While She Knits

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I cannot think of anything clever tonight (long week), so just tell me

• what are you reading?
• is it any good?

Comments

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

--paragraphs about the use of alliteration in "The Bells"/paragraphs about various Romeo and Juliet characters
--occasionally

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I love "The Bells!" "molten golden" is just so golden sounding! And the tinkle-twinkle-sprinkle part is so very silvery.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

Ooo, I love "The Bells" too. Especially walking around my room, reading it aloud. :D

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

Just want to stop and admire your icon for a moment. hehe

[chubbyleng.livejournal.com]

In English class, I'm supposed to be reading "At Swim-Two-Birds" by Flann O'Brien, which I find to be incredibly... er, slow.

So instead I took up Lloyd Alexander's "Westmark", and actually just finished it today. It was good. I liked it; I liked comparing Theo to our own very honourable Costis. =) And I've started "The Iron Ring" by the same author just this afternoon. I hope it's good.

Hmm... I finished reading "The Fall of a Kingdom" by Hilari Bell last week, which was very good. It was recommended a few times here by booksrgood4u and 1221bookworm. And I'm expecting "The Squire's Tale" by Gerald Morris some time soon, which was also recommended several times in previous WSK threads. =D

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I remember reading the Westmark trilogy years ago, and enjoying it - until I hit the last one, which for some reason I can't now remember in detail I hated so much that I've refused to re-read it.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I just finished re-reading Elizabeth Enright's The Four-Story Mistake. I love love love her books.

We came home early from school (weather alerts) and I brought with me our new copies of Hilda Van Stockum's The Borrowed House and Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Sherwood Ring, which undoubtedly I'll reread this weekend. I didn't go up to Mom's house because of a)the weather and b)the nasty cold and incipient laryngitis I've got making me feel crummy.

I'm also about to read Boscobel Tracts, which is a collection of accounts of Charles II's dramatic escape after the Battle of Worcester. It's from around 1850, so you probably don't have access to it, but you could read Georgette Heyer's Royal Escape for a retelling of the story.

I'm also re-reading Rosemary Sutcliff's Bonnie Dundee and having my heart broken all over again.

Also In the Garden of Beasts, about the American ambassador to Germany and his family, just as Hitler came to power.

Also Why Humanae Vitae Was Right.

Also just finished Constance Savery's The Reb and the Redcoats, which is a most unusual book because it is set during the American Revolution but takes place in England and was written by an English author (the Reb in question is an American prisoner of war).

Also just finished Jane Duncan's Camerons at the Castle and am once more loving the book and gnashing my teeth at the author for the way she ***RUINS*** things by playing merry mayhem with selective aging (and if you're interested in reading my long post on that let me know and I'll open it to public viewing).

So many books - so little time, especially when I keep falling asleep because of the aforementioned feeling crumminess.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Oh, and how could I forget: a charming (and staggeringly expensive) book called Polly Poppingay, Milliner. A girl goes to stay with her aunt, a milliner, and ends up using bits and scraps to make doll-sized hats.

[ayvara.livejournal.com]

I've been reading "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro for school which I have mixed feelings about, and for fun, I've been reading Margaret Atwood’s "The Handmaid's Tale" as well as re-reading "Rise of a Hero" by Hilari Bell.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I've read (half of) Never Let Me Go and sort of intend to keep going at some point... it was well-written, I thought, but I also thought I could predict the ending or at least whatever the "secret" was. Have you gotten that far yet? Don't spoil it for me, but do you think it's predictable, or were you genuinely shocked?

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

I am reading Young Men In Spats, by PG Wodehouse. It is very good.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that, but I've read all (or most) of his Jeeves books plus a few others. Do you recommend this one?

[openedlocket.livejournal.com]

Paper Towns by John Green

It's all right, but not as good as his most recent novel, "The Fault in our Stars".

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

I just finished The Decoy Princess by Dawn Cook, and it was a quick read that I found enjoyable, if a bit less enthralling than her other books. She has a way of making characters stand out no matter how generic you would logically expect them to be---for instance, the love interest, who's a cheat at cards and turns out to be a bit of a thief as well, is somehow never bland or annoying. I would recommend it.

Right now I'm reading the second book in the Danger Zone series about Max Gordon, by David Gilman. They're like Alex Rider for a slightly older age group, and it's much-needed, because now that Alex Rider is all but over I'm suffering severe teenage spy withdrawal. Max is a great character and surprisingly, not an Alex clone; he's a lot more articulate and clever. I highly recommend this one.

I also finished the Rai-Kirah trilogy by Carol Berg, and oh my gosh I have never read anything this amazing before [ETA: except QT and select others, of course]. Every book was better than the one before it. So. Much. They're very graphic, though, so be warned. But I recommend these most of all right now. The books are over now and I'm still excited.

