When we were little, we made three of the adventures into radio dramas. I was Snowy and all of the women and minor male parts.

Really? That's how I was introduced to Tintin... via an audio drama. They had the same guy who plays Messala in the FotF RT version of Ben Hur as Nestor so obviously I needed to check it out from the library. I couldn't hear a resemblance, even though I like to think I'm good at that sort of thing, but it was delightfully funny if a little hard to follow. Which three did you do?

Also, I seem to recall that The Virginian is one of your favourite books? I just read it for the first time two months ago.

How are you liking the Henty? I haven't read that one.

It was quite interesting, even if I did loose track of which side was which several times. I think it was because the secondary hero was dropped like five chapters in and only recovered near the end of the book; so he didn't get to witness any of those battles. It has a few good chase scenes, though, and the version I read had very nice illustrations.

I'm pretty sure I haven't read St. Bartholomew Eve yet. But it might have slipped my mind since I'm pretty sure I've passed the point where I can count the Henty's I've read on both hands*

*assuming one uses base ten; but probably no one else goes, "But wait! If I use my fingers as binary placeholders, then I can count them all on one hand!" [/random observation]

It's great to see some other Tintin fans. I was reading the local newspaper today and they had an article on South Australian comic artists. The artists were talking about their inspirations and some referred to Tintin and Asterix. The only problem was that they spelt his name repeatedly as 'Tin Tin', which is incorrect. It's a pet peeve of mine.

Currently I'm reading:
The Sandman #7: Brief Lives - Neil Gaiman
Finding Lost: Season 6 - Nikki Stafford

Ooh, The Virginian? I LOVE that book, and that's saying a lot because I had to read it for school, and then I couldn't figure out if The Virginian was a moral character or not, so I had to slog through it again (the second time was slogging because I had just read it and I don't like to read books again so soon after the first read). And I still loved it, even after all that.

I read in the afterward that Owen Wister's plot formula in the book of having a strong lady as the love interest of the main character who spurned his love was pretty new at the time of his writing. In later years, it was copied many times, most notably by Star Wars (though who knew if George Lucas realized it? He probably got the idea from one of the other copies!).

I really like the character of the Virginian. It deepens and solidifies almost imperceptibly. I also love how he is so

Who wrote The Virginian? The title sounds familiar. I think there may have been a movie (with Gary Cooper in the title role?) -- does anyone know if they're related?

Owen Wister wrote it, lys. I think there was not only a movie, but also a TV series. But I only know that because it was mentioned in the Afterword.

I'd never heard of it until I found it on the shelf in the Westerns, and it was a Penguin Classic so I figured it'd be a decent read.

I found it interesting because I'm a fan of Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote using the same pattern, so I was spotting parallels to his stories all the time. You have the detailed landscape descriptions, and the more thoughtful philosophical narrator ramblings, and the sheer hilarity of some of the incidents. I'm not sure what to think of the way the narrator wandered in and out of the story; there's not really an explanation for how he learned of the other parts. That seemed odd to my modern eye.

Despite my "Best efforts", I finished Catching Fire in under twenty-four hours. But I did manage to put it down at bedtime like a good girl!

I'll admit that it wasn't quite as good as Hunger Games, with more far-fetched ideas.

some bits bothered me, such as

Spoiler

the way they spoke casually about nudity and how Katniss and Peeta HAD to sleep together for warmth. Nice. Just give it necessity, and it works.

Ahem. There's a lot more of that, too. And not nearly as much necessity. Though apparently nothing ever happens.
The violence was less intense, however, which was nice.

I don't know if I'm really thick, or what, but I never saw

coming. That was quite a shocker. Though I was right when was figured out
What an ending! I will certainly be reading the last one.
Unfortunately I've read certain spoilers on this thread, so I already knowYou'd think I'd know better then to do that, hmm? But it was before I started reading the series.

Be warned that The Hunger Games is by far the best installment in Collins' trilogy. It's all downhill from there.

Hey, I wouldn't say that. I think those three books are actually rare in the fact that the sequels are almost as good, if not as good, as the first. The first book certainly will have that "stand-alone-ness" and "epic" and just AWESOMEness, but the others have just as many exciting moments, and startling cliff-hangers. But maybe you didn't enjoy the series that much anyway...?

*Comes in gasping*

Just finished Mockingjay. And apparently I misremembered the spoilers I read -

Of all the books/series I've read, this one definitely takes the prize for most abused/suffering MC.

The violence level is about the same as that in Hunger Games. But I don't think Collins' writing quality went downhill for this one.

Spoiler

I'm pretty sure Katniss said 'yes' to the Hunger Games to throw Coin off.

I agree with you there. I think Katniss was capable of

anyways, but that she would have had to think about it a lot more then she did.

Spoiler

It never said that Castor had died.

Actually, it does. On page 323 of the hardcover 1st edition I read, Collins

Unless you just mean we don't witness

I ... "enjoyed" might be the wrong word, but i thought all 3 books in the Hunger Games series were about equally good.

It's been a while since i've had a chance to read anything new, so i'm re-reading Myst: The Book of Ti'ana now. It's not the most pulse-pounding read i've ever had, but it's not quite as dry as i thought it was last time, though still rather slow and ponderous.

I recently started Pratchett's The Wee Free Men.

@ Arwenel - I think Collins' books are essentially equal, quality-wise, as you say. All three are very "Good". I'm just not sure when/if I'll want to read them again. Though I probably will see the movie, if it's decent.

I think I'm in denial about

It's the thing that couldn't happen; I almost feel betrayed by the author! Silly me, I know. Authors can do anything they want in the story...

I'll be all right in a while.

I just finished An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa Alcott! And I like it. The story is very sentimental and I knew a lot of words. Haha.

But maybe you didn't enjoy the series that much anyway...?

As a whole, no, I didn't care much for it, although it certainly was addicting. I've never thought it was quite as good as some people claimed, but I did like the first book quite a bit. If it were a stand-alone, I'd probably buy it. The second lost points with me because the romance was a bit mushy and ridiculous. And the last one just made me angry.

Since I was last here, I finished Dracula, read Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel, and attempted to read a LibraryThing Early Reviewers book I won, titled Time Among the Dead. The du Maurier was the only one I liked. It was a really fascinating psychological suspense novel. I'm still thinking about it. Dracula alternately bored, disturbed, and annoyed me. Time Among the Dead was just awful, and very, very messed-up morally.

For consolation, I'm rereading Robin McKinley's Beauty.

I saw a classmate today finishing Prince Caspian as he is going through the whole series. I asked if he was doing it in anticipation of VTD but he sounded like he didn't even know it was coming out (blasphemy).

On a very shameless plug here. My novel, Battle Cry: Adventures in the Kingdom of Heaven, is on the verge of releasal. I have just received the final edited version from Lighthouse Christian Publishing and I am going over it one last time. Then it is a matter of cover design and that should be about it. Unless there are other major steps I am not aware of, I expect it will be released in three weeks or less. That is before Christmas. Once the date is set, I'll be posting it.

For consolation, I'm rereading Robin McKinley's Beauty.

I just finished that, and I loved it!
I'm still rereading the Westmark books, and I'm still reading the third Earthsea book, which is a little hard to understand, but the writing is beautiful.

Just finished Pratchett's The Wee Free Men. I liked it, though some parts were scary.