Dark Is Rising, Philip Pullman, Warriors Don't Cry

[blpurdom at yahoo.com]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Amber ?" <inviziblegirl at h...> wrote:
> 
> >From: "Neil Ward" <neilward at d...>
> >I loved the whole set, but I did find the first and last books 
> >less enjoyable than the middle three...[snip] The second and 
> >fourth books - The Dark Is Rising and The Grey King - are superb.
> 
> The second book is absolutely brilliant in my humble opinion; I 
> can't count the number of times I've read it with bated breath.  

Good to hear.  I've bought the first book because it looked like 
something my son might like.  He recently tried reading the Hobbit 
because his sister liked it, but he couldn't get into it and is 
rereading Chamber of Secrets again instead.  Maybe if he wants to do 
something that's not Harry Potter next (it actually happens 
sometimes!) I'll sell him on starting this series.
 
> Recently, I read "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman (different 
> title in the UK, can't remember what). I read it because of several 
> recommendations from both people online and in Real Life. However, 
> I just couldn't really get into it. I mean the book was okay, but 
> nothing horribly wonderful IMO.

I'm reading "The Golden Compass" right now, and it's true that it's 
not a "page-turner," inducing you stay up all night reading because 
you can't wait to find out what's going to happen next.  It's a more 
leisurely book than JKR's.  I'm about half-way through, and I have to 
be in the right mood to read it, with a CD of cello music playing in 
the background...But I'm quite looking forward to finishing it and, 
after reading the Subtle Knife, reading the Amber Spyglass, because 
that's the book about which I've heard so many wonderful things.  
Does anyone know when they announce the winner of the Booker Prize?  

> Also, I recently read "Warriors Don't Cry" by Melba Patillo Beals. 
> It's about the 9 students who part of the integration program at 
> Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, written by one of 
> the "Little Rock Nine".   

Another book you might enjoy is Charlayne Hunter-Gault's 
autobiography, "In My Place," in which, among many other things, she 
recounts being one of two students to desegregate the University of 
Georgia in 1961.  She's a brilliant journalist who used to be on the 
MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour.  It's the well-written life of a fascinating 
woman who was present at (and central to) more than one event of 
historic import.  I even love the blurbs on the jacket from the likes 
of Pat Conroy, Nadine Gordimer and Alice Walker.  One of my favorite 
works of non-fiction--but be prepared to cry from time to time.

--Barb