Kids/Teens Book Club discussion
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What Are You Reading Right Now?
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is apparently very, very small, random and insignificant at King's Cross. And besides that, if I remember correctly, when they filmed the scenes there they had to film between Platforms 4 and 5 because there was no real barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.
I've never been to Forks and don't really plan on making the trip up there.
I don't know if I have any places that I need to go to because they're famous... I'll have to think about that.
Anyway, as for what I'm currently reading: DSM-IV TR.
I don't know if I have any places that I need to go to because they're famous... I'll have to think about that.
Anyway, as for what I'm currently reading: DSM-IV TR.
Taylor wrote: "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters is apparently very, very small, random and insignificant at King's Cross. And besides that, if I remember correctly, when they filmed the scenes there they had to f..."That was really my point, I guess. That the famous one isn't really that important. To me, the important one is 13, because that one really exists, and isn't overrated, despite the literary reference.
The last time we were in London & were in Kings Cross, it was really embarrassing, because there were these stupid US kids being all loud & dumb and like "take my picture at Nine and Three Quarters, dur hur!" and like the guard was rolling his eyes and people were staring. And to add embarrassment, they were from TU. Boo.
Yup. At the risk of sounding repetitive, that's why I like thirteen more. It's authentic (I think), while 9 3/4 has turned into a tourist trap.@ Amelia: TU?
Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson. Amazing book. If you haven't read it, you should. Immediately. I LOVE Eva Ibbotson.
Kate wrote: "Yup. At the risk of sounding repetitive, that's why I like thirteen more. It's authentic (I think), while 9 3/4 has turned into a tourist trap.@ Amelia: TU?"
TU is what non-fans call the University of Texas at Austin
I just started reading the play The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade by Peter Weiss. I really don't know much about it, besides that it uses a lot of crazy theater stuff and just generally sounds like something I'd dig. And DAT TITLE.On the more...Kids/Teens area, I'm reading Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landly. My friend Kim sent it over from Britain. Gotta say, I never read young adult books, but I'm digging it. Quick, easy to read, exciting, and some hilariously fun dialogue have kept me addicted. Plus the concept alone is genius: A talking skeleton detective who can use magic. Why nobody thought of that before is beyond me.
Amelia (Imagination in Focus) wrote: "Kate wrote: "Yup. At the risk of sounding repetitive, that's why I like thirteen more. It's authentic (I think), while 9 3/4 has turned into a tourist trap.@ Amelia: TU?"
TU is what non-fans cal..."
Got it.
@ Baxter: While I agree Skulduggery Pleasant has great potential, being the skeleton-thing that he is, I thought it was TERRIBLY executed. I REALLY did not like that book.
Kate wrote: "Amelia (Imagination in Focus) wrote: "Kate wrote: "Yup. At the risk of sounding repetitive, that's why I like thirteen more. It's authentic (I think), while 9 3/4 has turned into a tourist trap.@..."
Huh. I dunno, I think it has some repetition issues, but overall I'm enjoying myself. Could be because I'm not used to this kind of book, ooor just difference in opinion.
Marat/Sade (much easier title) is coming along nicely. It's a truly fascinating piece, bringing concepts of marxism and social control in a way that makes it clear, but doesn't feel forced. It speaks with an intense energy too, there has not been a single moment, or even a single line, so far where I was finding it to be anything but fast and urgent. Also, being that it involves Sade, it has plenty of naaasty sounding stuff. So yeah, if it keeps this up it could be one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever.
Then you should read more of that type of book. Whether or not you then like Skulduggery Pleasant is a different issue. Reading YA books is a very good idea.
Kate wrote: "Then you should read more of that type of book. Whether or not you then like Skulduggery Pleasant is a different issue. Reading YA books is a very good idea."I know, I know. And I can say that reading a YA book is delightfully refreshing. I wouldn't want to be constantly reading them, but words cannot describe how nice it is to read something that is easy to understand and like, instantly gratifying.
Not all of them are; that's just one part of YA. Like, I would classify Skulduggery Pleasant as childrens more than YA despite the "official rating". (If I had MG, I would probably call it that). Although instant gratification is a good thing. I usually read, whatever comes to my hand, and don't really pay attention to the labels. I have a lot of YA, but there's a lot of adult there too (probably 45%), and I have to say, some of the adult stuff seems more YA than the YA stuff.
Kate wrote: "Not all of them are; that's just one part of YA. Like, I would classify Skulduggery Pleasant as childrens more than YA despite the "official rating". (If I had MG, I would probably call it that). ..."
Yeah yeah. I have no idea about the entire field of young adult and stuff. I will agree that it's a silly label, being that it is defined purely on who would be most likely to read it.
I hear The Knife of Never Letting Go is something I should be reading, but since we are on the subject, what are some other highlights of the whole area in your opinion?
Oh, and sorry if my whole time talking here seems condescending or anything like that. Totally not my intention.
Baxter, The Knife of Never Letting Go is absolutely amazing. It is one of my favorite books ever. The sequels are even better.
It is fantastically written, a marvelous plot and brilliant characters. Unlike other YA books, it is very clever with great prose. You should definitely read it. I can't recommend it enough :)
Ive read Skulduggery Pleasant. Certainly a fun and quick read. The 3rd book is the very best, in my opinion. But still not as good as The Knife of Never Letting Go. Just sayin'
And I see some talk of Platform 9 3/4. Allow me to discuss.
I went to London back in late September/early October. Whilst my mum and brother went to bed, dad took me for a walk around Kings Cross station (and I loved it. It is a really great place :D)
However, There is no wall between Platforms 9 and 10, like seen in the movies.
