Movies Watched & Looking Forward To ... A Thursday Thirteen

Okay, so I haven't had time to watch thirteen movies in a week, but I figure I should still talk about what I have watched.

1. Resident Evil - I had seen this one before, but rewatched it with plans to watch the two sequels. That plan was not successful, yet, but we will see! Not one of my favourite movies, but there is enough action to keep viewers interested. It has a decent storyline, too. I was also happy to see the guy that played Marc Antony in the television series Rome. I am told that the female lead in this movie is very watchable, too, but that's not something that I really pay attention to!

2. Monsters vs. Aliens - Nothing too amazing. Decent cast, though. Reese Witherspoon voices the female lead. The sort of movie that you will watch once, laugh a bit, and then never have to watch again...

3. Twilight - Okay, so I finally watched Twilight. The cc had seen it before, so I figured if he had seen it, I should get around to watching it. It was okay. I was not very enthused by the casting. Bella was her usual annoying self. She got that part right! I was hoping for more Alice. I hope that they take that into consideration for future movies! The special effects were so corny, but I hear they have a different director for the next one. Let us hope that makes a difference!

4. Swing Kids - This is such a great movie! I watched it for the first time years ago, and I was determined to watch it again! Set during the second world war, it is about the youth that danced on in Germany, even though it was illegal. I had forgotten the casting, so I was very happy to find out that the main character is off of House (he plays Dr. Wilson). I was a little worried I wouldn't like this movie as much this time, but I did! There is so much going on in this movie. Oh, and Noah Wyle (from ER fame) has a small role! I had forgotten that, too. Christian Bale is the other actor that I easily recognized, but there were others.

5. Silent Running - The cc wanted to watch this one. It's an old science-fiction movie. I have to say it was really interesting. It's about saving the rainforests, essentially, before the environmental groups of this generation started to concentrate on it. The robots are cute, too.

6. Bedtime Stories - I have to admit I watched this because of the title. It just sounds like a movie that would work for me. It was good. It had its funny parts. I liked the basic idea behind it, too. I will never have to watch it again, though. I am going to be killed, but I am just not a huge Adam Sandler fan...

7. Band of Brothers Mini-Series - Not something I have watched, but something I want to watch. I finally have opportunity. I mean, there are only ten episodes and for years it has cost almost 80 bucks to watch this. I have seen parts here and there, but I largely missed the series when it was on television. I am very excited to finally watch this!

8. North & South - I mean the mini-series staring Patrick Swayze that is set during the American Civil War. When I was a kid, my parents taped this on old VHS tapes, and I would sneak them and watch them. I actually still have the old VHS tapes, but I want to watch them on DVD. Its been a few years since I have seen any of the series. I have been eyeing it since it came out on DVD, so I am happy to finally have a chance to watch! (It's another series that was really expensive to watch!)

9. The Tudors - This is a television series that I have had in my hands several times at the store, but I always put it back down. It looks good, but I don't want to start watching in the middle, so I have hopes of finally watching it straight through. I hope I enjoy it. I know lots of people that do, and we usually have similar interests!

10. North & South - Based on the Elizabeth Gaskell novel, this is a movie that Kristie from Rambling on Romance thinks everyone should watch. I am finally hoping to do so! I will have to write an actual review when the time comes, though.

11. The Godfather Trilogy - Would you believe that I can only remember watching the first movie in the trilogy? I don't think I ever watched the rest... I think this is likely going to be the next trilogy we tackle. We have to finish Resident Evil first, though.

12. The Alien Movies - Last year I watched all the Predator movies, including the Alien vs Predator one. This year, I told the cc we are going to have to watch the Alien movies because I am not sure if I have ever seen them!

13. The Star Trek movies - Thanks to the wonder that is the bargain bin at Wal-Mart, we now have all the Star Trek movies between the two of us. I predict a Star Trek marathon in the not so distant future! By the time we are finished, the new one should be out on DVD!

What about everyone else? What movies have you watched lately? Are there any that you are looking forward to? Are there any that you think I should watch before my new interest in movie watching fizzles?

Thirteen Movies I Have Watched Recently... A Thursday Thirteen

I had planned to do posts about movies that I watched, but that never happened! My sisters' boyfriend gave me and the charming comedian a bunch of movies, so we have been watching more than we normally do. I decided it was about time I talk about some of them!

1. Star Trek: The Beginning: Okay, so we saw this one at the theatres. I took the charming comedian for his birthday. We both thought it was great and are looking forward to the DVD version so we can watch it again!

