@courtenay 

I have listened to Mr. O’Flaherty’s podcasts quite often and I think his talks are very interesting. People will sometimes misquote a famous author like Lewis and unfortunately misunderstand him. It is then very helpful to have books with the actual quotes collected to look at. I think it is best to have Lewis’ ideas made more accessible with the quotations gathered for easy reference.

Posted by: @valiantarcher

@Kokoro-Hane, what did you think of Cinder? Do you think you'll read the rest of the series?

I'm still reading it (I'm over halfway now) and I am currently really enjoying it. At this point, I have no doubt I'll be checking out the rest of the series!

I’m reading Edmund Fitzgerald by Ella Andra Warner.  It is about the sinking of that ship in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. I remember reading about the tragedy when I was in college. It was so sad that 29 people perished on that day. Many years ago I visited the lighthouse at Whitefish Point, Michigan, which is not far from where the ship went down.  The lighthouse is well worth seeing.

Thanks for the further explanation on your thoughts on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, @jasmine_tarkheena! I've also read (at least most of) Arabian Nights, but it's been a while.

Sounds like you've been reading/buying a number of interesting books lately, @Narnian78.

I agree that childhood classics are a lot of fun, @SnowAngel, and I'm glad you're enjoying your rereads.

@Kokoro-Hane, I'm glad you're still enjoying Cinder!

I've been continuing to work through both unread books I own and library books. I finished my reread of The Return of the King and then also read The End of the Third Age, which contained information on some of Tolkien's earlier drafts of the second half of RotK (including an epilogue); there were a number of details in the latter book that I found intriguing including

I am currently reading The Complete Polly and the Wolf by Catherine Storr (another library book), an omnibus of stories about a girl (the titular Polly) who is continually having to outwit a (not very clever) wolf bent on eating her. I think they'll get a little repetitive if I continue to read them in one go, but they've been rather fun so far. I especially enjoyed the one where the Wolf goes after her toddler sister and gets more than he bargained for in trying to deal with her.

@valiantarcher I've never read that one by Catherine Storr, but I was introduced to her in a BBC children's radio serial of Marianne Dreams (way back in the 1960s). Our national radio network introduced me to several excellent children's books, and I would look for the books I liked best in the children's part of the city library. Later there were television adaptations of this one and its sequel, Marianne and Mark. I've just looked her up on google, and she's even written a book called 'Lucy'.  No connection with Narnia, I dare say, but how funny to have written about both a Polly and a Lucy! Her list of books includes a lot of Bible stories, retold by her.

I'm almost finished reading the Little House series, I read all the books about Laura and now I am just about finished with Farmer Boy. Why does there have to be so much food in Farmer Boy? Makes me want to bake and cook and garden...and eat.  

Over this past weekend I started reading The Other Worldview by Peter Jones. Multiple family members have recommended it to me, so I finally pulled it off the shelf and I've read a quarter of it so far. Not a quick read at all, but highly interesting.

SnowAngel

Does everyone here like the TV series of Little House on the Prairie as well as the books?  It wasn’t always completely accurate Laura Ingalls Wilder’s original stories, but the show was very entertaining. The acting was excellent with especially good performances by Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert. I have always liked the series, although I like the books too.  Of course the books are always better than the TV series, but it is a good adaptation.  The changes from the books don’t bother me too much.  There are some people who don’t like them, and it is sometimes said that the show is too sentimental, but I always liked it that way. 🙂

@coracle, a friend actually recently read Marianne Dreams and Marianne and Mark, so that's why I was looking into Catherine Storr's books. I couldn't access Marianne Dreams through the library system, but was able to get ahold of the Polly and the Wolf omnibus and so read that instead, which I did finish and enjoy.

@SnowAngel, I always wanted to make the taffy (I think that was it) from Farmer Boy that caused so much trouble while their parents were away. But I do also remember the popcorn and the potatoes off the top of my head, so there does seem to be an awful lot of food in that one.

@Narnian78, I think I saw a couple scenes from the show when a TV station was showing it, but that's it.

I've started a reread of LWW, which has been fun (it's been a while since my last read), and am currently reading a book about an intelligence agent in WWII England who was assigned to handle Nazi sympathisers and spies (I'm only in the second chapter, but it's been quite interesting so far). Otherwise, I'm in-between books, though I'll remedy that shortly, I think.

Posted by: @valiantarcher

@SnowAngel, I always wanted to make the taffy (I think that was it) from Farmer Boy that caused so much trouble while their parents were away. But I do also remember the popcorn and the potatoes off the top of my head, so there does seem to be an awful lot of food in that one.

The part with the candy is hilarious, that poor pig!  Potatoes always sound good to me. I found the ice cream, pie (so many pies in Farmer Boy), doughnuts, and apple cider sound especially good this time.  

Little sis and I went to the library on Saturday and I picked up the third book in the Caroline Years, Little Clearing In The Woods. The library had the first two books as well, but I am pretty sure I did not care for them when I read them years ago. I have the books four through seven which are not in the greatest of shape I discovered when I pulled them out of box yesterday. I guess I read them a few times.   

At some point our library got two Stephen Bly books that we don't have, little sis was getting a Terri Blackstock book and spied the Stephen Bly books on the next shelf. Looking forward to reading them after the other siblings.

SnowAngel

Watching a DVD of Little House on the Prairie TV series I was amazed at how much it was like the books even though it was not a strict adaptation. I don’t know what Laura Ingalls Wilder would have thought of it if she were living today.  There is much that was changed from the books. In fact most of the episodes are new stories that were made up by the people who created the television show. But I think they are about as tasteful and family friendly as the books themselves. Probably Laura Ingalls Wilder would have liked Melissa Gilbert’s acting.  Melissa was so talented in that series. 🙂

I probably like the Little House television series better than the books actually. I never liked historical fiction as a kid since it seemed like its purpose was to trick kids into learning about history.

@col-klink 

The Little House series of books was based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life.  She was a pioneer woman and there is nothing artificial or pretentious in the books. There is no tricking kids into learning about history. The books are directly based on Laura’s experiences of growing up on the prairie.  I have never heard anything negative said about them by people who have actually read them.  They have been considered great works of children’s literature by many people for generations.  I have always liked them even though some people might think they are girl’s stories and I am a man. I also like the Anne of Green Gables television series so the gender makes no difference to me.

Posted by: @narnian78

The Little House series of books was based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life.  She was a pioneer woman and there is nothing artificial or pretentious in the books. There is no tricking kids into learning about history.

I also don't like biographies.  

Posted by: @narnian78

I have never heard anything negative said about them by people who have actually read them.  They have been considered great works of children’s literature by many people for generations

I had them to read to me as a kid for school. I remember some things about them but don't really think they're interesting enough for me to have an opinion on them, positive or negative.

@col-klink 

Many people do find them interesting as both the books and TV series have been very popular through the years.  But if you are indifferent toward them, I guess that is your own taste. But other people’s tastes may be different from your own. I think the Little House books are excellent.  Biographies and historical fiction are legitimate works of children’s literature.  If you had not read the books since you were a child or if someone read them to you so long ago you should probably give them another chance. An adult may have a different perspective of them than a child.

Posted by: @narnian78

Many people do find them interesting as both the books and TV series have been very popular through the years.  But if you are indifferent toward them, I guess that is your own taste. But other people’s tastes may be different from your own.

Where in my posts did I write anything about other people's opinions?