Recently I've been reading a lot of WWII history. Mostly books by Stephen Ambrose such as Citizen Soldiers, D-Day, Band of Brothers and the Pacific by his son Hugh. They are all really great books, very easy to read and always engaging. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone at all interested in WWII history

aragorn2, I have a alternative history WWII book that I am working on. It's called "America Under Attack" and it is under the premise of "What if Germany had developed the technology for long-range bombers and if New York became the next Pearl Harbor?" It is mostly accurate historically (some technological 'cheats' were done to make the story work). It is by Jeff Kildow, whom I met at the Colorado Christian Writer's Conference last year. But I don't think it's available for purchase right now because his publisher closed late last year and he is seeking to get a new one.

I recently read a very good book called Pride and Prejudice. A friend recommended it to me after watching my sister's blog. She said it reminded her a lot of my life. I... didn't really agree with her. But I was able to relate quite a bit with one of the main character's sisters!

oh my goooooooooodnesss how can you not see a similarity i mean your name is like jane bennet just like jane bennet in pride and prejudice and like theres all this drama that your sister has been talking about that happens in the book too except they talk all prim and proper in the book and i could never figure out why.................................

I just realised it has been quite some time since I posted in this here lovely thread. I cannot even recall my last post.

Life has been a bit busy (with lots of life-changing events occurring), but thankfully I have still been able to read a fair amount, although largely now I only get to read in chunks- so I could read 100 pages in one evening, and then go for days without reading.

At the moment I am reading Vanity Fair by William Thackeray, which has been quite good. I have about 300 pages left or so, and have been reading it for a month now. Concurrently I have been reading The Iliad, which has also been good- although I am half tempted to learn the original Greek, or whatsoever language it was in which the tale was written, as my particular version is shockingly modern in language. I am pretty sure neither the ancient Greeks or Trojans would have used the word "boyfriend", as that word was, from what I know, brought into being in 1913. Anno Domini.

On another book-related note, I am now the librarian's assistant at our church. (Now, if I am the librarian's assistant, does that make me assistant librarian, or are the two roles different? Hmmm...) The church librarian is a very good friend of mine, thus she most kindly allowed me to volunteer. And then I sort of graduated from being simply a volunteer to being her assistant. Or her sidekick, to borrow a phrase she used. We've been creating an electronic catalogue, and doing quite a lot of sorting, organising, and inputting of data. It's been grand. There is actually one or two novels that I thought looked rather good- and so, when I finish my own reading (as if), and am able to start on the reading the librarian wishes me to do, I might try those first. The other nice part is that in May there is a church librarians' conference coming up, and I get to go with her.

My reading schedule has been the same, Fanny. Though, I have gotten to read more, for which I am very grateful.

LOL, about the Iliad's translations. Bad translations are so painful. I got Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky and though the translation is not that bad, it is a bit unusual. I'm not sure if this is how Dostoyevsky wrote, but sometimes, the expressions seem to be a bit more British than Russian. It's not bad, but I'm putting it down until I can find another translation to compare with it.

I just got a treasure from the library! G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown (with the charming Modern Library cover.), P&P (time for a reread.), and Les Miserables. I am now reading Les Mis... I have the translation by Norman Denny that is abridged, but it's okay for my first reading. It's the Penguin Classic edition - I like the translation so far, and I like the format of the book.
I just finished Part 1 and have gotten to Part 2 - Cosette. ... I skipped a good deal of that battle at Waterloo part. I tried and tried and by the time I got through it with much skimming, I had to go to sleep... just when things picked up.
I like the book so far. There are some interesting ideas presented, and there are things here and there that I agree with and others that I do not. The words chosen, however, are just beautiful. The sentence structure is a treat to read.

So, I'll try finish that one and read Father Brown next.

I bought my first book of the year just over a week ago, By the Light of the Silvery Moon by Tricia Goyer. It's a very good book, I really enjoyed it. I hadn't read any books about the Titantic before, I found it quite interesting.

I recently found a "new" author, Charles Martin, my library has most of his books. I got When Crickets Cry the last time we went to the library. It was excellent, it had everything you want in a great story. It had compelling characters, an interesting setting, and a terrific plot. I am definitely going to be reading more of his books.

SnowAngel

Well, the Diana Wynne Jones fans will be happy to know that I've finally started reading Howl's Moving Castle. I'm only a few chapters in, but it's full of typical DWJ humor.

I'm also reading (as I mentioned in the Tolkien thread) the History of Middle earth books, starting with The Book of Lost Tales, Part 1, which has been very entertaining and enlightening so far. I've enjoyed seeing the alternate versions of the Valar's doings.

I'm also rereading the third Harry Potter book. I've begun reading more at once than I typically do, probably because it is summer.

