Lucy85 and Valiant_Lucy - sorry this is way down the page.

Lucky you reading that book on Marie Antoinette!!! I've been wanting it for ages - one of these days I'll get it

Have you read "Trianon" and "Madame Royale" by Maria Videl (available on Amazon). They are absolutely books, especially Trianon. Videl's writing is so powerful and the ending to the book is just so well written and so absolutely tragic. I think there is so much mis-information regarding Marie Antoniette today, and these two books do a lot to rectify that. "Madame Royale" is based on the life of Marie Antoniette's daughter and is also a gripping read, it's a longer book than the first one and details more background info on the French Royal Family which I found to be really interesting.

Elanor that's great you like Dickens!! I am a big fan myself!! I really enjoyed Dombey and Son too. I have to say though that I found Bleak House to be one of my least favourites, don't know why really as they are all fairly similar in a lot of respects. I really like Little Dorrit too (love, love love the bbc series they made!).

EDIT The author of Trianon and Madame Royale is Elena Maria Videl not Maria Videl as I've incorrectly said above - sorry about that!

This past week my family and I were visiting family and we went to our favorite Christian bookstore. I got Letter Perfect by Cathy Marie Hake and The Moon By Night and There is a Season by Lynn Morris and Gilbert Morris.

I read Letter Perfect over the weekend, it's really good. Ever since I got Bittersweet, I had really want to read LP. And now I finally have.

Right now, I'm reading The Moon By Night. It's awesome. I love all of the books about Cheney and Shiloh. I'm really glad I got TMBN and TIAS.

SnowAngel

Elanor that's great you like Dickens!! I am a big fan myself!! I really enjoyed Dombey and Son too. I have to say though that I found Bleak House to be one of my least favourites, don't know why really as they are all fairly similar in a lot of respects. I really like Little Dorrit too (love, love love the bbc series they made!).

That's awesome - which are some of your other favorites of his? Yeah, I can read Dombey and son over and over again - it's so good! I think I understand why you don't like Bleak House, it really takes some work to get involved with the story and stuff. But when you can, it really is quite thrilling.
I didn't like Little Dorrit as much this time through - but it was good. I REALLY want to see the BBC series!!!!!

And yesterday I suddenly realized I really wanted to read Till We Have Faces, again, so we'll see if that goes anywhere. And I'm reading Lewis's space trilogy - it's the first sci-fi I've EVER read, and I'm really enjoying it - though it does creep me out.

So.. I really enjoyed The Man Who Was Thursday! It was really interesting, the story was good, etc.
The ending I should've read a second time just to try and understand it better... I'm not sure what I completely thought of that. It was weird though. Going from thinking

I thought it was really good and pretty impressive that Chesterton could have
^That felt really scattered... I'll have to read it [the book] again.
I'm eager to hear others' opinions on this book!!!

Anyways. We leave on vacation for 2 weeks soon, so I have a pretty big stack to take along. 😀 Big IMO. The Attolia books are re-reads, the others are new.

Sorry it's sorta blurry...

Ooh, that's such a good book, Queen Susan!! I can read it over and over again - it awe's me every time. I do understand though - it's really, really confusing at times, and takes me completely by surprise, each time I read it. But that's part of the thrill.
Oh my goodness - can I go on the trip with you? I looked at that picture, and every single book I was like "I want to read that again, and that, and that". Every single one. I know you'll have so much fun reading all those great books for the first time - I really envy you!

Elanor said That's awesome - which are some of your other favorites of his? Yeah, I can read Dombey and son over and over again - it's so good! I think I understand why you don't like Bleak House, it really takes some work to get involved with the story and stuff. But when you can, it really is quite thrilling.
I didn't like Little Dorrit as much this time through - but it was good. I REALLY want to see the BBC series!!!!!

The BBC series is excellent There are maybe one or two *bits* in it that you may want to fast forward. You can see them coming from a mile off so that shouldn't be a problem. Claire Foy is absolutely brilliant as Amy and the rest of the cast is equally as good Have you seen the Bleak House BBC series?

My all time favourite Dickens books are Barnaby Rudge and the unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. I haven't quite forgiven Dickens for dying while he was only half way through that book. It gets so exciting and then stops But I love it anyway. My other all time favourite is Our Mutual Friend - an excellent story. I find Dickens' later novels to be more enjoyable than his earlier ones but that is probably just me.

