So anyone here read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry ?

I read it in middle school. Can't remember much, if anything, of the book itself. i just remember not being terribly impressed by it. But my word shouldn't be taken strictly, I have gone around to some books I was forced to read in school- though I disliked them at the time, I find them rather enjoyable today.

I just finished reading Rebecca. it was great! I couldn't put it down, it was so suspenseful and beautifully written.

I haven't read Rebecca yet, but I actually have two copies of it, and I loved the Hitchcock movie. So that's going on my to read list this year.

Another great book that I would recommend is the Amityville horror. It genuinely creeped me out--I had nightmares for months! It was great.

Well, I'm not W4J, but I have read and loved the Harry Potter series. Basically, Harry Potter magic consists of pointing a special stick and saying some badly phrased Latin and voila! magic happens. No matter what your beliefs on real world magic are, I think we can all agree that you can point a stick at a bookshelf and say "Accio book!" until you're blue in the face and nothing is ever going to happen.

The Inheritance Cycle's magic is more troublesome because it relies upon a person's life energy to work. So for Eragon to do something very big, he either has to harm himself or he can pull that life energy from outside sources. In battles, this takes the form of ripping the life out of enemy soldiers to fuel spells. And the first instance of this comes a few chapters after Eragon had his revelation that Meat is Murder! or whatever and proceeded to burst into tears over killing some random furry critter. The entire philosophy of the series is messed up and is very anti-religion. Not Phillip Pullman level crazy rants against religion, but bad enough that I dropped the series after the second book.

Thanks Bookie. That was great!

I haven't got anything really to add, other than that HP magic is very much talking letters (and books), odd sweets, strange potions and silly pranks. The most honourable (and perhaps, serious) spells are those used to defend against the Dark Arts (elements of what is known in the Bible as witchcraft). Also, wizards and witches are born with magical abilities, one can't acquire them. They can build on their natural ability and hone their skills but they can't learn magic full-stop.

While Princess of Glass wasn't exactly thrilling I wouldn't have gone so far as to put it on the worst books list. What did you find particularly objectionable about it?

The only book on the my "Worst list" that I have a strong dislike for is
A Northern Light. The other two (Princess of Glass and Orient Express) were just big disappointments. I enjoyed Princess of the Midnight Ball very much. When of Glass came out, I was rather excited, and expected it to be just as good from all the positive reviews on Amazon.
However, the characters

Spoiler

pointless sinister dreams of the villains from Midnight Ball to upset the heroine!

Adeona, I have read Hunted and Harried and The Coral Island by Balentyne and just barely started The Cat of Bubastes a while ago... *edit* The last book is by Henty, I think.

It is. One of my favorites. Henty books tend to be reasonably exciting with good characters but lots of relatively boring stretches full of detailed military tactics descriptions. If you can get past those, then you should get on swimmingly!
BTW, my favorite Henty is Saint Bartholomew's Eve. Other good ones are Beric the Briton and The Tiger of Mysore.
I've only read one Ballantyne book, The Coral Island. I liked it fine, and I should be reading Hunted and Harried soon. Interesting that we both list the same two!

The Inheritance Cycle's magic is more troublesome because it relies upon a person's life energy to work. So for Eragon to do something very big, he either has to harm himself or he can pull that life energy from outside sources....The entire philosophy of the series is messed up and is very anti-religion. Not Phillip Pullman level crazy rants against religion, but bad enough that I dropped the series after the second book.

Good to know this. I have been debating whether I get the books or not, I will now choose not to read it. I do have the movie I rather enjoy, one of the few people.

Yes, I agree concerning Inheritance- the pro-atheistic vegan hippie elves kind of bugged me. Not to mention that the series as a whole is not well written and Eragon himself, especially after the second book, is not a likable main character at all.

I just read this thread starting where I left off on page 16 or so

Glad you ended up liking A Little Princess, FF!

And yes, I'm delighted that you enjoyed the Earthsea books, Lady Haleth! Like Warrior, my favorite is The Tombs of Atuan. I would stay away from anything past the third book, though. When Le Guin went back and started adding to her original trilogy, the results were NOT good.

Yay for Brideshead Revisited, Kate! "A novel that stays" is the perfect description of it. I listened to it on audiobook read by Jeremy Irons and it was simply amazing.

Kate, I've read Cormax McCarthy's The Road ind disliked it excessively.

Actually, I haven't read The Belgariad. I think it's MereChristian who stopped reading the series due to its objectionable content.

*cough* Now, before someone asks, no, I have not started living at the thrift store lately.

Nothing wrong with that if you did . I sometimes think the same thing about myself! And yes, you are right about the thrift store staple books!

*high-fives Adeona on her enjoyment of Sutcliff* Did you know there is a movie coming out based on The Eagle of the Ninth? Some fairly big names are in it, including Donald Sutherland and Jamie Bell. They changed the name to "The Eagle" and I'm not sure how faithful they are to the book, but I will probably see it in theaters.

To those who have read/are planning to read Rebecca: It is one amazing book. The audiobook read by Anna Massey is brilliant too!

