"The Sword in the Stone." - T.H. White
Seconded.
Then you want to stay away from the Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth series. Starts off innocent enough but then gets progressively 'more powerful' sexually/racially/violently.Jhereg by Steven Brust
--short
-- its about a gangster, everyone loves an anti heroAside for the reading/interest level is there anything that should be avoided, in respect to cultural sensibilities?
At some point, we have to just give up when it comes to cultural sensibilities. We have had students who refused to listen to music ... any music ... and objected because the conversation tape had a musical riff when introducing each listening.
I would want to avoid anything overly sexual or racist. I would not want to have the inherently evil characters based upon arabic cultures. Religious themes are touch and go.
Don't worry about that though, I'm just soliciting suggestions. I'll look at several of the suggested books.
Also, if I dismember corruptly, Goodkind uses a Sumerian variation for some 'spell' language. I always worry about attempts to base arcane spell language in real life languages.
Something more modern - My teenagers are into the Twilight series that's out now. I haven't read the books myself though. Vampire based. A movie is due out soon.
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Something more modern - My teenagers are into the Twilight series that's out now. I haven't read the books myself though. Vampire based. A movie is due out soon.
My wife devoured this series inside of a week and is pestering me to catch up with her. I read the first one, and have started the second. It's just a little too Harlequinn Romance for my taste.
Something more modern - My teenagers are into the Twilight series that's out now. I haven't read the books myself though. Vampire based. A movie is due out soon.My wife devoured this series inside of a week and is pestering me to catch up with her. I read the first one, and have started the second. It's just a little too Harlequinn Romance for my taste.
Great. Now I have to be afraid, since my 14 yo daughter is crazy about the series. Instead of cleaning the shotgun when boys come around maybe I should be sharpening wooden stakes...
Thx for adding to today's heartburn... ;-)
What about Watership Down?
It even has an rpg based on it (Bunnies & Burrows).
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[Great. Now I have to be afraid, since my 14 yo daughter is crazy about the series. Instead of cleaning the shotgun when boys come around maybe I should be sharpening wooden stakes...
Thx for adding to today's heartburn... ;-)
Well, it's not exactly a bodice-ripper-type tale (at least the first book isn't). It is about a teenage girl who has a teenage-looking vampire totally obsessed with her. His obessession is both a desire to drink her blood (which he claims smells better than any he has encountered in 200 years) and the desire to "do her" as well.
In some respects it reads a little weird, like someone with a fetish for a Thanksgiving Turkey...
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[Great. Now I have to be afraid, since my 14 yo daughter is crazy about the series. Instead of cleaning the shotgun when boys come around maybe I should be sharpening wooden stakes...
Thx for adding to today's heartburn... ;-)
Well, it's not exactly a bodice-ripper-type tale (at least the first book isn't). It is about a teenage girl who has a teenage-looking vampire totally obsessed with her. His obessession is both a desire to drink her blood (which he claims smells better than any he has encountered in 200 years) and the desire to "do her" as well.
In some respects it reads a little weird, like someone with a fetish for a Thanksgiving Turkey...
Worse than bringing weird boys home, I hear it leads to Vampire LARPing.
I kid, I kid.
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Something more modern - My teenagers are into the Twilight series that's out now. I haven't read the books myself though. Vampire based. A movie is due out soon.My wife devoured this series inside of a week and is pestering me to catch up with her. I read the first one, and have started the second. It's just a little too Harlequinn Romance for my taste.
Gawd. I tried reading one of those, and within five pages, my IQ had dropped ten points, and I was having trouble seeing due to the amount of blood seeping from my eyes.
The worst part is my fifty-something MOTHER is now obsessed with the books, and is bugging me to read them. GOD F&~~ING DAMMIT!
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If it makes you feel any better, half my writing-group friends despise the Twilight series. They work at the big chain bookstores. The other half love the Twilight series. I'm on the fence about reading them because my aunt likes it and...we don't exactly share the same tastes in books.
FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD DON'T.
Shiny -- I don't want to feed a troll, if such is lurking in your psyche on this topic, but... why the antipathy? Have you read the books, or are you going on what you have heard about them? Or maybe you have knowledge that Stephanie Meyer is actually a soul-sucking demon from the Abyss -- :-P
Edit -- I would argue that five pages is a little slim to be judging an entire series from. I haven't read them either, but -- five pages?
[Great. Now I have to be afraid, since my 14 yo daughter is crazy about the series. Instead of cleaning the shotgun when boys come around maybe I should be sharpening wooden stakes...
Thx for adding to today's heartburn... ;-)
Well, it's not exactly a bodice-ripper-type tale (at least the first book isn't). It is about a teenage girl who has a teenage-looking vampire totally obsessed with her. His obessession is both a desire to drink her blood (which he claims smells better than any he has encountered in 200 years) and the desire to "do her" as well.
In some respects it reads a little weird, like someone with a fetish for a Thanksgiving Turkey...
not helping...
Now you have to read all the series and tell me how the girl's father kills the vampire before he succeeds. In the most pain-stake-ingly manner possible. lol.
Sorry Tarren for the inadvertant partial threadjack. I guess ignorance is bliss, and mine has just been shattered about my daughter's reading taste. She was just reading Harry Potter.....!
BTW, what is the male/female ratio of the ESL students?
I suggest the Gary Gygax series of books for teens:
>Here< on Amazon you can order them cheap!
This is a series: (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4) ... there are more - good for your students after class is over.
Not only is it easy to read, it is a choose your own adventure involving combat with dice rolls. It will keep your audience laughing and reading the whole semeseter!!
Gawd. I tried reading one of those, and within five pages, my IQ had dropped ten points, and I was having trouble seeing due to the amount of blood seeping from my eyes.
There is that "damning with a faint praise" thing, but you are very good at "praising with vitriolic rant" thing: now I am curious to check this thing out. Even though I know I will probably hate it.
"Beauty" (by Robin McKinley) - It's possibly her first novel, and quite readable. It's a retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast.
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I just read Twilight and enjoyed it for what it is (a young adult romance novel). I'm giving it to my nine-year old daughter for Christmas and told my wife that she would enjoy it as well. I could see Anne Rice fans thinking it was awful, but it has no foul language and no sex (a few kisses is all) and so is perfect for young girls with protective fathers.
For class books, I would suggest/second The Hobbit, Watership Down, and The Black Cauldron.
Some other genre books with literary value I would add... The Once and Future King, and Starship Troopers.
For something a little different, I would also add in The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy Sayers. Also, for a quick read, Western Style, might I highly recommend The Apple Dumpling Gang, which reads nothing like the awful Disney Movie named after it.
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Now you have to read all the series and tell me how the girl's father kills the vampire before he succeeds. In the most pain-stake-ingly manner possible. lol.
Twilight series spoilers...
So no vampires being killed by the Father. Sorry.
Now you have to read all the series and tell me how the girl's father kills the vampire before he succeeds. In the most pain-stake-ingly manner possible. lol.Twilight series spoilers...
** spoiler omitted **
sigh of relief...*continues sharpening stakes just in case, letting her 3 older brothers take over gun cleaning duties, while the wife decorates the house in garlic*
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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So, I'm on the bus today reading The Silmarillion and some guy, a bit younger than me, stops talking about WoW with his girlfriend and focusses on the cover. He starts asking me about the book and then spends five minutes talking about David Andrew Gemmell's books. He explains the stories and argues that these fantasy books are better than anything he read in school. He gives Lord of the Flies as an example of a crappy book he had to read in high school.
Then his girlfriend pipes up. Lord of the Flies was a great book, she says. She starts to defend all the books that he says English teachers foist on you in high school.
After several minutes of my adjudicating their battle over the books, another bus patron pipes up. "Lord of the Flies is great," he says. "But you know what book is really cool? Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion." He argues that the character development makes this a great read.
