I haven't read The Bride Collector yet, it hasn't come to Australia. I've heard it's very good. Dekker will be co-authoring a series with speculative fiction author, Tosca Lee (who wrote Demon: A Memoir and Havah: The Story of Eve).

I've just finished four books in a series called Finding Lost by Nikki Stafford. They're unofficial (but still very good) books analysing the first five seasons of the show and a fifth book is planned for Season 6. Each episode is given a brief synopsis but are analysed in great detail.
In addition to all this, there are summaries and analysis done of the books featured in the series. Also, information on J.J Abrams, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and actor and actress biographies, as well as closer looks at the philosophers that some characters have been named after. There are looks at the additional web content provided for fans during hiatuses, as well as how the Writers' Strike affected the series for better or worse, a list of Sawyer's nicknames for characters, transcripts for the jungle whispers and so much more.

I'm still reading The Annotated Alice.

I just read a book called "The Great Gilly Hopkins" by Kathrine Patterson (she wrote Bridge To Terabithia)! it was really good and well written.

Glad you enjoyed it, I had to write papers on the book back in year 8. I thought the book was overly pessimistic and the ending was just depressing. Not what you'd expect from an author who's also a Christian.

ForeverFan, I've finished Riddle of Ramrod Ridge. It's definitely a pulp western. The prose was overblown, the characters stock, and I didn't see any of the redeeming qualities I've seen in work of the other (3) western authors that I've read. Also, there were a few language issues--at times, it felt too 'cleaned up' and then later it felt like it wasn't cleaned up at all (and it was the 'good guy' too! ). However, since it had a few moments where there was some promise of humour and actual likeable character-ness, I'd still be interested in finding a Three Mesquiteers book, which might be better?

Hmm, thanks for your thoughts on it! If you ever read another one of The Three Mesquiteers series, will you let me know? I think it would be a very fun experience to read one of the novels from that series that was actually turned into a movie that I've seen, it would be interesting to see the difference between the book and film, and get an idea of how people viewed the importance of things like faithfulness to the book and characters back in the '30s/40s, even if the books were typical pulp type and the movie quickly made, low budget ones.

How are you liking The Perilous Gard?

I liked it well enough, I guess, especially the characters and her writing style. There was a couple things of which I was unsure, and several things I didn't like outright (or thought it was kind of...odd), but I think it helps that,

The Sign of the Twisted Candles, Nancy's Mysterious Letter, The Message in the Hollow Oak, all by Carolyn Keene (ALL original hardbacks with blue covers and orange lettering )

Can I drool? What great finds! I love it when I stumble over things like that. The bookstore I frequent has or had a full box filled with original Hardy Boys books- dust jackets included (!!), but I didn't have the money to spend on them. Now, if it was Nancy Drew, I'm sure I could have convinced my folks to lend me the money needed to buy them, but alas, there was no Nancy Drew of that type there.

Today I read two classic children's novel in the top 10 list:

- The Phantom Tollbooth: I especially liked all the big words that this book has. It is never pedantic about them, but you bet a kid will learn a lot of new words by reading this book. Since the protagonist is a boy, I will booktalk it on the next Great American Teach-In. I always have a hard time finding good books that boys will like.

- From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Very interesting in their point of view changing from 3rd person to 1rst person. I think I had started reading this one before ages ago, but never got to the ending for some reason.

Both books have things that modern grown-ups could find scandalous, but which are truly harmless and simply warrant a quick explanation at most. Curiously, back when the books were written, those things would have seemed innocuous, but now the words have different meanings and one illustration could be misinterpreted by people who do not realize how innocent it is.

Today is the 291st anniversary of the first publication of one of my very favorite books, Robinson Crusoe. The tale of Crusoe, shipwrecked alone on an island off the coast of Venezuela for 28 years, struck a chord with readers from the beginning and is one of the most widely read and translated literary works in the world. I haven't read it in about 10 years and I think it's time to brush my old copy off and have another go at it.

