How interesting! I had never heard of Tintin until I saw it on here. Will definitely have to put that on my list-sounds like it would be great fun to read!

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?

Oh, yea it is. I didn't notice that before. It's by Donald Thomas.

RE: Pilgrim's Progress: To be honest, the Old English was what made me not understand the story (I got it though from knowing the basic story and reading Little Pilgrim's Progress a few grades earlier) However, I don't think John Bunyan wrote it to be a great literary masterpiece like, say, Les Mis or something. I imagine it sold like hot cakes mainly because of it's wonderful allegories. Obviously with the names given to the characters, we know what's going to happen. I think Bunyan's intentions were to portray the struggles he had as a Christian and those that other Christians experience. I know that the book (especially the chapter of Giant Despair) has encouraged me alot. Although, of course, I can understand Little Pilgrim's Progress better because it's less confusing without the KJV English.

Aslanisthebest, I tried reading Pilgrim's Progress (Bunyan's original) some years ago but I found it far too taxing on my brain, partly due to the fact that I'm not used to reading Old English but morseso because I'm mildly dyslexic. Old English frustrates me so much. Something as routine as doing Shakespeare in highschool, I found to be hellish experiences. But back to Pilgrim's Progress. I've only ever read other author's modified version of Bunyan's original. I realise it was probably meant to be strict allegory but really, there's something to be said for today's audiences being more sophisticated (maybe not in reading Old English etc. but in recognising subtle themes and ideas etc. more clearly). Kapeesh?

Narnian1, awesome mate. I find Tintin in America to be great fun but you're right, it's one of Herge's earliest, so the story is rather thin and more a series of random events than a coherent story. But that's okay. It's one of weaker Tintin albums but I still enjoy it, I enjoy all the books. Loved to hear your views on Tintin in America. Can't wait to hear more from you!

Lucy85, Tintin is a brilliant series of comic books. The art is great but refined, the stories are high-quality and the characters are very interesting. I think you'll enjoy them. They all work safely within the confines of the PG-rating (if there were ratings for books) without being sacchrine.

I love Tin-Tin books. They are really great. I've only read four or five of them though because my family and my library don't have any.

Got The Lost Hero and a graphic novel version of Coraline in the mail today (ordered them), and read the former.

I'll probably want to read it again and think it over some before deciding on my opinion of The Lost Hero, and I also want to see how the rest of the series goes before coming up with too strong of an opinion on certain plot elements. But on the whole, after the first read-through, i'd put it on level with the Percy Jackson series. Not a regretted purchase, especially considering the on-line price.

I've already read Coraline - both this graphic novel version, and the complete book - but i bought this one because i like the pictures, and i didn't notice a whole lot of difference between it and the original. I'll keep an eye out for a chance to buy the original as well. I know there are some fans of Coraline here; how was the film?

Still reading Shardik. Since no one here seems to have heard of it, any fans of Richard Adams' other works, such as Watership Down or The Plague Dogs? I'm hoping to get my brother to read Watership Down sometime in the near future; i was close to his age when i read it for the first time.

Arwenel, my sister has read several Richard Adam's book, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's read Shardik. She also read The Plague Dogs, which I know of for sure because she occasionally rambles about it - I know enough about it now I feel I don't need to read it for myself I read Watership Down several years ago, it was very good... but odd And Old Narniaweb member called Hazel-rah used to promote it avidly (he was a fan... hence his username ), otherwise I probably wouldn't have been interested enough in the first place to read it.

Lately I've been re-reading all the Diana Wynne Jones books I own It's been enjoyable. I haven't been reading books that are actually on my to-read list because I'm terribly busy with school and somehow reading familiar books doesn't seem like it's taking any time out of my school day. It is a ridiculous thought, but after I get through all my Jones books I shall likely not read for ages again. Although, I am going to Mexico for a six week long school/missions trip in April and I am definitely bringing Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel with me, along with several interesting theological type books.

coming soon!

"There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it." Bertrand Russell

I finished Les Miserables yesterday! What an amazing book! If only it wasn't so long, if it was shorter maybe more people would be aware of how awesome it is! I teared up at the end. That's even more proof that I will need to wear waterproof eye makeup when I see the play in May.
That was such a good book! Wow! Oh, it was great. *hugs it*

Now I am reading Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians which was loaned to me by a friend. (This is why I do not have a large collection of books, I know people who have amassed a collection of their own and happy to share.) My friend told me, when he loaned it to me, that it is the funniest book he's ever read. I'm about four chapters in, it's young adult. Very sarcastic. It reminds me of the Series of Unfortunate Events books.

