You didn't like The Search for WondLa because it made you sad? Hmm... Why does every story have to make the reader happy? Was it still well-written, interesting etc?

What was the best book you read in 2011?
Sabriel, The Hunger Games (technically I read the second two in 2012), Howl's Moving Castle, The Mark of the Horse Lord, and Harry Potter.

I wasn't really disappointed by anything this past year, so I'll skip that one.

3: What is on your to-read list for 2012?
Lirael, Abhorsen, possibly some more classics if I can get them.

W4J, Search for Wond-La made me sad not because of any event in the story (it was a reasonably well written quest story and the illustrations are top-notch) but because it promised a little more than it delivered when it wandered into philosophy; if the author had been a little bit more decisive about whatever it was he was thinking and by extension promoting I would have been better satisfied. It was either far too subtle or not subtle enough.

As a fan of Mark of the Horselord I can assure you that every story does not need a 'everyone lives happily ever after' ending (though I prefer my fictional reading fare to include about 90% of those).

I'm a fan of The Mark of the Horse Lord too. It's the only Sutcliffe that I've read, besides The Eagle of the Ninth, which is good too. I can take a sad ending, but there has to be some hope.

You have a great year of reading in front of you, Bella. It makes me envious; I want to be reading those books for the first time.
To read list:
Vanity Fair
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Both re-reads, that I'm going to take on my family vacation. I can't think of anything else. I want to read Till we have Faces again.

Best and worst books this year? Oh goodness, I don't think I can do that. I keep no track of books I read, and I have a bad memory in that area. I read a lot, so mostly it's re-reads.
But probably the best book I've read this year, and it counts because I didn't appreciate the first time I read it, was The Little Prince. That book.
I was crying so so hard. It's so beautifully written, real, wonderful, heart breaking. I love it horribly. It's supposedly a "kids" book, but most wouldn't really get it, I don't think. Read it. It'll only take an hour, if you're a very slow reader.
Oh, did I read Les Misrab this year? Because that was pretty amazing. wonderful, painful book. I wish there were more like it, and War and Peace, and TCoMC. Really long books, that make you mad and happy and unable to breathe, and sob your eyes out at the end.

Worst? Guyford of Weare, perhaps. And that's probably not how it's spelled. Its an old book, about medevial times and it's just horrible. My sister loves picking up old cute books at thrift stores, but it's risky. One out of maybe 10 or 15 books will be wonderful - the others are all trash, horribly written. This was. Oh dear, it was painful, and rather long too.

Non-fiction - either Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot or Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy.

2: What was the worst? Leaving and Learning by Karen Kingsbury. They were terrible!

3: What is on your to-read list for 2012? The first four on my list are Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey, Pirate of My Heart by Jamie Carie, Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin, and Set-Apart Femininity by Leslie Ludy.

SnowAngel

I've finished a couple of rereads and a collection of short stories. The rereads were The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams and The Secret Garden by Frances Hogdson Burnett. They both had high and low points the second time around.

The short story collection was titled Elf Magic, was edited by Martin Greenberg, and as the title suggests, was concerned with various interpretations of elves and their dealings with humans. It was published in the 1990s, and had some pretty well-known authors in it like Jane Yolen. The stories were a very mixed bag, with some well written and some that seemed barely thought out. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the collection.

I've had the wonderful privilege of reading a fair bit lately (for a couple of hours each evening before bed ), so have a lot I could write here, but for now, and because I am so eager for this book, I heard on Breakpoint this morning ( https://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentari ... y/13/18634) that there is a brand new biography out on G. K. Chesterton entitled Defiant Joy. His previous G.K. title was The Quotable Chesterton, which I'd love to get my hands on as well. I have read a couple of Belmonte's other bios, and figure this one on Chesterton should prove as excellent and thorough as the rest.

[EDIT] Just realized that this bio ^ was released last January (2011). The first time I'd heard of it was this morning. Anyway, it's on hold for me at the bookstore, yay, and is even on a good sale, double yay! [END EDIT]

I finished a re-read of Surprised by Joy last night, and the power of God's miraculous work in C. S. Lewis' life hit me again. Here is the final quote from his second last chapter, one of my favourites:

You must picture me alone in that room in Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come up one me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing; the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can daily adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words compelle intrare, compel them to come in, have been so abused by wicked men that we shudder at them; but properly understood, they plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.

Among a number of others, two more bios I have read lately are Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery (about 3/4 through this one), by one of my favourite biographers, Eric Metaxas. Both are excellent reads. One not only learns so much about the respective turbulent periods of history, but also, of course, of these two men who were both so instrumental in standing up for what was right (God's truths), at great cost.

I'm impressed by some of the books mentioned so far, but at the rate I am going, I'll be lucky to re-read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit by December.

You see, I tend to read non-fiction rather than fiction. I've just read 23 things they don't tell you about Capitalism, by Ha-Joon Chang, a South Korean who is an expert from Cambridge University in UK. I found it an interesting read, which attempts to be fair to everybody in the world, and which asserts as its first premise that there is, in fact, no such thing as a purely free market.

And I am currently reading The women of the cousin's war: the duchess, the queen and the king's mother, by Philippa Gregory, David Baldwin and Michael Jones. I was intrigued that Dr Philippa Gregory, who wrote 'The other Boleyn Girl' which was made into a film not so long ago, and who has written several historic novels, would also write a historical biography of at least one of her characters in co-operation with other historians who wrote about The White Queen (Elizabeth Woodville) and the Red Queen (Margaret Beaufort).

But, as Dr Philippa Gregory points out in the introduction, that when a novelist writes, the prime aime is to capture the reader's interest, especially if the source material is scanty. The historian, in contrast, has verify the same sort of research or more to interpret the facts about that person and how they fit into history, which is written more about men participating battles etc and often neglects the womenfolk affected by the doings around them.

