DragonFreak's Challenge: Second FreakOut

Welcome! I seriously never though I'll have enough posts to make another thread, but this time I was delightfully wrong!




Here's my rating key.

1/2 = Time waster
* = Why did I read it?
*1/2 = Could be better.
** = Not the best book I've read
**1/2= OK, I guess.
*** = Somewhat good.
*** 1/2 = Good.
**** = This is great.
**** 1/2 = This is awesome.
***** = This is greatly awesome.

OK, so what I decided is that I'll use this master list below me to put all the books I've read into here. I'll constantly update it, but I'll still tell what I've read and when I do, I'll change it in here.

January
1. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
2. The Divide by Elizabeth Kay
3. The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
4. Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud
5. Back to the Divide by Elizabeth Kay
6. Jinx on the Divide by Elizabeth Kay
7. Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
8. The Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
9. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
10. The Gift by James Patterson. (Can't find right touchstone)

February
11. The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour
12. Get off the Unicorn by Anne McCaffrey
13. Fair Blows the Wind by Louis L'Amour
14. Magyk by Angie Sage
15. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
16. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
17. Flyte by Angie Sage
18. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

March
19. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
20. The Pearl by John Steinbeck
21. Physik by Angie Sage
22. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
23. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
24. The Drift House by Dale Peck
25. School's Out Forever by James Patterson
26. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
27. The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
28. Saving the World and other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

April
29. Firedrake by Richard Knaak
30. The Final Warning by James Patterson
31. Max by James Patterson
32. Icedragon by Richard Knaak
33. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
34. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
35. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

May
36. Animal Farm by George Orwell
37. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
38. Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

END OF 2011

And here is my list of popularity based on each month. At the end of each month I'll list the best and worst books and at the end of the year, I'll announce my best and worst book of 2011. If there is no terribly bad books for that month, the bottom three will be the worst.

For the regular 12 months, I'll list them from the best book of that month to the third best book of that month. The same with the worst book of that month.

And at the end of 2011, I'll caculate the top 12 books. Now I suddenly decided that when rating the best and worst books, the actual ratings go out the window. Why? Because sometimes how you view a book changes as you change, and maybe a book wasn't as good as some, but it deserves much more praise than some. Does that make sense? As long as it makes sense to me, I guess that's all that matters, right?

January
1. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
2. Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stoud
3. Jinx on the Divide by Elizabeth Kay
4. Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver
5. The Gift by James Patterson
6. Back to the Divide by Elizabeth Kay
7. Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
8. The Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
9. The Divide by Elizabeth Kay
10. The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney

Best:
3. Jinx on the Divide by Elizabeth Kay
2. Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathon Stroud
1. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
Worst:
3. The Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
2. The Divide by Elizabeth Kay
1. The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney

February
1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2. The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour
3. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
4. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
5. Get off the Unicorn by Anne McCaffrey
6. Flyte by Angie Sage
7. Magyk by Angie Sage
8. Fair Blows the Wind by Louis L'Amour

Best:
3. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
2. The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour
1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Worst:
3. Flyte by Angie Sage
2. Magyk by Angie Sage
1. Fair Blows the Wind by Louis L'Amour

March
1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
3. The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
4. School's Out Forever by James Patterson
5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
6. Saving the World and other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
7. The Drift House by Dale Peck
8. The Pearl by John Steinbeck
9. Physik by Angie Sage
10. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Best:
3. All Maximum Ride books by James Patterson
2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Worst:
3. All Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage
2. The Pearl by John Steinbeck
1. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

April
1. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
2. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
3. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
4. Icedragon by Richard Knaak
5. The Final Warning by James Patterson
6. Firedrake by Richard Knaak
7. Max by James Patterson

Best:
3. The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
2. The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
1. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Worst:
3. The Final Warning by James Patterson
2. Firedrake by Richard Knaak
1. Max by James Patterson

May

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell
2. Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
3. Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

Best:
3.
2.
1.
Worst:
3.
2.
1.

June

Best:
3.
2.
1.
Worst:
3.
2.
1.

July

Best:
3.
2.
1.
Worst:
3.
2.
1.

September

Best:
3.
2.
1.
Worst:
3.
2.
1.

October

Best:
3.
2.
1.
Worst:
3.
2.
1.

November

Best:
3.
2.
1.
Worst:
3.
2.
1.

December

Best:
3.
2.
1.
Worst:
3.
2.
1.

END OF 2011

Best Book of 2011
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.

1.

Worst Book of 2011
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.

1.

I just got The Time Machine by H. G. Wells from the library. The social classes remind me of the book Rivers of Zadaa by D. J. MacHale in the Pendragon series. So with something to compare the races with, it might be really enjoyable. Time travel is really a weird concept. I just finished The Drift House and I’ll review it shortly. It’s much better than the Septimus Heap books, so that’s good. The rating is going to be the same I think, but I need the re-rate those books to make it lower once I figure out how to put all my stars back up. And for the first time since Chris Crutcher, everyone in my class is enjoying James Patterson. My teacher said he’s really on top of his game. I would have to agree.

Nice new thread! I love the dragon!

I saw Chris Crutcher speak the day after his book, Deadline came out. One of the things he said he was very proud of was that all except one of his books had been challenged (someone tried to get the book removed from a library). I really like his books (the ones I've read) and Dealine was probably my favorite.

Thanks. I wanted to put a picture at the top, and what's more appropiate than a reading dragon.

I really like his books, and I know I like them because it makes me want to swear at some charaters, but I never will. I think he's a banned book author. yeah, he is. My favorite book of his is his autobiography. That book was really fun.

You are reading so many classics that live on my shelves that I still haven't read, I'm starting to feel quite guilty or frustrated with lack of time or maybe a bit of both. Your reading class sounds fantastic, I love the direction it has taken.

I love the direction it has taken too. Before I got on LibraryThing and recorded the books I've read we have been reading this books in order: My Atonia by Willa Cather, Chris Crutcher books, and John Grisham books. If I had the chance, I would definately read more John Crisham books. The one I read, The Chamber, was really good. Then afterwards we watched the movie A time to kill.

Wow, the touchstones aren't working. Oh well. I will have the review for the drift house and my first James Patterson book hopefully today.

Just dropping by your new thread to say Hi! Looking forward to your next review Nathan. :)

Got you starred!

FINISHED: Book 24: The Drift House by Dale Peck

Review:

Three siblings, Susan, Charles, and Murray, has to go to their Uncle Farley's house who lives at The Drift House. Uncle Farley is kind of weird. He studies the nature of time and hates electronic things especially TV. At first the kids were very apprehensive about staying here, but soon they find really strange things about the house. For one thing, The Drift House is crooked, a mysterious person seems to be serving Uncle Farley, but clearly doesn't exist, a painting shows all of them on the house, and a small radio plays without being plugged in.

After Charles and Susan ditch Murray to find out the mysteries of the house, they get caught and lost Murray. They find him in the dumbwaiter and he seems to have knowledge of the future. Then mermaids come to The Drift House and beg Susan to help her save another mermaid Ula Lu La Lu who's lost and captured in the Sea of Time, the sea that transports them to any place or time that has or will ever exist. But sinister forces become apparent, and Susan Charles, and Murray are whisked into one great adventure.

This is a pretty good YA book. It’s sort of like The Series of Unfortunate Events in some ways, especially the ages of the children, the evil dangers, and how the author is using words to increase vocabulary, which those words are listed on the back as “affected” words. I don’t know why they are affected, because it never says.

Rating: Three Stars ***

FINISHED: BOOK 25: School's Out Forever by James Patterson

Review:

After escaping from their lab, Maximum Ride and his flock of mutant bird/angel human “siblings” flee from their captors and Erasers (mutant wolf humans) to try to survive and save the world. That didn’t go to well, and one of the flock, Fang, gets severely injured and gets taken to the hospital. There the flock meets Anne, a lonely woman that agrees to take Max and his flock and help them by providing a home, food, and comfort for once in their lives.

And all seems well for the first few days, until Anne told them they had to go to school with normal humans leading normal lives with normal personalities who only know about normal things; the exact opposite of Max’s flock. And fitting in is essential, but very problematical. And as the days go on, the real enemy is revealed, and Max’s world gets turned upside-down again.

I think I’m going to really, really love this series. It’s better than Witch and Wizard and The Gift that I read previously this year. This is the best YA book I have read this year I think. I love it, I love it, I love it.

Rating: Three and a Half Stars ***1/2

I just can't help myself, I've written down several of the titles in your thread, even though I already have a (small) bookcase filled with TBRs! I haven't had a chance to read through your thread in awhile, so this is going back a ways, lol.
#168 Geez, why can't I be about a million dollars richer so I wouldn't have to worry about maybe having to pass up a potentially life-changing book or series?
here's how I get most of my books, garage sales, flea markets, and also used bookstores (they can usually buy back books and/or put your books toward store credit (a difinite plus!))

>11 Wolfrider30: Well hi! I remember you from...three months plus ago. Glad to see you again? I go to garage sales sometimes, used bookstores occaisonally, and flea markets only once in my life, but if there is a book there I'm interesting in, I'll buy it right there.

FINISHED: Book 26: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

Review:

The Time Traveler just invented the first time machine and accidently transports himself into year 802,701 A.D. In this very distant future he meets two different kinds of people: The Eloi who are friendly, peaceful, and have everything. And then there are the Morlocks who are live below ground and vicious. Along the way, The Time Traveler saves a small female Eloi from drowning named Weena and together they travel underground so he can meet the Morlocks without knowing their true nature.

I didn’t enjoy this book at all. There wasn’t anything that excited me, and it just made me feel like I wasted a bunch of time. And none of it seemed very realistic. Usually science fiction has a hint of realism in it, but it’s so far into the future, I don’t see any of those events happening. Big let down.

Rating: One and a Half Stars *1/2

What a beautiful dragon at the top of your thread!

Wow, your review is interesting as I've also yet to read the book. The movie with Guy Pearce wasn't bad but I remember thinking that the story feels like two unrelated stories that the author tried to glue together with a flimsy premise. The time travelling machine works well in the first part of the story when he is trying to save his fiancee but it seems slightly out of place in the future part.

>14 gennyt: Thanks so much. It took me thirty minutes to choose, so now I know I chose right.

>15 KiwiNyx: Thanks again.

I just made the best deal ever!!!!!!!!! Seriously. On ebay I found 75 books or 26 lbs. of paperback science fiction books for only $40 that includes shippping!!! That's almost 50 cents per book. Insanity!

That sounds like an awesome deal! Now hopefully you have enough bookshelves. The Time Machine, is that one considered a YA novel. Even though you didn't enjoy it too much, the description sounds really interesting and I may have to look into that one. :)

It does have an interesting have an interesting plot, but to me, just not that good.

And I do not have enough bookshelves. In fact I have zero space. I'll figure out something.

That's okay. I have no space as we speak either, so right now they are in haphazard piles around my living room. :)

I kind of like books laying around in my space because of 1. I'm sometimes lazy and 2. It's easy to find them that way (trust me).

I received The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma as an ER book which story line includes HG Wells. I am about 1/3 of the way through the book and so far it is excellant.

>22 bbellthom: Let me look at that book...Umm...that looks cool. I added it under my wishlist under Medium. I may not get to it for quite some time, but it looks neat.

I'm not a fan of James Patterson but I'll take a look at this series, it looks like fun.
Sounds like you got a good deal with the scifi books - do you know what you're getting or is it a lucky dip?

And I love your reading dragon - very appropriate.

>24 avatiakh: I really like James Patterson. I'm almost done with the first book in the Maximum Ride series and then going onto the third. But I'm also looking at more of his books to see what I would like, especially any non-series ones.

About the books I got...I really don't have a clue what I'm getting. But in the pictures on the item, he shows a bunch of Anne McCaffrey books, some of them I already have, and others that I don't know what they are. But I'm sure most of them are really good. Well, I'll find out in "5-12 buisness days"

And thanks about my dragon. I thought it was appropiate too. Maybe it should be a common theme on all of my threads.

So for the past two school days, my class have been watching Of Mice and Men the movie and will finish it today in my book class. Well, this movie is really good. Some parts of the movie match word for word in the book, some aren't, but they captured the characters of Lennie, George, Candy, Curly, and Curly's wife pretty darn good. I want to know who plays Lennie and George, because they play their parts very, very well.

FINISHED: Book 27: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Review:

Maximum Ride and his “siblings”, Fang, Iggy, The Gasman (Gazzy), Nudge, and Angel, live together without any parents are supervisors, only themselves. They are not normal by any definition. They are genetic mutants that are 98% human and 2% bird. That’s right, they have wings and can fly.

