What book(s) are you reading at the moment?

[Romsca]

I'd love to be reading The Tempest but I still lack it. I also want to buy a copy of The Twelfth Night and Midsummer Night's Dream, since we're on the topic of Shakespeare. lol

King Lear, though, wasn't so fond of that one. The slow descent into the king's madness was a bit...too slow for my liking.

How could you have read THAT MUCH Shakespeare and... survived??

[DanielofRedwall]

I was able to respect Shakespeare when we did Romeo and Juliet last year, but I didn't really enjoy it. I found it much easier to enjoy books like Animal Farm or To Kill a Mockingbird.

Currently re-reading the Harry Potter series for the millionth time (currently almost done with Prisoner of Azkaban), and I plan on re-reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and then The Lord of the Rings afterwards.

Oh, and Inkheart is great, I read it ages ago though, so I've forgotten everything!

[Rusvul]

Cornelia Funke also wrote a book called Dragon Rider, I highly recommend it.

[Para the Mite]

How could you have read THAT MUCH Shakespeare and... survived??

If I hadn't read any Shakespeare, dare I say, I might not have half the vocabulary and reading comprehension skills that I do today.

I was able to respect Shakespeare when we did Romeo and Juliet last year, but I didn't really enjoy it. I found it much easier to enjoy books like Animal Farm or To Kill a Mockingbird.

It's always easier to read anything other than Shakespeare. lol, The language is dry to start. But the older I got, the more it seemed to...make sense. Maybe that's because I was exposed to it throughout high school, college and even recreationally. To Kill a Mockingbird is another good book to read. And, oddly enough, an old English teacher had us read Bless Me Ultima; I just recently saw a trailer for the movie. I'd suggest reading the book. I guarantee that half the psychological events won't take place in the movie. If people get mad about the not-even-rape-scene that occurred in Julie of the Wolves (which wasn't even half as bad as it sounds), goodness knows what they'll say about the religion-questioning main character of Bless Me Ultima, and the broken family that raises him.

One book I always meant to read (but never did) was Watership Down.

[Lily]

*sighs* It's that sort of attitude that breaks my heart. I may not have truly liked Shakespeare back in high school, but being forced to read his work helped me immeasurably to widen my vocabulary and, really, just learn. Reading literature, especially any old English literature (and I can't believe I'm saying this but...), is about the best thing you can do if you truly want to be a well-rounded, intelligent, critical thinker. It saddens me to see teens these days who can't even spell 'kitchen' or 'great' and have no idea what the difference between 'there', 'their' and 'they're' is.

I agree with you completely. I love Shakespeare! It's hard at first, I know, but the more you read the easier it gets to understand. The language really is beautiful. King Lear is actually my favourite play, but I can understand why some wouldn't enjoy it. I also like Hamlet. And Othello. I like tragedies, I guess!

Anyway, to all you students, I know Shakespeare gets a bad rap in schools, but the older you get the more you'll appreciate it. Try to see one of his plays live, I promise you it's easier to understand in the hands of a talented actor.

And yes, that is the Scarlet Pimpernel musical! I've only ever seen it in Japanese, though.

Ahem, back to your regularly scheduled talk about reading... this discussion has now prompted me to re-read Hamlet.

[Rusvul]

Er.. I once attempted to read On the Origin of Species... I got through a few chapters, but it was extremely hard to understand. ( I was nine, I think...)

[Buzz_Bumble]

It saddens me to see teens these days who can't even spell 'kitchen' or 'great' and have no idea what the difference between 'there', 'their' and 'they're' is.

Being forced to study Shakespeare has nothing to do with poor spelling and grammar. That's caused by junior schools these days being too busy sticking their noses into kids' lunchboxes and enforcing exercise (and sports with no winners allowed), rather than actually teaching the basics.

There's been a big fuss here in New Zealand recently because kids here rated near the bottom of the ratings in mathematics due to not being taught how to do simple arithmetic properly without a calculator. Some exams, including English, also allow TXT-speak. 

Of course, spelling isn't helped by the spreading influence of American magazines, TV shows, movies, etc. with all their mispelling and mispronouncing of words (and even changing the definition), like colour for example. 

Studying Shakespeare doesn't really extend your vocabulary, unless you're going to go around say words like "forsooth" and "verily". 

Personally I can't be bothered even looking at the "Top Ten Books" that are chosen each year by either the "experts" or public voting - they're usually mostly boring rubbish or fad trash.

[Romsca]

I'd love to be reading The Tempest but I still lack it. I also want to buy a copy of The Twelfth Night and Midsummer Night's Dream, since we're on the topic of Shakespeare. lol

King Lear, though, wasn't so fond of that one. The slow descent into the king's madness was a bit...too slow for my liking.

How could you have read THAT MUCH Shakespeare and... survived??

Sorry I posted that, guys. I'm actually thinking about reading Macbeth just because.

[Redwaller]

It saddens me to see teens these days who can't even spell 'kitchen' or 'great' and have no idea what the difference between 'there', 'their' and 'they're' is.

Being forced to study Shakespeare has nothing to do with poor spelling and grammar. That's caused by junior schools these days being too busy sticking their noses into kids' lunchboxes and enforcing exercise (and sports with no winners allowed), rather than actually teaching the basics.

There's been a big fuss here in New Zealand recently because kids here rated near the bottom of the ratings in mathematics due to not being taught how to do simple arithmetic properly without a calculator. Some exams, including English, also allow TXT-speak.  

Of course, spelling isn't helped by the spreading influence of American magazines, TV shows, movies, etc. with all their mispelling and mispronouncing of words (and even changing the definition), like colour for example.  

Studying Shakespeare doesn't really extend your vocabulary, unless you're going to go around say words like "forsooth" and "verily".  

Personally I can't be bothered even looking at the "Top Ten Books" that are chosen each year by either the "experts" or public voting - they're usually mostly boring rubbish or fad trash.

So true...  

One book I always meant to read (but never did) was Watership Down.

I'm going to try and find it somewhere.

[Orinoco]

Of course, spelling isn't helped by the spreading influence of American magazines, TV shows, movies, etc. with all their mispelling and mispronouncing of words (and even changing the definition), like colour for example. 

Well, keep in mind that spelling "color" as "colour" is viewed as a misspelling in America.

[Vilu Daskar]

I'm reading the Mistmantle books its sort of like Redwall.

[Buzz_Bumble]

Well, keep in mind that spelling "color" as "colour" is viewed as a misspelling in America.

But the language is called "English" because it's created and defined by people in England, not America. (Admitedly the English stole most of it from various other languages.)

In most other areas, stealing someone else's work and changing it to suit yourself would result in legal lawsuits.

I'm reading the Mistmantle books its sort of like Redwall.

I read those a while back. They're quite good, but not as good as the Redwall or Welkin Weasels books.

[Rainshadow]

  I'm going to be starting The Science of Doctor Who today, hopefully.  I got it from the library last night, and I'm quite excited to be reading it!  Maybe I'll understand the show a bit more. 

[Firehawke]

I hope that's a good book!!!

I'm on a couple of selection committees for my state's children's book award.  So, I'm going to be doing a bunch of reading for that.

Aside from that, I working on the Farworld series by J. Scott Savage and the 13th Reality series by James Dashner.  Will also be re-reading the Adventurers Wanted series by M.L. Forman to get me ready for the new book coming out in a few months.

[Rusvul]

I'm reading the Mistmantle books its sort of like Redwall.

Oif! I tried to read one, I found them very creepy. anything to do with not letting young things grow I find horrifying.