I recently read Fever Crumb by Phillip Reeve. It's a prequel to his Hungry City books. In it, we meet a young orphan girl named Fever Crumb who was adopted by a member of a group of scientists that live in a post-apocalyptic London. After hundreds of years of war and rebuilding, a group of mutants took over London and ruled it with an iron fist. The story takes place in the years following their overthrow and Fever is connected to them. I didn't think it was quite as good as the others, but still a very inventive look at a future London. The ending is a bit open-ended, so I suppose there could be more books to come. It would be nice to see more about London becoming a moving city and the other cities copying that.
Also read a book called Worldshaker which I suppose qualifies as steampunk as it takes place in a nearly two century old city-sized landship that is all that remains of the British empire. The population of the ship is divided between the upper decks people and the Filthies, the poor who do all the work to keep the machinery working. It's yet another set up for a series, but it was good enough and portrayed an interesting enough world that I'd be interested in reading the future books in the series.
I finished reading Forest Born by Shannon Hale today. I was so excited when I found it because I love her other books. I was disappointed in this one just a little bit. I didn't think it was as good as her other ones, but thats just me. Maybe it's because of the lack of romance...
I have to admit I also kinda wished there'd been some romance in it. Not because I think every book HAS to have it, and I suppose a change is nice and all, but I love the way Shannon Hale writes her romances--and it would be fun to read another.
I've read a few good books latly, suppose I should post about them.
The Sea Captain's Wife by Beth Powning
I loved this book And my mom read it too and really enjoyed it. It's one of the best books I've read in a while. It's about ships, and a woman and her relationships with her husband and daughter, and about her "finding herself" and becoming more of her own person and working thru some issues in her life. I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but the way it was written was just so beautiful, not to mention there was lots of action with it being on a ship and all. It is an Adult book so there is a tiny bit of stuff some readers might not be comfortable with. Not graphic/explicit, as I explained to one friend, more "mentions of things". Anyway, my mom liked it, if that tells you anything.
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
I'm actually in the middle of this book, so I suppose I can't give a full opinion on it but so far it's quite good. My mom also read this one and told me she enjoyed it. It's sort of a mystery type book, with each chapter told in the voice of a woman from a different generation of a family. It's about the search of a woman to discover her family roots, after she learns that her "parents" aren't really her parents and they never had any idea where she really came from. Kinda a lousy summary but hopefully that wets your appetite.
Lastly, I just got this book and will read it once I get all my library books finished--
Some sort of Little Red Riding Hood re-telling.
"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." Marilyn Monroe
well, I tried reading "The Hunger Games" - and failed miserably. I guess it's not my kind of book. it freaked me out.
NW sister - wild rose ~ NW big sis - ramagut
Born in the water
Take quick to the trees
I want all that You are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADBC57vKfQ
The Hunger Games can be pretty intense. I enjoyed it, but I also completely understand why others might not. It's not a book that I could read frequently.
I just finished reading "The House On The Gulf" by Margaret Peterson Haddix and it's amazing! I totally recommend this to anyone!
NW sister - wild rose ~ NW big sis - ramagut
Born in the water
Take quick to the trees
I want all that You are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADBC57vKfQ
^yay I'm glad you liked it- I enjoyed it a lot when I read it a couple years ago
right now I'm giving The Two Towers another try. I actually really like it this time around- I'm about a quarter of the way through and it's only been 3 or 4 days.
I am halfway through (for the first time) a book which I believe may have some literary siginificance even outside its author's home country: A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. I believe the author may also be notable for some other works of excellence and importance. One I believe is read often and shown on TV or movie theaters at Christmas time.
As far as the story goes: Intersting characters and times. I really like Dicken's style of writing and storytelling.
Where I am in the story:
Loyal2Tirian
There is definitely no "a" in definite.
The Mind earns by doing; the Heart earns by trying.
I'm reading Dracula right now. I didn't know that it was in journal form. I'm kinda iffy on the style of writing. So far I'm having hard time getting through it, but I really want to see what happens.
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Ooh, I love Dickens, GlimGlum, and that's one of my favorites of his books. I think I've actually read them all. But he's magnificent.
NW sisters Lyn, Lia, and Rose
RL sister Destined_to_Reign
Member of the Tenth Avenue North and Pixar Club
Dubbed The Ally Of Epic Awesomeness by Libby
I just read The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie, and I must say that I really enjoyed it! The characters were engaging, the plot was excellent and kept me guessing, and the writing was great! I'd never read anything by Christie before, and so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was really good. I have a feeling I'll be reading some more of her work in the future. My mom has read a few of her other Poirot mysteries, and liked them as well.
Also, it appears some genius decided it would be a good idea to publish Ivanhoe in two separate volumes, instead of just doing it all in the same book... and it turns out that I only purchased volume one (The thrift store didn't have volume two, and I didn't realize that). So... yeah. I've read half of it now. I looked around on ebay yesterday for volume two, but couldn't find it for a reasonable price, so I ended up buying a 1910 copy for $10 (counting shipping). Anyone want to buy a good condition copy of volume one?
