More reading...
In the past week and a half to two weeks I have finished three more books. It has been so nice to get back to reading again! I didn't realized I missed it as much as I have. And it certainly beat wondering the net aimlessly! Although I do log on since I still like to research stuff! ^_^
But the books I have read are Eragon, The Secret Garden, and Bed-Knob and Broomstick.
I have decided it migth be best for me to add the book summaries to those I am talking about in case you haven't read or even heard of these books! All summaries are from Amazon.com. But be warned that what I say myself will contain spoilers, but I'll try to keep them down to a minimum if possible.
Eragon
Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.
Now with my reading, I have rarely stopped reading a book because it was boring, clique, or badly written. I always have hope for it that if it does seem bad it might have a good ending. With Eragon, I did enjoy it. But when I looked up the next in the series, Eldest, I saw that Eragon had some pretty bad reviews. One was that it is only a combination of some of the greater works of fantasy, like Star Wars and McCaffry's work for instance. Now Star Wars I though was a little odd unless it was the part of the main character being a simple farm boy getting roled up in a whole new adventure and finding out he has special powers. But really that can come into play in a lot of fantasy books. I have read McCaffrey's books, so I don't know how much would be "copied" from them. But one thing I got kinda mad about was a small scene with Brom. He was reluctant to give Eragon the answers he wanted about who Brom is and his connection to everything that is happening. (well maybe a bit of ObiWan there then) In the scene he is smoking his pipe with a twinkle in his eye he started blowing smoke rings, making hte change color and chance each other. -_- Okay that is straight from Gandolf from Lord of Rings right there. That made me a bit mad and I started fussing about that. But that was the only time I noticed this copying.
So after reading that review I'm not liking Eragon as much as I did since I can certainly see his point. But it won't stop me from reading the sequel I think. I think my opinion changes when Eragon finally meets up with the Varden in the Dwarves hall. The interaction with the characters and the descriptions there I loved! ^_^ So since Eldest will be covering Eragon's training with the Elves in their homeland, I hope it will be just as vivid. And if that writing style and ideas on descriptions was copied as well I'd love to find out by who so I can read more! ^_^
Next I read The Secret Garden
Bratty and spoiled Mary Lennox is orphaned when her parents fall victim to a cholera outbreak in India. As a result, Mary becomes the ward of an uncle in England she has never met. As she hesitantly tries to carve a new life for herself at imposing and secluded Misselthwaite Manor, Mary befriends a high-spirited boy named Dickon and investigates a secret garden on the Manor grounds. She also discovers a sickly young cousin, Colin, who has been shut away in a hidden Manor room. Together Mary and Dickon help Colin blossom, and in the process Mary finds her identity and melts the heart of her emotionally distant uncle.
This I thought is an excellent book! ^_^ Although written very early in the 1900's it was neat hearing about hte effects of positive thinking. Somehting we consider now a days a bit new age-ish! *chuckle* I really enjoyed reading about the characters transitions from being spoiled brats to happy, healthy children. ^_^ Nearing the end I was kinda surprised there wasn't a type of villian that the children were going to have to outwhit to keep the garden or something. Mrs. Medlock finding out what the kids were up to, The Doctor that would have inherited everything, Dr. Craven ending up being mad and punishing the children for "defiling" the garden. But no of that happened. The so called villian was actually the children themselves and their previous attitudes. So the story is the tranforming hte villians into heroes! I liked that thought! Such a nice change!
After that I was wondering what else to read since I thought I had read of the books I haven't read yet that I have when I saw my Bed-Knob and Broomstick book. ^_^
With the powers they acquire from a spinster who is studying to be a witch, three English children have a series of exciting and perilous adventures traveling on a flying bed that takes them to a London police station, a tropical island, and back in time to the seventeenth century.
