Books

[Dragon Writer]

You can't get the second one before the first when dealing with libraries...you end up with the SECOND book first often as not, and find yourself reading it and getting confused cause you can't bring yourself to wait after a few weeks....*Shrugs* at least, that's the problem i get....my library is TINY though so i have to request almost EVERYTHING. the good news is though, it means every once in a while i can comb through my school or public library and write down ALL The books i want to read from them...

[Kathy Li]

tori, I know what you mean about having the next one at hand. There's one series (Dorothy Dunnett's "Lymond Chronicles") where I'm always recommending that by the time you start the second one (the first one is standalone without a cliffhanger ending), you really really need to have all six in the house. And it gets worse with her "House of Niccolò" series.

I don't recommend Dunnett often on this board, because they're neither kids' books or fantasy, but historical fiction with gloriously baroque prose that a lot of folks find give them headaches. But I love it to death. The woman uses words you can't find in the OED.

[tori]

If you want a book, get Twilight, and go ahead and get New Moon, because as soon as you're done with Twilight you will want New Moon. Sadly, for me, I didn't get New Moon and I'm screaming my head off waiting for it. Grr. Oh yah, and it's author is Stephanie Meyer. Really good books. And there are more coming. Eee! And they are close to making Twilight into a movie. Ohmigawd. eee! Yah, I'm a bit obsessed.

[edited to remove the all-caps screaming. --kli]

[Dragon Writer]

to alla...PLENTY unfortunatley i left my gigantic reading list behind, so i'll pull some things off the top of my head. alex rider books, pendragon books, books by jennifer fallon, wheel of time series, sword of truth series, myth series if your just looking for something without any real filler...i like some books by lloyd allexander too, but that's mostly just as a memory thing...you can read them if you want...i'm about to dive into sabbriel by garth nix,high rhulain by brian jaquas,a nd beast by donna jo napoli as well, but also read the arthur books by kevin holand crossly (think that's how its spelled. and i'm starting to read merlin books....i can go on and on, if you want some more...but i think it might be a better idea to pm me in that case, since when i say giant reading list, i mean the list of books i want to read stretches into two topics in an organizer where i stuffed them...the first one wouldn't take any more. oh, and try ann mcaffrey's books, though i'm warning you, with the first ones, it takes until your about half way in until you can get into them.

[meteorite]

If you like space opera and military sci-fi, you might try looking up the old Keith Laumer Bolo series, about intelligent tanks. Several well-known authors have taken the concept and run with it; there are several collections of stories about Bolos out there. Hmmm, what do you call spin-off stories by established authors? If it's not fan-fic, what is it?

Another series I am enjoying is by Elizabeth Moon. The three books so far of Vatta's War are Trading in Danger, Marque and Reprisal, Engaging the Enemy, with a fourth just out. And there's always Honor Harrington (David Weber). There's a guilty pleasure in military science fiction. BTW, those two series feature strong female leads; it isn't just the guys with blasters and tactics any more!

[knieve]

alla if you want to read a good long fantasy series i find out that Xanth, by Piers Anthony,is great but beware of all the puns. Another good series is Cirque Du Freak (sometimes called The Saga Of Darren Shan) by Darren Shan. One other trilogy that is great is Pit Dragon Trilogy by Jane Yolen.
I find that if you just keep the books that you but in your backpack between your back and a binder less damage happens to the books.

[Kathy Li]

Oh, I get my jacket covers from a local bookstore, but I think you can order them from Amazon. I remember seeing them at Barnes & Noble a long time ago, but I'm not sure they carry them any more.

Adventurish, hmmm? Well, not sure the storyline is particularly new, but I love Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche. It's a French Revolution novel with lots of fencing and swashbuckling and outwitting. It has the best opening line of any adventure novel, ever: "He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad." Sabatini's sort of the 1920s version of Dumas.

There's Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash if you wanted something cyberpunky, but not depressing. Neil Gaiman's Stardust if you wanted something more fairytaleish; or Neverwhere (or Emma Bull's War for the Oaks) if you wanted urban fantasy. I like **** Francis upon occasion, with the first two Sid Halleys being my faves (Odds Against, Whip Hand). And then, there's DD's Star Trek novel, My Enemy, My Ally.

I will cogitate some more upon adventures.

[alla]

Hmm... I feel like reading something adventurish - and something with a new storyline. I re-read books far too often. And there's nothing wrong with boy books most of them have more action in them than 'girl books'. I think dad may have copies of the Jim Butcher ones. I shall have to check next time that I'm at mum and dad's.

