I'm reading many books at the same time, because I have to read because from school
Anyway, I read "Never Let Me Go" for English, " Oscar et la dame Rose" for French and "Krabat" for German. I have to read a book for Dutch too, but I'll start in the Christmas holiday at that one. Probably a boring medieval book (seriously, don't think medieval literature is interesting. I did and I made mistake)
By myself I read " The Tale of the body thief" by Anne Rice

*pokes Meadow* Good to see you on.

I am not catching up , but rather decided I should post some thoughts on a book I read last week before studying and finals push out what I remember after a week of classes. During Thanksgiving break, I went to the library and checked out...The Bell at Sealey Head!
First off, I went in to reading it a bit hesitantly. I hadn't been overly impressed by the other McKillip books I'd read , but figured I should give it a try because A) I thought I should, B) Several NWebbers loved it, C) I'd told a few of them I'd try to read it, and D) There were a couple of cool quotes from it floating around. Not necessarily the best reasons for reading a book (Not "Oh, this book just sounds so totally COOL!!" or "I just loooooove this author!!"), but effective.
That all said, I really, really enjoyed it. Definitely the best McKillip I've read. *waits for someone to cry foul* I don't know if I just finally got into her writing enough to understand it or whether I could actually empathize with the characters or what. Her writing still tripped me sometimes (her habit of using commas oddly...'He reached, took her cup' or something ), but I was able to get into the story. The entire cook subplot tickled me pink---poor Judd! (Judd in this book has at least somewhat redeemed the name in my mind. The only other Judd I remember was a very unsavoury character. ) I think I still got a bit confused at the end about everything, but for the most part, honestly, it was pretty easy to follow.
At any rate, I am definitely more willing/excited to try my hand at more McKillip.

Oh, and *looks around shiftily* I am planning on reading War & Peace this month. I've just got to get through finals and speed read through the weekend to make a good dent before intersession starts...

One last thing, randomly---I am taking an Intro to Literature class in the spring! No idea what we'll be reading yet (it is a Diversity dimension, which is why I'm taking it ) but I'm hoping we'll read some good/interesting stuff. My hopes will probably be dashed promptly, but, hey, I can dream for now.

-eliza-: you don't like medieval literature? Of course I'm not forcing you to like it. But I'm wondering exactly what you read and why you didn't like it. I didn't care for Beowulf so much. But I later had a course in 14th-century alliterative poetry and it was great! Piers Plowman, Pearl, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience...

I have read "The Theif Lord" by Cornelia Funke and I really like it!
anyone else?

The Thief Lord was the first of Cornelia's books that I read, and I love it very much - even more than Inkheart! I think that's partly because I was able to go to Venice a couple of years ago, and I was able to see the places where it was set. My sister and I used the map in the front of the book, and went to hunt down the places.

Warrior 4 Jesus, I read 1984 several years ago. It's a fascinating book, but I haven't re-read it; it took a long time to get through and I found it austere and very creepy. Orwell is a very interesting writer.

Meltintalle, I have known the story of Kidnapped for ages but I only read it "properly" recently. Now I want to try and track down the next book, Catriona, but I haven't seen any copies anywhere - even in Scotland. Hmm, I suppose I enjoy Kidnapped because of the places too, for I've been along many of the ways of Alan and David.

Yes, 1984 is a terrifying novel. I thought it was mostly very good but I found the ending disappointing. I expected something bitter-sweet, not just bitter.

I just read a book called
"What Child Is This?" by Caroline B. Cooney
it was a good book! It has a holiday theme, but it isn't typical like some books are and it was really thrilling!

another favorite of mine is
"Pictures Of Hollis Woods" by Patricia Reilly Giff
I really like that book!
it too has a holiday theme, but again is not typical!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key= ... TM1E&hl=en

Anyone see this list yet? I've read at least 171 of the books on the list and quite a few of them are on my To Read list.

I'm a huge fan of children's books, and am currently reading the 2nd book in the "Mysterious Benedict Society" series by Trenton Lee Stewart. Anyone read any of the "Mysterious Benedict Society" books?

Liberty Hoffman, have you read anything else by Patricia Reilly Giff? One of my favorites by her is "Lily's Crossing".

-eliza-: you don't like medieval literature? Of course I'm not forcing you to like it. But I'm wondering exactly what you read and why you didn't like it. I didn't care for Beowulf so much. But I later had a course in 14th-century alliterative poetry and it was great! Piers Plowman, Pearl, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience...

What you mention is English medieval literature, I have to read Dutch medieval literature, which is... >< I think you don't know the titles, but they're cold: beatrijs, karel en de elegast, Rijnaerd de vos enz. and that's awefull

I've read Pictures of Hollis Woods and Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff, I want to read Lilly's Crossing as well.

Silvertounge: I have only read Pictures Of Hollis Woods, not any of her other books.....I don't know why!

I had not seen that list, but it seems that I've read 266 of the books listed there. (Yay for being bored in the library's kids book section!) I could probably have made 300 if I read more recent 'popular' books. There were several that sounded interesting, though, that I wish I had read.

AJ: Project Gutenberg and Google Books both have copies of Catriona.

how about the Horation Hornblower series by C.S. Forester, anybody read those? i just finnished Hornblower and the Hotspur, liked it very well

I've read the first three of that series. I'm gonna read the fourth one soon. I really like those books- if you like them, you would probably like the movie Master and Commander. It's very similar in themes...

I've read 189 titles on the list (but those are the books I can remember reading, there may be more). Less than I thought I'd get. Many titles I've never heard of, so maybe they're more popular in America or something. I'm surprised at the level of quality they have for must-reads. Everything from Twilight to uh... much better stuff.