ooh that's fun Libby .

I've started reading Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy and it's really really good. It's inspired me alot already, and I'm only 50 pages in .

Not just one, not just two, but...eighteen. (Unless you kind of ignore the two prequels about distant ancestors of the hero.) Some are more enjoyable than others. I think I'd recommend The Elusive Pimpernel, Eldorado, and Sir Percy Hits Back as the best. I can't remember if I've read The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel but the blurb is amusing.

Eighteen?! 😮 (Thank-you, btw, for the link though.) Well if that won't take forever to read. I think I'll read the four you've suggested. Do they continue on about the French Revolution or about different times in history?
Ditto! Living in a tree like Sam's would be bliss. It made wilderness living seem so nice and pleasant.
Good to know that the 100 Cupboards series ends up happily...it does look like it's going in the opposite direction.

D'awww. You've just happened to ask about genres and authors that I love. (And lots of what I know, I learned from hanging around this thread!)

Ahee! Well, still... ^.^

Mar_girl, the littlest library is adorable and the UK phonebox--how very versatile and clever of them!

Fearless Girls, Wise Women, and Beloved Sisters sounds very interesting, Val!

Oh dear, all these descriptions about The Bell at Sealey Head are quite...interesting! Lady L assured me it's all good but you know, it's something to see how everyone who has read it (or other things by Patricia McKillip) describe it/her books is such poetic words and powerful descriptions that I am impatiently anticipating to read it for myself!
---
*is soo excited at building her little library* We put away a lot of our easy books that we had when we were young and were conferred permission to buy more so I've been having a blast making trips to Borders and buying books. So far we've bought The Wind in the Willows, An Old Fashioned Girl (I looove this cover. It's a Puffin Classic, which is unusal for me to buy if it's Lousia May Alcott because I sort of loathe most of the covers they've made for her books, but this one was pretty; it helps me imagine Polly much better than the Little, Brown &co one. But I like all the other Little, Brown &co ones better...finding them is a headache, though. [/ramble]), Black Beauty, and The Hobbit. They have hard-cover, coloured illustrations of all the Winnie-the-Pooh books so I reallly want to get those!
I'm currently reading When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne. A cute little compilation of poems! Additionally, I'm reading Emily of New Moon and enjoying it a great deal. L.M. Montgomery wrote beautifully...

A bit of ketchup, as we would say in DittoTown.

About Fanny, I think my mistake in my approach toward Fanny is that I have thought of her as the "ideal." I guess I never considered that she might be intended to be flawed.

Yeah, I think that's a mistake many people make. Your new appraisal of her sounds good to me ... it looks like you're on the right track!

Yay!!! Maddy's back!

I am not nearly as dedicated as lysander was to do a catch-up post (as fun as it was to read)

Why, of course ... when do my posts not attain the highest possibilities inherent in the word "entertainment"? I really liked the heroes-as-food types blog entry, and have been using it for some weeks now. Also, your review of Wildwood Dancing is very much making me want to read it.

Also, although *shhh* I've never read it, her Riddlemaster trilogy is reputedly excellent

WHAT? First Booky and now you? Betrayal all around, I tell you! How about we strike a bargain - you will make Riddle-Master your next McKillip, and I will make In the Forests of Serre mine.

Yay for reading books aloud to younger siblings! And for Mr. Popper's Penguins! That book cracked me up when I was little. How old is your brother, if I may ask?

Excellent thoughts on MP, stardf. Actually, MP was composed a long, long time after P&P, so I'm not sure it was a direct reaction against the "lightness" of the earlier novel ... rather, a new and more "mature" way of looking at the world.

The majority of conversation of books seems to centre around romance and historical fiction

Hmm, I see more classics and fantasy, myself. But you're right - the way the conversation switched between Stephen King and Jane Austen was quite hilarious!

Adeona, thanks for your review of A Curse as Dark as Gold; that's another one I've been thinking about reading. Which retellings that you have read "made the grade"?

Kate: Prydain is indeed reminiscent of LotR and the Arthurian legend, but that's because they often draw from the same ancient influences. If you read The Mabinogion (a collection of Welsh myth), you'll see where Alexander got many of his ideas for Prydain. He really expands on his vision in the later books, some of which won big awards ... I'd suggest continuing on with the series if I were you.

what of Solstice Wood?