Unexpectedly, their perfect, happy family gets broken up when the Erasers and Whitecoats take them. The Erasers are wolf-mutants and the Whitecoats are the people that used to keep the six locked up in cages until their “father” Jeb took them away. They took away Angel, Max’s secret favorite person of the flock. Now Max must get Angel back before they kill Angel, or worse.

So many things are clear now that I read this one. I still love this series. The only problem is, well besides this series, I have nothing else to read. But hey, I read 27 books in 3 months. That's pretty good. Maybe I should take a break until my books come. I'll be on a real reading frenzy then.

Rating: Three and a Half Stars ***1/2

#26> I should add that one to the Books to Film thread (or you can). You might motivate me to try some Steinbeck (beyond The Black Pearl which was required in junior high and The Red Pony because I am horsemad)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/110150

#27> Out of books? horrors! What about the library? I admit to being horrible about using the library from college through having children because I was invariably late, but when I got pregnant I developed a once-a-week habit that has served us quite well (and was actually a twice-a-week habit when we lived in SoCal)

I have you starred. The way you describe the books in your space makes me think of somebody in a Patricia McKillip book - reaching down for whatever book your fingers touch and coming up with a different world every time. It sounds wonderful :)

>28 elfchild: OK, I'll go to that thread when I have time. And It's not that I don't have books to read, because believe me, there is, but I've been doing nothing but reading and playing video games for the past three months, so maybe I should just take a short break and do other stuff and try to get a life, which will never happen. I should also cut down on video games too then...But the break will be short I will assure you. And then it's back to reading like a maniac on a mission.

>29 nhlsecord: Thanks so much! I think review writing should be a type of art. I try to make my reviews colorful, so they often take me twice as long as they normally would. Even if it is a not-too-good book I try to make the reviews colorful, but often they are shorter then. I can't find you. You must not have a reading journal or something like that, don't you? Well, I'll be happy to see you here!

#29> That reference sounds familiar ... which Patricia McKillip book is it from?

#30> My spare time (after the kids are in bed) is spent reading, playing Mousehunt (a facebook game and pretty much the only one I play) and chatting with other friends who play, and occasionally watching a movie or tv series (usually while folding laundry). In theory I knit and sew and do other such things but not as often as I would like. I have a hard time cutting back on reading...though I'd like to be better about putting on an audio book so that I CAN knit.

I have the opposite problem to you, not enough hours in the day to read. That pesky life thing keeps getting in the way. I do manage a few hours every evening after dinner, and then there's another chance in bed before I fall asleep and that is my lot for the day.

Weekends are my favourite time as I can't sleep in anymore (horrible by-product of having a job) but I can lie in bed for hours in the morning reading. My idea of bliss.

Well this weekend won't be as boring. I'm going to be away from in a few hours from now until Saturday afternoon. The worst part is: no computers so no LT. But I'll bring a book along to read. I think that's be the third maximum ride series.

Half the Touchstones won't work

Well, I’m back. Glad to be back here on LT too. And I just received my books. I’m not familiar with any of them, but I’ve heard of some of them. I think I counted….51 books in all. I’ll list them here under the author’s name. Also, if you do see one that I should read, please tell me. I put books in order of high, medium, and low importance. The key is below. Some series are long, so even if all the books seem like high importance, the importance gradually gets lower, because of the length it will take for me to get there.

Key:

This is a low importance (plain text)
This is a medium importance (italics)
The is a high importance (bold and italics)

Anne McCaffrey
1. Death of Sleep
2. Generation Warriors
3. Powers that Be
Barbara Hambly
4. The Rainbow Abyss
5. The Magicians of Night
Deborah Turner Harris
6. The Gauntlet of Malice (missing book 1)
7. Spiral of Fire
Donald E. McQuinn
8. Wanderer
9. Warrior
Joyce Ballun Gregorian
10. The Broken Citadel
11. Castledown
Katherine Kerr
12. Daggerspell
13. Darkspell
14. The Bristling Wood
The Dragon Revenant
15. A Time of Exile
16. A Time of Omens
17. Days of Blood and Fire
Mercedes Lackey
18. The Lark and Wren
19. The Robin and Kestrel
20. Castle of Deception
21. Fortress of Frost and Fire
Niel Hancock
22. Greyfax Grimwald
23. Farragon Fairingay
24. Calix Stay
25. Squaring the Circle
26. Across the Far Mountains
27. The Fires of Windameir
28. A Wanderer’s Return
29. A Bridge of Dawn
Paul Hazel
30. Yearwood
31. Undersea
Richard A. Knaak
32. Firedrake
33. Icedragon
Robert Jordon
34. The Eye of the World
35. The Great Hunt
36. The Dragon Reborn
37. The Shadow Rising
38. The Fires of Heaven
Roland J. Green
39. Squadron Alert
40. Division of the Spoils
41. Warriors for the Working Day
Sharon Green
42. The Crystals of Mida
43. An Oath to Mida
44. Chosen of Mida
45. To Battle the Gods (missing book 4}
Sheila Gilluly
46. The Crystal Keep
47. Ritnym’s Daughter
Other
48. China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh
49. Entoverse by James P. Hogen
50. Fire in the Mists by Holly Hogen
51. Glitterspike Hall by Mike Jefferies
52. The Revenge of the Rose by Michael Moorock

You've got some good stuff in there...and some stuff I've never heard of. I liked the first Peytabe book (Power That Be) but I was in my reading rut and never read further. I probably will soon. The two Misty Lackey's that you've prioritized I have not actually read though she is one of my favorite 'comfort read' authors and I love the Valdemar books and the Lark and the Wren and related books.

Enjoy! I look forward to your reviews!

I look forward to reading some of them. I just don't know where to start. I'll sleep on that maybe.

I don't think I've read any of the books on that list. Hopefully you find some gems in that pile of reading. :) I remember that you got these books online from the same person? How did you choose to by these ones?

Fair warning... Sharon Green's books tend to be very sexual. From what I understand, you don't care for that too much.

>35 elfchild: elfchild: just an after thought. Why is Mercedes Lackey one of your comfort reads? Also, is that her real name, because two books I have is under a different name.

>37 jolerie: I'm not really understanding what you are saying. Yes, all these books are from the same person, and I really didn't decide which ones to get, just got them from what he had.

>38 Morphidae: Great (sarcasm). I think maybe I could've figured that out though by the cover art of the first book. Good thing in books I can handle them about five times better than movies.

Oh okay. I see what you mean. That is pretty brave of you just to buy the whole bunch, especially if you didn't know most of the books from the list. I think my OCDness would mean that I would want to see the books and touch them first..haha.
Hope you have a great time of working through your stash!

>40 jolerie: I was going to ask the guy what exact books there were, but then I got the fear that someone else would buy it before me then and I'll possibly miss out on the possible life-changing books

FINISHED: Book 28: Saving the World and other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

Review:

Everything boils down to here. This time either Maximum Ride saves the world, or dies trying. When Max and Fang decide to go to Dr. Martinez’s house to get her chip taken out, which she thinks is tracking her and is causing her Voice in her head to keep talking to her, which is driving her absolutely crazy. A couple of months ago, Max saved her daughter Ella from a group of rowdy boys attempting to hurt her. When the chip gets removed, the Voice is still there and her left arm is useless.

Meanwhile, Iggy, The Gasman, Nudge, and Angel are hiding from everybody else, but not for long. New enemies come to get them that are more powerful than the Erasers. They are called Flyboys, and they are a robotic version of the Erasers. They get captured and sent back to the cursed School, where they learn that all genetic experiments are being “retired” or put to death, and Max’s flock are the last ones left.

When Fang and Max find them, Jeb tells them that almost everything that happened was a dream and a test. They escape bringing Ari, Jeb’s father and one of their mortal enemies, with them. Fang doesn’t like that and tells Max that either Ari goes, or he does. Max doesn’t let go Ari, so Fang splits up bringing Iggy and The Gasman with him, while Nudge, Angel, Ari, and Total stays with Max. Now both Fang and Max is trying to take down Itex separately, and what they find out is that Itex’s leaders are going to commit a mass genocide attack that will wipe out more than half of the world’s population so there will be a perfect Earth.

I really, really enjoy this series. But you know that already. I’m taking off half a star for a cliché section of the plot. Also, can you recommend me any good James Patterson books ideally not part of a series, just stand-alone books? Thanks!

Rating: Three Stars ***

I think that just about everything Patterson does is part of a series, but I think you might like When the Wind Blows. It has a sequel, but that is it. It is about a veterinarian in Colorado who uncovers a plot of genetic engineering of children who have been stolen from their parents. I read it years ago, so I am a little vague on plot details, but I remember enjoying it.

Mercedes Lackey is her real name, Misty is a nickname well know in fandom. As to why a comfort read...I like the worlds she builds. In particular, I was looking for a book "like a warm blanket" when I discovered Arrows of the Queen - the kind of book you want to curl up and read in one sitting, a world and characters that you enjoy visiting and getting to know. I tend to re-read books only occasionally, but I have re-read the Valdemar books (the first two trilogies in particular) several times and have no doubt I will read them many more. I haven't read all her work (and I think that for awhile she was dabbling with a whole lot of cowriting in a whole lot of worlds and quality suffered) but there are several series that I enjoy. Does that answer your question?

Wow, looks like the ultimate fantasy bundle. I've only heard of Anne McCaffrey and read none from the list so I'm no help but I'm sure you'll enjoy finding out which ones are good.

>44 chinquapin: James said that that book and one other inspired him to write the Maximum Ride books. I should read that.

>45 elfchild: Yes it does. Thanks for telling me that.

>46 KiwiNyx: I haven’t read any from the list either. From reading six Pern books, a collection of short stories, and reading the back covers of those three books I got from her, I can tell you she can write some weird things. I’m telling you that.

Now from the big bundle of fantasy books that I’ve read I decided to start two books: Firedrake by Richard Knaak, The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (book 1 of the Wheel of Time series), and continuing with James Patterson in my book class with The Final Warning.

>#34

I noticed that Roland Jordan should be be Robert Jordan. His series is quite good, but needs to have a lot of time devoted to it as well. I'm not even sure if it's completely finished as yet. It's a very epic tale that while very entertaining has some spots that take a while to muck through.

>48 jasmyn9: Yes you're right. He writes the Wheel of Time series, right? I'm reading the first book right now. Thanks for catching that.

I don’t see myself finishing anymore books for March, so I’m going to post my favorite and worst books of March 2011.

Best:

3. All Maximum Ride books by James Patterson– Action, humor, mutations, mad scientists, sarcasm on every sentence, this series was made for me. I haven’t read any book that made me laugh so much since any of the Rick Riordan books. In fact, these books remind me of them in so many ways.

2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – Officially the weirdest book I have ever read. This “brave new world” is the most perfect unperfect book that I heard of. Very unusual.

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding - Possibly one of the best books I’ve ever read. I like it that Golding hints that essentially, all of mankind is evil, which I agree to, because if we would be all made to love, there would be world peace and no more wars or weapons of mass destruction.

Worst:

3. All Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage – I rated this high at first hoping it would get better, but it never did. And at book 3, I was done. I have the other books on my wishlist, but they can’t be any lower.

2. The Pearl by John Steinbeck – OK, this wasn’t a bad book. In fact, I think I was way too hard on it. But this month was pretty good, making this not as good. Definitely will not be in my top 12 worst books of 2011.

1. The Time Machine by H G Wells - I suppose maybe at one time it was a good book. Maybe it still is, but for me, it didn’t work. The book was too short, too uneventful, very boring, uncreative, and totally forgettable. Won’t think about this book again.

ETA: I'm so waiting for March to end to see whether I won anything from ER. I really want this book Jamrach's Menagerie, or The President's Vampire mainly because the main character is named Nathaniel like me. I think I have the right touchstone for the latter.

Wow, I lost your second thread for a while. I always enjoy seeing your monthly ranking. Glad to see Lord of the Flies came out on top. I hope you won an ER.

Lord of the Flies is truely a spectacular book. Anybody who hasn't read should now immediantly. And thanks that you like my monthly ranking. I love making them.

Also, I did not get an ER book. I was in class and I was checking my emails and on here like I always do, when I'm not supposed to (don't tell anyone), and I got my email under my folder Websites where I get all my emails from LT, Facebook, Aardvark, and other things I'm a member of, when I saw that I didn't win anything. I literally shouted, "No." And everybody looked at me. My teacher told me to get off the website I'm on and pay attention. This happened before in other instances, like again on yesterday when some post on the GD made me laugh, and I laugh easily.

