Books: 2nd Edition

[Alyosha]

Meh, I think the whole Banned Books! issue is overhyped. Unless you're the Library of Congress, someone IS judging which books are deserving and which aren't; it's unavoidable. I certainly don't agree with "banning" books per se--and a lot of my favourite books were challenged at one time or another--but as far as what's in a school library and what's not, somebody draws the line somewhere. The difference of opinion is where the lines should be drawn, not whether they should be drawn--no one argues that kids should be exposed to (for example) pornography or torture in the name of freedom of expression.

Also, having a spot on that list doesn't mean that that book is banned in school libraries across the country up to this very day, etc etc. Censorship is a safe thing to rant about because it's supposed to be controversial but hardly anyone actually promotes it A couple cantankerous or concerned librarians and parents who happen to make the news do not equal Fahrenheit 451. Especially because banning a book only increases its popularity.

I will shut up now...

Love the book covers, all I especially like TPB cover AJAikenposted, and Jo's Battle for Middle Earth, and W4J's That Hideous Strength.

Ok, so I'm getting the idea that I ought to read the Hunger Games books... ?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Banned books. Hmm... I'm not a believer in book censorship but there are some books that shouldn't be available in public libraries - namely pornography.
Otherwise, it's very easy to become overly legalistic and ban books here and there, not based on God's Truth or their context and worldview, but purely on their content and personal preference.
That said, there are some people who are sick individuals and would try to pass off pornography as 'art', so you have to be careful deciding which side of the fence to sit on. It's an important issue but not an easy one.

[Bookwyrm]

The only time I think book banning is appropriate is in libraries intended only for children. Obviously you don't need explicit sex in books that only ten year olds will have access too. But in regular public libraries? Put whatever you want in them. If you want to get really nit-picky about what goes into public libraries you'd have to ban the Bible as well. Just think about all the rapes and dismemberments in the Old Testament. From what I've seen, most people who are pro-censorship are prudish reactionaries who've never actually read the books they want banned. That's how you get people babbling about characters summoning demons in Harry Potter and assorted nonsense like that.

[sandyentersNarnia]

I just had to read TCON: Voyage of the Dawn Treader again! The story really touches me, . Aslan is my favorite character in the book of course, since he started Narnia. Long live Narnia! *goes back on the last page I stopped in the book*.

[Liberty Hoffman]

^^ me too! I just re-read it and then I also listened to the audio book a million times this summer



I just re-read Inkspell for the 5th time. the Inkheart trilogy is addicting!

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Just recently, I finally finished Stephen King's The Stand. It's an excellent book but theres a section in the last 3rd of the book that's beyond dull. I struggled to return to the book but continued onwards a week or so later. I'm glad I did. Wow.

Here's my review:

The Stand is often reputed to be Stephen King's finest novel and it's easy to see why. He was inspired to write this book after reading The Lord of the Rings and in turn, The Stand became the blue-print for the hit TV-series - Lost (of which King was/is a huge fan). This epic novel is largely character-centric. The characters are great, whether the reader learns to love them or love to hate them. The character development is so rich that the reader feels they personally get to know the characters. The premise has been done many a time before - massive plague threatens the existence of mankind, but rarely (if ever) has it been done so well. The novel is long, well over a 1,000 pages, but for the most part, it moves at a brisk pace. My only complaints are that I found maybe 100 or so pages in the last 3rd of the novel to be superfluous. This time is spent developing the characters, but the story draws to a stand-still; the danger seems far off. Nothing moves the story forward. Also, there is some strong adult content, most of it necessary but some not so much. Still, it's King, the reader's not exactly going into it expecting Janette Oake content. A great read for adults. 9.5/10



Currently, I'm reading Neil Gaiman's graphic novel - Marvel 1602. I'm not that far into it, but my understanding is that it takes the most popular Marvel Comic characters from 1960's America and transplants them to the time of Queen Elizabeth in England. I don't always agree with Gaiman's content in his books (particularly The Sandman series) but there's no denying the man is incredibly well-read and can conjure up amazing ideas and premises from the strangest or most unlikely source-maerials. In that sense, he's a creative genius. Who else would take Marvel Comic characters and see what happened if they lived almost 400 years in the past? What would be the same? What would be different? Yes, it's a comic book but it's decidedly intelligent and very well-written. Not as ambitious as The Sandman series but still quite good (so far).

