Well, my mom had to go and get me a Kindle for Christmas.

Now I have myself a cool little portable electronic library of sorts...

...and no idea of what books to get for it.

Well, I did get Emily of New Moon since that was one I wanted to read, but I'm stumped on anything beyond that. I guess I'll be hanging 'round here to try to fish up some suggestions.

I finally began Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief today and understand the popularity of the Attolian conspiracy here on the forum.

Gen is a fun character and I'm looking forward to more.

On the first I began reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.
First book of his I read, I've read two chapters a day. None today yet.
Going on Chapter 5, love the book!!

220, I know I've heard (and mentioned) the Pevensie connection before, though I can't remember where I first heard it. I went back and started a re-read of Puck of Pook's Hill and noticed this passage:
[quote="Rudyard Kipling, in Puck of Pook's Hill,":26xeix24]'How would you like to be called "mortal" or "human being" all the
time?' said Puck; 'or "son of Adam" or "daughter of Eve"?'

'I shouldn't like it at all,' said Dan. 'That's how the Djinns and
Afrits talk in the Arabian Nights.'

I then went and found what claimed to be a complete copy of the Arabian Nights online and used my browser's handy search function... 'son of Adam' appeared once, and 'daughter of Eve' not at all. I'm not sure where to begin looking to see if the phrases were used by Kipling contemporaries, or if that is unique to him...

Have you read Puck of Pook's Hill or its sequel Rewards and Fairies before? How do you like them?

I'm currently reading A Game of Thrones, which is the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. So far, it's really good. I've requested all the other books in the series from the library, so that when I finish the first book I can go right on to the other ones.

Oh, I really want to watch Where the Wild Things Are. I've always loved the picture book by Sendak (the illustration where Max's room turns into a jungle is my favorite, too). I wasn't aware there was a movie novelization, but it doesn't surprise me. I may check it out from the library sometime; it sounds good.

Great finds, lys and Booky! I'm somewhat jealous. I'm back at school and I think my book shopping days are mostly over until breaks. Well, of the secondhand variety, that is. I still haven't spent my Barnes & Noble or Berean giftcards.

This time it's Jane Bites Back, which is about Jane Austen being turned into a vampire and living on into modern times. Should be good for a laugh at least.

Oh. Dear.

Ooh, such a pretty Dickens book. *drools*

I actually have not heard of those Kipling books. Hmm. My sister picked up and read the tiny gold-stamped leatherbound poem I have of his, "If...". She liked it.

I ended up reading 82 books, officially. I read more in the library when volunteering there over the summer, but I didn't include the books I'd just leaf through while shelving. I finished Emma; it was enjoyable even though most of not all of the characters annoyed me. I just went back and read ww's LT review. Perfect supplement.

Oh, and today is JRR Tolkien's birthday.

Yes, there's a novelization of the Where The Wild Things Are movie but it's written by the screenwriter of the movie, so it's all kosher. And very good to boot.

bookwyrm: thanks for the advice on John Flanagan books! I will look in to those!

Welcome to the Attolian Conspiracy, stargazer . It's about time! I never, ever do this, but for the fourth Attolia book... well, I preordered it on Amazon . We're going to have a rollicking Special Feature here when Conspiracy of Kings releases and I can't be the only one planning on rereading the series to get ready for the new one, can I?

*enjoys looking over everyone's 2010 reading plans*

I'm loving everyone's Christmas books! I did not get any fiction for Christmas this year — just cookbooks. No, I'm not kidding . However, I bought a bunch of used books when I was out thrifting with my sisters, so I can't complain too much. One of the cookbooks has literary significance, too

*drools a little over lys' thrift/bargain store finds*

That one kind of creepy series wisewoman recommended to me a while ago that I can't remember the title of

I can't remember this either . Jog my memory; what else is the series besides creepy?

Nice breakdown of the Wild Things book, Warrior, but I can't say I'm a fan of the idea of a spin-off based on the film. I think the charm of the book is its lean prose. Expanding on it just doesn't seem right to me somehow.

Ian Carmichael read the audio book version of Murder Must Advertise my dad got from the library.

Must. Find. I recently listened to Whose Body? read by David Case and absolutely loved it. It is a great start to the Lord Peter books and Case's reading really enhanced the experience. But then, you really can't go wrong with Sayers, can you?

I'm currently reading A Game of Thrones, which is the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

Those have been so highly recommended to me! But I am waiting till Martin finishes the series before I start it. Some of his fans are in despair of him ever doing so

*pretends she never saw anything about a book titled Janes Bites Back*

I'm glad you ended up liking Emma despite the characters, mara

I've been reading a lot lately, some rereads, some new stuff. Reviews are here, as always!

