Recent content by M&O

My participation is hit-or-miss, depending on what I think of the book, of course. But I like the idea of being able to discuss a book with someone else currently reading it. What usually happens instead is that I read a book I am excited about and can only find people who read it long ago and...

parental censorship You are making some fairly provocative statements that you're not backing up. What does living vicariously through your children have to do with wanting them not to be violent or promiscuous? Are you saying it is a bad thing to want your children not to be violent or...

I wanted to stop in this morning to apologize for my last comment. Maybe my shoes were too tight or something-- no one has called me a Nazi, and I think I went overboard there. By "incomplete knowledge," are you saying basing the decision on what people say, rather than having read the book...

I agree with that; and I don't think I'm a Nazi because I want to keep an eye on what my kids read.

I can't compare because I haven't read MST yet, but Otherland was excellent. Even if you don't pick it up immediately, put it on your list. My biggest problem with that was that I read all four thick books one after the other; I would recommend a break in between. I think of "cyberpunk" as...

So many-- but off the top of my head: Are you there God? It's me, Margaret.; Blubber; Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing; Fudge; Superfudge; Deenie; Starring Sally J. Freeman as Herself; Freckle Juice; Then again, maybe I won't; <cue announcer voice> And many more!

Before I was answering in theory; lately a real-life case has come up. My 10-year old daughter was talking with friends at school about their summer reading. Two of her friends recommended a book called Tilly by Frank Peretti (he is a Christian author, and she goes to a Christian school). She...

I haven't read it, but I've read several other Dave Duncan books and think he is good.

Has anyone read Cane River by Lalita Tademy? My husband just started reading it and is liking it very much-- and I have never known him to read historical fiction before. I think I will be picking it up after he is through with it (maybe before-- I'm more of a night owl;) ). I am wondering what...

Where did the phrase "Who'da thunk it?" come from? AKA: Who woulda thunk it? Who would have thunk it?

I think it partly depends how much reading in fantasy the reader has done. I started to read it, but found it predictable and derivative of many other fantasy books. It's hard to explain, but it wasn't just that there were ideas common to fantasy (like dragons) but that it felt more copied...

Dickens I just finished A Tale of Two Cities, and thought it ws very good. Dickens definitely had an ironic sense of humor. The language reflects his time period, and there are some melodramatic elements, but it is a good story well-told nontheless.

I'm sorry to admit that I have never read Asimov's I, Robot. So although I suspect the movie had little in common with it besides the 3 laws, I was wondering if anyone who has seen it has also read it. Just before the credits, it says it was "suggested by" Asimov's work. Suggested by-- that...

S'awright I had a quick reaction to your words partly because I agree with you-- that many Christians can be narrow-minded in the name of religion (dare I say, like the Pharisees they would be quick to comdemn?). And as a Christian it bugs me that it seems like "that kind" of Christian is...

censorship I believe you have a valid point about some Christians (or anyone, for that matter) basing their decisions on the appropriateness on third-hand opinions. However, the two sentences I quoted above are pretty sweeping statements to make about all Christian parents. Christian parents...