At this point, I've spent 15 minutes just nodding and asking questions. The first couple gets off the bus. The Elizabeth Moon fan continues to describe the character arc of The Deed of Paksenarrion. Then, he realizes he's missed his stop and gets off with a quick goodbye.
There is silence on the bus. Ten people look at me curiously as if I am to blame for this sudden fantasy novel book club that emerged in a loud and heated way on the long slow ride home.
Silence. A chance for me to read.
"Strange," says the 50 something woman next to me. "Strange how people just open up to you like that, eh?"
I agree.
"You know," she continues, "The Twilight series is really very good ..."
I got off and walked the rest of the way home.
So, I'm on the bus today reading The Silmarillion and some guy, a bit younger than me, stops talking about WoW with his girlfriend and focusses on the cover. He starts asking me about the book and then spends five minutes talking about David Andrew Gemmell's books. He explains the stories and argues that these fantasy books are better than anything he read in school. He gives Lord of the Flies as an example of a crappy book he had to read in high school.
Then his girlfriend pipes up. Lord of the Flies was a great book, she says. She starts to defend all the books that he says English teachers foist on you in high school.
After several minutes of my adjudicating their battle over the books, another bus patron pipes up. "Lord of the Flies is great," he says. "But you know what book is really cool? Elizabeth Moon's The Deed of Paksenarrion." He argues that the character development makes this a great read.
At this point, I've spent 15 minutes just nodding and asking questions. The first couple gets off the bus. The Elizabeth Moon fan continues to describe the character arc of The Deed of Paksenarrion. Then, he realizes he's missed his stop and gets off with a quick goodbye.
There is silence on the bus. Ten people look at me curiously as if I am to blame for this sudden fantasy novel book club that emerged in a loud and heated way on the long slow ride home.
Silence. A chance for me to read.
"Strange," says the 50 something woman next to me. "Strange how people just open up to you like that, eh?"
I agree.
"You know," she continues, "The Twilight series is really very good ..."
I got off and walked the rest of the way home.
LMAO. Spit out coffee funny. Only you Tarren. Only you...
You owe me a keyboard.
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I would second Heathy's suggestion of the John Carter of Mars books, and I would add Piers Anthony to the list. Not overtly sexual, but there is some inuendo that is extremly funny. A Gift For Chamelion is especially good for a class like this, because it deals with what it's like to be the only non-magical person in a world where everyone has magical talents and discovering your own inner gifts.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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I've made a decision. While I may assign one book as required reading, I'm going to start picking up many of these books that you have recommended to use as a 'lending library' for my ESL students. I've done it before. I just pop into class once a week with a big box of books and let them sign them out.
Keep the suggestions coming. I'm going to start scouring the used bookstores today.
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Shiny -- I don't want to feed a troll, if such is lurking in your psyche on this topic, but... why the antipathy? Have you read the books, or are you going on what you have heard about them? Or maybe you have knowledge that Stephanie Meyer is actually a soul-sucking demon from the Abyss -- :-P
Don't worry, I'm not a troll.
And yes, I did try to read the first one. I got about a third of the way through, and realized that continuing without losing a little part of my soul would be a futile act.
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Gawd. I tried reading one of those, and within five pages, my IQ had dropped ten points, and I was having trouble seeing due to the amount of blood seeping from my eyes.There is that "damning with a faint praise" thing, but you are very good at "praising with vitriolic rant" thing: now I am curious to check this thing out. Even though I know I will probably hate it.
My villainy knows no end!
I'd recommend the original Dragonlance trilogy:
Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Winter Night
Dragons of Spring Dawning
"You know," she continues, "The Twilight series is really very good ..."
Fate is conspiring against you my friend...
I mentioned this little book discussion to my wife and daughter over dinner last evening and recieved major brownie points from my daughter for mentioning the series to you. For a father that rarely receives them I'm taking them and running!
