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So... whatcha reading?
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youngishbear




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 24 2019, 12:16 am
tigerwife wrote:
Gerald Morris’s books (Squire’s Tale series) are a light and very funny read. They are a compilation of many Arthurian tales, mainly told through the viewpoints of his fictional characters.


You must have mentioned it elsewhere, because I put the first few on hold at the library because of it. Alas, they brought me the second and third. Still waiting for the first.
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amother
Peach


 

Post Fri, May 24 2019, 2:01 pm
Quote:
I'm reading the Sally Lockheart Mystery series by Phillip Pullman.

I am loving the stories. They are set in Victorian England, and are very clean. No zex, no swearing. There is a bit of description of the hero fighting with the villain, but the mild violence serves the plot, and is not gratuitous.

What is extra fun, is that Pullman weaves a lot of history into his stories, mentioning news headlines, new inventions, famous people, and other things that the characters might encounter along the way.

While clean, the stories are in no way childish. The mysteries are page turning, and don't insult the reader's intelligence.
I looked up this Pullman fellow, and he has a series called "His Dark Materials" which could be scary and, um, dark. Anyone know?
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amother
Apricot


 

Post Fri, May 24 2019, 2:09 pm
Didnt he write the book The Golden Compass? Tried reading it but couldn't slog my way through it. Also the movie was unbelievably boring.
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gingertop




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 26 2019, 2:36 pm
Aleppo Tales by Haim Sabato

Archaic writing but a beautiful story of a man trying to track down his family's legacy. It's part literary detective story, part memoir, part history of the destroyed Aleppo community.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 26 2019, 2:42 pm
amother [ Apricot ] wrote:
Didnt he write the book The Golden Compass? Tried reading it but couldn't slog my way through it. Also the movie was unbelievably boring.


He did, but these books are very different. A lot less fantasy, a whole lot more history, and easier reading. They are not huge novels, they are written for teenagers.

I wasn't a fan of the Golden Compass books either. The movie was very pretty, but I couldn't muster up any sympathy for any of the characters. I mostly just watched the special effects and costumes.
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 26 2019, 2:43 pm
[quote="amother [ Peach ][/quote]I looked up this Pullman fellow, and he has a series called "His Dark Materials" which could be scary and, um, dark. Anyone know?[/quote]

I liked His Dark Materials as a teenager. It’s not really scary or dark. It’s his “atheist answer” to C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, which he hated. I don’t know how interesting it would be for an adult. The first book, The Golden Compass, was excellent in terms of atmosphere and imagery; the next two, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, were more stridently ideological. Look up the series on tvtropes and see if it’s something you’d be interested in.

The title is a quote from Paradise Lost, by the way.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, May 26 2019, 2:47 pm
[quote="amother [ Peach ]I looked up this Pullman fellow, and he has a series called "His Dark Materials" which could be scary and, um, dark. Anyone know?[/quote]

Not such great books, too long, and a weird story line. I don't know why people rave about that series.

The Lockheart books are written for young adults, are nowhere near as long, and are much more concise. Not as violent, either.

There is a VERY vague zex scene in the second book, so I don't know if I'd let a teen read it or not (depends on your hashkafa). It's definitely part of the characters' story arcs, so not gratuitous.

I do love that he's a feminist, writes strong female characters, and accurately represents society's attitudes towards women in that time period.
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amother
Apricot


 

Post Sun, May 26 2019, 2:49 pm
Interesting. I never picked up on an atheist subtext. I just couldn't get into the plot or care about the characters. But maybe as a teen I would have had more patience.
I do love C.S. Lewis, though.
ETA: fans of sci fi and/or historical novels might like the Small Change trilogy by Jo Walton.
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gingertop




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 29 2019, 10:30 am
"The White Tiger" by Robert Stuart Nathan.

Novel set in Beijing.
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, May 29 2019, 11:02 am
youngishbear wrote:
You must have mentioned it elsewhere, because I put the first few on hold at the library because of it. Alas, they brought me the second and third. Still waiting for the first.


Lol, I think I did, and since then I’ve began rereading them as well. Somehow they are much less sophisticated than I remember (I guess they are children’s books after all), but they are still dear to my heart. There’s also a lot of books in the series and each book is better than the last. You can finish each book in a night or two (if you have enough time to read). You also don’t have to read them in order, since some of them are about different characters, but since old and new characters often meet up, you might encounter a spoiler or two.
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Aug 08 2019, 10:40 pm
I loved The Queen’s Thief series! Can anyone recommend a similar series? How does Wolf Hall compare clean wise?
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amother
Apricot


 

Post Thu, Aug 08 2019, 11:29 pm
It's hard to find a series to top that one.
Wolf Hall was a totally different type of book. I don't remember enough details to say how clean of a book it is.
You might like the YA book Jackaroo by Cynthia Voight.
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amother
Ecru


 

Post Fri, Aug 09 2019, 7:36 am
Cinda Williams Chima's seven realms series was similar to the queen's thief-also really good and clean as well. Her heir series was also good but not as good IMO.
You might like Trudi Canavan's High Lord series. I found that series her best.
Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books are really good as well-they do have elements of romance but they're still clean. The first trilogy is the Queen Arrow, I think it was. She also has other series, fairy tale parodies etc which I also loved.
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