I wouldn't suggest it, especially not as one's first McKillip. For one thing, it helps to have read Winter Rose, which is set in the same area several hundred years earlier. Secondly, it's one of her most objectionable books when it comes to sexual content. Thirdly, the ending is pretty weak. You'd be better off with Sealey Head, Riddle-Master, or pretty much any of her fantasy books with medieval/otherwordly settings.

Booky, I love your blog title! Oh, and, ermm, the book review as pretty good too.

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.

Yay! This thread is turning into a regular Sealey Head conspiracy. I'm loving it.

I'm interested in hearing your final thoughts on Cold Comfort Farm....

---------------------

Now, about me. Since I last posted in here, I finished Scenes of Clerical Life (enjoyable, but only for George Eliot fans who have read a substantial amount of her other books) and read an Arthurian novel with the title of Percival's Angel (it was quite terrible, I'm afraid). You can find my review of the latter and several other books that I read earlier in the year here.

Right now I am reading:
1. A Conspiracy of Kings - loving loving loving it! It may actually be my favorite Attolia book yet. *ducks the flying vegetables this comment will inevitably occasion* It's so very exciting! I've just come to the part where

2. Beauties, Beasts, and Enchantments - a collection of French fairytales translated and edited by noted folktale expert Jack Zipes. The research is meticulous, the translations superb. So far I've only read the Perrault stories, with which I was already familiar, but I've gained a new understanding of them thanks to Zipes.

3. The Princess and the Goblin - reading aloud to my little sister. She's not enjoying it as much as I am, so we may end up moving on to something else, after which I'd finish it myself.

4. The Quest for Character - a devotional by Charles Swindoll. Probably nothing I haven't seen before, but well-written, and it's just what I need right now in my quiet times.

5. Praying God's Word - written by Beth Moore under the pretext that prayer and the Bible are the two greatest tools Christians have been given, this joins the two in a succession of Biblically-inspired prayers. Another good study tool.

OH MY GOSH IT'S MAR_GIRL!!!! I thought you dropped off the face of the earth!!! Welcome back!

Thanks! It's good to be back. :]

I really do hate it when books have stuff described in it.Everyone has different tastes and mine could do without the heated stuff in it.

Ugh, I hate that too. I don't see the point of that. It's like, I don't really need that in my brain, thanks.

Those books all sound amazing, Val!

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

Thank you! I've missed being here.

As much as I like and identify with Fanny, I think Mansfield Park is the least satisfying Austen novel, to me. At least so far; I have to reread S&S and Persuasion, as well as read for the first time Northanger Abbey. I enjoyed Lady Susan more than MP, despite the lack of a good ending. MP is just… IDK, as the kids say.

I liked The Once and Future King. Well, I liked the first book (The Sword in the Stone, I believe), but the other two books made me sad (they were really good, though). They were rather graphic or at least theme-y ifyouknowwhatImean, at least to my memory. Chock full of things mar_girl does not like, such as death and despair. That description probably made no sense at all.

RE The Princess Diaries: The first three or four are good. They went downhill after that. I found books 5-8 repetitive and maddening. #9 was actually quite good, I thought. It felt like it finally had some depth. I need to read #10 and see if it was just as good (mind you, I had an advanced reader's copy of #9, so it may not be the same as in stores). I would recommend reading them at the library before you buy them in bookstores. Most of them are not worth buying, but if you really want to I'd recommend buying them cheaply online, because I am a Scrooge like that.

Finally finished The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition. My LibraryThing review is here (I'm not entirely sure how the link works, so if it shows you all of them, my username is Mialro. My review should be near the top).
I'm now currently reading the tenth No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency book, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. The book is just as adorable and comfortably old-fashioned as its title. I really hate reading books out of order, but my mom's patient gave her this one and practically ordered me to read it (through my mom). I doubt I'm missing much; they seem to be pretty self-contained. I may read them all. *glances at her bookshelf doubtfully*

I was going to post links but I have to run. I'll try to post lots next time.

*waves at mara* Delightful to see you around. *tips hat*

One of my best friends just posted this on my Facebook wall. He knows me too well.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/wootsaleimages/Read_The_Whole_Book!g68Detail.png

I love that, Lys.

I actually own two of the Riddle-Master books, but I don't have the first book yet. The library booksale failed me.

Currently reading Book 6 of the Ranger's Apprentice series and just starting to read my gigantic three novels in one volume copy of the Abhorsen books by Garth Nix. It's my first reread in years, so I'm pretty excited about it.

