I stopped doing that a year ago! The best thing ever! I'm happy in my bubble and happy that Robin keeps all that away from this thread!!! I don't want to know that people actually think different than I do :001_tt2: :lol:

Happy Birthday! :party:

Lol! April it is!!

Ooops! I got them mixed up. I guess I need to read Out of the Silent Planet first! I think I will go now to the library website and order it ;) ETA: I can wait till April! I would like to read all three as well.

I want to read Prelandra this year too!! Let me know when you are going to read it and I will read it with you. Though I'll have to have time to order it from the library. If you need someone to read an Austen with you this year, I'll volunteer LOL! :laugh:

I really enjoy the Old Testament! Ok, not so much the prophetic books, though I have to admit that I was absolutely blown away when I reread Jeremiah this year. To me there is so much hope in the Old Testament, hope that though we all stray from the path, we can have redemption. The OT is full of real people with real sin living in the real world. The accounts of Rahab, David, Ruth, Esther, and many others just prove that God doesn't use perfect people (because we certainly are not!) And yet, God loves those who trust Him and turn back to Him. Some of my favorite historical accounts are in Judges and I and II Samuel. The poetry lost me at the swearing :lol: I'm having trouble reconciling "sh*t" and poetry in the same sentence :lol: I, like Jane, want to read more poetry this year. It's something I did a lot of in my teens and early 20's. I'm glad that you you all share poetry on the board, but I'm having trouble reconciling some of the modern poetry that you all read with my Shakespearean Sonnet poetry. I need to broaden my horizons a bit on this point and see if I really dislike modern poetry or if I just haven't given it it's fair chance ;) I haven't started my wrap up yet, but you all counting up your female vs male authors has me curious. I don't really care whether I read a guy or a gal, so I have no idea how that ratio will come out.

No apologies necessary! :laugh: She really does look young, and with a little sister who just keeps on growing, well, she's going to have to put up with it for quite a while I'm afraid. Thanks! And :grouphug: to all your family! I'm so sorry for your loss. :grouphug: I hope that recovery goes quick for you all! And I definitely think that you deserve a book!!

Thank you! And I'm :lol: Biker jacket girl (who got another for Christmas!) is my younger dd :lol: That's Aly and she's 14 and that's her personality. Vintage black polka dots, Audrey Hepburn channeling is my 20yo, Skye. Skyeler is always taken for the younger one nowadays. In fact when we were at an amusement park this summer with the kids she nanny's, they kept telling her that she had to be a responsible adult to ride with the 2yo!!! :laugh: She didn't find it as amusing as the rest of us.

I ran out of "likes"!!! :blush: First time that has happened! Consider the rest of you "liked" until tomorrow :D Thanks, Stacia! I took one family pic two weeks ago, and it was horrid so I was just going to do one of the girls. However, Skye, at 20, said that she thought she was too old to have just a kids photo, that we needed a family photo so we decided to have it snapped last minute at church Sunday. She was laughing that her dad didn't get the color memo lol! I didn't care what color he was wearing as long as I got a picture for the Christmas cards ;) We had a tremendously lazy day yesterday. After opening presents with my parents early, they headed home and we settled in with finger foods, wassail, and past Doctor Who Christmas specials (our favorite being The Christmas Carol one). I'm still mourning the loss of Matt Smith so I was a bit teary eyed while watching. :001_rolleyes: I received As You Wish by Cary Elwes from dh and the girls. I started it last night and have already chuckled more than once! I think it's going to be a great book. They also bought me The Smoothies Bible. I bought The Last Jihad for dh (thanks, Robin!) and he had just heard the author on talk radio and was really excited. He will start it after he finishes The Giver series. Skye, 20, got the first book of The Selection series. She enjoyed these earlier in the year and wanted to own them. She also got a beautiful copy of Persuasion, one of the Austen's that she doesn't own. Aly, 14, received Waistcoats and Weaponry. I'm waiting until next week to do my wrap up. I'm hoping to finish at least one more book before the end of the year.

Merry Christmas friends from our family to yours!