I just read the 8th book in "The 39 Clues" series today! I love those books! they are so awesome! I got an adrenaline rush from reading the one I just read

I went to a homeschooling conference this weekend and picked up a few books, some today too at a consignment store. I got

The Lost Art of True Beauty by Leslie Ludy
The Bravehearted Gospel by Eric Ludy
When Dreams Come True by Eric and Leslie Ludy
Walking Through the Wardrobe by Sarah Arthur
Walking with Frodo by Sarah Arthur
The Two Towers by (duh!) J.R.R. Tolkien
I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Josh Harris (I already had this book but this was the new edition )

so I'm going to have alot of reading material now, not that I didn't already . Oh and I also got HHB, SC, and TLB on audiotape (Focus on the Family audio drama). My family already has them all but I want my own copies .

Shadowlander: The tale of Crusoe, shipwrecked alone on an island off the coast of Venezuela for 28 years, struck a chord with readers from the beginning and is one of the most widely read and translated literary works in the world.

This is slightly off topic, but have you seen the newish mini-series called Crusoe ? It's surprisingly good. Though not particularly faithful to the very great book!

Re I Kissed Dating Goodbye I think the idea behind Josh Harris's book is great; I just find his writing sentimental and dull (to paraphrase the Prince from Ever After) and slightly arrogant -he was writing about the idea as if it was a novel one and not around for centuries in many other cultures and civilisations (to this day). It's also written in a slightly cautious and not all-out enough manner for such a rebellious notion, if that makes any sense. Maybe if I'd read it coming from a different background...or about five years earlier...[EDIT] I thought I should mention that I appreciate the book as an honest sort of testimony, that part of any writing is always powerful.

Books I've read in the past six months or so, many of them 'NW recommends':

Our Mutual Friend by Dickens. An absolute hit for me, and one of my favourites from Dickens.
Wives and Daughters by Gaskell. This was a really lovely book, I fell in love with the heroine at once -the lessons inside it were really profound and told in a simple manner.
Cranford also by Gaskell I must admit I was a little disappointed with this one, if only because I went in [side its pages] expecting another great novel, but was surprised to find it was a collection of witty short stories. However at least the edition I bought has a gorgeous green leaf hardcover design...
The Du Mauriers by Daphne Du Maurier. I finally finished this one, and it was very interesting only left me feeling slightly depressed and apathetic. Different world views, and all that crisp, stark reality that follows.

I've read quite a few other classics during that time, but can't remember what they were now. I've been accused of reading not enough modern works by my book-ish friends, but I wanted to eat up as much classical as I could first. I'm looking to start re-reading Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith and for Mother's Day thought I'd try and get my hands on a book titled Seasons of Womanhood: Tales of Hope and Despair ..has anyone here heard of or read this? I've merely heard the author speak about it and it sounds very good.

While working on my English research paper, I stumbled across this Battle of the Books thing and Megan Whalen Turner was the judge for one round, which so happened to include one of my favorite recent reads, The Lost Conspiracy.

http://sljbattleofthebooks.com/2010/03/31/round-3-match-1-charles-and-emma-vs-the-lost-conspiracy/

Jo: I'm glad you liked Harry Potter. I think they're excellent. I wish you had been able to read them without knowing what was going to happen, because she is just so good at surprising her reader. Her foresight as an author is impressive. For example, the cabinet Draco fixes in book 6 is broken by Peeves in book 2 in a passing incident to get Harry out of trouble!

Mel: Is this your first reread of JSMN? I loved my reread because I actually understood what was going on and could see how events and details tied into the story that I hadn't understood before.

I recently read Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. It was very interesting and captivating and disturbing. I like Katniss as a heroine; she's not exactly amazing as a protagonist, but at least she doesn't annoy me. I found the romance to be kind of annoying, and I thought it was sort of overdramatic and unnecessary, but oh well. I recommended to the book to a good friend and he liked it too. I'm now halfway through Catching Fire.

