About 300 pages into Paton's masterpiece. Starting into a second work, Stamboul Train by Grahme Greene.

From what I hear, it's an earlier novel similar to Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.

Now, hopefully I can also get some more Vonnegut in during the summer. Or maybe after AP exams, my course load should lighten up a bit then...

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Also, Twilight Sparkle is best pony!

Read a Clive Cussler book that I've read before, just didn't remember until I got into it. Finished it anyway, good book. Just can't remember the darn title.

read another repeat of Robert Parker, the Spenser series novelist. This was a Jesse Stone novel.

Now one that I finished last night by Dick Francis, "Second Wind" (yay, I remembered one, lol)...
I've read a couple of times in the past, but all of his are good reads, especially if you like English horse racing.

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Bio of Cary Grant and I'm reading Howls Moving Castle to my youngest daughter before bed.

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"We're all born with selfish desires, so we can all relate to those feelings in others. But kindness is something made individually by each person...so it's easy to misunderstand when others are trying to be kind to you." Natsuki

I'm in the middle of The Soldier Son trilogy by Robin Hobb. I finished the first one (Shaman's Crossing) last night and I'm well into the second one (Forest Mage) at the moment. The're good, but not as good as the other books she's written. I don't know what I'm going to do once I've finished the series, because I don't have any other ideas on what to read. Anybody know any new, good fantasy books that I could read? Preferaby containing at least one reference to a boat, but if not I can just look at pictures of them for a while (Yay, boats!)

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The Pessimist complains about the wind,
The Optimist expects it to change and
The Realist adjusts his sails

Because of the Arrietty movie, I started reading the "Borrowers" series. Read "Borrowers" by Mary Norton , but the library doesn't have the next in line, so I have to wait for it to be 'borrowed' from another library system... then I can continue...


Welcome to the Tavern, HelloKittyCat, hope that you can stay with us for a long, long while...

Again, Welcome!

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Post last edited by husky51 on 03.18.2012, 02:40 PM.

Thanks Husky51, for both the suggestion and the warm welcome, everyone in the forum is so nice, I'm sure I'll be here for a while yet! I'll definitely give the borrowers a go, that is, if I can find it in the silly little library at the end of the road. If not I'll have to wait until I nex go in to town, which could be a long wait
Thanks for the lovely welcome

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The Pessimist complains about the wind,
The Optimist expects it to change and
The Realist adjusts his sails

yeah, they checked the internet system to see where a copy of the book I wanted was. One was in Denmark, a 1955 edition, but thankfully there was a volume (1960 edition) here in the States... lol

ILS (InterLibrary System) works well... lol

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Finish Jane Eyre again for the umpteenth time. Man, I love that book. I couldn't even pinpoint why, since Jane is technically a bit of a wet heroine. I don't know, I guess the Bronte's are good when it comes to passionate romance.

Castle in The Air, as a bedtime story for the kids.

Nausicaa_Cat, have you ever seen the 1943 film Jane Eyre with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine? It's one of my favorites! I love classic movies! I won't watch the remakes as a general rule.

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"We're all born with selfish desires, so we can all relate to those feelings in others. But kindness is something made individually by each person...so it's easy to misunderstand when others are trying to be kind to you." Natsuki

Ah I haven't, though I have seen quite a few adaptations. I thought the 1997 film with Samantha Morton was pretty good, and well cast.

As for the latest film with Michael Fassbender I refuse to see it purely on the basis of casting. Mr Rochester is described as 'hideous', even by Jane herself, and Fassbender is far from. I find the unattractiveness of the two essentially important to the story - in a way I'm not sure I can explain, so it just seems silly to me.

Finished Stamboul Train, it was suprisingly more epic than I initially thought. If anything, it's more of an action-adventure than a mystery.

Also wrapped up Cry, The Beloved Country. Beautiful novel, unbelievable themes, and appealing, human characters.

I'm starting in on Three Men on a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. I need something light and comical, and Jerome's airy, stream-of-consciousness writing is just what I need!

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Also, Twilight Sparkle is best pony!

