Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll have to look it up, I do love the Crescent City!
Anyone like “To Kill a Mocking Bird”?
EJE: I saw this in the library the other day, and while I didn’t borrow it (I had reached my limit), if you like dragons, crime, and New Orleans, you might enjoy this!
[size=75]‘TEAM FRANCE’ by FlamebloodQuickblade. Not actual book illustration.[/size]
Speaking of dragons, in addition to Deathly Hallows, I also hope to pick up ‘Empire of Ivory’. It’s the fourth book in Naomi Novik’s excellent series of a dragon and an Aerial Corps commander, set during the Napoleonic wars! And guess which French general who became emperor makes regular appearances throughout? Yeah, I sort of gave that away with the period description, didn’t I? Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes, he has a dragon too. 
Also, ‘Alex & Me’. I read the first few chapters, and I want to finish the book this time. It’s the heartwarming true story of an African grey parrot who changed the scientific community’s paradigm on animal intelligence, and his lifelong friendship with his researcher and human companion, Dr Irene M. Pepperberg. The opening chapter alone almost moved me to tears.
Napoleon on a dragon? That sounds AMAZING! I love that picture! And the New Orleans sounds awesome too!
I can’t vouch for the New Orleans hustler tale- it has a human-shapeshifter dragon protagonist, and I prefer dragon characters to either be talking ones (Draco from Dragonheart), mind-speaking types (Saphira from Eragon) or silent sentients (Toothless from the HTTYD film).
But Temeraire (that’s the series title), I highly recommend. I think you might like it seeing you’re a history fan; one reviewer described it as “Patrick O’Brian with dragons”. Naomi Novik did her research, and she tells the Napoleonic wars through the eyes of Captain Laurence, a British naval commander-turned-reluctant-aviator and his dragon-in-arms Temeraire, as they literally journey around the world on epic missions and daring adventures. There’s political intrigue, there’s swashbuckling aerial dogfights, there’s some romance, there’s ethical dilemmas, there’s a great supporting cast, and of course, there’s the deep friendship that the two share (Temeraire, despite his size and strength, is pretty naive about life, and Laurence ends up acting as a father figure who teaches him about the world).
Each book can be read on its own, but preferably you should start with the first, “His Majesty’s Dragon”. Novik’s prose gets a little flowery at times, but the characterisations and scene descriptions make up for it. “Throne of Jade” is the ‘worst’ so far (the climatic seige at the end was quite over-the-top), but it gets better in “Black Powder War” when we see more of Napoleon and the introduction of another dragon character. I just started the fourth, “Empire of Ivory”, and I intend to finish it over the winter break. I think there’s about two more (“Victory of Eagles” and “Tongues of Serpents”) and there’s one more in the works.
There’s rumours that Peter Jackson may adapt “His Majesty’s Dragon” for the big screen, but so far it’s on indefinite hiatus while he’s working on the “Hobbit” and “Tin-Tin” first (and he mentioned he’s considering turning it into a TV series, which I hope for the love of Glaux he doesn’t). I would explode with joy if it ever gets adapted into a motion-picture; even before I knew that there were such plans, I felt the material is practically begging to be made into a Hollywood blockbuster. 
2006 AICN interview
2009 AICN interview
I even drew a silly fanart piece that I entered into a ‘short story’ competition Novik held last year. It was a rush job, and there were much better entries than mine (there’s a whole community on dA), but I was proud to receive an email from her (even if it’s a ‘general email’ sent to everyone else, haha). 
end fan gush Fantasy and historical fiction fans should definitely check this out. :3
Has anybody read any of John Updike’s books? I tried to read Rabbit Run earlier this year. I was interested in reading about Harry’s story. But I couldn’t take having to read so much about the settings or what was playing on the radio in the car. I didn’t make it half way through the book. After reading more than a page about what Harry heard on the radio as he drove his car from one city to the next, I stopped reading the book. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I’m currently reading Party of One A Loners Manifesto. I’m a loner, and I thought it would be an interesting book to read. And I’m half way through it, and it is an interestng read.
Some of John Updike’s passages show skill as a writer, since his writing style is much like Vladimir Nabokov’s, who is an amazing writer. The problem with Updike is his subject matter. Rabbit is an awful, awful person comparable to Holden Caulfield and the main character of Catch-22. Well, okay, the guy from Catch 22 isn’t awful, he just seemed lazy to me.
Has anyone read Of Mice and Men.
Yes, it’s one of my favorite books.
Feel bad for Lenny though. Still a great book.
I recently finished reading Watership Down, it’s such an amazing book! I’m not particularly fond of rabbits, but I still enjoyed it!
I didn’t know that was a book! I have heard of the movie though.
I liked the story of how all animals were the same, and then each animal was given a bodily shield of his own to protect himself, and humans decided to not have a bodily shield at all, but instead to rule over all the animals who did have bodily shields.
For some animals, it was just fur to protec them in the winter.
I finished The Great Gatsby a week ago. I hate it. Now onto Tarzan of the Apes. 
I love both of those books. Tarzan of the Apes is great. When I hear ‘Jane Porter’ I think of the book’s version (Blonde & American) and not the Disney version (Brunette & British).
You seem to like most books. 
Well, I’m very excited to read Tarzan of the Apes and Tarzan Returns. I’ve read a few pages of the original, and so far it’s really good. Way better than I expected of a piece of pulp fiction, anyway.
But I honestly prefer Jane from the movie. I relate to dark haired women better, and I like her accent!
Yeah, I like movie Jane more, but she’s not who I think of first!
And trust me, there are books I dislike! Such as Lord of the Flies and The Catcher and the Rye.
I just couldn’t stand The Great Gatsby. The end was so disappointing, and the entire book was so dry. I can’t wait to get into the fantasy of Tarzan and the Hobbit.
I usually find out that books I have enjoyed were made into movies years ago, and think, “What? They made a movie of Looking For Alibrandi?” or whatever the book is.
I was really surprised that they chose to make a movie from Flipped…and I think they did so because they were able to make it be just like the book without cutting any lines or anything.
It is a shame that you chose to start reading F. Scott Fitzgerald with The Great Gatsby. Now you will never read This Side of Paradise or The Beautiful and Damned, because you probably think you can’t enjoy that author’s style because you’ve tried The Great Gatsby.
Two books I dislike as well. As I think I’ve already mentioned in this thread.
Does anyone remember those I Spy books and Where’s Waldo?