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Post by Sara on May 15, 2004 21:09:26 GMT -5
<snip> Connie Willis: To Say Nothing of the Dog (funny!), Doomsday Book (not funny; will make you cry), Passage (combines both descriptions), Bellwether (funny, again) Just wanted to add my big eetah to the Connie Willis love.
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Post by beccaelizabeth on May 19, 2004 15:50:23 GMT -5
Terry Pratchett is a master storyteller. A couple of books a year and they still keep getting better. I end up quoting more Pratchett than Buddha when I'm trying to have religion thoughts. Which says as much about my thought process as his writing, but he manages to make things hilariously funny and yet very precisely and importantly true. The latest two young readers books- 'Wee Free Men' and 'A Hat Full of Sky' are absolutely brilliant. They make more sense if you've read other Witches books from the Discworld, but you dont have to have read them first. And I dont know why these are for 'young' readers rather than 'everyone with a sense of humour but also young people', probably because there is a kid as the main character. Monstrous Regiment is not a good place to start. I liked it but my mum mostly didnt. It is a bit different that previous books. Beginning at the beginning doesnt give you the full Pratchett experience either because he didnt hit stride until a few books in to the Discworld. But they are selling multi book sets about the Witches or the Guard and those are good, because you get a whole lot of the favourite characters in a row.
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Post by KMInfinity on May 31, 2004 17:49:25 GMT -5
I keep meaning to read Pratchett and still haven't, despite numerous recommendations from people I trust. Do you have a specific "best place to start" since the early books (chronologically) aren't the best?
Meanwhile, I've been reading Bruce Alexander's mysteries set in 18th century London, starring Sir John Fielding, Bow Street magistrate (an historical person.) They are excellent. The mysteries are competently done, but the real enjoyment is the historical nature of the setting.
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Post by Barb on May 31, 2004 18:16:29 GMT -5
After a delay of a few days, I thought I would recommend:
Enchantress from the Stars by Sylvia Louse Engdahl
and it's sequel:
The Far Side of Evil by Sylvia Louise Engdahl
Both are about a girl, Elana, who is a part of an anthropological service that studies Youngling human development on different planets. Younglings being those that are less developed, or evolved than they of the Federation. (Not the Star Trek Federation)
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Post by Becky H on Jun 8, 2004 14:26:20 GMT -5
Has anyone read or heard of a book called Eragon? Is it any good? Thanks. I have! This is what I said about it in an annotated bib I had to write: Paolini, Christopher. Eragon (Inheritance: Book One). New York: Borzoi Books/Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Reading Level: Grade 7 and up Length: 509 pages Wunderkind Christopher Paolini began this story when he was only 15 years old. That might be enough of a hook to get kids interested but the story is actually worthwhile. Paolini holds a heavy and obvious debt to both J.R.R. Tolkien and Anne McCaffrey: dwarves and elves and psychically connected dragons and Riders all play a part in Eragon. As well, there is the familiar format of the orphan, Eragon, discovering unknown powers and a yet-to-be-fulfilled destiny, in this case with his (female) dragon, Saphira. Paolini manages, though, to take all of these familiar elements and to synthesize his own unique story. For some readers, part of the fun of Eragon will be identifying the sources of Paolini's world, Alagaësia. Others will simply enjoy the narrative and look forward to its continuance in the remaining volumes of the planned Inheritance trilogy.
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Post by Queen E on Jun 8, 2004 15:10:04 GMT -5
I have! This is what I said about it in an annotated bib I had to write: Paolini, Christopher. Eragon (Inheritance: Book One). New York: Borzoi Books/Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Reading Level: Grade 7 and up Length: 509 pages Wunderkind Christopher Paolini began this story when he was only 15 years old. That might be enough of a hook to get kids interested but the story is actually worthwhile. Paolini holds a heavy and obvious debt to both J.R.R. Tolkien and Anne McCaffrey: dwarves and elves and psychically connected dragons and Riders all play a part in Eragon. As well, there is the familiar format of the orphan, Eragon, discovering unknown powers and a yet-to-be-fulfilled destiny, in this case with his (female) dragon, Saphira. Paolini manages, though, to take all of these familiar elements and to synthesize his own unique story. For some readers, part of the fun of Eragon will be identifying the sources of Paolini's world, Alagaësia. Others will simply enjoy the narrative and look forward to its continuance in the remaining volumes of the planned Inheritance trilogy. Thank you. I actually have read it, thereby getting over my whole, "He was 15! That bastard!" moment more quickly than I expected. I mean, I wrote a novel when I was 15, but it sucked. I knew that he owed a debt to certain authors, but having only read The Hobbit and no Anne McCaffrey, my knowledge was nebulous as to exact references. Thanks again for responding to this; got any more book recs for me?
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Post by Becky H on Jun 8, 2004 15:29:42 GMT -5
Thank you. I actually have read it, thereby getting over my whole, "He was 15! That bastard!" moment more quickly than I expected. I mean, I wrote a novel when I was 15, but it sucked. I knew that he owed a debt to certain authors, but having only read The Hobbit and no Anne McCaffrey, my knowledge was nebulous as to exact references. Thanks again for responding to this; got any more book recs for me? That depends - what do you like? Do you want to think? Do you want to wallow in semi-mindless fun? I've been reading lots of YA lately for my class and they go down like M&Ms but some of them are surprisingly substantial. Off the top of my head, try A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly. It's the story of the murder that prompted Dreiser's American Tragedy but told from the point of view of a YA protagonist who's a maid in the Adirondack hotel where it took place.
