I did Wuthering Heights for one of my outside novels in that class. I agree with Laurie....please, just get it over with (Catherine and Heathcliff)!

Oh, I love fiction! I'm reading cozy mysteries right now.

We had to read Wuthering Heights four times in grade 13. By the third reading, I was really "getting it".

Does liking Jane Eyre redeem me in the eyes of Ellis at all?

I don't want to sound like I hated Modern Novel. I enjoyed Flowers for Algernon, Of Mice and Men, Farewell to Arms, and Red Badge of Courage. My absolute favorite was All Quiet on the Western Front.

I need to go back and re-read some of my Dean Koontz books. I have all but maybe 4 or 5 of his books. I really like them because they tend to be real page turners and fairly easy reads. I also like them because the ideas behind them tend to creep me out a little. If you have never read his work, I recommend either Intensity or Odd Thomas as your first book.

Flowers for Algernon made me so sad...

Wow, Adia, you've read more widely than I have, and I was an English major! I agree, Flowers was sad. But beautiful and crafty too.

I liked Jane Eyre.

Who knows, Ellis...maybe if I could struggle through a third reading, I'd get it?

I really dislike Hemmingway. I wish the darn man would get to the point! Fifteen pages to say the sky is blue with clouds? Oy! I don't like long intros on songs either. Guess in some ways I'm a "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" kinda girl! Ironic for someone as long winded as me...

I'm so glad you like fiction too, Ellis! Which cozy mysteries are you reading? Have you read Dorothy Cannell? She's fabulous! I just got into the Amelia Peabody Emerson mysteries and they are fantastic. (Elizabeth Peters writes those). I'm a huge fan of Christie's Pierot, the Alphabet Mysteries, Nicholas Bracewell, and the Bow Street Runner mysteries. Yum!

I can't wait to have more time to read!

English Major here too Laurie.

I didn't care for anything else we read that was Hemmingway, but I really liked Farewell to Arms. I think it's because my teacher at the time was in love with him and so I tried to be too!

Maybe I'll try Wuthering Heights a second time........just maybe.

Flowers was sad, but I was with him on every page.

My grandmother, a former English Teacher, passed on a set of beautiful books. Each is a collection of a certain author, and has it's own ribbon mark and white box. They are color coded and include authors such as Jack London, Mark Twain (3 books full of him), Stephen Crane, Hemmingway.....etc. I love them and though my parents have had a yearning to sell them (they're worth a pretty penny these days) I won't part with them. My children will read and relate to the authors they learn about with these books.

Laurie - Since you're in his town, have you read Twain's Diary of Adam and Eve? According to my 2005 book list, it's the first book I read this year and it was an excellent start! I laughed til I cried!

Laurie - If you hate long winded, stay away from Luann Rice. She can drive me to drink!

Good to know!

Didn't know you were an English major...very cool!

Those books sound wonderful! No, haven't done Twain's Adam and Eve...I'll have to look for it! (I'm sure we have a copy or two at the College... )

It's strange, but it's not in most of his collective works, not even my own. I found it in a compilation of romantic works for Valentine's Day (Shakespeare and the like) at Barnes and Noble. It's a short read, but well worth it.

Hi all, I'm new to the 3FC forum and love to read! I like all kinds of books-mysteries ( I swear Nancy Drew ruined my eyes.. my Dad would call lights out, and I would read her under the covers with a flash lite !) , biographies (american revolutionary /civil war figures mostly), True crime, Harry Potter , Dean Koontz, Steven King, Diane Ackerman....
What book(s) is a favorite of yours you'd recommend. And for those of you into Mark Twain - which one should I read?
Since I'm asking you guys to share good books - here are some I've read again and again : The mists of Avalon, The History of the Senses .. and the Dark Tower series..
TIA

Laurie--it was my first book by Koontz.

I've got one more to add to my best book list from an earlier post:

Desert Queen by Janet Wallach
A biography of Gertrude Bell, an amazing nineteenth centry British woman who went agianst convention and traveled throughout Persia and Arabia, playing a central role in some of the chaos we see policitally today. Very independent and intellegent. I read this about three years ago, and it still sticks with me as a great book.

Can't say enough about Having Faith by Sandra Steingraber. "Read it!" Especially if you have kids or plan on having kids. It's worth it. I just looked at certain chapters again yesterday and Tue.

I'm off to the library today to get Time Traveler's Wife and (hopefully) the SBD cookbook (I've got it on reserve, but they haven't called me yet. )

Just wondering, how many of us are English majors or minors? I'm a minor. (Major was special ed.)

You don't need redeeming at all, you goddess, you.
I LOVE Farewell to Arms. I read it again last year. The last line makes me want to bust out cryin'.

Schatzi, I did the same thing with my Nancy Drews.
I still have mine! I reread them when I'm going through a depression. Cozy.

Laurie, what are the Bow Street Runner mysteries? Who are they by?
I'm got a lot of mysteries. I liked Anne Perry's. I'm embarrassed to say that I have the entire collection of "the cat who" mysteries. They're cozy, although I hate Quill.
I think I've got all the Agatha Christies.
Ellery Queens. W.J.Burley. (Inspector Wexford) P.D.James. (although she's really starting to bore me) Ruth Rendall. And the guy who writes the Morse mysteries... can't remember his name at the moment.
Oh... my absolute favourite is Rex Stout. (Nero Wolfe) I can TOTALLY relate to Wolfe's personality.

Right now I'm reading, The Watch That Ends the Night, by Hugh Maclennan. (a Canadian author) It's REALLY good!!

I think I'll look for the Diary of Adam and Eve for a summer read.
I just finished The ShadowDivers. True story about 2 deep sea divers who found an unknown Uboat off the Jersey coast, and their oddessy to discover which uboat it was...It was very good. These days most of my "reading" is via Audiobooks- They are life savers for me... I have a 1.45 minute commute each way into NYC . As long as I have a good book to listen to, it makes the commute less painful.