Oh, I never read The Other Wind. I stopped at Tehanu.

I wish Oscar Wilde had written more novels…

That’s exactly what I said when I finished Dorian Gray.

Right now, I’m reading Victorian London: The Tale of a City 1840-1870. It’s interesting, even though people around me are dumbfounded as to why I would want to read it.

I’m reading The Animorphs #38.

Indulging my inner child….

I’m also actively reading The Invisible Man, as well as flipping through my poetry book (from Caedmon’s Hymn to gritty 90s free verse).

It’s actually interesting to notice how poorly-written the Animorphs series actually is. “My name is Ax, and I am an Andlite. My best friend is Toby. He is a hawk because he got stuck in morph. He understands me, and that is why he is my true shoom. I like beans. BEEEAAAANZZZ. ZUH. Zuh. Bean-zuh. And Cinnabon. Talking with a human mouth is weird. Humans are weird”[1].

¹ Okay, so it’s not quite that bad, but it is very… elementary. Not in an “author writing down to kids” way, but in a “student writing for a school assignment” way. Sure, it’s not quite as bad as “O NO IT ARE A YERK!!!1!”, but it still gets a bit grating.

@ Taku: I used to read Animorphs when I was in year…3? I thought they were very cool. My other best friends were OBSESSED with them. She actually came up to someone and said: I’m an Animorph! Oh, the laughter…

It’s actually interesting to notice how poorly-written the Animorphs series actually is.

And yet, it’s better than anything that’s been dunked in a vat of purple. The writing style is enough to keep one gripped and entertained. You don’t need fancy descriptions of the environment, that would just be awkward in fast-paced scenes. And remember, it’s written in a certain style for the 8-12 group. Rough, ready, but gets the job done in a stonking fantastic way.

I’ve finally gotten around to picing up His Majesty’s Dragon and I like it lots so far. :D The beginning was slightly Eragon-esque (the plot, not the writing) but within a chapter, it got better. :D

Now that you’ve read Lies, you need to read the sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies. It has pirates.

I just checked Lynch’s site, and the prologue for Republic is up (finally). Granted, I don’t check his site that often…

D’awww. I’m a bit late to the LeGuin conversation, but Compass Rose is a nice short story anthology of her’s. It has a lot of her lesser known stories, which I take to be a plus (others may not).

I love how you describe Gossip Girl as pretentious, when Mansfield Park is mentioned a sentence later. XD

No, I haven’t read it. It’s just rather funny that the Austen book, which is considered classic lit, is not pretentious when Gossip Girl, which is written to pander to the lowest common denominator (or so I’ve heard), is.

I finished Dearly Devoted Dexter and The Lightning Thief over the weekend.

In that case I stand corrected.

I’ve heard that it’s good, but also that there are a lot of books in the series (or am I thinking of something else?) and that can sometimes be a turn-off for me.

To anyone who has read Macbeth: How do you think that power is defined in the play? I keep thinking about how power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, but I’m not sure that that’s what I’m supposed to be saying.

I was thinking that the question was extremely vague, and then I found out that it was supposed to tie back to feminist theory.

Oh.

Thanks for the help, though, Willow. What you said makes a lot of sense.

Still working on Atlas Shrugged. It’s been a month, and I’m only 200 pages in.

@Inspector,

“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.” — John Rogers

I contemplated reading Atlas Shrugged, but then decided that I had more important things to read.

Yeah…. it’s not terribly boring but it’s not terribly exciting, either…

I hate to be supporting Gossip Girl, but it doesn’t pander to the LCD. For the people who notice it, there are a ton of literary references written into the scripts. Not to mention the absolutely IndieDouchetastic music selection.

I have never seen the show, so I dont’ know. I’ve only read a book or two.

My friend read Atlas Shrugged, but I forgot to ask him what he thought of it. And that John Rogers quote is win!

I started Sea of Monsters. :)

Yay! How did you like The Lightning Thief?

I felt the same way, Red Sky. ;)

what should I do with it?

What do you mean?

:|

Why would you burn it or deface it? You could just give it to somebody for the lulz.

twitches nose I can’t wait for summer and more reading time. 8D

Just finished The Graveyard Book by He Who Shall Not Be Named among this crowd.
Now reading Airman by Eoin Colfer (Only of his aside from Benny and Omar series that I haven’t read.)
And Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
And Does My Head Look Big In This….(Interesting….Teen lit crossed with some religious difficulties and whatnot.)

