Since my last post (which was quite awhile ago), I have only managed to read four books outside of my schoolwork: Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley, Away from the Vicarage and Beyond the Vicarage by Noel Streatfeild, and The Canopy by Angela Hunt.

Dragonhaven was.....different. I didn't know what the book was about before I read it. I read the title and was like "Cool, dragons. Should be interesting." It was interesting, but it wasn't what I expected. Just going off the title I thought it would be in some kind of medieval setting, but it was actually modern. I was okay with that, but the narrator is a teenage boy to begin with and he's not very good at pulling his thoughts together, which is part of the story, but it takes a little getting used to. Especially because the first 50 pages or so aren't told in an entirely linear fashion. Anyway, it was a good read.

The Vicarage books were pretty good. They certainly aren't her best and don't have much plot but they're part of her autobiographical trilogy so I found them interesting.

Canopy was typical Christian fiction I'm afraid. Guy or girl is having a major life problem, they go through life-changing circumstances, meet good, Christian girl or guy, get converted, get married, live happily ever after, the end. *yawn* It was rather disappointing because Angela Hunt usually does better than that.

Are there any Noel Streetfield fans here? Mel's mention of a book called "Friday's Child" reminded me of Noel's book "Thursday's Child", which is my favorite of her books. Another of my favorites is "The Children on the Top Floor" which I would just LOVE to find a copy of but I guess it's out of print or something.

Me! I love her books (of course). Ballet Shoes has always been one of my absolute favorites, but I also really like Traveling Shoes (also known as Apple Bough, I think), Caldecott Place, and just about everything else she's written. I think the only one that I wasn't very fond of was Skating Shoes (also known as White Boots).

From what my sister has read apparently there is a sequel to Thursday's Child entitled Far to Go. I'm going to try to get it interlibrary loan.

I'm not sure if Children on the Top Floor is out of print, but I'm guessing it is since it took my sister and I years to find a decent copy. That was before we discovered alibris and found out that we could find just about any book we wanted: http://www.alibris.com/?cm_sp=header-_-logo-_-na

I recently finished reading The Maze Runner, and just right now- it's sequel, The Scorch Trials. Very enjoyable reads. I only hate that the third, and I think final, book releases this October. Anyone here read those? I know when I bought them on B&N, I was recommended The Hunger Games. Two friends of mine bought THG on Amazon, and were recommended these two. So there much be some likeness between both series.

Having to wait, I kinda wanna jump straight into The Hunger Games, which I bought. But I am gonna do my best to hold off on it for a bit. Gonna pick up HP:GoF, I am trying to read the series before the final movie comes out. It was supposed to be a chapter a day, but I am now a week behind- since I read TMR and TST.

I also got the first Volume of Tintin, three comics, so I will begin this tomorrow.

I'm working on a Sherlock Holmes short story collection: Sherlock Holmes and the King's Evil. Does anyone else like the stories about the great detective?

Narnian1, I'm very curious to hear your thoughts on Tintin. Please remember that the experience of being introduced to them may differ from a child to an adult.

I first read Tintin when I was probably 10-11. My mom didn't like us reading them because she thought they were too violent, but we'd always sneak looks at the library. Back then we only read the one about Tintin in Russia (can't remember the exact title), and Tintin in Tibet, which we thought was absolutely amazing. Then when we were older (my brother about 13?) we got into them again...my brother has almost all the titles. I went over them again last summer and still found them as enjoyable as I had back then, so they're obviously just not for kids or anything.

Are there any Noel Streetfield fans here? Mel's mention of a book called "Friday's Child" reminded me of Noel's book "Thursday's Child", which is my favorite of her books. Another of my favorites is "The Children on the Top Floor" which I would just LOVE to find a copy of but I guess it's out of print or something.

Ooh, I just read "Ballet Shoes" the other day actually... Because I remember reading it when I was 8 or 9, and I liked it. So I read it again. I didn't like it as much as I did then. But I didn't really expect to.
I might have read "Thursday's Child" back then too, but I can't remember. :-/

Reading/Read List

The Princess Bride William Goldman Feb. 4?- Feb. 11
[Enjoyed as much as the movie, maybe more. The thing is, the movie basically took the script straight out of the book, so I can't imagine the characters- I have the actors who played them stuck in my mind...]
Before Green Gables Budge WIlson Feb. 10 - Feb. 17
[This one was somewhat recommended on here. I really enjoyed it. Anne's personality/imagination fits a child well. Later on in the real series it can seem unrealistic to me. *shrug*]
Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfield Feb. 17?- Feb. 19
[^^ See my reply to Val]
Thwaite, Egg, and the History of The Goodmorning Feb. 22 -
[This is a NaNoNovel by a friend of mine. It's good. ]
Mature Daughters [booklet] Phillip G. Kayser Feb. 24 -
[This isn't really a book... It's more of a chart/filling-out thing. On Spiritual maturity... All I can say is- I have a LOT of sanctification to do.]

