Other books

[xcpublishing]

Steve, thanks for the listing of other "kids" books.  I recently read 
Artemis Fowl and it was fabulous - very intelligently written with 
more adult concepts than many adult books I've read.  I've been 
meaning to pick up Stroud and Paoline but haven't quite found them at 
the library (I read everything at the library and if I love it, then 
I buy it).  I also want to recommend The Book of Three by Lloyd 
Alexander.  I read it over the weekend and can't wait to grab the 
rest of the series.  Frankly, I've grown quite disgusted with "adult" 
books and the repetition of themes, lack of originality, and the 
tendency of the publishing companies to spit out any bit of tripe 
written by a previously published author.  Tell me they wouldn't 
publish Stephen King's grocery list.  I stopped reading him years ago 
when they stopped editing his work and gave him free rein to crank 
out 800 pages of rehashed nothing.  With the success of Harry Potter, 
kids books, particularly fantasy, have gotten more original and 
exciting.  I find them a lot more entertaining than the same old 
romance theme or the same mystery plot.  Maybe I miss reading kids 
books because I also read adult books as a child.  I read everything 
my parents had in the house by age 11, including romance, mysteries, 
westerns... and the dictionary when I ran out.

Nicky Joe