2. 17 Again: I saw this movie with a friend, but the charming comedian ended up seeing it, too! Nothing too amazing. I am an action, adventure, sci-fi, fantasy-type of movie watcher, so I am afraid this movie was probably not my thing!

3. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: I found this movie funny, but again, nothing fantastic! I loved Michael Douglas' character in this movie! I know, people went for the leads, but I went because Douglas played a ghost!

4. Seven Pounds: I watched this the other night with the charming comedian. We were both not sure of it in the beginning, but as the movie got going I think we both thought it was good! Nothing either of us have to watch again, but still good!

5. 27 Dresses: Okay, so I watched this one by myself. I had started it at a friends house and the movie messed up, so I just watched the end. I mostly wanted to see the scene where they danced on the bar. I love James Marsden. If I had an actor-crush, he would probably be it... Otherwise, didn't like the movie!

6. Oceans 11: When this movie came out, I thought it was really funny. Rewatching it, though, I was not in love with it. I hate when that happens!

7. Oceans 12: You know, while I didn't love the movie... I have to say that I really liked the fact that there was more going on than met the eye. This is the first time I have seen this movie in its entirety.

8. Oceans 13: The c.c.: Is that? Me: It's Al Pacino! Okay, if you haven't picked up on it, I love action movies, so I have pretty much seen all of Al Pacino's old movies. I knew he was in this movie, but had forgotten. I wouldn't call it my favourite Pacino movie, but it was still fun.

9. Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: We both agree that this movie was a little bit predicatable, but we also had both wanted to see it and it never played at theatres here. I really wanted to read the book but never got around to it! Normally I would've held off on the movie until I remedied that, but I didn't for whatever reason!

10. Transporter 1: The c.c. has been trying to get me to watch this movie forever! While not a cinematic masterpiece, it was still a good movie! I really liked the characters.

11. Transporter 2: We moved on to the sequel. It was also really good! I think these movies have entered my list of favourite action-type movies.

12. Transporter 3: Thankfully the c.c. hadn't seen this one before. He has a tendancy to get rambling and give away aspects of the movies we are watching if he has seen them before. He hadn't seen this one, so I got to watch it without knowing anything!

13. I think there is more, but I honestly cannot think of any at the moment! I think tonight will probably be a movie night, but I am not sure what we are going to watch. Here is what left in the stack that I was lent:

Wall-E - The c.c. saw this, but I haven't yet.
Secret Life of Bees - I read the book. Want to see what the movie is like!
Arthur and the Invisibles - Curiousity
Hoodwinked - I have seen this one before, but it was in the pile!
Burn After Reading - I don't even remember what this is about.
Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 - I have seen at least one of these movies. The c.c. hasn't seen any.
The Duchess - Wanted to see this one at theatres...
Revolutionary Road - Really like Kate Winslet
The Tale of Despereaux - Read the book but haven't seen the movie.
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 - Read the book. The c.c. refuses to watch this with me...
Girl With a Pearl Earring - Read the book...
The Dark Knight - The c.c. fell asleep watching this in theatres last summer. I have not seen it before. I saw the one that came before it, though.
Underworld and sequel- Seen it before, but don't really remember it. Haven't seen the sequel.
City of Ember - Have the book, but haven't read it yet. Might try to sneak it in before watching the movie.
Bedtime Stories - Think this is supposed to be funny? I like the title...
Into the Wild - haha, read the book... Big surprise, huh?
Also have the three Pirates of the Carribbean movies (he hasn't seen any of them) and the three Lord of the Rings movies (he has never seen the extended versions). Actually, it was a desire to watch the extended versions of these movies that led to me getting all the other movies! I asked for three and ended up with thirty!
Twilight - She gave me this after the initial pile. The c.c. has seen this already. He didn't like it. I have to watch it just to see what all the hype is about, right?

I also have Australia, Bolt, and The Spiderwick Chronicles to watch.

My movie pile is getting to be as high as my TBR pile!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Books on my Wish List

1. The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint

2. The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan

3. Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie

4. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

5. Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower

6. Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet

7. Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat

8. Queen's Handmaiden by Jennifer Ashley

9. Midnight Alley by Rachel Caine

10.Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

11.On the Prowl by Patricia Briggs

12.Troy: Fall of Kings by David and Stella Gemmell

13.Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

And lots more...