Queen Susan said Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
Slow going so far...

Oh keep going, its an awesome book. Very very well worth taking the time to read it. A lot of people find the start a bit slow going, although actually I really enjoyed reading about the bishop. For some reason or other it wasn't what I expected in the book at all. I've never seen the musical, any of the movies so I really didn't know what to expect. I will admit though that some of the descriptions throughout the book are a leeeeeetle tedious (ie the sewers)

can I go on the trip with you? I looked at that picture, and every single book I was like "I want to read that again, and that, and that". Every single one. I know you'll have so much fun reading all those great books for the first time - I really envy you!

Sure!
I'm really excited though, 'cause I've heard lots of good opinions on them. I'm saving them though, so for now I just have them sitting in an inviting stack. Perhaps I'll cave and read just one before vacation. Depends how much time I'll have before then.

@Eowyn^: Okay! I've heard from almost everyone that it's tedious at times. I don't mind the bishop, but I'm just sort of wondering what he has to do with the rest of the story... I guess I'll find out. So far I haven't read anymore since the first night.

My brother got The Red Pyramid from the library. It was pretty good - funny, like all of Riordan's work - but i think i like his Greek ones better. However, my sister (who has skimmed but never read all of any of his Greek books) read all of it in one day and reported that it was "obnoxiously un-put-downable". I have to agree with that sentiment.

I'm trying to re-read Perelandra. It isn't one of my favorites by Lewis, but it has some interesting ideas in it.

The BBC series is excellent There are maybe one or two *bits* in it that you may want to fast forward. You can see them coming from a mile off so that shouldn't be a problem. Claire Foy is absolutely brilliant as Amy and the rest of the cast is equally as good Have you seen the Bleak House BBC series?

Yeah, my sister has seen it, and we want to do it together sometime. Yes, I've seen Bleak House, and I do like it, though it's not one of my favorite mini-series. There are so many good ones!

My all time favourite Dickens books are Barnaby Rudge and the unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. I haven't quite forgiven Dickens for dying while he was only half way through that book. It gets so exciting and then stops But I love it anyway. My other all time favourite is Our Mutual Friend - an excellent story. I find Dickens' later novels to be more enjoyable than his earlier ones but that is probably just me.

Edwin Drood is the one book by Dickens I haven't read - I got it once, but when I realized it was unfinished, I made myself stop reading before I got drawn into the story. That would have killed me!

Sure!

Yay!!

Perhaps I'll cave and read just one before vacation.

(don't tell anyone, but when I have amazing books to read, I do that too. )

I've been doing a lot of rereading: Fairest, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, The Screwtape Letters, and right now, The Eagle of the Ninth. I have some new thoughts on some of them.
Fairest. Its enjoyable, though I like Ella Enchanted and Two Princesses better. I like the songs, and I like Ivi as a complex villain. I also kept wanting to jump into the book and punch Skulni. And Ijori and Oochoo are so cute, and Ijori and Aza's romance is sweet.
The Two Princesses of Bamarre. I love this book. Being rather shy and timid myself, I really identified with Addie. I loved the close relationship between the sisters, and how it was at the center of the story. I also thought Vollys was an interesting villain. And once again, the romance is sweet. The ending always leaves me feeling sad, because its so bittersweet.

The Screwtape Letters. Every time I read this I am struck again by how funny it is. And its interesting how it is still relevant.
The Eagle of the Ninth. The only Sutcliff I have read so far, though I hope to read more. I'm only a little less than halfway through it, and what strikes me so far is the nuanced portrayal of both Romans and Britons. So many people, when writing about the past, tend to portray one side as Good and the other as Bad. But she manages to show the good and the bad in both sides. I wish more people did that. I also like the historical details slid in without infodumps, and the richly evoked sense of place--all those little things that add up to show what a place is like. I can really submerse myself in the story. I have heard someone compare her writing style to LeGuin in A Wizard of Earthsea, and I can see why. There's that same sense of place.
I'm also rereading Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit: An American Legend, but I'll post more on that later. Next up are Ella Enchanted, some Robin McKinley (the Damar books and The Outlaws of Sherwood), the Castaways of the Flying Dutchman books, and what I've termed the Brian Jacques Memorial Redwall Read-through.