Ok, I hate the Twilight series for one reason. I think it's a good one. The series propagates incrediably unhealthy behavior towards women. Edward (the vamp) stalks Bella. He breaks into her house to 'watch her sleep'. He's possesive, has a terrible temper, and uses his vamp powers to control Bella, as in reading the minds of everyone around him to see if anyone is going to 'help' Bella. A funny article about what a creeper Edward is. The author is nuts. I understand the drive to create and how an author can be completly wrapped up in their characters. But she takes it to an unhealthy level, an obsessive "Edward is the most perfect man that hath ever existed and can do no wrong" level. I focus on Edward becuase she does, the books are like holy texts to the temple of Edward.
On a more objective level, it's terribly written. It's fan fiction. It's weird fan fiction. The characters are static and cliche. Bella is a Mary Sue to the extreme.
Also. The vampires sparkle.
Sabriel is good, it's about necromancers but good necromancers! I can't remember much about it but I think that might work. It's culture light.
Ok, I hate the Twilight series for one reason. I think it's a good one. The series propagates incrediably unhealthy behavior towards women. Edward (the vamp) stalks Bella. He breaks into her house to 'watch her sleep'. He's possesive, has a terrible temper, and uses his vamp powers to control Bella, as in reading the minds of everyone around him to see if anyone is going to 'help' Bella. A funny article about what a creeper Edward is. The author is nuts. I understand the drive to create and how an author can be completly wrapped up in their characters. But she takes it to an unhealthy level, an obsessive "Edward is the most perfect man that hath ever existed and can do no wrong" level. I focus on Edward becuase she does, the books are like holy texts to the temple of Edward.
On a more objective level, it's terribly written. It's fan fiction. It's weird fan fiction. The characters are static and cliche. Bella is a Mary Sue to the extreme.
Also. The vampires sparkle.
Literally sparkle? That's weird.
You raise good points. The obsessive behavior is a bit different for a vampire. Usually they possess or destroy. Egomaniac? check. Controlling? check. Manipulative? check. Cavalier about the impact of their actions on walking blood banks? double check.
Still, it's a popular series. At least with teenagers. Not sure what that says about the readers.
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I have recently been reading the Hungry City Chronicles. Written by British author Phillip Reeve. It's in the Young Adult section at my local library. It's original and has mid-level language skills. It's sci-fi though, post-apocalyptic, where the cities of the world adapted by going mobile, and engaging in Municipal Darwinism...as in the cities hunt and kill each other for salvage to keep them running. The action starts in London. I highly recommend you read it, see if your class might like it, though with it's post-apocalyptic ramifications...who knows...
Here'e the Wiki
I loved the Lahnkmar series when I was younger, well written fantasy!
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Ok, I hate the Twilight series for one reason. I think it's a good one. The series propagates incrediably unhealthy behavior towards women. Edward (the vamp) stalks Bella. He breaks into her house to 'watch her sleep'.
I'm gonna watch you sleep a while,
You don't like it when I'm gawkin' in the morning,Before you've had your coffee, you say "I am warning you-ou-ou"
I'm gonna watch you sleep a while,
You don't like it when I'm barging in the bathroom,
Staring at you while you take a shower, now's the best time to-oo-oo...
Gaze at you...
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Also. The vampires sparkle.Literally sparkle? That's weird.
It is the reason vampires don't go out in daylight - not because it kills them, but because their skin sparkles like it's covered in diamond dust.
The Vampire "family" chose this part of the country (Oregon, IIRC) because it is pretty much always cloudy and rainy, so they can go out during the day and pretty much look like heroin-chic euro-models.
The Vampire "family" chose this part of the country (Oregon, IIRC) because it is pretty much always cloudy and rainy, so they can go out during the day and pretty much look like heroin-chic euro-models.
That's totally not true! It's always sunny and shiny here! Ignore the dark gray skies and inclement weather conditions that are currently around! >.>
As an aside, when I was in the SCA, the joke 'round these parts is that the heraldic term for gray is "Sky, An Tir Proper."