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.

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.

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.

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. :)

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. :)

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!

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! :)

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. :)

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.