I'm a complete newbie when it comes to N.D. Wilson. Hope I got that name right. I'm curious about this author and saw several of you guys have read his books. I was wondering if anyone would like to recommend something of his?

You got the name right, fk! If you're looking at his fiction, there are several options. Mel might have a different opinion, but I would probably recommend 100 Cupboards to start with (okay, maybe she won't ). For one thing, it's obviously influenced/flavored by MN & LWW, but is also very American in its setting (Kansas, so there's a bit of the Wizard of Oz flavor there). It's also a relatively quick read, and it stands fairly well on its own, so if you hate it, you can walk away without reading the other two books in the series.
If you want a non-magical adventure story, Leepike Ridge is a standalone book. My personal favorite (so far at least) is the Ashtown Burials series, which is...I guess it deals more with myths and is about an organization of explorers. The fourth and final book is currently hung up in some sort of publishing limbo, though, and so no one knows when it's going to come out.
There are a couple of other fiction books by him out there but I haven't read them yet.

Wilson has also written a couple of non-fiction books, Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl and Death by Living. I haven't had a chance to read either but I've heard excellent reports from those who have.

Hope this helps and didn't make it more confusing.

Mel might have a different opinion, but I would probably recommend 100 Cupboards to start with (okay, maybe she won't ).

Yeeeeeah, since my all-time-pry-from-my-cold-dead-fingers-favorite is Dandelion Fire, the middle book in the trilogy, I'm not going to recommend starting with it.

I'd suggest starting either 100 Cupboards or Boys of Blur (stand-alone and shortest) for his fiction (since my tastes skew toward fantasy) and Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl for non-fiction. Wilson melds Americana with a microscopic explosion of the everyday into the fantastic and a boyish fascination with dirt and baseball. Or something like that. I can't replicate his prose off the top of my head.

Figured as much, Mel. (Though maybe you're missing a "not"?)

I am currently reading The Women Who Wrote the War by Nancy Caldwell Sorel, about women war correspondents during WWII. My reading time has been rather sparse this past week, and the pace is a bit slow anyhow, but I'm about a quarter-way through now. It's interesting, but also disheartening: practically every (perhaps every!) new correspondent has been introduced with a bit of biography that includes this unhappy marriage or that love affair. :/

I'm thinking I'll need some lighter fare when I'm finished, and am considering my options. Though I'm not sure it'll matter much as I'll probably just pick up whatever book I have on hand when I finish. I have also brought up the last two books in the Riddlemaster trilogy in the hope that I can (after...5? 6? years) finally finish that series off; I'm hoping to muddle through without resorting to rereading the first book (I remember a quest and a harp and a riddle and some Gandalf-like-mentor, plus a lady in a hall, which is pretty decent for the length of time, so I think I shall sort it out).

I think I'll have to check out Airborn, then! It sounds like the kind of thing that would be up my alley.

These N.D. Wilson titles are making me curious—Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl sounds especially fun.

It's a shame about the broken marriages in The Women Who Wrote the War, Valia! Sounds like an interesting book, though.

Googling Kenny and the Dragon led me to the story that inspired it, The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame. I listened to an audiobook version of it while walking over the weekend and I really enjoyed it; the reader did a good job and the story was very cute and charming. I expected to like it, though, because I loved The Wind in the Willows when I was young. (Sorely tempted to reread that, but hopefully my copy of The Hobbit will show up at my door soon.)

Rose, I'd be curious to hear what you think of Airborn. And Notes from a Tilt-a-Whirl, if you read that or any other of Wilson's books.

Has anyone (besides Mel) seen the new covers for the Queen's Thief series? I have a few thoughts, but one of them is being a bit amused that after years of explaining to people that "the series doesn't have an official title, but it's called the Queen's Thief", they finally put it on the books.

Has anyone (besides Mel) seen the new covers for the Queen's Thief series?

On the one hand, I do like the design. On the other hand, it's very hard to get excited about new covers for the series when the fifth book isn't finished yet. And I'm really not sure I like the Queen's Thief as the official title. It's just a tad bit spoilery.

Lately, I've been bouncing back and forth between Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and Terry Pratchett's Night Watch series. I finally got all of the Night Watch books so I'm reading them in order, which is rather interesting since Thud! was the first Pratchett book I read and it's the fifth or sixth book in the series.

