Hi everybody! Wow, it's been ages since I posted. I was busy with school and stuff, but now it's winter break. I had like 10 pages to catch up on, so i didn't. Luckily, I have a LOT of links, so I hope you will forgive me.

What I've read since last time:
C.S. Lewis class-- After Perelandra, I read parts of Mere Christianity (well, I was supposed to read the whole thing, but I ran out of time. I'd read it and Christian Behaviour before, so it was ok. ), LWW (delightful, of course), Till We Have Faces (AWESOME ), That Hideous Strength (during Thanksgiving break. I liked it somewhat less because I noticed all the misogynist stuff this time around thanks to the class ), and A Grief Observed. All were rereads except for Till We Have Faces, which I had been looking forward to reading. It did not disappoint. Just wonderful storytelling. At first it didn't even feel like Lewis the way his books usually do. But this book was so amazing. Raw and terribly sad (but then apparently my view of 'sad' is different from others' ) and powerful... I can't recommend it enough.
This class kind of shifted my perceptions of Lewis and his books, so I'm not exactly sure which are my favorites anymore and which aren't. But I still love them all. I think I got an A in that class.
Heroes Lit class: Oroonoko was mostly somewhat frustrating and sad due to his circumstances. There was one part that was SO AWESOME it almost redeemed the whole thing, but then it ended as badly as it could. Ugh. I wouldn't go out of my way to read it if I were you, but if you want a non-American book about slavery to compare with an abolitionist text or whatever, this is a great book to discuss views on race. (Did that make any sense?) After O was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which was enjoyable but not as awesome as I hoped it would be. Mostly because the ending was rather unsatisfying. Oh well. (BTW, the Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie was okay despite the gore until they went all Oedipal/anti-Christianity on us. Apparently Jonathan Edwards was Johnny/Ichabod's dad or something. ) Last we read Lord of the Flies, which of course I did not like, but it was very good. I really liked the writing style which was lush and descriptive and beautiful but you couldn't tell about the passage of time, just like its setting. Very powerful.

Currently reading:
-My traditional holiday read of Christmas with Anne, an anthology of L.M. Montgomery holiday stories which is always comforting and enjoyable,
-The Problem of Pain, which my mom got me for my birthday because I thought I needed it for my CSL class but I didn't. Just one chapter in; it's good so far, and
-Authentic Faith: The Power of a Fire-Tested Life which my counselor gave me for my baptism. It's very good so far; I'm a chapter in.
Ha, I want to do sooo much reading but there's work and computer and shopping and everything else...
I bought Captivating for my best friend and Prelude to Foundation for my brother for Christmas.

Ooh! Links! I almost forgot. I'll have to divide them into categories:
CSL's Works
LWW: what a science/tech geek would do. (Read the hovertext, too.)
Andy Serkis as Screwtape I so want to see/hear this. The man is made of awesome.

Libraries
Amsterdam's Public Library
20 gorgeous libraries you've probably already seen

LOTR
Amazing chart of character/time interactions in the movies? You have to see it. Incredibly detailed. Also includes Jurassic Park as well as other non-book movies.
Two interesting-looking fan films: Born of Hope and The Hunt for Gollum. These people were so dedicated, and the movies look well crafted for what they are. I haven't watched either, but I wanted to share them.

Random other books stuff
WWI literature from Abebooks Well, actually, lit read during WWI in the trenches.
Abebooks' Best of the Noughties (yeah, ok)
RIP Wally Hunt, "the man responsible for the modern renaissance of the pop-up book industry".
Neil Gaiman talks about The Graveyard Book I so need to read that still.
Slush Reading, Suess Style Awesome Dr. Seuss-like poem about having to wade through manuscripts. Not entirely kosher, so be warned. But it's so great and ends on a sweet note.
Interesting article on dragons in literature I can't remember any good books I've read with dragons in them (Paolini doesn't count since I said 'good'). The Frog Princess books, but those aren't high fantasy or that good either. Wow, I feel like such a n00b. I once read a sort of anthology, possibly called Here There Be Dragons, but that was so long ago. HTBD is now the title of that one book with CSL and JRRT as kids in it. Sigh. Quick internet research says it was by Jane Yolen? Where did that phrase first come from, btw? Also, do you really think dragons are the most noble of literary beasts? Aslan wins that, naturally, but I'm talking generally.

I have a few more, but I'm tired of posting/typing and I'm sure you're tired of reading. It's good to be back!

Yay! mar_girl's back! I've missed you and your awesome links.

We read Oroonoko in my British Lit class this semester and spent a lot of time arguing about it. The professor had a lot of fun teaching that one. The reading was split over two days and at the end of the first class, she asked us if any of us had read it before or read ahead. I wondered why she was visibly amused when we all answered no to both. Then I read the ending and found out.

Welcome back mar_girl! The character interactions chart is confusing.

I took a break from The Count of Monte Cristo today in order to read the next installment in the series that is my worst literary guilty pleasure: Alex Rider. Crocodile Tears is the 8th book in the series and while it wasn't fabulous, it was thoroughly solid and purposeful. Anyone who reads the story knows that Alex hates MI6, but somehow always gets roped into working for them. Now however, it's clear that he has a Harry Potter-like inability to stay out of trouble and that he actually likes investigating (even if he wishes he could do without all the near-death experiences). The book was more mature in the fact that it was less wildly fantastic, slightly more realistic (and by realistic I mean that no one ended up on Mars), and actually seemed to take place in the real world. I enjoyed it very much.

