Mark Twain is my FAVORITE American author. In my opinion, he’s the sexiest dead man alive!
He writes do graphically that I can just SEE what it is that he sees. He’s absolutely amazing!
Books to Behold
What I’m Reading Now
There’s a few on the go at the moment…
World Without End by Ken Follett - sequel to Pillars Of The Earth.
Lost For Words by Hugh Lunn - Described as Australia’s Lost Language in Words and Stories. Quite funny in parts!
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Am loving Twain’s use of language.
Favourites
A Trip to The Stars - Nicholas Christopher (see below)
A Man’s Got To Have A Hobby - William McInnes
Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta
Looking For Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta
One Year Off - David Elliot Cohen
The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Favourite Series
Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
The Diary of Adrian Mole - Sue Townsend
Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman
Recently Read
Pillars Of The Earth - loved this epic saga of violence, love and revenge in the 1100’s.
‘The Persimmon Tree’ by Bryce Courtenay. A love story set in Australia and Java in the 1940’s. It’s ok, but very wordy - sometimes takes 5 paragraphs to say what could be said in a sentence or two. I wanted a different ending too I have to admit. Or at least, a little more clarity in the ending.
‘The Subtle Knife’ - Phillip Pullman
This is book II in the trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’. (Book I - ‘Northern Lights’, Book III - ‘The Amber Spyglass’). Excellent fantasy/sci fi series that tracks the adventures of Lyra Belacqua through several dimensions on her hunt to discover the mysteries of Dust, an element with both scientific and philosophical interest to the various friends and enemies she meets along the way.
I read this series a few years ago and remember ‘Northern Lights’ pretty clearly, but can’t remember what happens in the second or third books. This is great because, while I have no idea what’s going to happen next, every now and then I recognise a few of the events and a vague memory shimmers up to the surface.
I haven’t seen ‘The Golden Compass’ which is the film adaption of ‘Northern Lights’, and don’t plan to as I don’t think the magic of the book will transfer properly to the big screen.
An Old Favourite
Absolutely love ‘A Trip to the Stars’ by Nicholas Christopher. This is the tale of Loren and his young adoptive aunt Mala, who are separated when Loren is 10 years old. Loren is kidnapped by his great-uncle and taken to a desert hotel inhabited by peculiar characters who are all searching for lost things - lost memories, lost artifacts, lost souls. The story is told from the point of view of both Loren and Mala.
Some of the things you’ll encounter in this book:
A spider whose bite has celestial powers
A festival of the lost
A travelling mindreader
You can read a (professional) review of it here:
Responses
By: oh2btigger on April 25, 2008
at 9:32 pm
