This time, I've been reading the "Five Find Outers and Dog". I've read almost all the novels in this 15 book series, except for the last 4 or 5 books... but I hope I will finish it this week!
One of my fav books in the series is the first one: "Mistery of the Burnt Cottage", because the children resolve the mystery by questioning witnesses and they have a list of subjects and clues, and because all the children participate actively in solving the mystery. In the last mysteries almost all the work is done by Fatty, with Bets noticing important clues, but the other three almost don't do anything. Some of the mysteries are more like adventures in the style of the "Famous Five", but my favorite books are those in which the children (or Fatty, most likely) find clues and suspects and get the right answer by deduction.
Of the parents, my favorite are Fatty's, although some people think that they don't give enough attention to his son. It's true that they spend a lot of time playing golf and bridge, but they stick by Fatty when the pompous policeman comes complaining.
It's true that the children don't seem to age (except for Fatty who breaks his voice by the fourth or fifth book, and Larry who grows up a bit) but on the other hand, it looks like all their adventures happened in a couple of years, in every holiday from school... that's four per year... so they start the series with 12 years old and ends when they're 16.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
That Perfect Someone, by Johanna Lindsey
I read this book in one day, I was so gripped by the story and it was so easy to read. Unlike one of the reviewers at Smart Bitches, I actually enjoyed this book very much, and find it an improvement over "No Choice but Seduction".
As NCBS, this book is also set among the Malory family, but unlike it, the Malorys stay in the background (for the most part) and allow the new couple to enjoy the limelight. ANd, thankfully, neither hero nor heroine are Malorys or Andersons.
Richard Allen and Julia Miller have been betrothed since childhood and have hated each other since the moment they met for the first time, when they tried to kill each other for the first time. The greedy manipulations of Richard's father and an unbreakeable contract have prevented the end of the engagement, so Richard does the only thing he can do to escape his evil parent: he runs away to the Caribbean and spends the next 9 years hunting treasure with Gabrielle Brooks' father (Gabby is the heroine of Captive of my Desires and hooks up with Drew Anderson). Julia is only happy to be free of her horrid fiancee, and has decided to get him declared dead so she can move on with her life.
Things get complicated when Drew, Gabrielle, and Richard (who is part of Gabby's crew, and poses himself as frenchman Jean Paul) go back to England to the birthday party of Georgina Anderson Malory (heroine of Gentle Rogue, only sister to the hunky Anderson brothers and wife to the Incomparable James Malory). Richard fancies himself in love with Georgina, even if it means to risk death at the hands of her husband, James, and manages to crash the birthday party (which is a convenient masked ball) to gaze at her love at a safe distance.
In this party he meets a grown-up Julia, and without knowing each other's true identity, attraction sparks between them. The next time they see each other, unfortunately, they recognize each other, and the old hatred flares again.
Richard risks a meeting with his brother, the only member of his family who's half decent, but his evil father captures him. In order to bend him to his will, he's even capable of shipping his son to the Australian penal colonies.
Julia learns of Richard's fate, and even though she still hates him, she recruits James, Drew and Gabby's help and manages to rescue Richard. And somewhere along the road, the animosity between them changes to passion.
There's still that dreadful contract that binds them, but now they decide to work as a team to get rid of it... but would it be so terrible to end up married?
As I said before, I liked the book. It was fast paced, the pranks they played on each other when they were children were truly awful, and Richard's father was a sadistic, cruel, selfish, greedy villain, who has his just punishment at the end. James Malory is always gorgeous, but this time was spending more time with his wife than with his brother, and the many children of the family were neither seen nor heard. There were some far fetched things, like Julia managing her family's business since she was 17 on her own, and the miraculous recovery of her father (just to free her of her obligations). Also, Julia thought that many of Society's restrictions didn't apply to her because she wasn't an aristocrat and she was an engaged woman.
But in the whole, this was a nice book. I probably won't read it again (so many books, so little time), but it gave me many entertaining hours.
