The entire series suffers from an annoying use of crude humor, no-doubt aimed at the male readership. And the later books tend to be either too completely weird (The Lost Colony) or too enviro-preachy (The Time Paradox).

Agreed. I just skip over the descriptions of Mulch after a while. I thought The Lost Colony was mostly just really weird because of the demon stuff. I mean--if it was a mythical type creature, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but since it was demons... Hm. Colfer probably puts demons right in with the fantasy-creatures-category, but I don't. Demons=Some can be good? No. Definitely no.
Yeah, there's a lot of "politically correct" stuff too, which can get annoying.

I'm not sure where I started, but I'm pretty sure my favourite was the third book. Do you want to read them, Su²?

I've already read them all. Besides all the annoying parts, I found them pretty interesting... I wouldn't buy them, and I don't know if I'd re-read them. (Maybe one or two of them might be worth it, but..) Artemis' character does get somewhat better as the books go along... I think. He's not always doing things for his own good.

Really? I think that the latest books are very good. I was a little disappointed with The Lost Colony but I thought that The Time Paradox was excellent. The Opal Deception probably is my favourite; I love how Eoin Colfer was able to return to the old Artemis. I'm really looking forward to the next one.

I couldn't really see that the writing style deteriorated... Maybe I'm not a good judge of that. I kept seeing more and more of what Colfer's views are, but I can kinda look past that as I'm reading. I really enjoy the basic storyline--the characters can be pretty likeable. Butler especially I'd say. He seems the most un-selfish of the bunch.

Time travel makes my head hurt*. It was lots of fun to read, I'm not denying that, but I'm not sure it would hold up to a reread for me.

Mm, yeah. I think the one I would be least likely to re-read would be the Lost Colony. Can't remember it being super interesting anyway. And Minerva annoyed me really bad. (She was that 12-year-old girl genius) I think the fact that Artemis and Holly missed 3 years was pretty sad too... For some reason that--didn't annoy me really, but I wasn't sure I liked it.
Anyway. [/ramble]

So all in all, I enjoyed the series to an extent, but could do without a few parts...

wonder how The Time Traveler's Wife looks and sounds like... hmmm. My friend said it is great and nice.

I recently read 'What I saw and how I lied'.

Oh, how cool, I love that book! Yes, there are a few not too G-rated scenes, but they're pretty easy to skim over. The setting for it is just lovely--Florida in the late 40's. Warning: It's a "coming of age" story, for anyone who isn't a fan of those.
I think the ending was supposed to be left hanging, you're supposed to wonder along with Evie

I s'pose I'll start of by saying what I'm reading now : The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged version)

Hello CSLN! I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Count; I haven't read it nor am I really familiar with the story but it sounds really good. Is it very long and are you enjoying it?

I'm actually not reading anything at the moment, but in case it's social taboo to mention that I'll add that I'm planning to start on The Little Prince tomorrow.

*is being lazy and not editing her previous post since SM conventinetly posted after*

I'm currently reading a bunch of non-fiction, here's an overview of what my reading list looks like/just looked like

The Private Realm of Marie Antoinette-- http://www.amazon.ca/Private-Realm-Mari ... DQWBJ5872M Just a shortish book about Marie Antoinette's life, with lots of glorious full-color pictures of her rooms at Versailles, and Petit Trianon, and of her clothes and other things.

Abundance--this one's fiction, a rather enourmous novel fictionalizing Marie Antoinette's life. Rather good, I felt like I had a better grasp on her history after finishing it. http://www.amazon.ca/Abundance-Novel-Ma ... DQWBJ5872M

Girls Will Be Girls-- http://www.amazon.ca/Girls-Will-Confide ... DQWBJ5872M nonfiction, kinda a companion to Mary Phiper's "Reviving Ophelia" (Altho not by the same author), its basically on raising "confidant and couragous daughters/girls"

Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked-- http://www.amazon.ca/Little-Red-Riding- ... AHV95WNKTD nonfiction, a look at all the various retellings and the orgin of the tale, symbolisim, etc. Quite good.

