translation of Rabindranath Tagore's poems and liked the few I read, but I wish I could read the originals because there isn't anything like that. Both my parents are fluent in Hindi, so if I can get some Hindi translations from the original Sanskrit... that would be great, if I ask them to read them for me. I found the poems I read by him heartfelt. I liked the ones pertaining to his grandchild and the local color ones. In language lessons, there are some Gujarati poems and I really enjoy the ones my mom helps translate. Such poetic usage of words.
Then there was a large poem book containing a few works by American poets in the 19th century. It was quite good, but I did not really discover anything quite new except for reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas for the first time. I liked that poem by James Greenleaf Whittier... the long one about a snow day whose name my memory fails me in recalling. Even though it's set in a completely different era, I can relate to the nature of it: waking up in the morning and shoveling the sidewalk after snow has poured the whole nigh, noticing how things don't look the same, carrying on about the day's business. Lovely poem, for them most part!

In English, I'm studying British Literature and have gotten up to Shakespeare. I liked a couple things by Sir Walter Raleigh but not sure what to look for in that respect. I'm considering reading something by Shakspeare, but I don't know exactly what, so I'll go to the library and see what they have and check it out.

And I'm going to stop rambling now! It was great to pass by here and see some familiar faces! (*waves to Matette* )

I finished the Mistborn trilogy a couple days ago, and am already planning to re-read to pick up all the stuff i missed or misunderstood the first time through; Brandon Sanderson certainly has a gift for crafting elaborate yet still understandable plots.

The ending was ... well, good, mostly, but a little odd. I'm not sure if it's because he's a Mormon or not, but Sanderson has interesting ideas about faith, divinity, etc.

I'm not sure if the books are adaptable -- probably far too expensive for a mini-series, but i can't see a movie able to cover everything even from just the first book -- which is a shame, because it would be awesome to see the fight scenes. There is a video game coming out in Fall 2013, but i'm not sure how that'll work out ... but that is a topic for another thread.

A quick search reveals this is only the third post about the Mistborn trilogy; has no one else here read it? If you're comfortable with violence (Hunger Games level?), fantasy religions, and something-that-might-be-magic-but-is-never-specified-as-such, i would highly recommend it.

I also read The Emerald Atlas by John Stephenson, a light fantasy for younger readers. It was an enjoyable read, pretty comedic, but not really stand-out -- it was a bit cliche, if not painfully so, the characters were little more than cookie-cutters, the villain was seriously underdeveloped, and the sibling bickering got a little old after a while. If you're looking for a light fantasy book .. i'd recommend Percy Jackson, but this wasn't bad either.

And i've started Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men. I think Pratchett comes down a little hard on fairy tales, and Tiffany seems shockingly mature and intelligent for her age, but it's still been good so far. And the Nac Mac Feegle are fantastic.

@Aslanisthebest: Hello to you too!
AiTBwrote:

'I'm considering reading something by Shakspeare, but I don't know exactly what...'

I'm going to be taking a unit on Shakespeare next semester too, although I'm pretty sure we'll have books assigned to us. Not that I'm any expert on S'peare, (I've watched his work more than read it) but I do really like and recommend The Merchant of Venice. It's far easier to 'get into' than say, Antony and Cleopatra, which I put down after the first chapter! Also, I think his romance stories are a bit, erm (at the risk of sounding sacreligious) silly? As a singing fieldmouse once said to Thumbelina, 'Marrying for love is a foolish thing to do- Romeo & Juliet were very much in love when they were wed. They honoured every vow, and where are they now? They're dead, dead! Very, very dead..'

Ahem. Anyway, I much prefer a hearty story about the quality of mercy, pounds of flesh and women dressing up as men. I'm aware that Shakespeare wields the English language like some sort of weapons master; so generally I just enjoy his phrasing whatever he's writing about- but I do prefer the less romantic plays. (Excuse all the italics, but I've just re-discovered them).

Now that I've bashed romance a bit, I will about face and say that I really enjoyed a classic romantic fairytale (which I've been meaning to read for ages ever since it was highly recommended by another N'webber, lysander). The story was Beauty and the Beast, re-told by Robin McKinley, and simply titled Beauty. Of course I enjoyed it. It was just done right; that is, you couldn't tell someone from our post-modern era wrote it, if that makes sense. I think it's the sort of classic fairytale that makes you feel warm inside the way a good cup of tea does (n'aww). My favourite part of the story was definitely the Beast- I really loved his portrayal. His personality was far more believable than the traditional versions; and his suffering was presented in such a way that you could more readily understand his change of heart, not to mention his endearing humility. Beauty's character was also very realistic (maybe even a little too pragmatic) and halfway through the story My only gripes with the story were that it was a little slow in parts and there could have been more dialogue between Beauty and Beast.

