what I mean about sad is that I feel awful for poor Violet, Klaus, and Sunny! I cry every time they get in trouble! though they are a bit funny.....

Bookwyrm, I agree. The books were good but many became very redundant and similar to each other. I think the author wrote 13 books in the series only because 13 is considered an unlucky number by some. Still, after all that reading I would've enjoyed a more conclusive and interesting ending.

I've only read one, the first one, of A Series of Unfortunate Events, but I didn't like it. I personally found some of the content rather disturbing. Granted, this may not be the same for everyone, but I didn't like the book enough to read the others.

(From the SF thread on Leo Tolstoy...)

FF, I liked Andrei and his sister too. The translation I read called her Mary, so... we are thinking of the same person, right?

I believe we're thinking of the same one- in some translations it's Maria, others Marya, and now Mary as well. As long as it's Andrei's younger sister that we're talking about, we're good.

Still slowly progressing in War and Peace, the speed of my progress is mainly due to the fact that I haven't had much time, not because the book is hard going, or anything like that...

Yesterday we were at a store that happened to have a couple shelves of books...there wasn't much but I picked up an A-Z Encyclopaedia of Tolkien by David Day, a book by Lauriane Snelling from the Dakotah Treasures series, an old 1947 girls' mystery book (along the lines of Nancy Drew, I think) called Vicki Finds the Answer- apparently Vicki is a Flight Stewardess/Detective, or something of that sort, and a Nancy Drew Picture Book, called The Mystery of the Lost Dogs, which should be interesting. So I came home happy.

Foreverfan: yeah, I have agree with you about the Series Of Unfortunate Events! I read the first one and I am part way through the second one, but I will probably stop. it's only going to keep getting bad.....the author even warns you ahead of time in the book that a character is going to die! it's kind of weird.....

I just finished reading The King of Attolia which, after getting over the general confusion of the beginning, I decided I liked. It was probably suppose to be a little confusing... I guess I was still in the "Author tells me everything-I-need-to-know" mode. And of course it was just as witty and humorous and the other novels. Very excited for book 4!!!

I also finished a fairytale book called the Amaranth Enchantment. It reminded me of a Cinderella story but since I'm a huge fan of Cinderella stories I quite enjoyed it! It's all there, mean step-mother, rags to riches, a dashing prince, and ball in a beautiful gown and a fairy-god mother-like lady. However, Julie Berry spins her tale in such a way that you don't even realize it was a Cinderella story till you close the last cover and think "Ahhh, yes. The epitome of a Princess yarn."

All this talk of re-reading A Christmas Carol is inspiring me to pull out my copy and read it by the Christ,as tree! An excellent idea!

Last week I read The Last Knight, by Hilari Bell and thought it a very unique tale.
Fisk is rouge lad of 17 who was rescue from execution by a Knight. Sir Michael is the knight who sets out on quests of noble acts and brings Fisk along with him as his Squire. The problem? Knight's don't exist anymore and Michael is the first one to decide to become one in hundreds of years. Consequently, they get a lot of unbelieving stares, merciless laughs, and general astonishment from everyone they meet.
What makes this delightful novel unique is the fact that each chapter alternates from the point of view of Fisk and Michael in each chapter. Very interesting.
I love Hilari Bells's character descriptions, short, to the point, and so utterly true. (A stark contrast to Legacy by Cayla Kluver whose long-winded descriptions left you thoroughly annoyed... Legacy was a very very badly written book. I expected it would be, and in fact it was so painful to read I never finished it but read the ending instead....Something I NEVER do!)
One of my favorites was how Michael described Fisk when he first saw him:
"He was neither handsome nor homely, the kind of young man Mothers pray will come courting their daughters and the daughters dismiss as too dull."
I find it refreshing that not every single character in books have to be dashingly handsome to a point of frustration like some books I could name. (*ahem* Legacy *ahem*)
Fisk and Michael are so fun! This book is very untypical and for that reason it will truly stand out!

Anyway, I plan on going back to reading books from the Swallows and Amazons series. I never actually finished reading them all when I was into them years ago. So now I'm re-reading them in order and enjoying them immensely!!! I'm a huge Arthur Ransome fan!

So my early assessment of Legacy was essentially correct, then? About it being the new Eragon or whatever? Nice. I would have liked to be proved wrong, but oh well. Of course, that is going off only one person's opinion. Anyone else read it?

