Jo: I'm also surprised you've never heard of Metamorphosis. It's pretty famous. At least, I thought so...

Gosh Glenstorm, how do you always manage to find such fabulous stuff at the dump? I'm so jealous.

Rivulus: Oh, thanks for the recommendation! I checked out both The Grand Tour and The Mislaid Magician from my library, but when GT was boring and I quit, I returned them both. Maybe I'll re-check it out.

220: Yes, I'm on quarters. You have no love for the quarter system? Many of the public universities in California are on quarters, and that includes me. I like it, though it's quite fast. I usually try to read everything; I find it hard to do Passage IDs if I don't. I liked The Last Man ok. It was extremely long and wordy and sort of disjointed. My class joked that if they made it into a movie, they would have to do two films. The first would be a romantic comedy period film. The second would be an apocalyptic thriller. Thanks for all the feedback on my reading list! I'm looking forward to this quarter.

Lady Courage: I would perhaps argue that it isn't all Mary Shelley's fault. She was, after all, married to Percy Bysshe Shelley who sounds like a pathetic little rat if I ever heard of one. Apparently he was small of stature and weak health-wise. Neither of those things makes you a sissy by themselves, but I just don't like PB all that much, so I'm biased. Her novel The Last Man is a roman a clef which is "a novel in which actual persons and events are disguised as fictional characters" (dictionary.com). One of the characters is a representation of PB Shelley and he is totally feminine and sentimental and perfect. Other male characters in the book, however, are quite masculine. And that includes the main character Lionel (who represents Mary Shelley herself!)

I just finished read King Solmon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard, and while there was some parts that I found a bit gory/violent for my tastes, I did enjoy it overall. There was a couple parts that I actually laughed out loud at (which may seem particularly odd, because it's not as if the book was actually one that one could...laugh at. If that makes any sense), and for the most part I enjoyed the adventure in it.

Kate, and Lady Courage as well: I hope you both will continue to enjoy The Count of Monte Cristo! I read it this past summer and found it to be an immensely good read. Kate, I'm not sure what the best translation/edition is, but, if it helps any, mine was a Wordsworth Classic one, and it seemed to be all in order.

Here's my result on the Austen heroine quiz! I was kinda hoping for Anne Elliot, though.

Kate: I think your take on Mary and PB Shelley is pretty accurate... PB wasn't the only "pathetic little rat." I don't like him or his poetry much either.

FF: you read King Solomon's Mines! Some parts were a bit gory. And the adventure was okay. I don't remember any funny parts. Adventure-wise, I prefer Allan Quatermain.

If I was going to be exact however, I would argue that man can't create life. But that's nit-picking, the story is what if someone found out how to imbue the breath of life in a lifeless form.

Yes, man can't create life. But he tries: cloning, stem-cell research...

W4J wrote...

You disagree with mankind playing the role of God by creating a Frankenstein monster? I'd think that was a fairly kosher belief?

um yes. and what do you mean by kosher?

arabesque wrote...

Oh! I love Jane Austen! I just recently finished reading Pride and Prejudice and I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately for my family I walked around speaking as the characters did for two days afterward!

lol I do the same thing. I wrote in my diary with all theses flowery words and spoke with one of those nice accents for weeks

my result in the quiz...

I knew I was like her! I got the same result when I took this a few years ago. Then I hadn't read any of the Austen books so I had no idea who she was

So about S&S- nothing really turned out the way I thought it would...

But over all it was a great book and I almost think I like it better than Pride and Prejudice...almost.

Now I'm reading Horatio and the Hotspur- I'm not liking it as much as the previous two books. Horatio is becoming less likeable-

But I still like the book. I was discussing the books with my friend and how only the first four were good and he says "Oh well you don't want to read the other ones anyway. He likes goes bald and gets a potbelly." So I said "so you only like to read about him when he's good-looking?" And he says "yeah! duh!" Now I might be wrong but I think it's wrong to read a book just because the character "looks good."

Now I'm reading Horatio and the Hotspur- I'm not liking it as much as the previous two books. Horatio is becoming less likeable.