Next up
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman (Neb/Ben is….just….<3)
Aaaaand Howl’s Moving Castle.
:]

Should I deface it? Attempt to read it? Burn it? I’m at a loss….

Write funny things in the margins and then give it to someone else. ^^

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman

I LOVE that book! Much better than the Redwall books, in my opinion. Did you know there’s a sequel? It’s not as good as the first one, but still pretty nice.

@ Marquis: I haven’t read much Gaiman, but judging from Neverwhere and Good Omens (which, coincidentally was cowritten with Pratchett), he’s one of the better fantasy writers out there.

There are two sequels.

NO KIDDING! How’s the third book, Jeni? Have you read it?

Oops, I must be behind the times.

Eh. I’m rather disillusioned with Mr. Jacques at the moment, because I bought Eulalia! just after Christmas and started it, and it seemed to me that the editor glanced at it, said “Oh, by Brian Jacques? Let’s publish it!” and sent it to the press. There’re grammatical problems and instances of terrible sentence structure every other page. It was very disappointing. =(

But I did like Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, mostly because it’s something different from the animals-who-always-get-a-happy-ending, and the story was quite interesting, at least for the first book.

Who by?

Isn’t The Stand the book that first was like a thousand-page-draft?

Eh. I’m rather disillusioned with Mr. Jacques at the moment, because I bought Eulalia! just after Christmas and started it, and it seemed to me that the editor glanced at it, said “Oh, by Brian Jacques? Let’s publish it!” and sent it to the press. There’re grammatical problems and instances of terrible sentence structure every other page. It was very disappointing. =(

They’re all like that nowadays, I haven’t bought Doomwyte yet, and The Sable Quean is soon to be released.

XDDDD I like your attitude!

But, for me, it doesn’t matter. I already love him and Redwall unconditionally.

Unconditionally.

I just finished Logicomix. Great book, it really involves you in the story, makes you feel like you’re part of what’s happening.

I agree completely.

Has anyone here read China Mieville? This is the synopsis for The Kraken, to be released in May.

I for one am highly excited.

Now, The Stand. Finally finished. What are you all waiting for? Get out there, buy it, and read it.

I’ve been meaning to. I promise.

I want to do a sporking of The Cry of the Icemark.

13 year old princess nicknamed Strong-In-The-Arm who can “ride her horse as well as the best of her father’s soldiers.”

Make of that what you will.

To be fair, I’ve just started, but it seems to offer a lot of comedic value in the “So Bad It’s Funny” vein.

Whenever I think of Cry of the Icemark I think of this semi-gothy girl in my class a few years back who absolutely loved it. She had decent taste in books (His Dark Materials, Neil Gaiman books, etc) and I’m surprised she’d go for something like that.

According to Wikipedia: “The Cry Of The Icemark tells the story of Thirrin Freer Strong-in-the-Arm Lindenshield, Wildcat of the North, a fourteen year old Princess to the land of Icemark.

Thirrin enjoys life as a carefree daughter. She is an impulsive teenager, who gets bored in the lessons that she has with an old scholar named Maggiore Totus. Her father, King Redrought ‘Bear of the North’, stresses that she not only is adept in the subject of fighting, but has the sharp mind of a competent scholar.”

Any signs of rebellious princess syndrome yet? D:

I really need some of those analytical thinking skills.

Read more and analyse more?

I liked Eragon in eighth grade. >.<
Puppet, I concede that you are the coolest eighth grader.

Haha, since I’ve been hanging out with you guys, I’m starting to analyse just about every book I’m reading. And read before.

And if Puppet ever rule over all, I will overthrow him in whatever ways I can.

I brought the Pride and Prejudice book. I’m still hovering around it, eager to read it but afraid of it at the same time. Grr.

Oh, Puppet. Such an enterprising child.

Don’t expect anything from me, because I spend all day on II. xD

I think Puppet’s a sort of Ender. But we aren’t the bugger, right? We should be ok!

Edit: I’m calling you Ender from now on, Puppy. Hope you don’t mind. :D

Do not, under any circumstances, mock the future overlord. It is a Very Bad Idea ^Tm .

Hey, Puppet, want a cookie? Holds out plate full of warm gooey cookies