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed The Lost Hero, Arwenel. I liked it as well, and I'm especially curious to read the rest of the series now. I quite like my copy...I pre-ordered a signed edition from Barnes and Noble before it was released, and when it arrived, I was intrigued to find that the gold lettering on the binding is printed upside down. It must have been a very early printing - which makes me very happy.

I'm currently in the middle of rereading the Harry Potter series (I was inspired by my recent visit to Harry Potter's Wizarding World in Orlando ). It's been a while since I read them all straight through. I'm right in the middle of The Goblet of Fire at the moment. Should be busy for a while.

Any Mary Stewart fans here? Well, I know there's fans of her Merlin books, but what about her mystery/romances? I enjoyed them when I was younger, although because I was younger I didn't read them super indepth--more just skimmed to find any romancey bits So in the middle of a snowstorm and feeling like if I didn't get to a beach I would absolutely DIE, I picked up "This Rough Magic" a week ago and since then it has become one of my very favorite books. As of now, I can't decide if I like Mary Stewart's books, or M. M. Kaye's books better. They're actually kind of similiar. They both write extensively about the locations-not to the point where they're just describing trees etc but so that you really feel as though you're right there, feeling the hot sun in Greece, the cold stone of the castle wall, the orient rug, whatever. Let's just say reading them certainly hasn't gotten me out of wishing for a beach, or warmer weather.
I'd say so far, of Mary Stewart's, This Rough Magic is my favorite, and The Gabriel Hounds a close second. Any fans out there? Please?

Still reading Shardik. Since no one here seems to have heard of it, any fans of Richard Adams' other works, such as Watership Down or The Plague Dogs? I'm hoping to get my brother to read Watership Down sometime in the near future; i was close to his age when i read it for the first time.

Read "Shardik" a long time ago- be warned, the sequel, "Maia", is near
pornographic in long stretches, with heavy emphasis on slavery.

Has anyone read Dr Zhivago, and if so, what's it like? I've seen two movie versions and enjoyed them but have never checked out the book so I don't know what the writing style is like, etc

Two versions?? I know the Omar Sharif one, of course- what's the other?

The book is quite different from the movie- a lot more characters- typical Russian!- and more social/political stuff.

(starts humming "Lara's Theme")

I haven't read Watership Down yet, but I've heard it's very good. I've seen the movie of The Plague Dogs (uncut). It was pretty intense and incredibly sad. Definitely not a feel-good movie.

I haven't read Watership Down either, but it's on my list of things to read Still re-reading A Tale of Two Cities! Had forgotten just what a wonderful book it is. Any other Dickens fans on here?

By all rights this should be a massive catch up, but I actually haven't read any of the books discussed at length throughout the last few pages.

Adeona: Waaaay back when you asked me what my signature was quoting. It's a quote from the excellent mystery movie Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant.

Nionel: Have you read JSMN already or is this a reread?

I did do some reading for school. I read Kate Chopin's The Awakening, something I've been wanting to read for a long time because she's the only canonical writer with my name. the book was very interesting. Obviously, I can't sympathize with the morality of the book, but I thought it was a very interesting look at the status of women and Chopin is a very talented writer. I also enjoyed the regionalism of the book: it provided a look into southern creole culture in the 1800s that I found very interesting.

I also read a lot more postmodern fiction. My favorite was a book that I think people here might actually enjoy. Gilead is by Marilynne Robinson and is about a Congregationalist minister in Iowa who is dying and has a very young son who he realizes he will not ever get to know. So he writes him the letters that make up the novel. They are very beautiful. The story moves very slowly, but the book won the Pulitzer and I loved reading such a faith-filled book for school. It's a remarkable work of fiction filled to the brim with spirituality and faith and yet it has managed to evade the genre death stamp of "Christian fiction."

I also read Junot Diaz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a very interesting book that managed to fall flat for me, despite the explosive spanglish prose (sometimes very offensive), all the pop culture references to SciFi and Fantasy, the epic plot, and the intriguing characters. Lastly, I read McCarthy's The Road, which I enjoyed more than I thought I would, but it also failed to grab me the way I think it does others.