*Drags in her bean bag chair to set up camp for a little while* It's been quite a while since I posted in here, so this could be quite the catch up post.

Val: Re: Peeta and his personality or lack thereof. Poor Peeta seems to me to suffer from nice guy blandness. He's very sweet, but his whole identity in the book is wrapped up in how enigmatic his good intentions are and then in his love for

Valia: Kenneth Oppel doesn't write Alex Rider.

I know there's quite a following for GK Chesterton's Manalive so I picked it up during some free moments in the library and found it rather dull. I read the first chapter/story and didn't find it very interesting. Did I miss something or does it get better?

I'm surprised by all the love for Little Men from malkah and sweeet. I found it cloyingly sweet and totally boring. I felt like Jo lost all her integrity and became a traditional female mother figure--not that those figures are bad, they just aren't Jo.

Ly: Welcome back! It's lovely to see you again. In reference to your comments on my comments on The Count of Monte Cristo, I have to say I agree. I think that assessment was premature. Max is indeed rather annoying and Valentine a saint. I didn't like how frail she was as a female character, but even though she was sensitive, she had great moral character and strength.

Since I was last in here I read A Prayer For the Dying by Stewart O'Nan for school as well as skimming a few other novels. I don't think the NWeb crowd would be a big fan of that book.
I also picked up the book The Keeping Days by Norma Johnston on the recommendation of the illustrious wisewoman. I very much enjoyed it. I loved Tish as a protagonist and it was incredible how interesting her inner dialogue and self-aware character development was. I did, however, find Mama a bit over the top and rather annoying, but as the book carried on she took more of a back seat, which was good. I also had a problem with

I'm excited about next year. I'm taking Romantic literature, Russian Realism, and Shakespeare next quarter, so I'll probably be in here quite a bit. I imagine I'll have plenty of people to chat with about Russian literature.

It's time to start formulating my summer reading list! I want to reread Anne of Green Gables and finally get to Fahrenheit 451 and maybe Middlemarch.

That wasn't actually as long as I thought it would be...

Mel, the wikipedia page has a crazy timeline thing about where everything's supposed to fit in, but I don't really understand it. S&A is pretty much in chronological order, and it'll make sense if read in published order.

Left Behind! I never read the children's version, my parents just let me read the adult ones. They are good and I've read them several times since then. Unfortunately the quality does deteriorate over the series; the first one is definitely the best. I love the characters though and for that reason alone enjoy right up to the end. I don't recommend the prequels and the sequel though; they aren't very good. The original twelve LB books are fine on their own.

I'm surprised by all the love for Little Men from malkah and sweeet. I found it cloyingly sweet and totally boring. I felt like Jo lost all her integrity and became a traditional female mother figure--not that those figures are bad, they just aren't Jo.

I think Jo had the potential to be that figure, but not seeing the transition was the problem I had. "Jo's Boys" showed more of Jo's tomboy self.

Left Behind! I never read the children's version, my parents just let me read the adult ones. They are good and I've read them several times since then. Unfortunately the quality does deteriorate over the series; the first one is definitely the best. I love the characters though and for that reason alone enjoy right up to the end. I don't recommend the prequels and the sequel though; they aren't very good. The original twelve LB books are fine on their own.

The decline in quality of plotting and especially characterization as the books progress is especially noticeable if you compare the first book to the last book. The Anti-Christ will be a malevolent, cunning, charismatic, ruthless, and very intelligent person, and towards the beginning of the series he is portrayed largely in this fashion. The guy should give you the willies...I mean c'mon, he's evil. But towards the end it began to look more like an episode of The 3 Stooges, with (I'm not kidding here) Fortunato (the False Prophet) and Nicolai tripping over themselves (literally) several times and looking more like buffoons than anything else. As the whole thing progresses, rather than becoming more sinister he ends up being a little...wacky. If you can't take the antagonist seriously in such a tale the series is going to be that less convincing. It's off-putting to me.