Recently, I read a book called The Magic and the Healing by Nick O'Donohoe. It's about a veterinary student whose professor puts her on a special rotation where she treats and interacts with mythical and magical beings (unicorns, centaurs, griffins, etc.). It was a great read, and very well constructed. There was some coarse language and profanity, but not more than I would expect in a PG-13 movie (much less than many). I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys medical/veterinary drama or just a good read. There are two sequels, one of which I have and the other I need to track down.

I finished Les Mis, most of Father Brown (which I really liked), and just finished a reread of The Theif.

Father Brown was really good. I put Manalive on hold. More good books to read!

My reread of The Theif - This was the first time I've read it in three years, and it was interesting to compare and contrast my initial regards for the book and my current ones. I think I understand it more now. I enjoyed certain aspects of it, but still am not sure about others. Anyways, I'm rereading the whole series to see what I think of them. I finally understood the major plot twist in the end.

I finished Howl's Moving Castle and I have to say I enjoyed it as much as everyone said I would. I want to read the sequels, but I haven't been able to find them yet.

I also finished BoLT part 1. I won't start part two for a while. I need a brief Tolkien break so I don't get bogged down in these HoME books.

I've also started rereading Lois Lowry's The Giver and its related books. She apparently released a fourth book in the set, called Son, and I ordered it through Amazon, so I am reading the others again before I start that one. I
m intrigued by the brief summary in the Library of Congress description because

I've been delving into science fiction of late. Not sure why, just felt like I should try reading some and see if it's as good as I hear it is. So I decided to start with some novellas and short stories.

Roadside Picnic - by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. This is Soviet Russian Sci-Fi (which tends to be dark, surreal, and at times philosophical, from what people have told me). At some point at the end of the 20th century Earth is visited by aliens who set down on 6 different areas of the planet. They leave only a few days later without contacting anyone but their short stay here has resulted in 6 zones across the world which contain a myriad of strange artifacts whose purpose is unknown. The Visitation Zones, as they come to be known, are also highly dangerous to humans, with vegetation and animal life mutating and sites of radioactivity. Because the Zones are so dangerous to humans, individual treasure seekers, folks who go into the Zone to retrieve artifacts spring up. They become known as Stalkers, and they get rich from bringing otherworldly gadgets out for scientists to study. There are 4 separate stories contained within the novella, which generally covers Redrick "Red" Schuhart, a veteran Stalker who makes frequent forays into the Zone to support his family. His ultimate goal is to make his way to the center of the Zone, where legend holds that the Golden Orb can be found, an artifact of incredible power that is said to grant wishes to those who find it. This is a real page turner of a story, and not too terribly long. I found a free copy on wikipedia and read it over the course of 3 days (when I had time). Highly recommended!!!

A Meeting With Medusa - by Arthur C. Clarke. This short story, set about 100 years from now, revolves around Howard Falcon, an airship pilot who is horribly injured during the maiden voyage of the Earth's largest vehicle ever built, a mile and a half long airship. After several years, and numerous surgeries to repair and ultimately "enhance" Falcon, he volunteers for the most dangerous assignment ever, one which his experience as an expert airship pilot gives him an edge on that most others don't have: to descent into the atmosphere of Jupiter and see what is there just underneath its clouds. Falcon traverses the Jovian atmosphere in a special airship called the Kon-Tiki, and marvels at the sheer size of Jupiter's cloud formations and the clarity of the vision (he can see clouds 100 miles away in great detail). But the story really takes a dramatic turn when he discovers something within Jupiter's clouds that no one on Earth ever expected to see. I cannot even begin to tell you how very good this story is and highly recommend it. It took me about an hour to read and the writing was wonderful, descriptive, and made me yearn to go do what Falcon was doing, despite the dangers. 5 stars!

I'm currently into my annual read of Lord of the Rings, but of course I read other things too.

I just got some books by [the writer who was my favourite living author until she died last year] Diana Wynne Jones (file under Jones), on an online auction. One of them is a hardback copy (no dust cover) dated the same year of the first edition, and I am now wondering if it's actually First Edition. I value it for the story, but I do already have a paperback edition.

We did have a DW Jones thread once, but it petered out. If you are keen to read other books than Howl's Moving Castle (of course the book is far better than the anime movie), feel free to PM me or ask here.

I'm in the middle of a LotR reread as well. My little sister got the extended editions of the films for my birthday and we had so much fun marathoning them that we both decided we weren't ready to leave Middle-earth yet.

She tried to read the book before and got lost halfway through FotR; this time she's devouring the whole thing and loving it. I spent all this time encouraging her not to give up in the Council of Elrond chapter because so many people get bogged down there (although I love it) and it ended up being her favorite part.

Next up is John Steinbeck's East of Eden. This will be my first venture into Steinbeck and that era of American literature in general, so it should be interesting. Has anyone read it?

