I wanted to chime in to give a shout out to Ele. I loved Enid Blyton's St. Clare's series! They were probably my favorite before I discovered Little Women!:)

For all who love the Anne books and the miniseries in particular, I just had to gloat that Jonathan Crombie (I.e. Gilbert Blythe) went to my high school!! Granted he was there years before me, but his old pictures still brought on significant druelling from my peers. Such a great series!! And the sequel was a brilliant example of writing that remained true to the novels without being slavishly faithful (seamelessly melding elements from three very distinct novels is no mean feat)!

Ele, start that new thread and bombard me with questions!

To be fair, I did not make it through enough of the HP series to get a good idea of any character development. I found Rowling just went on and on and on in WAY too much detail. I guess it's the equivalent of a modern day Charles Dicken's novel? I do like Dickens a lot, but give me Tolstoy or Jane Austen over HP or CD any day!

My favorite growing up was the Oz series - not just the classic Wizard of Oz that everyone knows by heart - the entire series. My best friend had a set of original editions that we read over and over again. I guess that is fantasy.

Anyone else into the Enders' Game series? That would top HP and Twilight for me, hands down. I'm not even all that much of a sci-fi fan. I just love all the ideas in the series. I would've never have read the books if it wasn't for my DD.

Shiny- I love the Oz series, too. My library had the hardback series in a prominent area on top of a shelf and I read and re-read them so many times!
Since we're ontto sci-fi series, I have to mention the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The boys are listening to them on tape, and watching the movies as they finish. Wonder Teen is very excited that he is finally old enough to be let watch these.

Big Enid Blyton fan here. My childhood was not the same without her.

As for The Lord of Rings movies: the Trilogy tops my favourite movies of all time list. Killer brilliance at its best.

Chewyspaghetti - LOVE Lord of the Rings. Love. Angie, I too really really loved the movies though the books are always the best for me. Read them many times over. Sobbed upon finishing as I always do at the end of a good story bc I can't go on with the characters.

So many kindred spirits on here in terms of books read!

My list toppers as a child and to this day have always been:
Nancy Drew
Anne of Green Gables
Lord of the Rings
Laura Ingalls Wilder

So many great stories. Enjoyed the Narnia series a bit but not head over heels with it. There are more but they are not leaping to mind right now.

Shiny - I enjoyed the Enders' Game books as well though it has easily been over 10 years. Cannot even remember the plot but I remember not being able to put them down.

Something I am always curious about regarding these Twilight books and the Harry Potter books as well is this: will they stand the test of time? Will people still be talking about them 50 years from now as we are about so many other books?

I just recently read Ender's Game and absolutely loved it. I heard that the second one is pretty philosophical and not equally interesting though.

I love the LOTR trilogy, my absolute favorite movies of all time! Definitely will take them with me to a deserted island!:P

Bella, Angie- Yay for Enid Blyton! I loved St. Clares's too, but my favourite was the Mallory Towers series. Not really sure why- they're all quite similar, when you get down to it!

Michelle- I'm so jealous! I have such a lifelong crush on Gilbert, sigh. That miniseries was such an important part of my childhood, and definitely left a mark on me. I've seen it so many times (taped from TV- I think the old '80s commercials add something special) that I could probably recite the whole thing.

Note- It seems that there are a lot of voracious readers around here. I'm going to start a new thread for book-talk that doesn't centre around Twilight. I'd hate for some members to miss out on this just because they haven't read it, and didn't bother clicking on the thread!

Just wanted to jump in to say that I am first of all a book snob...love great literature so much (think Jane Austen et cetera) but have read the Twilight books and really liked them. Best word for them is HOT... just something so hot about the whole thing. Not well written but something about it really sucks you in. I say go for it!

I'm another non-Twilighter. Watched the first movie on a plane and it just didn't grab me at all. Loved the Harry Potter books though. I've seen all the movies but they just don't compare to the books (but what ever does?)

Anne of Green Gables definitely made it to Australia. To this day I would still love to visit Prince Edward Island! I don't think anything was more heartbreaking than the moment Mathew died.

I truly was an Enid Blyton girl when younger though - I must have a zillion of her books. Ele like you I longed to go to a boarding school like the Naughiest Girl in school. Or I would have settled to be one of the Famous Five. Or the Secret Seven!