As NCBS, this book is also set among the Malory family, but unlike it, the Malorys stay in the background (for the most part) and allow the new couple to enjoy the limelight. ANd, thankfully, neither hero nor heroine are Malorys or Andersons.
Richard Allen and Julia Miller have been betrothed since childhood and have hated each other since the moment they met for the first time, when they tried to kill each other for the first time. The greedy manipulations of Richard's father and an unbreakeable contract have prevented the end of the engagement, so Richard does the only thing he can do to escape his evil parent: he runs away to the Caribbean and spends the next 9 years hunting treasure with Gabrielle Brooks' father (Gabby is the heroine of Captive of my Desires and hooks up with Drew Anderson). Julia is only happy to be free of her horrid fiancee, and has decided to get him declared dead so she can move on with her life.
Things get complicated when Drew, Gabrielle, and Richard (who is part of Gabby's crew, and poses himself as frenchman Jean Paul) go back to England to the birthday party of Georgina Anderson Malory (heroine of Gentle Rogue, only sister to the hunky Anderson brothers and wife to the Incomparable James Malory). Richard fancies himself in love with Georgina, even if it means to risk death at the hands of her husband, James, and manages to crash the birthday party (which is a convenient masked ball) to gaze at her love at a safe distance.
In this party he meets a grown-up Julia, and without knowing each other's true identity, attraction sparks between them. The next time they see each other, unfortunately, they recognize each other, and the old hatred flares again.
Richard risks a meeting with his brother, the only member of his family who's half decent, but his evil father captures him. In order to bend him to his will, he's even capable of shipping his son to the Australian penal colonies.
Julia learns of Richard's fate, and even though she still hates him, she recruits James, Drew and Gabby's help and manages to rescue Richard. And somewhere along the road, the animosity between them changes to passion.
There's still that dreadful contract that binds them, but now they decide to work as a team to get rid of it... but would it be so terrible to end up married?
As I said before, I liked the book. It was fast paced, the pranks they played on each other when they were children were truly awful, and Richard's father was a sadistic, cruel, selfish, greedy villain, who has his just punishment at the end. James Malory is always gorgeous, but this time was spending more time with his wife than with his brother, and the many children of the family were neither seen nor heard. There were some far fetched things, like Julia managing her family's business since she was 17 on her own, and the miraculous recovery of her father (just to free her of her obligations). Also, Julia thought that many of Society's restrictions didn't apply to her because she wasn't an aristocrat and she was an engaged woman.
But in the whole, this was a nice book. I probably won't read it again (so many books, so little time), but it gave me many entertaining hours.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
News about Linda Howard
I recently read in the "Smart Bitches" blog that Linda Howard is blaming "a change in her writing style" on health problems. I hope she gets better, and that her writing improves!
I used to love her books, and still cherish her middle work (the earlier Harlequins are to chauvinistic for my taste, but I love Shades of Twilight, Dream Man, Mr Perfect, Kill and Tell, and the gorgeous After the Night, as well as many of her other novels), but I don't care so much for her books after "Open Season".
I used to love her books, and still cherish her middle work (the earlier Harlequins are to chauvinistic for my taste, but I love Shades of Twilight, Dream Man, Mr Perfect, Kill and Tell, and the gorgeous After the Night, as well as many of her other novels), but I don't care so much for her books after "Open Season".
Holocaust reading
In the last weeks I read a couple of books about the Holocaust (if you read my Anne Frank page you'll understand why I'm interested in that).
The first one was "Our Holocaust", by Amir Gutfreund, and I didn't like it at all. It sounded promising: how the next generation experimented the Holocaust lived by their parents. It started like a memoir, with plenty stories about his childhood, and how he and his best friend had investigated about the Holocaust in a neighborhood that was tight-lipped and morally dominated by "Grandpa Yosef", a survivor who had dedicated himself selflessly to the care of his sick wife and son, and to help the rest of his community. Some of the experiences he finally related were a bit weird, but we're talking about the Holocaust here, and anything is possible.