@ Glimmie, I think I've heard about that book somewhere. It sounds vaguely familiar (as in, it only has one of my favorite book characters of all time in it.). Glad to hear you're enjoying it! I went through a Dickens spell a few years ago where I read pretty much all of his books that our library had. I liked most of them, if I recall correctly.
--- flambeau
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I love Charles Dickens, too! Although, so far I've only read Hard Times, A Christmas Carol, and part of great Expectations.
I've been reading some of the book Ella Enchanted. It's such a cute story! It's so drastically different from the movie, though! I didn't like the movie much, so I wasn't too keen on reading the book. But I decided to give it a try, since I heard some people on here liked it. And it'sactually really good!
~Riella
^yes, it is! The movie changed everything.
I'm still trying to finish reading The Last Unicorn for the second time. Yesterday I raided the Young Adult section at the library and came out with seven books:
The Beggar Queen, by Lloyd Alexander. I wanted to finish the trilogy. Though I haven't started it yet, I've already flipped to the ending.
Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit. I rather liked The Enchanted Castle, and especially enjoyed The Magic City, so I wanted to try the one with the grouchy fairy.
The Borrowers Afield. The only one our library at home didn't have.
Poppy and Rye, by Avi. I really liked some of the other books.
The Cat Who Wished To Be A Man, by Lloyd Alexander. The title alone drew me in--I think the author was very fond of cats.
Eight Cousins, by Louisa May Alcott. I'd been wanting to reread this.
And next time I'll pick up Fairest.
The glory of God is man fully alive--St. Iraneus
Salvation is a fire in the midnight of the soul-Switchfoot
Lady Haleth - I enjoyed that trilogy by Lloyd Alexander, though it left me a little unsatisfied. I should read it again.
And Five Children and It is a fun book!! I always like reading it. I need to read more of E. Nesbit.
And I so need to read The Cat who wished to be a Man. I believe I read it a long time, and loved it. But I can barely remember.
Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom are sweet books.
And I just finished Fairest! On my trip to MI, I finished . .
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I've started it twice, so this time I determined to read it all the way through!! I enjoyed it, and it presented some very interesting idea's, like all of his books.
I read . .
Fairest, which I love!! It's so sweet, though not as good as Ella Enchanted. I want to own it.
I started . .
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It's such a great read so far, its very helpful for me seeing how many ways the Devil seeks to lead us astray. I can't wait to finish it.
NW sisters Lyn, Lia, and Rose
RL sister Destined_to_Reign
Member of the Tenth Avenue North and Pixar Club
Dubbed The Ally Of Epic Awesomeness by Libby
@ Glimmie, I think I've heard about that book somewhere. It sounds vaguely familiar (as in, it only has one of my favorite book characters of all time in it.). Glad to hear you're enjoying it! I went through a Dickens spell a few years ago where I read pretty much all of his books that our library had. I liked most of them, if I recall correctly.
--- flambeau
Glad you got my reverse exaggeration of the irony of the sarcasm of the wit of the whatever I was attempting to impart. (Sometimes I don't know what I'm saying or doing. )
I love Charles Dickens, too! Although, so far I've only read Hard Times, A Christmas Carol, and part of great Expectations.
Ooh, I love Dickens, GlimGlum, and that's one of my favorites of his books. I think I've actually read them all. But he's magnificent.
I plan on reading more then. Can't believe it took so long to read a work of such a renowned and acclaimed author.
Loyal2Tirian
There is definitely no "a" in definite.
The Mind earns by doing; the Heart earns by trying.
I've missed coming to this thread and blabbing.
Today, I finished To Kill a Mockingbird; second read. I liked it immensely, even more than when I read it the first time. It is an extremely vivid book. I had forgotten how hilarious it is.
Before that, I read Quo Vadis, but I wasn't particularly impressed by it. I read Jeremiah Curtain's translation, but sometimes I could feel it was translated. I imagined everything fairly well, and it seemed alive, but I still wouldn't rate it very highly. Perhaps I hold a grudge against it, because it took me 16 days to read?
For those of you who love Charles Dickens, and have read many of his books, which are your favorites, and why? I fell in love with him last year, and have read maybe half of his books. His style of writing, is, in my opinion, brilliant. I love it, and have to keep coming back to it. But I was noticing, last month, as I read Great Expectations, that there aren't many of the usual reasons to love his books, such as characters and plot. You love his characters, but few of them are really nice, few you would like to live with. His plots are nearly always sad, in some fashion. And so, I haven't been able to decide which ones I like best, in any way, because no character seems to stand exceptionally closer to me than others, no plot pleases me more. I am not elucidating like I would wish, but what do you all think? Which do you like best, and why?
When I read the Father Brown stories, flam, I got really excited about Flambeau. My favorite stories were the ones he was in, and the one where the man goes to the restaurant, and says, "I want, please, one half penny bun and a small cup of black coffee. Also, I want you to marry me."
I nearly squeal just thinking about it.
(I am trying to find a word that describes those perfect books that make me so happy, I have to express it someway. So far, I haven't found a good way to express it, either.)
100th post. (Finally.)
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