Outread Aubrey! Challenge discussion

@Aubrey - I would! :D

Zoe wrote: "Aubrey wrote: "Ooh, that Brotherband series looks pretty interesting."

If it's anything like Flanagan's first series, I'm sure the series is great. :D The Brotherband titles that are out are on my..."

I read (or rather, listened to) the first book in the Brotherband series and I really want to read the others. I really liked it!

I love the first four Rangers Apprentice books and the rest of them are pretty great too. The first four don't have any bad boy/girl stuff. The remaining books have a slight bit of romance (nothing beyond a few kisses) and there are occasional barbs about religion.

The Brotherband chronicles have been great so far too. The Hunters had little bit of feminism, but nothing overt or bad, just slightly irritating.

Flanagan has a knack for writing very likeable heros and the most hilarious banter you'll ever read. So, yes, I would recommend them. Hopefully I'll get a review of The Hunters up soon.

I'm waiting for a review of that one to come up on your blog, Corey. I'm not sure whether to be startled or intrigued by a title like "The Suicide Club"...

Perhaps I shall have to look into Flanagan later this year, then!

Read the second book in Katie Daniel's Supervillain of the Day series tonight. (Fire and Ashes) Yes, it's not published yet. I got to read it early because I formatted it. HA! It was amazing, by the way. Even better than the first. More sober and more engaging.

Duly noted. :D What other books of his have you read/would recommend?

Definitely second the recommendation of Treasure Island! My mom read it alound to us years ago and it's a favorite of everyone's—my youngest sister is re-reading it now. I enjoyed The Black Arrow too.

I read the short The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde yesterday, and now I'm trying to decide what to read next...

Aubrey wrote: "I've not read Ranger's Apprentice yet... I take it y'all would recommend it? :D"

Definitely. And I would recommend reading it before Brotherband.

*finally comes to mention what he's reading*

I'm working on a book called Forgotten Portals: Rise of the Magi. It's Christian fantasy, which is one of my favorite things to read. It disappointed me in quite a few spots, but the story and characters are interesting, and it seems to be getting better. :D

Oh that Stevenson! Now I feel like an idiot for not putting the name with the book, as it were, lol.

I wanna see a complete review of that when you're done, okay, little brother? :D

Is that a good thing or a bad thing, Corey? ;)

I'm still cheating and reading Fullmetal Alchemist. Also all these Revolutionary War books I have stacked on my desk are tempting me. But I really oughta finish Divergent... humph.

Aubrey wrote: "I wanna see a complete review of that when you're done, okay, little brother? :D"

Yesh, you most certainly will, big sister. ^_^

I'm done with Monte Cristo now, so I'm going to finish Last of the Mohicans.

By the way, Aubrey, I don't think it's quite fair that you're reading manga while we read full-length books. ;)

I agree with Zoe! :evil: ;) (and is there a way we can count books we've already started? Like...maybe two for one, or something? :beg: *has a bunch of books he needs to finish*)

Oh, yeah. Some of Lovecraft's have made me scared to sleep at night, which is why it's slow going in the collection I'm reading. The odd thing though, is the Cthulu mythos stories haven't been that scary.

Oh, by the way, Aubrey, I keep forgetting to mention this—if you're ever looking for seagoing/nautical themes in your research, you'd probably like Clearing Weather by Cornelia Meigs. It's about a young shipbuilder trying to repair his family's and town's fortunes in post-Revolution New England. (And Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, too, if you haven't already read it.)

Last I knew, she hadn't read "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch". She got a slightly lambasted when she mentioned it. :P

Zoe wrote: Definitely. And I would recommend reading it before Brotherband."
I agree.

Corey wrote: "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is excellent. I second that recommendation. :)"
And I third it. "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch is one of my all time favorite books. It's a cross between fiction and biography and reads as such, but it is sheer awesomeness nevertheless. ;)

Okay, okay, I get it! I need to read about the Bowditch guy. I will, promise--it's been on my mental TBR list for awhile--I just keep forgetting about it. ;)

I shall look up that other one, Elisabeth. Sounds just my style. :D

Woot! :D *is so glad someone else is reading Supervillain of the Day* And yes, I loved how it was short 'n light reading to devour in an evening just for the fun of it. :)

I to just read Supervillian of the day. I found it to be very good.

I think i'm going to read bleak House now. I've been watching the BBC miniseries of it and now i really want to read it.

I don't remember where I was in reading when I updated last, but recently in the story of Crosswind there was an arial dogfight. With some biplanes. :D

I just finished Little Lord Fauntleroy and now I'm working on The Elusive Pimpernel. Any other Scarlet Pimpernel fans?

Leah wrote: "Any other Scarlet Pimpernel fans?"

Ooh! Me! Me! It's on my re-read soon list, and I want to read more of the sequels. :D

I love Little Lord Fauntleroy! It's one of Burnett's best, easily.

Yes! "Rats in the Walls" was terrifying! And so was "The Color Out of Space" and "The Hound" and the one where two guys are investigating why some corpses decompose while others don't and that voice.... *shudders*

Zoe wrote: Ooh! Me! Me! It's on my re-read soon list, and I want to read more of the sequels. :D"
I've read it several times. It never gets old! And the sequels I've read so far have been great. Which ones have you read?