So, imagine my dissapointment when I read in the afterword that a lot of the characters in the novel were invented! I didn't know I was reading fiction, I honestly thought I was reading a memoir, and I felt tricked.
Well, that taught me to read the Afterword before reading the book!
The next book was a lot better. It's called "Hitler and the Holocaust", and it's written by Robert Wistrich, who is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It has a lot of references, which reassured me that this time it was really non-fiction. It's a very complete work in a short volume, and I learned a lot of new stuff.
Finally, I had to read "Anyone but you" by Jenny Crusie to shake off the depression. It's the first time I've read it and I liked it a lot. I think the portrayal of the "doctor" hero is one of the most realistic I've ever read in romance literature, down to sleeping in the examinating tables between patients. The doubts of the heroine regarding their age gap (she's 40, he's 30) also rang true. And of course, it has a smelly four legged Cupid in the dog, Fred, who steals the limelight.
I also liked that there wasn't any secondary romance. For a minute I feared that the heroine's best friend and the hero's brother would end up together, but they disliked each other too much. Maybe they have their own book somewhere, but luckily they didn't steal any pages from the primary romance.
The first one was "Our Holocaust", by Amir Gutfreund, and I didn't like it at all. It sounded promising: how the next generation experimented the Holocaust lived by their parents. It started like a memoir, with plenty stories about his childhood, and how he and his best friend had investigated about the Holocaust in a neighborhood that was tight-lipped and morally dominated by "Grandpa Yosef", a survivor who had dedicated himself selflessly to the care of his sick wife and son, and to help the rest of his community. Some of the experiences he finally related were a bit weird, but we're talking about the Holocaust here, and anything is possible.
So, imagine my dissapointment when I read in the afterword that a lot of the characters in the novel were invented! I didn't know I was reading fiction, I honestly thought I was reading a memoir, and I felt tricked.
Well, that taught me to read the Afterword before reading the book!
The next book was a lot better. It's called "Hitler and the Holocaust", and it's written by Robert Wistrich, who is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It has a lot of references, which reassured me that this time it was really non-fiction. It's a very complete work in a short volume, and I learned a lot of new stuff.
Finally, I had to read "Anyone but you" by Jenny Crusie to shake off the depression. It's the first time I've read it and I liked it a lot. I think the portrayal of the "doctor" hero is one of the most realistic I've ever read in romance literature, down to sleeping in the examinating tables between patients. The doubts of the heroine regarding their age gap (she's 40, he's 30) also rang true. And of course, it has a smelly four legged Cupid in the dog, Fred, who steals the limelight.
I also liked that there wasn't any secondary romance. For a minute I feared that the heroine's best friend and the hero's brother would end up together, but they disliked each other too much. Maybe they have their own book somewhere, but luckily they didn't steal any pages from the primary romance.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Lost in Translation
Since I've been living in the USA and had to leave my huge collection of books in my country, sometimes I get "booksick" and I long to read one of my comfort reads. Since I'll be leaving for my country in the foreseable future and already have more stuff that what a suitcase can carry, I try to resist buying the books I already have.
At this time, leafing through books in one of the gorgeous bookstores becomes a guilty pleasure, but one that can lead to awful surprises.
One of my favorite books of all time is "Secret Fire", by Johanna Lindsey. I bought it (the spanish translation) when I was young, and was immediately drawn to its fairy tale quality. I loved the strenght of the female lead's personality and the fact that the hero was a russian prince who was reputed to be the handsomest man alive. I really thought that the heroine kicked ass, even though the only character she ever hits is the hero, and she actually receives a beating at the hands of the villainess.
After buying it, I read it and read it until I could almost recite my favorite parts. I used to reread parts of it every time I was bored or feeling blue. I absolutely loved it and knew it by heart.