But there is a tourist 'platform 9 3/4', with a trolly going through the wall so you can pose for photos. Unfortunately, this 'tourist photo opportunity' is located in a side alley just off platform 8.
I found that it was really disappointing and spent literally no time there, but instead just walked around the other platforms :)
It is fantastically written, a marvelous plot and brilliant characters. Unlike other YA books, it is very clever with great prose. You should definitely read it. I can't recommend it enough :)
Ive read Skulduggery Pleasant. Certainly a fun and quick read. The 3rd book is the very best, in my opinion. But still not as good as The Knife of Never Letting Go. Just sayin'
And I see some talk of Platform 9 3/4. Allow me to discuss.
I went to London back in late September/early October. Whilst my mum and brother went to bed, dad took me for a walk around Kings Cross station (and I loved it. It is a really great place :D)
However, There is no wall between Platforms 9 and 10, like seen in the movies.
But there is a tourist 'platform 9 3/4', with a trolly going through the wall so you can pose for photos. Unfortunately, this 'tourist photo opportunity' is located in a side alley just off platform 8.
I found that it was really disappointing and spent literally no time there, but instead just walked around the other platforms :)
I went to London last winter, and was very excited to see both Platform Thirteen and where nine and three quarters would have been...then I realized that I was in Paddington Station, home to nothing but Paddington Bear.Baxter, I don't think you're condescending, I just think you should widen your reading interests a little. I don't think YA is a silly label, though, just some books are hard to classify. But yeah, some YA is really well written, some is junk, and some is the ok-written instant gratification that you were talking about.
I'll check out The Knife of Never Letting Go, but I saw that my sister left The Hunger Games books here, so I'm thinking about check them out. After I finish my current load of books of course.
Kate wrote: "Of course. Or you can just read fifty books at once like I do."Haha, I used to read a bajillion books at once! But I am getting progressively worse at it. It kind of saddens me.
Kate wrote: "Aw, poor Baxter. Probably because the books are getting harder/requiring more focus?"Huh. I never thought of that. That's...a really good theory.
Baxter, The Knife of Never letting go trilogy is much better then The Hunger Games trilogy.
Thinking about it, THG is really overrated (but still good). I think you would prefer the Knife of Never letting go :)
But both are great.
Thinking about it, THG is really overrated (but still good). I think you would prefer the Knife of Never letting go :)
But both are great.
Agreed. CHAOS WALKING is what THG could have been. Lol, it's like you read my status update! :DAnd Todd is just about the best dadgum narrator ever. Perfect hero character. Even after The Ask and the Answer I still love the guy!
You've read the Ask and the Answer?
You never added a review or rating!?!?! What did you think? Isn't it amazing? I think its much better then the original.
You never added a review or rating!?!?! What did you think? Isn't it amazing? I think its much better then the original.
I still have like 100 pages left. I read most of it immediately after TKONLG. I had to know what it was that Todd supposedly did that was so 'horrible' or whatever. Pish posh! But yeah, I liked it. Didn't like how Todd-Viola got split up for most of the book, but it was a great intense film :D
★ Jessica ★ wrote: "Baxter, The Knife of Never letting go trilogy is much better then The Hunger Games trilogy. Thinking about it, THG is really overrated (but still good). I think you would prefer the Knife of Never..."
Yeah, but I can't read The Knife of Never Letting Go stuff unless I order them online. And Hunger Games is just like, RIGHT there.
★ Jessica ★ wrote: "The ending is even more amazing then TKONLG!"Yeah. And I actually got into the series after already finding out how MOM ends, cause my cousin griped about it. How did you like the MOM ending?
Baxter, if youve got The Hunger Games right there, then read that :) its not as great as The Knife, but still pretty darn good.
The MOM ending was amazing Amelia :) everything about it was superb. Did your cousin tell you how the last page was written? The last sentence? I get shivers every time I re-read it!
The MOM ending was amazing Amelia :) everything about it was superb. Did your cousin tell you how the last page was written? The last sentence? I get shivers every time I re-read it!
Yeah she did. And I remember thinking "AND?" but that was before I'd read the book. Still, though, I wished the epilogue had been the last chapter, and the epilogue had been a little more solid. I mean, do you think...(view spoiler)
????
I am reading The Oath by Frank Peretti. I REALLY want to read Incarceron after I'm done! :)
You know you can add a spoilers button, like the way you do with the bold text and italics etc etc...
Anyway (view spoiler)
Monsters of Men is possibly the greatest last line/ending I have ever read.
Anyway (view spoiler)
Monsters of Men is possibly the greatest last line/ending I have ever read.
I didn't know the thing about the spoiler! I'm going to fix that post.And I like your ending better, Jessica. Closure is a beautiful thing, lol!
I will be reading The Book Thief soon for a book club. If it's the read for this groups monthly read in March then that would work out nicely.
The GeneralI had this book on hold at my library for almost two years, because the copy they had got lost. I never expected to actually get it, and by the time I did, I had forgotten the premise. Well, I knew generally what it was, since it's part of a series, but I didn't remember the story idea, or the fact that I had actually read the first few pages on line.
I am very excited now.
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But I know what you mean about a random place turning into somewhere famous. For me, there's King's Cross Station. Yes, I know it's a famous train station in it's own right, but if I ever make it there, I will go not only to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, but to Platform Thirteen. No, I don't think Platform Thirteen is famous, although it should be, but to me it's a very important place, since it's a Gump.