shatastwin: I read the first book in the Kane Chronicles and I really liked it, almost as much as Percy Jackson except that one of the main protaganists was extremely obnoxious to me . And I can't wait for Heroes of Olympus!

Yesterday, I began reading a book called The Spy, by James Fenimore Cooper and published in 1821. The introduction stated that it was the first American novel. It takes place during the American Revolutionary War and the title character is based on a real person though the story is fictional.

The English in the copy I bought is from that time period so it is a bit slow going, but interesting. I was intrigued by the story when I heard a condensed dramatization on an old radio program called Family Theater which was popular in the late 1940's and early 50's (before my time ).

Link for The Spy radio version. http://otr.net/r/famt/156.ram

Here is a link to the program list for Family Theater. (Free listening by the way.)

http://otr.net/?p=famt

certain families that have certain powers, but some share? Wha???

Care to elaborate? I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about, but I guess it's land rule? That always made enough sense to me...

I suspect that the information important to the story is being revealed to us as Morgon learns it, and everything else is just window dressing. If it's never explained, it doesn't matter...

GtG, I see you're (re?)reading Tahn, which reminds me of a book I read recently. If you haven't already read it, I recommend Jill Williamson's book By Darkness Hid. (I think it vies with R.J. Anderson's Knife for my favourite new book of the year spot, which bumps N. D. Wilson's Chestnut King down to *gulp* third...)

GlimGlum, I've heard that The Spy is supposed to be the first American novel too. I love radio dramas, so I will have to check out the link.

I found a nice hardcover copy of Anne of Green Gables during our visit to a flea market at the Ohio Moot. Not only is it a nice souvenir, but it's at the top of my reading list. I haven't read any Anne for many a year.

Currently reading The Last Olympian. Good so far.

GlimGlum, I've heard that The Spy is supposed to be the first American novel too. I love radio dramas, so I will have to check out the link.

Me too, fellow moderator , as regards to radio dramas. That OTR (Old Time Radio) site has lots of old programs but the quality varies from program to program and sometimes from episode to episode. But Family Theater has better quailty recordings for the most part.

Back on topic; I want mention that the 2 most recent books that I mentally took in were The Blood of Lambs (first time).

The Silver Chair is my second favorite of the Narnia series and The Blood of Lambs is an intense and harrowing account of the life of a former terrorist born in Lebanon who now is a U.S. citizen and lives in the USA. I recommend it.

Mel: re-read . No I haven't read that book- what is it about? Is it by a Christian author (not that that matters too much).

Lady Haleth: yay! I hope you like that book! It really is great, though very sad, like I said before.

I got The Titan's Curse today at a bookstore so I can finally finish re-reading it. They had a used copy of The Lightning Thief for $4 but I didn't get it b/c it wasn't in too great condition.

I haven't posted in this thread for a while. I often read through it, but I think I'm going to get back to posting in it.
I recently read:

'The Thief' by Megan Whaler Turner: This seems to be a fond book on Nweb, but I didn't really like it.

It's not a bad book, and I did enjoy it well enough, but it didn't really live up to my expectations. Maybe my expectations were a little too high.

'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte: I finished this book a little...disgusted, I guess.

The writing was great, however, and I love the setting. And it was entertaining. It just wasn't my type of story.

'Mansfield Park' by Jane Austen: I loved this one. It's my new favorite Austen. I really love Fanny's character

This is definitely Austen's heaviest book, but I think that's why I liked it so much. I've heard it called 'slow moving', and I suppose it was a little, but I didn't find it boring at all. I look forward to re-reading this one.

So that's what I've been reading lately. I'm currently reading Till We Have Faces with the reading group, which I'm really enjoying. I'm not really sure what to read next, but I'm thinking I might read some Charles Dickens.

The Percy Jackson books seem to be a favorite on here. Maybe I should I read those.

Yes, you should. I just finished The Last Olympian today. It was awesome!

It and The Titan's Curse are probably the best of the series.

okay so I just finished reading both "Dandelion Fire" and "The Chestnut King" by N.D. Wilson (I have already read 100 Cupboards). I loved the first book, but I don't like the other two! it got really confusing and I don't really understand why

the last two books lost me. I like "100 Cupboards", but the others made no sense to me personally.

Two years ago I read Little Women and found it to be an amazing book. I finally picked up Little Men and will begin to read it shortly.

I posted that on June 14,
I finally got done with Little Men, really shouldn't have taken this long but I took it slowly. As I said then, Little Women is a terrific book! Reading about the March family is amazing, moving in many ways. All four girls are different and I love each of them for it. Laurie of course adds much to the story as well, but without Mrs March it wouldn't have had the same affect as it had on me. That book has one of the most moving chapters in books for me

.

Little Men picks up shortly after that and introduces us to more characters. Nat and Dan are my favorite of the bunch to be sure. This sequel is an excellent read, even if it's not on the same level as its predecessor, IMO. I very much enjoyed this book, and it gave me another of the most moving chapters, possibly second in the series to that one I hid for Little Women. In Little Men it was

, that chapter was terrific.

I will now take a break from this family and read yet another Nicholas Sparks book, the fifth I'll read of his: True Believer. I know he's a bit melodramatic, but I really enjoy his books.

Then I will return to the better, classic books, with Jo's Boys- the third and final installment on the March family, which I haven't yet read ever.

Mel:

pogginfan: Wow. I agree with you on all accounts. It's so weird, I have written similar things about all those books before. Well met, Brain Twin! I also didn't really like The Thief, despised all characters within the covers of Wuthering Heights, loved Mansfield Park for its ending, and am currently reading Till We Have Faces and a Dickens. Isn't WH just the most awful picture of human capabilities and the destructive power of unhealthy love? I rather think the genre ought to be changed from "romance" to "cautionary tale."

I was at the bookstore the other day and saw a new printing of Pride and Prejudice. It was Twilight style. Black cover with a single red rose and white print. I picked it up to see if any vampires had been added, but it was just regular old P&P, given a new face for the Twilight crowd. The synopsis on the back was hilarious. I also saw a "sequel" to MP where Mary is the hero and Fanny is murdered and Mary solves it.

I'm continuing to read The Penderwicks to my little sister. She asked me the other day if it had won the Newbury Medal. I guess that means she likes it!

I can now relate to the long discussion of Dickens' female characters that happened a while back. In Great Expectations, nearly every man is mild, genial, reasonable, and likeable. The women, on the other hand, are either crazy, bitter, vicious, stupid, ridiculous, or violent, or a combination of all of them. Only Biddy redeems the name of woman. I'm going to have to go read all the things written by NarniaWebbers in the past discussion.

Glad I've never read Wuthering Heights, but I agree with you about Great Expectations. However, I would recommend Anne Bronte's novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Is it by a Christian author (not that that matters too much).

Yes, it is. It's about a boy who wants to become a knight, but he's not supposed to because of the class distinctions in his world. And he does. I thought the summary sounded horribly cheesy when I read it, but it's really, really good. For whatever reason, it reminded me of the story of David... It also reminded me of Stephen Lawhead's In the Hall of the Dragon King.

Liberty,

Spoiler

Morgon can do all of them.

Ah! Yes. That's explained in the final book.

Liberty, did you miss Henry playing baseball throughout the whole series? He's good at it and likes it. I thought it was