Spinning Straw into Gold-- http://www.amazon.ca/Spinning-Straw-int ... AHV95WNKTD "What fairy tales reveal about the transformations of a woman's life" I'm REALLYreally enjoying this one. It's made me look at the "weak" heroines of fairy tales differently. It puts fairy tales into 3 stages of a woman's life--maiden, matron, and crone. Then the author analyzes the tales, with lots of interesting insights and things to be learned from them. My favorite sections were "Snow White" (maiden), and "Fitcher's Bird" (Matron).

Fearless Girls, Wise Woman, and Beloved Sisters-- http://www.amazon.ca/Fearless-Girls-Wom ... AHV95WNKTD Kinda the opposite of the previous book--this one has collected all the best fairy tales and folk tales with amazing couragous girls/women in them. It was really kinda amazing to read There were some really awesome gals, cleverly outwitting the bad guys, saving their families/kingdoms/husbands, etc etc. LOVED it.

Ultimate Peter Rabbit-- http://www.amazon.ca/Ultimate-Peter-Rab ... 935&sr=1-1 I'm completely in love with this book. Full of little notes and tidbits about Beatrix's life and her books, loads of lovely pictures, etc.

Everyday Fashions of the Twenties as Pictured in Sears and Other Catalogus--
http://www.amazon.ca/Everyday-Fashions- ... 88ZOY3B4C9 I don't have much to say about this one except that it was pretty great, I'd buy it, and I loved looking at all the pictures. Some of the advertisments were rather amusing..

*whew* sorry that was so long!

Hello CSLN! I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Count; I haven't read it nor am I really familiar with the story but it sounds really good. Is it very long and are you enjoying it?

Hello StudyMate!
Well, it's my first time reading the Count and it's very interesting so far. I like the excitement in the beginning of the good guy looking happy, successful then -Whammo!- He's in prison, etc. etc. When he came out in disguises to all these people he knew, I was anticipating everything so much. Eventually, it got a little boring in the middle and I regretfully skimmed through the pages , but it got action-filled a little later. I think I might reread it, though.
How about you? The Little Prince sounds really interesting, what is it about?

@Val: One of the books you mentioned really caught my attention: "Fearless Girls Wise Women And Beloved Sisters" I've just put it on hold at the library.

~CSLN

Ysabo is a variation of Isabeau I think, so I pronounce it IZ-a-bo when I remember, WhySAHbo when I don't

I wondered if it was somehow related to the name Isabelle. Guess I was right!

I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed The Bell at Sealey Head for its strong concept, beautifully realized plot, intriguing characters, and delicious prose. I expect to foray into another McKillip in the not too distant future.

Frank: Thank you for the input on the Prydain Chronicles. I probably won't be picking up the second book any time soon (so many other books to read!), but I haven't ruled them out.

Lady Haleth: I'll admit, I can't say I liked Prydain at all really, but I enjoyed your thoughts on it. I found his fantasy to be sort of a cheap version of everything I've read, why do you say his was a "different take?"
You seem to be a reader-of-many-books-at-one-time also. I can't imagine reading The Silmarillion 16 times. Reading it once took me half a year.

Welcome back mar_girl! We have missed your literary linkage. Reading those opinions on writing rules was very interesting.

I s'pose I'll start of by saying what I'm reading now : The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged version), Homer's Iliad, The Lord of the Rings (re-read), and a few others that aren't coming to mind right now.

Welcome! I think you'll fit in quite nicely here. Please do stick around. I've read all 3 of those books, so please come back and discuss them with us! I don't know how far you are in TCoMC, but if you get to Rome, take heart! There is hope! It gets better.

I finally finished Mansfield Park and I think I now know why I considered it my favorite at the time. The ending is just so satisfying! Everyone bad is conveniently disposed of, everyone good is rewarded. Edmund used to be my favorite hero, but he's rather blind and stupid for much of the novel, and I'm inclined to think it was more because of his name that I liked him than his character. He has had to yield to Tilney and Knightley. I probably wouldn't say that it's my favorite anymore, but I still love the story.