I am currently reading The Women Who Wrote the War by Nancy Caldwell Sorel, about women war correspondents during WWII. My reading time has been rather sparse this past week, and the pace is a bit slow anyhow, but I'm about a quarter-way through now. It's interesting, but also disheartening: practically every (perhaps every!) new correspondent has been introduced with a bit of biography that includes this unhappy marriage or that love affair. :/

Actually given the subject and the timeframe, I'd rather expect that sort of thing. If I were a history teacher, which, thankfully, I'm not, I'd be reading that book from the perspective of what they did, which opinions they were expressing in their war-correspondence, and what wars they were reporting on. I'd be asking, for instance, whether these women war-correspondents were entirely from America, a neutral nation until Pearl Harbour, from other neutral nations, or were they from next-door Canada, UK, New Zealand or Australia? Were there any from Axis powers? From refugees or from occupied countries? Does being a war correspondent include doing radio shows into enemy territory, like Tokyo Rose did for Japan? What other careers might war correspondents have had? And what happened to all these war correspondents after WW2 ended?

Or were there very few from such other countries, because there were already men doing that sort of job, because the women available to undertake such war service would be needed in other capacities, including nursing in military hospitals? Or else were at too much risk of being killed? Did the unhappiness and broken marriages in that book reflect the reasons why they were war correspondents? Such as women becoming widows, or being unable to look after missing or war-injured lovers? Or was their work as war-correspondents the main reason which which dictated the collapse of their marriages? I'd be interested to know how such women were treated during their careers as well.

You see, I don't remember directly any women war-correspondents from Australia in either war, though I'm sure some of the literary sorts we had at the time would have been quite outspoken, one way or another. Our war-correspondents who went to World War I included some very famous names such as C.E.M Bean who wrote a history of Australia's efforts in that war, and Keith Murdoch, reporting on the Gallipoli campaign who was instrumental in getting that campaign closed down at the end of 1915. Sir Keith Murdoch, of course, was the father of one Rupert Murdoch, a very powerful media mogul.

It's a shame about the broken marriages in The Women Who Wrote the War, Valia! Sounds like an interesting book, though.

Actually it does. But that was the way of things socially, during WW2. Either you got married and lived happily ever after, or you were a career girl, where marriage was out of the question, and heaven help the married woman whose marriage failed, especially if she became that femme fatale, the Divorced Woman.

In countries already combatants, women did all sorts of things from patriotic knitting and sewing bees, to taking over civilian men's jobs, going into nursing, working in munitions factories, even becoming SOE operatives - anything where women's help was acceptable and appreciated, including running farms or growing vegetable gardens. Often they were left with little option when men were fighting at the front and when those men who remained were incapacitated in some way. Or themselves were too old for service or were needed in occupations like mining, rescue work, and other emergency services. Even Queen Elizabeth served this way before WW2 ended, learning to drive a truck and carry out maintenance on it as well.

If the majority of the war-correspondents had broken marriages etc, it may be because that majority were USA citizens and until Pearl Harbour had already been pushed to develop a career in news services anyway. As a foil to reading that book, it might be a good idea to revisit that hairy old Jimmy Stewart Christmas special, Its a wonderful life, in which the hero revisits his life if he had not existed. Would his wife become a librarian, for example? Without qualifications, unlike a proper bluestocking? (Oops, like me, I'm afraid ) Well that sort of attitude was possible before World War 2 finished, and starry eyed peace lovers wanted to go back to that point of view in the 1950's. Alas some injuries that have been done can't be healed entirely. You can't really put the genie back into the bottle.

Valia, is there any mention of Wallis Simpson? Now there is a woman who in many ways wrote WW2 history, merely by existing, and being the subject of so much writing about the lead-up to WW2. If any of these American war-correspondents wrote about her, what did they say? And how was their perspective altered by their own unhappy experiences?

On the one hand, I do like the design. On the other hand, it's very hard to get excited about new covers for the series when the fifth book isn't finished yet.

I spoke to soon. Okay, now I'm excited. I hope it won't be another seven years until the next one.

Dot, after some discussion with my sister, I think I've figured out part of what's bugging me about the new covers: with the large, metallic font, they look like a cross between Rick Riordan's books and The False Prince. Also, I remember hearing that part of the long delay for Thick as Thieves (...I do not like that title) was that MWT was trying to be mostly done with book six first. However, what mostly done means to her and to the length of the wait, I do not know.
How is Mistborn going? I've read at least some of the Night Watch series, but I can never remember which ones and if I've possibly read them all.

wagga, the author chose to concentrate on correspondents for American newspapers and magazines---a topic already too broad for the book, as she lamented having to cut a number of reporters and stories. Therefore, most of the correspondents were American, though not all: there has been stories about an Englishwoman and others about an exiled White Russian lady.
Some had failed marriages and thus turned back to reporting, but others left their marriages to become reporters; not to mention the numerous affairs both single and married correspondents had while overseas. And there have been a few instances of married correspondents: about half of them had unhappy/unfaithful/failed marriages, but a few did have successful marriages, mostly working closely together (though a couple of wives became widows due to the work). Of these, the Mydans have been the most interesting: Carl and Shelley worked in China before the US entered the war, and had removed to the Philippines when things got dicey but were unable to safely get out before the Japanese arrived. They spent two years in prison camps before being repatriated to the US. There, they briefly recovered, and then returned to the Pacific Theater as soon as they could.
There was no mention of Wallis Simpson.