[Bookwyrm]

I really enjoyed the original Neil Gaiman Marvel 1602 comics, but I think the subsequent books set in that universe were not as good. Some fantastic ideas and new twists on the characters and events, but just not quite as good as what he wrote.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Bookwyrm, there are other Marvel 1602 comics? I didn't know that one. Weird. I imagine they wouldn't be as good if they weren't written by Neil Gaiman. Case in point: I recently read the graphic novel - Dead Boy Detectives. It takes one of the stories from The Sandman series and elaborates on the premise. It was a great idea but without Gaiman's involvement it just wasn't that good. Not terrible, but not Gaiman.

[Bookwyrm]

I think there are three or four additional volumes. One is about the Marvel 1602 version of Spider-Man and there's one about the Fantastic Four meeting the Atlanteans.

[Adeona]

So. I just finished reading The King of Attolia. That took me all of two and half days and now I'm wishing I'd slowed down and spread things out a little bit!

Here is a condensation of my thoughts:
Upon finishing TT: "Better then average, if not quite as good as I was expecting. I'll go ahead and read the next book."
After reading QoA: "That was odd. But I haven't read a book this good in ages!"

Megan Whalen Turner has got to be some sort of author genius.
KoA is very unique and much more intelligent then most books written nowadays. Costis as a new character holds his own. I love his little moment in the guard room when he blasts the door open. MWT did some great action writing there; streamlined, visual. It was like a movie in my head!

SHOW SPOILER KoA

It is a very believable story. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a real history. When Costis walked in to find Eugenides crying I felt as if I were intruding and was almost embarrassed!

The plot is littered with little discoveries and mini climaxes. The reader's emotions are being constantly twisted around - suspense, surprise, laughter, worry.

The only negative point I have about this book is that it winds down too early; the last few chapters feel slow and almost dragging. Did anyone else notice this? For me, the biggest climaxes are the assassination attempt (action, chapter 7 of 14) and Eugenides' visit to Relius in the dungeon (emotional, chapter 10). Of course there is still plenty going on after that, but the plot never quite reaches those heights again.

The King of Attolia is... amazing.


Also recently, I read Murder on the Orient Express. Big disappointment. It's a classic mystery, so maybe I was expecting too much after all the positive things I've heard. But I found the solution a little too far fetched. And some of the passengers acted way too innocent for people who have been involved in a murder - even one they felt justified. This is the first book I've read by Agatha Christie, so I will give her another shot, but so far I very much prefer Dorothy Sayers.

[Pyxis]

On book banning: Last year, my history teacher told my class about a school where the dictionary was banned from the library because there were definitions of swear words in it and the school didn't want kids to look them up. I think banning the dictionary, of all things, is a bit extreme; after all, it's not like the dictionary was written purely to define bad words.

My school library opened recently, so I've got a lot of good books--Enchantment, by Orson Scott Card; Ptolemy's Gate, by Jonathan Stroud; and Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier are the books I've been reading lately. I've also been rereading Little Men.

One of my favorite book covers has to be Un Lun Dun, by China Mieville.


I also love the cover of Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier.

I really love the details in the cover; there's just so much stuff going on.

[narnian1]

I'm reading Nicholas Sparks' True Believer
I'm in chapter ten now and I just got to something that I had to look up. Fascinating!

1898's book: Futility. and 1912's sinking of: Titanic


reading ordinary books can sometimes bring about some interesting historical facts

[sillygoose]

Adeona, you should read "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie next. I thought it was a really cool book. For some reason, it felt like a very modern book, but when I read "Murder on the Orient Express" that felt like a very classic book. Did anyone else get that feeling?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Pyxis, ooh, Un Dun Lun looks interesting! What's the book about exactly? (minimal spoilers would be good - thanks)

Adeona, it's a pity that you didn't enjoy Murder on the Orient Express. I quite enjoyed it. Agatha Christie was known as the Queen of Crime and really helped to bring murder mysteries into the main-stream. I haven't read any Dorothy Sayers. She was a Christian though. What books do you recommend of hers?
Try Agatha Christie's The Big Four. I love that one. It's very different from much of her other books. There's no will of inheritance to kill anyone over but it's a great story of intrigue and espionage.

[Adeona]

Thank you for the suggestions, sillygoose and Warrior 4 Jesus! I will keep them in mind. And Warrior, I haven't read a ton of Dorothy Sayers' work, but my favorites have been Murder Must Advertise and The Nine Tailors. Both very good mysteries.

[Avra]

I just finished reading Gifts by Ursula Le Guin; I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It was very interesting how she wove an intriging story in which very little happened. I think I need to read more of her books.

Also read Into The Wild, a whole bunch of Nicholas Sparks books a co-worker lent me (The Last Song was my favorite of the bunch) and a really funny book called The Science of Superheroes. That is a must-read!