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Post by Queen E on Jun 8, 2004 17:53:19 GMT -5
That depends - what do you like? Do you want to think? Do you want to wallow in semi-mindless fun? I've been reading lots of YA lately for my class and they go down like M&Ms but some of them are surprisingly substantial. Off the top of my head, try A Northern Light, by Jennifer Donnelly. It's the story of the murder that prompted Dreiser's American Tragedy but told from the point of view of a YA protagonist who's a maid in the Adirondack hotel where it took place. Sounds very cool. I'll have to take a look. It's hard for me to choose lately. I want something that will suck me in but not pander to me or be really stupid. I've had it up to here with metafiction, and things that resemble real life (concerns about bills, fidelity, everyday matters) are not something I want to spend 400 pages with. Is "brainy escapism" a category of literature? If not, it should be.
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Post by Becky H on Jun 8, 2004 18:13:05 GMT -5
Sounds very cool. I'll have to take a look. It's hard for me to choose lately. I want something that will suck me in but not pander to me or be really stupid. I've had it up to here with metafiction, and things that resemble real life (concerns about bills, fidelity, everyday matters) are not something I want to spend 400 pages with. Is "brainy escapism" a category of literature? If not, it should be. I know I'm on the verge of becoming monotonous, but there is a lot of really good YA fiction out there. The story has to be good because teens have an acute bullsh*t meter but they also don't want to be pandered to or patronized. So you get good but usually short books which are starting to do inventive things with language: second person narratives, free verse, multiple narrative voices. Take a look at the YALSA BBYA lists and the Alex Award lists at the ALA website and see if anything strikes your fancy. For some reason, the latest lists have only titles and no annotations but previous years had at least a plot synopsis. www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.htm
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Post by Queen E on Jun 8, 2004 20:25:10 GMT -5
I know I'm on the verge of becoming monotonous, but there is a lot of really good YA fiction out there. The story has to be good because teens have an acute bullsh*t meter but they also don't want to be pandered to or patronized. So you get good but usually short books which are starting to do inventive things with language: second person narratives, free verse, multiple narrative voices. Take a look at the YALSA BBYA lists and the Alex Award lists at the ALA website and see if anything strikes your fancy. For some reason, the latest lists have only titles and no annotations but previous years had at least a plot synopsis. www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.htmNo monotony here. Some of my favorite books are YA: Jacob Have I Loved, A House Like a Lotus, for instance. Also just read my very first L'Engle adult novel: A Severed Wasp. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.
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Post by Becky H on Jun 9, 2004 9:50:41 GMT -5
No monotony here. Some of my favorite books are YA: Jacob Have I Loved, A House Like a Lotus, for instance. Also just read my very first L'Engle adult novel: A Severed Wasp. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. You realize you named two of the most frequently challenged books? Want me to tell you where you can get an "I Read Banned Books" T-shirt?
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Post by Queen E on Jun 9, 2004 13:56:30 GMT -5
You realize you named two of the most frequently challenged books? Want me to tell you where you can get an "I Read Banned Books" T-shirt? Oooh, please do. OK, not that I agree, but I can see where A House Like a Lotus would get some people's knickers in a twist (alcoholism, teen sex, lesbianism, and from Madeleine L'Engle), but why Jacob Have I Loved?
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Post by Becky H on Jun 9, 2004 15:14:06 GMT -5
Oooh, please do. OK, not that I agree, but I can see where A House Like a Lotus would get some people's knickers in a twist (alcoholism, teen sex, lesbianism, and from Madeleine L'Engle), but why Jacob Have I Loved? Jacob Have I Loved usually gets it for offensive language and for disrespect for elders. Plus, I think anything with Katherine Paterson's name on it is almost knee-jerk challenged - which is actually quite a compliment, because that means kids might really want to read them. T-shirt: www.northernsun.com/cgi-bin/ns/16472.html
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Post by Queen E on Jun 9, 2004 16:05:36 GMT -5
Jacob Have I Loved usually gets it for offensive language and for disrespect for elders. Plus, I think anything with Katherine Paterson's name on it is almost knee-jerk challenged - which is actually quite a compliment, because that means kids might really want to read them. T-shirt: www.northernsun.com/cgi-bin/ns/16472.html Incredible. It's funny, my mom has always told me, once you reach a certain level of discernment, respect for your elders needs to be earned by said elders. If they do disrespectful or awful things, to you or those you love, being taught to show them respect in the face of that is dangerous. (It's a complicated issue, I suppose.) I think the situation in the book and the state the grandmother was in, it's not surprising Louise snapped. Stupid censors. Not everything needs to or should be the Bobbsy twins. Thanks for the link; I've heard good things about that site.
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Post by Rachael on Jun 28, 2004 21:32:20 GMT -5
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
I've only done 100 of the 500 pages, and already I'm willing to recommend this one to friends. It could implode in the last 80%, I suppose, but I kinda doubt it.
If you're feeling into a good love story, this is it.
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