Faye’s Comments (group member since Nov 05, 2013)

Faye’s comments from the The Reading Challenge Group group.

Brenda wrote: "Does he do the same thing in Mysterious Island? I didn't think he was like this at all in Around the World in 80 Days (which, surprise, had no balloon, wasn't science fiction at all, and generally seemed far more entertaining to me)."

Maybe I should try Around the World, then, before I give up on Verne entirely, heh. Yeah, Mysterious Island is full of it. It started to feel more like a manual on how to survive on an island... or at least an island that is full of all the provisions (and knowledge about those provisions) that you could possibly need in order to construct your own private civilization, complete with every luxury and technology known to man at the time.

I'm starting to think I'm not going to be a Jules Verne fan...

Brenda wrote: "Thank you Holly. You inspired me to read another Shakespeare play. It's been a lot of years since I read one, so I went with a (so called) Comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Alas, I now..."

I often don't find the comedies funny, but in those days "comedy" didn't necessarily mean "funny," anyway. It just meant that it wouldn't have a tragic ending.

I think a lot of the lines in Midsummer Night's Dream are said with tongue in cheek, though. If you picture in your mind a comic actor delivering the lines "I woo'd thee with my sword, And won thy love, doing thee injuries" making himself look all macho, while she's rolling her eyes at him or giving him stink-eye... that's when the humour starts to pop out.

Lindsay wrote: "Online programs see my trends. They're often right Amazon did this magical book train: l started Husbands Secret as SIL recommended , Loved it. Amazon Suggested The Sisterhood based on that. loved it. Then gave me Life after Life and I loved that, too. Then High Spirits at Harrowby . very good, Amazon."

Nice! I've had the same experience with the Goodreads recommendation feature that judges what you'd like by what's 5-starred on your shelves. :)

Renee wrote: "Axel is gonna get them all killed. The professor really should have brought Gräuben!

I read several reviews complaining about the faulty science, but I actually find the science fascinating. I lov..."

It's not so much the errors in the science that bother me, it's the way Verne has of spending too much time trying to instruct the reader rather than entertain. It's not as bad in Journey, but I read Mysterious Island not that long ago, and it drove me nuts!

Thanks, Sandy! There are some real gems in there. :)

I love the humour in the narrative. :D

What I don't love is how much matter-of-fact exposition there is to explain scientific "facts" that we know are nowhere near the truth. I can suspend my disbelief up to a point, but... Verne tends to pass that point on a regular basis, and I end up just wanting to shake him and yell at him to get back to the good stuff. ;)

I must have one of the awful "rewrites," though. The narrator's name is Henry, not Axel, and his uncle's name is Hardwigg.

Rebecca wrote: "I just started Ulysses and so far I don't understand it at all. I'm about fifty pages in, and I think this will be one I'll have to force myself to finish."

I'm hoping to read that one next month.

Kassandra wrote: "Great progress with the movies Faye!!"

Thanks! Most of them have been incredibly awesome. :D

I'm doing pretty well with my 50-movies-in-2014-that-I've-never-seen-before goal. I can rent DVDs at my library for free, so I've been taking full advantage of it. ;)

1. Hereafter
2. Rebecca
3. The Karate Kid (1984)
4. The Karate Kid, Part 2
5. The Hunger Games
6. Now You See Me
7. Thor: The Dark World
8. The Lone Ranger
9. Veronica Mars
10. After Earth
11. Bridge to Terabithia
12. Hunger Games: Catching Fire
13. Winter's Bone
14. Red Dawn
15. Captain Phillips
16. House at the End of the Street
17. The Book Thief
18. 12 Years a Slave
19. R.I.P.D.
20. White House Down
21. Frozen
22. The Incredible Hulk
23. Star Trek

I had started two books and couldn't add them to my currently-reading shelf! It felt so wrong...

Goodreads! You're alive!! Don't ever leave me like that again!!! *clings*

I know it was only down for a few hours, but maaaaan, I was heading into withdrawal after two! *deep breaths* Okay, feeling better now. :)

Yay, new banner! It looks awesome, Holly! :D

Pat wrote: "My reading goal for May is to finish my Spring Seasonal Challenge tbr pile.

Here's how my May reads list looks.

#1. When the Bough Breaks (Alex Delaware, #1)
#2. Blood Test (Alex Delaware, #2..."

Ella Minnow Pea is AWESOME. Just so you know. :D

Good luck with your massive undertaking!

Renee wrote: "Great going! That's a fun list of books, too. And you haven't even begun the month of doing nothing but reading."

It is going to be GLORIOUS. :)

Welcome, Jennifer! Feel free to join in on any of the conversations here. The books we are reading together this month are A Great and Terrible Beauty, Dune, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. If you click on those links, you'll find the conversations about those books.

Let us know if you have any questions about the group. :)

Karen - I'm aiming at 12 books in May, too!

Renee - 100 books, yay!! It's such a beautifully round number, isn't it? Good luck!

27. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer
28. The Jungle Book
29. Memoirs of Hadrian

Finally, I crossed off another one from the Top 100 Works in World Literature list!

I'm finally on track!!! *happy dance*

LOL Brenda and Pat, I think you have the right idea!

Holly wrote: "I should probably make a new banner for the group!

Anyone in particular have a love for a certain colour? Or perhaps they have some specific words they'd like on it?"

I would say yellow. There are lots of daffodils around just now. :)

For the text... something along the lines of "May you fall in love with reading all over again"? Spring is for lovers, after all... including book lovers. ;)

Welcome, Maria! All very true. :)