Another issue, which is kind of forgiveable due to the scope of the series, is the sheer number of characters involved. You start out with what I call the "Core Four", Rayford, Chloe, Buck, and Kenny (you could count Chaim, but he's more of a bit player towards the beginning)...these are the characters you care about the most. Along the way other characters are introduced...some die, some more are brought in, as can be expected, but after a while I was having really serious trouble trying to remember who all these people were...I think it was probably close to 40 characters. Tolstoy could do that with relative ease...but Jenkins ain't Tolstoy . The last book, Glorious Appearing, tells sizable chunks of narrative from a homeless Christian in Chicago who was only introduced (and that briefly) only a book or two before. I didn't really know this person and thus I had no real connection to him, and yet I remember thinking that he was getting an awful lot of page space for reasons I didn't fully understand. The early couple of books were pretty decent overall although they had occasionally clunky dialogue, but once Jenkins got into a good rhythm he was able to make some fairly convincing characters, especially with regards to Buck and Chloe. The blueprint is there (in the Bible) and having to try and weave a story around it is challenging, as I imagine it is writing a historical fiction book featuring real historical characters. I can forgive the book much for that reason, but still...it really could have been written better.

Buck and Chloe were the only characters I cared about in the books and I didn't even like them that much. The last book was especially bad. Who would've thought it were possible to make Jesus' return so incredibly dull and one-dimensional. Aslan and Elyon (from Ted's Circle books) were much better written.

Yay, I'm so glad you're liking it so far! I'll be interested to hear what you think of it when you finish!

I'm about a third of the way through- I would be reading faster but unfortunately I have to read other things . Hopefully I'll be done really soon, it's very hard to put it down . After I'm done with it and whatever else I have to read, I think I'll pick up another McKillip- I really like her writing style. It's very descriptive and flowy, and after I finish reading it, I want to go through to find all the beautiful quotes .

That sounds like a great library, Glenstorm.
Fanny: Ah, yes, I was/am really disappointed in myself that I hadn't read War and Peace until it was due. I'll make a commitment to finish it over the summer. *nods gravely*
Yay for reading The Secret Garden! Is this your first time reading it, or a reread?

Mal, about Little Men,

The title for the Grimm fairy tale book is simply Grimm's Fairy Tales. Since that title is pretty obscure, here is a picture. =] (I believe it's Sterling Publishers.) Hope that helps!!
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Crossed of my list lies 100 Cupboards. It was interesting... I rated it 4/5 and I do see the parallels between it and The Magician's Nephew. There were two or three things I didn't like with it, but nothing big that supported the story line and bothered me. I most likely will be reading it again.
Today, also, I finished Twice Freed. I really liked the main plot line how Onesimus was "twice freed." (And it's interesting how one can't read the book of Philemon in the Bible without feeling a certain familiarity with the mentioned people, ahee.) The only thing I did like was

And Robinson Crusoe has gotten soo interesting! I was thinking to myself, "How come I'm not enjoying this as much as I thought I would for the plotline?" and then I figured because it doesn't have any conversation, and then I felt alot like Alice (from AiW.). Whenever I read these kind of books I always lecture myself that I had better read it, because who knows if I might be in that situation, so I had really better pay attention. *shakes head dolefully* The one thing I like about this better than The Swiss Family Robinson is that in TSFR, they're first, "Oh! I wish we had this from the wreck!" And all of a sudden someone finds it, which isn't very likely. In Robinson Crusoe, though, he lacks rope and that's that; there's no avoiding real situations.

Ah, yesterday at Target, they had an unabridged version of Pride & Prejudice for $2.50, crisp and new with decent sized font... I didn't get it because it was edited, but I'm wondering if I should have gotten it. (They also had Around the World in 80 Days, Wuthering Heights, and Phantom of the Opera. I was scrambling to and fro to see if there was any Alcott.
Speaking of Alcott, I found another not-so-famous book by her and hope to add it to my "Read of Alcott" list once it comes in the library. This goal might be fulfilled soon!
*posts even though she's pretty embarassed at all the rambling in this* ...

I am re-reading "Inkspell" by Cornelia Funke. don't ask me why. I'm not too found of the book, but all the same, I am reading it. and I am reading it out loud. every word.

Today I went to a very cheap bookstore and got the following

The Spiderwick Chronicles: Troll Trouble, special edition of The Seeing Stone
Hogsqueal's Activity Book (don't ask me why I got this, I really don't know...)
Shakespeare's Secret (I love Love LOVE this book )
Schooled

I am satisfied with my pickings though I would have been very happy to find a PJO book...or something else on my "to-buy" list...

