Menewsha Avatar Community

Menewsha Avatar Community (https://www.menewsha.com/forum/index.php)
-   Hangouts (https://www.menewsha.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=99)
-   -   The 50 Book Challenge :: Can You Handle It? (https://www.menewsha.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82667)

Knerd 03-23-2008 04:11 PM

@ Alaunt:
I've heard mixed reviews about A Great and Terrible Beauty. It seems to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of books. Just give it time and maybe your friends will be able to show you the finer points of the writing. Just save your criticisms until the end - You're much more likely to enjoy a book if look at it from the big picture. Otherwise, a defeatist attitude will just doom you from the start. (That's how I always got through required reading in school. I keep telling myself it'll get better, and by the time it's done I can just pick it apart as much as I want.)

Chaitealatte 03-23-2008 10:45 PM

Well, that was kind of surreal. I just read a longish short story/almost-novella (I don't know what to call it - it's 115 pages long) in one hit and... woah.

I still can't decide if I like Susan Hill or not. She has a lot of natural knowledge, and can pull you right in when it comes to atmosphere... I wrote my coursework essay on The Woman in Black about misfits. There're certainly a lot of them in her works - and I can understand the fascination. But something about her still makes it feel like hard work, and I can remember elements of her short stories rather than names and particular characters. Gists.

She's good, though. :3

Knerd 03-25-2008 12:32 AM

The poll is now up - I added 20 questions in there just for the fun of it. I can always run multiple rounds of them game in order to include everyone.

I'll close the poll at the end of the week.


My reading has been going very slowly lately. It seems like I just don't have the time to sit down anymore. I thought that vacation was supposed to mean relaxation! Apparently, I'm just not meant to enjoy my time off.

tentenpuff 03-25-2008 03:49 AM


Hmm, the 20 questions I thought might be a little too hard... ^^;
They'd all have to be pretty popular books for it to be fair for everyone, unless someone scours the forum for books we've discussed. If they're pretty popular books, well, we don't want to make the game too easy, either. ^^;

A suggestion - maybe a funny title contest? Kind of like the caption contests, but for a book. ^^
Like, there's a description about the book, possibly a cover, even, and people try to make a funny title out of what they know.
Just throwing ideas, so it's not that great. ^^;
Maybe someone can build on it?

@ knerd:
Aww. D:
I feel like my reading's speed up recently. =P
I actually have books to read! - so that's probably why. ^^;;

Well, I finished Ella Enchanted, which was exactly like one of the praise quotes that said it was just, well, enchanting! ^^;
I LOVED the twist on Cinderella, and I like the way Levin made her fight her curse for her true love. <33 >>;
I also finished reading The Two Princesses of Bamarre last night. I really liked it~
I liked the story, and the ending was, for me, unexpected. It was a happy ending, as most fairy tale books are, but I was a little disappointed. -tries to be vague to not spoil- ^^;;

I won't go on anymore about the books, though, because I'm too tired to whitetext any possible spoilers. .___. ;;;

I've started on The Circle of Magic: Tris's Book. ^^
It feels strange rewinding and reading the series backwards, sort of. P: I finished Shatterglass a few weeks ago, it feels kind of odd reading about the younger Tris. xD
I've barely begun, though; just graced past the first chapter. ^^;

Rusalka 03-25-2008 06:00 PM


Finally updated my list, though it's not complete. Need to get unlazy once cat moves from lap. ^^

tentenpuff 03-25-2008 11:52 PM


Speaking of which... -needs to, too-
>>;

Knerd 03-26-2008 01:09 AM

I have no books to update my list with.

*pouts*

secretdae007 03-26-2008 02:34 PM

xD I still haven't gotten to actually finishing books to update my list ^^; Slow and stead is a bit of my way... but at the rate I'm reading my journalism book, I'll probably be able to add that one >.<;

Ailyse 03-26-2008 07:49 PM

Ailyse's Book List
1. Strange Candy - Laurell K. Hamilton
287 pages
2. She's No Fearie Princess - Christine Warren
333 pages
3. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
328 pages
4. A Lick of Frost - Laurell K. Hamilton
274 pages
5. The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor
358 pages
6. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
330 pages
7. The Outlaw Demon Wails - Kim Harrison
455 pages

Currently Reading
none.

