Here it is (with one or two added or subtracted...).
1. Vancouver Sun books by various authors. (I have three and a half of them read... The Jungle Book, The Secret Garden, half of Frankenstien, and book #25 which is Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories which I had to read for literature!)
2. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. (Still working on this one.... I'm more than half way through! The end is nigh!)
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
4. Emma by Jane Austin.
5. Books by Charles Dickens.
6. Books by Jules Verne.
7. Books by H.G. Wells.
8. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.
9. Re-read Watership Down by Richard (?) Adams.
11. Re-read The Alliance by same author.
13. Leviathan by Scott Westerfield.
14. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien.
15. Re-read Robin Hood by Howard Pyle.
16. A biography on J.R.R. Tolkien. (I'm one step closer.... I now own a biography about Tolkien. I just have to find time to read it.)
17. More of the Bible. (I have certainly read more of the Bible since the last time I posted this list! But I don't think it counts, yet.)
19. Books by C.S. Lewis.
20. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
After I finish the books I'm currently reading, I am going to read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (should be easy, it's less than 100 pages long!) and hopefully start Jane Eyre. However I'm not sure if Jane Eyre will ever get read because Moby Dick is threatening me from literature class.... It's 130+ chapters long! I'm not sure if I'm excited, upset, or just plain nervous. I have never read anything that long before.
NaNoWriMo. AKA National Novel Writing Month. AKA November. AKA 7 days, 5 hours, 42 minutes, and 8 seconds from now.... 7.... 6.... 5....
Anyway.
NaNoWriMo is where you try to write a 50,000 words novel in a month (although you can adjust your word count if you want).
(Hey, I resemble the guy on the left with the colorful hat).
Last year NaNoWriMo completely burned me out. I had my 50,000 words but my novel still wasn't finished by the end of November....
Actually, my novel still isn't finished. I've done the first two edits and now I'm waiting for my editor (COUGH COUGH MOM! COUGH COUGH!) to look over it and find any mistakes.
I am still undecided whether to do NaNoWriMo this year or not.... I know, I only have 7 days, 5 hours, 18 minutes, and 50 seconds.... But I just can't decide! Just in case, I'm getting my plot and my characters all ready to go. This year's novel will be an espionage story and that's all I'm saying about it right now. Other than the plot has been spinning around in my head all summer.
Outlining. There are many different preferences when it comes to outlining. Some like to have bullet points, some have detailed summaries of every chapter, some go without outlines. My personal preference is a paragraph for each scene in the story. Not particularly detailed... Just a brief summary of what happens in the scene.
For example....
Scene 1: Han Solo and Princess Leia are in a room in the Cloud City. Chewbacca comes in with parts of C3PO and says he found him in a junk pile. Talk about it. Lando comes in, asks if he can fix Threepio. They say no. Lando invites them to dinner. They leave.
Scene 2: Arrive at the dining room, find Darth Vader.
Scene 3: etc. etc....
In my outline, I have the first two scenes outlined and the third in the back of my brain. I need to look at some of my notes before proceeding any further.
Something different that I will do this year - if I do undertake NaNoWriMo - is the dares. On the NaNoWriMo Youth Writers Program website they have a dare machine. You can click it and it will give you a dare which you have to (if you want to) incorporate into your story. Last year I wasn't able to do any dares because they wouldn't fit with my 17th century theme. This year, though, my novel will be set in 2022 and the dares will be perfectly acceptable!
So I have a big decision before me....
Live long and prosper!
Do you read a lot of Jane Austin's books? I've just read one, because my sister talked me into it, and by the end I was very mad at Darcy for not, actually, really, proposing. I thought after all that the reader deserved a nice proposal. I've tried other of her books but they aren't really my style. I like more of the adventure stories myself.
ReplyDeleteWhat I loved about Donna was her friendship with the Doctor. As you said, she can take care of herself, she was used to it for a long time it seems. And she has the nerve to put the Doctor in his place. "You will do this, end of story!" And all the others were in awe of him, but Donna, she is his best friend and can tell him when he's doing something wrong. (I HATE her ending though. I think it is the saddest. I cry more over hers then Rose's.) She is cool though, very cool. Sweet and funny and sassy and bold and daring, but very caring and tender. *Dries eyes* BUT HER ENDING!!! 8'-(
YES! Spiders! NO! BAD! Everyone who puts giant spiders in anything needs their heads checked. (I'm nervous about seeing them in The Hobbit, even if I see them through my fingers.) They need an archnidphobic version of The Hobbit. Thankfully though, spiders aren't common in Doctor Who.
Are you up to the Martha series now? What do you think of her?
Allons-y!
Oh you have so many good books on your list! Jane Eyre is good (so is the movie), so are HG Wells' novels (read War of the Worlds first. It's his best in my opinion from what I've read by him.) The Bible is always good...I've been reading three to four chapters every night. Now that I'm out of Leviticus, it's getting better. OH! And Leviathan is really good steampunk. And you simply MUST read Fahrenheit 451. It's like....the book for all readers. I mean, seriously, it's all about BOOKS! If you're ever looking for more Ray Bradbury (he's a fave of mine), try Something Wicked This Way Comes. It's creepy as all get-out, but it's insanely awesome too.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm pretty sure I've added to your to-read list...I hope you do NaNo! Even if you don't, I may try to recruit you as an editor come December/January ;) Just an FYI.
What is a beta reader? That is the second time today I've seen that.
ReplyDeleteI watched the two newest E-lock's. I love it when he doesn't act like Sherlock, it makes the show a lot more fun. But I dearly wish he would accept the fact she isn't Watson and call her Joan. Also, I find her kind of annoying sometimes. She is all...bossy, and she rarely does things for fun, and she keeps trying to get him to talk about his feelings. I guess it is her job, but it is constant! "And how does that make you feel?"
The kidnapping one caught me off guard completely. I was sorry for the boy, and then, he turned creepy! I was shocked.
I have a feeling the married man Joan saw will be back. (And for one hopeful moment I thought Donna was Adler and they hadn't pulled a BBC traitorous act. Though...I don't suppose them ruining her will be traitorous, seeing as how he isn't Sherlock.)
I like Gregson. Not as much as I like Lestrade in the BBC show, he is wonderful, but I do like Gregson. He is nice and not annoying. The other chap though, he can be a bit annoying, but he isn't bad. I can stand him. Not like Anderson, who is annoying but in a very funny way. He's kind of like a boring Anderson.
What I want to know is, WHAT IS UP WITH E-LOCK'S SCARF?! It is irking me. It isn't thick enough to keep him warm, and it isn't like he wears it to keep warm - I mean, when he wears it he never wears a heavier jacket, so it can't be cold out. And it looks ready to die. He should just put it out of its misery I think. It just bugs me.
I also want to know how he handcuffed his own hands behind his back. I wonder if that is even possible. I would try it, but I don't have handcuffs. Also, I'm a rubbish lock pick, so I would probably get myself stuck and my flatmate would have to free me...which would make for an interesting conversation.
I am surprised they are dwelling so much on the locks. I heard it is from the books, but no one else has ever picked up on it. I guess this is why they have...because it is the only one they can get away with without ensuing the wrath of Moffat's wife.
All in all, I liked the kidnapping one. The mystery was interesting. The second one was kind of fun too, mostly because I could easier pretend he isn't Sherlock. Especially at the end. He is much too open with Watson.
What are your thoughts on them?
Allons-y!