Last weekend I was looking at the romance aisles at Borders when, oh marvelous surprise, I found a copy of my favorite book... in its original language, of course.
I grabbed it and quickly started to read one of my favorite scenes... but wait...that sentence wasn't there in my copy! And that other sentence is similar, but the meaning is different! I quickly leafed through the book, and with each "Bloody hell!" that the heroine said, I wanted to cry. The book is written beautifully, and the heroine's lines only enhance her "englishness", which is one of my favorite things about Katherine Saint John... but I was bitterly dissapointed that I hadn't read the original version!
It looks like, after all, I'll be buying a lot of books I've already read.
By the way, this is not the first time I've noticed that translators sometimes run wild. For intance, in Blyton's Adventure series, the names of the leading characters are Dinah, Phillip, Jack and Lucy-Ann in the original version. Well, in the spanish translation, they're Dolly, Jorge, Jack and Lucy. Who can understand their logic? (By the way, Dolly isn't a spanish name and is as little known as Dinah).
At this time, leafing through books in one of the gorgeous bookstores becomes a guilty pleasure, but one that can lead to awful surprises.
One of my favorite books of all time is "Secret Fire", by Johanna Lindsey. I bought it (the spanish translation) when I was young, and was immediately drawn to its fairy tale quality. I loved the strenght of the female lead's personality and the fact that the hero was a russian prince who was reputed to be the handsomest man alive. I really thought that the heroine kicked ass, even though the only character she ever hits is the hero, and she actually receives a beating at the hands of the villainess.
After buying it, I read it and read it until I could almost recite my favorite parts. I used to reread parts of it every time I was bored or feeling blue. I absolutely loved it and knew it by heart.
Last weekend I was looking at the romance aisles at Borders when, oh marvelous surprise, I found a copy of my favorite book... in its original language, of course.
I grabbed it and quickly started to read one of my favorite scenes... but wait...that sentence wasn't there in my copy! And that other sentence is similar, but the meaning is different! I quickly leafed through the book, and with each "Bloody hell!" that the heroine said, I wanted to cry. The book is written beautifully, and the heroine's lines only enhance her "englishness", which is one of my favorite things about Katherine Saint John... but I was bitterly dissapointed that I hadn't read the original version!
It looks like, after all, I'll be buying a lot of books I've already read.
By the way, this is not the first time I've noticed that translators sometimes run wild. For intance, in Blyton's Adventure series, the names of the leading characters are Dinah, Phillip, Jack and Lucy-Ann in the original version. Well, in the spanish translation, they're Dolly, Jorge, Jack and Lucy. Who can understand their logic? (By the way, Dolly isn't a spanish name and is as little known as Dinah).
I just took the animal quizz at Lisa Kleypas's web site, and it turns out that I'm a rabbit.
Since animal appreciations may vary from people to people, this is what she thinks about rabbits (in Beatrix words):
Rabbits are lovely creatures! They are warm and lovable, and they get along with just about anyone. Rabbits are dedicated, loyal, hard-working, and of course, they are extremely cute! Most of all, rabbits love to cuddle.
People who are rabbits love to wear soft, cozy clothes and sit near a warm fireplace when it's cold outside. Rabbits tend to look for the best in people, and often find it.
If you're a rabbit, you have a lot in common with Poppy Hathaway from Tempt Me At Twilight.
I wonder what the other animals were? Well, it sounds pretty nice. Now I'll have to read the recommended book!
Since animal appreciations may vary from people to people, this is what she thinks about rabbits (in Beatrix words):
Rabbits are lovely creatures! They are warm and lovable, and they get along with just about anyone. Rabbits are dedicated, loyal, hard-working, and of course, they are extremely cute! Most of all, rabbits love to cuddle.
People who are rabbits love to wear soft, cozy clothes and sit near a warm fireplace when it's cold outside. Rabbits tend to look for the best in people, and often find it.
