Read Flatland and The Metamorphisis. I guess both had good concepts and plots. The Metamorphsis, I felt bad about the ending. Both are nice books, just a lot of details.
I just completed Snakehead from the Alex Rider series and His Majesty’s Dragon from the Temaraire series.
Snakehead - One of the grittiest Alex Rider adventures, and a lot of backstory revelations. Unfortunately, the pacing gets slow at some points and there are not enough straight-out action sequences. But the ending is left open for maybe one more adventure before our teenage spy calls it a day.
His Majesty’s Dragon - The best fantasy fiction I’ve read in a long time. The characters and the world they live in are well developed, the action is amazing and heart-pounding, and the plot riveting and heartwarming. Laurence and Temeraire are two heroes you’ll root for all the way, and their companions-in-arms are just as endearing to read about. The dialogue and descriptions are a little hard to understand, since the setting is in Napoleonic times, but these are minor qualms to otherwise a very creative piece of dragon fiction. It would be spectacular if this ever got pulled off on the big screen!
I’d highly recommend the Trial if you haven’t already read it. It’s incomplete, as most of Kafka’s stuff is, but certainly my favorite of his.
I just started Welcome to the NHK. Considering I’ve seen the anime already, I expect to greatly enjoy the book.
Alright, will add The Trial to my list of books I’ll have to read.
Picked up several books from the library/book store/closet/friends/random black holes. I was cleaning out my closet and found The Golden Compass among my old pile of books, saw His Dark Materials-Volume I at the top of it, and I’m reading it right now at the recommendation of lizardgirl. I’m not expecting awesomness because of my fear of the movie, but we’ll see.
Finished Dagon and The Nameless City by Lovecraft. He’s such a flowery writer, but sometimes it can be “genius flowery writing”.
Read my friends’ copies of the Twilight series. I burned through them pretty fast. It’s good for wasting away time. Sometimes it’s overtop lovey-dovey and emoey though. And in Breaking Dawn, what was suppose to be (or at least in my mind) an epic encounter between the [spoil]Volturi[/spoil] and the other vampires wasn’t exactly…good. It’s like the all those international vampires came out of nowhere. There werent any sub-plots involving them or any time for the reader to care what happens to them.
Flight Volume I-I implore you to read this. Like, right now.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-I liked this book about 10x more than Half-Blood Prince. It was the page-turner that all the HP fans described it as. And I just noticed how dark it is. [spoil]It might just be me, but I picked up some hints of Nazism regarding the “sorting” and “punishment” of Muggle-borns. Also, that part where Harry accepts the fact that he’s going to die and he isn’t afraid of death, unlike Tom Riddle. Finally, WTH is up with all the deaths? Was it necessary to kill off people like Mad-Eye and Fred? And why Dobby!?[/spoil] Thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I’m upset that this exciting world of wizards, werewolves, and war has come to a close. What will the next book series to have a place in pop culture be? >.>
Alright, I’m done. Have fun waving your italicizing stick whoever does that.
I’m in the middle of writing the Terminator 2 review and I’ve came to a part where I discuss about a book. Here’s what I wrote:
If you read screenwriting books, of which one of my favorite ones was written by Robert McKee, you might remember this one written by Aristotle (who heavily influenced Robert) called Poetics back in the day when there was, obviously, no movies, only having theater plays. Poetics is really about the nature of storytelling. One of the things Aristotle focused on is called ‘spectacle,’ where he says that story becomes corrupted and loses its value once the storyteller relys too much on ‘spectacle’ and not enough on the character and their motivation. What’s ‘spectacle?’ Basically, special effects.
So, here’s hoping that some of you have touched upon that cool little piece of literature.
Doing King Lear in English at the moment, and it’s surprisingly good! I’m not a fan of Shakespeare but as it’s compulsory I might as well make the most of it. The way the story is constructed, with a seemingly very simple plot that uses different characters to parallel each other, is something very original. Also, King Lear himself is hilarious considering what a maniac he is. 
Just started reading the highly acclamed graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. It’s very confusing but I stayed up late reading it because it was so good. I’d highly reccomend it.
I’ve just re-read a book series that I enjoyed when I was younger; a four book series starting with Mortal Engines, followed by Predators Gold, Infernal Devices and concluding with A Darkling Plain by Phillip Reeves.
I’d forgotten just how good these books are, if I’m being honest I’d rather read this series than Harry Potter, but that could just be me, I’ve always been more of a sci-fi guy…
I remember those books, Halos Nach Tariff! I only ever read Mortal Engines but it was brilliant. I really need to pick them up again and try and get through the series.
I’ve just re-read Catcher in the Rye and I love it as much as I did the first time I read it. Holden has to be one of my favourite literary characters of all time, and one of the few that I can truly relate to. It’s a book that I recommend everyone between the ages of thirteen and twenty to read.
I just read a few interesting books I borrowed from the library. Sorry to say I can’t remember the names of the authors!