I read 121 books in 2011, not counting a couple that I dropped. It's hard to pick favorites over an entire year's reading, but here are a few:

Best rereads: Ugh, too many to pick! A Little Princess, Jane Eyre, Till We Have Faces, The Woman in White
Best new (to me) reads: Pilgrim's Progress, A Conspiracy of Kings, Peter Pan, Paradise Lost
Best Christian nonfiction/theology: When People Are Big and God is Small, Our Sufficiency in Christ
Best audiobook: To Kill a Mockingbird read by Sissy Spacek
Best new (to me) fantasy series: The Bartimaeus books by Jonathan Stroud
Book I felt proudest of completing: tie between Augustine's City of God and Michener's Chesapeake
Worst book: The Wolf of Tebron

I'm rereading The Edge on the Sword, by Rebecca Tingle, so I can review it for a writer's site I belong to. Its a historical novel, set in ninth century England, centering around Aethelflad, daughter of Alfred the Great. I would recommend it for anyone who likes historical fiction.
And seconded to stay away from Inheritance. I don't like their violence or their elves, either. And Brisingr was one of the most boring books I've ever read.

Best new (to me) reads: Pilgrim's Progress, A Conspiracy of Kings, Peter Pan, Paradise Lost

Ooh! One of these I loved, and the other I disliked. The one I loved was Paradise Lost. I have loved Milton's work ever since I first discovered it as a freshmen in college. It's one of those works that I have often wanted to reread, but while in college, would prove difficult to do so. I find it amazing that he dictated the book as he thought it, to his daughters (who actually penned the words due to the fact that Milton was blind).

I disliked Pilgrim's Progress. It is a beutiful allegory of the Christian life, for sure, but due to the fact that it was a stict allegory, the characters and plotline were very predictable.

I've just started Taliesin, the first book in the Pendragon Cycle, and I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm done.

I love this book quite a lot. The romance between Taliesin and Charis is very sweet, and the only crappy part is at the end, where (don't you dare read this spoiler, Flam!)

Merlin is also very good. I LOVE, love love love the character of Merlin. That one's sad, too, but it makes the book more human to me. It shows that it's not a fairy-tale world where everything is made perfect by the last chapter, and I think the book is stronger for it.

The Pendragon cycle goes doooooownhill after Merlin. At least, I read Arthur and after the narration by Peleas, it was the most boring book ever. Reading from one of Arthur's knight's perspective was just so boring after the excitement of a magician's apprentice. I've heard the last two are pretty dull as well. Very sad, indeed.

I did enjoy the Dragon King Trilogy by Lawhead. It got a bit preachy by the last book, and I was just sick of the MC being an idiot, but all got better at long last.

Hmm-- I haven't read the Hood trilogy in awhile, but I do remember a bit the issues you guys are mentioning with the sexual content. I really hate that type of stuff in books, I'm not gonna lie. It's unnecessary, and some books rely on that for a great portion of the story.

BUT: I think that Lawhead avoids making it the focus of his story. When Bran

As for other times, I believe that Lawhead puts it in during appropriate situations and he is not graphic in his detail. Many people may disagree with me, but I'll be honest, it fits. At times, it even contributes to character development, weird as that may sound. I have not read any Lawhead books for awhile, but for the most part, the lust and seduction part of sexuality is drawn out to be something that is wrong and even evil. The good part, as sexual love is found in marriage, is shown to be good and pure-- and that's true.

Have any of you read Lawhead's Endless Knot trilogy? Man oh man, it's the best one I've read. What a great story! You should read it! Plot, romance, action, great characters, plot twists! It's wonderful. The first is called The Paradise War. Don't be scared off by the fact that it starts in England. It's great. So great.

Oh, I didn't know Milton was blind! It was interesting to read his work knowing that Lewis was such a fan of it. From my (longwinded) review:

C. S. Lewis was a big fan of the poem, and I could see many places where it influenced him, even in little things. For instance, there is a flattering councillor in Lewis' Prince Caspian named "Glozelle" — and here "glozing" is a verb used in the poem for "flattering." Another character's name, Fledge, means "feathered," and this is perfect because the character is a winged horse. I love this stuff! The whole idea behind The Screwtape Letters and Our Father Below must have had its inspiration in the scenes of Satan and his followers taking counsel together how best to defeat God. And Milton's descriptions of Hell certainly turned Lewis' thoughts in the direction that led to The Great Divorce. I'm sure there are many more connections that escaped me on this my first read, but it was fun to find the ones I did.

I disliked Pilgrim's Progress. It is a beutiful allegory of the Christian
life, for sure, but due to the fact that it was a stict allegory, the
characters and plotline were very predictable.

I think it helped that I read it for our adult Bible fellowship's summer class; it helped me get over the idea that strict allegory is inferior to other kinds of literature. It actually felt like quite an adventure because I could identify with so many things Christian went through. Granted, no one named Mr. Worldly-Wiseman has approached me lately to see if I wanted to go to the town of Legality, and I've never met a person named Talkative ( ), but it's relatable all the same. I think by stripping the story down to these bare truths, Bunyan is really able to convey his point effectively. The theological themes loom large and are all the more universal for their stark treatment.

I would quote myself again from my review, but I don't wish to bore anyone so I'll just link it

Narnian1, I hope that you will have a better time with Water for Elephants than I did. Maybe you will not find the scene(s) as eye burning as I did or maybe you can just skip over them. Whatever, I hope, since you are going to read it, that you like it.

Oh, dear me, I feel a special feeling whenever N. D. Wilson is mentioned in these threads because I know (fairly surely) that I was the first person to ever mention him in the book threads back in '08. I am glad that word is getting around and people are reading his books. [/self-absorbed ramblings]

*has never read Harry Potter or the Inheritance Cycle because they never struck her as interesting so she does not feel that she can add anything valuable to the discussion*

Well, I think that I am going to go see if I can aquire a copy of Les Misérables and read it while I nurse my sinus infection. If I cannot aquire a copy then I shall read one of the two Emily C. A. Snyder fairy tales that are sitting in wait for me.