I finally was able to get Mike Lupica's book "The Big Field" out of my library a couple days ago! I am reading it right now! yay! it's really good.....

it would be interesting to see the difference between the book and film, and get an idea of how people viewed the importance of things like faithfulness to the book and characters back in the '30s/40s, even if the books were typical pulp type and the movie quickly made, low budget ones.

Well, I've seen a couple book-to-movie films from that era, if you'd like to chat via PM or something. I think Riddle of Ramrod Ridge would have 'worked' much better in a different medium.

re: Perilous Gard

Wives and Daughters by Gaskell. This was a really lovely book

Agreed! It has a very gentle feel to it, and it's much softer around the edges than Dickens.

Mel: Is this your first reread of JSMN?

Yes, it is. (Or, rather, it was.) And I agree with everything else you said about it. It'd been long enough that I didn't remember every twist in the plot, but I knew pretty much where the story was going. It was also fun finding the footnote that referred to the title story in The Ladies of Grace Adieu. And I feel like the Raven King and his interactions with the two magicians could be the subject of an interesting essay. Except I wouldn't know where to begin, so I won't be writing it anytime soon. And the little sentence jems that would make beautiful signatures... *sighs happily*

I also finally got around to reading Wolves of Willoughby Chase and its second sequel Nightbirds on Nantucket. I really enjoyed them, but I could see myself absolutely loving them a few years ago, when I didn't have these huge vague expectations of awesomeness. On the other hand, I think I appreciate Nightbirds more now that I've read a bit more on the subject of whaling and that area of the country.

Mel: I'm glad you agreed with me about the reread. I almost found it more enjoyable than the original read. That never happens.

I read Catching Fire very quickly yesterday. I thought it was just about as good as the first one, but it lost most of the surprise element since in The Hunger Games we didn't know what to expect. The games themselves were less exciting, with the players mostly just sitting on the beach. Peeta needs to get a personality, poor guy.

I've read a lot of historical fiction for school. Ragtime was an interesting and authentic-feeling book about turn of the century America. I enjoyed it, but the artistic approach felt inorganically "creative" to me.

The Things They Carried was an interesting read, but I don't think I really appreciated it fully. The rambling, repetitive style was interesting, but I think if I'd had the luxury to do a slower read, I would have liked it more.

Maus was very interesting. It's a graphic novel about the author's father's experience in the holocaust. All the characters are animals (the Jews are mice, the Germans are cats). It wasn't the most engaging holocaust story I've ever read, but it was an interesting approach and definitely showed better the effects of the holocaust on today's society than other narratives.

Well, I've seen a couple book-to-movie films from that era, if you'd like to chat via PM or something.

Sure! I'd love to!

Re The Perilous Gard

I finished reading The Man in the Iron Mask yesterday, about 80% was enjoyable. In fact, there was only one thing that I didn't like, and that was some of the immoral actions of several real-life historical characters (not the main protagonists, however) throughout the course of the story. While it never got really descriptive, and from what I can understand these things really did occur, I didn't like it. Perhaps if it was a "one time" event, one you could easily skip over or something of that sort, that would have been better, but it was not. (Several times right as I was thinking "Oh good, *that* storyline hasn't been around for a bit, perhaps it's ended", it raised its head again, much to my displeasure. >_>) And so, in the end, I have mixed emotions on it. I personally couldn't recommend it to anyone (unless I give them a speech as to the pros and cons, when they've only asked for a simply recommendation ), but I would say that I guess it's something about which you'd just have to decide for yourself. And my above paragraph is going to be very helpful. I posted some more thoughts about it here, though, if anyone wishes to read it. (Some spoilers towards the end of the post, however).

Our Mutual Friend by Dickens. An absolute hit for me, and one of my favourites from Dickens

Our Mutual Friend is one of my favourite Dickens' as well, I think in part because of the different plotline, and also the characters and the story itself.