What Are You Reading Now?

[Gail]

I agree about the reread - I can reread the Narnia books as an adult, and love them every time, but I wouldn't want to reread the one Harry Potter book I've read. I'm not bothered by the fact that Rowling's books are influenced by C. S. Lewis. Thinking about it, my issue is more that her novels (well, the one I've read!) are too cluttered and crowded with all sorts of aspects/tropes that children's novels can have - poor little orphan in a cruel home, discovery of magic powers, boarding school adventures, magic wizardry, and so much more. I find quite a lot of YA novels do this nowadays - they just crowd in every possible type of issue and storyline there is, and it makes for a varied read, but by the end of the story I don't have a clear focused idea of what it was about - just a mishmash of all sorts of things that didn't quite meld together. C. S. Lewis's were simpler and more focused. It's actually the main thing that's putting me off reading the later Harry Potter novels - they get longer and longer, so I assume they get more and more cluttered!

I think Lewis's writing is better, but I didn't find Rowling's grammar awful. But one thing I've discovered is that the American editions of the novels have 'corrected' a whole lot of things that are actually perfectly fine in the UK. Things like using 'that' instead of 'who' - we can do that here, and it's not incorrect, but the American versions always change it to 'who'.

I find it quite bizarre - British publishers don't do that with American books. I remember as a child finding some of the grammar, spelling and vocabulary in American books a bit odd, but then I began to realise that this is how English is in the US. It gave me more awareness of international usage..

[Diana]

Fjóla wrote: "Diana wrote: " ... Very derivative. And some of the grammar is awful, hypercorrection all over the place. ..."

That's interesting, I hadn't noticed that about the grammar. But then I'm not a nativ..."

There's this to be said for them, they film wonderfully. Just like LOTR, the special effects men have a field-day!

[[deleted user]]

I just finished (in the past week or so) , , , , , , and --not in that order. ;)

[Gail]

Raevyn, what's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children like? It's one I keep meaning to read.

[[deleted user]]

Gail wrote: "Raevyn, what's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children like? It's one I keep meaning to read."

It's actually a great read, although some minor parts could have been left out. :)

[Gail]

Ah, that's good. Is it anything like The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls (if you've read that one)? They seem similar in my mind, although mainly because the titles are similar!

[[deleted user]]

Gail wrote: "Ah, that's good. Is it anything like The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls (if you've read that one)? They seem similar in my mind, although mainly because the titles are similar!"

I've never read that one, but the plots don't sound similar.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

I recently finished reading Flipped, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and Amandine.

[[deleted user]]

Re-reading .

[[deleted user]]

I'm trying to start , but the Heartland books are annoying to me now and I just can't.
There's also ...it's turning out to be a great book.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

I just bought some books that I specifically picked out for having positive (and not WWII related) German-American or Canadian protagonists and I have started to read Adeline's Dream (about a German girl whose family immigrates to Saskatchewan) and A House of Tailors (about a 19th century German girl who immigrates to the United States). Have not gotten too far since they just arrived yesterday, but so far, the books seem interesting.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

I have started The Seeing Stone, about Arthur as a boy (King Arthur, that is).

[[deleted user]]

I'm (finally) reading ! Too bad it's been spoiled for me twice. :P

[Cambria]

I've started to read The Westing Game and so far I am intensely enthralled by it!!! Has anyone read it before?

[June]

My child/parent book club did it last school year:

I had read this as a child and several things came back as I re-read it for the Children's - Parent's book club. Great, but intricate mystery (for older elementary).


For book club, she started us off by having us name the characters from their pictures on the title page. We then did the will as a Reader's Theater. We discussed how character's changed over the time of the story. We then each drew a question from an envelope, those who wanted to read their question which lead to further discussion. She ended by reading some One Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers she had found.

This is great as a book club discussion, several people had insights. The leader said that she had picked up new things in each of the 3 times she read it.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I wasn't overly thrilled by Westing Game. But those of you who love it may also like our current Book of the Month in the Fiction Club, Chasing Vermeer.

I've just finished Wonderstruck and was not struck with wonder. Cute enough, but more concept that story, imo.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Diana wrote: "I've started to read The Westing Game and so far I am intensely enthralled by it!!! Has anyone read it before?"

I have read it, more than once, but many years ago now. Loved it! Loved the complexity of the story and it is one of the few mysteries that ever garnered a Newbery Award.

[[deleted user]]

Re-reading --AKA the middle-grade book with supremely unlikable characters. But it's a good story.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Rereading a German horse book I read as a child (and am enjoying it),

Das Wildpferd Balthasar

[Sarah]

currently on "The Fault In Our Stars" which is a great book so far. As far as children's series go I am re-reading the Brian Jaques "Redwall" series.

[[deleted user]]

I'm getting some 'shallower' books out of the way; I just finished , and I'm reading

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I'm reading mostly adult work for challenges in one of my other groups, but I'm glad you-all are posting so I can vicariously enjoy children's books through you!

[[deleted user]]

I finished .

[Brenda]

Michele wrote: "re-reading The False Prince and the next book so that I can read the third book, The Shadow Throne."
I've been holding off on the final book myself for this same reason :)

[[deleted user]]

Re-reading

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Crazy subtitle on "Anyway" - I'll have to investigate, since you're saying it's worth a reread. :)

[[deleted user]]

It was pretty good.
Now I'm re-reading Incarceron so I won't be completely lost when I read the sequel.

