Michelle

I think I preferred the 1st Percy Jackson book to the 2nd, although there are things I like in both. I will definitely be getting the next two when my audible credit comes in. (The film, however, was a disappointment.) I'm now trying to read too much at once! I'm just over halfway with the Red Pyramid, which is by the author of the Percy Jackson. It started off great, but has stalled a little in the middle. It's still a good book, with the same subtle humour. I'm also reading Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan. I loved her book of YA short stories, but her novel has a different feel. It's taken a while to get a feel for the book, and now I understand what's going on, it's pretty good. It's rather odd though.. kinda like the Gregory Maguire books I've experienced. Then today I picked up The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland at work (on our charity book table). I read a few pages at lunch, and I very much like so far. So now that's tempting me to continue too!

I'm glad to hear someone has enjoyed The Banned and The Banished series, as I picked up the first two books today.

If you go Library - Podcasts, find Wolf Brother, and click on the little arrow - you should then see Get All.

Thank you for that - I'm downloading now.

So, there's lots of talk about who's read the book, plus waiting for the new one - but no one has actually posted anything about the book! Can someone share what the book is about, and maybe even add a review or some thoughts?

Kell, my mum just watched the film and thought it was really good - I think this is one case where it's hard to accept it after reading the books. lexiepiper, I personally think the books offer a lot more!

Time to resurrect an old thread of mine! I eventually got to listen to the 1st Percy Jackson book, and really liked it. I did annoyed with the way they kept walking into danger without thinking, but I can let that go. The funny thing is, I watched the film recently, and that made me realise how much detail was in the book. I'm usually able to keep my books and films separate, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed with the amount of stuff left out. The good thing is, after watching the film, Beth has decided to listen to the book on her ipod, and seems to be liking it. I'm halfway through the second book on mine, and it's just as good. For those interested in the audio version, I would have to say that the guy reading them has got to be one of the best narrators I've listened to. He does the other characters so well, even the female ones.

Mark, we just had some members who didn't hold back saying that they felt anything self published was rubbish. And when you have self-published authors on the forum, that's not helpful. Anyway, from my own point of view, I've read quite a few self-published books as a reviewer, and they are mixed. There have been a quite a few which I felt would have greatly benefited from some more input.. certain bits worked, others didn't, and I'm sure a good editor could have made quite an improvement. Others have been really good, and it's hard to see why agents have passed them by! I believe that some people have a viewpoint that if you can't find a publisher, then your work is no good, but from talking to various authors, I know this to not be true. It' can be extremely hard to get accepted by an agent/publisher, and they have their own 'set of rules'. For example, I know one author who's having trouble getting her latest book accepted by a publisher because she doesn't fit neatly into a set genre, and her two books are different - apparently they like authors to stay within their genres.

I'm reading this at the moment, and really enjoying it.

Can I just step in, with my admin hat on, and remind everyone that a previous topic about self publishing caused many problems. It's an interesting topic, but please think about what you're writing, and keeps comments constructive. Thank you.