I would like to read some Dekker or Peretti but my mom doesn't like the idea of Christian Horror/Thriller stories.

Christian Horror? how can that even be pulled off?
(not knocking the genre down, sincerely asking)

Christian Horror is pretty much horror stories that explore the supernatural but don't glorify the occult etc. They have a Christian world view and offer hope. Peretti has only written one book that could be considered horror - The Oath and co-authored another with Ted Dekker - House.
Thrillers on the other-hand are just fast-paced suspense stories with lots of twists and turns in the plot. Both are quite compatible with the Christian faith.

So my early assessment of Legacy was essentially correct, then? About it being the new Eragon or whatever? Nice. I would have liked to be proved wrong, but oh well. Of course, that is going off only one person's opinion. Anyone else read it?

I know, I really really wanted to like it. I wanted her to prove that 16 year old's could write books. First Eragon now this. It was terrible. She needs to keep the manuscript for another 10 years then try re-writing it again maybe.... I thought Eragon was even a little better.

I've also pulled out my copy of A Christmas Carol and laid aside The Fellowship. Partly b/c all the talk of this book has made me want to read it and partly b/c I saw a musical last night of the story.

I am done with Series Of Unfortunate Events! for one thing, it was creepy.....and for another thing, it was sad. and I pretty much knew what was coming throughout the whole story because Violet, Klaus, and Sunny never have anything good happen to them! it was rather depressing.....

I know, I really really wanted to like it. I wanted her to prove that 16 year old's could write books. First Eragon now this. It was terrible. She needs to keep the manuscript for another 10 years then try re-writing it again maybe.... I thought Eragon was even a little better.

Ooh, ouch. Too bad more bad authors didn't do that… Do you think maybe it means that 16 year olds aren't mature enough to write good novels, that perhaps they have a bit of maturing as people or writers (or both) to do… or do you think that perhaps it depends on the person? I'm sure there are 16 year olds that are talented enough to write good books out there. But perhaps we don't hear of them because they don't try.

*dislikes depressing books and only read the first SOUE for that reason*

The Problem of Pain is such slow going. I'm about halfway, and I'm stuck in Human Pain. I just want to read something quick and fun. I'm tempted towards Wintersmith.

BibliOdyssey Not sure if you guys have seen this one before, but this blog showcases tons of gorgeous old books' illustrations. About halfway down the page is an illustration of the geocentric model of the universe, which was what Lewis wrote about in The Discarded Image.

British phone box becomes a mini-library SO CUTE!!! WANT. I think my brain just exploded.

Seasonally- and topic-appropriate: How Dickens rewrote A Christmas Carol

A eulogy for Watson

11 of the Coolest Bookcases I could so use the expanding one, lol. And the infinity one looks amazing. I love the cave one, too.

I think more life experience is needed to write a good novel. It's important to write lots and lots and not use most of what you write. In the process you learn more about the mechanics of writing well and are likely to avoid beginner mistakes like 'purple prose'. Ick.

eg.

'Look at this book! It was written by a 15 year old!'
'Nice, but is it any good?'
'Er...'
'That would be a 'no' then?'
'But it has dragons and lots of pages.'
'Your point being?'
'...'

Hmmm.....Good question. I'm not rejecting the fact there there certainly are 16 year olds who could write a good novel. But like you said, Mar_girl, they probably don't try and those are the people who are successful as authors later on.
And yes, life experiences definitely help when writing. Writing about what you know is one of the best things. I might as well say that Kluver's "romantic" scenes were absolutely dreadfully written.... Not that It matters but I think that people who have actually been through things like that would probably be able to write them better. That's probably a bad example though. (It makes me sound like I devour romance novels or something! )

Wow! The Cave bookshelf is pretty funky!!!!!

Hello all. I'm happy to be back here.

I recently read the book, Anne of Green Gables. Here is my LibraryThing review.

http://www.librarything.com/work/3253/reviews/47317881

Has anyone else here ever read the book? What do you think? Also, I am looking forward to reading some of the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. Any fans of it on here have an idea of where to start? At the prequels or the original trilogy?

You should listen to your Mom, GtG. Dekker has good books, but the Lord will reward your obedience.

I must say that that is an impressive list, Bella.

I'm off for now. God bless all.

I bid you all adieu.