Books, books, books!

Summer is over! (Technically is doesn't end until September 22, but we're not being technical here.)

I got quite a few books ticked off my summer reading list (though some were added, and some were taken off in the process).

The Future Door by Jason Lethcoe - A good sequel to a good book.

Crater by Homer Hickam - Loved this book!!

A bunch of random Agatha Christie - I read four: Murder at the Vicarage, the first Miss Marple mystery; And Then There Were None, an amazing book that every mystery fan should read! Death on the Nile, which was a great mystery set in Egypt; and Dead Man's Folly, which was a quick read... I enjoyed it because it had Ariadne Oliver, though the rest of the characters (excepting Poirot) were kind of dull, and the plot wasn't as brilliant as some of her other novels.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Brilliant book, if you can get past the swearing and slang phrases.

Emma by Jane Austin - I loved Emma! It was great.

Sew, It's a Quest and Do You Take This Quest? by Kendra E. Ardnek - Check! These are great books. I especially liked the second one.

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss - We listened to this in the car to and from Minnesota. It was wonderful, as usual... though in some parts it was kind of unrealistic.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - LOVED this one! Great.

Assignment: Eternity by Greg Cox - I didn't get this one done. Haven't even started it yet.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien - I started RotK about two or three weeks ago... And it's so exciting! I can hardly put it down at night. Sam just rescued Frodo from the Tower of Cirith Ungol. I'm about a half-way through, hoping to finish by the end of the month.

We'll be starting up literature sometime soon, so I will have some nice books to read there... Also, I have some books that I would like to read in general. And I made a decision. This school year, I would like to always be reading one non-fiction book alongside the fiction I normally read.
So here is my list of books I'd like to get done before next summer:

• Crescent by Homer Hickam - This is the sequel to Crater. I read the first chapter a few weeks ago... and never got any farther.
• Finish Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien - Yes!
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - To prepare myself for the second part of the Hobbit movie (which sounds like it will be nothing like the book at all, sadly).
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - Just because.
• Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll - Because I enjoyed Alice in Wonderland so much.
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin - This is the one Jane Austin novel that I don't really know the story of... I saw the movie once a long time ago, but I can't remember much of it. I don't want to see the movie again until I've read the book.
• Persuasion by Jane Austin - Because the movie is so good.
• Kat and Kadet by Jessica Hammond - I've read the first chapter! Kadet has a comfy chair.
• Finding Lily by Jessica Hammond - Because I've only read this one once, when I was editing it. I feel bad about never reading the finished copy. I'm looking forwards to those llamas again!
• The Ankulen by Kendra E. Ardnek - Because it sounds like a really good book!
• Assignment: Eternity by Greg Cox - The Star Trek novel. I read the prologue and first chapter a few days ago.
• Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - Because it's short.

(now the literature books)

• Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney - Because it's literature. And our copy has a super cool cover. And because I think there's a Star Trek Voyager episode where Harry Kim does something Beowulfish in the holodeck. I can't remember exactly.
• Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - An epic poem.
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by J.R.R. Tolkien (and other Arthurian legend) - This will be good, I think. I'm interested to know a little bit more about Arthurian legend.
• King Lear by William Shakespeare - Why couldn't it be Hamlet? Hopefully the play isn't as boring as the movie we watched.
• Paradise Lost by John Milton - I think this is another epic poem (about the Fall of Man).
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin - I'm excited for this one! I love P+P. Also, it will help me with a story idea...
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - I'm excited for this one as well. I've been wanting to read Dickens.
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - This one shall be interesting. It seems like people either love this book or hate it. I'm curious to see which I'll be.
• To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - I've heard about her, but I don't know anything about her. I'm interested to see what all the hubbub is about.

(and now the non-fiction)

• Nazi Prisoners of War in America by Arnold Krammer - I already started this one. It was a book our tour guide in Algona recommended, at the P.O.W. museum.
• Various books on church history (mostly bios of important figures in the church - to be read for history).
• George Gershwin: His Life and Works by Howard Pollack - Because I love Gershwin.
• Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter - Because Tolkien is my favorite author and I'd love to know more about who he was as a person. That's what I'm Tolkien about!
• A biography on Beethoven? I've always been fascinated with Beethoven, and would love to learn more about him. I'd need to do some research on a good biography, though.
• Autobiography of Agatha Christie by Agatha Christie? I'd like to read this at some point... I'm not sure when, though.
• A Backwards Glance by Edith Wharton? This is Edith Wharton's autobiography... Again, I'd love to read this, but I'm not sure when.
• A book or two about trains - I love trains. I want to learn about trains. Their history, their impact on society, how they work... Trains. I have to go to the library and find some books on trains, first, though. And do some research on what sort of books I should get.

I'll probably add more to the list(s) as I think of them, or as my interests shift. For now, though, that is what I hope to read before next summer!

How did writing go the month of August?
I didn't quite finish Part Three... But I got a lot of good work done on it, what with writing some new scenes, editing with Mom, and typing in other's edits into the computer.
My goal for this month is to finish editing with my mom and finish typing in the edits that people have sent me. I would really like to get this done sometime before Sunday, the 22nd. Then, I can have a good nine days of so off of editing, so when I go back to editing in October, I'll be new and fresh and ready to go!
Also, I would like to set aside time with my dad to work on a new cover.

Any of you reading any good books?

Live long and prosper.