A Dark Night

So I had to read the book Night for my writing class at the tutorial that I attend and I believe that it is a book that everyone should read. Once they are old enough that is. But I also suggest that if you read Night, you must also read The Hiding Place too. The two books contrast so startlingly how two people can react so differently to the same experiences. 

Night is dark, startling and depressing. But it describes the horror of the Holocaust so well that it is eye opening. I you wish to understand what happened in the Jewish camps, read it.

The Hiding Place must be read along with Night because it shows how life is like with and without
Christ.

Very deep books.

Austin

One of my favorite authors would have to be Jane Austin, I love her book Pride and Predjudice, besides the movie The Princess Bride, Pride and Predjudic holds the most quote worthy lines. I have always loved Her writing so this week I picked up Sense and Sensibility, It is great!

From reading her works, I have descovered that Jane Austin's books all have something in common, the main character is always a woman, and that woman is always the "smart one" of the family. Go ahead, look at her books, and see that I'm right... :)

From the 1900's to the 1700's

The Scent of Water was beautifully written as all of Goudge's books but I did not entirely end end... It felt a little incomplete. A slightly annoying feeling to have at the end of a book. Ah well, I still enjoyed it. :)


This week I'll be reading Lorna Doone. I'm kinda excited! :)

Gaskell and Goudge

Last week I finally finished Wives and Daughters. It was a good book but I much prefer Austin to Gaskell. The BBC version of the story was pretty much the exact same as the book. A few things were taken out but nothing of much importance. I prefer the movie to the book because some of the characters were a little more likable. But, all in all it was enjoyable. :)

This week I'll be reading The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge.

Back to Molly Gibson

Well, Freckles was so good that I finished it over the weekend. If you've never read it, go right now and do so. Stratton-Porter writs books about characters that are unhealthy, poor, or heart broken and by the end of the book they are whole and happy. Reading her books make you feel clean and make you want to smile when you finish it. Definitely a need to read.

This week I am continuing Wives and Daughters.

From Gaskell To Porter

During the begging of Wives and Daughters, I found myself at a slow part. I was on our living room couch and looking over at the coffee table I saw the book, Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter. I placed my book down and picked up the new one. I couldn't put it down till I finished it. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Wives and Daughters will have too wait another week because I am going to read the prequel to Girl of the Limberlost, Freckles.

If you have never read a Gene Stratton-Porter novel, go, right now, and read: Freckles, Girl of the Limberlost, then Keeper of the Bee's.

Another Movie to Book Instance

A few weeks ago my sisters and I began to watch the BBC production of the classic, Wives and Daughters. I really liked it! The characters were interesting and funny. Curious, I decided to begin the book by Elizabeth Gaskell. I am only in the third chapter so far but it is really good. It is a different style of writing than, say, Jane Austin; but still enjoyable.

Of A Good Book And A Finished Project

Well, Ride The River was a fantastic book! I really liked it. The main character Echo Sackett was funny and interesting. Any heroine who carry's a rifle has got to be interesting. :)

In other news I have finished the third, and I hope, the final draft of my very own book. The Dying King. I am so excited! Anyone know a publisher?

Sacketts

Well as you can see from how little I've been blogging (as in not at all) you can tell that my summer has been busy. Well now that school is back up I am on track and back to reading.


my mom got me a book that she saw in Goodwill. She gave it to me and told me that I would enjoy it. She was right. I am now in the middle of it after making it the book of the week.
It is Ride the River, by Louis L'amour. It is amazing!

Enchanted Book

Well, last week I finished a book that I had always  wanted to read, but for some reason had never started it. The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit. I loved it! If you have read, Five Children and It, or The Amulet, and enjoyed them, then you will love this book.

It had mystery, humor, wit, magic, and secret passageways. I would count it one of my favorite Nesbit books.

This week will be War of the Worlds, by Wells. I hope I'll like it.

White Witch

I finished the White Witch last week. I had never read an Elizabeth Goudge book before so this was a new experience for me.

I really liked the book's writing style. It was descriptive, informative, and a little poetic. I likes the story but did not entirely like the ending. It ended too quick and without enough information. And two of my favorite characters did not end as I wanted. Ah-well.

It looks like the Enchanted Castle, by Nesbit.

Two Unrelated Subjects

DONE! The Cont of Monte Cristo I am done with! It was pretty good. The main problem I had with it was keeping character names straight. :)

I, in my spare time this year was working on writing a book. It's called The Dying King. I finished the first draft last week! I am so excited, I have never written a book before but I have always wanted to. Now I have. I've sent it to several friends to give me their reviews on it.