So I’m halfway in Firedrake by Richard Knaak, and I just realized that I have never read a book about humans slaying evil dragons. I’ve seen some movies on it, but never books. Wait, that can’t be right. Seriously? Let me think to myself.

Let me see. Not that one, at least not yet. According to humans, they don’t exist. Possibly, but that’s not the point of the story. They would be dead, worthless, and lost without them. For them worthless; and them lost. Actually yes, but not because they are evil

Nope, I have never read a true dragon slaying book. I like to think of them as not evil as…good. But I’m enjoying it nevertheless.

Also, I haven’t even touched The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. In fact, I’m looking at it right now, and he hates me, because I’ve been neglecting him. I’m sorry, but when I found out that there is 13 or 14 books in The Wheel of Time series and all of them are 750 pages and over, that kind of freaked me out. But I’ll read you…not tonight, because I have things to do, but maybe tomorrow…but definitely this weekend, OK? Good. Thank you!!

Yes, I do talk to my books a lot. I’m not crazy, I’m just significantly different.

FINISHED: Book 29: Firedrake by Richard Knaak

Review:

Cabe Bedlam is part of a world called The Dragonrealms that are overruled by vicious, tyrant Dragon Kings that control their land and make all the human citizens have no freedom. Cabe is no ordinary human, he’s the grandson of the great Nathan Bedlam and the son of the horrible Arzan Bedlam. Nathan defeated the Purple Dragon king with Arzan’s powerful weapon the Horned Blade, which is destined to kill any and all dragons or firedrakes with ease. But in the process, Nathan dies with the Purple Dragon. Now many years later, Cabe must fulfill the destiny that Nathan failed to do, while avoiding his father, all the Dragon Kings, the Shade, with the help of the Gryphon and Gwen.

I noticed I’m the first to review this book on LT. Usually I’m the 587th to review it, but not this time. Even though this book is mostly about dragon slaying, I enjoyed it very much. The fantasy is perfect for me and the plot is alright. And I’m interested in reading the next book Icedragon, so that’s a plus.

Rating: Three Stars ***

FINISHED: Book 30: The Final Warning by James Patterson

Review:

Max and his flock’s lives are going pretty good at the moment. They just defeated Itex singlehandedly, and Max discovered his true parents. Now, the U.S. is very curious about them, and want to study them and hope that they can help them.

The end result, the flock travels to Antarctica to help out with the growing problem of global warming. And even though they seem safe, they aren’t. Somebody is out to get them for the goal of destroying the world.

I am not too keen on the whole Global Warming thing. I have my opinions, none I’m going to share. This is definitely the worst book in the series so far, not by much, because all of them are pretty much equal. I love the humor Patterson puts in the books, especially the subtle humor that usually requires background knowledge to get fully, especially when it comes to the sections of Fang’s blog. I have one more book in the series before I run out of available Maximum Ride books, and then two more books to go after that. Then when I’m done with that, I don’t know exactly which book to read in my book class before the teacher decides not to do James Patterson books anymore.

Rating: Three Stars ***

Your reviews are convincing me to try some Patterson out, we've got at least one of the Maximum Ride books around here somewhere.

I'm just about ready to read any Patterson book out there. I'm going to get a list of all his books and figure out which ones I'm want to read. I'll probably do that tomorrow.

Go to the link below for a list of all Patterson book in published/series order.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/p/james-patterson/

I have been off LT for a while, Nathan, and have not got a prayer of catching up, but hopefully I can stay current with you the rest of the year!

Sorry DragonFreak and elfchild, I somehow managed to lose this thread. I guess I wasn't careful enough with my x-ing out of threads. I don't have a reading journal, my reading is often erratic and I don't gather my thoughts very well. I might try it though, things are working out better with the reading lately.

Elfchild, I don't know which book that McKillip reference came from - maybe from all of them because so often the characters do (now, see here is where I can't describe what I'm thinking) things that bring unexpected results like scratching their head and having jewels fall out of their hair (from The Sorceress and the Cygnet). And in The Bell of Sealey Head a character opened a door to a closet and found another place and time. From what DragonFreak said in a previous post, I can see him reaching down for a new book and coming up with a new world, and what a wonderful image!

>58 Morphidae: Ah, thank you! I’ll take a gander at them after I catch up on threads.

>59 alcottacre: Welcome back! People have been missing you for a long time, and I have been too. I didn’t mention it, because so many others did. But the threads did seem kind of quiet without you.

>60 nhlsecord: Yeah, I don’t get why threads get lost so easily. It seems like half of the threads I star for the first time, un-star themselves automatically. I’ll let elfchild answer your second paragraph, since I don’t have a clue.

So, today I’m going to be in the read-a-thon which starts at 3:00 my time, so three hours from now. The only book I’m planning to read is The Eye of World. I hope to get it at least half done by the end of the weekend.

I just added a bunch of James Patterson books to my Wishlist. 25 to be exact. And I'm the first person to add Witch and Wizard: The Fire (touchstone won't work), on LT, and also all of the Alex Cross series, and the Daniel X books. Heck, now none of the touchstones are working.

Regarding your book lot:

McCaffrey--I think The Death of Sleep and Generation Warriors are pretty good. They are part of a series that starts with Dinosaur Planet 1 & 2, and Sassinak comes in between them. The Powers that Be series is later McCaffrey and okay but not my favorite series.

Hambly--I typically like Hambly. This is one of her minor series, complete. You should enjoy it, I think.

Deborah Turner Harris
Donald E. McQuinn
Haven't read these two authors.

Joyce Ballun Gregorian--These are the first two of her trilogy. I have them but it has been so long since I read them that I really can't tell you much about them except that I kept them.

Katherine Kerr--I haven't read these, but they are the first seven of 15 books in the same setting that were quite popular. I enjoyed her Polar City blues.

Mercedes Lackey--the first two are the first of her Bardic Voices books--okay but nothing special. The second two I haven't read but are based on a computer role playing game.

Niel Hancock--you've got the entire Circle of Light series, the first of the Wilderness of Four quartet, and 1, 3, and 4 of the Windemeir Circle quartet. I read the first series back in the 70s--they were one of many LOTR imitators of the time, and not particularly good. I didn't read any of his other books, nor did I keep these.

Paul Hazel--you have the first two books of a fantasy trilogy based on Celtic mythology written in the early 80's. He's written nothing since. I think they were fairly run of the mill--I didn't keep them.

Richard A. Knaak--the first two of the Dragonrealm series. I tend not to read such series, so can't advise you here.

Robert Jordon--the first five of the well-known series. I never got beyond the first book, but they are wildly and widely popular!

Roland J. Green--books 1, 2, and 6 of the Starcruiser Shenandoah series. I've never read Green, so I'll be interested in what you think of these.

Sharon Green--you've already been warned. Definitely soft-porn and lots of violence against women, with not much to recommend them in the way of story. I keep my copy of Mind Guest to remind me why not to buy any of her work if I forget.

Sheila Gilluly--you have books 2 & 3 of the Greenbriar fantasy trilogy. Pretty generic 80s fantasy, readable.

I haven't read any of your five singles. Quite a haul, should keep you busy for a while.

>63 ronincats: Ah, thanks for the info! I have always wanted to read part of the Dinosaur Planet series, just to see what they are like. Now I know what they are. That series of Katherine Kerr is long, but probably not as long as Robert Jordan’s. I’m currently reading the first one, and so far, it’s hard to get into it. I plan to read Mercedes Lackey’s books next after Knaak’s books. Now I’m really apprehensive on reading Hancock’s books. I’m also unsure of Hazel’s books too. Roland Green’s books seems different, so I don’t know how I’ll like them until I get read them. Sharon Green’s books seem very sexist. Shortly after I got them and catalogued them, I skimmed through all my books and yeah, they seem very sexist. Kind of the opposite you’ll expect from a female author.

They will keep my busy for a long time, and I hope that the majority of them are good.

#61: Maybe I should have stayed away. People might like 'quiet' better :)

Naw, noise is A-OK with me.

I was reading the newest Reader’s Digest, and there’s this section of stupid questions people asked librarians. Here are some of them:

“I’m looking for a book, but I only know the title, not the author. It’s called Dante’s Inferno”

“Do you have Shakespeare in English and not in the language it was originally written?”

So I decided to look for other stupid book questions, and here’s what I got.

"Can you help me find a book about the real meaning of Christmas? Nothing religious though." Uh....okay!

Patron: "How much does it cost?"
Librarian: "Books are free to borrow"
Patron: "No, I want to buy a copy. I've looked everywhere"
Librarian:"Have you tried the book shop next door?"
Patron: "No"

"I'm looking for the autobiography of ____, but I'm not sure who wrote it."

Patron: "When does the library close?"
Me: "The library is 24 hours."
Patron: "Just answer my question, ma'am."

Teen patron: I need info on the holocaust.
Librarian: We have a lot of information on the Holocaust available. What specifically do you need?
Teen patron: Info. On. The. Holocaust.

Mother: My son has a report due tomorrow and he has to read a biography about a Viking.
Me: Well, I know we have a good biography about Leif Ericson.
Mother: No, I mean old Vikings, not the football players.

Woman comes bustling in, carrying five books rubber-banded together. Stares at me for a moment, and then says, "Where do I put these?"
I reply, "There's a book drop in the hallway, just outside the door. It'll be on your left."
She scowls, turns around, and disappears into the hallway for a few seconds.
Then she comes back and thrusts the still-banded books at me and spits, "They don't fit," before exiting the building.

Of course, I’m guilty of asking stupid questions, but usually none as simple as these.

My youngest sister once asked on Christmas Eve what time midnight mass would be. We all thought this very funny and have reminded her about it for at least 15 years. She's had the last laugh though because apparently midnight mass at my parent's church now starts at 11.30pm!

#67: I think it is a good thing I am not a librarian!

>68 KiwiNyx: Usually midnight mass is 10:00 pm where I live. But that reminds me of another related question:

"In what year did the war of 1812 start?"

and

"Name two people that was on the Lewis and Clark trip"

>69 alcottacre: Why? How would your answers be different?

I think this is highly ironic. So this other day, I watched a movie called It’s Kind of a Funny Story for the first time. And it was awesome. It’s about this teen that has everything and seems to have things under control, but in reality, he’s a depressed, stressed person. And after almost committing suicide, he checks himself in for help, and gets sent to the Adult Psychiatric Ward where he finds the most interesting people. Well, I didn’t know it is a book called, well, It’s Kind of a funny story by Ned Vizzini. How did I know? Well in the born/died column, at the very end of born, that’s what it shows. But you know, I feel kind of sorry for the main character Craig. I mean, he pukes whenever he is overly stressed, he father’s putting too much pressure on him, and his best friend is a jerk. In fact, he had a flashback or two about how horrible his friend is. I love the flashbacks. Like this one. There’s this girl who he has a crush on. Well Craig, his friend Aaron, and the girl Nia were all together and Aaron gives Nia a “flirt punch” and then Craig explains how that leads up to holding hands (picture of Aaron and Nia holding hands), then that leads to kissing (picture of them kissing), and then, sex (picture of a totally white screen), but he doesn’t like to imagine that one.

I love it when seemingly unrelated events get connected like that. So I just had to share that.

>54 DragonFreak: I have read a couple of Richard Knaak's stories in the DragonLance series and was impressed with his writing. I didn't realize he has a series of his own. I'm going to have to look into trying to find that one.

>72 jasmyn9: Tell me what you think of it afterwards.

OK, so in the last time I posted anything I’ve read about…zero pages. Seriously I haven’t exactly read since Sunday at noon. I’m pretty embarrassed. But in my defense, I was severely distracted. You see, my friend showed me this very old game called Zork. It’s a game from like the 80’s where you type in commands and hope you win. No graphics, no sound, so I wonder why now I’m totally addicted to it. It’s bad. I complete three games.

So I’ve added two new books to my library. You see, this library was expanding and getting rid of some books, so they were being discarded and giving out for free. Any leftover books will be thrown out. Sad face. This library had better books to throw out than the library at my old home. You see, every elementary student gets to pick out a discarded book every time they go the school/city library. Ummm…my brother picks out interesting books. The worst was a horse fact book…expect it wasn’t for little kids………….

Anyway, the two books I got was In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells. I kind of swore to myself after I read The Time Machine I will never read another Wells book again. But this one looks so good. So I’m giving him a second chance. But of course, The Time Machine looked pretty good too.