Lys: haha too funny ! I was "yelling" at one of my friends yesterday b/c I was complaining about how annoying it was to read The Iliad for school and he was like "oh you should just use sparknotes. That's what I did all through college!" I was like "what the heck! How did you pass like that?!"

I just read this awesome book called "Beware The Fish!" by Gordon Korman! it's so awesome and hilarious! I laughed so hard because the book is funny!

Fanny: Yes, yes--regale away on the many books you've purchased, please!

Eh, then you should give us a condensed version? It's almost as much fun to hear about what other people get as it is to get new books oneself. (And it's cheaper. )

Okay! But it will have to be a condensed version, because some of the books are ones that I bought for school and they deal with topics we're not allowed to discuss on the forums- these books are not on the really bad topics (or bad topics at all, just controversial), so I'll refrain from posting the titles because I really don't want to start anything... Which I'm sure you'll understand.

So, the condensed version of the books I bought:

Biography
The Path to Power by Margaret Thatcher, her autobiography
Winston & Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills edited by their daughter, Mary Soames
Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters by William Austen-Leigh

History
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Sir Winston S. Churchill (an author condensed book from his original five or six volume series on World War I)
To Lose a Battle: France, 1940 by Alastair Horne

Fiction
Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The River Between Us by Richard Peck
Foster's War by Carolyn Reeder
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
& three Dear America diaries & three Nancy Drew, as well as the Official Nancy Drew Handbook on something or other.

Other
Start Here by Alex & Brett Harris
& etc. And there is the condensed version of my shopping list.

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

How are you enjoying this? I read the book last summer and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I do hope you're having a pleasant readthrough?

I've started reading Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy and it's really really good. It's inspired me alot already, and I'm only 50 pages in .

My sister is reading that one right now as well! She picked up about four other of the Ludy's books whilst on vacation, so we'll have a lovely little stack of their work to read for a while. I'm very glad that Authentic Beauty has been wonderful so far- good stuff!

I read Jacob Have I Loved this past weekend- it was in part half a re-read, as I read the first three quarters of the book some years ago but never got around to finishing it. I enjoyed it pretty well, although I felt that the end was somewhat rushed and not as nicely done as it could have been.

I'm now reading The World Crisis by Sir Winston Churchill, and enjoying that, and also Start Here by Alex and Brett Harris. Both have been somewhat slow going due to summer busy-ness, but I'm making headway.

Some of the advertisments were rather amusing..

I know what you mean. There was a bathroom decorated with 20's ephemera and there was an ad for elastic. So cute. (Ah, what I mean is I think I'll look for the book...)

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?"

Because, actually, he's the one they're ripping off?

I reread The Bell at Sealey Head over the weekend, and I'm much more reconciled to the ending. I originally thought that it was building up to something, and then

Do they continue on about the French Revolution or about different times in history?

Most of them are set during the French Revolution, but I wouldn't try to put together a concrete timeline. It seems like months and months go by in most of the books, and I'm pretty sure that the Revolution didn't last that long.

Oh! That's the exact same copy of OFG that I have!

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.

That agrees with my understanding of the tale. Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Paul Creswic's Robin Hood, and Roger Lancelyn Green's The Adventures of Robin Hood are all good examples of the archtypical Robin Hood tale. I suspect that there is poetry about him from several different eras (especially considering that he is supposed to have originated in highwayman ballads), though I can't point you towards any. If that's not what you're looking for, I also have a list of books set in and around the legend that I've enjoyed.

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. The book is just as adorable and comfortably old-fashioned as its title.

*takes note of the title and description*

I felt that the end was somewhat rushed

This. I liked the ending itself, but not as an ending to the story told in the rest of the book. If that makes sense. I like your list. I think I shall have to read something by Churchill. Every time you mention what you're reading by or about him it's like, "Oh! Interesting!"

Howard Pyle's The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Paul Creswic's Robin Hood, and Roger Lancelyn Green's The Adventures of Robin Hood are all good examples of the archtypical Robin Hood tale. I suspect that there is poetry about him from several different eras (especially considering that he is supposed to have originated in highwayman ballads), though I can't point you towards any. If that's not what you're looking for, I also have a list of books set in and around the legend that I've enjoyed.

Okay, thanks a lot! Those authors sound like they're probably what I'm looking for. I'll plan on getting them next time I go to the library.

Reading The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit. I haven't got to the most interesting parts yet. (I have a bad habit of flipping ahead in books.) Also rereading Lloyd Alexander's The Rope Trick.
As for The Once and Future King, I liked the first part (Pellinore is funny!) and the very end, but a lot of what was in-between was...mature.