I am happy with myself right now. :)

From Counts to Fire, Then Back to Counts

Okay. I have had such crazy weeks recently, plus the fact that my current book is long and once I got further into it I don't know if I really like it. I'm not finished yet. I think I might switch to Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, And after that's done go back to Dumas.

Catching Fire, is the second book in the Hunger Games series. I loved the first and so far the second is pretty good except when Peeta or Gale make an appearance. I'm not a fan of either guy but oddly enough, I like them in the movie. Weird. I hope this one is as good as the first. :)

Continuing Count...

Okay, I will finish The Count of Monte Cristo this week. It is long but I can do it! :)

Not Far But Enjoying

Since I lost it this week I'm still at the beginning of The Count Of Monte Cristo, But I am really liking it. It's very well written and well paced.

Next week I'll be continuing it and maybe I'll also read something short...

Farming for Animals

Well I have been reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas this week but somehow I misplaced it. I'll have to look for that today. Anyway, I read Animal Farm  by Orwell yesterday, and finished it yesterday. Just like when I read Frankenstein, I could not put it down.

I found the overall story to be depressing, the end to be creepy, and the writing style hilarious. The book is a what if kind of story. It's a, what if the animals threw the farmer out and began to run the farm. Throughout the story, the pigs of the farm At the end the farm is the way it was in the beginning, except the pigs are the new farmers.

My mom quoted Lord Acton, a British historian, that night when we were discussing the behavior of the pigs in the book. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely". Very True.

What did I learn from the book Animal Farm? Never, trust a pig with power. ;)

Might Take Several Weeks

So, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. Yes, I know, I can not expect to read this book in one week and actually have understood the story. So I'm going to take up several weeks on it. I might also read one or two short little books along with it so I won't fall behind in my reading list.

Am I looking forward to this book? Maybe. I have heard it is great from many sources but I want to make my own decisions. Here goes!

Happy Reading. :)

My Thoughts On Frankenstein

So I started Frankenstein by Mary Shelley yesterday afternoon, and finished it that night. I literally could not put it down. My thoughts on it are below.

Was it captivating? Very. Victor Frankenstein was such a interesting man, you did not dislike him but yet you did not love him, mostly I felt sorry for him. His monster was so different than how it is usually portrayed now. It was very smart, but kept making the wrong choices. While reading the book, all I could do was feel sorry for it, even when it made horrible choices I understood them and felt sorry that it did not go another direction.

All in all, I liked it, but I do not think I will ever read it again. It was a book that helped you to understand human nature. If you have not read this book please do, I consider it educational even if you don't enjoy it.

I hope next weeks book will be something light and funny. I just want something opposite than what this weeks book was. 

You can find my complete book list under the "about me" section. The list is not in order so if you see something that you think would be good for next week please comment below. Also If you want me to add something to my list, again please comment the name and author below. :)

Lost, Not Found

I just got back from a vacation for anyone who was wondering if I had just stopped blogging last week, (not gonna happen!) no, it was a vacation break...

Something interesting happened two weeks ago, I lost my book list. The only copy. Yeah, still have not found it. So, that is why for the past hour I have been making a new list and putting a backup copy on my computer. I learn from my mistakes. ;)

This week is a interesting book, Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley! My first horror novel. I have no idea what to expect from this book because I know that the movies, culture, and exaggerated retellings have changed the story. I hope that I will enjoy it though. :)

Happy Reading!

Treasure and Caesar

Treasure Island was amazing! I could not put it down, I now know who it was that most modern pirates are modeled after, Long-John Silver. He was the best character, even though he was mostly the bad guy, and he might have been a little crazy, but he was still awesome.

This week's book is not the adventure that last week's book was, but it is still great. It is Julius Caesar. I really like it so far. :)

"Beware the ides of March"

Holmes, and a Strange Extra

I finished The Hound of the Baskervilles a little late but not too late. I really liked it. Sherlock Holmes is such a interesting character, and Watson was not as cool as he is in the new movies (really, who can beat Jude Law?) but he was a good character too.

On Monday I picked up a strange looking book that my younger brother had read for school. It was called The Phantom Tollbooth, It was very weird, but I loved it. If you take Alice in Wonderland, and replace Alice with a boy named Milo, you have The Phantom Tollbooth. The writer was a genius with words, It was a completely literal world. For example Milo gets to the Island of conclusions by jumping, he meets "that awful DYNNE" (say aloud), and he rescues Rhyme and Reason. If you have not read it, please do. :)

This week its Treasure Island. I hope I enjoy it!