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

I wasn't as impressed with Dawn Cook's 'Princess' series as I was with her 'Truth' series. And whats-his-name annoyed me. Dunstan? Duncan? Tess is a strong heroine though.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

Reading Hidden Truth by Dawn Cook, and loving it immensely. :)

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

Yay! I think if I *had* to decide which was favorite, it would be 'Hidden Truth.' Where are you?

*Pretends to use 'Hidden Truth' icon if LJ would only let me*

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Obviously, I need to read some Dawn Cook.

I am reading a creepy and unsettling book--Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson. As the book starts, a woman wakes up next to a stranger, 20 years older than she remembers being. Her husband, Ben, tells her she has a traumatic brain injury from an accident that causes all her memories since then to disappear each night as she sleeps. Each morning she awakens to this same scene of knowing nothing. A doctor she's been seeing calls her each day to tell her to look in the closet for a hidden journal she's been keeping. The first page in the journal says, in her handwriting, "Don't trust Ben." Each day she discovers a bit more about herself and the mystery surrounding her accident, and writes it in the journal so she can find it the next day. You just have this feeling of helplessness and fear as you experience each day along with the main character.

I'm also halfway through Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett, and it is laugh-out-loud funny. I'll be glad to get back to it after I finish the other book.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

"Read the first page of the book." Le Guin, City of Illusions iirc. Also Soldier of the Dawn & sequels, by Gene Wolfe.

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

Reading The Spirit Eater by Rachel Aaron. It's the 3rd book in her Legend of Eli Monpress series. I am really enjoying the series, the charachters are lovable, and the dialogue is so funny. Go Nico!

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

Eli and Josef are so funny playing off each other, and how Nico always takes Josef's side! Each of them are so unique.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Anastasia on Her Own, by Lois Lowry. There were a half-dozen or so books strewn across the sidewalk the other evening, probably from the free table outside the Anarchists' bookshop (but they were closed). I wasn't going to pick any up b/c I was in a bit of a hurry and I have Too Many Books ("No such thing!") already. But when I saw the author on the last one and realized that we I don't have a copy...

I read it that night. :-) Lois Lowry is always a winner.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

THE ANASTASIA BOOKS. I loved those books so much as a kid. :D

[star-aesh.livejournal.com]

I just finished the first volume of "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. It is so good. There are footnotes and arachic spellings and the narration follows lots of different people but isn't confusing at all (third person omniscient is so good for that). There are three volumes in my box set and I am very pleased to have more to read next.

I'm also rerereading "Dealing with Dragons" by Patricia C. Wrede because it is awesome. The library used to have a version of it on cassette (sadly no longer) with a full cast and I can hear the cadence of the voices when I read the words :D

I'm listening to "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde as well and having fun with the (intentional) queer theory implications.

For class, we're starting "The Changeling" by Thomas Middleton but I've already finished it. Oh, Renaissance-era revenge tragedies! You so misogynistic.

[agh-4.livejournal.com]

That Dealing With Dragons recording sounds AMAZING!

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

I am reading Royal Assassin, sequel to Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb. They're fantasy, maybe a little more advanced than YA, although I don't really think so. It's just that they have sex in them, although it's not graphic, but I hesitate to recommend them as YA when they have sex in them.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I just re-read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. *SIGH* I was SO determined not to jump on that particular bandwagon, but the hype leading up to the movie and the fact that I liked the books better the second time 'round have conspired to turn me into a fan... oh no!

I also re-re-re-read The Eagle of the Ninth, because I finally got my own copy of it and it's just that awesome. Romans and Celts! I mean, c'mon.

A book I just read for the first time is Alan Bradley's The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, which I loved. (I reviewed it here: http://writersblockbookreviews.blogspot.com/2012/02/sweetness-at-bottom-of-pie-by-alan.html)

And last but not least I'm in raptures over The Company They Keep by Diana Pavlac Glyer, a non-fiction work about The Inklings (Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, honorary member Dorothey Sayers...) and their collaborative writing process! Fascinating!

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

I actually thought The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were very well written, not to mention extremely addicting. I thought Mockingjay was awful, but overall the series is pretty good. It's nothing on Eugenides, obviously, but just because the books are the current "trend" right now doesn't mean they're bad.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

Currently reading The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron. (Thanks to Checkers for the reccomendation ...) My favorite character is actually Gin ... He's sassy, and he reminds me a bit of Gen (Maybe it's the similarities of their names?? ...) But I like Nico too. I hope everything goes well for her!! :)

(Wow, Checkers, this is the first time I was actually reading something I wanted to reccomend, instead of being in the middle of my hundred thousanth re-read of Forging the Sword and Crown Duel.)