The other one I picked out was The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. I saw this book on Morphy’s thread, so I decided to get it, because, after all, it’s free. I forgot what it was about or everybody’s opinions, so I’ll check it out.

Then the April ER seems pretty good. I requested three books. The first is 20 Years Later by Emma Newman. It’s a post-apocalyptic book, and you know how much I love my chaos and destruction. The second is Greed by Ron L. Hubbard. It’s a short story with another far-future setting of Earth. Seems interesting. But what I want the most is The Inheritance by Robin Hobb. It’s a collection of short stories, which now, I’m really in the mood for. There was already a review for it, and I love the ideas of the stories in it.

Well that’s all, and make mental pictures of you slapping me in the face and saying “Get off that stupid game a read, for God’s sake”. Seriously. Do it. Maybe I’ll get the mental links.

The Hero and the Crown is one of my favorites! You picked a really good one for free :)

>75 curioussquared: Well, I'm really assured it'll be good now. I just now officially added it to my library/tbr section. May I ask why it's one of your favorites?

Robin McKinley is, in my opinion, one of the best fantasy writers out there, and The Hero and the Crown is one of her very best. She combines lovely, whimsical writing with great plots that I can return to time and time again. Some people find her writing to be kind of slow and hard to get into, but with some of the stuff you've been reading I imagine you'll have no trouble at all!

#70: It is not that my answers would be different, Nathan, I just would not have the patience to deal with such idiotic questions :)

>77 curioussquared: Ok, I see that. Thanks for taking your time to tell me that.

>79 DragonFreak: I see...I would actually love to answer them to practice my sarcasm and test people's guilibility.

>74 DragonFreak: I remember Zork. Well. All too well.

>80 mamzel: Care to explain why you remember it? I'm pretty board right now, so I need cheap entertainment.

It was about 20 years ago and I don't remember many details but I do remember sitting for hours mapping (cause I still have no memory for stuff). It was the first computer game my husband played as well and he now has a major setup for games (mostly hack-and-slash types). Another game I spent way too much time with was Tetris. I still have dreams of falling colored blocks. I don't have much time for games these days but my kids advise me if they play one they think I will like. They are playing Dragon Age which I will tackle over the summer.

>82 mamzel: Yeah, I was half-tempted to map out the game too, but I didn't not because it was cheating, but I didn't think I'll do a good job. I never got into Tetris, probably because I wasn't born in the era, but I just think of it as way too boring. I think Dragon Age is some mature game or something like that. I just saw commercials for it, and I don't usually play games like those. But usually, if I'm not reading, I'm playing some game like Zelda or Spyro. Oh, can't forget Mario.

There were some really cute shareware games I used to play. One was called Captain Comic and I'm blanking on the other one but they were Mario-like - jumping to grab stuff and blasting bad things. It was cute that when you actually paid for them you got clues for hidden levels. I got hooked on dungeon crawls with the Might & Magic series. I like building my stats and collecting stuff.

Video games can be, no is and will be addictive. When I was six, I had a major video game addiction. Luckily, I'm sort of over that now. But my little brother is now becoming just as bad as me or worse. I say worse because of the Wii and not GBA or PS1. Obviously, my folks didn't learn their lesson with me.

I usually reserve my video game playing for the summer because I become totally absorbed and lose track of hours (like six at a time). I'll be finishing up Dragon Age and maybe picking up Dragon Age II. But when I was younger, I was completely addicted to Mouse Trap on the ColecoVision system.

>86 Tanglewood: You know, I usually play less video games in the summer. And what do I do to make up for that, read like crazy. Like for instance, last year, I was reading a serious of 400-600 page books and I'll get it from the library early in the morning and by the time it's 6:00, I'll have it finished, then I'll go back to the library and sometimes check out another one, the same length. Hah, I find it ironic that we're talking about video games on a book-website. But all my friends are book/video game lovers.

I'm well aware of the addictive property of video games and steer clear of most of them because I'd rather not bemoan the loss of reading time. I used to play Jewelbox, which was a Tetris variant for the Mac several operating systems ago and I am currently addicted to Mousehunt, which is a facebook game.

I never got into Facebook games much. Why play a cheap, boring game when I can buy much better, more enjoying games, for more money, but will keep me happier?

Of course I don't have a clue what the other games there excpet the 4 or 5 I tried, so I'm not sure how addicted Mousehunt is...

FINISHED: Book 31: Max by James Patterson

Review:

After almost getting shot by a sniper when performing a show for the Coalition to Stop the Madness (CSM), Max and her flock go to Mexico city to perform another performance to warn people about global warming from the much polluted city. There, Max meets another enemy named Mr. Chu, another power freak who wants Max to join him. Max says no and makes a bad enemy of Mr. Chu.

And it’s not long after that when Max’s mom Dr. Martinez gets kidnapped somewhere around the coast of Hawaii. Now Max must get her new mother back before anything bad happens to them, while trying to stop the next eco-disaster.

OK, this series is now officially going downhill in a very bad way. I mean, it was really good in book 3, and I would actually be pretty satisfied if it stopped there. But then in book 4, Patterson actually mentioned global warming, that was his first mistake. And now in this one, it got worse. Like now everything is getting repeated over and over and over again. It’s the same old, same old. Almost becoming too cliché. Personally, I’m kind of glad I ran out Maximum Ride books.

Rating: Two and a Half Stars **1/2

I hope your next read is better for you, Nathan!

Yeah, I hope so too. I wasn't really a bad read, just a bad concept. I looked online, and a lot of other people said Patterson killed his own series with book #4. But I'm pretty sure the next book, whatever it may be, will be better!

I think you've done us all a big service here: first three Maximum Ride books are a definite read, next ones, approach with care - got it. Cheers.

By and large I agree with you, Nathan, except that I would rather spend the money on books. I've met some nice people playing Mousehunt, though, and it is that as much as anything that keeps me playing. Besides which, it's nice to have a free game that I like.

Sorry that the Maximum Ride series has plummeted and hope that the author recovers. Like Stasia, I hope that your next read is better.

>94 elfchild: I would rather spend my money on books too, but while we were on subject on games, might as well stay on that subject.

Thank you for recommending Gruffen. We started it this evening as a family read aloud (I read the first chapter and my husband read the second) and we are all enjoying it.

>96 elfchild: Your very much welcome! And when your child, G you call her on here, right?, gets old enough, I gaurentee she'll love The Fire Within. Hey, I haven't actually read the book, so does anywhere in there does it mention the dragons' owners Lucy and Liz Pennykettle and David?

#97> We have met Lucy and her mother, Liz and Liz has just made a 'special' dragon for Lucy, a guard dragon, though he has not yet come to life. Lucy is 9 in this book so it sounds like it precedes the main series?

Yes it does. I can't quite remember, but I think in the beginning of the series, Lucy is 12-ish, then David comes in, and everything changes. Interesting.

I look forward to reading the main series as well but this is really perfect for reading aloud to G. I'm glad that he came up with a spin for younger readers and has made that sufficiently self-contained that one can dive in there without having read the original series. I've got the first Judy Moody book sitting on the to-be-read-aloud pile mostly because I think that she's probably ready for the Stink books but I'm guessing that it's better to introduce her to the original series first.

>100 elfchild: There are somethings I don't like about the series, but most of them shouldn't count to anything remotely bad. Every single dragon starts with G. Every. Single. One. And they all are made out of clay. My favorites are Gadzooks, which is David's dragon, so I'm not sure if there is a book about him. Then there's Gollygosh Golucky or something similiar, but he's mostly known as either Golly or Gosh, I'm not sure. Or both. Also there is Grace, Grockle, Godith, and Gawain, but out of those, some of those dragons are a little more than clay...

I have no idea what the Judy Moody books are. Never heard of them before, but I hope that she'll enjoy those too.

FINISHED: Book 32: Icedragon by Richard Knaak

Review:

Cabe Bedlam just got done defeating the Black Dragon and now with Gwen and the Gryphon are trying to get the other Dragon Kings for a truce to stop the madness created by them. Unfortunately, a Dragon King, the Ice Dragon, has a plan to spread winter all over the Dragonrealms…forever.

//I finished this book 2 ½ days ago and just now reviewed it because of my procrastination, and I’ve been deathly sick for the past week and hit me hard in the last three days.//

I enjoyed this book as much as the same as the previous book. Problem is, well, I enjoyed it just as much as the previous book. Let me explain. Have you ever read a series, where all the books in the series are almost exactly the same? Well…this series may be just like that. And after a while, it’s the same thing over and over again. Like the previous Maximum Ride books. They’re just the same time after time, and that’s why, along with other reason, why the series almost collapsed. But I’ll put the rest of the books on my Wishlist.

Rating: Three and a Half Stars *** ½

Going through two different series myself, I know what you mean. A lesser author might rely on a pattern to continue his/her franchise. At some point you wonder if they are just pushing stuff out to satisfy their publishers who use the author's name to sell books rather than enticing them with a good story. I stopped reading Michener, King and Grisham because I couldn't find the same wonder as I had with their earliest books and those books weren't even series.

Sorry to hear you've been sick. I hope you are feeling much better! I'm not familiar with that series, but I know what you mean about series where every book is the same. Hopefully they will get better! :)

I hope you are recovering from being so awfully sick! Not fun, that is. Hopefully, you are reading and enjoying life today.

>103 mamzel: I see. I haven't read any books by King, only one by Grisham, and I have no idea who Michener is, so I wouldn't really know that experience. But I can see why that would happen. Heck, if a book in the series is totally horrible than the rest, at least it isn't the same as the last. That means that there is a chance that one will be above the others. And if a series changes by 75% within one book, that's a really good sign too. Even better if it does that twice in a book. Like D. J. MacHale's Pendragon books starting with The Merchant of Death. Those 10 books are really, really good.

>104 Kittybee: Thanks! I actually feel much better, but still a little off. By Monday, I'll be my old, goofy self.

>105 maggie1944: I must've jumped you. Sorry! I hope to read a lot today. Maybe get to the half-way point in The Eye of the World by tonight. Being sick is not fun definately.

#101> Judy Moody is a chapter book series. No reason for you to know it...it's audience seems to be primarily girls.

#106> James Michener wrote big fat multi-generational sagas centered around a particular place laced with well researched historical detail. I've been debating reading Alaska because over time I have developed a liking for several alaska based mystery series. I haven't read the Pendragon books...good to know that you liked them.

p.s. sorry that you are sick. That is never fun.

>108 elfchild:-9 OK, now I now I've never seen him before. It's great though that he apparently researched well.

Oh, and thanks! I don't sick often, but when I do, I become incapable of doing anything else.

That's the worst kind of sick...too sick to even read. I am sending you some of the imaginary chicken noodle soup that my daughter made for her sick (stuffed) cat yesterday. She was careful to note that she added onions because they make soup taste better but chopped them up very small because she doesn't like to bite into them. **get well soon**

Soup recieved. Mmmmmmm....just like father used to make. Thank you!

Nathan- I started a fantasy novel today, on audio, it's the 1st in a series and it's called The Blade Itself. It's begins very well. Are you familiar with this author?

I hope you get better soon (and elfchild's daughter's sick stuffed animal). I absolutely hate it when I'm too sick to read.

>113 msf59: You're talking about The Blade itself by Joe Abercrombie, right. There is another book by the same title, but it's crime, sothat's not right. I'm not familiar with that author, but it sounds compelling. Hey, when you get it done, tell me more about it. Will you do that? Thanks!

>114 Tanglewood: It's a book lover's worst nightmare, eh?

With Wells what you have to do is sternly remind yourself that he was the first one to think up all kinds of story ideas -- so even when something seems silly or irritatingly stupid, it's still amazing because he thought of it at all, out of basically thin air. All of those older writers late 1800's early 1900's -- Dunsany, Verne, and-- even Poe (a little earlier) really -- are so awesome when you think that they were making it all up, not riffing off ideas as is more common now.

I can see that. I mean, the best part of The Time Machine was in fact, the very, very beginning when he was describing how the time machine actually works. And I thought, "Wow, that's not so off from today."

Hope you're feeling better. Interesting point about the series being the same. I think I had this feeling when trying to read book 2 of Percy Jackson but people keep telling me they get better so I'll give them another go.

Mark, my work colleague has been reading the Abercrombie books and enjoyed the first 2 but gave up halfway through the third. She said it was too dark and cynical and she had to put it down. She did recommend The Blade Itself to me though.

Nathan- Yes, The Blade itself, I am currently reading is the Abercrombie series. The touchstone didn't work. Actually, I have read The Blade Itself, by Sakey, as well. He's a Chicago crime writer and his books are very well done.