I have a review on Historical Tapestry, click here

Random Stuff, Thursday Thirteen and Booking Through Thursday

The other day I said that I would likely only read about a chapter of John D. Rateliff's book at a time, but that has since changed. I am actually almost done, would be done if I had more reading time, and I have learned a lot! I hope to finish it today, so expect a post on it as soon as I can. There is a sequel to it as well, it comes out in August. I like the fact that the framework is Mr. Baggins, The Hobbit, and Hobbits themselves, but that is not all that the author talks about. I do know one thing, now that I have read these older editions of The Hobbit, I hope to reread the published book to see all the changes for myself.

13 Things I have learned so far by reading The History of The Hobbit: Part One: Mr. Baggins is my Thursday Thirteen for the week.

1. Gandalf was not originally the name of a wizard, but of a troll.

2. The person that eventually became named Gandalf was not clearly marked as a wizard in the early stages of Tolkien's writing.

3. The One Ring did not get sinister until The Lord of the Rings. It was just a ring for invisibility.

4. Gollum was not described as a Hobbit in the beginning, his origin was unknown.

5. Tolkien was very thrifty with his paper, he would make corrections in pen over pencil and then just erase the pencil.

6. Tolkien's Goblins are closely like George MacDonald's goblins, but Tolkien's goblins like to sing and they do not have super sensitive feet.

7. Dwarves were more magical in the original manuscripts than they would become in the published version.

8. People thought that Tolkien followed an actual calendar when he was writing The Hobbit, but actually he makes several errors with the date in his early manuscripts that make this unlikely.

9. Elrond went through some drastic changes, I think, from the original character to the one that I know well.

10.The scenes that happen in the Misty Mountains are based on a near disaster that happened to Tolkien in the mountains of Switzerland.

11.Bilbo dreams about things that are going to happen very soon, while Frodo will eventually have dreams about the future. Tolkien was very big on dreams, it was one of his interests.

12.Bears were primary throughout his books because his first audience were his children and they liked bears.

13.I have seen a lot of how Tolkien's ideas are based on older writings, which makes the reading that much more interesting.

Booking Through Thursday Question for this Week.
Just Wild About Harry

1. Okay, love him or loathe him, you’d have to live under a rock not to know that J.K. Rowling’s final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, comes out on Saturday… Are you going to read it?
- Probably not.

2. If so, right away? Or just, you know, eventually, when you get around to it? Are you attending any of the midnight parties?
- I might read it eventually, but totally not right away. More than likely on the night everyone is going Harry Potter crazy I will be waiting to hear if my friend had her baby or not as she is due this weekend.

3. If you’re not going to read it, why not?
- I am not a big Harry Potter fan. I have never been able to enjoy Rowlings writing style, but I might give them a try again one of these days. Just, not right now.

4. And, for the record… what do you think? Will Harry survive the series? What are you most looking forward to?
- I think she might have originally toyed with the idea that Harry would die, but now I think she wants to be able to continue the series later if she wants. After all the success she has had, she probably would not mind if she had this series to fall back on if her other projects do not work out.

Booking Through Thursday and Thursday Thirteen

1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?
- I read more than I go to the movies, so there are still lots of books that I have not seen the movie adaptions of. Some of my favourites are The Green Mile, one of the few Stephen King books I have read and enjoyed; Anne of Green Gables, the two original mini series, the newer one was not based on the books at all; Lord of the Rings, for the HUGE books that these movies were based off, I think that Peter Jackson did a good job; Chronicles of Narnia, both the old BBC movies and the new version were well-done; The Notebook, I really liked this Nicholas Sparks book and the movie was one of the few chick-flicks I enjoyed; The Shawshank Redemption, another Stephen King work that went well from book to movie; etc.

2. The worst?
- Message in a Bottle was a horrible movie based on Nicholas Sparks book of the same title; the new Anne of Green Gables mini-series was terrible compared to the books; there are probably others that I am not thinking about.

3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.)
- I always read the book before seeing the movie. I prefer to read, so I would rather do it that way. Normally if I see the movie first, I never read the book.


Thirteen Series (Trilogies) That I Want to Read (but am holding off on because I have too many on the go as is.)

1. Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough

2. Emperor series by Conn Iggulden

3. Second Sons trilogy by Jennifer Fallon

4. Curse of Chalion trilogy by Lois McMaster Bujold

5. Sevenwaters trilogy by Juliet Marillier

6. Drenai series by David Gemmell

7. King Kelson quartet by Katherine Kurtz

8. Belgariad series by David Eddings

9. Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin (did anyone notice the new book is saying 2008 now? I feel bad for people if that is true!)

