I'm rereading Miracles. Also rereading Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde.

I've never really found Julius Caesar that enjoyable. I'll agree Marc Antony's funeral speech is great (and oft-quoted) but overall it just just hold itself up compared to, say, Antony and Cleopatra. My favorite tragedies are Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. In comedies I like A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, and The Tempest best.

I'll agree, lys, Turner's books aren't readily available. I bought The Thief and Queen at bargain stores and ordered King and Conspiracy from Amazon.

I'm glad to hear people reading The Silver Crown. I haven't read it myself but I have been working on getting all of O'Brien's books for a while since I found out he'd written more than Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.

As for Persuasion, I'm only reading it because I have to read one of Jane Austen's books for school and Scarlet said it's the shortest. I really don't understand why so many people like Jane Austen's books.

Are you enjoying Persuasion, or no? *is curious*

No, I'm not really enjoying it. But I'm only a couple chapters in, so maybe it'll get better. Scarlet said it's okay I'm not a fan of Jane Austen, because J.A. already has plenty. Scarlet is one of them. Persuasion is too slow for my current taste, I prefer to read books by Lynn Austin, Tricia Goyer, Liesha Kelly, and Gilbert Morris & Lynn Morris. I'm trying to get into more classic lit, but it's tough! Where do I sign up to join the Overdone British Literary Adaptions Club ? I think I'd rather just watch the film version.

I'm going to switch and read One Shenandoah Winter by T. Davis Bunn this week and finish Persuasion after Christmas.

SnowAngel

I remember reading Cassie Loves Beethoven years ago, but I couldn't tell you what I thought of it. Must not have made much of an impression on me, I guess.

Currently reading Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel and The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks. Enjoying both.

Come the spring semester, I'll finally be able to join the Shakespeare conversations. I'm taking a Shakespeare class this semesters. Previously I've only read Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice.

I am currently reading The Host by Stephnie Meyer. I find it quite confusing at the moment because

No, I'm not really enjoying it. But I'm only a couple chapters in, so maybe it'll get better. Scarlet said it's okay I'm not a fan of Jane Austen, because J.A. already has plenty. Scarlet is one of them. Persuasion is too slow for my current taste, I prefer to read books by Lynn Austin, Tricia Goyer, Liesha Kelly, and Gilbert Morris & Lynn Morris. I'm trying to get into more classic lit, but it's tough! Where do I sign up to join the Overdone British Literary Adaptions Club ? I think I'd rather just watch the film version.

That's perfectly fine! Don't feel bad about not being a fan of Jane Austen or enjoying her books, maybe her work will be something you will come back to later on and find you enjoy it. But if not, that's fine too. I think I like your idea for a club, I enjoy (for the most part) watching the film versions as well.

I finished reading VDT, what a lovely book. I enjoyed the re-read immensely, all in all.

I am currently reading The Host by Stephnie Meyer. I find it quite confusing at the moment because

Spoiler

there are two protagonists talking . How? Well, the host is a human, while the other protagonist is a soul overtaking someone's body, the human, that's why it is called the host.(sorry to be confusing) Why is it confusing? Well, both are talking in some scenes and it is hard to decipher who is talking

. I hope I finish it soon! *fingers crossed*

I really like that book. While I really dislike the Twilight Saga, I think Stephenie Meyer did well on The Host. (I didn't find the main character annoying like I do with Twilight. )

A little tip:

Spoiler

When Melanie's talking, it's in italics.

The concept seems a little confusing on the surface, but once you get it, it's pretty easy to understand. At least I thought so.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

I recently read Curse of the Spider King but Christopher Hopper and Wayne Thomas Batson. While it was a good book with a new take on elves, I did have a problem with the characters. New characters were still being introduced more than 100 pages in, so I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to keep track of who's who. And since so many pages were spent introducing characters, I felt the story really didn't start until halfway through the book.

That being said, I still want to read the sequel.

But now, I'm reading The Inkheart Trilogy because I remember you guys talking about it a while back. I just finished with the Inkheart and I enjoyed it lots! I had read it once a long time ago, but I couldn't really remember what happened in the end. Now I'm ready for Inkspell, which I shall begin for the first time tonight!

Many thanks to Mel and Adeona for their input on my Attolia quandary.
Mel, that's a very interesting theory. I like it a lot.

Ly: Is a divo a male diva? We actually watched portions of the Branaugh Henry V in class (since Shakespeare was written to be watched) and I enjoyed what I saw. He does have some very impressive speeches. I'm more of a plot girl though and I usually like all the characters to have some sort of significance to the plot (one reason why I'm not usually a huge fan of the clowns in plays), so the play didn't sit well with me. I know that my desire to have everything fit is my bias as a modern reader, but I can't help it.
Thanks for the link to your reviews. I got The Alphabet of Thorn from the library and checked it with your review and was pleased to see that it was one of your favorites. I just picked it among the shelf-ful of McKillip because it looked appealing.
And I don't think I'll be picking up the Arkin book anytime soon, but it's always nice to hear about Hollywood actors who are well-rounded and genuinely talented people.

shastastwin: You prefer Antony and Cleopatra? I haven't read it. And no, I wouldn't say Julius Caesar is on of Shakespeare's best, but I found it interesting and it has a very different feel from pretty much everything I'd read by him up to the point that I read it.

Booky: please do let us know what you'll be reading for your class. I always find it interesting what plays get taught in curricula. I hope you enjoy the class!

