Outread Aubrey! Challenge discussion

I re-read one of Mrs. Havig's books. (Trying to get myself to fall asleep, I decided to read something I knew. Didn't work. :P)

Then, I read the book, "Chop, Chop" by L.N. Cronk. While the storyline was a bit scattered, I enjoyed the characters immensely and even enjoyed the book. But, if it had been a real book, instead of a Kindle, I would have been tempted to burn it when they tragically killed off my favorite character. I'm still tempted to delete the book. :p

I need to get back to studying "Barnaby Rudge" though. As much as I love it, you'd think I'd be farther along. :D

I loved the How to Train Your Dragon movies, so I finally got around to reading the first book from the series on which the films are inspired by ... I was warned it was different, and it's true ... Definitely juvie fic ... I don't know if I will read the rest of them (I did want to see what Camicazi was like but she wasn't in the first book) but it's hard when characters that have the same names of the movie-verse characters I love act kind of different to what I'm used to (e.g. Gobber). I'm also not one of the elementary school ageD boys these books are aimed at ... I think this might be a rare instance when I say the movies are better ... However, I feel like I need to read more before I come to a definite conclusion.

I also finally finished Insurgent ... I'm going to finish out the series to see what happens, but I'm still kind of neutral to it. I haven't totally connected with any characters or anything.

Has anyone read Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I think that's her name)? Several of my friends recommended it and it sounded kind of interesting ...

I read it a few years back. It was good. Not overwhelmingly impressive in my opinion, but my sister loves the series. (I haven't read the sequels yet...I'll get to it.)

I reread the Queen's Thief series and I'm still fighting the urge to just keep rereading them until the end of time. I got asked to be part of a round table discussion on RA Lafferty so I'm trying to find some of his stuff to read....which is harder than it sounds!

I read all the Hugo nominees I'm going to get to, which basically means everything but the novels and half of the John Cambpell award nominees.

And, um, not really getting much reading done otherwise. I'm going to read "The Singularity is Near" at some point here. I read Ray Kurzweil's new book, but not that one, which is sort of funny. And typical for me. :)

Oh! I forgot. I'm reading "Doctor Dolittle". I always wanted to read it, see how it compares to the old movie. So far I actually think the movie with Rex Harrison is more original than the book.

Jen - I read and enjoyed Cinder. I have friends who rave madly about it and I wouldn't go that far, but it's certainly an original take on a well known story and I thought it was well written and interesting. :)

I'm trying to decide whether to start a book since I'd have to finish it before I go away on Sunday... or I should just not start anything and take them with me? Idk... :/

Playing catch-up again. My recent reviews:

Miss Elizabeth Bennet: A Play From Pride and Prejudice by A.A. Milne
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan

Also read Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes by Ella Cheever Thayer, a very charming old book about a romance by telegraph; and I've been reading more of Milne's plays. I don't think there's such a thing as too much Milne.

I'm doing my homework for WorldCon by reading RA Lafferty. I'm two or three chapters into "Fourth Mansion" and it's both weird and wildly fascinating. The writing style is quirky and hilarious, the plot...it remains to be seen if the plot makes any sense whatsoever. It's not scifi by any stretch of the definition--it's fantasy, and it's fantasy in the style of "American Gods" and "Dirk Gently." So we'll see...

I've finished the Scarlet Letter, which was an enjoyable read. "The Custom House" prologue was a bit hard to wade through, though. And I will hopefully be starting "Henry V" by William Shakespeare today. ^_^ Although not reading part 2 of Henry IV might make it confusing...

Thanks Miriam. I just read "Cinder" and enjoyed it very much. I'm currently reading the sequel, "Scarlet" right now.

@Katie - What is WorldCon? Does it have something to do with world views?

I went to the library borrowed a bunch of different books about blogging, since I just started a blog to journal my crafts, costumes, and book reviews. If you want take a look and have any comments or suggestions, please let me know. There's one post that I have trouble with formatting and I don't know why. http://theartistlibrarian.blogspot.com
So far, I've only finished "Blogging for Dummies" (revised version). Do any of you bloggers have advice or books/websites to recommend?

It's just the short handle for the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, which changes names every year based on what city it's in. Two years ago when I attended in Chicago we called it ChiCon7. This year it's in London so it's called LonCon3. I was invited to be the moderator on a panel about RA Lafferty but haven't read anything by him before so...homework! (And I am so doggone excited about the whole thing that I can't sit still. London! WorldCon! All at the same time! In three weeks!!!!)