Aubrey wrote: "I love Little Lord Fauntleroy! It's one of Burnett's best, easily."
I've read "A Little Princess" and "The Lost Prince". I've tried "The Secret Garden" but I can't get into that one. I don't like "Little Lord Fauntleroy as well as the first two I mentioned, but I definitely enjoyed it.

I read Pimpernel for school last year. It was fun, although, it was pretty easy to figure out who the Pimpernel was.

Leah wrote: I've read it several times. It never gets old! And the sequels I've read so far have been great. Which ones have you read?"

I think I've read Sir Percy Leads the Band and League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

A Little Princess was my childhood favorite; I didn't read Little Lord Fauntleroy until I was an adult. I really want to read The Lost Prince!

How many Pimpernel books are there? I've only read The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I just finished Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freeman, and I think I'm going to start The Windy Hill by Cornelia Meigs next.

Mrs. Mike sounds like a powerful book. I love historical fiction, but I'm hesitant to get too far off track and immerse myself in too many eras at once. (Turn of the century is not one I'm currently focusing on.) =/

Zoe wrote: I think I've read Sir Percy Leads the Band and League of the..."
I've read El Dorado: Further Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, The League Of The Scarlet Pimpernel, and one more but I forget the title.

Shadow wrote: "How many Pimpernel books are there? I've only read The Scarlet Pimpernel."
There are 18 Pimpernel books. (see Blakeney Manor.)

Woah. Nice. Thanks. :D

Shadow wrote: "Woah. Nice. Thanks. :D"
I know, right? And you're welcome.

Zoe wrote: By the way, Aubrey, I don't think it's quite fair that you're reading manga while we read full-length books. ;)"

Sorry I missed this! But hey, what's your problem? 1) Who cares what I'm reading as long as I'm finally reading? :P 2) It prolly won't take me long to run out of manga to read. :P 3) I'll make up for it with the length of all these Revolutionary War books I have on my desk. :P 4) Jenni's doing it too! ;)

But, yes, you can count books you started last year, s'long as you finished them this year. I ain't gonna be picky about that as long as you finished them on or after the 1st.

Oooh! :D Then I have four books for this year. ^_^ And I can keep working on de-cluttering my 'reading' shelf. :dieshappy:

Anyway, I finished Rise of the Magi (much better than I had expected, thankfully), and also read Beyond the Walls, which was pretty good considering it was a first book by a young author. :D Going to get working on Never next. ^_^

Good work! You gonna review either of those, little brother?

Thanks!
Yesh! I just reviewed them both real quick, but I'm planning on doing a better job on each later on. ^_^

Good. I'll look forward to it, little brother. ^_^

I've not heard of that poet before, Corey. Love the title, though.

THERE! Finally made myself sit down and finish Divergent. I stayed up past 1am last night reading, and then got up early to finish it before I went to work. Now I don't wanna hear nobody say I don't have the dedication to read "real" books! ;)

Come to think of it, don't anybody let me say "I don't have time to read" or any of that nonsense ever again. *eye roll*

Anyway, I remain conflicted about the book. Roth is a brilliant writer, truly, but the steamy romance crosses a line. I've got a review up here on Goodreads if anyone's interested in further details.

This week I hope to start rereading a childhood favorite of mine, the Violet Travilla "Life of Faith" series, starting with Violet's Hidden Doubts. It's an adaptation of the Elsie Dinsmore series, focusing on her daughter. I never could get into the original Elsie books, but I liked the adaptations--Violet and Milly more than Elsie, as they were more human. I've wanted to reread all of Violet's books for awhile.

Corey wrote: "Elsie Dinsemore... *shudders violently*"

LOL! My thoughts somewhat, now that I recently reviewed the books all over again. :D

*laughs* I've never read more than the first few chapters of the first book of the original series, but I promise, the Milly and, particularly, Violet adaptation series are pretty good. :D

I'm going to be continuing "A Knight From Dein" tonight. I might also start "100 Cupboards".

@Ren - Ooh, I'm gonna be reading Knight soon! How is it?

Corey wrote: "Elsie Dinsemore... *shudders violently*"
Lol. I adored them when I was younger and I don't want to re-read them so that I can enjoy my fond memories.

@Jeremiah: I'm not too far into it, but I really like what I've read up to now! Other than a few grammatical/spelling errors, it's an amazing story. ^_^

@Corey: That's what one of my adoptive older brothers said. So I decided to give it a shot. :)

I went to the library today. I think they had been preparing for my arrival--there were so many delicious books about the Revolutionary War and the Founding Fathers on the new shelf. *swoons* I'll be busy. ;)

Also, I am going to read my first Jane Austen novel. Shocking, I know. o.O ;)

You haven't read any Jane Austen, yet? *shocked* Which one are you going to read first?

Nope, I have not. Saw no need to. ;) The only reason I was finally inspired to try Persuasion is because the situation of the lovers is reportedly similar to some stuff in my book Peter's Angel. Calling to research. ;)

Yes, many people have not read it Jane Austen. Some see no point in reading them. *shrugs* I like her writing, for the most part, and I like some of her storylines. Yes, some objectionable things (for Christians) happen in them, but they are clean romances. Clean romances are difficult to find nowadays. *rolls eyes*

*is curious how Persuasion fits with Peter's Angel*