Happy & Brainy Group discussion

Thirteen. Richard Llewellyn's "How Green was my Valley".

Hello Richard. Thank you so much and warmest regards.

I read Atlas Shrugged when I was 14 and have read it every other year since. It is a pretty big read.

Hello Joemmama,

Thanks for joining us. Welcome to Happy & Brainy. I wish I had read Atlas Shrugged when I was 14.

Warmest regards.

Finnegan's Wake at 14. I read every word, sounding out the foreign ones when I had to, and to this day I don't know what the hell I read. But I read the whole thing. First long book I read and understood was For Whom The Bell Tolls (that's longish, right?)at 13.

Hello Brad,

Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for joining us. Good fortune on Existence Costs.

Well. I'm not sure compilations/collections count but...
When I was in 3rd grade I read every book my library had on Abraham Lincoln and all of the collections of fairy tales they had. When I'd finished the fairy tales, I began on Mythology.

In 4th and 5th grade I read all of the Heidi books, Anne of Green Gables, and Louisa Mae Alcott that I could get my hands on.

5th and 6th grade I moved into Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie.

6th-8th I began on Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Anya Seton.

I was/am a tad compulsive.

Lynne

Hello Lynne. Thank you for joining us.

I read many Agatha Christie books a long time ago. I haven't listed any because I have forgotten which of her books.

First long book ever was Wind in the Willows. I was 5.

Little women when I was 9 or ten

Welcome to Happy & Brainy. Thanks for joining us.

Mine? A Bobbs-Merrill biography of Babe Ruth. I was around 9 or 10.

Stephen Turner
The Last Voyage of the Cassiopeia
Almagest: The Adventures of MarsShield
3700
The Avedon Question

Probably either Heidi or The Little House in the Big Woods. I was probably ten or so. I don't remeber how long they are, but I do remember those two seeming very long, but my perspective may have changed, considering a I just finished a 470 page book!

No one believes me, but I've read "The Fountaihead" when I was only a third year high school student by Ayn Rand which really is one hefty book. At my young age I can't fathom yet the philosophy of Rand and just only after reading this book found out what objectivism is and for that matter what philosophy is). This is the first long book that's never been assigned by our teacher to read but anyway i read it for I thought back then that it had a compelling plot( but yeah it surely have). My fave character is Elseworth Toohey in case you want to know.. ^_^

I love Howard Roark. I love this Ellsworth Toohey - Howard Roark dialogue:

[background: Toohey understood Roark's greatness. The desire to destroy, not admiration, was Toohey's response to the good. He actively planned, and then acted, to destroy Roark.]

"Mr. Roark, we're alone here. Why don't you tell me what you think of me? In any words you wish. No one will hear us."

"But I don't think of you."

At that time that I read it what really compelled me to finish through the entire 600+ pages, as I think back of that book now, was the incisive repartees. It was like a witty verbal jousting. I also found the love story between Roark and the girl. I don't know the name of which was a daughter of an architect, so uncanny and sometimes romantic. I truly have forgotten a lot about this book. That makes me want to read it now.

Dominique Francon

Yeah.. now I recall..
Thnx.. Ilyn..
Aside from "The Fountainhead" what other books had you read which is akin to this book?

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

Well aside from Rand's work..

Victor Hugo's books. My Reason Reigns - I hope you check this out: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

Does "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" count as a long book. It was a hardback and I was in around 4th or 5th grade, I think. I am happy to say each of my kids has read it, but none of them jumped up and down like I did when they finished it.

Hello John. Thanks for joining us. Hi Everyone.

Joemmama wrote: "I read Atlas Shrugged when I was 14 and have read it every other year since. It is a pretty big read."



I am 25 and I still can't read it. I am so impatient with dense books. I know it is one of the best books.

I was in the beginning of 1st grade, and I read the first harry potter book, the SS. first chapter, novel, and fantasy book i ever read. It took me 5 whole days.
then CofS and PofA in 2nd
GofF in 3rd
OofP in 4th or 5th, and also the longest singular book I've read I believe.
HBP in 6th or 7th, then DH 8th or 9th,whenever it came out.

Hello Lauren. Welcome to Happy & Brainy. Hello Everyone.

I read Gone With The Wind in 4th grade.

I just finished the Lord of the Rings! :) 9th grade.