10.Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

11.Axis trilogy by Sara Douglass

12.Sword of Shadows series by J.V. Jones

13.Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell

And that is just some of them...

Thursday Thirteen

As June draws to a close, I have read just over 100 books. Now, I find myself wanting to do a Thursday Thirteen of my favourites out of the 100. This should be interesting and in no particular order. All the links can be found on the left hand sidebar.

1. The Rest Falls Away and Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason

2. The Josephine B. Trilogy by Sandra Gulland

3. The Silver Rose by Susan Carroll

4. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

5. The Blood of Flowers by Anita

6. 28: Stories of AIDs in Africa by Stephenie Nolan

7. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin

8. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

9. Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

10.Flight of the Nighthawks by Raymond Feist

11.Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

12.Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda

13.Map of Bones/Black Order/Deep Fathom by James Rollins

Honourable Mentions:

Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb

Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist

Scribbling the Cat by Alexandra Fuller

Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop

The Eagle's Brood by Jack Whyte

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Thursday Thirteen - Nova Scotia Take Two

I had so much fun sharing Nova Scotia with people last week, that I am back again this week with another list! Last week I stuck with mostly human-made things to see. This list will have a bit of everything.

1. The Cabot Trail - duh! Although, I personally do not think this trail does any justice unless you travel it during the fall when the leaves are changing, it is a really beautiful trail that is worth driving, or even seeing! It is located in Cape Breton, and is one of their major tourist attractions.

2. The Beaches - You cannot come to Nova Scotia without seeing the beaches. You have to be careful of location, though, because I personally am not a big fan of the rocky beaches you can find here. I prefer the sand. I like the beaches along the south shore and north shore, it is the space in between that is not as sandy.

3. The Tides - I know, people are looking at that going "huh?" Interesting fact: Here you can see the highest tides in the world! I personally recommend the Tidal Bore in Truro. You can search for a schedule online and basically you look at a dry river bed and then all of a sudden "whoosh" all the water comes in. It's pretty cool. Other than that, I don't really understand how you can tell you are looking at the highest tides, but I live here... so.

4. Yarmouth - I used to live there, if you hadn't guessed, but what I actually want to point out is that Yarmouth is the town where Izzak Walton Killiam came from. He donated money to build what us locals know as the "IWK". He also has a library in Yarmouth named after him, gave money to universities, and a hospital in Montreal, etc. In Yarmouth there are museums and things dedicated to him and other important historical families, like the Sweeney's who were members of the "rum running" phase of history. (I'm related to the Sweeney's, but I disagree with them. They built a house in Yarmouth for looks, no one actually lives in it!) Anyways, very historical town.

5. Pictou County - The birth of New Scotland. It is interesting, the french and English were here first, but it is the Scottish that named us. Pictou is one of the nicest places to visit in Nova Scotia, but I caution you for the smell. Kimberly Clarke STINKS! It makes me so mad, let me tell you. I still really like the place, though.

6. The Valley - This includes Annapolis Royal, Kentville, New Minas, Wolfville, Middleton, etc. These towns are known for their apples. You should come to see the trees in the spring, but year round these towns are farming villages and picturesque. There is Blomidon and other natural sites to see that I cannot do justice to in words.

7. Smuggler's Cove - This is a place where you can go in a cave that was actually used by rum runners. It's very picturesque, but why people come from all over to go there is beyond me. Come to think of it, everytime I have been there the cave has had water in it and I have never been able to see inside, but it is a nice place. (But still just a cave).

8. Oak Island - No, you cannot go there, but you can go near it. Oak Island is by far one of the coolest mysteries ever! There is supposedly a buried treasure and even with the modern technology of today, no one has been able to get to it! It is an interesting story to read, I might point out. I will not outline the whole thing in this post, but I recommend reading about it!

9. The Tall Ships - Everytime they are here, I want to go and something ALWAYS comes up. I LOVE sailing ships, and in July there is going to be a big festival of them in Halifax. I am SO excited because I might actually get to go. I have seen tall ships before, of course, we get them here all the time, but this is a lot of them at one place at one time. I am REALLY excited... did I say that already...

10. Mahone Bay - I put Lunenburg on the last list because it is the Historical Site, but Mahone Bay is practically down the road and very lovely to view. There are also the three churches. To see what I am talking about, go to mahonebay dot com.

11. The Cat - The ferry that runs between Maine and Yarmouth. I am told that this is a tourist attraction in other places.