I'm a fan of anything with tall ships in it, exploration, tropical islands, hostile natives, 24-gun broadsides, shattering mizzenmasts, etc. I'm just a total sucker for the stuff, so naturally I love to read books with that as the main theme. I read a couple of the Horatio Hornblower books (the first two or three I think) and while they were enjoyable they didn't really scratch that itch I had, so to speak, which is kind of surprising since tall ships are the central theme. I'm wondering if the books were originally serials because I found that one chapter had very little to do with the next, which gives each chapter a sort of "adventure of the week" feel to it. After a while I lost interest in them and they're still in a box somewhere in my library/storage room.

If you're into that same genre I would highly recommend tackling Nordhoff and Hall's Mutiny on the Bounty trilogy, which itself is a work of historical fiction. There are three separate books within the volume, each covering a portion of the historic events surrounding the infamous mutiny by the crew of the HMAV Bounty, en route from Tahiti to the West Indies with a load of breadfruit trees. Mutiny on the Bounty is told by a midshipman (a stand in character for an actual sailor whose exploits the book purportedly mirrored fairly well, with a few slight variations) and covers the Bounty's trip out of England and down to the tropical paradise of Tahiti and of the mutiny on the return trip.

The second part is called Men Against The Sea and tells of Lt. Bligh's very epic open boat journey from the point where he lost control of the ship until he hits the Dutch colony of Batavia, over 4,000 miles from his starting point. The boat was overloaded with those loyal to Bligh and was in danger of capsizing or sinking at numerous times during the trip but Bligh managed to pull it off. The story is narrated by Thomas Ledward, the Bounty's acting surgeon.

The last part of the trilogy is Pitcairn's Island and is told by Alexander Smith, one of the mutineers. It tells the tale of how Fletcher Christian and the mutineers took Tahitian men and women and sought out a hiding spot where the Royal Navy wouldn't find them and eventually settled on a small island several hundred miles off of the west coast of South America. It was apparently one of the great maritime mysteries of the world as to what happened to the Bounty and her crew and the answers weren't to be had until an American whaler ship anchored off of Pitcairn 18 years after the mutiny and discovered a thriving society there where there wasn't before. Great stuff! The writing is beautiful and if you always wanted to explore the South Seas on a tall ship, but could never afford it (like me), believe me, this is the next best thing.

[/rant]

I got Eleanor Dashwood! Awsome I love her (along with Elizabeth Bennet).
I just love Jane Austen's novels.

220: So I take it there's more adventure books with Quartermain as the main character? If so, would you suggest any?

I suppose there wasn't any exactly funny parts, but little things like:

"Anything more incongruous than the old warrior looked with an eyeglass I never saw. Eye-glasses don't go well with leopard skin cloaks and black ostrich plumes."

I finally picked up my Rudyard Kipling book, and although it's just his best short stories, I'm enjoying them pretty much so far. I think my brother would enjoy them too, so I'll probably lend him the book when I'm done.

I just got finished with the Percy Jackson series, very nice not over top. I am glad to see a "what are you reading serires" here in the forum. I chose to reread the Twilight Series in reverse. Then will probably reread the Narnia chronicles. I am finding myself thinking of Lewis run for the rest of the year. Read everything Lewis ever wrote. I have read some of his work not all of it. Anyone have any suggestions what to read first?

My favorite Non-Narnian work by Lewis is The Screwtape Letters. Very creative.

I just finished:
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
The Lovely Bones
The Ember Series

shadowlander: I'll be sure to try those books some time, they all sound interesting. I know the first Hornblower book is a bit choppy and that's because each chapter is its own story. Thus justifying the fact that the chapters can be from 30-80 pages long each.

CorneliusX: the only other Lewis book I've read is Mere Christianity. It was really good- I'd reccomend it to anyone.

My favorite Non-Narnian work by Lewis is The Screwtape Letters. Very creative.

I just finished:
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
The Lovely Bones
The Ember Series

Loved the Screwtape Letters read the book shortly after Jesus crashed into my darkness, anyway I think of the agents from the Matrix when I think of the premise of the book.