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

I swear I won't tell you what happens next. I swear I won't tell you what happens next. I swear I won't......

Haha, I love Gin too!

[bookishbabe.livejournal.com]

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. For the love of all that is Holy, go read it. Then reRead it. Then come talk to me about it! I haven't been as impressed and in love with a book since the Epic Discovery of the Queen's Thief Series.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

I read the beginning and found the writing didn't appeal... the characters seemed sort of simplistic, or something? idk. Maybe it's because it was describing art school and I've been to art school...sometimes when things are too familiar I can be outrageously picky.

Should I give it another chance? :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

That is sitting on my nightstand, to be read next!

[(Anonymous)]

Finished reading The Borrowers, by Mary Norton, a few hours ago. Hadn't read it since childhood. Still good. I was inspired to re-read by the new Studio Ghibli movie "The Secret World of Arrietty," which is The Borrowers, but just with a different title. Also good, and I recommend it if you're in the mood for a light and gentle movie without any sucker punches. (And, as usual, beautiful animation.)

Also, read the Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall in the past few weeks. Loved! Someone here on Sounis recommended them once (thank you!), and I heartily endorse that recommendation. Best books I've read in a while. Sweet, funny, charming, realistic (not in a gritty way, more in a "this is how real kids actually behave rather than being smart-mouth sarcastic brats" kind of way)--contemporary with the heart of a classic.

--Handmaiden

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

I'm rereading all the Rick Riordan mythology books. There's just something about modern day adaptations of stories that is currently intriguing me. It also probably doesn't help that I'm (kind of) preparing for a trip to Greece, which means the next books on my list are MWT's! And Zorba the Greek. And anything else that has anything at all to do with Greece. So far, loving it all.

I would also like to share a book that I read a while ago, but that has only just been released. It's called Blue Thread and it is fantastic! It's by Ruth Tenzer Feldman and tells the story of a middle class Jewish girl in 1912 Portland, OR, who is participating in the women's rights movement. So, it's a historical novel...but wait, there's more! There's also time travel back to biblical times. Check it out. It's awesome. When I first read it, I thought of you guys and then had to wait forever to share it.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

My kids at school read the Rick Riordan books, and clearly enjoy them. But it's a shame we can't first teach them the mythology and then have them read the books, because I think they don't quite realize how hilariously funny the books really are, without knowing the mythology.

Have you read The Lost Hero and its sequel, the new series based on the Roman, rather than Greek, forms of the gods? My favorite was the kid who gets to check the auguries, not by cutting open live animals and reading their entrails (ick ick ick) but by slicing up Beanie Babies. Chortle chortle chortle!

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

WHILE SHE KNITS. I decide to go down to school to visit my awesome roommates and not get online and THEN theres a WSK post. *sigh*. I love, love, love WSK, I've always felt a special kind of connection with it because it was first proposed in this community when I was a very new newbie here, within my first week of seeing this site. So WSK has been around as long as I have! Except I expect it didn't run off to the Philippines for 18 months.

In the less-than-two-weeks I've been home, I've just been re-reading. First novel I read? KoA. Still completely MADE OF AWESOME. And then ACoK, for the third or fourth time I think... I finally have come to terms with it being part of this series. It was kind of hard for me to accept at first, I don't know why because its also awesome. And then on a whim I re-read Ella Enchanted yesterday, which is still a fun read.

I was considering posting a discussion question about re-reading. Are Sounisians re-readers? I think fans of this series HAVE to be. I love, love, love re-reading. It keeps me from reading as many new books, yes, but I love seeing how the story comes together, knowing the ending and seeing it coming. I also know when I'm in the "mood" for a certain book or not. You know?

Now Rosie is Rambling. I just missed Sounis and WSK alot :D. Also, if anyone is still coming back to read this post, WHAT ARE THE BEST BOOKS THAT CAME OUT/YOU READ IN THE LAST 18 MONTHS?? I NEED TO KNOW.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

Oh, boy, are we ever re-readers. We are re-re-re-re-re-re-readers, or at least I am and I think most of us are, and not just of MWT's books.

[hazelwillow.livejournal.com]

The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men -collectively, the Chaos Walking Trilogy. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND them. The first one really blew my mind, and it's not often a book does that (as in, it had me sobbing. But in a good way). A dystopian world in which everyone can hear everyone else's every thought --the resulting cacophany is called The Noise. Violence, humanity, gender...war...colonialism...great worldbuilding and an un-put-downable story. This is the first line:

"The first thing you find out when your dog learns to talk is dogs ain't got much to say. About anything."...

The other two are worth reading but not *as* good, imo.

Also FMA ~ I'm on the last volume!!

And currently reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.