It's been ages since I last wrote in this thread ! Life has been incredibly busy, but I've been reading from time to time, although it's impossible to catch up. I'm glad to see that the interesting discussions continue .
Lately I've read quite a few books:
- Persuasion: although Anne seems at times a bit self-righteous, it is a splendid book and the love story is just so engaging...
- Dracula: it was the first time I read it and I was astonished. It is so different from all the adaptations - even Coppola's, which was supposed to be the most faithful- and so much better than all of them... I was completely thrilled and terrified by the story, and found myself unable to stop. It's the book that has made more impact on me in these recent months.
- An Ideal Husband: it was a reread, but I enjoyed it. I especially liked lord Goring, at first he seems just Wilde's excuse for putting in a collection of witty quotes, but he later shows deepness of character.
- Several crime novels, by Ngaio Marsh and Mignon G. Eberhart: there's nothing like good classic whodunits to spend time. Very enjoyable reads.
- Have His Carcase, one of Lord Peter's mysteries. The beginning was brilliant and absolutely hilarious and I loved especially the development of characters and the relationship between Peter and Harriet.
- The Count of Montecristo: I read the first volume but haven't started the second one and I am not going now. The story is gripping, especially Dantés imprisonment and his relationship with Faria, but I find the count as a character a bit annoying - so superhuman and inhuman. I'll leave it for a better time.

And for the last months I have the proud owner of an electronic reader. I must confess I still prefer to read a paper book, but it is really useful to save space - and I am in a great need of that! - and to travel on holidays. This way, maybe I won't have to carry a bag for my books!

I've only read the first and second books so far (in the Left Behind series). I have noticed a few spots where I thought the writing was a bit funky, just the way it was written in a spot. The way they mentioned something. You know, they're talking about one thing and then something else is inserted that you need to know. The spots where the authors did that was just kind of weird.

Malkah: Thank you for your long explanation! I truly appreciate it!

Fanny: Ah, yes, I was/am really disappointed in myself that I hadn't read War and Peace until it was due. I'll make a commitment to finish it over the summer. *nods gravely*

*offers a grave hurrah* (<--- and that "hurrah" is not intended to be, er, like I'm pushing you to read it, or something? I'm sure you'll understand).

Yay for reading The Secret Garden! Is this your first time reading it, or a reread?

I want to say it's a re-read, as I was previously quite familiar with the plot (and have only seen one film version once or twice or three times? And even that was long ago), so I must have read it before even though I only faintly remember one possible time, and I don't even know if that was unabridged or abridged. So. Let's just say it's the first time I've actually gotten into the story and really read it. I enjoyed it, although there was one or two things I didn't quite like. Still thinking on those parts, though.

I read the original Left Behind series some years ago, and enjoyed them at the time. I was too young then to take note of ill-writing styles and whatnot, and read it for pleasure. There was once or twice when it was particularly chilling to my young mind, I remember especially

All in all, I guess I must admire the writers for attempting something like that, and if the books have made people think a little bit more about the end times and in their questions they have turned to either the Lord or people who can point them to the Lord, for answers, I guess it's pretty good then.

I started reading Pride & Prejudice today, I think it will take me a few reading times for me to get re-acquainted with Austen's writing style, but I'm not too shocked as that happened before. Not that Austen's writing style is odd, of course. I at first was surprised that the chapters were rather short, as well.

I finally read Ted Dekker's Sinner this weekend. I think it's probably my favorite of all of his books. I literally couldn't put it down once I got into the home stretch. I'm a bit confused though, I thought that it was the final book in the series, but it doesn't seem like a very complete ending.

I just finished The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton today. Fantastic book. Very fascinating subject- though doing biomedical research was not the right field for me after all. Very well written- keeps you thinking and in suspense.

That's a very good book, Aravis Narnia. I read it only once many years ago but it was deeply fascinating and really held my attention. I think that can be said about most of Crichton's books...my favorite of his is a tossup between Sphere and Congo (both of which made for pretty mediocre movies). The movie for The Andromeda Strain was extremely faithful to the book, too.

I'll have to try that one. I really enjoyed Sphere.