Baskervilles

I have now started my first ever Sherlock Holmes book! I am exited because I really like mystery stories.

I have seen the Holmes movies and I love them all. I know they are not accurate to the books but I am hoping that does not mean I wont like the books. Anyway I am hoping for a good reading week! :)

I still have not finished A Tale of Two Cities, but I will this week.

Happy Monday! :)

Thumbs Up!

Well I really enjoyed Tom Sawyer! It was well written, funny, it had likable characters, and a good story. If you have never read this book, I highly suggest that you read it now.

Next week will be my first ever experience with Mr. Sherlock Holmes! The Hound of the Baskervilles, and I'm looking forward to it.

Tom Sawyer

I have never read many American classics, the few I did read I didn't like much. Tom Sawyer seems so far to be something I might enjoy. I am not far through it yet but it is pretty good! :)

The only problem with it is the language. The writer will use very large words and writes very well with perfect grammar. But every single time one of the characters starts to speak I get confused because they all use bad grammar. Reading the book disorients you a little when you first start it.

Along with Tom Sawyer this week I am still reading A Tale Of Two Cities. It is very good so far. I've only read a few Dickens but this one I think will be my overall favorite.

I'm still adding new books, does anyone have any suggestions for my list? Thanks!

More Like a Book a Day

Well I finished Pinocchio in about two hours. Cool! :) I enjoyed the book, the writer Collodi was both clever and funny. I especially liked this little section in the first chapter.

 "Good morning, Antonio," said Gepetto, "what are you doing on the ground?"
 "I am teaching the ants to read."
 "May it do you good!"
 "What has brought you here, friend Gepetto?" asked the other in his turn.
 "My legs. But I would like to ask a favor of you..."

I certainly enjoyed Pinocchio.

Anyway, in other news. One of my school subjects is requiering me to read A Tale Of Two Cities, by Dickens. I have never read  much of his work but I have wanted to read this one so I will get back to you on my thoughts about it. I also finished Macbeth! I think I have already said that but just in case I will say it here. ;)

Finished My First of Chaucer

I read six of Chaucer's tales last week, and I really enjoyed them! I read, The Knights Tale, The Nun's Priest's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, and The Wife of Bath's Tale, along with the prologue of the book. I think my favorite was The Pardoner's Tale. I just liked the overall idea of how you can never trust men with evil plans, especially if you're one of them.

This week will be a book that I am sure that you all have heard of, Pinocchio. I mean who has never heard of that story? I have of course seen the movie, and now I shall read the book. I am not sure whether I will like it or not, but we will see.

Along with Pinocchio this week, I am also going to be reading A Voice In The Wind, by Francine Rivers. Me and my friend (who also loves to read) traded books this week. That just means that I have a book that I really want her to read and she has one for me so we switched books. I have never read a book by Francine Rivers but I think it will go well.

King Arthur

So I finished the Age of Chivalry, It was better than some other early England books I've read but I still don't really like King Arthur stories. I'm not really sure why but I don't, the only way I can enjoy them is if they have very little parts about King Arthur and no parts about Sir Launcelot or Queen Guinevere, those last two I just can't stand.

Anyway, this week's book is goung to be The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. I will only be reading a few of the poems that were picked by mom. I hope I'm going to enjoy this book, I have already read the prologue and it was interesting so I feel good about this one.

I other news, I finished Macbeth, and I loved it! My favorite character was Macduff, and my favorite line was, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air." That was said by three witches in the first Act and it was really cool.

Happy Reading!

Sadly I'm All Done With That Series

I finished The Return of the King! It was so good, it is on my favorite book's list! It was so much better than the movie, more detail, more characters, and a way better ending.

Next week I am going to be starting The Age of Chivalry by Bullfinch. I don't know much about this book,  I think it's a King Arthur story. I never much liked reading about him, his stories always have tragic endings which I hardly ever like. I will give this book a try though and see where it leads.

On the side, I have started a book that I bought around Christmas. Apparently it's not worthy enough to be put on my official list because its a Christian/mystery/romance novel by one of my favorite authors, Gilbert Morris. His books are all called fluff by my more classic loving sister (who once started one and  never finished it because it was so silly to her) but I have really been wanting to start it, so the poor Age of Chivalry will not be the only book in my life right now.