I started The Once and Future King and I'm not very far in it, but I love it already. I know that it's not the favorite telling of the Arthur legend of a couple NarniaWebbers, but the book is charming and I love the character of Wart already, which is good, since I have a feeling I'll be spending some time with him throughout the book.
Merlyn is interesting, what with him

I couldn't resist picking up Cold Comfort Farm though and I'm most of the way through. It's so interesting. I can't really describe it. It's unlike everything I've ever read; most likely because it takes elements of everything I've read and combines them in the oddest ways. I find Flora an odd character. At times she is sensible and bookish. At other times she is frivolous and worldly. I'm not totally sure what to make of her. I love the sort of PG Wodehouse/Evelyn Waugh London society bits contrasted with the Hardy-esque dreary, nonsensical, moody farm bits.

*knocks and enters*

It's been a while since I went on this thread. But now, I have a confusing question for somebody.

I need to do some research on Robin Hood. As far as I know, there are lots of tales/books on him. But if I am correct, there isn't an original Robin Hood story written by one certain author. Could anyone give me a hint on what authors to look up?

(I hope this question is clear? )

I just read book 9 of The 39 Clues series and I bawled my eyes out when

Hmmmm. Princess Diaries is a good choice to buy in bookstores, isn't it? :-/.

I really like the first few, but I think they go downhill a bit after the fourth one. I haven't yet read eight, nine or ten but from what I've heard they get a bit dodgy, so I'm in no hurry to find out! I'd recommend the first one though. I love the concept of the story, and Mia's a great character (though kind of a Bella Swan-forerunner, I guess ... )

wonder how The Time Traveler's Wife looks and sounds like... hmmm. My friend said it is great and nice.

I enjoyed The Time Traveller's Wife, but it's definitely a book that needs to be treated with caution. Parts of it are graphic, and I certainly didn't feel completely comfortable the first time I read it. The story and the writing are good. That being said, I think I'd rather read something else.

I got my dad The Road for Father's Day and he let me read it a couple of days ago. It's a very strange book. I thought the lack of punctuation and dialogue quotes was confusing at some points, but once I was into the flow of the story I hardly noticed. It's a very scary book at some points, but I loved it just for the hope and love that was also there. I thought it was great.

Has anyone read the first chapter of the next Artemis Fowl book that's on the official website? I was disappointed by it, actually, so I think I might also get it through the library first.

I was able to get a copy of The Red Pyramid through my library (finally). It was a really fun read! I don't know so much about Egyptian myths but what I have learned came back pretty quickly. I think they're not so easy to twist to a modern concept as the Greek myths, but it was still fun and crazy and clever. I definitely missed Percy's POV but Carter and Sadie were fun too. I think I preferred Carter overall, but by the end of the book I was enjoying Sadie more.

I also enjoyed the tiny little mentions of the Percy Jackson world. I really hope that there is some kind of crossover at one point - I think it would be hilarious. The book was very good but I didn't like it as much as the first Percy book. I'll definitely read the series, but I'm not sure I'll buy them.

About Prydain... I guess it was because nowhere else have I read about characters like that. Prophesying pigs, bards with snapping harp strings, mischevious crows. It wasn't like any other fantasy I've ever read. I'm not saying that there weren't ideas I hadn't seen in other places, he just seemed to do the ideas better than almost anyone else.
I just finished rereading 'The Princess and the Goblin', by George MacDonald. It was very good.

I finally got a copy of Gordon Korman's book "Schooled"! yay!

stop teasing me about book 9 Libby!!! I NEED to read that book! I don't think I'm going to wait for the 10th- my sister said she's going to buy it when it comes out .

AJAiken: hehe I'm glad you enjoyed The Red Pyramid. I read it around a week or two ago. Very enjoyable book and I liked it alot . Carter is much better than Sadie in my opinion. I couldn't stand how she was constantly putting him down and getting offended when he was being protective of her. It was all I could do not to hate her. But besides her really I loved the book .

today I finally found a copy of the Bridge To Terabithia movie companion book at my local used book store! I am so happy to have it!

AJAiken: Thanks! Wow, I got so excited with all you said because I really do want to read the Time traveler's wife and Percy Jackson! .

Libby: Glad you did Libb! I'm happy for you!