If you're a rabbit, you have a lot in common with Poppy Hathaway from Tempt Me At Twilight.
I wonder what the other animals were? Well, it sounds pretty nice. Now I'll have to read the recommended book!
Devil's Embrace, by Catherine Coulter
I started this book scared of what I was going to read. Why? Two reasons: 1) This is a book published for the first time in the 80's and 2) It's written by Catherine Coulter, who, God bless her, is one of the few authors who dares to be un-PC.
And I think that I found a true gem, a book that bends a lot of romance novels rules and throws that despicable notion, Political Correctness, to the wind.
It also has a major "ick" factor (or maybe a couple), but Catherine manages to write smoothly around it.
It's the Georgian period (Thank God, no Regency! and people actually powder their hair and use wigs) and Cassandra Brougham, a vivacious eighteen year old lady, is finally reunited with her long lost love, an officer named Edward. Edward is very nice, good looking, and a true gentleman, and as he sees Cassie coming out from the sea like a nymph, quickly looses his heart to her and agrees to marry her as soon as possible, forgoing the Season Cassie was about to have in London.
So, first original fact: the previous fiancee is not a toad. And, he can elicit a passionate answer from our heroine.
The soon to be marriage threatens the careful laid plans of Anthony Welles, earl of Clare, and half italian. He is a 34 year old gentleman who in his youth was in love with Cassie's mother. Since he was younger than she, the lady never paid him much attention, but after her death, he planned to marry her daughter. Soon enough we learn that after meeting Cassie, he started to love her for herself, and her mother became nothing more than a distant memory. Being a gentleman, Anthony planned on wooing her during her Season.
Now the adventurous part of the plot starts. The day before her wedding, Anthony kidnaps Cassie and takes her to his ship, The Cassandra, to sail to his villa in Genoa. Even though he has to force her the first night (again comes the infamous cream, the signature of Coulter's forced seductions), the passionate nature of his intended bride and his own skills as a latin lover, soon makes the nights pleasurable for both of them. Cassie is not happy with him, and intends to return to Edward as soon as she can.
The age difference is there, and you can feel it, but somehow you don't care about it. It's in the patience that Anthony exhibits while dealing with Cassandra's youth and exploits. And you really feel that he cares for her and is giving her the opportunity to come to know him and love him. You actually believe that, if not for Cassie's abrupt marriage, he would have tried to win her in a more traditional way.
Besides the age gap, other un-PC (and un-romance novel) actions are: 1) Anthony thrashes Cassie with a belt for staying on deck during a spanish attack, 2) the villains of the book kidnap Cassie, and she actually is gang raped before Anthony saves her 3) Cassie escapes from the italian villa where she lives with Anthony and manages to meet her boyfriend in New York, where she has sex with him.
All is well, in the end, and for me was a joy to read a book that bends so many of romance unwritten laws. With this book, you actually were surprised by some of the characters actions!
And I think that I found a true gem, a book that bends a lot of romance novels rules and throws that despicable notion, Political Correctness, to the wind.
It also has a major "ick" factor (or maybe a couple), but Catherine manages to write smoothly around it.
It's the Georgian period (Thank God, no Regency! and people actually powder their hair and use wigs) and Cassandra Brougham, a vivacious eighteen year old lady, is finally reunited with her long lost love, an officer named Edward. Edward is very nice, good looking, and a true gentleman, and as he sees Cassie coming out from the sea like a nymph, quickly looses his heart to her and agrees to marry her as soon as possible, forgoing the Season Cassie was about to have in London.
So, first original fact: the previous fiancee is not a toad. And, he can elicit a passionate answer from our heroine.
The soon to be marriage threatens the careful laid plans of Anthony Welles, earl of Clare, and half italian. He is a 34 year old gentleman who in his youth was in love with Cassie's mother. Since he was younger than she, the lady never paid him much attention, but after her death, he planned to marry her daughter. Soon enough we learn that after meeting Cassie, he started to love her for herself, and her mother became nothing more than a distant memory. Being a gentleman, Anthony planned on wooing her during her Season.