CorneliousX- I agree with you on Percy Jackson. A nice read, but not over the top.

I just found out that the 8th Alex Rider book, Crocodile Tears, is coming out in November I can't wait! On his blog Anthony Horowitz says he thinks it'll be the best one yet, and right now I don't doubt it, considering in the rest of the series each is better than the last one. Now at least I have an excuse to re-read them I must say Scorpia's my favorite, with Skeleton Key and Snakehead in a tie for a close second. Eagle Strike and Point Blank coming in third. They're all so good, a great mixture of action and character.

Lady Courage: I would perhaps argue that it isn't all Mary Shelley's fault. She was, after all, married to Percy Bysshe Shelley who sounds like a pathetic little rat if I ever heard of one. Apparently he was small of stature and weak health-wise. Neither of those things makes you a sissy by themselves, but I just don't like PB all that much, so I'm biased. Her novel The Last Man is a roman a clef which is "a novel in which actual persons and events are disguised as fictional characters" (dictionary.com). One of the characters is a representation of PB Shelley and he is totally feminine and sentimental and perfect. Other male characters in the book, however, are quite masculine. And that includes the main character Lionel (who represents Mary Shelley herself!)

*pushes hat back in thought and surprise* Wow, I didn't know that. Well well well! Very interesting! Now I think I may need to read The Last Man...

Yes, man can't create life. But he tries: cloning, stem-cell research...

I know! I just hate it! The only clone reference that didn't totally annoy me was in Star Wars. After all, it is (truly) fantasy... Oh, scary piece of info here, related to clones but not books ( ): Did you know that cloned beef cattle have been "approved" by the FDA for consumption? So that means that the juicy steak on your plate could be from a CLONED ANIMAL!!!
P.S. We're kindred spirits! I mean about the quiz results...

My favorite Non-Narnian work by Lewis is The Screwtape Letters. Very creative.

Still haven't read it. Jeepers, here I am a Narnia fan and haven't even read the other popular C.S. Lewis books. Looking forward to the Focus on the Family radio drama of that though! However, gotta read the book first...

A new review on an old series from me.

Ever read a book and then come back to it after awhile and reread it as if it were the first time? Lori Wick’s Kensington Chronicles is a great series to curl up with in front of a fire or on a wet evening.

The first book, The Hawk and the Jewel, opens at sea. A man, having just lost his wife and daughter, is forced to return to his family in England without them. Unknowingly, his daughter is still alive and in the care of the emir.

Many years later, Sunny is returned to her family and so begins her reintroduction into English society. This book is not a great adventure story, but it does have its moments. It is a romance at the heart. Sunny must learn what it means to walk with God both in matters of life and in matters of the heart. She ends up leading one man on a merry chase for her heart.

Probably one of Lori Wick’s best series, The Hawk and the Jewel is a fantastic start to a fantastic series.

I would perhaps argue that it isn't all Mary Shelley's fault. She was, after all, married to Percy Bysshe Shelley who sounds like a pathetic little rat if I ever heard of one.

This made me laugh so hard. Kate, you are hilarious.

I got Elinor Dashwood. Yay! I love her. Although I like to think I'm a conglomerate of most of the Austen heroines, save Emma.

I finished Believing in Narnia. I really need to go through it again and write down a list of what she got wrong. The author has character profiles, sort of, where she details the spiritual secrets that we can learn from them or whatnot. This made me mad: after finding spiritual messages in everyone from Caspian's nurse to the altraboss (sp?), she goes and leaves out Polly AND PUDDLEGLUM. Puddleglum!!! I am dead serious. He's the most obvious one! Polly seems to exist solely as a plot point for her. Argh. And I can think of several more spiritual lessons to be gleaned from many other creatures, such as Ginger. But maybe he doesn't count 'cause he's a leopard. *rolls eyes* The book was good but very repetitive. It is written for kids, but still. I'd recommend borrowing it from the library or a friend. Merely an ok book.

School starts tomorrow. I'm not going to have much time anymore, but I'll let you know what I think of my books for my classes.