This was a Disney movie I loved as a kid (and still do! ^_~ ) so I have been earger to read this book! Although the cover of the book that I have shows a pic from the movie were the bed is under the ocean with all the fish swimming around, that is certainly not int he book itself! *chuckle* The only parts that remain the same as the movie are the character Miss Price and the children, Carry, Charles, and Paul. Emilius Brown is also in the book but as a different character, although a few thing remain the same in the movie/book for him. Miss Price is still a witch in training and she does create the traveling bedknob and at the end Miss Price does stay with Mr. Brown. But that is about it. There is no magic book that was torn in half, no traveling to islands with talking animals, and the war was only briefly mentioned.
In the book the children first travel to London to see their mom but are instead hauled off to the police station with their bed! *chuckle* Luckly they get back the bed and "warp" back. Next the children and Miss Price take a trip to a tropical island and get captured by cannibals. Miss Price saves the day with the bit of magic that she does know and the come back to safety, but with a soaking wet bed that ends up getting the children shipped back to London to their mother (they were staying with their aunt where Miss Price is a neighbor). Two years pass and the kids see an advertisement in the paper where Miss Price is asking for children to stay the summer (to help pay off a stainless steele sink she just bought she later says). The children get excited and end up staying the summer. The bring the bedknob and end up treveling to the past to August 1666 and bring Emilius Brown, a necromancer, back with them. After spending a week in the present time with them Miss Price thinks it is best to bring him back to his old time. After dropping him off he is tried as a witch in a pond (where the dunk you and if you float you are a witch) and will be burned at the stake. Miss Price and the children come back and save him and bring him back to the present. The story quickly ends around there with Miss Price deciding to stay and live with Mr. Brown back at his house in the country (instead of where he was in London where he was tried). It is a bit sad with her leaving but I loved the last line of the book! IT brought a smile to face and I thought it was a perfect ending! ^_^
The book is so much different from the movie, but I'm not sure which I like the best. Rigth now I consider them as two separate adventures for them. But now I've got the song they sang under the sea from the movie in my head! I've got to watch the movie now! *chuckle*
But the books I have read are Eragon, The Secret Garden, and Bed-Knob and Broomstick.
I have decided it migth be best for me to add the book summaries to those I am talking about in case you haven't read or even heard of these books! All summaries are from Amazon.com. But be warned that what I say myself will contain spoilers, but I'll try to keep them down to a minimum if possible.
Eragon
Eragon, a young farm boy, finds a marvelous blue stone in a mystical mountain place. Before he can trade it for food to get his family through the hard winter, it hatches a beautiful sapphire-blue dragon, a race thought to be extinct. Eragon bonds with the dragon, and when his family is killed by the marauding Ra'zac, he discovers that he is the last of the Dragon Riders, fated to play a decisive part in the coming war between the human but hidden Varden, dwarves, elves, the diabolical Shades and their neanderthal Urgalls, all pitted against and allied with each other and the evil King Galbatorix. Eragon and his dragon Saphira set out to find their role, growing in magic power and understanding of the complex political situation as they endure perilous travels and sudden battles, dire wounds, capture and escape.
Now with my reading, I have rarely stopped reading a book because it was boring, clique, or badly written. I always have hope for it that if it does seem bad it might have a good ending. With Eragon, I did enjoy it. But when I looked up the next in the series, Eldest, I saw that Eragon had some pretty bad reviews. One was that it is only a combination of some of the greater works of fantasy, like Star Wars and McCaffry's work for instance. Now Star Wars I though was a little odd unless it was the part of the main character being a simple farm boy getting roled up in a whole new adventure and finding out he has special powers. But really that can come into play in a lot of fantasy books. I have read McCaffrey's books, so I don't know how much would be "copied" from them. But one thing I got kinda mad about was a small scene with Brom. He was reluctant to give Eragon the answers he wanted about who Brom is and his connection to everything that is happening. (well maybe a bit of ObiWan there then) In the scene he is smoking his pipe with a twinkle in his eye he started blowing smoke rings, making hte change color and chance each other. -_- Okay that is straight from Gandolf from Lord of Rings right there. That made me a bit mad and I started fussing about that. But that was the only time I noticed this copying.