Now the adventurous part of the plot starts. The day before her wedding, Anthony kidnaps Cassie and takes her to his ship, The Cassandra, to sail to his villa in Genoa. Even though he has to force her the first night (again comes the infamous cream, the signature of Coulter's forced seductions), the passionate nature of his intended bride and his own skills as a latin lover, soon makes the nights pleasurable for both of them. Cassie is not happy with him, and intends to return to Edward as soon as she can.
The age difference is there, and you can feel it, but somehow you don't care about it. It's in the patience that Anthony exhibits while dealing with Cassandra's youth and exploits. And you really feel that he cares for her and is giving her the opportunity to come to know him and love him. You actually believe that, if not for Cassie's abrupt marriage, he would have tried to win her in a more traditional way.
Besides the age gap, other un-PC (and un-romance novel) actions are: 1) Anthony thrashes Cassie with a belt for staying on deck during a spanish attack, 2) the villains of the book kidnap Cassie, and she actually is gang raped before Anthony saves her 3) Cassie escapes from the italian villa where she lives with Anthony and manages to meet her boyfriend in New York, where she has sex with him.
All is well, in the end, and for me was a joy to read a book that bends so many of romance unwritten laws. With this book, you actually were surprised by some of the characters actions!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Enid Blyton Marathon
Less than a week ago I found the Enid Blyton Society, a marvelous place on the net for all the fans of this British children's author. Last weekend I came across a couple of her books on the Strand. Without realizing it, now I find myself in an Enid Blyton reading marathon.
I started with the Malory Towers books, a series about schoolgirls who attend an intern school. After reading the first 2, I switched to the St Clare series, which is pretty similar but it's more to my liking. I'm about to start the 5th in the series, "Claudine in St. Clare".
I've enjoyed this journey back to my childhood, when I used to love this author. Now I can see that the series have aged a little, and even though I still like them, I'm more critical and I've noticed some things that didn't bother me the first time I read it (but now they do).
I really don't care that the books are outdated (the girls don't have a TV, they only have a gramophone and the radio, and they use to knit and sew on their free time, and the money they have wouldn't buy them anything today). The thing that bothers me is that sometimes their behavior is plain bullying, and the teachers turn a blind eye to it, because the girls who abuse their classmates are "sensible", and the abused classmates have usually done something to deserve some kind of punishment from the other girls.
In one of the books I read, for example, one of the new girls is angry because she didn't want to go to that school and decides to become a nuisance. After several weeks her classmates tire of her attitude and give her a hellish day, hiding her books, destroying her papers and homework, making an "apple pie" bed which results in a torn sheet that this girl must mend, and getting her in trouble with the teachers. In other book, the girls don't like one of their classmates because she's an hyppocrite, and start making jokes to her, like putting a frog on her desk in the middle of the class. And when she tries to denounce the jokers, the teachers stop her and treat her with contempt because there's "nothing worse than telling tales."
Some of the plots are a little repetitive, with the new girls at each term being responsible for much of the argument. But the other thing that make this books a little "bland" is the lack of change in the girls. I mean, they're supposed to change thanks to the teachings at their school, and they become less silly and more responsible, sensible, happy, etc. But you don't see them "aging", even though the series start when the're 12 or 14 (depending if it's Malory Towers or St Clare) and finish when they leave school at 18, and not a single one of them has a boyfriend, or even fancied a boy. Those who take care of her hair and nails are seen as "feather-headed" and shallow.
What a difference with the Harry Potter books, in which you see all the torments of adolescence, the first spark of attraction between boys and girls and how many of them are at a loss about what to do! And even brainy Hermione had her moments of vanity.
However, even though I'm a little hard on Enid, I still like her books and had a "jolly good time" reading them and getting reacquainted with characters. Some I still like, some not so much. But it was a nice trip down memory lane!