12. Sable Island - The graveyard of the Atlantic and the island of wild horses.

13. There are much more I can talk about, so I will leave this to all the sites that did not fit on the list.

There are MANY other things to see: Museums, natural sites, historical sites, etc. It all depends on what you are looking for when you are here. If anyone has any questions, just ask! And now I live you with some Irish wisdom, in Gaelic: Is minic a gheibhean beal oscailt diog dunta!

(That means: An open mouth often catches a closed fist! Brilliant, huh? haha)

Thursday Thirteen

With the meme going around about what people may not know about you, it made me think of good Thursday Thirteen. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and while there are times that the smallness of it is restricting on jobs and having a future, I still have lots of things that I really like about it. So, Thirteen Things I like about my province. It will probably be from a historical point of view.

1. Fortress Louisbourg
- I went here when I was ten, and I thought it was amazing. It was built for a very violent part of history, but it was a huge enterprise and they have restored it really well. I really want to go back now that I am older, but in the meantime, I enjoy this aspect of Canadian history.

2. Grand Pre
- They may have been deported and it may represent a very dreary part of history. I say this about the Acadians. If you do not who they are, they were stuck in the middle of a conflict between the French and the English. We are one of the oldest part of the "new world".

3. Yarmouth Lighthouse
- I get really mad that they have changed this more than necessary, but this is one of the nicest lighthouses I have seen. The oldest lighthouse in, I want to say North America (but I might be wrong), is in Cape Breton. (When I say changed, they took out the fog horn because it made too much noise! Stupid politicians, it's a FOG HORN!)

4. Peggy's Cove
- This is like the most photographed thing in the world. It has a nice location, but I think it is a little overdone. That is not to say that I really do not enjoy it. It is also a memorial to the Swiss Air Flight and there is a little area dedicated to that tragedy.

5. The Citadel
- This fort is nice, but I have been there so many times over the years that I know it is as well as the people that work there. I remember one time I went with my parents and I was in like elementary school. The tour person asked questions to make it more interactive, and I was the only one that knew the answers. Makes me wonder what people learn nowadays.

6. The Alexander Graham Bell Museum
- He invented the PHONE. How would we get by without it? And, even the outside of the building and the nature around it is wonderful. I still remember it and I have not been here since I was ten.

7. Ross Farm
- This is pretty cool. It is an actual working farm from about the 18th century. There is no modern technology, they all dress in period clothes, and it is actually functioning as it would have. It is open year round, and was an interesting experience.

8. The Firefighter's Museum
- This is pretty cool. Last checked, it was the only one in the world, and after 9/11, it is an important museum to have. My grandfather was actually one of the founding members because he was a firefighter, so it was pretty cool to tell people that when I was a kid.

9. The Bluenose II
- This boat is very important to the country as a whole. Originally built in what was a vying boat building industry in Lunenburg, it is a pretty cool thing to see. It travels all over during the summer, and I have seen it a bunch of times in various ports. Confederation destroyed the ship-building industry, so this is an important part of our past.

10. Lunenburg
- I LOVE Lunenburg. The whole town is a National Historical Site because all the buildings are very classic and historical. Combine that with the water and you have a very quaint town to visit and enjoy.

11. Sherbrooke Village
- I have never actually been here yet because it is in a weird part of the province in relation to me, but I want to go so bad. It is an actual working historical village, and it sounds like it would be an experience. Maybe this summer!

12. Port Royale
- The Fort is not as impressive as Louisbourg, but it is the oldest town in Canada, so it is an important place to visit. Annapolis Royal is also a lovely town to visit.

13. So many other places... But, I will leave this to grow on.

Thursday Thirteen

SciFiChick posted her thirteen favourite science fiction books, and I decided that I am going to post my thirteen favourite fantasy books.

1. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I first read this book about 4 years ago. It was the first present that Tom ever bought me, and I do not even remember the reason. I enjoyed all the sequels as well, but I have not read Ancestors yet. There is a new book coming out in the series this summer, Ravens of Avalon. So, I will likely read Ancestors before it comes out.

2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. A fantasy list would not be complete without these books. I first read them a few years ago. It was a summer read, and I always wanted to go back and read them again, but we all know how great I am at rereads...

3. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. This was one of my favourite series when I was little. I reread them a few years ago when I got a gift certificate that would cover the purchase for either my birthday or Christmas.