I'm also reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn for the first time. Such an amazing, profoundly inspiring book. His vision for heaven is magnificent; it's wonderfully similar to the perspective Lewis must have had to write the Real Narnia in LB the way he did.

coracle, so jealous of your first-edition Diana Wynne Jones. What an amazing find! She's one of my favorite authors as well; do you have a favorite work of hers?

I just finished my (rather newly) annual/summer re-read of LotR as well! And of course I enjoyed it just as much as last year, when I re-read it, and first really understood and comprehended and enjoyed it. There were a few differences, though. Although I had read the book a few times in years past, last year it was as if I was discovering something entirely new, but this year it was as if I was returning to visit an old friend. Still quite enjoyable, of course. (And my sister just bought the EE LotR dvds as well for herself, for $10 a piece, when she was down visiting me. But I told her she should read the book first... which as she is not a reader and quite busy, probably will be a thing she can't do for some time.)

Now I'm re-reading at least all of Austen's major works. I decided that this summer would be the summer wherein I re-read some of my favourite childhood and young adult favourites- so that would be Lewis, Tolkien, Austen, Gaskell, and such. I don't think I'll have time for Dickens or Tolstoy, though. One does rather have to be realistic.

I'm also reading Heaven by Randy Alcorn for the first time. Such an amazing, profoundly inspiring book. His vision for heaven is magnificent; it's wonderfully similar to the perspective Lewis must have had to write the Real Narnia in LB the way he did.

I love that book! It really makes one thirst for the world beyond this one, a world so vast in size and scope that it'll take us eternity to explore it all. A series of never ending adventures where we are never separated from God.

I finished a YA book called The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen, which is purportedly the beginning of a trilogy. The first book is about a 14-15 year old orphan named Sage who lives on the streets of one of the smaller townships in the kingdom. He's purchased by a noble along with a few other boys his age and groomed to act as the royal family's long believed dead son, Prince Jaron. The writing style reminded me a great deal of The Thief, and it wouldn't surprise me if Nielsen picked up a few pointers from reading that book. There's a plot twist about 2/3rds of the way through the book which kind of threw me for a loop and the story really took off from there. I'm anxious to read the next one, though it'll have to wait till' we get home from vacation!

Next up, continuing my Sci-Fi explorations I read a short story called Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (who wrote a whole novel called Green Mars, part of an unrelated 3 book epic called the Mars Trilogy, which is on my to-read list). Mars has been terraformed at some point in the future and mankind has set up shop permanently on the formerly Red Planet. As a special boon (and it's never explained how in the story), humans are able to lead vastly extended lives, up to 1000 years if I read right, although the catch is human memory, not built for remembering things for such long periods of time, tends to dissipate after 100-200 years. The main characters are a group of 300 year old adventurers who decide to do a bit of mountain climbing. Specifically they decide to scale none other than Olympus Mons, the tallest mountain in the solar system, 3 times the height of Mt. Everest. So vast in size is it that it will take almost two months for the team to reach the summit of the extinct volcano, if all goes well. The main character, Roger, is a former government worker who has the rare gift (or curse) of being able to remember everything that everyone else forgets, including the leader of the expedition, Eileeen, who he had a relationship with in their 20's, though she can no longer remember this. At times sad, bittersweet, and philosophical (Roger spends much of the story grieving over the loss of Mars "natural" red condition) the story grows on you as it goes on. I have no idea why people climb mountains when they don't have to, and I generally avoid books or movies about the subject. But I think I understand it quite a lot better now that I've read this one. Definitely recommend!

I've also started a new sci-fi book with some horror underpinnings called Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. The gist is this: At some point early on in the 21st century some sort of calamity befalls the surface of the Earth, which is covered in radiation and largely uninhabitable. Survivors from Moscow retreat into the city's famous metro system, which is apparently vast in size. Once filled with commuters and passenger trains, the tunnels of the metro now house a number of small city-states which are surrounded by endless tunnels filled with marauders, mutated humans and animals. Each city-state apparently has its own personality, for lack of a better word: one re-embraces Soviet era Marxism while another forms a trade empire. And there are dozens of smaller settlements scattered throughout the tunnels. But something has the locals, who have been essentially trapped below ground here for almost 20+ years, getting antsy. Rumors are spreading of settlements disappearing, patrols that go out and disappear without a trace, and always in the back the fear that the mutants will creep into camp and...eat everyone. Folks, I'm only one chapter in and this is one of the most dark and atmospheric books I've ever read in my life. The man can write! They've made some video games from the book (which is how I heard of it) and now there's apparently a sequel called Metro 2034, although it hasn't yet been translated into English from what I can see. As soon as I log off here I'm headed to bed to get another chapter in!