Ah, gotcha. I saw "homework" and that's the first thing that came to mind ... That sounds so neat! I wish there was something like that in my area. The biggest convention we have is a bit more anime and manga focused, though there are some western stuff... Well, have fun in London -- the UK is on the top of my "would love to visit someday" list. :)

I just got home with quite the haul...65 books from the library sale. $1 a hardback and .50 a paperback! Stocked up on mysteries and Jan Karon books, along with my first Mary Stewart. ;)

Katie wrote: "It's just the short handle for the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, which changes names every year based on what city it's in. Two years ago when I attended in Chicago we called it Chi..."

Wow, so jealous! What an opportunity...have you ever gone to London before?
(hoping more Floyd inspirations are ahead)

No, I haven't! I've never been out of the country! And me too. Big part of why I'm so excited to go is to actually see the place for myself. I want to just go stand on Tower Bridge and....absorb for a while.

Yo, London! I live in London. :)

This week I read Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis, The Shadow In The North by Philip Pullman, and The Pirates In An Adventure With The Romantics by Gideon Defoe. Yeah, varied, I know.

You do? Seriously? Really seriously? Want to meet up with me?

Ah mate, I'm sorry, I'm actually away at the moment. :( Bad timing - I'm in Guernsey! How long are you here/there for?

(Misread comment. When is it you come to London? I'm away again from the 23rd but if I'm around then sure, I could come and say hi if you want.)

I'll be there from August 12-22nd, most of it will be spent at LonCon3 which is almost as exciting as the whole "going to be in London!!!" thing. :)

I'm around! (Though the 14th is Results Day, so if I don't get the grades I needed for uni I'll be running around like a headless chicken trying to persuade them to take me anyway during the week following, ha ha.)

Don't panic!

(Do I get brownie points for that line being a book reference? Yeah? No, because I haven't read said book yet? Okay...)

Howdy, y'all! Yes, I vanished for a couple of months, and yes, I have a good excuse. No really, it actually is a good excuse. I had a personal crisis, moved, got engaged, worked 15 days straight... twice... etc. So yeah, good excuse. But I am sorry for abandoning y'all and have come with cupcakes as a peace offering.

But, good news is, I quit my second job, so I actually have time for life again! I'll be moving again at the end of the month, but after that I should have even more time (and money, haha) for life, as I won't have to drive 3.5 hours to see my fiance.

So, point being, I am back, and this contest is still on. I can't promise I will be much of a challenge--meaning it may not take much to "outread" me. But for anyone who sticks around long enough to try, there will be more sprints and a grand prize at the end of the year.

If anyone has any questions (or posted questions on this thread that I missed), just drop me a message. Glad to see some of y'all are still around and chatting... :)

Wow! Congratulations on getting engaged.You must be so excited. :)

Congratulations, Aubrey!! When is the big day?

Congratulations, Aubrey! You definitely have a good excuse. :)

Thanks, ladies! :) We've got some things to sort out before we announce our date, but barring the end of the world or something of that nature, it will be next year for sure. Squee!

Ooooo!! CONGRATULATIONS, PHILLI!!!! *hugs excitedly* How wonderful. ^_^ I'm so happy for you!! :D

Wow, congrats to you and your fiance, Aubrey!

Stayed up until 2:00am finishing "Cress" by Marissa Meyer ... I love this series way more than Hunger Games or Divergent so far ... If you like fairy tales, you should check it out! :)

You ought to keep this going next year, Aubrey...and if you're too busy for being much of a challenge, we should have to outread this year's winner instead!

I like that idea, Hannah!

I like that idea, Hannah!

I didn't mean to copy Faith. o.o

I'm reading The Mammoth Book Of Steampunk. But I'm not very accustomed to short stories -- it's ever so easy just to put them down and not carry on reading... :/

Also, congrats Aubrey. :)

Grace wrote: "I didn't mean to copy Faith. o.o"

There's no problem with copying me on that, Grace. :) Maybe if we have enough interest in the idea, Aubrey will do it. ^_^

Oh, Aubrey, congratulations! And it's nice to see you back here. :)

I think...I think...the only book I've read since I last checked in is Pastoral by Nevil Shute. I'm kind of in a writing-induced haze at the moment, so I cannot be sure. But anyway, I enjoyed Pastoral quite a bit; possibly my second-favorite piece of WWII fiction now (after Green For Danger).

(Congratulations and felicitations, Aubrey!)

As has been (alas) usual this year, of late I've largely been reading old favorite fanfiction that has replaced The Princess and the Goblin and Understood Betsy as my "comfort reads." However, when I was at the ODPC Funfest in Evart a couple of weeks ago, I did get some reading done.

Elisabeth wrote: "Pastoral by Nevil Shute"

The two Shutes that I've read, Trustee from the Toolroom and The Chequer Board, I thought were both first-rate. But I keep resisting going out to our collection and reading any of the others we have, for some reason.