4. The Wrinkle in Time quartet by Madeleine L'Engle. I read A Wrinkle in Time in junior high. It was a kind of funny story, to be honest. I had to read a book for school, and my mother had bought me A Wrinkle in Time, so I read that, and then it turned out by searching through my books that I had already bought it for myself, so I had two copies. This was before amazon.ca, although I would eventually go on to order some of her books from the States, so I had a hard time tracking down the rest of her books forever! By some fluke, this was the days of the book club newletters at school, and low and behold, one day there were five books in there by her. In order to get the rest of the quartet (and I think An Acceptable Time), I had to buy A Wrinkle in Time again. I got her Austin series and few of her other books when I went to Texas to Barnes and Noble, and her adult novels I ordered second hand off Barnes and Noble. There are still a few of her books that I want and cannot find, but I am impressed with how many I do have. The book that I generally only ever see in stores in A Wrinkle in Time. (Oh, at its peak, I owned four copies of A Wrinkle in Time. I bought myself a 4-in-1 copy about one to two years ago because it was easier to carry around.)

5. The "Light" quartet by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I have actually only read two of the four, Ghostlight and Witchlight, but I hope to read the other two maybe this year. A good mix of the modern world and fantasy, usually in the appearance of witches and magic.

6. The Witches' series by Ruth Chew. I am not actually sure that this is the title of the books, but this is a youth series that I really used to like when I was little. I think they were out of print even when I read them because I always had to find them at the second hand store. I do not have all of her books, maybe one day I will see if I can order the rest online, but I used to love them when I was little. They were an automatic buy anytime I saw them because they involved witches and were entertaining. Likely would be termed as very light fantasy, though, in many cases.

7. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. A really entertaining look at the apocolypse that I read a couple of years ago. It was the first time I read Gaiman, and I think my second time reading Pratchett. I enjoyed it a lot!

8. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. I am not sure when the first time I read this book was, but I remember thinking it was very entertaining! I reread it a couple years ago, and I still love it.

9. Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne-Jones. A very well-written fairy tale retelling sort of book. I really enjoyed it when I read it for the first time a couple years ago.

10. The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey. An entertaining read.

11. Several series that I feel I should read more of before commenting on, like Elizabeth Haydon, Jack Whyte, David Gemmell, Sharon Shinn... etc.

12. Naomi Novik and Maria. Snyder. I only tentatively put these two on here because Snyder is not done yet and I still have a book in the TBR pile from Novik.

13. All the great books that I have not read yet, but I will.

Thursday Thirteen

Some of the Books that I am looking forward to in 2007. I never intended to do a Thursday Thirteen, but it is Thursday, so why not. There are likely more that I am not thinking about, as well there are some fantasy series that I am not super far in, but new books are coming out for, so I might be excited depending on how far I get with them. Sorry I have been so quiet. February is always my blah month. I do not even really feel inspired to come on the computer very much, but once the weather starts to improve I usually improve too. This February has been better than some years, because overall, we had a rather mild winter. Some others that could be on here are: the new Jasper Fforde book, the new George R.R. Martin book, the new J.V. Jones, the new In Death books, etc. I just have to get to where I have them all read up to that point... In other words, there are lots of fantasy books coming out this year. Let's not dwell on that... (That being said, I am not up to the point where I am ready for the new James Rollins book, but it is James Rollins! It doesn't matter where I am, I love his books.)

On with the list:

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

All in Together Girls by Kate Sutherland

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult


Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve

Last Girls of Pompeii by Kathryn Lasky

Fortune's Fool by Mercedes Lackey

Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik

The Huntress by Susan Carroll
(maybe, what it is about still has not been revealed)

The Judas Strain by James Rollins

Thursday Thirteen

Heather chose Thirteen BIG books off her to be read pile and posted about them. I chose to do the same.

1. Through a Glass Darkly - Karleen Koen (I am actually, sort of, reading this and I only bought it the other night. I just needed one more book and it was easy to find)
2. The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova (I really need to finish this)
3. Helen of Troy - Margaret George (I love Troy related novels)
4. Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson (Comes strongly recommended)
5. Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd (One day, I am going to read him)
6. The Autobiography of Henry VIII - Margaret George (gift)
7. Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles - Margaret George
8. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
9. Legacy - Susan Kay (Loved Phantom by her)
10.A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helphin (looked good)
11.The Crimson Petal and the White - Michal Faber (Heard good things about it)
12.The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons (Came strongly recommended)
13.A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry (Really need to read this...)