Well, I read Howl's Moving Castle yesterday and today. A few thoughts:

1. At first I was extremely annoyed at myself for watching the movie version first. Mostly because it seemed very similar, and it felt more like re-watching the movie to me then reading the book. That went away though; but I still couldn't imagine the faces very well on my own... Usually that doesn't bug me so bad. But the movie was anime! And I didn't want to read the book and think of anime characters in my head.

2. Overall, I mean, I was sort of *expecting this... at least somewhat... [the whole book was based around it!] but the book treated witchcraft and magic and demons and such pretty lightly. And they're not really light matters. Looking past that...

3. Um... hm. The storyline was different in the book from the movie. Which I was rather glad for (see #1) but I had to get used to it and change my mind to the real story.

So I enjoyed it enough, obviously, to finish it within 24 hours. It kept me page turning, but not up past 11.

I also didn't care for Howl's predatory advances toward young girls... disturbing, to say the least. And he is never held accountable for what he did.

Mm, I'd tend to agree. At the end he's just fine and dandy and no one cares what he did...
But throughout the book it *is viewed as a bad thing...

It was fun to see where Megan Whalen Turner pulled the line "What a lie that was" that she uses in The King of Attolia.

Oh dear, I just *read the book yesterday (Howl's Moving Castle that is...) and I don't even remember that line. :-/ Ugh. Oh well

So over all I'd say I enjoyed it. It was worth reading, I might read it again, but I wouldn't rank it as a fave probably. Most of the things I put here were rather negative I think... but I really did like some parts. (I liked Michael a lot as a character for one.)

That's an odd note to end with, but I'm done for now.

wisewoman wrote:I also didn't care for Howl's predatory advances toward young girls... disturbing, to say the least. And he is never held accountable for what he did.

Mm, I'd tend to agree. At the end he's just fine and dandy and no one cares what he did...
But throughout the book it *is viewed as a bad thing...

For that matter - so he can't be held completely accountable (though it doesn't completely excuse him either). Just to remember that, and when I do think he stopped acting like that.
Interesting to read your thoughts, Susan! I think that is the one book (other than Narnia) that I like the book and movie equally well - and both REALLY well.

I made a trip to the library and came back with a couple of books... The Midnight Charter by David Whitley which I think I would enjoy but I got to page 212 and the next page was 245! On the bright side, I was just flipping through it to check the numbers and I found the missing pages! They were included out of order. *collapses with relief*

So because of the massive glitch I moved on to the next new book in my stack: The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson. It's a Sleeping Beauty retelling -- yay! -- and calls itself a Christian romance -- not yay?

I'm not a big fan of the romance genre. Something about the absolute inevitability of "Yes, the guy gets the girl in the end" takes away a lot of the narrative tension. But I like fairy tale retellings so I was willing to give it a shot. (Do I hear a cry of: But, but, but ... the ending is equally inevitable in a fairy tale retelling? I haven't figured out what the difference is yet. Rest assured, there must be a difference because I have radically different reactions to the two.)

So how did it pan out? The Healer's Apprentice is a mutant clone of Ever After with a few Bible verses for good measure. It begs for a soundtrack of Wagner and Carl Orf. Many of the situations and delivery of the lines were set up in such a way that I visualized Drew Barrymore and Dougray Scott in the starring roles. But strong associations with a few of my favourite things are apparently not enough to make a lasting and positive impression.

I'll just have to keep looking for a good retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Now, back to The Midnight Charter...

I finished rereading The Eagle of the Ninth. I really, really liked it, and I want to find more of Sutcliff's works. Though I liked all the characters, Cottia reminded me of another character I had read somewhere. This time I realized that it was Eilonwy, from Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. Cottia doesn't have all Eilonwy's quirky turns of phrase, but other than that she's a lot like her. At least I thought so.

I finished rereading The Eagle of the Ninth. I really, really liked it, and I want to find more of Sutcliff's works.

I really enjoyed that book too. I haven't read any other of her books but I found that one to be really enjoyable. Actually, I've never even seen any of her other books about. Perhaps I should have a squiz on Amazon

Edit:

Just wanted to add that I agree with you Elanor about the Bleak House BBC, so many people rave about it but it wasn't my favourite one either. That's a very great effort to have read all of Dickens I know what you mean about the Mystery of Edwin Drood - I've read it a couple of times and it never ceases to annoy me that it isn't finished