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Oh I'm very excited as well! Any chance you know when it will be released? Unfortunately, it seems to take Paolini forever to finish his books. And I thought it'd take a shorter while now, since he'd already finished a lot of the 4th one when he decided he'd split the third into two parts... It's already been too long.

Very few that I know of seem to enjoy books as much as I do and e.g. take the time to read when they could be watching television instead. However, it seems that most of my classmates can enjoy a good book every once in a while although I've only started to notice this after I went to college - one that has a word for being for fit for ambitious kids who are willing to devote their time to their studies. In elementary, I felt as if I was almost the only kid in school who read at all. Considering that it was at the highlight of the Harry Potter-hype, that's saying something. However, if you'd ask my history teacher about teenagers' reading, he'd probably say we don't read at all because we normally don't recognise his quotes from Classics and other novels he's read. I think the problem is mainly that there is little time for reading for your own entertainment when you're in school. I, for example, do not only have to keep up with my biology/chemistry/physics/French/maths textbooks, I also have to read a few novels for English/Icelandic/Danish class. Sadly, a lot of teenagers I know do not even bother to read the ones they're set to read for class and settle for notes from others instead. A shame.

After months and months of teasingly commenting on my friend's adoration for the books, she gave up on me and told me I could not continue spreading my opinions about the series until I had at least read one of them. What I did was go right out and buy the whole thing. I read them all at once and I can honestly say I was a little surprised. I normally love fantasy but the idea of some perverted vampire romance made me a bit skeptical. I can admit I enjoyed reading most parts of it - though I am not a bit fan of the cheesy, corny scenes in movies/books so I felt a little silly reading some of the Edward-Bella conversations. I deeply disliked it that Apart from the silly scenes, the book was definitely a good read, to me at least. It's not written in breathtaking English and the plot is not a complex one, but it gets you through the pages pretty fast. The third book was my favourite, the second was least fun to read and the fourth was a bit...weird, I must say. I do not agree on all the characters of the books either. If someone would ask me if I was team-Edward or team-Jacob, I would certainly say Edward because as I went on reading, I came to dislike Jacob greatly. Nonetheless, he is sort of an love-to-hate character whereas Bella's character is not. She annoyed me a little throughout the books, the idea of her being so normal is good to the story but I think she's too much of a crybaby. My favourite character was, undoubtedly, Jasper Cullen. He was, in my opinion, the most interesting of them all and I'd have loved a few chapters written in his perspective. Do not get me started on the Twilight films though. I think they must be the worst piece of motion picture material since Eragon.

Thanks!

I read a few more pages in Au

The nationality-comment was written in sort of a sarcastic way - though it is honestly true that we do get a bit of angry comments from Brits because of it. And for long, I have been using the terms for "fantasy" and "sci-fi" as if it were one genre, even though I know they're not exactly the same. I hope that doesn't cause much confusion but I'm not really sure where my favourites should be classified. I could tell you that I'm interested in reading books such as Hitchikers Guide (one I'm sure I'd love, but I haven't gotten the chance to start it yet) and e.g. Iliad/Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I'm also a big fan of the definite fantasies: Harry Potter (of course), His Dark Materials, Inheritance trilogy(Eragon). I also used to read Artemis Fowl when I was a bit younger as well, though I still have a soft spot for those. I'm also started on A Song of Ice and Fire and they're honestly awesome, much more "advanced" fantasy if compared to the children's books I've named. I recommend you try them out if you like fantasy as well! What would you say are your favourite Sci-fi novels? I'll see which ones you mentione and tell you if I've read them myself.

...or, as it was translated later on, "In Search of Lost Time". I'm not 100% sure if this belongs here or not but I think it could be considered a classic anyway. What I'm talking about is a 7 volume series written by the Frenchman Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922). A semi-autobiographical novel where the narrator reflects on memories from the past. Has anyone ever read it? If so, how did you like it? Is it worth getting into? I probably would have gotten myself a copy to try it out myself by now my country is really no market for books in English (and I'd prefer the English translation to the Icelandic one, if there even is one). I guess I have to try the library when I find the time but please, do tell your opinion on the novel!

Hello everyone As I stumbled upon the link to this forum on Google, I decided to sign up and I have to say - it looks good! I'm a big fan of books and literature (as you surely all are) and I'm excited to have found a place with such a lively discussion on books and authors. I see a lot of interesting things going on here, the idea of "the Reading Circle" especially intrigues me. Although, after looking at some of your ~2010 reading lists, I must say that I am not such a fast reader as a lot of you seem to be. I am very busy with school at the moment, and work during the summers, but I'm looking forward to enjoying some good books with you and hopefully getting to know some of you! Because i'm bored, I decided to write whatever comes to mind about me, my likes, dislikes, interests, et cetera. It's a long text of blabbering so if you're not as bored and restive as I am at this moment - skip to the last paragraph. I'm 18 years old and female. I love reading and I have become so much of a book-addict these days that I've started to spend most of my money on books, ones I don't even have the time to read. I find something to like in all genres: fiction, sci-fi, non-fiction, thriller, romance, science, classic... I must admit that I have for long lingered on sci-fi's and children's books (for which I have a soft spot) but I have a long TBR list of both classics, science treatises, books on history, books by Nobel Prize winners as well as more sci-fi books to started on! I think I generally am a nice person. Sometimes I can be too honest and I'm definitely very curious about almost everything, which probably enkindles my huge enthusiasm for subjects such as history and physics/mathematics in school. I can be very stubborn and I sometimes come off arrogant - even though I don't mean to at all - perhaps on account of how sarcastic I can be at times. I'm not extremely outgoing or social - definitely not a party-person - I prefer little groups of 3-4 friends. I don't have an extreme need to be around someone at all times or having someone to talk to either - frankly I love spending time on my own reading or drawing, which is another one of my hobbies. For those of you who believe in Zodiac signs, I'm Aries. I'm registered in the Lutheran church of my country (as about 90% of the population here), though I can not be considered very religious. I simply haven't decided what to believe yet. As you can see, I'm prone to talking too much when I really get into it and if you could even be bothered to read all this text, I congratulate you. As I noticed in a "Where are you from?"-thread that a lot of you are from the UK, I'm asking you nicely not to stone me when I say this but... I'm Icelandic. I currently live in the capital area of Iceland and I must say that I in no way am responsible for the money we owe your nation because of IceSave and I beg of you that you do not judge me because of my nationality. I also take no responsiblity for the ash our volcano is spreading over your flight-areas and preventing flights all around. That said, I also ask that you be patient with me if you come across a lot of language difficulties, English is only my second language and there certainly is a huge void between English and Icelandic. By reading however, I am constantly improving my vocabulary so bare with me. Enough about me! Tell me a little something about you?

Stieg Larsson.

I do not think that how much I dream is affected by how much I read. Frankly, researchers say that everyone dreams about 2-3 dreams per night - we just don't remember them all. I usually remember at least one of mine every time I wake up and I must however say that the books certainly affect my imagination. One memorable dream to wake up from was e.g. one where I was, along with the rest of the world, trapped in an enormous space ship along with Voldemort (and his very handsom son, I might add!) who was plotting to blow up the moon. He had even convinced everyone that this was necessary, though I can not remember why, it was about to collide with the earth or something like that. Eventually, it blew up and the tiny bits of it spread all over earth's surface and everything was covered in red/greenish light until all went dark. A weird dream, with more random twists on it but like I say - books definitely affect the dreams. Too much Harry Potter for me I guess.

I'm Icelandic, so "other European country" was my vote.

"Au

I'm a female Nordic viking, around 15 years of age. I live on an island west of Scotland and it's the year 853. My name is Au