Valiant_Lucy, (and anyone else interested in Tintin)
Fantastic! I'm surprised that you were able to find Tintin in the Land of the Soviets so early on in your life. I had great difficulty finding that album (had to search over 40 bookshops online and off - no exaggeration, until I finally found it in one small online French bookshop - even had to use BabelFish translator just to buy the bloomin' book!) But that was back in the late 90's before the book was reprinted.

I find it amusing and surprising that your mum had issues with you reading Tintin. I come from a fairly conservative Christian background and in my early years (when I was between 7 and 12yrs) my bros and I had limits put on our reading materials. Narnia was in, as was the Hardy Boys, Tintin too but nothing more intense. I agree that Tintin does have some violence but there are consequences for said violence and it's far from graphic. The violence rarely even happens inside the comic frames. That said, there is a seriousness to the stories that you don't often find in comics for children. Personally, I can't wait to have children so I can read them Narnia and Tintin (not for a long time though, since I'm not in a relationship, let alone married). I'm glad you enjoyed reading them again as an adult. That's awesome!

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 agree,
I finally got to reading it and simply got bored with it. Beautiful allegory, but it's too straight forward for my enjoyment. And I hoped to love it too.

I love Pilgrim's Progress, but I can relate to it being predictable. I remember that I got bogged down with it too, but definitely have favorite parts in it, like Christian's fight with Apollyon. That scene was very well done

I'm not a big Pilgrim's Progress fan in general...but when I was little my mom read us the story from this amazingly illustrated picture book, and I like that. The pictures were so detailed, and pretty horrific considering some of the stuff described. There were a few pictures my mom would cover up so we wouldn't see them , but of course this only made us want to see them more.

I'm working on a Sherlock Holmes short story collection: Sherlock Holmes and the King's Evil. Does anyone else like the stories about the great detective?

I've read all the Sherlock Holmes stories, and I really like them! Though, I do wish most of them weren't murders... I haven't heard of the King's Evil. Is it by an author other than Arthur Conan Doyle?

I might have asked this before, but has anyone read the Kingdom Series, or the Knights of Arrethtrae, by Chuck Black?

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 agree,
I finally got to reading it and simply got bored with it. Beautiful allegory, but it's too straight forward for my enjoyment. And I hoped to love it too.

I didn't like Pilgrim's Progress either! My mom tried to read the original version to us once, and then later my dad read an updated English version, which was slightly better, but it isn't a book i'd read again.

*pauses to look around the Books thread, since she hasn't visited in a while*

I'm in serious need of new books to read, and in more serious need of the ability to get to the library so i can actually check one of them out.

Currently re-reading Shardik by Richard Adams. I've yet to find anyone here who has read it; any change since the last time i asked?

I dislike the predictablity and lack of subtlety of Pilgrim's Progress but it has a good message and the story is decent enough. I'm not the biggest fan of strict allegory, it's so unnatural and preachy.

I agree Warrior that Pilgrim's Progress is definitely not subtle. Bunyan does kind of hit you over the head with his message over and over. I like the language of the story, has very excellent adjectives, but it can be a bit heavy-handed, as all allegories seem to be.

The Adventures of Tintin in America:
I read it as just one continuing story. In the future I might take breaks in between natural places. I felt it a bit disjointed, but then I realized it was my own fault. Even though there is an underlying connection, it seems it was separate adventures Which the title suggest "adventures"- plural

In Chicago-
I gotta say I really enjoyed this bit, being from Chicago myself- even though I've been living in Florida for nearly 11yrs now. The setting is way before my time of course, 1931. Tintin, he's one smart, and lucky, little teen! Gets in some messes he does. Thought it was funny him getting hit upside the head by the policeman, for saying he caught Capone.

Redskin City-
This one I liked, and didn't at the same time. Good part to the story, but what I didn't like was the making of the Redskins to be dumb people. But at the time this was written it was normal to do so, so I can't blame it for it. It was the norm. Still, I enjoyed the start with the horse kicking them and the chief calling Bobby Smiles "Paleface-with-eyes-of-the-Moon"
Again, he's one lucky kid... The end with the Redskins I didn't like much either, felt bad for them.

Miraculous Escape-
So the train, can I say it again? One lucky kid, and dog! The lynching attempt quite surprised me, I wasn't expecting that- but I wasn't troubled by it either. The wildfire and then the escape, thankful for that woman and her American Association of Animal Admirers...

Snowy's Ransom and Grynde Corp-
What a detective! Bringing every dog but the right one.
Grynde Corp seemed a bit disturbing. The image of the live cow going in... and sausages coming out... But it was an enjoyable read too.

Tintin Goes Missing-
I enjoyed this. Lucky for the wooden dumb-bells.
I knew it'd be fine of course, but I couldn't imagine how...

And he embarked for Europe.
All in all, it was very enjoyable. I liked it. I read this today. All in one sitting too. Next up is Cigars of the Pharaoh, if it has natural splits- I will take them. I'll be reading this one next Saturday.