I'm almost done with The Women Who Wrote the War, and am facing the old problem of what to read (or reread) next.

I think I've figured out part of what's bugging me about the new covers: with the large, metallic font, they look like a cross between Rick Riordan's books and The False Prince.

Ah. Yeah, I see the resemblance. I do wish they had had Vince Natale do a cover for the new one that would go with the ones I currently have on my shelf. Out of all of the cover designs I have seen, those are my favorites.

How is Mistborn going?

I just finished a couple days ago. I read Bands of Mourning almost entirely in one sitting, and then the short story that was published online that I forget the title of. I must say, Steris definitely jumped to one of my favorite Sanderson characters after this last book. Although what I really want is an Alloy of Law movie with Hugh Jackman as Wax.

I finally managed to get my hands on a copy of '100 Cupboards' by N.D. Wilson. I'm going to ATTEMPT to go through it slowly instead of ignoring my kids, but that doesn't usually work out. I'll let you all know what I think.

I do wish they had had Vince Natale do a cover for the new one that would go with the ones I currently have on my shelf. Out of all of the cover designs I have seen, those are my favorites.

You're far from the only one with that wish. There's actually even a petition, though folks recognize it's almost certain not to work. Vince Natale's covers are gorgeous, though I only own KoA and CoK in them. I always forget about all the weird covers out there until I go to find a pic and then... o_O

I read Bands of Mourning almost entirely in one sitting, and then the short story that was published online that I forget the title of. I must say, Steris definitely jumped to one of my favorite Sanderson characters after this last book.

! I'd seen a few comments about Steris before I started the series, which made me pretty sure I'd love her. Then she was only in Alloy of Law for a little while! But she got more scenes in 2 and 3, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. (Though part of the reason I read each book so quickly was to get to her scenes...) Marasi was the one who had to grow on me. I, emm, appear to have completely forgotten that there was a short story online somewhere. If you happen to remember the title or find it again, could you let me know?
I wouldn't say no to a movie, either; I haven't given much thought to actors, but Hugh Jackman sounds like a pretty good Wax (I'm sure I've seen him in something besides bits of Oklahoma! ...).

Hope you like 100 Cupboards, fk. And hope you can find some time to read it.

wagga, the author chose to concentrate on correspondents for American newspapers and magazines---a topic already too broad for the book, as she lamented having to cut a number of reporters and stories. Therefore, most of the correspondents were American, though not all: there has been stories about an Englishwoman and others about an exiled White Russian lady.
Of these, the Mydans have been the most interesting: Carl and Shelley worked in China before the US entered the war, and had removed to the Philippines when things got dicey but were unable to safely get out before the Japanese arrived. They spent two years in prison camps before being repatriated to the US. There, they briefly recovered, and then returned to the Pacific Theater as soon as they could.
There was no mention of Wallis Simpson.

Yes, I thought so, and thank you for your summation. The story of the Mydans does sound interesting, as of course the Philippines were invaded shortly after Pearl Harbour, and the Mydans were lucky to get out of prison camps at all, let alone after only two years. There are horror stories aplenty about these camps. I've been watching an Insight program where the Australian presenter interviews various descendants of some main combatants in WW2, from Harry Truman to the great grandson of Hidekai Tojo, the Japanese Prime Minister, and the son of Edward (Weary) Dunlop, who was in prison camps after the fall of Singapore.

I've read quite a few of the sort of derring-do World War II novels a couple of which were about SOE agents in France, Spain and Portugal, sniffing around to get the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to go to the Bahamas and out of the way of WW2's European theatre. One of these was To catch a king by Harry Patterson. I ended up reading Debbie Cadbury's and Andrew Morton's 2015 biographies of the Windsors, and then found myself wondering how the controversial Wallis Simpson was portrayed in the American press of the time, and if this was the general impression, or just influenced by the sorts of journalists who might write articles.

If you happen to remember the title or find it again, could you let me know?

Had to ask my brother 'cause I borrowed his copy. Misborn Secret History is apparently only available as an ebook, but will be part of a collection of stories released in November (I suddenly know what I'm putting on my birthday list ). It was very . . . enlightening. I had guessed at a few things, but others completely took me by surprise. But that's how it is with most of his novels, probably why I like him so much.