Lo! She appears!

I finished Fourth Mansions. It was...well, it was stunning. I didn't expect it to make sense. I expected it to take itself too seriously and end by being some kind of ridiculous allegory for the human condition or...or something. I didn't expect it to make sense, and I certainly didn't expect it to be brilliant. I'm still somewhat amazed.

Now I'm reading Past Master. It's brilliant too, but in a completely different way. So, we'll see. It will be less of a surprise this time.

So, Mirriam, I'm landing at Heathrow Wednesday morning...want to meet me there? Or at Kews? Or somewhere else at some other point during the day? I'm going to become rather busy after that but my schedule for Wednesday includes: "Get off the airplane. Get lost. Eventually find my hostel. Maybe got to Kews Garden." You are welcome to join me in any of those activities, especially the getting lost part (which I'm absolutely sure will happen to some extent.)

That's a coincidence, Katie—there was a scene at Kew Gardens in Pastoral, and it made me want to put that on my list of places to visit if I ever go to England someday.

It's one of the top botanical gardens in the world. My dad really thinks I should go see it, which means, of course, that my dad really wants to see it hismelf, but can't, so he wants me to go on his behalf. And I'd kind of like to. But it's really far from where I'm staying, and I don't have a lot of time but....it's not far from Heathrow and I have all day Wednesday to spend doing whatever and getting lost. So. We'll see.

Katie - I'll see what I can do. Need to talk to the parentals and find out if I'm doing anything. Heathrow, as far as I'm aware, is miles from anything, so I'd be more likely to meet you at Kew. Even though I have actually no idea where that is because I've never been there.

Which Wednesday is this?

Yes, most airports seem to have that distinguishing commonality. Kew is about five miles from Heathrow, and thus also miles away from anything. I should know, because I have to figure out how to get to the "anything" part. Anyway, just let me know.

We're currently talking about wednesday the 12th.

Thank you so much, ladies (and gents ;) ). :D

That copying was rather creepy, girls. o.O But I agree, that's a fantastic idea, so I'll definitely consider it when we get closer to year's end.

Oooh, what is Elisabeth writing that has put her in a haze?

At the moment, finishing up some short stories. I'm going to publish a second Western collection at some point (I know better than to try and say when). Coming back to writing after a long time off + finally writing stories I've planned for ages + some rather intense/exciting scenes = haze. :)

*delighted and knowing grin* :D

Have I raved about RA Lafferty on here yet? o.O Not getting a whole lot of reading done, but there's an overseas flight coming up so... I have "Rogues" checked out from the elibrary so I know that at least will get read. And I have another Lafferty book for the plane as well, and I'm really, really trying to finish "Tales of Elemental Spirits--Water." I think I have one story left. :P

I've been reading so sporadically, I only hope I can remember everything I've finished...

Never by J. Grace Pennington. I loved it! I don't know why I took so long to read it! For some reason, I had the idea that it would be slow - it wasn't. I now have it on my list to buy in paperback. :)

The Cinderella Theorem by Kristee Raven. I liked it overall - it was a clever take on the fairy-tale world. I am not a fan of teenage romance in books though, so I would have been happier if Lily were at least sixteen or seventeen.

I know I'm bouncing around between multiple other books right now... Barnaby Rudge for my Dickens study, Jane Eyre, Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung, and probably another book or two somewhere... Oh, Aubrey's Red Rain... First time in book form. I always listened to the audio before and had no clue how much I had missed. :)

Oh - I remembered. I read more than half of the first book of The Wizard of Oz. Then the library demanded it back. I'm not sure if I'll go back and finish it or not. I rarely, rarely decide to give up on a book, but this one just doesn't quite feel worth finishing for me... :-/

Rebekah, I'm so glad you enjoyed Never! I'd love to see a review if you have the time. :)

I read three Marvel comic collection thingymajigs, plus the Demon's Lexicon trilogy by Sarah Rees Brennan, which I enjoyed. (Not sure it's one for most people here.) Currently working through some non fiction as prep for uni - I'm headed to Cambridge in October! Forgot to mention that....

Grace wrote: "Rebekah, I'm so glad you enjoyed Never! I'd love to see a review if you have the time. :)"

I hope to review it very soon! :)

Rebekah wrote: "I've been reading so sporadically, I only hope I can remember everything I've finished...

The Cinderella Theorem by Kristee Raven. I liked it overall - it was a clever take on the fairy-tale world. I am not a fan of teenage romance in books though, so I would have been happier if Lily were at least sixteen or seventeen.

I loved that book, very interesting take on fairy tales (something that I always have an eye out for), but I do agree that Lily should have been older.