I actually bought it as an e-book, and thus discovered ebooks.com. I'll admit I sacrificed holding a tangible print book on the altar of convenience (I have a thousand-year old library fee) and my mini-laptop did almost overheat outside in the sun, but overall I thought the experience was repeatable.

I did want to include some thoughts on the excellent book, Persepolis, (has anyone here read/heard of it?) It was pretty big in Europe, not sure about the States. However, I think this post is long enough!

Welcome back, StudyMate! I agree with most of your thoughts on Beauty. It's probably my favorite retelling of that story that I've read so far.

My biggest concern (and I've noticed this with most retellings) was that the ending felt too rushed

I've heard of Persepolis if it's the graphic novel you're referring to. A classmate did a presentation on the film adaptation in a French cinema class I took in undergrad. I was interested in reading/seeing it. Let me know what you thought!

Hey shastastwin! Lovely to be back.

Oh yes, I've heard of the film adaptation- I believe it covers two novels, though I've only read the first which is a memoir about the author's childhood. I'm not going to do a very good job of explaining it, but as the book's jacket says, it's about: 'a child's-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the [Iranian] revolution.'

I really enjoyed the author's drawings; and the whole book reads like a comic strip (which I didn't think I'd be into at all, but it was really good). The author (Satrapi) is really witty, serious and humourous all at the same time.

It's a really political book, and it's probably the sort of commentary that wouldn't be released in Iran at all, but it's a brilliant autobiography. (And, erm, I hope this post isn't considered political, it's not meant to be).

In other news, I bought a beautiful green with gold leaf hardcover version of Robin Hood from the thrift store. Not to read, mind you, but just to look at on my shelf.

.................
What have I been reading lately? Not much of anything... I don't think. Does reading several chapters of the Bible a week count?

Hey, what can I say? Those early Old Testament books are LONG. Dad suggested skipping around so I don't get bogged down in the early books. But I'm just worried that if I don't read straight through, I'll skip only to my favourites... and the ones I've read the most. I know there are many parts of the Bible I haven't read yet... and being in my twenties, and having a Pastor for a dad... that's kind of embarrassing. So, straight through is what I'm doing. Anyone have tips on how to make it go a little faster?

I really want to get the most out of this endeavor that I can... yet still have it happen at a decent pace...

Sorry I'm just now getting around to replying to this - but I found something that might help.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/

this site has several different plans to choose from - chronological, 3 passages a day (OT, NT and Psalms/Proverbs - yes, I know that Psalms and Proverbs are part of the OT, but they are poetry books and are a place were people can get bogged down), etc. There are 6 or 7 different plans to choose from and they all include a check sheet to mark off each day's reading.

There is also this site:

http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.html

where you read from a different category on each day of the week - epistles, poetry, law, history, psalms, prophecy and the gospels - they'll even email you your daily reading and you choose the translation.

I've been thinking about doing this myself - and if you would like someone to read with/encourage each other in reading the bible through in a year - then PM me and I'll be more than happy to start one of these programs with you. Regardless - I hope that one of these sites might help.

@Princess Anna: I recently read the Bible front to back, and speaking from experience, it can get awfully tedious. Not just the early books, but also the epistles, prophets, gospels (the gospels meant essentially reading the same story four times in a row) etc.

I can't say I regret reading the Bible straight through, but I doubt I will do it again. I've started my second read-through of the Bible using a reading plan I made that spaces out the different categories of books (for example, the first books on the list are Genesis, Isaiah, Matthew, then Romans), and it's going a lot better.

I usually get bogged down in Psalms and Job. My brain isn't wired for poetry - I finally found a translation that is easier for me to understand Psalms - the New Century Version.

I recently read Swift(and eagerly waiting to read Arrow again) R.J Anderson It was an excellent book. Once I picked it up, I couldn't put back down. I don't know if I could say this is my favorite book of her's, since I really liked Arrow and Rebel as well.
My favorite characters were: Ivy, Richard, and Molly.

Anyone here read G. A. Henty?
He's a historical fiction author from the late 1800's.
His books are amazing!

Can anyone recommend a good animal series for me? Similar to the Redwall books, since I love those.