Yesterday was a good day for reading. We finished up Wilkins' Tooth by Diana Wynne Jones, and I finished reading Mostly Harmless (by Douglas Adams). I haven't decided if I will start on Salmon of a Doubt yet or not.

We also finished up Mark 13-14.

mood: busy tags: books, diana wynne jones, douglas adams, ken follet, mostly harmless, reading, wilkins tooth

Today I spent some more time on King Lear and Mark 7. Besides that, I started on Wilkins' Tooth, by Diana Wynne Jones (one of my favorite authors). It is fun. My mom is actually reading it out loud to my nephews, and we were all laughing out loud as she read. I do love reading Jones. (I've got my dad started on the Chrestomanci series now.

I am continuing with Mostly Harmless in my own time now, and am enjoying it (of course). I've set aside the book by Ken Follet for the moment. I am going to wait till all of my out of town guests have gone back to start on it again. It is the kind I might like taking on a long flight with me or something.

mood: lazy tags: books, diana wynne jones, douglas adams, ken follet, mostly harmless, reading, wilkins tooth

I couldn't get online last night, for some reason. Argh! It's irritating when that happens.

I finished Conrad's Fate last night, and ended up really enjoying that. I am planning to post more on my other blogs later in the day, when I have time to really sit down and think more about it. I know I will make one post about the issue of money as it is treated in this novel, and another that compares the treatment of government/authority in this series as opposed to the Harry Potter series. I have long said that Harry Potter is greatly indebted to Chrestomanci. It's amazing to me that Chrestomanci is so much a lesser-known work, when it is is actually so much better.

I got to do a little more reading from They Went too. I am enjoying the collection of essays on travel writing a lot.

I also did some reading from Walter Wangerin's The Book of God, Proverbs, 1 Timothy 3, and 2 Kings 5.

mood: aggravated tags: books, chrestomanci, conrad's fate, diana wynne jones, reading, travel writing

I got a little time to do some catching up today. So besides reading in order to prepare for classes (King Lear, Twelfth Night, and 2 Kings), I've gotten to spend a little more time getting into Conrad's Fate. I am reminded of just why I love Diana Wynne Jones so much. She's such a top-notch writer, and she really understands how fiction should work. Her books have seldom missed for me, and I have read a whole lot of them.

I do think I'd prefer this one to be written in third person, but otherwise I am enjoying it very much -- all the more as I get further into it.

mood: calm tags: books, chrestomanci, conrad's fate, diana wynne jones, reading

I didn't get a lot of reading done today. I got some work done for class on both Twelfth Night and King Lear, and some reading from Proverbs 9-11. Other than that, I only got to do a little more reading from Conrad's Fate, the most recent book I have in the Chrestomanci series (Diana Wynne Jones). I forgot that yesterday I said that this is the latest book in the series, but I might be wrong. The latest should be The Pinhoe Egg, which I have not read nor seen yet. I can't believe I forgot about it, though, because the first time I saw it, I read it as The Pinhole Egg. Pinhole is one of my favorite bloggers, so it was kind of funny when I saw the name.

tags: conrad's fate, diana wynne jones, pinhole's blog, the pinhoe egg

Diana Wynne Jones has long been one of my favorite writers. She mostly writes fantasy books for older kids (teens), but has some things pitched for both younger and older audiences too. And the stuff aimed at teens is great reading for anyone, to tell the truth.

Jones is not as well known in the US as she should be (due, I've heard, to a dispute with publishers). I would hope that as books like her Chrestomanci series start to circulate more, that her US reputation will grow.

tags: books, chrestomanci, diana wynne jones, reading, recommended reading