>118 KiwiNyx: For me, there was never a time when the Percy Jackson books got worse, they were pretty awesome, but that's just me. I know a whole bunch of people who have read the books and enjoyed them very much.

>119 msf59: OK, maybe I'll put that on my wishlist, probably my Improbability Wishlist though. You live in Chicago, right? Seems right that you'll read something by him then.

Also another book that I'm putting on my wishlist is A Game of Thrones. Everyone is talking about it since that new HBO show tonight. I mean, if like one or two people were talking abou it, no big deal, but I keep hearing about it day after day for the last month at least. And no one seems to say anything bad about it. Nobody. And I'm pretty confident that I'll love it, so why not read it? Too bad my library doesn't have it. Or does it? You know, I'm not sure. But I bet it isn't there. It's possible, but highly improbable. But if it is there, I'll be elated!

#120> A Game of Thrones is excellent epic fantasy and there is much to like about A Song of Ice and Fire. I like the entire series though I do, in fact, have negative things to say about the more recent book. Enjoy. I would not be surprised if your library has it, or orders it given the popularity surge it will get with the HBO series.

I hope I enjoy it. Popularity, it seems, never gets here for older people's books at least.

Actually, I may have to take some of that back. There is a whole bunch of Stephen King and Dean Koontz book there, but that's about all.

#122> Interlibrary loan? I have yet to come across a library these days where it is free, most of my acquaintance seem to charge $2 or $3 (but only if they actually find the book for you). Be aware that ILL books are not generally renewable so you'd have to be willing to commit to reading it whenever it came in.

Yeah, that's what I plan to do definately. I do that quite often actually. Mine is actually free, so that's a plus. And I can usually read a 500 page book within a day, if the size of the book is average and the text is not too small. But of course, that's in the summer when I usually get an interlibrary loan, so maybe It'll be a nice summer project.

>121 elfchild: I agree, the most recent book was my least favorite of the series. But Martin also says that he has 1200 pages written and was trying to get at least part of the story he had written out to the readers, which caused the format of his telling to change. I'm really looking forward to the final book (supposed to be this summer!)

#125> A Dance with Dragons is not the final book. There are two more projected: The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. If he continues to take 5 years (or more) between them...***voice trails off in disappointment***

#124> I am envious that your ILL is still free. I think that reading the Song of Ice and Fire sounds like a great pile of summer reading.

My ILL is also free. For which I'm very grateful.

I watched the Game of Thrones last night and thought it was fantastic. Sunday night is so devoted to premium channels now with the reshowing of True Blood and The Borgias.

Wow, I left LT for 2 hours and I got this. Cool! That's like a record. Anyways...

>125 jasmyn9: Wait, the newest one is 1200 pages? Isn't that a little overkill? I don't think it's the final book though.

>126 elfchild: Like I said in the previous one, I agree it's no the final book. I think when I was looking at the books in the series, there was at least two more projected. Yeah, I don't think people would be very happy for a five year span between books. I know I sure wouldn't.

>127 elfchild:-8 There is a late fee though. But that of course, if it's late. You know, I think maybe the reason why it's free is because the figure it in the library's budget or something like that. I read the whole second half of the Pendragon books last summer after reading the only available first five books two years from then. Maybe I won't read the whole series, but I might read 3 or 4, that is, if I really love the first.

>129 mamzel: I'm going to try to see if someone has HBO so they can record it for me or something. That would be great!

I've already reserved a copy of the DVD on NetFlix for Game of Thrones. They don't have a release date for it yet, but I don't know anyone with HBO.

>131 jasmyn9: Yeah, me neither, but I dunno.

Hey, have I seen you here before? I've seen you in other places in this group, but not here.

New reads:

I'm still reading The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, and I finally got into it at page 400. Great! Now I'm actually comprehending the things I read. I will read that at time B.

The now new things I'm reading is The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley. Can't wait to start it! I'll read that at time A.

And now in my book class, we are pretty much done with James Patterson and will move on to ourl last author of the year. It's bound to be spectacular. The best of them all. It's the amazing.........................................................................Nicholas Sparks :(

I guess the deal was at the beginning of the year, that if we read the Louis L'Amour books, the whole class would have to read Nicholas Sparks. And all the girls in my class, except one thank God, and none of the boys likes him. So I went to the library today and checked out one of his book, since I'm contractually obligated to read. While I was there, I discovered that it does not have A Game of Thrones. Anyway, the book I got was A Walk to Remember. What is it about? I don't know. There wasn't any imformation. But I can say I won't like it, but it wouldn't be fair just to write a bad review just because of the content, so I'm going to be in a female track of mind while reading in. I'll read that in time C.

You poor dear. Be strong. It'll be a quick read, that's the good thing.

I guess so. Ah, I'll make it through. Darn those manipulative girls.

Nathan- I have to chime in too! The 1st episode of A Game of Thrones was excellent. If the next 9 are as good, we are in for a major treat.
If you lived closer, I would lend you all 4 of the Martin books.

I thought the 1st episode was great too. One of my friends was watching it with me and asked to borrow my copy of the book because he liked the show so much (and since he reads one book a year, I consider this a great victory).

>137 Tanglewood: Chicago, right? Never been there, but as a family we almost went there for a vacation, but we didn't. We went to the Wisconsin Dells instead. My father's been there. Used to be pretty close. Dubuque, IA I think. Let me plug that into Mapquest. That would be 175 miles away. Now I live maybe 10 hours away from that city...it's pretty far, but it could be farther. I always wanted to go to Chicago someday.

I'm going to see if someone has HBO to record it or something. I should call or email them immediantly. It's killing me not knowing what it is. You have no idea.

>138 DragonFreak: Ah, I leaped you! Well that's great if that person is reading because of it. I consider it a victory if I get any non-reader to read vigourously, and I've been pretty successful on some.

>132 DragonFreak: I lurk a lot on threads, but I do stop by here fairly regularly. I just couldn't resist commenting on the new show though.

I lurk a lot too. About half the times I almost say something, I just press the back button. Well, see you later then!

Can't wait to see what you think of a A Walk to Remember. If all else fails...you can always watch the movie with Mandy Moore. :P

also envious of Morphy. none of the LA area libraries for which I had (or considered) cards had free ILL. Of course, between the City and County of LA systems, there was plenty to keep me busy even without ILL.

>141 jolerie: I found out yesterday that my mother read A Walk to Remember. The only Sparks books she has ever read. I'll start that book today. It's somewhat sort and should get it done by Thrusday or Friday of next week at the very most.

>142 elfchild: That's why I want to live in a bigger city: bigger libraries. Seriously. That's the very reason why I want to live in places like New York City, Chicago, LA, Miami, although at the same time, I don't want to live in as of a cities like those. Smaller like...I don't know...Denver. That seems good. All my life I lived in very small towns, the smallest being a population of 450. It's enough to drive anyone insane.

I would be most interested to know what course you took required reading Patterson and Sparks. Did you actually have to pay for it?

It's just this fun class that requires no money or anything. Ummm...it's like a book club that an English professor is the leader. Basically that's it.

That sounds so cool!

It is, I've enjoyed it so much!

DragonFreak, I'll bet you'd like Seattle.

Bigger libraries are great in that they often do have more books and more copies of the popular stuff, but one setback is usually the bigger the library, meaning the more populated a place is which equals LONG LONG LONG waitlists to get the newer books and you can't renew the books because there are 500 people behind waiting to get their hands on the same books. :)

>148 maggie1944: I was actually born near Seattle. Lived there until I was two, then we moved out to the Midwest. Actually, I think I was born in Tacoma, or however you spell it. Someday, I want to go back to the state of Washington.

>149 jolerie: That is right, isn't it? Yeah, maybe not too big of a town then. Maybe somewhere in the couple of thousands population. Maybe, I don't know, 25,000-75,000 people then. Maybe pushing 200,000. I'm not sure how big of a town has to be for the populations though.

OK, so I started A Walk to Remember today, and......I love it. I was hooked at page 50 or less. Right now I'm on 91. Sparks has great characters in this book, with awesome personalities. So, that's my honesty for today.

#143> I have read 2 or 3 Nicholas Sparks books but not A Walk to Remember. I might have to put that on my TBR list.

re: bigger libraries. One of the few things I miss about Los Angeles is the libraries. We had cards for and regularly visited 4 different library systems. The very long queues for new books is why I am not in the habit of reading things that have just been published...I tend to wait until those queues have calmed down.

I bought my older little sister I think either The Lucky One or the Last Song for her birthday last summer, before I knew much about him. She was the first one I knew to be in the fanatic. I usually don't read new books, because I'll have a very hard time getting them without actually buying it. But smart on your part!

#152> These days I use the library a lot and I tend not to buy books unless I want to reread them. Much of our book budget now goes to books for the kids.

I hear you. I will similarily buy books if a. I know I'll love it or b. It's something I have read previously, and I absolutely love it. My dad frowns on the latter though. Well it's great you are buying your kids books!

Awww...that is great of you to admit that you are enjoying Walk to Remember. I haven't read the book but I saw the movie and it was super sweet so I imagine the book must be better than the movie!

>155 jolerie: Yeah...it's so good...I can't wait for this afternoon...to read it...
.....
.....
.....
Anyways, the books said it was a movie, but I haven't heard about it. I think there is at least 3 Sparks books that are movies then. At least.

My only connection with Sparks is the movie The Notebook which I rented a couple of years ago, loved it so much so I went out and bought my own copy. I will rewatch it at least twice a year so money well spent I think. Glad to hear the books are good also.

I have never read the movie The Notebook, or watched the book either, but my parents love the movies, and so do some of my friends. But most people would agree with you that it's a very, very good movie, not speaking from experience.

The Notebook IMO is the best Nicholas Sparks book. I liked his earlier books much better then his current ones. A Walk to Remember was one of his early books that is quite good.

Like I said before, I think most people would agree with you that The Notebook is the best Sparks books around. I will finish A walk to Remember today, and will hopefully post a review. It's going to be long.

I read and loved The Notebook but it did not impress me. I did not feel the slightest impulse to read any more of his work. Odd, isn't it.

I read and enjoyed both The Notebook and Message in a Bottle (which has also been made into a movie). Looks like I shall be requesting A Walk to Remember as soon as I finish reading a book or two of the overflowing TBR shelves.

Now if I could just remember the other Nicholas I was liking reading...

ETA: Nicholas Evans...The Horse Whisperer and The Loop among others

>161 maggie1944: Yes, it is odd. You know, I just realized your real name is Karen, which is wierd, because you username has the name maggie in it. So all this time, I thought your name is Maggie. Sorry!

>162 elfchild: I'll have A Walk to Remember up in a couple of minutes. I had to go to Holy Thursday, and that mass is longer than usual.

FINISHED: Book 33: A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

Review:

Landon is just a regular high schooler trying to survive through life. Nothing special, just living in the moment. He just got done breaking up with his previous girlfriend who left him for a jerk just before the homecoming party, and since he’s on student council, he must and he must bring a date. The problem is, there’s nobody but Jamie. Jamie is the daughter of the reverend a t the church he goes to, and doesn’t like him at all. Jamie is one of the most perfect people ever. She doesn’t do anything wrong and a very religious person. Landon has no choice.

While there, Landon meets his ex-girlfriend, Angela, with her new boyfriend. And when Angela get drunk and her boyfriend abandons her, Jamie helped her get home, being the absolute sweet person she is. A nice person would leave Angela alone; only a saint would help her.

Now Jamie’s dad made a play based on his own life, and it’s a local hit. He wants only seniors to perform the play, and now it’s Jamie’s turn to perform it. Jamie wants it to be extra special, so he personally acts Landon to star the play as the role as the young version of Jamie’s father. Landon agrees.

Throughout the months, Jamie has been acting somewhat stranger than usual. She doesn’t lose any of her qualities, but she seems to be “off”. And soon Landon realizes Jamie’s secret, and everything changes.

I hate to admit it, but I loved this book. I really, truly did. I loved how Sparks made Jamie look to other people. Since Jamie is so pure, it forces other people to feel…well dirty in comparison. I’m telling you, if Jamie was evil and used her good charms, the whole world would be under her control. But it was so romantic, that I just had to mock it, which was fun, which made me like the book even more.

***MAJOR SPOILERS***

Jamie’s secret is that she has leukemia. That’s why she was so off. I can imagine very sensitive people crying their eyes out at the moment, which I mentally sort of mocked, which made me enjoy the book more. And then Jamie gradually got weaker and weaker until she can barely move. Then Landon had a word from God and he knew he had to marry Jamie, even though she’s about dead. More tears. And then, the last sentence, Landon said he really did believe in miracles. I took me awhile to figure out that Jamie lived. Oh the tears! The perfect ending to a perfect love story

***END OF SPOILERS***

It’s a great story. Great plot. Great characters. I felt sympathy. I just can’t deny a truly good book.