I think the most recent thing that I read was a Stargate SG1 novel (*blush*). I enjoyed that, surprisingly, and I even tried hunting for fanfic that could be interesting, but I'm struggling to find something that doesn't shove a 'ship to the fore, and with a writing style that I can handle (oh god, I've started reading fanfic *headdesk*)

Oh, where do you get the mylar jacket covers from? as I'd like to protect the YW jackets.

[Kathy Li]

YR: most folks who take care of their books don't haul them around in backpacks. :-) When I do, I put 'em inside one of those thick plastic file folder things, which generally can protect the corners pretty well. And I tend to put those mylar jacket covers (brodarts) on, too.

I once coveted a book that only came in a plain simple edition, but cost about $200. Luckily, the Oxford University Press had a white sale, and I nabbed it for 75% off ($50). It's called The World's Writing Systems and has a small sample of every form of writing known to man. It's soooo cool. Value is all relative.

Now, I want a copy of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), but I'm waiting to see if I can nab it at a sale price, instead of $200.

Alla, what did you feel like reading?

I recently finished Sharon Shinn's The Dream-Maker's Magic, which wasn't quite up to the level of the previous two books in the series (The Safe-Keeper's Secret and The Truth-Teller's Tale), but was darn good all the same. I've also been reading Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, which is a fun mix of magic and gumshoe noir, but are very much boy books. I've also been re-reading Paul Gallico's Flowers For Mrs. Harris/Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris, which is just fun for anybody who likes travel and haute couture and good writing. And just because I haven't mentioned it in a while, Helen Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road is for anybody who loves literature and books.

[alla]

mmm... I know what it is like to have to put books in school bags. I've had to replace a couple of my books because they've just become too battered from living in my bag. That being said, I have gotten a lot better at looking after them, and any hardcovers that I have always get looked after better.

So, I need some reading suggestions. Does anyone have any?

[Dragon Writer]

I can never keep books looking good...*Sighs* eventually, i'm forced to put it in my backpack in school, and NOTHING comes out of there unscathed. *Shudders at the horrors* its not particularly messy...its' just that nothing can come out of it unscathed. ok, so its kinda messy too. but one has nothing to do with the other in this case! *Shrugs* but either way, i guess thats not why i'm all that big on the idea of getting collecters, first editions, or anything like that...In my oppinion, people seem to go a bit too heavy on that stuff anyways. i mean, knife of dreams can be bought for a hundred bucks if you want it in a leather cover, and that's still a fairly NEW book, not even two years old, i don't think...honestly! who cares if the books has a leather cover! i just want to read it!

[marina salem]

Originally posted by kli6:
For me, it's a mix. If I really love a book, I often find I have it in multiple editions, or that I'll have an extra "reader" copy that gets loaned out to friends who don't care for books as fanatically as I do, (e.g., turn down their corners, break their spines, drop them in the tub, etc.)

I agree with you there. I believe I have only once lent out a book, and it was returned in a less prestine condition than it was given out. My friend Caroline asked to borrow a book once, but I refused because I knew she would destroy the spine and bend down page corners. When I buy a book, it's usually in hardback, because it is then easier to preserve the spine and keep it looking beautiful. However, I will buy paperback versions (like YW books), provided they all are the same edition and I like the cover illustrations, so everything is nice and even on my bookshelf.

*envies Alla* I would love a hardcover of each of the first six Young Wizard books. I think my most prized book is a rather old Motion Picture Edition of Gone With The Wind that was published in 1940; it belonged to my maternal great-grandmother and was a birthday present to me.

[AlidaART]

About the whole collector's books thing...

1) I have a few signed books and I love them, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a signed book off eBay or something, because the thing that's so cool about my signed books is the memory of meeting and talking to the author.

2) Old books, though, are another story. My most prized book is a 1952 edition of The Lady's Not For Burning. I also have a similarly ancient copy of Andersen's Fairytales. Eeeee, I just love it.

[samehl]

I decided to give Tamora Pierce's books a try again... in fourth grade I had a really bad experience.. long story... Those are so good! Addicted, I have read 3 quartets and I am reading the last of my 4th! The Immortals are my favorite of her books so far.
sehlinger

[Rubywolf]

I enjoy old books, such as i treasure a copy of "outside Over ther," A children's book about a girl and the goblins that spirited her brother away. It stopped being producedin the sixties or so. I love the illustrations, they are watercolors. I suppose I hadn't thought about getting special editions for newer books however. I hoard all books, young and old.