Total Books: 7
Total Pages: 2365

Wynna 03-26-2008 11:14 PM

You guys need to read The Red Tent by Anita Diamanti, it's about the tribe of Jacob, and his twelve sons, (Reuben, Judah...Joseph...etc..), his four wives, and is told through the point of view of his only daughter Dinah. It's just such a good book. I'm just so attached to Dinah's character, and it's a really interesting spin on a classic story within the bible.

Knerd 03-27-2008 08:27 PM

^ I remember seeing that advertised all the time over the summer. Every time I walked into a book store, there is was sitting on huge display tables. You could tell that the publishers were really pushing for it to become a bestseller. For some reason, that really turned me off.

Maybe I will pick it up. I just read the summary online, and it certainly sounds like something i'd be interested in.

sukishine 03-28-2008 09:26 PM

...I'm a Twilight fan girl now...
I wish the next two weren't hard backs. They are like $20 each. I don't have money.

Knerd 03-29-2008 01:49 AM

Do they have the books in your school library? Or maybe the town's library?

Wynna 03-29-2008 02:09 AM

We've got jPod in our school library...finally. I so want to read it, I had to catalogue it and cover it and all that good library technical stuff. And it looks like a really interesting book to read.

Oh yah, if you're wondering. I work in the library at school.

sukishine 03-29-2008 05:49 AM

Well, the Twilight series is way too popular to be available. I would be waiting quite some time before I could check it out so I'm not even going to try the library. I might order online although I hate to wait for shipping. It's cheaper online though.

tentenpuff 03-29-2008 07:25 PM


@ suki:
The Twilight series is all the rage at my school, it makes me not even want to read it anymore. xD
Everyone just borrows it from each other, so why don't you try that? See if any of your classmates have it?

Chaitealatte 03-29-2008 09:49 PM

Twilight hasn't taken off in the UK yet. If I hadn't known about it from its huge fanbase on the Internet (it's that popular, isn't it?), I probably wouldn't have noticed it in shop front windows. But I've not seen anybody as avid about it as the Web appears to be.

Hmm, vampires aren't my sort of thing. I just don't seem to be able to appreciate the fascination. My cousin loved Buffie, and I'd watch it with her, but I was never mad on it myself. I've read one vampire novel, and I'm on my second. Right in there with Dracula. Though I think I've spoiled it for myself by reading a critical essay.

Actually, the only vampire thing that's REALLY hooked me is a CBBC children's series called Young Dracula... it's funny figuring out what they drew on from Stoker's novel. Renfield, where have I heard the name- OH GOODNESS! xD Plus the way the Count is portrayed is oddly adorable as well as hilarious.

...Don't suppose the Sesame Street Count counts? xD

sukishine 03-29-2008 10:05 PM

@tentenpuff: I know. That's kind of the way I was but everyone recommended it so I let go of my pride. Plus my sister actually got it for a project at school but I started reading it and in two days I finished it and she hasn't even started it.
And I'm home schooled, but a friend of mine does have the series but she hasn't finished it yet so I don't want to take her books from her. Plus, I found the books cheaper on amazon so I'll see if my parents will let me get them. x.x

@Chai: Believe me, vampires aren't my sort of thing either. I don't have any desire to read Dracula or the like but I really like Twilight because of the characters.
Do you mean Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
If so, I wouldn't ever want to watch that. The thing about Twilight is that is makes you almost believe it could happen. Buffy just doesn't appeal to me.

tentenpuff 03-30-2008 01:57 AM


@ chaitealatte:
Vampires aren't really my sort of thing, either. ><;
Oh, I remember the Count!
On 9-11, in the plane crash thing, ( I was really young, keep this in mind), my brother and I couldn't find anything to watch on TV that wasn't about the crash except Sesame Street, and Count was having a party.
>>;;;; -cough-

@ suki:
Ooh, I see...
Do you recommend it, too? xD
Is it really that good?

sukishine 03-30-2008 03:46 AM

I actually would recommend it. I'm a sucker for romance.