Forest- A strong-willed girl runs away from home just for one night into the nearby forest. This causes the squirrels in the forest to believe this is an alien trespassing, and a large number of the wild squirrels trespass the girl’s human home for revenge. The girl [whose name escapes me at the moment]'s father is determined to get everyone in town to kill the pesky squirrels, so she and her little brother must think of a way to stop them from killing the creatures who only they know are more intelligent than people realize. Meanwhile, a squirrel named Woodbine wants to stop this madness, too, because so many squirrels are risking their lives on turning into savage attackers.
This novel is, I can say honestly, an adventurous read that’s also even believable. 
The human point of view sounds realistic and the animal point of view is intriguing and very well thought up, not too humanized at all yet still understandable. The conflict in it actually reminds me of Pocahontas. In fact, I had the song Savages! playing in my head as I read it!
The Good Liar- Takes place during World War II. It’s rare that a historical fiction story can impress me, to tell the truth. But this story is a really good read and actually sounded like it really could’ve happened. It’s interesting because it’s during that time from a kid’s eye view.
The story is this: Despite the war going on, the three brothers Pierre, Rene, and Marcel feel like the war is far from them. They still are playing around and having contests to see who the best liar is. Then German soldiers arrive and through many struggles such as secretly befriending a soldier against their mother’s wishes and helping two Jews hide from being taken away to the death camps, the boys find out who truly is the best liar.
Very absorbing read that gives a few points for the reader to think about.
The Ordinary Princess-Short little chapter book with an interesting fairy tale twist. Princess Amy (short for a royal name followed by many middle names) is unlike her six older sisters. When she was a baby, she was given the gift of ordinariness. Her family calls it a curse that she cannot be as her sisters are. But Amy actually likes her gift. She would much rather be ordinary than fancy and dependant. And she would not stand for an arranged marriage- she would not get married until she finds the one right for her, someone who isn’t as stuck-up fancy and boring.
I say that though it’s short and has a couple unoriginal points, the story is still overall an enjoyable one, and fans of fairy tale twists would delight in her attitude and it really makes those of you who dream to royal think twice because she says the royal life is a boring thing.
Busy reading Slander: Liberal Lies about the American Right by Ann Coulter, and after that it’s Mark Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto. I absolutely cannot wait to read it. I’ve heard that it’s a page-turner despite the nature of the book… which is a bit surprising.
Oh yeah, glare at me all you want, guys. I’m a die-hard Christian Conservative and freakin’ proud of it. 
little chef
So I got to read a good amount of books during my vacation.
-Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
-It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzni
-Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
-The Golden Compass by I forgot who wrote this book
-I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
-Call of the Wild by Jack London
-The Art of War
-The Illiad by Homer
My favorites out of the list being Catch 22 , Farenheit 451, and It’s Kind of a Funny Story. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings I hated because it reminded me of another work called The Bluest Eye. The Golden Compass was great, much better than the movie, althought I’m surprised that I found this in the children’s section of the book store. With the violence and criticism of religion in it, it should have been in the Teen’s area at least.
Was thinking of getting Catcher in the Rye since I heard it was a great satire novel (and satire/humor being my favorite genre), althought I was curious if anyone had any recommendations for that area.
The Golden Compass is by Phillip Pullman, but the original English title is Northern Lights, I’m not sure why they changed the title for some countries…
Anyhow it is a good book, it always used to be in the teen, or even adult, sections of my bookstores but since the film (which was aimed more at children) has been released it has been moved to the children’s section. Not a good move in my opinion, especially considering the themes in the later books…
Yeah, I don’t get the changed title either, Halos Nach Tariff. Especially as it isn’t a ‘compass’. If I was the author, I wouldn’t have allowed such a stupid title to be in use in other countries.
And definitely give Catcher in the Rye a shot, FounderofAzn! The humour in it is amazing. I wish people spoke like that nowadays.
I’m currently reading a few Psychology textbooks in preparation for writing my Personal Statement. I know Psychology is the right subject for me because I’m actually enjoying reading them. There was a very interesting chapter in a book I’m reading, called Great Ideas in Psychology, about Artificial Intelligence and the question ‘can computers think?’ Though now I’m onto all the attachment and memory stuff, and I don’t think that’s as interesting.
Most of my favourites have already been mentioned, but I’d definitely recommend the following:
The His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Reading Northern Lights was one of the best reading experiences I have ever had. I picked up the book when I was in primary school and had it finished within three days, the book was extremely addictive. The characters of Lyra, Pan, Iorek, Lee, Mary, Serafina, Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter are brilliantly developed and are some of my favourite literary characters. The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass definitely live up to Northern Lights, but it’s the magic of being introduced to a whole new world that makes Northern Lights the best of the three.
Lyra’s Oxford and Once Upon a Time In the North are also worth a read as they give additional character development and insight into the different worlds in which they live.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis is definitely my favourite book series, with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Last Battle being my personal favourites. Lewis brings the world of Narnia and all of it’s peoples to life through his excellent description, Lewis’ work is complimented beautifully by Pauline Baynes and her memorable and colourful artwork.
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and The Children of Húrin by J. R. R. Tolkien are each amazing works in their own right. The stories follow the lives of various characters over the ages of Middle-earth. My personal favourites are The Hobbit, because of it’s humour and light heartedness, and Unfinished Tales because it is a rich source of information on the many characters and locations that make up Tolkien’s secondary world.