I finished two books this morning! #55 and #56!! The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams was on the list of books I had wanted to read. I'm not 100% sure what my expectations were, but they were not met in any way, shape, or form. I'm left scratching my head and wondering what I've missed. Is there an underlying meaning to this book? Is it supposed to be a satire? I'm not so great with sarcasm and satire, much to dh's amusement. And where the heck is the end of the book? Does it truly just leave off like that with no resolution? Do I need to read the next book, or does it, too, just leave you in a limbo. Maybe the entire series (didn't realize it was a series) will bring some closure! What the heck is up with Zaphod's brain? I like science fiction so that has nothing to do with it. Maybe I just don't like mid to late 20th century authors. I don't know! I think this gets a 2 star. Aly and I also finished our read aloud The Rumplestiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde today. It is a compilation of six short stories based around the Rumplestiltskin fairy tale. Six totally different fractured fairy tales! It was a fun little book. The author was very creative in her re-tellings and most were humorous. There was Rumplestiltskin as a troll, as a young elf, as a domovoi, as someone made up by the miller and his daughter, as a woman, and finally as a guard in disguise. Aly is writing her own fracture fairy tale of Rumplestiltskin now.

:hurray: Yes! Sometimes I need an extra week AFTER Christmas and New Year's to really pull it back together!

We are officially now on Christmas Break! :party: That is all!

I think maybe I read Vonnegut before I was ready to fully appreciate it :001_tt2: :lol: I was big into memorizing first lines when I was in high school. Well, first lines of books I loved. Though Gone with the Wind is the only one that has stuck with me over time. I now can quote Pride & Prejudice's first line, as well. I took your quiz! I only got a 57%. Funny enough, I wouldn't have known the Vonnegut quote if Stacia hadn't made me read it. ;) I missed David Copperfield's first line. I hear Melanie Hamilton's voice reading it in Gone with the Wind and was thinking that the first line was "I am born." But that is the first chapter, I believe. Whoops. I have a few books that are mentally shelved to never try again. However, I have wondered if I need to revisit a couple. I have a feeling that most would still rather stay shelved. Dh must have read that same article! He wanted to make sure Aly was reading a mix of paper books and not exclusively reading on her Kindle.

Thanks! I'm going to look for this at Half-Price Books tonight. :hurray: I'll help! Dd 20, Skye, already has a dress from the Regency Ball she attended three years ago! Make sure the footman is cute! Don't borrow Thomas from Downton Abbey :lol: :party: I already had multi-quotes going on here so just responding here! For straight fantasy, definitely David Eddings!! Truly LOL funny with great character development. Urge her to take it off her shelf and read it ;) Robert Jordan is the author of The Wheel of Time series, begin with Eye of the World. And yes, Brandon Sanderson did finish the last books after Jordan's death. Also in the fantasy department would be dh's favorite, The Dragonlance Chronicles. Start with Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It's a trilogy followed by a second trilogy. Another series with great character development and lol moments :D My dd20 just read The Selection series which she tells me is a mesh of fantasy with a little dystopia. I would also throw out there Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest series as well. I love fantasy!

Robin, I think dh might be interested in these books. Which one to start with? I have read a Stephanie Barron "Jane" mystery. I really enjoyed it!

YES! I wish more people would realize this when working with kids of any age and poetry (or literature for that matter)!!! I love all these ideas! Especially Flufferton February :001_wub: :lol: Pick a book by its cover is another one of my favorites. I enjoyed reading through this. I've often meant to read The Mysteries of Udolpho because of Northanger Abbey but haven't got around to it yet. I liked this quote by Walpole, "History is a romance that is believed; romance, a history that is not believed." Thank you to whomever posted that the new Flavia book is coming out :hurray: I'm reading The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was one of the books that I had wanted to read from that big list we all talked about last month. Umm. It's interesting. Not sure if I am liking it or not. All the Christmas parties are now done (4 last week!). We had a house showing yesterday so the house is clean. Nothing left to do but read, laundry, and finish buying presents. Looking forward to a more relaxed week!