That's the Arthurian legend for you.

Seriously, even though I've read through most of the events in other books, The Once and Future King left a sour taste in my mouth too - not so much because of the content but because of the attitude even the good characters seemed to have about it. And really, the whole thing seemed like fodder for White's political message. Blegh. The Sword in the Stone is good, yes, but I'm told it's even better in its original, separate format, sans the Book of Merlin sections that White later grafted into it.

In celebration of Lady Haleth's completion of The Once and Future King, I think it's time for the Book-a-Minute summaries of its various parts to make another appearance. But don't worry; I'll just link this time. These are best read together, BTW.

The Sword in the Stone
The Queen of Air and Darkness (originally published as The Witch in the Wood
The Ill-Made Knight (by far my favorite of the summaries )
The Candle in the Wind
The Book of Merlyn (a fifth part of the book the publishers refused to include; released after White's death)

A few more comments, then I'm done....

Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters by William Austen-Leigh

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on that. Just be aware before starting that most scholars view it as fairly inaccurate, and a huge part of the public perception of Jane as some dowdy, innocent old lady. There is supposed to be some interesting family lore in there, though.

By the way, I've been meaning to ask, what was it exactly that bothered you about Dombey and Son?

Booky, stop making excuses.

I think that's all.

Finished Reading:

What a Daughter Needs from her Dad-Michael Farris
This was technically a book for Dads. But I read it anyway. Fairly short, it was ok; nothing super... It had a lot of truth in it I'd say.

The Oath-Frank Peretti
I enjoyed this one... It's the second Peretti book I've read, the first being "Piercing the Darkness." A good friend of mine suggested this one as her favorite Peretti book, so I figured I'd give it a try. I don't think it was scary so much as a little gruesome in some parts. Overall it was pretty good, but I probably wouldn't reread it....

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator-Roald Dahl
Read this one yesterday. I enjoyed "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" when I was younger, so I figured I'd see what this one was like. It was fine, nothing deep of course. None of his stories seem to have a lot of respect for families/relatives I've found though... I mean, maybe some--but most of the Grandparents other then Grandpa Joe are shown as nagging, annoying, self-centered, old people.

What He Must Be-Voddie Baucham Jr
I thought this was an excellent book. Though I've heard most of the courtship type stuff before, that really wasn't even the part that impressed me. To quote myself from a different place: "...the subject was marriage, etc. I liked how clear he laid things out, and the two things that stick out the most in the book weren't even really about marriage. The first one was that he mentioned how we can either read the Bible thinking of ourselves, how it applies to us (which isn't bad I don't think) or we can read it wondering what it has to say to us about Jesus. [Looking at the Bible as being about GOD. Not about us, how it applies to US, etc. More as God-centered and focused. I think we tend to water that down a bit sometimes.] I don't remember really thinking of that before. Also, he brought up 2 Timothy 3:1-5 near the end..."

I am reading:

When People are Big and God is Small-Edward Welch
Good book! It focuses on our fear of man, and how we can overcome that by focusing on God and His holiness. In the end, when we realize God's power, greatness and holiness, we're MUCH less likely to care about what the people around us think of us, because they are SO small in comparison.

Books to read that I'll hopefully get from the library today:

The Attolia books-Megan Whales Turner
(hope I got that right...) Haven't read any of these before, so now here's my chance!

The Bad Beginning-Lemony Snicket
Re-read. Something "light-hearted" for vacation. Heh heh.

Till We Have Faces-C.S. Lewis
For the Reading Group on N-web

The Killer Angels-I forget.
This is a historical fiction book about the Civil war I'm fairly sure.

Spiritual Depression-I forget.
This is Non-fiction. I wanted REALLY badly to read it the other day, but both copies that our family owns are being lent out!! I've heard really, really good things about this book though, so I'm eager to read it for myself. That'll have to wait though... I think my brother was possibly going to buy me a copy. So we'll see.

I think that's all... Probably the longest post I've ever made in this thread.

Right now I'm reading an odd trio:

- Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard (incredible discussion of faith, centered around Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac)

- The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller (respectful and articulate open dialogue about theism and Christianity, standing in contrast to the New Atheist movement - highly recommended)

- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams (um, yeah - I played the game and want more backstory as I await the release of the sequel this October )

Once I finish up these guys, I'll be starting The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and Descent of the Dove by Charles Williams (the Inkling many people forget about).

Mmm, books.