Icecream

You are right Kylie. I am a huge fan of Harry Potter, and am a christian. I cannot see why link to withcraft in the series. It is just an enjoyable fantasy series. People will make their own minds up and I do not agree that people, especially children already in the church should be told not to read or watch something. The church has every right to express an opinion of course, but should never tell people what to do.

Hi Deirdre, welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum.

For the films, there are nine books. Beef is right: There are comic versions based on cartoons, but the first Star Wars books have nine in total. Of course, if you have seen the films you will know that first, 4, 5, and 6 were made, and then 1, 2 , and 3 (because George Lucas said that he wold not make the first three until the special FX industry was up to scratch). The other three of course have not yet been made. You can get them on Amazon, but take care not to get mixed up with the comic and other various versions. The ones you want if you want to read the main story are called Star Wars:Legacy of the Force, and all have there own indivdual titles as well.

I didn't mean that people should not speak their opinion. Of course they should. If they didn't, then we would not see the different views that there are in the world.

I agree with you all. What I was saying earlier was from what i read in Christianity magazine. I should have said that of course, but it was late:blush:. Anyway, of course a book should be taken as a story and just given its merits on that basis. The article I was reading also said that all the anti christian stuff had been taken out of it and apparently Nicole Kidman herself said that there is no anti catholic bias in the film. This sounds like a fantasy film and nothing else. I think the thing with film is that it tends to reach many more people than a book. I have no problem with other religions or views as a christian, but I do have a strong missionary ethic that comes from being a christian (converting the world to christianity) and it sort of annoys me when something as public as this happens that seems against that missionbut then again there are lots of things in the world to tempt people away from christianity. If Christians want to spread the word of God then they should do it, find ways to communicate with people instead of just complaining (again nothing personal and no offense meant). I don't want to turn this into a religious debte either. I just wanted to express this view. As for the woman in Sudan the first thing I thought was that if she is not of their religion, how can she possibly blaspheme? It is such an unfair accusation and that punishment is just uncalled for. I just pray that God is with her and he will get her through the ordeal. As a christian, I am sure that he will bring something good out of her suffering.

I am sorry Echo. I didn't mean to offend you, but I know a lot of catholics who agree with me that the system is wrong. I mean with all the rules that are imposed upon catholics by those who lead the religion. It is not what christianity is about. Paul, the church is becoming less influential. People have a lot to say about it. It saddens me that people can be so against it, but they are.

If you ask me, this is Catholics being catholic, or in other words hypocritical, although i do see where the church is coming from mainly. The Dark Materials books apparently reject organised religion and are particularly critical of the catholic church (hence my previous comment), however, I can agree that some views portrayed could be severly damaging to religion. Pullman thinks that religion is so bad that it is soley responsible for horrific things happening in the past, and also controlling people (which to an extent in the catholic church is true). What I think is particularly bad, is that he seems to slander the name of God which is not a good thing and says he is happy to be known as the churches enemy, which is also very harsh for someone with such influence to say. The church is worried about its reputation. Since things like the Dark Materials and that recent book about Darwin's theory, the church is losing its grip. Apparently though, the anti catholic bias has been taken out of the film.

Roland! You are joking? Choose my favourite fantasy??? Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, children's fantasy like the Magic Faraway Tree. I adore fantasy. LOTR is probably my all time fantasy.

Adam, you are right. I was going to say something similar, but didn't. It is your choice what you do as a career. It is my choice to stay at home with my children which means I have no money. We are all making what we can out of life, and it is not always possible to buy things new. If people like an author enough then that person will make money, just as with any job you need to be good to make money. Not liking the sale of used books will not stop it. We have already proved that people will always buy them for whatever reason, but I am sure we all understand your position Talisman.

Yes, that may well be my problem too.

Me too! How annoying is that?!

When I moved my textbooks this week I had a count and I think I have 47 Theology/biblical books, around 10 music books, plus a few other reference books such as dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus, biographical dictionary, quotations dictionary, a book about lettering and also with those are 32 christian fiction books. I still have to count my children's and other fiction books.

The Firm, by John Grisham reminds me of train stations, because I bought it to go on a train journey. I bought The Painted House for the same reason but ended up being to sleepy on the train. Heartbreaker by Susan Howatch reminds me of the guy who gave it to me, a random high spirited guy who decided to chat to me whilst I was moving house and to give me a book. That book ended up having quite an impact on my life.

And so you should Talisman. Stories are a great gift. A world without authors is unthinkable!

Me too, this interview is rather interesting.

Aren't Star Wars Sci Fi? I have heard that they are supposed to be very good but haven't read them yet (there are 9 for those who don't know anything about it).

I hear what you are saying Talisman, of course when you have put so much effort into a book, you want to be paid for it, but second hand books are the only way some of us can read. do buy certain books new, but truthfully at the moment I am struggling to feed my family and pay the bills on what I get. As has been said, we are all trying to make our way in the world. One of the things that keeps me going is reading, so I will buy second hand mostly at least for the time being. As has also been said, it probably all comes out in the wash anyway. Everybody has different cirumstances and buys books in different ways. If I can afford it, or I specifically want to I will buy new. The book industry is never going to be a very profitable one. Reading is a pleasure to be given to those who enjoy it.

Welcome top the forum Chicken!

I was wondering that too. Could you possibly give us an idea what you are looking for?

Katie has gone from helping to turn the pages (though she still does sometimes) to trying to eat the books, to just wanting to look at the cover. She will turn the book back to the front cover, the back to the page we are on and continue turning whilst I am trying to turn the pages and read them to her. She has also started touching pictures and things on the pages though.

I use that site too Kell! Comes in very handy as a spellchecker to at times.

Yes I do, and to get to my dictionary at the moment I have to pull out a bed (which is on its side), move a huge wardrobe to get into the shelves and then pull out a huge volume (Shorter Oxford English Dictionary in two volumes). Sometimes I think I will go and look later when I have finished reading, but then I have things to do or I forget. I like to know what I am reading about. I have dictionaries out all the time.

Hey Ben! Welcome to the forum. I am a fairly recent graduate (last year). I also play the piano, but am not very good as my primary instrument is the cornet. I don't have much time for music with my baby girl. Hope you enjoy it here!