Chaitealatte 03-30-2008 08:50 AM

Doesn't it make references to Wuthering Heights? (Heathcliff, it's me, your Cathy, I've come hooome!)

Buffie the Vampire Slayer, yes. xD I had an obsession with the man who plays Giles, whose name I can't remember... but it was the professor/father-figure/teacher role and his voice.

...He plays the headmaster in a creepy Doctor Who epsiode. The storyline in Buffy confused me (probably because I never watched it in order, missed series, and so on.)

It seems people either like or are put-off by vampires. o3o The first vampire book I read, I only read inadvertantly - the author deliberately neglects to mention it's about vampires till the epilogue; I thought for ages they were zombies with bloodlust @[email protected] - and then he told us when he visited our school that he thought Dracula was better than our set-text, Frankenstein, because it doesn't force philosophy down your throat and is more competently written. I can see what he means, but agree with my teacher when we talked afterwards that Stoker is sexist!

I never thought I'd read it either (vampires aren't my thing)... but I'm enjoying it, especially Van Helsing (see professor/doctor/philosopher/teacher figure again! xD) and all the mythology and science. Maybe what I'm trying to distinguish between is in my own creative sense - I don't think I'd ever be inspired to write about vampires, while some people seem fanatic about nothing but! I much more interested in angels, in a creative sense, myself.

@Puff - Flashbulb memory? What I remember of September 11th is coming home and watching my Dad watch the news, and having it explained to me what had happened. (I can also remember being miffd on the morning after Princess Diana's death because they'd cancelled the children's TV to show the news, and I was too young to understand why. And the London underground bombs and all the panic at school...)

1... 2... 3... Three fishes! Hahaha! *lightning claps* The Count and Oscar were my favourites. And Cookie Monster and Bert and Ernie.

Lord Orpheus 03-30-2008 12:55 PM

Hm... I've been hearing a lot about twilight lately. My high school friends have been talking about it... a lot... -wanders off to see what the fuss is about-

Wynna 03-30-2008 08:45 PM

There's also been alot of talk surrounding Twilight and those books in that series. I have been meaning to read them, but I haven't yet. I've heard that they are really good though.

tentenpuff 03-30-2008 10:54 PM


@ s u k i:
Ooh, so am I...
I guess I'll try reading it.
I'll have to remember to ask my friend for her copy. P:

@ chaitealatte:
xD Awww.
I don't remember my reaction to Princess Diana's death.
In fact, I didn't find out until I was eleven. >>;

Mine was Elmo's World. xD
I also remember in one episode, this green girl was telling us about lychee, and I was "OOO:" because I had some earlier that day, I think? xD
[/offtopic]


Addressing to Twilight series:
I read this one review that was saying it wasn't a good book, but was just good at keeping people hooked. =P
I can't remember where I read it, but I remember it was like the number one rated review or something...
Er.
>>;

sukishine 03-31-2008 05:22 AM

I just finished rereading Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry and next up is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I was planning on reading Alice and Wonderland but I found that I'm not really in the mood to read it right now. I will eventually this year when I feel like it.

@tenten: I love the romance where it's not about teenagers having sex and all. I like innocence and Edward in the book is a gentlemen although he does have a temper.

I don't understand that review. It's not good but it just keeps people hooked?
It's either I'm very slow tonight or that doesn't make very much sense to me. xD
If it wasn't good I don't think there would be so many copies sold. When my sister was purchasing it even the girl at the register was saying that she wouldn't regret buying it. I'm sure there are going to be people who won't like it just like with anything, but so far everyone that I have come into contact to that has read it loves it.


All times are GMT. The time now is 09:26 PM.