Happy Reading! :)

Head Start

Last week since I finished Undine so quickly, I started the Return of the King. It is such a long book that half a week later I am not even half way through it. So I am glad I got such a good head start! :)

I am really enjoying The Lord of the Rings series. They are different from the movies (which I saw first) but I still like them. The final book has to be the one that Hollywood changed the most. The book and the movie are technically not even the same story. I like both versions, but reading the book is nice because I truly have no idea what is going to happen next.

Though I have to say that the actor's and actresses that were picked for the movies fit perfectly.

Adding

This morning I was walking around our house looking at each of our bookshelves (we have a lot) and adding more titles to my reading list. I now have enough book to take me to the next school year but I was wondering If I have missed any good stories.

If anyone knows a really good book please comment with the name of the book and the author's name, It does not even have to be a classic, just any book that you think should be read would be great.

Thanks! :)

Easy Read!

Yesterday I finished the Two Towers, so I started Undine that night. I finished it in about a hour and a half. It was not only a short book, but also a really fast read.

I thought it was very well written and a interesting read, but I did not like it. I did not like any of the characters, and I did not like the story. I thought it could have ended much better. I really want to say why I did not like it but some of you might be planning to read it so I won't ruin it, unless people in the comments section beg me to but I doubt that. ;)

Since I finished Undine so quickly I started the next book on my list, The Return of the King. Yay!

And who else is looking forward to the new movie the Hobbit?
 

From Rings to Mermaids

Alright, I sadly finished the Two Towers two days late but I absolutely loved everything about it! It was just so good, J.R.R Tolkien is a fantastic writer.

I said before in an earlier post that I saw the movies first. Well I never knew how much the movies changed the story, It's crazy what they changed. I was surprised in different parts of the story because things were not happening the way I thought they were going to happen. I sort of understand why they changed some things but others I do not.

Both versions of the story are great but I can't decide which I like better.

Now I'm starting Undine by Fouque. It is about a mermaid or water sprite, and is a European classic. That is all I know but I have heard that it is really good so, happy reading! :)

I Loved the Movies Now I Love the Book's

This week I have started the Two Towers which is the second book in the Lord of the Rings series. I absolutely love it. I have always been a Lord of the Rings fan but until this week I had only seen the movies and read the Hobbit, and the Fellowship of the Ring.

To tell the truth I have actually started the The Two Towers before but I had never finished it. This happened a few years ago when I could not read as well and couldn't really understand what I was reading most of the time anyway. I had gotten to one of the most boring parts of the book when I accidentally lost it. A few months later I found it again, the problem was that I couldn't remember where my place was in the book. (this was before I had discovered the usefulness of bookmarks) and I did not want to start back at the beginning again, so I just left it and went on to easier stuff.

Let's hope that does not happen again. :)

Hard Poetry

Well I finished the Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves by Edmund Spencer a little bit late because it was the hardest book I have had to read yet.

Even though it was a difficult to get into and sometimes confusing, it is well written. Once you start to understand it is a good tale with lots of strange scenes. I enjoyed how the verses flowed and I thought that the way the writer chose to say some things really was genius. I liked the editor because he was funny and informative. Anyone who wants to read something that is very deep with Christian themes read Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves.

At the beginning of every chapter or Canto, there is a preamble verse that tell a little about what will be in the chapter. These preambles are written in iambic verse and you can sing them to the tune of Gilligan's Island. Here is an example;

To sinfull house of Pride, Duessa
      guides the faithful knight,
Where brothers death to wreak Sansioy
      doth challenge him to fight.

So on Monday I will be starting The Two Towers. :)

First of Poetry

Well I finished The Three Theban Plays. I liked them all. They were very depressing and about everyone dies at the end, but they were so well written, the characters were well formed, and everything made sense at the end.

The three plays are the story of a man whose fate was told to his parents at birth, the fate was so horrible that they sent him away and once he was old enough to understand his fate he went out of his way to avoid it. The horrible thing about it is that if no one had known of his fate, it would never have happened. His fate came true because of everyone's reactions to it. I really liked the idea of the story.

My next book is a book of Poetry, called Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves. I know absolutely nothing about is except that it is the first book of a series. I am not going to be reading all the other books, just this one. I do not know why, but that is what mom is telling me to read. :)

Extra

I have almost finished The Three Theban Plays (good since tomorrow is Friday) and I really like them! They are all very tragic but so well written.

Other than my list of a book a week I also have to read a few books for my school. For history I have to start, The Imitation Of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. I know nothing of this book besides what I have read on the back which says it is a book of inspiration and instruction.