[[deleted user]]

Re-reading

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Rereading a book I read in grade five, Child of the Silent Night: The Inspiring Story of Laura Bridgman, Both Deaf and Blind. I remember liking this book a lot when I read it in grade five (maybe part of the reason I liked it so much was that the book was informative and the writing very simple and straight forward which was a boon for me, for I had only been speaking and writing in English for less than a year). Rereading it now, I find the story still informative but rather dated (and the hero worship of Doctor Howe rather hard to stomach, but the book is a product of its time, and when this book was written, Doctor Howe was still almost uncritically seen as heroic and always caring and gentle towards Laura). I'm also finding the writing style (which I enjoyed as an eleven year old who had just learned English) a bit too simple and repetitive.

[[deleted user]]

Okay, I'm reading , and although I've read many enjoyable books for young readers, this one is proving hard to sit through.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Starting The Ropemaker.

[Trisha]

First Light

[Steve]

I'm rereading Through the Looking-Glass and am as delighted with it as I always have been. For lovers of wordplay and illogical logic, it can't be beat. The Humpty Dumpty chapter is especially wicked good, as they say nowadays. Wishing all of you 364 pleasant unbirthdays. Strangely enough, I'm having one today!

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I love Dickinson, Beverly.
Trisha, I've been thinking about reading that - let us know what you think, when you're done, ok.
Steve, I need to re-read that myself.

What great books everyone is reading!

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "I love Dickinson, Beverly.
Trisha, I've been thinking about reading that - let us know what you think, when you're done, ok.
Steve, I need to re-read that myself.

What great books everyone is re..."

The Ropemaker is turning out to be better than I first thought. It is a fantasy novel set in an alternative world, with an Evil Empire that controls its citizens' lives, and outsiders (outside the Empire that is) on a quest in the Empire. Aimed at teen/young adult ages.

[Anthea]

The Billionaire Boy by David Walliams, quite funny.

[Kathryn, The Princess of Picture-Books]

I really must mention a wonderful "forgotten gem" that I discovered in a bookstore sale bin, Penny by Marjorie Torrey. It is a short, sweet children's novel, the gentle story about a little girl's summer with her great-aunt in the country in the early 1900s. (The story itself was written in the early 1940s and is, sadly, out of print.) It reminds me a bit of an "Anne of Green Gables" for a slightly younger audience with the imaginative, sensitive young girl going to stay with a rather aloof older person in the country. "Penny" has slightly a different take on this standard pairing and it's one that I found truly refreshing and very sweet. The secondary characters are well-drawn, too. I don't want to say too much and give surprises away, but there's a boy becomes a playmate for Penny and I really love the way that Penny is able to be a bit of a "tomboy" (climbing trees, playing bandits, going on imaginary seafaring adventures) in addition to enjoying some of the more "domestic" pastimes like playing dress-up or baking. There are a few aspects that might not be seen as totally "PC" by modern audiences, but nothing unusual compared to many other books of its day. I hope some of you are able to find copies at your libraries or used--I think it would be a treat for the right kids (or adults, like me!)

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Oh, thank you, this sounds lovely. I've been seeking out Marjorie Torrey's works since I've seen high praise for Artie and the Princess and it does seem that she's hard to find. Maybe all copies were read to shreds!

I'm reading a whole bunch of small picture- and chapter books that I picked up in assorted thrift stores on vacation. It's a shame how many gems are out-of-print.

[Stephanie]

I'm reading The Giver right now and for a picture book I just finished rereading The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Spooky and perfect for Halloween.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

About half way through The Fourteenth Goldfish.

[[deleted user]]

I finished a LOT of books--and forgot to mention them on this thread--but the one I'm in the middle of is Hatchet.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

I really enjoyed the Fourteenth Goldfish. I have also read Pure Dead Magic and am almost finished reading Nuts to You.

[[deleted user]]

Hello all,
Two recent reads that I have found captivating are Disappearing Act by James Moloney and Lilliput by Sam Gayton.
These are two very original books that appeal to a wide age group I think (Disappearing Act is labelled as a young teens book, but my 6 year old loved it!).

[June]

Just read Hatchet for a book club, now I have started Flanagan's new book Slaves of Socorro

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

I'm in the middle of a four book series by Megan Lindholm, with The Windsingers. Very impressive, creatively - for starters, imagine a world where men and women are truly equal. Men may choose to be cooks, women to be smiths, either gender can lead a clan or a city. Ages 12 up, I think.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

I am reading The Battle For WondLa, the third in this science fiction series by Tony DiTerlizzi. Aliens (extra-terrestrials, that is) and humans living together on a post-apocalyptic earth, near the destroyed New York City.

[Christine]

I just finished The Magician's Land whch confused me for a while, but in the end, I did enjoy it. I've just started Fool's Assassin

[Carolien]

I recently completed The Wide-Awake Princess. Quite a nice retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I really appreciated the fact that the princess is resourceful and find solutions to her problems. Age about 9 and up.

[Magen]

I just finished a book called "Plain Kate." Its a great story about an orphaned girl who sells her shadow for a chance to start over somewhere new. I highly recommend it.

[Manybooks, Fiction Club host]

Magen wrote: "I just finished a book called "Plain Kate." Its a great story about an orphaned girl who sells her shadow for a chance to start over somewhere new. I highly recommend it."

I'll have to check out that book. Most of the books I have read about people who sell their shadow are rather creepy.