Rating: Four and a Half Stars ****1/2

DragonFreak, no worries. You may call me Maggie, or you may call me Karen, just don't call me "hey you!" (-;

OK then. I usually dont say "hey you" unless I can see the person and s/he can't hear me.

Yes, yes, yes!!! I just bought the next three books in the Pern series that I need: Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums in the Harper Trilogy. I’ve read six books in the series before this, and they were great overall. My favorite so far being The White Dragon. I have a friend who just got done reading my huge paperback with Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon. It took her…..about 5 or 6 months to read it. I lost count after 2 ½ . I devoured those three books in….take a few hours exactly 6 days.

I so want the Pern books to be made into movies. I know that the movie-making business is mostly about money, but the way I see it, it’s a guarantee money maker. Think about it. All the fans of Pern will absolutely want to see the movie most likely. And then other people besides previous fans will want to see it too. And whether it’s good or bad, it doesn’t matter mostly, because people would want to see it anyway. Of course, I could be wrong. But right now a Canadian company has the rights, but they will probably eventually sell them.

Congrats on your acquisitions. It's wonderful when you discover a series you love. I think Hollywood has a very dicey success rate with fantasy movies. The only really good ones I can think of off hand are the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the Harry Potter series, The Princess Bride, and Lady and the Hawk (with the last two being comedies). But I do think producers are more likely to take a chance on them since Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were hugely successful. I think the failure of Legend killed fantasy films for a decade.

Maybe. Just maybe. The Lord of the Rings were a huge success I know that. Everything about the movies are better than perfect. Ah, but seeing Pern on the big screen, that would probably be spectacular.

The White Dragon IS the best of the whole series, but Dragonsong and Dragonsinger are my next favorites! Enjoy.

>170 ronincats: It is wierd that either people think The White Dragon or Dragonsong are their favorite book in the series. All the six books were fantastic, except maybe for Dragoneye or my other favorite alternative title Red Star Rising. I don't know, it just seemed like there could be a lot more that could happen, and just felt underwelmed. You know how I said that a series having highs and lows makes it good, well this series definately does. Also I mentioned that having great plot and characters makes it good too. If there is a lot of characters, or just one for that matter, that really, really gets under my skin, it's a minimum of one star extra automatically. Like in Dragonquest, I hated Kylara so much. I think the horror that she brought to herself was a good enough punishment for her irresponisbility. Oh, it's getting me all worked up just thinking abou it. Although, it's a shame that Menolly got caught in the middle of it.

ETA: apparently, I found two new books in the series called Dragon's Time and Dragonrider, although whether or not it's by Anne or Todd is beyond me, because the former is listed under them both, sperately.

ETA2: It just came to me just how simple these book title's are. No guessing what the book is about most of the time.

I decided to make a list of all the books I’m planning to read this summer in order. It might change, in fact, it probably will, but this is just the first draft. This starts after I get done with The Hero and the Crown.

In the Days of the Comet by H G Wells
The Lark and Wren by Mercedes Lackey
The Robin and Kestrel by Mercedes Lackey
Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey
Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey
Dragondrums by Anne McCaffrey
A Game of Thrones by George Martin (estimated late May)
Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
Crazy Horse Electric Game by Chris Crutcher
The Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
All Narnia books (6 total when not reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch (if I can get it)
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (possibly)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

OK, I think that’s it. That’s all I’m planning so far. That’s…20 books planned…I hope I read more than that this summer.

FINISHED: Book 34: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Review:

Rand is from a small place in an area called The Two Rivers, a place that’s very peaceful and nothing ever seems to go wrong. Until there is news about another false Dragon, a person who claims will either destroy or save the whole world. But then horrible beasts of the Dark One, Trollocs and the Myrddraal, attack them. Then Rand along with his friends Mat and Perrin and also accompanied by Thom, an Gleeman (traveler merchant), Nynaeve , as Wisdom, and Moiraine, a Aes Sedai (a woman who has the One Power). Rand is sent on a marvelous and terrifying journey that will forever change himself and the world.

Right when I finished the book my first reaction was “Yes. Finally I finished it! It took me about one month”. My second reaction was……nothing. I felt nothing. So I asked myself, “Did you like it?” And I sat there saying in a meek voice, “I don’t know.” “What do you mean you don’t know?” “……I don’t know”. You see where I’m getting at?

After about thirty minutes, I can to the conclusion it was a pretty good book. It would be a lot better if it was shortened by half. It’s very Tolkien-ish, but and that’s why I judged the same way as those books. After that, I knew exactly how good it was.

Rating: Four Stars **** 4 ½

I'm always impressed when people can state what they will be reading and in which order. When I finish a book I look around to try and feel which book is reaching for me. I'm a very fickle reader! Although I have to admit that A Game of Thrones may be one of the books I take home to read over my summer break.

Great reading plans for the summer! Here is to you reading all 20 and perhaps even more! But even better, hopefully you will be able to read some real gems in that bunch. :)

>174 mamzel: I'm usually disorganized and messy, but if I want something great, then it's going to be great! Also, I like to make plans and know what's going to go on in my life. I guess that's the leftover habit from when I was six, and I must live my day to day strictly on a schedule. That lasted for a year at least. I really want to read A Game of Thrones. I'm thinking I'll order it maybe May 12 or 13 and it'll get here maybe May 20 or somewhere like that.

>175 jolerie: I hope so too. I must add that other four Wheel of Time series in the mix, because there is no way I can read all five books in a row, and I doubt (at least I think I doubt) that it'll take me a month to read them all. Of course, I can mix them within the books I'll be reading. They're be like side books for when I get bored of another or vice versa.

I was watching this show the yesterday (I don’t really want to say which one), and the main character was doing a book review on this one book called Animal Farm by George Orwell. As soon as I heard the author, I immediately perked up. This is the same author who wrote 1984. I listened on and…well the book review was horrible (the result was an A, but not in my standards), but it still made me interested. So I looked for the book and I found it. It looks very quick, so might as well read it. In case you don’t know, it’s about something like a group of anthromorphic (animals with all human properties) farm animals taking over the human world. There is something fascinating about anthromorphic beings and the process of anthromorphism, so this has to be somewhat cool.

D.F. - That book has been the bane of high school students for a long time. I had the privilege (?) of having our principal share his master's thesis on the book with my class. I've since blocked it from my memory.

PS - Hope you enjoy the book! ;-)

>178 mamzel: The bane, huh? That bad? Or is it good? I never really got that phrase until I meant it literally, when one of the characters was named the Bane. I don't think that's a privelage at all. Unless he's world wide famous, then it might have been cool.

Animal Farm is one of those books that I will read one day just because there is that much chatter about it, regardless of good or bad, I'd want to see for myself after reading it. :)

That's more or less the same here. There must be a reason why they are so much talked about, right? Usually because they are good. That is pretty much the sole reason I want to read A Game of Thrones also. I wouldn't read Animal Farm right now if it was long. Since it's short, I can take maybe three hours to finish it at the most if I focus, and get it done and move on.

You might want to check some reviews of Jamrach's Menagerie it sounds a bit gross. Peggy is not a squeamish reader (LizzieD) and she had a bad time reading it. But Tad might have an interesting take....

That's exactly why I want to read it believe it or not. I need a little grossness right now. So I know what I'm up against. Is that a bad reason of why I want to read it?

Hi Nathan- I just finished a fantasy, The Blade Itself. It's the first of a trilogy and one I strongly recommend. Check it out!
BTW- I watched the 1st 2 Game of Thrones episodes and they are doing a very good job!

I'll see what I can do about The Blade Itself. Maybe I can read it this summer. I also heard that the episodes are really good. There's this thread on The Green Dragon that people talk about it in there. Oh, and tell me, is there any.........sex in there? I'm still very sensitve about that in movies. I blame my parents restricting me. There is only one way I can not be sensitive, but I doubt I want to do that. I made a list of all the things I am going to do when they can't control me anymore, but I haven't completed much on there...But is there so I'll have a heads up?

Sorry to disappoint but there is some sex and nudity. Hey, it's HBO!

Yeah, I guess it is like HBO to have that. Oh well.

Just jumping back to the Wheel of Time series for a sec... I've heard that it departs from being so Tolkien-esqe as the series progresses. I'm reading book three now, and I can really see that. I enjoyed the second book in the series a lot more that the first, as well.

Well that's good. I still don't remember anything from The Eye of the World in the first 300 pages sadly. But once I got into it finally, it was pretty good.

I might not be around much this weekend or none at all. My great-grandma just died after two weeks of torture. Unfortunately this is the second great-grandma that died in six months. The whole family has been stressing over it. Along with that, I’ve also being worn out from my classes for the first time in history, I’ve been frustrated that I haven’t read enough, I’m tired about those stupid sicknesses, and to be bluntly honest, I’m at my breaking point right now.
……
……
……
……
That felt great to let out. Wow, I actually feel better now miraculously. I might go tomorrow or Friday to the funeral depending on the date. I never been to a funeral before, and I still don’t want to go, but I must.

Nathan, I am so sorry to hear about the stress in your family and studies right now. Take a breather and come back when you are ready. *Hugs*

So sorry to hear about your loss and other troubles. My thoughts are with you.

Nathan- Very sorry to hear about your loss! Keep thinking positive thoughts and we'll see you when you get back.

Thanks to you both! Such friendly people on here! And you know I really mean it because I'm ending sentances in exclamation points! Ahh...she died at one o'clock this afternoon. Which is weird, because I was drawn to look at the clock about that time...

ETA: I jumped you Mark on accident. I thank you too!

Sorry to hear about your day Nathan, it sounds like a stressful time all round at your place. I hope you catch a breather some point soon and things slow down around you a bit.

I'm sorry all these things hit you at once... isn't that the way it always seems to go? Breathe through it, and you'll make it, one day at a time. We'll be here to support you when you need it. :)

I'm sorry too Nathan, about your family although I am in awe that you had two living great-grandmas right into your early teens, all of my great-grands were gone 30 to 60 years before I was even BORN!!! -- and -- I'm also very sympathetic about school. I'm not the most organized person and I found high school tough until I worked out my strategy. Also, like you I'd be dying to read some OTHER book but UGH!!!!! HOMEWORK! It does feel, sometimes, like adults are simply doing all this to torture adolescents. I really don't think so, mumble, mumble..... slinks away.

Seriously. Nothing wrong with a little fictional gore if it doesn't bother you. I wanted to be sure you know that it is A LOT of gore.

>195 KiwiNyx: I do hope so. Thanks!

>196 dk_phoenix: Thanks! It always seems to go that you don't know what you got until it's gone. Got that from a song, but hey, it's very meaningful.

>197 sibylline: That pretty much summerizes it, doesn't it? *Sigh* Actually, I think I need that gore more than ever right now...

It's official I'm going to leave around noonish today and won't be back until Tuesday. The...event is on Monday. You are all so nice!

I hope everything goes smoothly with the funeral and school eases up soon!

I definately hope so too! Thanks for stopping by. Everybody on LT makes me feel so good!

Hi Nathan. I am sorry to hear that your great-grandma is gone. And that school is overwhelming right now. Hope today is a good day and that next week is even better!

Hi Nathan, I'm here to off my sympathies, sounds like a difficult time you're going through. But it's a proven fact that talking about it, as opposed to keeping things bottled up, does a whole lot of good. I joined this group in December (seems like forever ago!) and have also found this bunch incredibly kind and supportive. Hope things get better for you soon.

>201 Berly: I want May to be a great month. And so far, it is. Thanks!

>202 Smiler69: Glad you stopped by. It did feel nice at the time to talk it out. This group is very, very supportive!

So I'm going back home tomorrow. Then I'll post what happen while I'm gone, and the three books I read. The first is The Hero and the Crown, then I'll post by May review, then Animal Farm, and I'll get Dragonsong done tommorrow, so I'll review that too. That may be a couple of days to get those done, because I'll most likely procrastinate.

Yeah I’m back! I can only take so much family. So here’s a short summary of what went on while I was gone alone with some references to the books I read. They are not going to be my reviews, just some random comments that I’m probably not going to put in my review.