I was 12 when I read The Wind in the Willows for the first time.

Hello Celeste, Lauren, and Randi. Hi everyone. Kudos to all of you.

I'm something of a counterpoint here because my first long book was non-fiction. I come from a small Bible-belt town, where Darwin was the Anti-Christ--or at least one of several candidates to the post. So when, in the 10th grade, I discovered Origin of Species in the town's Carnegie library, I grabbed and began reading surreptitiously. And discovered a gentle, thoughtful kind old man (at least the picture showed him when he was old with a long white bead--he looked more like God than the Devil).

Hello Kendall. Kudos.

Does the Wizard of Oz count as a "big" or "long" book? I distinctly remember checking out one of the Oz books the second to the last day of school when I was in first grade. The librarian didn't want me to take it because I would "never get it back to her". I read that thing overnight and had it back the next day. I probably had been reading some other longer books by that time as well, but that is the one I remember--- didn't I show her, ha ha ha?

lol That happens to me. No one except my friends believe I finished the Deathly Hallows in about 7 or 8 hours.

Lauren wrote: "lol That happens to me. No one except my friends believe I finished the Deathly Hallows in about 7 or 8 hours. "
and the funny thing is that although I can't remember the title I can remember all about it... it had TickTock, and they made a flying sleigh out of a couch and palm trees and flew out the window of a castle...

Thanks for joining us, Ruth. Hi Lauren & everyone.

I'm pretty sure that I read "Hawaii" (James Mitchner) and "Kon Tiki" when I was still in grade school; they were both in my father's library, which was the original source of my fascination with reading.

I adore the Oz books...still read them to my grandchildren. Not only are they 'big', but they are not simple...Baum never talked down to his audience and since they were written 100 years ago, some of the language is dated. I think they count double.

Hello Kathleen, Mary Todd, and everyone. Thanks for sharing the names of your beloved books.

Richard, this is a very nice, sweet topic. Thank you.

Oh my... Are the Nancy Drew series considered as "long" book? I read it when I was in 2nd grade then after that I don't quite remember some. I remembered opening the Scarlet Letter when I was in high school but can't quite remember if I finished it or not. Hehehe!! :)

Hello Wyoma. Thanks for joining us.

As a youngster, I enjoyed The Hardy Boys series.

I tried to read The Hardy Boys but I rather enjoyed Nancy's company than them. Hahaha!! But I found it fascinating when they get together in a mission or two. :)

I read the unabridged version of the Count of Monte Cristo (1300+ pages) in the 5th or 6th grade. I also remember having to bring my mother to the library in the eighth grade to sign my card to allow me to check out "adult" books when I wanted to check out Herzog.

Hello Dick & everyone.

I don't remember which was my first long book. I used to read a lot of Judy Blume, but today I wouldn't classify them as long books. I would have to say that it wasn't until high school and I got into R.L. Stine (not the goosebumps books but the YA books) then I read Flowers for Algernon as a Freshman. I loved that book. I still pull it out and read it every once and a while.

Jennifer, do you mean you read the Fear Street books? Which ones did you read? I read the Cheerleaders sequence and then some Christopher Pike books.

Wy wrote: "Jennifer, do you mean you read the Fear Street books? Which ones did you read? I read the Cheerleaders sequence and then some Christopher Pike books."

Wy,

I think I read just about all of them. I had like 50 or 60 of his books in total. I know I had checked out a bunch from the library also.

My dad never was big on making us read, but once I got hooked on that series he was so happy I picked up reading on my own that he bought me one every time he saw one.

I think Silent Night was the first one I read.

It's a toss-up between Watership Down (I still call all brown rabbits Hazel-rah) and the Dragonlance Legends Trilogy.

Hello Jennifer, Iamthatis, Wy, and everyone. Have a wonderful day.

Celeste wrote: "I read Gone With The Wind in 4th grade."

Same for me Celeste only I was older than you being about 12 or 13. Gone with the Wind was my mothers favorite book and therefor "required" reading, LOL! I also read The Call of the Wild, White Fang and
my first romance novel around that time. The first romance I read was The Mistress of Mellyn. It was by Victoria Holt.

I still believe that Gone with the Wind was one of the best books ever written and to think she wrote it with a pencil in a notebook! Hard to imagine isn't it?