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[Serpentine]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but a friend of mine just pointed me to this link with book recommendations:

http://teen-science-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/great_young_adult_science_fiction_for_girls

"Libyrinth" sounds like it could be one for my reading list.

[Paradox]

Interesting article on the effect of having books in a child's home; "Books in the home as important as parents’ education level."

Whether rich or poor, residents of the United States or China, illiterate or college graduates, parents who have books in the home increase the level of education their children will attain, ...
...
But, strikingly, this massive study showed that the difference between being raised in a bookless home compared to being raised in a home with a 500-book library has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education). Both factors, having a 500-book library or having university-educated parents, propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average.
...
Evans said, “Even a little bit goes a long way,” in terms of the number of books in a home. Having as few as 20 books in the home still has a significant impact on propelling a child to a higher level of education, and the more books you add, the greater the benefit.

“You get a lot of ‘bang for your book’,” she said. “It’s quite a good return-on-investment in a time of scarce resources.”

In some countries, such as China, having 500 or more books in the home propels children 6.6 years further in their education. In the United States, the effect is less, 2.4 years, than the 3.2-year average advantage experienced across all 27 countries in the study.
...
Having books in the home is twice as important as the father’s education level, and more important than whether a child was reared in China or the United States. Surprisingly, the difference in educational attainment for children born in the United States and children born in China was just 2 years, less than two-thirds the effect that having 500 or more books in the home had on children (3.2 years).

[Ellen2]

I wonder how you control for the variable of parental literacy versus number of books in the home?  The two would seem to be strongly related.

Currently reading Yen Plus magazine (drat! No Hero Tales this month!).

[Fostwolf]

I think having both parents that read is a big factor also. Both my parents read a great deal while I was growing up and we had a lot of books. I think it helped us kids a lot. I've always been a big reader( I own 500+ books), however my wife wasn't. My son never became much of a reader eather. He still doesn't read much and neather do eather of my grandsons. However my son's wife is a teacher and an avid reader with many books of all kinds.
 Right now I'm reading a couple of occult books, and one on making stained glass windows.

[Olwen]

You can never read too many books, and the earlier one starts, the better.

Let's see, books I's reading...

I have two books going, and am looking forward to a summer's worth of long, lazy reads in the backyard. Barbara Pym is one of my favorite authors. She has been compared to a modern Jane Austen, but sadly, she is not as well known as she should be, although there is a Barbara Pym Society. I'm re-reading Excellent Women, her classic novel about the 'excellent women' who run jumble sales, hold teas and generally bolster the local vicar. It sounds very run of the mill, but her novels are witty, beautifully written and filled with keen insight into the human psyche, and she is always respectful of her characters, most of all her female protagonists.

The second book is another re-read Tolkien in the Land of Heroes, by Ann Petty, which is a scholarly examination of the themes in LotR and The Silmarillion. It covers a lot of ground, including loss, dissonance in the great creation music, heroes, the persistence of evil. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a deeper look into the themes underlying The Lord of the Rings.

And there's sci fi on the back burner, waiting: Eifelheim by Michael Flynn which treats first contact in medieval Germany and sounds fascinating.

[Inkwolf]

I just finished Moby Dick, and even though it was an audiobook, I think anyone who makes it through the unabridged version deserves that doubloon that was nailed to the mast...the time I read it in 5th grade reading class MUST have been an abridged version.

Now I sink back to my reading comfort level with The Magicians on audio, and Goblin Hero (second book in the Goblin trilogy) on paper. O fantasy!  With what trepidation a reader once again mounts thy rocky crags, peering ever in dread of the snaggle-scaled dragon that lurks ever in wait for the unsuspecting--- um, sorry about that.  Too much Melville recently...

[ignisia]

There's such a thing as too much Melville? I spent a lot of this semester's Lit class rereading Bartleby the Scrivener and have come to the conclusion that I could not read that story enough.

What am I reading now? I'm working on The Fellowship of the Ring (finally) and the Dresden Files. I might as well catch up on all the fantasy reading I haven't gotten around to yet.

[Fostwolf]

I've read Lord of the Rings many times since 1970 and have it in 3 book set and single volume as it was intended to be printed. Also The Hobbit of course. Also have them on VHS (which I intend to transfer to DVD soon) but they don't compair with the books, Have some other Tolken books too but don't reread them as often. What I like about Tolken is that he makes you feel like the people you are reading about. When they are miserable and wet and hungry you feel that way to.

[Inkwolf]

There's such a thing as too much Melville? I spent a lot of this semester's Lit class rereading Bartleby the Scrivener and have come to the conclusion that I could not read that story enough.

I haven't read Bartleby the Scrivener. Does it have every paragraph of story decently separated by pages of philosophy, soliloquies and technical data?

[ignisia]

I haven't read Bartleby the Scrivener. Does it have every paragraph of story decently separated by pages of philosophy, soliloquies and technical data?

Yup.

[UselessCharmMaster]

I'm reading Terry Pratchett, everything I can find.

[ignisia]

Oooh, same. I got The Colour of Magic recently and began reading that on top of every other book I'm working on.

[UselessCharmMaster]

I must say the Colour of Magic isn't my favorite. I mean, it's a good book, but I liked the later ones best.

[Paradox]

The only thing I've read by Pratchett is Wee Free Men, on recommendation by a HPN'er, which I enjoyed. I'll probably read more.

Currently reading Liber Kaos, a modern grimoire by Peter J. Carroll. Quite interesting.

[Barmy Codger]

In June while visiting my parents in Ohio I read Unseen Academicals and Making Money.  The local library has a lot of Pratchett's novels which I had read during previous visits.  I picked up Unseen Academicals first and on a whim, and it turned out to be about the beginnings of soccer in Ankh-Morpork.  At the time the 2010 World Cup soccer games started.  I had soccer on TV and soccer fantasy to read.  Also read Last Continent, or tried to.  Mr P must have been smoking something pretty strange when he wrote it.

Currently trying 'Jewish Mysticism -an Introduction' (2001) by J.H. Laenen.

Inkwolf mentioned 'Moby Dick'.  Couldn't get through it when I was young but read it some time ago and was amazed how wonderful it is.

Watched 'The Watchmen' DVD so now want to try the graphic novels.