So my journey began on Thursday at noon, and I arrived late, late at night. I fell asleep within minutes at my aunt’s house, which is the rendezvous point of my whole mom’s side of the family. Then I started to plan my days, which consisted of doing my homework, playing video games, reading, watching people play video games that I’m not interested in, playing pool, watching t.v., playing poker (I love gambling.
Remind me never to go to Vegas), and literally doing nothing. The next day went exactly the same way, except at 2:00 my cousin convinced me to go to Fast Five in the theaters. I’ve never seen any of the Fast and Furious series, but I’ll admit it’s pretty good. Especially when they steal the safe full of money and then they wipe out a whole bank, go on top of a bridge, and lay waste to all the vehicles in it.

And on Friday I finished The Hero and the Crown. I’m glad I had the chance to read it. It was truly a spectacular book. I enjoyed it all the way. And then on Saturday I started Animal Farm, but finished it on Sunday, because I wanted it to count it for May’s TIOLI challenge. I can’t love this book enough, and I’m going to do some background research on it before I review it. And before I review that, I have to post the April Review, but I’ll have my best and worst books posted up on message 1, if you care to look there.

Then on Sunday it was my great-grandmother’s funeral family get together thingy that I’m not sure what it’s called. There, I saw her body all nice a pretty…and sad. And the television was playing with a video of all the pictures and memories collected through her life. And then people started to show up. Have I ever mentioned that a lot of people that I don’t know together in a small room full of obnoxious children more annoying than me make me very irritable? Well, it’s true. These small girls probably made get well soon cards for my g-grandma. I had no idea if I should scream because of the horror, or laugh my head off because of the ridiculousness of the situation, so I did both, the former internally, the latter externally though. I know they are like 5 or 7, but still. And then they were in the ash tray…Anyway, I was there for four hours, which was 3 ½ too long for me to bear. I hope that’s the right kind of bear/bare. Word says it’s bare, but…

Now Monday was the big day. The funeral. Non-Catholic people say that Catholic weddings/funerals lasts unbearable too long, but I beg to differ. It was actually pretty short. It was a normal mass, then proceeded to the graveyard for the burial, actually no one saw it buried or the face shown, but you know what I mean. And then it was done and mom grabbed her flower and then we left. We predicted that just the mass would an hour fifteen, and the graveyard scene maybe thirty, but the whole thing together lasted just an hour fifteen. Then afterwards there was a “luncheon” with more family. Have I ever mentioned that a lot of people that I don’t know together in a small room full of obnoxious…Oh wait, yes I have.

And from there it got really boring and just wanted to go home. Don’t mean to by whinny, but like I told you, I can only stand family for so long. And being in a small room full of people I don’t know…twice… shortens my patients for family even more.

And just today I finished Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey. As soon as I saw the name Menolly I was like, “Awww…it’s that woman whose queen dragon named Wirenth got killed by Kylara’s queen Prideth. That made me furious when I read it the first time, now I might read it again?” But luckily I knocked some sense into me and realized that was Brekke, not Menolly. But I know I heard of Menolly. Yes, in The White Dragon, she was there a lot. I think Jaxom liked her after he…well, yeah. But Anne did not fail to disappoint me, or did she fail to disappoint me? Anyway, it was really good, and I decided to go ahead with Dragonsinger and Dragondrums before I start anything totally new. I honestly didn’t think they would arrive so fast.

Like I said, glad to be back. It’s a new month, and I feel brand new!!!!

Your message above absolutely made my day. Your feelings about being in a small room with a lot of family..... well..... one can't express the sensation often enough!

Get well cards? Seriously? Just knock me upside the head with a piece of linguini.

So just in case you like Peter Jackson? His early movies are so totally worth finding via netflix.

Welcome home and Happy May!

I'm glad it made your day. Peter Jackson make The LotR, right? I don't know any of his works before that, may have to Google it. I think after the Hobbit he's going to make His Majesty's Dragon, which I'm really excited for.

His early movies are...... well...... sort of like home movies run amok, but very funny. Hilarious. Blowing up cardboard Beatles in a vw bug. Arms and legs everywhere.

He made a very serious movie too -- based on a real story about two girls in New Zealand who fatally confused their fantasies with reality -- the guy has depth.

Ahhh, I see. I bet they aren't commonly found on DVD then, right? Don't have Netflix, don't see the point. Maybe someday when I get HBO and suscribe to as many geeky magazines as I like. You should never confuse your fantasies from realities...I still haven't learned my lesson about that I still don't plan too.

Welcome back, and I can also relate to not wanting to be around family for too long....about two days is all I really like, and certainly no more than three.

I have read all these books and highly recommend them also. I think I enjoyed the Dragonsinger trilogy better than the Dragonflight one, mostly because I loved the music part of it. They are both very good. I had a hard time getting into any of the Pern novels other than these six, however. I enjoy reading your reviews. Hope you have a great reading month.

Thank You! Hah, I told myself I'll drop the S and and You and I did. Beat you habit........

Anyways...The first six books she wrote is Dragonflight through The White Dragon, so I can see why those are your favorites. I've read three others and that would be Dragonsdawn, The First Fall, and Dragonseye. The first was awesome, and the first book in chronological order, then the second is a collection of short stories. Those were interesting. And then Dragonseye failed for me. It's in the time of the second pass, and maybe, just maybe, there could've been a little more, but Pern was pretty stable right then, so it didn't make for a good story to begin with.

Glad you made it through the family gathering intact. And you were able to get some reading in so that's a bonus!
I definitely know how taxing family get togethers can be! Coming from an Asian background, bluntness is as common as the air we breathe. You aren't supposed to be offended when the first thing your aunt says to you after not seeing your for years is..."My oh my, look how fat you've gotten.." Or your cousin who you haven't talked to since the last gathering says..."You look different! Have you gained weight??" Yup, thats the usual round of questions you get asked whether you are 200 pounds or bone skinny. For some reason, "You look fat" is equivalent to "hello". After years of the same old, you just learn to grow thick skin...haha :)

Hmmm -- I think we got those Jackson's at the DVD rental place, believe it or not, but it was one of those ones with lots of cranky cool stuff. Those have all gone out of biz. I am sure netflix has 'em -- we don't have regular Teev so we rely on netflix.

I liked the first six too, but then.... better than the Dune books for lasting power at least - I only really really liked the first two.

>211 jolerie: Ha! Funny! Now that's a great way to start the day.

>212 sibylline: Ow, ow, ow! Ahh...that's better. Sorry, I had to get my hair get unstuck in my glasses. I put them on my head, because I was laughing so hard I had to rub my eyes and then...well it hurt.

Hmmm...Well I still don't have Netflix, but if I do come across one of them...I'm sure to know what it is.

Family gatherings can be a bit much for anybody, and funerals usually have that extra code of conduct silently sitting under every thing you do. The young girls weren't aware of it maybe.. But, good on you for hanging in there, I'm sure your parents were really grateful that you did, was it your mum's mum? And now you're back to life your way again. Welcome back.

I'm glad to be back. I've almost got caught up with all of my homework thanks to not paying attention to new things in class. My dad got terminally ill just after the funeral and is feeling good enough to work again. But suppossingly he got back and fell asleep from 5 p.m to 7 a.m. and hasn't ate anything in 2 days ending yesterday. The doctors think he either has strep throat or mono. Probably not the latter, but the former is very possible. There were lots of people there, and two of my cousins sort of recovered from strep when we arrived.

FINISHED: Book 35: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley

Review:

Aerin is the daughter of a king and a witch. A witch who supposedly “enspelled’ her father into loving her, and when she had a baby girl instead of a son, she died. That’s the story she has known, and for anyone, that can be a spirit breaker right from the start.

Aerin wants to do something in life, and her destiny happens to be a Dragonslayer. She used her father’s old, very trusty warhorse and found the secret recipe that repels the effect of dragon fire, and she set of the kill the pesky dragons that bother her nation. And for quite a while she was very, very successful.

Until Maur comes along. He is the evil Black Dragon of the North who’s terrorizing the villages and will eventually reach Aerin’s land. After a spectacular battle, Aerin slays Maur…but costs her livelihood. The aftermath of the battle leaves her broken and injured beyond belief. She takes the head of Maur back as proof of victory, but one girl can’t be anymore hopeless. But her story is far from over. All too soon, she has a worse fate and even worse destiny to fulfill that will make for one epic tale.

I’m glad I read this book. I really, really am. It deserves a lot of praises, and I highly recommend it to any fantasy lover of all kinds, especially those who are into very strong female roles.

Rating: Four Stars ****

Love the fact that it has a strong female heroine Nathan! Most of the fantasy I've read have either no females or really really sad ones. :)
Is this book part of a series?

I'm not sure actually. I think it's a prequel to something bigger. But it said in the book that this world in Damar, the setting which I didn't mention, is much earlier than on of her other books The Blue Sword. I think that most people like strong heroine. Me being a male, I could care less (which in that phrase means I care a little), but I know others absolutely go nuts over it.

The Blue Sword is the only other one of her books that takes place in Damar and shares elements with The Hero and the Crown, but Nathan's right - it takes place many, many years later. I still highly recommend it, though, as well as any of McKinley's other books - she writes simply marvelous, descriptive fantasy and a lot of it features strong female heroines. I'd particularly recommend The Outlaws of Sherwood and Spindle's End.

>219 curioussquared: You know, while reading The Hero and the Crown, I kept thinking it seems like a fairy tale. The Outlaws of Sherwood is a retelling of Robin Hood, and Spindle's End seems like the retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Her writing style is also....I don't know, but whatever it is, it works very well. I might have to take a gander at some of her books and see what I want to add to my Wishlist, but maybe my Improbability Wishlist though.

And now finally, my April review. April well…sucked. Can I say “suck” on here? I can? OK, well April sucked for reading; there’s no other way around it. I only read 7 books this month, which I think is a low, and there was no five stars. But I can’t expect that every month, now can I? Well here are the standings:

Best
3. 3691::The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan – This book would get an automatic two stars extra making it a six star book if it was half as long. I think that’s the problem I’m going to have with the whole series.

2. 50616::The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley – As I realized just a couple of minutes ago, I love McKinley’s style of writing whatever it is. It’s like…being in a dream. Yes, that’s exactly what it is! The writing is so light and fluffy I felt like I can just wake up from it. It is also very calming, even in the most brutal scenes. So interesting.

1.

8405130::A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks - I have a friend who thinks it’s so pathetic that I said I hated Sparks with all my guts and then…I liked one of his books. Some friend you are! Well anyways, it’s the first realistic fiction or pure historical fiction book that I really, really liked since Chris Crutcher. I just can’t deny a good story plot when I see one.

Worst
2. 131730::Firedrake by Richard Knaak – My biggest flaw in the best/worst thing is if I don’t read enough books to make a true judging. I have a friend, the same friend who just got done with the Pern books, who’s reading this one as I type. She needed something to read fast, so I gave her this, and she must be hooked. I don’t know, it’s impossible to get anything out of her; she’s such a closed book. I still don’t know if she liked or hated the Pern books either, and won’t tell me her what is her favorite part, but is quick to remind me all the things that slipped my mind from the lack thinking about them.

3 and 1: 4024778::The Final Warning and 6536359::Max by James Patterson

– I think these books were the worst by default, along with 131730::Firedrake. In reality, there weren’t any really bad books for this month, these just happened to be the third and first worst. At the end of March, I really didn’t think this series would be so…uninteresting anymore.

Hi Nathan. I'm terribly behind reading threads - end of tern and lots of dinner and bedtime without daddy. Condolences on the loss of your great-grandmother and *sympathy* about the chaos that is family under stress.

I love Animal Farm (so much so that I have several different copies including one magnificently illustrated by Ralph Steadman). I need to remember that when I hide under the 'my mother made me hate literature' excuse (well, not hate but be skeptical of - she really chose badly when suggesting books I "should" read as a kid and did an excellent job turning me off of anything she thought I should read) There is an animated film that I remember vividly (the teacher actually showed the film in class).

Now that you have finished the first Wheel of Time book I will tell you that I loathe Jordan. He has the honor of writing one of three books I have ever hurled across a room. Specifically I dislike him because he can't write a woman character to save his life (his female characters do not behave like women - they are men in skirts).

I love Robin McKinley and think I'll reread Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword this summer in addition to seeing what the library has that I might have missed.

>222 elfchild: I somehow knew you'll respond with some long message soon. That's OK. Hmmm...you gave me a lot to talk about...

I will review Animal Farm probably shortly if I'm fast enough. My mother used to suggest books to us kids too, but we rarely listen to her. I tainted my sister into reading "wierd" books. I'm proud of that.