I finished The Queen of Attolia in about 3 days. I still can't say that I'm as taken by it as most of the NarniaWebbers who have read them. Turner's storytelling is very detailed and I usually read quickly and I think I miss things, so it may be my fault, but I find the stories perfectly lovely, but nothing out of the ordinary. There are moments that I find ridiculous and I always get the feeling that Turner as a narrator is trying to hide things from me (which, she is, but I would prefer it if she didn't seem so sneaky about it. I want to be blindsided, not suspicious). And then the whole thing was resolved by Deus ex Machina, which, as Booky said a few pages ago, is just not that satisfying.

Rising_Star: Wow! Did you understood the

Kate, A&C is a bit more character-focused I find, and the titular characters are actually present for the whole play. Also, my Shakespeare prof always tells us about the production of it he saw with Anthony Hopkins and Judi Dench in the title roles, and ever since I've pictured those actors when I read it.

I went to B&N yesterday (while the fiancee was at the dentist) and picked up the second book in Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series and the first three of his Dresden Files (they had a bargain box set). I read the first Codex Alera a while back and enjoyed it, and the series promises to continue the thrills. So far I'm liking Dresden. Very fun noir-fantasy, though not for younger readers.

I also received Belle by Cameron Dokey as a Christmas gift. As Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale, I'm really looking forward to this retelling. It's part of the Once Upon a Time series that I've seen mentioned on here before, with some of the books being highly recommended.

flambeau, it's called Ivanhoe because Ivanhoe has the coolest name.

Aha! Of course, why didn't I pick up on that?

I finally finished the book last night. Overall it was a decent story, but I found it to be too slow for my taste, as well as providing too much information (I mean, honestly, does it actually matter in the long run if we know just how everyone in the book is related to someone else? Or the exact layout of the castle that this particular scene is taking place in?). I thought that the 'main characters' were rather underdeveloped considering how much the plot revolved around them (though more around them than actually about them). I did like his use of Robin Hood and his gang though. That was probably what made the book worthwhile for me.

Also, because Sir Walter Scott likes to confuse people. I'll have to ask my dad, but I don't think his title characters are ever the most central or interesting of the people in the book. The Bride of Lammermoor certainly should have been titled The Last of the Ravenswoods, or something like.

I am currently trying to decide what book I should read now. I've actually finished all of the ones I was reading through, so now I'm slightly stumped for reading material. *scratches head*

--- flambeau

I am re-reading "Tomorrow When The War Began" by John Marsden.....I just love this book and the whole series!

First off, as requested, here is my review of The Silver Crown.

And given our current Shakespeare my discussion, here's a review of A Midsummer Night's Dream as well.

Ah, so you've read some of Peters' contemporary mysteries then, Mel? I've only read the Cadfael books. How do they compare? I do own a series of Welsh historical fiction by her, but somehow I've never gotten around to reading it.

You do an awful lot of rereading, Lady Haleth.

I've never really found Julius Caesar that enjoyable. I'll agree Marc Antony's funeral speech is great (and oft-quoted) but overall it just just hold itself up compared to, say, Antony and Cleopatra.

It's funny -- JC was pretty much required high school reading for our parents' generation, but its popularity has seemed to lapse somewhat, and I know it has never been a favorite of the critics. But I enjoyed the movie version I watched, and the play has always intrigued me. I suppose I'll have more to say about it once I've read it.

I'm going to switch and read One Shenandoah Winter by T. Davis Bunn this week and finish Persuasion after Christmas.

Hey, one of the ladies in my writer's group is a huge fan of T. Davis Bunn! Have you read many of his books? Which is your favorite? (Mental note: I also need to ask her which is her favorite.) In general, I'm the opposite of you in terms of reading tastes -- I find that most contemporary Christian fiction is of very poor quality (exceptions include Jan Karon, Bodie Theone, and Jack Cavanaugh) -- but I'm definitely willing to give Bunn a try.

Ly: Is a divo a male diva?

In brief: yes.

I think, with Henry V, the importance of the characters is more evident when one has read Henry IV Parts I and II. Of course, I haven't, but I've always taken the play, in the context of the film, on its own terms, and got along quite nicely. Again, we'll see what happens when I read it.

I wrote that Alphabet of Thorn review pretty early into my McKillip fandom ( ), but I still stand by most of what I wrote then. I don't think the characters or setting are among my very favorites from her books, but in terms of plot construction, it's one of her very best. Which of hers have you read, again? The Bell at Sealey Head, right? And did you ever make it through the Riddle-Master trilogy? If you read a fair amount of hers and enjoy her style, I'd recommend Winter Rose. It's one of her more difficult works, but oh so beautiful.

shastas, I read several of those Once Upon a Time books years ago, and they're definitely a mixed lot. Dokey's The Storyteller's Daughter, which inaugurated the series, was quite good, as I recall. But her Beauty Sleep
was a real "wow, that came out of left field" book for me.

For some reason I've forced myself into a short story phase. Despite the fact that I'm really disliking my current fantasy anthology, I picked yet another one up from the library yesterday. But this one, at least, is about dragons, and includes tales from the likes of Patricia McKillip, Jane Yolen, Diana Wynne Jones, George R. R. Martin, Anne McCaffery, Peter S. Beagle, Ursula K. LeGuin, etc.

And at the mini book sale the library has every Saturday and Monday, I picked up the following:
- Selected Poems of the Brontës
- Crown Duel/Court Duel by Sherwood Smith
- Arthur by Stephen Lawhead

Yep, I'm back on the rereads with Percy Jackson. On the first book now.
I don't really have any new books, though I'm planning to check out more Discworld books when I go back to college.