Pixie

I am almost half way through Boy's Life by Robert McCammon. My goodness, this book is excellent! I was a bit skeptical when I saw all the positive reviews on amazon, but it really is that good. At least, so far. I will do a review of this book. It is my first by the author, and it probably won't be my last. He has other books that look fascinating.

We'll see if I can stick to it, poppyshake. This is my method. I stare at my shelves and look at all the books that I haven't read and convince myself that it is all clutter taking up space until I read them. In other words, I only want items of value to me in my home. Those books are not valuable until I have read them and can make that decision. I want my house full of things I love, not useless clutter. That is what I tell myself. Sound convincing? Anyway, this will be my new year resolution, to only buy two for every ten I read. So I still have some books coming for the end of this year. I'm terrible about purchasing Christmas gifts for myself. If I read To The Lighthouse before you do, I'll be sure to give a review.

Two words: No space. Seriously, I could probably find more space if I rearranged some furniture. Hmmmm...

Help! I'm drowning in a sea of books. I really need to make a reading list for next year, and diminish the size of my TBR pile. I have no more book shelf space. I went through my books today, trying to find books I have read that I want to get rid of. Ummmmm, I couldn't come up with even ONE that I was certain I wanted to part with. The trouble is, the ones I didn't enjoy, I have already given away. The other trouble is, I like a lot more books than I dislike. The third trouble is there are a lot more unread books on my shelf than read ones. We're talking a 10 to 1 ratio here. So I'm going to start a list, and promise myself only two new books for every ten I read. Here is my planned reading list for 2011 so far. I'll begin with a list of 10 and add from there. Blue - To be read Red - Finished reading Green - Abandoned 1. Twenty Years After (Dumas) 2. Tales from the 1001 Nights (Burton) 3. Passage (Connie Willis) 4. The Children's Book (A.S. Byatt) 5. The Gunslinger (Stephen King) 6. The Best of Gene Wolfe (Gene Wolfe) 7. The Shack (Wm. Paul Young) 8. The Drawing of the Three (Stephen King) 9. The Cream of the Jest (James Branch Cabell) 10. The Waste Lands (Stephen King) 11. The Baron in the Trees (Italo Calvino) 12. Wizard and Glass (Stephen King) 13. Breakfast of Champions (Kurt Vonnegut) 14. Wolves of the Calla (Stephen King) 15. To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf) 16. Song of Susannah (Stephen King) 17. Afterlife (Douglas Clegg) 18. The Dark Tower (Stephen King) 19. Plague (Albert Camus) 20. A Dark Matter (Peter Straub) 21. Shadow and Claw (Gene Wolfe) 22. Complete Short Stories (Oscar Wilde) 23. Sword and Citadel (Gene Wolfe) 24. Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) 25. The Urth of the New Sun (Gene Wolfe) 26. Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke) 27. Handle With Care (Jodi Picoult) 28. Black Sun Rising (C.S. Friedman) I will review books as I finish them. Ratings are as follows: 1 - Awful, nobody should read this 2 - Poor, it might be okay if you just want to waste time 3 - Fair, wasn't great but it had it's moments 4 - Good, nothing to get excited over but well worth my time 5 - Excellent, a great piece of literature with very few unneeded elements 6 - Classic, superb in every way and one I must read again some day

Describe yourself: The Sugar Queen (Sarah Addison Allen) How do you feel: Invisible (Paul Auster) Describe where you currently live: Nightmare House (Douglas Clegg) If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman) Your favorite form of transportation: Pegasus (Robin McKinley) Your best friend is: The Mote in God's Eye (Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle) You and your friends are: Angels of Destruction (Keith Donohue) What's the weather like: Winter's Tale (Mark Helprin) You fear: Nausea (Sartre) What is the best advice you have to give: Dance Dance Dance (Haruki Murakami) Thought for the day: Peace (Gene Wolfe) How I would like to die: The Neverending Story (Michael Ende) My souls present condition: Pale Fire (Nabokov) That was fun!

These came in the mail today: Summer Morning, Summer Night by Ray Bradbury Boy's Life and Swan Song by Robert McCammon Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley The Bell and The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub My Christmas gifts to myself.

"Imaginative and enchanting". You just described the books of Patricia McKillip. I think you would love her work. She basically writes adult fairy tales. Her prose is dreamlike and poignant. You could start with The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Alphabet of Thorn, or Winter Rose to see if you like her style. Another book that fits your description is The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. A beautiful, somewhat sad fantasy tale full of poetic prose. You also might like The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. If you know the movie, the book is far, far better. Happy reading!

Read almost 100 pages of Ghost Story by Peter Straub. It hasn't grabbed me yet, and I'm not in the mood to force my way through it. I'm putting it aside for another time. I'm going to read the new one by one of my favorite authors, The Bards of Bone Plain by Patricia McKillip.

I finished Mary and O'Neil by Justin Cronin. It was excellent, simple and sad. I'm now reading Ghost Story by Peter Straub.

I would like to request that the mods lock and delete this thread. I am going to start a new one for next year, and do things a little differently. Thank you so much.

It is excellent so far. I am almost half way done already. The characters are instantly sympathetic and the prose is gorgeous. Maybe I will do a review when I am finished if I can find the time.

Since I have been hearing so much about The Passage by Justin Cronin, I decided to follow the beat of my own drum and read Mary and O'Neil instead, by the same author.

I'm glad to find someone else who read this book. It seems to be an obscure title from Richard Adams, and I can't understand why, as I find it to be his best work. And I did love Watership Down.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

I will now be starting on my book of Dicken's Christmas stories, which includes A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, and The Haunted Man.

I wanted to like it. I really enjoyed his other one, The Angel's Game. Weird, huh?

Exactly what I thought, Katrina.

I agree with Talisman on this one. I have a cell phone for emergencies only. I have no need to chat with someone wherever I go, and I find people that are constantly on their cell phone in public an annoyance. Every time I am out at a store, waiting in line to make my purchases, there is always someone in front of me holding up the line because he or she is not paying attention and gabbing away on the cellphone. Then there are the ones that use the cell phone while driving, and pay no attention to the road and have no consideration for the lives they may be putting in jeopardy. I'm not saying all cell phone users are like this, but it's very common here in America, and I live in a small town! This is a pet peeve of mine. Maybe it has nothing really to do with the cell phones. Maybe these people are just inconsiderate of others no matter what. But it just seems like a lot of people feel like they can't go anywhere without a phone on their ear, and this is just not true. It's hard to engage positively and warmly with those you come across when their ear and mind are focused somewhere else. I apologize for the rant.

I finished The Shadow of the Wind. I wasn't that impressed. I found it to be contrived with flat, stereotypical characters. There were so many of them and yet not one drew my sympathy. I wouldn't have minded the purple prose so much if the story had been more interesting. I'm now reading The Secret History of Fantasy, a book of short stories by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Gregory Maguire, Patricia McKillip, Susanna Clarke, and Stephen King, just to name a few.