You know, you do have a point about the women. Maybe he did that on purpose to give them stronger wills that people will love, but thinking about that, it should give an opposite effect, now shouldn't it? Oh, I loved the sentance where you threw the book across the room. I have a friend who did that to The Order of the Pheonix because Sirius died, and apparently wouldn't read it again for two weeks. But, I'm curious...what's the other two books and for what reason? You must've known that question was coming.

I definately have to read more Robin McKinley books. After I review Animal Farm, I'm going to add some of her books to my Wishlist and The Lovely Bones.

Hi Nathan- Sorry your April sucked! (Yes, you may say that, as a matter of fact, you can probably say whatever you want on your thread).
I loved Animal Farm too, although its been many years. Have you read 1984? It's another classic.

Yes, I can say suck. Wootable moment!

I have read 1984, and that's the reason why I read Animal Farm, which is much better than 1984, and that books was pretty darn good to start with. Big Brother is watching you...{Creepy!}

FINISHED: Book 36: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Review:

An old pig named Major predicted a time when the poor, abused animals of a farm with rise against their cruel owners and rule mankind. He never lived to see his vision come true, because right after that, all the other pigs, the horses, dogs, sheep, cows, hens, and cats rebelled, took control of the farm, naming it Animal Farm.

Things were going good. In fact, things were going great. The animals made their own anthem, their own flag, and their own commandments that every other animal had to live by. Among these were: All Animals are Equal, Animals Must Not Sleep in Beds or Wear Clothes, Never Drink Alcohol, and Never Kill Other Animals. This was a start to a great unity that will seemingly last forever.

If only that’s what happened. Things start to go…wrong. Traitors are among the animals, the leaders start to get too powerful, and somehow the commandments are changing, but they still seem the same. For some reason, this “perfect” society that Major predicted doesn’t seem so good…

I loved this book. It’s so much better than 1984 which I gave Four and a Half Stars. If I could go higher than Five Stars, I would give it an 8 ½. This may be a story a story about political confliction mirroring real life, but to me, it’s so much more than that. To me, it’s about the dystopian books I love so much: societies going bad. Real bad. Let me tell you why I loved it so much

*****WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS*****

This kept reminding me of The Lord of the Flies. Now what Golding did is use innocent boys symbolizing pure humans and using that to symbolize why we are so evil. Orwell may or may not have had that in mind when he used animals, but that’s how I interpreted it. There’s a dream of freedom that the animals have, and the revolt and succeed. And because of all the evil in the world, the society collapses, but at the same time…survives and thrives.

The first thing that went wrong is that there is a rule in the commandments that no animals shall sleep in beds. But the pigs do. Now since the pigs are so much smarter than all the other animals, they convinced them that the rule has always been: No Animals Shall Sleep in Beds With Sheets. Since all animals have beds of some sort, but not sheets, it’s alright to sleep in beds then. Nothing major, right?

Another thing that happened is that towards the end of the book where the book is even more face paced than the previously, the pigs start drinking alcohol. Wait, was that against the commandments? No, the rule is that No Animals Shall Drink to an Excess. You see the pattern? And since all the other animals are so stupid, of course, they just forgot it or missed it.

Backing up a little bit, there were to possible leaders: Napoleon and Snowball, both pigs. Snowball lost and Napoleon declared him a traitor and was a spy to their previous owner. Well, there was a slaughtering of animals, because so many things were going wrong, and a myriad of animals confessed that they did something horrible to the farm suggested by Snowball. Actually, most of them were pretty harmless, but if it was any way bad at all, they are dead. Even the dumbest of animals suddenly thought that there was a commandment that said no animal shall kill another. But no, they proved their stupidity, because the commandment actually said: No Animal Shall Kill Another Without a Reason. You see how Napoleon is changing the rules their supposed to live by?

And then, at the very end, everything changes. The pigs wear clothes and walk on two legs, and those are both against the commandments. There’s no way the other animal can possibly miss that, because the sheep constantly chant, “Two legs good, Four legs bad.” But strangely they now say, “Two legs good, Four legs Better”. And all those commandments, it just gets replaced by one single commandment: All Animals are Equal, but Some Animals are More Equal than Others. Do you see the flaw in that? You can’t be equal and no equal at the same time. The society just went bad. And at the end, the pigs and humans looked exactly alike.

*****END OF SPOILERS*****

And for you how read the long spoilers, that’s why I love this book. I love flaws in characters and other things. You know why? Because it’s very natural to have flaws. Very Highly Recommended. You can learn a thing or two just like I did.

Rating: Five Stars *****

Hahaha...I want to read your spoiler because I want to know why you LOVE it so much but I can't since I haven't the book yet so I will have to come back and read it when I finish reading it. :)

>227 jolerie: Pretty much, the story plot is so twisted and messed up, it's fantastic. That, and it's what I would call a dystopian book.

FINISHED: Book 37: Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey

Review:

Menolly’s talent is music, and she excels above all others at it. The problem: her parents won’t let her. They don’t want her to play music, but to behave and just to do the boring, unfair jobs at the Hold that almost always ends in disaster. But behind their backs, Menolly is an apprentice, but everyone but her master thinks she is a boy. Now she can live her dream.

But of course, not for long. Menolly accidently cuts her hand wide open making in incapable of moving…incapable of playing music. She soon runs away from the Hold even when the dread of Thread is very high. And what she finds is unbelievable. She finds the once “mythical” Queen fire lizard with a Clutch of eggs. Menolly soon realizes that the Queen is in trouble. The tide is coming in, and the place where the eggs are, they will eventually drown. Menolly successfully helps the Queen move the eggs manually, because if the Queen goes between, then the eggs will die. And when the eggs hatch, Menolly Impresses the eight eggs and the Queen, which she names Beauty. She did the thing on accident that most other people would literally die for just to have one fire lizard.

Despite Menolly’s horrible luck in the past, it soon seems the things are looking up, and with the newly found friendship of her fire lizards, what could go wrong?

I truly feel sorry of Menolly. She’s forced to live a life that she doesn’t want to live. Of course, I think most people can connect with Menolly’s feelings. Most people can probably remember a time when their parents want to do something that is “the best” for them. And to me, this story is just about what life is like for a typical person with dreams that can’t come true. Naturally, it was very good.

Rating: Four and a Half Stars **** ½

I've really got to get around to reading some Anne McCaffrey one of these days...

>230 dk_phoenix: You should. I've come to the conclusion that all of McCaffrey's works are somewhat demented and insane, but that's right up my alley. Eventually, I'll read some of her son's books too, Todd McCaffrey. People said he ruined Pern, but I'll be the judge of that.

>222 elfchild: Oh, I saw pictures of that cartoon for Animal Farm. It looks really old.

I’m halfway into Dragonsinger, and I found this really cool poem made by Menolly at the beginning of Chapter Six.

The tears I feel today
I’ll wait to shed tomorrow.
Though I’ll not sleep this night
Nor find surcease from sorrow.
My eyes must keep their sight;
I dare not be tear-blinded.
I must be free to talk
No choked with grief, clear-minded.
My mouth cannot betray
The anguish that I know.
Yes, I’ll keep my tears till later;
But my grief will never go
-Menolly’s “Song for Petiron”

Also, I keep forgetting to say that I finally order A Game of Thrones from the library. I was forcing myself to order it on May 16th, but that’s way too far away, and then I’ll have to wait for it to get here, so I just ordered it now, and I’ll read it when it gets here. I may have to push back my Mercedes Lackey books further done my list, and if my ER book arrives soon, I’ll push those books down further. I’m afraid I won’t be able to read them in time for when May ends, because I created a challenge specifically to make those books count, so that’ll be kind of embarrassing I guess.

I love that poem, I think you could apply it to many people in reality today, myself included. It is so true in its simplicity. Thanks for sharing.

Your welcome. I was thinking that it could apply to today too. It's just simple human feelings, and Menolly is just a simple human, no difference.

Actually, as an afterthought, that should be my new quote for my email and in the section on my profile. You see, in my email, I have a quote in my signature that I change every 3 or 4 weeks. The one right now has been on for 7-8 weeks, and that's way too long. So if I have enough characters to fit that in, it's going in. Kind of long, but sadly no one reads it anyways unless I just point out bluntly.

Nathan, I no longer remember the titles of the other 2 books hurled across a room. One of them was science fiction in which the author's science was badly wrong (I have very little tolerance for bad science, undergraduate degrees in biology and physics and a husband who has a PhD in physics from Caltech. Sadly, I also do not possess the suspension of disbelief necessary to read classic science fiction which was speculative at the time but no longer) and the other was some painful piece of literature or literary fiction.

OK then. Well, bad science and poorly written research just make for bad books. Period. But there's exceptions of course to every rule.

I just looked at the Hot Reviews, and my review for Animal Farm is on there! I was so elated when I found that out. Ok, I feel pretty satisfied now.

Congratulations! You are well deserving to feel proud and satisfied. You did an excellent job on your review.

Thanks so much! I spent a lot of time into that review, mainly because I wanted to get all my thoughts into it. That book really made me think for it being only 140 pages long.

Hot review!! Whoohoo! You should be proud. : ) I haven't read Animal Farm in years. Might be due for a re-read soon.

Love Anne McCaffrey!!

I am proud. Which is exactly what I need right now: more pride. Not really, I have too much of that. I know why it's one of the 7 deadly sins.

I have three other Anne McCaffrey To Read books, that I'll read...sometime after some other book in somewhere in the summer.

Glad you stopped by!

ETA: There's this interesting book in Member Giveaway. It's called Folk Tales from the Russian by...wow...long name. But if I don't like it, I know it'll be the perfect gift for someone!

Congratulations on your hot review! :)

I am only 148 posts behind, so I am not even bothering to catch up, Nathan, just checking in :)

>243 jolerie: Thank You!

>244 alcottacre: That's OK. At least you stopped by. Maybe sometime I'll stop by at your Thread.

ETA: Did I really need to capatolize Thread. It's like that time I was doing an assignment, and I got points taking away by capatolizing Impress.

It is your Thread, so capitalize whatever you want! :)

oK, i'll caPitalIze WHAtevEr leTTer i wAnT tO tHEN.

yup, you git to spel anywaz you want two

Ow, now that just made me cringe.

I'm going to review Dragonsinger pretty soon, and tomorrow I'll get a new thread for the summer.

FINISHED: Book 38: Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

Review:

Everything finally seems to go right with Menolly. She is a new apprentice Harper, she can finally play her music freely and people everywhere love it, and she has nine wonderful fire lizards. Unfortunately, Menolly’s fate isn’t that easy or perfect. She’s recovering from her gutting accident and her feet being cut, her teachers are somewhat hard on her, some students at Harper Hall are really mean to her for no apparent reason, and everything that Menolly does or when someone does something to her, her fire lizards always get in her way and ends up disastrous. But throughout it all, Menolly struggles to find her place in the strange planet of Pern.

No comments. It’s just as good as Dragonsong. And the chronological time is still within the book Dragonquest, but at the very end of it.

Rating: Four and a Half Stars **** ½

You are making me want to reread all of this sooooo badly!

>251 sibylline: Don't fight it, read them...no wait, read new books, fight the urge...no wait, don't fight it, you want it badly...no wait...ah, your choice. Too many conflicting emotions for me.

Winter is gone, Spring is almost done, so now for the summer, come along!

DragonFreak Soars High for the Summer (Thread Three which I forgot to add. Darn it.)

I really need to read the McCaffrey books again! Darn you, Nathan.

me to, Stasia.

Yup, darn me. Ha, I didn't know reading three Pern books will cause so much reading confliction.

#252 --To read again, or not to....ARGH!!! Off the find the new thread.

I must have totally missed when you changed over, beacuse I only just now found it and I'm way behind. You've read a bunch of good books! The Hero and the Crown was one of my favorites. And there's some I might add to my list. Anyways here I am again. Happy Reading!

>258 Kassilem: Yeah I almost lose people too when they get new threads. I almost did it twice yesterday. And I just realized that this is my second Thread. I have three right? Yes I do.

I loved The Hero and the Crown, and with that, I'm very open it reading more Robin McKinley books.

I haven't read any more of McKinley's books, but everyone I've talked to about them has told me to read Spindle's End.

Wasn't Spindle's End a retelling of Sleeping Beauty? Yup, it is. Never saw that Disney movie. But yes, that book is on my Wishlist.

I'm glad you enjoyed The Hero and the Crown! It and The Blue Sword are two of my favorites!

>262 Kittybee: It was enjoyable, and I should have The Blue Sword on my Wishlist, considering I did put a bunch of Robin Mckinley books on it also.