I finished Sylvester: Or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer yesterday. It is my favorite Heyer to date! The Grand Sophy was excellent. It was instantly my favorite when I read it earlier this year, however, Sylvester was just outstanding. The story was woven so well, touching with just the right amount of humour. The part where Phoebe meets his mother was just brilliantly written. I found myself not wanting to let go of the characters and their story. 5 stars! I don't know what I'll start next. I ordered The Historian and it came in today but I'm debating if I want to start a chunkster this close to Christmas. I guess I'll have to see what kind of time I have and what mood I'm in ;) I believe Sylvester was #54 but I'll have to double check that.

Wow, 6! I naturally developed a love for Shakespeare and his language but never had the opportunity to see it performed until a few years ago when I taught a small class on Shakespeare for Skye and her friends. Four of the 6 of them developed a love for seeing Shakespeare performed. Though one boy only liked it if they didn't "modernize" it lol. Because of this class, Aly began seeing Shakespeare performed at 10 or 11. She loves it! And Skye took one of the little girls she nanny's to see A Midsummer Night's Dream when she was 7. It was a blast to watch her connect with the play on her own terms. She, too, now loves Shakespeare, and I believe she will remember that when she reaches high school! I believe that the making of many of the old texts/novels "easy readers" also contributes to the lack of understanding and familiarity with Shakespeare language. One example of this is the King James Bible. There was a time when the King James Bible was the only version. It was taught from and read from introducing children to rich language at an early age. Now with the onslaught of many different versions to make it "easier" to understand, children are not exposed to that language thus making classic texts less approachable. jAnd the Bible is just one example of this. (Side note: this is not about versions, just one example that I have had the personal experience to observe. There are many other texts I could have chosen from ;) ) Rosie, I think that is great!! It is SO hard to not pass on prejudices! I know that I have probably unknowingly passed on a few myself. :grouphug: and :eek: NO SNAKES!

Awesome!! Dracula scared me lol! But it was good, I just couldn't read it at night :blushing: I'm going to order it from the library!

Oh, and is The Historian rated R? I finally took the time to look it up on Amazon, and it sounds fascinating! I was surprised a couple years ago by how much I enjoyed Dracula.

I love it that your ds is enjoying Shakespeare! I truly believe that if more kids were exposed early on then by the time they were ready to "study" it in their high school years it would not be a trial. Helen Mirren's Tempest was interesting. I liked parts of it a great deal. However, I did not care for the portrayal of Ariel. Russel Brand was hilarious :laugh: Much Ado was hilarious!! I need to watch that again! Happy Belated Birthday Amy! Hope it was great!

Ok so I know these are all from LAST week BUT I meant to reply and am determined to do so now! Is this book only helpful for teenagers or would there be applicable parts for a 20yo? As much as we help dd constantly with social situations, it is still a struggle for her. She has Asperger's. :lol: I really LOVED this book when I was in my late teens/early twenties. That said, I remembered how explicit some of those parts were :scared: I have not visited it again because of that, but sure would be curious how I would feel about it now that I'm older! I had never read ALL of that poem! Thank you for posting! I remember this book fondly! I've thought about them frequently since dd's and I read Little Women earlier this year. The first thing I thought of was a Hobbit, either Bilbo or Frodo heading out on their journey. This may have to do with the fact that we had a scavenger hunt for our youth class yesterday and one of the riddles was about Bilbo and the Journeys store. That's certainly helpful! For those who are interested, I chose Under a War-Torn Sky for my nephew (his mom thought that sounded the best...and she thanked everyone for the great list of book recommendations for later ;) ) and I will also be getting him the Monument's Men dvd. I truly appreciate all the ideas and help you all gave me last week!! Thanks so much!! You guys are great! I am almost finished with Georgette Heyer's Sylvester. I will probably finish tomorrow evening. Our co-op Christmas Party is tomorrow and I've been busy getting games and crafts ready. We are all ready to play Pin the Nose on Rudolph :001_tt2: I'll be catching up on this thread later!

Great! I need to double check that he hasn't seen it, but I doubt it. They are not movie crazy like our family, and little brother wouldn't be as interested. 13yo boys are difficult to buy for LOL! And I really really like to buy presents, and I really really like to make it as personal as possible!

Yep! I think so! He's read that one, too!