I started with the Malory Towers books, a series about schoolgirls who attend an intern school. After reading the first 2, I switched to the St Clare series, which is pretty similar but it's more to my liking. I'm about to start the 5th in the series, "Claudine in St. Clare".
I've enjoyed this journey back to my childhood, when I used to love this author. Now I can see that the series have aged a little, and even though I still like them, I'm more critical and I've noticed some things that didn't bother me the first time I read it (but now they do).
I really don't care that the books are outdated (the girls don't have a TV, they only have a gramophone and the radio, and they use to knit and sew on their free time, and the money they have wouldn't buy them anything today). The thing that bothers me is that sometimes their behavior is plain bullying, and the teachers turn a blind eye to it, because the girls who abuse their classmates are "sensible", and the abused classmates have usually done something to deserve some kind of punishment from the other girls.
In one of the books I read, for example, one of the new girls is angry because she didn't want to go to that school and decides to become a nuisance. After several weeks her classmates tire of her attitude and give her a hellish day, hiding her books, destroying her papers and homework, making an "apple pie" bed which results in a torn sheet that this girl must mend, and getting her in trouble with the teachers. In other book, the girls don't like one of their classmates because she's an hyppocrite, and start making jokes to her, like putting a frog on her desk in the middle of the class. And when she tries to denounce the jokers, the teachers stop her and treat her with contempt because there's "nothing worse than telling tales."
Some of the plots are a little repetitive, with the new girls at each term being responsible for much of the argument. But the other thing that make this books a little "bland" is the lack of change in the girls. I mean, they're supposed to change thanks to the teachings at their school, and they become less silly and more responsible, sensible, happy, etc. But you don't see them "aging", even though the series start when the're 12 or 14 (depending if it's Malory Towers or St Clare) and finish when they leave school at 18, and not a single one of them has a boyfriend, or even fancied a boy. Those who take care of her hair and nails are seen as "feather-headed" and shallow.
What a difference with the Harry Potter books, in which you see all the torments of adolescence, the first spark of attraction between boys and girls and how many of them are at a loss about what to do! And even brainy Hermione had her moments of vanity.
However, even though I'm a little hard on Enid, I still like her books and had a "jolly good time" reading them and getting reacquainted with characters. Some I still like, some not so much. But it was a nice trip down memory lane!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Found Enid Blyton books
I was very surprised yesterday when I was window shopping at Strand and came across several Enid Blyton's books. This is the first time I see one of her books in print in a long time!
They're brand new too!
A lot of them are small children's stories, but I also found Amelia Jane's books, the Wishing Chair, and a couple of Find-Outers books. No Malory or Saint-Clare, though!
I heard in the Enid Blyton Society that they're going to publish again the "Five" books, but they're going to modernize the language, and do a "political correct"edition (they're going to get a "talking to" instead of a box in the ear, for example).
I never liked the "Five", though. Couldn't stand Julian (too domineering and self righteous), George got on my nerves (what kind of girl would rather be a boy?), Anne was a wimp and Dick spend all the time eating.
My favorite series were "The Find Outers" (I absolutely loved Fatty, and related to Bets), The Adventure Series, Malory Towers and Saint Clare's.
They're brand new too!
A lot of them are small children's stories, but I also found Amelia Jane's books, the Wishing Chair, and a couple of Find-Outers books. No Malory or Saint-Clare, though!
I heard in the Enid Blyton Society that they're going to publish again the "Five" books, but they're going to modernize the language, and do a "political correct"edition (they're going to get a "talking to" instead of a box in the ear, for example).
I never liked the "Five", though. Couldn't stand Julian (too domineering and self righteous), George got on my nerves (what kind of girl would rather be a boy?), Anne was a wimp and Dick spend all the time eating.
My favorite series were "The Find Outers" (I absolutely loved Fatty, and related to Bets), The Adventure Series, Malory Towers and Saint Clare's.
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