Dante's Inferno is quite intense and hard to read on your own. I did not have the pleasure of reading and discussing it in school and feel like I missed out.

Ok, So I really give this book more like 3 and a half stars. I thought it was very in=depth and interesting for a Young Adult's book. Of course the vocabulary was lacking a bit because it's for younger readers but nonetheless a fun read. I do plan on reading the rest of the series. I love how Scott interweaves fantasy and mythology from all cultures. Every single creature I came across in the book I had heard of before. I thought the characters were a bit flat however. Scott seemed to take extra pains to make the twins seem like ordinary kids, while the boy was more jealous and fiery than the girl-a bit stereotypical don't you think? However, I found many of the other characters to be interesting, and I believe this would make a great movie. I would love to see James Franco play the villain

tried to read--couldn't--gods & goddesses return from centuries ago--talking dogs, etc.

Very well done, creative story. I love the concept of the womens' connection and bond.

An ancient Mesopotamian goddess gets accidentally called back to find her temple has been torn down, moved to Ohio, and rebuilt stone by stone- with part of it moved down the street to serve as a residence for a professor's family. She successfully brings together the descendants of her former priestesses, but the plan backfires when she doesn't count on the power of free will and feminist thought. The 3 most powerful band together, and with the help of the goddesses former consort, banish the goddess and connect with their source.

Finished mid-March 2009.

A nice collection of craft-tinged stories, some better than others but enjoyable overall.

I haven't read much African literature, and Justin had this book left over from TO. I think there must be so much about this story that I just didn't understand. I felt like I could follow the story- as the narrator moves from town to town in the Bush of Ghosts, he learns much, makes all kinds of discoveries, moves between poverty and riches, isolation and popularity. Each ghost town has a distinct personality.
Some seem just like the "real world" and some are so strange it's hard for me to understand where the images are from.
I'm curious to know more- does this collection represent traditional African stories or was it totally new?

This is the heroic epic of Beowulf, the Geat from Sweden, arrives in Denmark. He has an encounter with the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother and a dragon.


Wow. The language in this book was amazing. A mouthful of words that added a richness to the piece. The storyline and morals are very typical of pre-Christian stories but I was annoyed with the insertion of Christian religion in the story. There's already a pagan mythology in the piece such as the Weird, the goddess of fate and it distracts you from the story. But I totally recommend reading the poem as it's the first major anglo-saxon piece of poetry.

Okay, so it was okay. Not what I was expecting. Took me forever to get through it because I kept falling asleep but eh. Me and epic poems have never got along anyway. It's pretty good as far as arrogant heros go. The fight scenes arn't all that bad either.

Almost impossible to get through... I wouldn't read this one again.

Oedipus is called to find who killed the former king. The oracle tells him that his fate is to kill his father and marry his mother. The king's fate was to be killed by his son. Oedipus recently killed a man of the king's description. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going on, but it takes Oedipus a good while. When he realizes that he's had children with his mother and killed his father, he gouges his eyes out so he won't have to look upon his children, or upon his father when he dies. This is where the term "Oedipus complex" originated.

Okay this story made me laugh because of how twisted it is. I loved it. This is definatly a story that you will remember no matter what.