220: I've heard very good things about Crazy Love and would very much like to pick it up some time. Thanks for the recommendation! I'm so glad to hear how God has been working in your life! Thank you for sharing with us.

I've never read Oroonoko and I never had to. But thanks for your thoughts on it, mar_girl and Bookwyrm. I have a copy of Olaudah Equiano's autobiography, but I've never read it. Has anyone else? What are your thoughts on it? [He was a British Christian, former slave, and friend of MP William Wilberforce.]

Kate, you just have to read Crazy Love!

This past Sunday, I saw a play called "16 hours to Christmas." It's a fictionalized version of how Dickens came to write "A Christmas Carol." I'm wondering how much truth is in it. Below is a description of the play.

The 1840’s were a time of serious economic woes in England. Celebrated author Charles Dickens was on the verge of bankruptcy, a failed marriage, and losing his children to the workhouses where he, himself, was raised. He left his house and came back 16 hours later to write his greatest and most beloved story ever, A Christmas Carol.

“16 Hours To Christmas” is a two-act musical drama fictionalization of the events in Charles Dickens’ life during those 16 hours.

Yay! mar_girl's back! I've missed you and your awesome links.

We read Oroonoko in my British Lit class this semester and spent a lot of time arguing about it. The professor had a lot of fun teaching that one. The reading was split over two days and at the end of the first class, she asked us if any of us had read it before or read ahead. I wondered why she was visibly amused when we all answered no to both. Then I read the ending and found out.

Aw, thanks! I missed you guys. Ha, I imagine that would be a great text to focus on. We spent just a few days on Oroonoko.

Welcome back mar_girl! The character interactions chart is confusing.

Thanks! Yes it is, isn't it? It took a couple reads to sorta understand what was going on, lol. Hmm, I may buy that Alex Rider book for my little brother for Christmas.

220christian: I haven't read that book, but I believe jo has and said it was good. Or perhaps I'm mistaken? It's been a while.

More links:
The Art of Penguin Science Fiction

Free audiobooks or something

Isaac Asimov's books reading order Found this when trying to figure out which book to get my other brother for Christmas.

Steampunk Mary Poppins

McSweeney's: Famous Authors Narrate the Funny Pages Hilarious.

5 Things You Don't Know About Louisa May Alcott

H.G. Wells Meets Orson Wells

Literacy Venn Diagram Absolutely spot on, except that IRL the fanfics circle often intersects with romance novels.

The cat has the right idea.

I just started reading the "Series Of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket! those books are pretty good, but I am crying the whole time because of the horrible things that happen to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny!
I cried through the whole first book and am now crying my way through the second one! lol!

I've got "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris from the library. I plan on getting "Boy Meets Girl" next.

how do you like it? I love both those books!

I am currently re-reading 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens. The best time for a re-read, no? It's a kinda annual thing of mine, though I've only done it three times.
But I'm very much enjoying it, as always. Anyone else reading it now?

Pogginfan, I actually read it right before we went to see A Christmas Carol in theaters in November, first time I had read it and I'm glad I did.

I just started reading a book called "The Christmas Box" (sorry, I forgot who wrote it) and it is really interesting!

mm1991: like Glenstorm, I've read both Harris books too and I loved them! Guess what? He's a pastor of a church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, near DC. I went to his church on Easter morning in 2005.

pogginfan, I also like to reread A Christmas Carol each year. It was a bit early this year because (like 7chronicles) I went to the Disney/Jim Carrey film version of the story a while back, and was inspired to reread it then.

Liberty, I've seen the film version of The Christmas Box (starring Richard Thomas of The Waltons fame) on TV, but didn't know it was a book. Now I'm curious as to how faithful the movie version is.

I'm currently wrapping up Randy Alcorn's Safely Home, which is a sort of 'spiritual thriller' in the vein of Frank Peretti's Darkness books. Once I get into it, it can be hard to put down again.

stargazer: the book is really good,(I have only got as far as the 3rd chapter!) I didn't know it was a movie!

Poggy, I'm just about to read A Christmas Carol for the first time this year! It looks really good; my sister enjoyed it much.

So I've just piled a load of books (or it seems so that it's that much) on myself, and I guess I'll give my opinons on them when I'm done. (Reading each for the first time...)

1. Emma by Jane Austen
2. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
3. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (Is it really supposed to be that thick, or did I just get an unusually large version of the book? )

I think that's it, along with this other book, "American Journalism, a history: 1690-1960." It looks really neat and full of history. I also borrowed two other history books.
And, I set aside my deep sadness at the ending of "Little Women" and read "Little Men", and now am reading "Jo's Boys." I'm glad I did so. Little Men is now a favourite. Once I'm done with "Jo's Boys" I can proudly say I've read all of L.M.A.'s books. Anyways. Sadly, I haven't gotten much reading done lately but Christmas Break will pay up for all I've missed. =]

Edit:
Seeing W4J's name reminded me! The library finally received Blessed Child, so that's another book to add to my reading list for the next two weeks.