[quote="Valia, talking about Knife,":b2pi3bx2]

Fresh from my re-read, I know at least think I know the answer.

Spoiler

It's the one on one connection that is potentially hazardous to health and sanity; therefore, the lesser inspiration fizzles out without any harm done.
Interestingly, I was kind of getting the idea that Paul might have been okay even if Knife never showed up again. His attitude had taken a turn for the better.
It's possible that there are no other fairies... I guess, now that you point it out, it is quite a bit odd.
And no, there was nothing in particular particular; just a general R.J. Anderson claims to be a Christian and how does it compare reading mainstream fiction that has a comparable worldview vs. say, Garth Nix who doesn't?

Anyway, I think I'm going to start pushing Albert Payson Terhune for animal stories. Good stuff, that!

*is severally put out*

I... have no words. (I know you're kidding, but you are just about the last person I would have expected to make that joke. )

I wish the girl and the over all book had of been more pro-Loyalist/British than sitting somewhere near the middle, but I can't complain, really.

Pro-British books are rather hard to find here. Is it the same for you as well? I can only think of... one. I think. It's been so long I don't actually remember how the plot of The Reb and the Redcoats goes. I can think of a few more where there are semi-main characters who are Loyalists, but they're both set in the same area of the colonies, and the characters are the same type--older Scottish immigrants who remember what happened when they rebelled against the king. I can't think of any others where you have really positive Loyalist characters... (Er, wait. There is Felicity's grandfather in the American Girl series... he might count...)

Since I still had it out from the library, I also reread Jill Williamson's By Darkness Hid, just to make sure that I still liked Knife better. And I did. But they're close. Very close. If you haven't already, y'all should visit The Clive Staples Award blog and, if you've read two or more of the books nominated, vote. I can't wait to see the results.

EDIT: I ran across this: click to view the Hayao Miyazaki cover for Chesterton's Napoleon of Notting Hill. I must say that it seems to be much more expressive of the book than this one was.

FURTHER EDIT: I've been reading Jessica Day George's Princess of Glass, and I noticed that one of the characters has a literary shout-out name.

Having a fun time reading LOTR huh, haha. I am gradually liking it each day when I read it but still, there's still more to read! so need to go back reading haha.

Having a fun time reading LOTR huh, haha. I am gradually liking it each day when I read it but still, there's still more to read! so need to go back reading haha.

I read LotR before I saw the movies. It starts off a little slow, but once the pace picked up, I really enjoyed them. It's a good thing I like long books!

I'm still in the middle of rereading the Chronicles...I've finished VDT, SC, and LB, and now I'm starting over with MN. (Weird reading order, I know. But I really wanted to read VDT first! )

Or is the series complete now? I don't frequent book blogs/news sites, so I wouldn't know! It does have a "Finished" feel to it.

Here's Shannon Hale's website:
http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html
If you haven't read any of her other books, besides the Bayern books, I'd highly, highly reccomend Princess Academy. It's my second favorite book by Shannon Hale (River Secrets being the first). There's just something deliciously cozy yet "girl power!" and a pinch of fairy-tale-ness about it. The main character is one of my favorites. I didn't enjoy Book of a Thousand Days as much, it was merely just okay. The graphic novel "Repunzel's Revenge" was really fun and clever, and I loved it

Curious--what do you guys think about the "new" covers for the Bayern books? I'm not a fan...I prefer the older versions, they seemed "quainter" somehow.

I HATE THE NEW BAYERN COVERS. They are awful. The old ones were quite lovely, in a painting sort of way. (I overreact to things like this all the time. It is how I roll.)

Okay, wisewoman, you win. About Mansfield Park, I mean, although you do usually win at life in general. *bows*
Aww, I remember loving The Castle in the Attic. I didn't know there was a sequel.

I think what I liked best about the Inkheart books was the way they talked about books. It's like inside, in the know talks between book lovers. The story/characters don't quite live up to this, though. The writing, from what I remember, isn't bad, although so far I've liked the Harry Potter books much more than the Inkheart books. And my ability to forget about characters is unparalleled: I read The Queen of Attolia not too long after The Thief... and couldn't remember who Sophos was, for the longest time. That's how bad I am. Wait, maybe it was The King of Attolia right after The Queen of Attolia...? Argh.

I recommend the LOTR books too because they were so good and lovely and I loved them, but don't read them because you feel like you HAVE to. That's the worst. Read them because you want to. Take as much time as you need. I didn't read them until last summer, and I'm in college.

*waves to Valia* I'm glad you liked the lolcats!
Yes, animal stories tend to be among the most heartrending. Wasn't there a book called No More Dead Dogs? I believe the protagonist felt the same way as most of you and decided upon a boycott of the school required reading. Never read it myself, though.

I don't mind a lot of description if it's done well. Really good writing can make me forgive too much description. And really good world-building and/or storytelling can make me forgive/not notice mediocre writing. Case in point: Rowling's writing is ok, but I rarely notice because I'm too busy reading the story HARRY DON'T DIE. See?
And don't get me started on Christopher Paolini ripping off Tolkien (along with like every other fantasy writer). Why do so few people see him for what he is??

I've been volunteering at my library the past few weeks, and have noticed a few things while shelving books.

-Murder and food apparently pairs quite nicely. How else to explain all the books titled Death Du Jour, The Carrotcake Murder, and Fatally Fudge?
-The standard romance novel fare scares me. The titles are alarming. The covers are worse. Also, dukes are popular.
-I realized that the Sci-Fi and Fantasy section in my library is actually made up of Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. (My brother only ever brought home sci-fi books that I was never interested in reading.) Guess where all the McKillip books wre hiding?

THIS is exactly how my experience shelving was like last summer. I was like So THAT's where all the McKillip books are hiding!! Ew, murder and food paired is just . at all the cat murder talk.

Well, I finally found the second Harry Potter at the library. I've read up to the fifth one now. Books 2, 4, and 7 I got/will get from the library; the rest were lent to me by a friend. I'm really enjoying them, but Harry is annoying me more and more with his teenagerness. Shut up, wizard angst. That's basically all I've been reading lately.

What a wonderful year of reading we've had! (This thread turned 1 year old last Wednesday). For another 100 pages of literary discussion, head to the brand spankin' new books thread.