I’d also recommend: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell; Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy; Wicked by Gregory Maguire; The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell; the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling; and The Mortal Engines Quartet by Philip Reeve. In terms of comicbooks: Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons; The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley; and the Hellboy series by Mike Mignola are all unique and fascinating pieces of superhero mythology and are well worth the read.
I just read a Kingdom Keepers book.
OMG I don’t think I ever finished 370-some pages that fast before. It was a truly exciting book that I fell in love with. I stayed up really late with it more than one night. I think the only time I could read just one chapter was one I just started the book but from then on, every time I opened it, I just dove in and time just flew by as I paced through the story that was very hard to put down. I seriously can’t wait to read the other books in the series (which aren’t so many, but I do hope it continues).
It’s like it was written for me…I agree with woody: IF YOU’RE A BIG DISNEY FAN DEFINITELY DO NOT MISS READING THIS SERIES!
Also, thanks for sharing about that series, woody! I’m so glad you recommended it to me- you’re right.
Well, right now I’m reading two books. The Scarlet Letter for my English class and The Dangerous Days of Daniel X just for fun. The Scarlet Letter is by Nathanial Hawthorne and it was written in like, the 1850’s. It’s really boring and hard to understand. I wouldn’t read it if I didn’t have to. And The Dangerous Days of Daniel X is by James Patterson. It’s about a kid who was born with special powers to create and he hunts aliens. I know it sounds kinda cheesy, but I really think it’s great. I’d recommend this one.
I also want to read I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert. From what I hear, it’s really good. If I remember right, Stephen Colbert was nominated for a grammy for the audio book.
I’m reading two books at the moment: Throne of Jade and Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony.
Being a massive fan of Naovik’s ripping yarn Temeraire, I’m hooked on continuing onto the rest of the installments (there’s about five in total so far). ToJ opens spectacularly enough, so far there’s a court marshall, a breakout, and an aerial skirmish, all within the first two chapters! And Laurence and Temeraire’s friendship are about to be put to the test when the latter has to be returned to the Emperor of China, since Laurence ‘won’ Temeraire as an egg after defeating his French transport in the first book. And now they’re fugitives! Though I suspect it won’t be for long.
The other is intrepid teen genius Artemis’ fifth adventure. I haven’t got to Time Paradox yet (I like to go in order) and I’m somewhere round the middle. I’ve been introduced to AF around the time I started reading Harry Potter… so that was maybe ten years ago, haha!. For some reason, this adventure feels ‘slower’ than its predecessors, and didn’t have as high a stake, especially after the stunning [spoil]death of Julius Root[/spoil] in The Opal Deception. But Eoin Colfer entertains decently with his usual brand of dry humour, Irish folklore references, and high-tech espionage shenanigans. The new characters are particularly interesting, I’m beginning to smell a love interest for our adolescent protagonist…
And I just finished the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad. Don’t be fooled by the cover, though, this ain’t no Lion King. In fact, it was inspired by true events, of a pride of lions who escaped Baghdad zoo during the Iraq war. The visuals are breathtaking and grungy at the same time (it’s about war, whaddya expect). I didnt’ really like the ending, cos’ it came out of left-field, though the ‘epilogue’ is very haunting and poetic. Also, I wouldn’t recommend kids read this, as some of the themes such as war-trauma and sexual themes are hinted at throughout the book (not to mention the deeper message, the futility of war and its effects on innocent civilians would fly over the young uns’ heads). But if you’re old enough and can handle it, PoB is one of the most heartwrenching and beautiful commentaries on a recent event, while remaining relatively objective to both sides at the same time.
TDIT - Artemis Fowl is a great series. Have fun with Lost Colony - it’s quite enjoyable. If you’ve got a few bucks, you should get it on audiobook (link). Nathaniel Parker reads it spectacuarly and it’s so great making Artemis come to life. I’m currently listening to Time Paradox and it’s pretty gripping stuff.
I finished reading Swan Sister: Fairy Tales Retold, a collection of short stories, twists on famous legends, myths, and fairy tales, some made contemporary, some used as an analogy, and some added with a darker or more interesting layer. It’s written by various authors. Really enjoyable, to say the least. There’s a story in there for everyone. 
From Rapunzel to Sleeping Beauty to Arabian Nights to Tom Thumb to Bluebeard to Red Riding Hood and quite a few others. I loved it.
I’ve also read my second book in the graphic novel series Babymouse. It’s actually aimed for younger readers but who cares? I found it cute and funny and couldn’t put it down. It wasn’t too girly either. It was actually quite relatable underneath the light-hearted cartoon(s).
And also There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom, by Louis Sachar. I couldn’t put that book down either. I wasn’t all that interested in reading the book until I actually started it and it was amazing! Hilarious in some parts, and amazingly, right after the hilariousness, came the touching depth and some sadness and loneliness. I was reminded of Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Lilo and Stitch. The part where the kid everyone is afraid of comes home to his imaginary animal friends (shouldn’t be a spoiler 'cause it’s on, like the second or third chapter only) actually made me cry! I really related it to Lilo and Stitch.