So after reading that review I'm not liking Eragon as much as I did since I can certainly see his point. But it won't stop me from reading the sequel I think. I think my opinion changes when Eragon finally meets up with the Varden in the Dwarves hall. The interaction with the characters and the descriptions there I loved! ^_^ So since Eldest will be covering Eragon's training with the Elves in their homeland, I hope it will be just as vivid. And if that writing style and ideas on descriptions was copied as well I'd love to find out by who so I can read more! ^_^
Next I read The Secret Garden
Bratty and spoiled Mary Lennox is orphaned when her parents fall victim to a cholera outbreak in India. As a result, Mary becomes the ward of an uncle in England she has never met. As she hesitantly tries to carve a new life for herself at imposing and secluded Misselthwaite Manor, Mary befriends a high-spirited boy named Dickon and investigates a secret garden on the Manor grounds. She also discovers a sickly young cousin, Colin, who has been shut away in a hidden Manor room. Together Mary and Dickon help Colin blossom, and in the process Mary finds her identity and melts the heart of her emotionally distant uncle.
This I thought is an excellent book! ^_^ Although written very early in the 1900's it was neat hearing about hte effects of positive thinking. Somehting we consider now a days a bit new age-ish! *chuckle* I really enjoyed reading about the characters transitions from being spoiled brats to happy, healthy children. ^_^ Nearing the end I was kinda surprised there wasn't a type of villian that the children were going to have to outwhit to keep the garden or something. Mrs. Medlock finding out what the kids were up to, The Doctor that would have inherited everything, Dr. Craven ending up being mad and punishing the children for "defiling" the garden. But no of that happened. The so called villian was actually the children themselves and their previous attitudes. So the story is the tranforming hte villians into heroes! I liked that thought! Such a nice change!
After that I was wondering what else to read since I thought I had read of the books I haven't read yet that I have when I saw my Bed-Knob and Broomstick book. ^_^
With the powers they acquire from a spinster who is studying to be a witch, three English children have a series of exciting and perilous adventures traveling on a flying bed that takes them to a London police station, a tropical island, and back in time to the seventeenth century.
This was a Disney movie I loved as a kid (and still do! ^_~ ) so I have been earger to read this book! Although the cover of the book that I have shows a pic from the movie were the bed is under the ocean with all the fish swimming around, that is certainly not int he book itself! *chuckle* The only parts that remain the same as the movie are the character Miss Price and the children, Carry, Charles, and Paul. Emilius Brown is also in the book but as a different character, although a few thing remain the same in the movie/book for him. Miss Price is still a witch in training and she does create the traveling bedknob and at the end Miss Price does stay with Mr. Brown. But that is about it. There is no magic book that was torn in half, no traveling to islands with talking animals, and the war was only briefly mentioned.
In the book the children first travel to London to see their mom but are instead hauled off to the police station with their bed! *chuckle* Luckly they get back the bed and "warp" back. Next the children and Miss Price take a trip to a tropical island and get captured by cannibals. Miss Price saves the day with the bit of magic that she does know and the come back to safety, but with a soaking wet bed that ends up getting the children shipped back to London to their mother (they were staying with their aunt where Miss Price is a neighbor). Two years pass and the kids see an advertisement in the paper where Miss Price is asking for children to stay the summer (to help pay off a stainless steele sink she just bought she later says). The children get excited and end up staying the summer. The bring the bedknob and end up treveling to the past to August 1666 and bring Emilius Brown, a necromancer, back with them. After spending a week in the present time with them Miss Price thinks it is best to bring him back to his old time. After dropping him off he is tried as a witch in a pond (where the dunk you and if you float you are a witch) and will be burned at the stake. Miss Price and the children come back and save him and bring him back to the present. The story quickly ends around there with Miss Price deciding to stay and live with Mr. Brown back at his house in the country (instead of where he was in London where he was tried). It is a bit sad with her leaving but I loved the last line of the book! IT brought a smile to face and I thought it was a perfect ending! ^_^
The book is so much different from the movie, but I'm not sure which I like the best. Rigth now I consider them as two separate adventures for them. But now I've got the song they sang under the sea from the movie in my head! I've got to watch the movie now! *chuckle*