I think I will be seeing if I can get a hold of Philippa Gregory's other works to see what they are like. Has anyone read any of these books?

I thought I would drop in and give a quick review of the books I've read in the last few weeks, some for school and some for fun.

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges: This one was for class, but I've been meaning to read some of Borges' work for a while. He seems to be considered one of the great fantasy/magical realist writers of the early twentieth century, and I can see that in some of the stories in this collection. It's not a collection I would recommend to everyone, as a little over half of the "stories" are actually reviews and discussions of books that don't exist or never existed. These are interesting more for their philosophical ramblings than for their entertainment value. The actual stories in the collection vary from detective stories to fantasy to *gasp* fan fiction (Borges writes an epilogue to a poem that he enjoyed a great deal). Overall, this would be a good collection for anyone wanting to try Borges out.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Also for class, this is supposed to be one of the quintessential works of magical realism (which I realize most people don't know the definition of; neither do I and I'm in a class about the subject. Check Wikipedia for a rudimentary understanding of it). This book also won a Nobel prize. However, I didn't care for it as much as I had hoped I would. Part of this was due to the fact that I had to read it more quickly than I would have liked; it is a book to be read slowly. The other part of my dislike was the dragging pace that the book seemed to take after the first third. While the title includes the words "one hundred years," it feels like Marquez drags those hundred years into a thousand. Marquez's mastery of words (and the translator's as well) is undeniable.

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. 1 by Diana Wynne Jones, containing the two books Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant: This book (or these books, however you view it) was my first introduction to Jones' work outside of her novel Dark Lord of Derkholm and I was keen to see some of her other fantasies. I enjoyed the two books in this volume immensely. I haven't read books that quickly in a while. Jones shows herself capable of getting into the mindset of a child and maintain that mindset for an entire novel (in this case about 300 pages each). Charmed Life was by far my favorite of the two, because Cat is a great protagonist and Chrestomanci is far more likable in this book than in The Lives of Christopher Chant. I have the second volume of this series and will be actively searching for the third volume. I highly recommend these books to anyone who enjoys Jones' other works or the Harry Potter series.

I too have been reading primarily for school. I'm taking a (very fascinating) Lit and Landscape of the American West class and we have read a lot of excellent but under-appreciated pieces of literature:

Sackett by Louis L'Amour: This was the exception. This dime novel felt rushed, thoughtless, and simple. It was misogynistic and ideologically offensive. It was an easy read though and an important part of understanding perceptions of the West.

The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin: Austin's text is one of my first forays into nature writing and I was very pleased by it! Her prose is earthy and yet ethereal. I probably wouldn't read it for fun since it's plot-less, but it provides a wonderful picture of the Southwest by someone who truly loved it.

Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather: I very much enjoyed this episodic novel. Cather sets up this story about a French bishop in New Mexico beautifully and paints Latour as a Southwestern Paul or Odysseus. I would be interested in reading more Cather in the future.

I am just about to start Steinbeck's Cannery Row.

shastastwin: We should talk! I've been reading a lot of Marquez and some Borges recently! I want to like Marquez so badly, but I think maybe he's better in short story form. I read his story "Innocent Erendira" (It has a much longer title in Spanish) and it was mortifying (pretty adult themes), but incredibly well-written. The mental images it created of the desert were superbly drawn and so vivid! Then I tried to read Love in the Time of Cholera and didn't finish. I do still want to try 100 Years of Solitude though. As a genre, I love magical realism, but "Erendira" is still the best example I have read.

An article came out about the "sequel series" to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

The link is here: http://indiebookspot.com/2012/02/10/lem ... ns-series/

~Riella

^ Cool news!

So I finished The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker today. "Red" was my favorite, at least if that was the second book. I haven't read Green yet - any opinions on that one by you guys?
I have a whole long reading list and request-shelf at the library, so I was glad to finish this series so I can move on to some other stuff. I enjoyed them, and for the post part I liked them.
That's about as deep as my thoughts go. I need to work on how to write a little deeper book reviews-- and maybe not stay up until almost midnight do do that.

Queen Susan, I read Green last year, and I was personally disappointed in it. The Circle trilogy had a much better writing style for the subject (IMO) but Green was written more like some of Dekker's newer books, especially the Lost Books. I didn't think the characters were developed enough and having skipped the last four of the Lost Books, I found myself a bit lost. I also felt like the ending was a big cheat of the whole series, though I understand that Dekker provided an alternate ending in the omnibus edition of the Circle books. Warrior4Jesus may have some more insights for you. I know he is a big Dekker fan and reader.

stwin, I'm glad you liked the Chrestomanci books! Have you been able to read any more of Jones' books lately?

Interesting news, Ithilwen. Thanks for the link.

I haven't read Green, Queen Susan, but I do remember people (mainly on NW) saying that it was weak compared to the original trilogy. I don't remember what all was said about it and if some folks loved, but I didn't really pay all that much attentions since I didn't like the series.

Has anyone read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente? I'm a couple chapters in and while it has some of the kind of weird whimsy Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz (and presumably the other Oz books, too) have, it's also rather strange and feels a bit modern at times. I'm kind of short on time and long on books, so I was trying to decide if I should finish it or return it to the library and maybe pick it up again some other time.

I also have The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope out from the university library---I finally recalled it since it, to the best of my knowledge, seems to have been checked out almost my entire college career. So, I'm rather looking forward to that one. I also checked out three books on the Black Death and one book on the history of accidental live burials, and those all sound very creepy, no? They've been staring at me for several years, though, so I figured I may as well check them out and see if they're any good.