I've had to cut down on the books I normally read recently. I've just finished A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Wasn't too bad. I don't usually like Dickens but the ending redeemed it in my eyes. I too like Jane Eyre, despite the main character being one of the wettest fictional people I know of. I prefer the TV series the BBC did to any of the films. It's closer to the original story than most of the adaptations I've seen and I like the girl who plays Helen.
I've also been reading the Complete Works of Shakespeare. It's really confusing with all the old language, and the endless metaphors make it even more difficult to follow. I like A Midsummer Nights Dream though. Kinda became obsessed for a few days. I memorised a few of Puck's long speeches. It annoys most people when I start spouting random parts of them, but I guess I'm just an annoying person.
"My mistress with a monster is in love
Near to her close and concentrated bower,
When she was in her dull and sleeping hour
A crew of patches, rude mechanicals
That work for bread upon Athenian stalls
Were met together to reheare a play
Intended for great Theseus' nuptual day"
There I go again!

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The Pessimist complains about the wind,
The Optimist expects it to change and
The Realist adjusts his sails

quote:

---

Originally posted by HelloKittyCat
I've also been reading the Complete Works of Shakespeare. It's really confusing with all the old language, and the endless metaphors make it even more difficult to follow. I like A Midsummer Nights Dream though. Kinda became obsessed for a few days. I memorised a few of Puck's long speeches. It annoys most people when I start spouting random parts of them, but I guess I'm just an annoying person.
"My mistress with a monster is in love
Near to her close and concentrated bower,
When she was in her dull and sleeping hour
A crew of patches, rude mechanicals
That work for bread upon Athenian stalls
Were met together to reheare a play
Intended for great Theseus' nuptual day"
There I go again!

---

Hey, I'm reading some Shakespeare as well...for my english class, I'm reading Othello.

No for some reason, I'd consider Iago the archetype of a troll. Deceit, two-facedness, and equivocable quotes? Completely unleashing chaos in search of vengance? Sheesh, I know people like that on the 'net (not here though! )

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Also, Twilight Sparkle is best pony!

I love Puck... especially the 1935 movie with Mickey Rooney playing the part of Puck...

"Lord, what fools these mortals be."

One of my favs of the old B/W films...

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Read "The Red Well" by Max Brand night before last and
Left for Dead" by J.A. Jance last night...

It is now about 6AM and I have spent the whole night read the Jance book. It was just too interesting to put down... Daylight is showing its head above the mountains and now I need to put myself to bed...

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Post last edited by husky51 on 04.24.2012, 12:08 PM.

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

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Harry Potter fanfiction that's been vetted by someone trustworthy! xD *falls into it*

I was being very silly and thinking I could read Reamde by Neal Stephenson during exams. So now I am starting over in order to understand what little I read.

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Thank you for that link Mushka... its intense, but amazingly interesting too! And very funny!

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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

Finished reading my friend's copy of The Night Circus this morning.

I broke the news of the movie coming up of it to her, and then explained who was making it. Now she wants to die.

It's not a very complex book. The detail is pretty, and for the author's first novel I think it is lovely. However, while my friend truly loves the book (kind of surprises me, she loves next to nothing) there was some sort of... vacancy in the story.

It felt... incomplete as far as ambiance went.

I like the characters. I think Celia's character could have used a bit more.. depth to. It felt like most of the other characters had a lot more depth to them than she did as she got older. The story was easy to follow, but felt weird at parts.

The love story seemed quite strange. Maybe it's because in my own writing, when there is love, I take forever to detail it along. It felt weird in this book. The characters were suited for each other, but it felt rushed. I know what she wanted to get at, but others might overlook that. But I think the author might be young, so perhaps she has yet to really fall in love, or it is different for her (when I read, I usually most know the author well first.. but didn't this time).

Overall, it was nice. I think the "game" part wound up being a slight mess. But she did confess in one part that the story originally was a mess. If she writes another book, it will likely be much better executed.

Finished Three Men on a Boat...quite amusing, light, and airy, but also very profound at the same second. Despite its Victorian roots, it borrows heavily on the Romantic era and to some extent jests at stream-of-consciousness writing that was common in the coming century.

My current rail-reading is Thirteen for Luck by Agatha Christie, and I might dig up another one of her light novels on Hercules Poriot to read for English Literature.

Also, a friend of mine recommended several books, among them The Monk by Matthew Lewis. From hearsay I can discern it is...not savory in-class reading, but I need a break from deep literature for something which is incredibly off-colour.

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Also, Twilight Sparkle is best pony!