Also for my English class I have to read the play Macbeth by Shakespeare. I have read some Shakespeare but never one of his tragedy's.  My favorite of Shakespeare's play's has been A Comedy Of Errors. If you have never read it, you do not know what you are missing. That play is hilarious.

More Books

Since I have already gotten through a book and a half, I have started wanting to read more classics or any new books that I have never read before.

So, I am not going to only read 28 books or whatever the number was. I am going to add more books to my list and I will plan to read them all for how many weeks it takes. I do not know when I will stop reading. I think it will just go on till I have no more good ideas for books, or until I just want to stop.

If anyone wants to start reading along with me I would be very happy for the company and If you want to comment your views on any book that I am reading that would be great too!

Happy reading! :)

Thoughts On Book Two

Today I started The Three Theban Plays. The book includes three plays (hence the name) and the plays are, Antigone, Oedipus the King, and Oedipus at Colonus. If you have read these plays before and notice that they are in the wrong order, than congratulations because my mom pointed that out to me only after I was half-way through the first play. Instead of completely starting over I decided to just keep on reading.

To me plays have always been harder to read and to understand mostly because of the long flowing speeches, the format, and because I find plays harder to picture in my mind than with books. Although what I have gone through so far in Antigone has been really good and interesting.

The play started very abruptly because the story was already in motion. The characters are all very interesting people, the uncle is the evil, unfeeling bad guy that uncles always are in story's. And the two sisters are two very different people, but they make sense as sisters.

So far I like this book and I am curious as to what happens next which is always a good sign that the book is a good one.

Number Two

Well, since I finished The Odyssey I will be starting the next book on my list. The book is is another Greek classic called, The Three Theban Plays, by Sophocles.

This one I do not at all know if I will like, mainly because on the back of the book it says, "This book towers over all the rest of Greek tragedy." Yay, a sad book.  I am not like my older brother, he really likes tragedies, not me. If the story ends with one or both of the main characters dying I don't like it.

My brother says, "But if everything turns out right it isn't realistic." I agree but I would rather see a movie or read a book about a happier world where everything is good, then a movie or book where everything is like our world- unhappy.  

Ah well. I will read it and decide after I am finished whether I like it or not. Who knows, it might surprise me.

First Book, Check!

Well I just finished the Odyssey, all twenty-four chapters. It took me exactly four days to finish and to tell the truth I would not have believed that I could have finished it that fast when I started it.

It was a very interesting book. I would not say that it was my absolute favorite book ever, but I did not dislike it. The book's story did not interest me as much as the culture of the time. Things that the people said and did that were perfectly normal then are strange and not fully understood now. For example the custom of grabbing peoples knees, I have no idea why this happens so much in the Odyssey, I think it might be some way of begging for peace or something. Several of the characters do this several times and it is never explained. But I guess we can't talk because our culture today also has some very strange customs, like when meeting someone we grab hands and yank up and down, and we hit doors to get the attention of those inside.

Odyssey Thoughts

Well I am already to chapter 5 of the "Odyssey" and so far it is not like anything I have ever read. It is more poetic than any of the modern books today, and it flows differently than books that I have read before. I especially like how whenever Homer writes that morning had come he writes, "When the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared" Even though that sentence gets very repetitive, it does not make the book boring it just makes me want to laugh at the strangeness of the sentence.

So far I like it. Though while reading the "Odyssey" it comes in handy to have a list of the names of all the characters in the book because while reading it I mix up Amphimedon, and Amphinomus.

One of the best things about reading the "Odyssey" is that we have an older, hard-backed, yellow-ish paged, and awesome looking copy. This makes it all the more fun to read. There is something different about reading a new addition, clean, and unwrinkled copy of a book, than reading the older copy that looks like it has been picked up many times to be read again.

Reading a book that looks fresh off the store's shelf makes me scared to open it too wide, so when I read a wrinkled copy I feel more relaxed.  

Blog Intro...

Okay, so for school in 2012 my Mom decided that my two sisters and I would start reading more classics by joining the 52 week book challenge with her.  I joined in but I am only listing 28 titles because I have several other books that I recently got for Christmas that I want to read too. These new books are not allowed to be added to my list of classic titles because they are what my sister calls "Fluff". 

We are starting the challenge this week after school has started back.  I am starting with "The Odyssey" by Homer. I am not sure what I will think about this book. I have always enjoyed Greek mythology but I have never read a book like this and because I do not know if it has a happy ending I am slightly hesitant.