Happy Halloween! This month I hope to read some scary novels!

Frankenstein
Something Wicked this way comes
Dune
the true and outstanding adventure of the hunt sisters
Stranger in a Strange Land
A night in Lonesome October
Seven Up

Pendragon, Pendragon, more Pendragon ...
Nobody's Prize
... and i should probably finish reading The Once and Future King

I recently started reading Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers and Angie Sage's Flyte (in addition to the OTHER books I'm still working through;>)

Skinned by Robin Wasserman, Knife of Never letting go by Patrick Ness, and Let me in by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

I will be finishing up the Narnia series while I am waiting on a couple of books from the library. The second book in the Fablehaven series, Rise of the Evening Star should be the next book that is available. I am also going to try to get my hands on a copy of Something Wicked This Way Comes, so that I can join in on the discussions.

SO FAR:

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters

The Lightning Thief
(YA/Children's, of course!)

The Swan Maiden
(YA fairytale/fantasy)

Strong Poison

Acquired Tastes

Candace, I've got to finish up the Narnia series, too. I have left to read HAHB and MN. I'm curious to read them!!:D
(ps - love your picture!)

I've almost finished Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer and I've just started reading The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld.

Ooh. i love both those books! XD
right now i'm reading devilish by maureen johnson. then i'm gonna reread the third maximum ride book. then i will read generation dead ... then the seventh pendragon ... then i'd tell you i love you, but then i'd have to kill you ... and then suite scarlett (which is also by maureen johnson XD)

Personally Narnia series is one of my least favorite YA novels.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

It's difficult for me to "rate" the Narnia books. Because I come to them after embarking into some much longer, far more detailed fantasy books (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Inkheart, etc.) I find myself wanting *more* out of the Narnia books. That said, I do think Lewis lays a beautiful foundation for the stories and characters, but I feel more like I'm reading a detailed outline than a fully fleshed story. I think it's because it seems like all the detail is *there* just not actually written out, so he could have expanded but didn't. I suppose part of this reason is because it is more of a children's story, so the shorter length is probably appropriate; but for me it's difficult to be totally in love with them as I am with other fantasy books. Actually, I think this is probably one of the only instances where the movies were actually able to expand on a story, instead of cut stuff out!

I agree with you on the Narnia books, Ann & Angie. In fact, I've only read the first one and haven't been interested in readin gmore. Interestingly, last month I read Lewis' "Till We Have Faces" which is a "grown-up" novel, the retelling of Cupid and Psyche and I loved it! His style was SO different from the Narnia books, much more developed and even poetic.

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

I'll try to read:

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
The President's Parasite by Jim Musgrave
Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
Double Helix by Nancy Werlin
Talent is Not Enough by Mollie Hunter

a lot of little kids' books

and whatever else I can fit in: a friend is lending me a few books

and I'd love to read Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg but that will have to wait for another month.

I agree with all of you on the Narnia series. I started to read them partly due to my sisters love of the books and I thought I would get more out of them and enjoy the movie that much more. There was nothing in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe book that wasn't in the movie. (I secretly liked the movie better then the book) I know everyone reads the classics and raves about them but I seem to lean more toward the new stuff then classics. I am to the point that I am just reading them to say that I have read them. Is that totally lame?

Haha! I've done that with a few books myself, Candace. (And I liked the first "Narnia" movie so much more than the book!)

Lisa, that's SO great you wrote: "I'll try to read"!! I should totally preface all my reading lists like that! :D I hardly ever get through a book in just one month! lol!

And wow! I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about the Narnia books. I mean, I can understand why people love them, but for me, while I like them, I don't love them. I want more than what's on the page... and yes, I think I too liked LWW better as the movie... (I'm curious to see what they'll do with Dawn Treader!)

And yes, part of me is reading the rest of the books just to say that I have... if it's lame, then at least we're all being lame together! :D

Read:

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (oct)
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (oct)
the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (oct)
Kandide and the Secrets of the Mists (The Calabiyau Chronicles: Book One) by Diana Zimmerman (oct)

Reading:

Look at Me by Jennifer Egan
The Stone Rose by Jac Raynor (audiobook)
Double Helix by Nancy Werle

To Read:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Undone by Brooke Taylor
You Suck by Christopher Moore

Wow, that is quite a list now that I have it written down. We will see how well I do with that. :)

Nice list, Mari!:D I applaud your dedication to reading :)

Isn't the first Narnia movie based off the first two books?