The great thing about The Wild Things novel is that it isn't so much a spin-off, as a much more detailed script of the movie in novel form. Also, the original script-writer and author of the novel are one and the same. That has to count for something right? Fair enough if you don't see how/why short books need to be/are turned into movies but the movie is so well done it doesn't matter. Treat them as separate entities and you might just enjoy them.

I'm reading Leviathan but I haven't got very far. It's a novel set during World War 1. It's a combination of historical/sci-fi and fantasy fiction (maybe steampunk?) The war is fought using huge war machines, on one side and genetically engineered animals on the other. It's a very interesting premise. I hope it delivers.

I'm glad you ended up liking Emma despite the characters, mara

lol, thanks. It's my second time reading it, I think.

I'm reading Leviathan but I haven't got very far. It's a novel set during World War 1. It's a combination of historical/sci-fi and fantasy fiction (maybe steampunk?) The war is fought using huge war machines, on one side and genetically engineered animals on the other. It's a very interesting premise. I hope it delivers.

Ooh, I heard about that. I do believe it is steampunk. It sounds really interesting, and the cover is so cool-looking. Let us know how goes. As for movie novelizations, I usually don't read them. I generally think of them as a spin-off just to make money. The only one I can remember reading was The Prince of Egypt, which was by Lynn Reid Banks. It was good. I do want to try the Wild Things one.

I finally have some links for you guys!
Note: Many of the links contain some language.
Why are women writers less successful/celebrated than men writers?
An opinion/response to the last article
I'm not sure what to think of this. No, I don't think men writers are just better, necessarily. It's not as simple as either author says. We live in a male-dominated society, and for the most part people and things that are considered male will have preference. Grr.

10 innovative book covers from the past decade I must say I love the edited/proofread one. And the Dead Philosophers one.

The National Post's Best Books of the Decade

Best missed books Have not heard of any of them. Most look really old.

JK Rowling sold most books this last decade At least in the UK, anyway.

Ursula Le Guin leaves Authors Guild over digitalization Read for the hilarious/awesome comment she makes. Also, doesn't she have the awesomest name? I think so.

"Aren't the Sherlock Holmes stories a bit elementary?" Oooooh, this guy has a point. But they're still so awesome!!

I don't normally read movie novelizations either, but this one was written by the screenwriter and doesn't follow the movie verbatim. It's it's own beast. If there's any movie that required a novel to understand it, it would be Where The Wild Things Are. Fun for psychoanalysts everywhere!

Yes, Leviathan is steampunk. The quality/classic illustrations in the book are a real bonus.

People say we live in a male-dominated society (in terms of career positions this may be true) but I seem more evidence for society become more feminised. And I'm not happy about it.

Ooh my edition also has The Chimes (and American Notes) FF! I haven't read it yet but I'm planning to. Is it interesting?

Hmm, well, I can't really say The Chimes isn't interesting, but I didn't understand it very well, so as to how I liked it I didn't...exactly. It's definitely not a bad thing to read, though, in any case, and some of the characters are interesting.

I decided to do some more "light" reading over the past couple days, so I picked up one of the books in Lauraine Snelling's Dakotah Treasures series, this time around it was book 3, Opal. Aside from at the beginning and even somewhat through out to end there being the rather typical and slightly already been done heroine (pretty much the non-conformist type to the standards for women back in the 1880s American West, and I'm not that big of a fan of the non conformists in that age), and it being typed as a historical romance when the heroine herself was only fourteen for the entire novel (don't worry though, it all works out in the end...I guess), I liked it well enough. There was some great messages in it, and I could identify to a degree with some of the burdens that the main characters were carrying around. But... other then that it wasn't anything over remarkable I found. And I now shall return to reading War and Peace...

I'm reading Eragon right now. The English one and I have to say I like it now already even more than the Dutch one. Bad translation I think And this way I don't have to wait for the translation when book 4 releases

FF: maybe I'll read it sometime...

I'm still only on the second chapter of Part 2 in The Fellowship of the Ring. The council just drags sooooo much. I don't think I've ever taken this long to read a book. Tolkein seems to just drag things out though...*shrugs* I don't know why I'm finding it so hard to read...one thing I am glad about

Spoiler

is that Frodo got see Bilbo again! *happiness* I missed Bilbo, he's such a great main character in The Hobbit