Well, I just finished Bram Stoker's Dracula, a great October read. I had been in a real reading frenzy for the past few months, but October, one of my favorite months, has seen me hit a reading wall with interference from other parts of my life. Why oh why can't I just sit and read. I'm going to try to make up for lost time this coming week. Of course, it would help if I got off of the computer and read. Ha, ha. Hopefully, I will get to read the following this month: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Double Hellix, Five Quarters of the Orange, The Gargoyle, H.P. Lovecrafts Book of the Supernatural (such goodies as Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and more), and House of Leaves. I want to read either this month or next the third book in the Inkheart series, Inkdeath.

Umm... I *think* LWW movie is based just on the LWW book, Angie... but, now I think about it, I wonder if there is a little crossover, because the majority of the references in the movie about the war, and a lot of the Pevensie's time at the house they stay at isn't really in the book—mostly just them in Narnia. And, since I haven't read the first two books, I probably shouldn't have even tried to respond to your question! lol!!! I'll try to remember to let you know after I read the first one! ;>

Right now I'm reading I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter. XD

Thanks, Ann. :)

I read Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist this afternoon and loved it. Very witty.

who's the author of that?

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is co-authored by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

I just finished Trouble by Gary Schmidt. I am now a big fan of Mr. Schmidt and plan on adding other titles by him to my list!

OK, to answer Angie...

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (Movie) is only based on the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (book). The movie is vertally the same as the book. The Movie does add more detail but also leaves just a bit out.

The first book The Magician's Nephew is about the "professor" when he is a boy and discovers Narnia he also discovers the White Witch Jadis. The first book tells how everything came to be. The Pevensies do not come into the first book at all.


I asked my sister a while back why they started with The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe instead of The Magician's Nephew. They have also skipped A Horse and His Boy and did Prince Caspian. She told me that the original books were released in a different order... not in the order that they are now. She thought that they might be putting the movies out in the order that the original books were released. Hope that made sence. And I hope she is right.

Thank you, I have always told people the movie is based off the first two books and now I feel dumb! :)

Don't feel dumb, Angie! I think it confuses a lot of people with the ordering of it all, like Candace said.

Also, about the movie release orders...

(Possible SPOILERS!!!!!)

I also heard (and since I haven't read Horse and His Boy yet, I can't verify) but that part of it could have been because of casting. If it's true that Horse and His Boy is about the Pevensies in Narnia while they're kings and queens (????) then maybe the producers wanted the option of using the same actors, in which case, would have to film that one last (or Last Battle). So, they would need to film Caspian and Dawn Treader before those to get the ages of the Pevensies right... However, now it sounds like Caspian was the last movie for the actors who play Lucy and Peter... so... don't know how valid that theory is...?????

This month I've been re-reading the Twilight series. I just have Breaking Dawn left. I'm also reading the two selections for this group. The book order for my middle school LMC came in this week so I have 15 boxes of new books to choose from. At the top of my list are Zen and the Art of Faking It, Brisinger, Paper Towns (as soon as it comes out and I get it,) the Vampire Kisses series, and Artichoke's Heart. We'll see how far I get :)

Just started Mothstorm yesterday! Yay!:D

Mothstorm Huzzah for the Mumbys!

I barley got to anything I planned to read this month! I got really behind. So many of my books are spilling over into November! Out of the books I listed above I only got to two!

Yeah it has been a crazy month for me too. I did get the second Fablehaven book and read it in about a week. While I was at the library picking up that book I also picked up "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. So far I am not liking this book so it is taking me F-O-R-E-V-E-R to read. But I have to finish it or it will haunt me for the rest of my life.

I always have to finish a book as well. It drives me nuts if I don't.

I just finished the YA novel
The Swan Maiden

I enjoyed this book, though it was nothing spectacular. It held a sense of "old fairy tales" for me--the traditional ones that have a lot of magic and wonder but rather flat characters. Some of the descriptions in "Swan Maiden" are exquisite, and I enjoyed the attention to the French countryside (right down to the herbs and flowers) and the sense of magic that flowed through our heroine, Doucette. However, I did not really sympathize with Doucette--or any of the characters, for that matter; they seemed undeveloped and self-absorbed. Our hero was pleasant enough but, again, lacked depth. Overall, a pleasant if forgettable read. (And I do love the cover art!)