#Diane Wynne Jones

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

"there you are, sweetheart, i've been looking everywhere for you" - has me kicking my lil feel, and "that's my girl" - has me have 911 on a spell fucking dial like- SIR! SIR? SIR THIS IS WENDY'S

howl pendragon might be a bitch ass but he owns me like u don't understand pls let me go-

[mendedrum]

oooh the cook andthe dog in House of Many Ways is sakdflkdaghag Jamal's!!!! what?!!?

THIS IS WHY WE READ BOOKS IN ORDER, FOLKS

(CYING)

[dduane]

Ever since I’ve followed your blog, so about 5 years now, I’ve had the creeping suspicion that I knew your writing from somewhere. “Surely not,” I’d than say, scrolling through your published works. “None of this rings a bell.”

Today while shelving books, I realized, with some rearranging, we had enough room on the shelf to have 5 copies of a particular book facing out. It’s a favorite of mine, having read it in childhood when not much else good was going on, so I gladly faced it out.

Something nagged at me. I looked at the cover- same one I remember. I looked at the title- yep, still there. It was only when I looked at the author that I realized for 5 years I’ve mistaken you as the author of Howl’s Moving Castle

(chortle)

There are a lot of worse things that can happen to a writer than being confused with/mistaken for Diana Wynne Jones. 😄 She was such a fabulous writer: I was always sad that I didn’t have a chance to get to know her better. (@petermorwood knew her pretty well—enough so that they lent each other books.)

As for me, most people know me for one or another of these series (or else for my work for Star Trek). Hope this helps everyone keep this issue sorted out in the future. 😅

[book--brackets]

Fantasy Book Exploration Post (Part 2)

Here are the rest of the titles from Best Fantasy Book with links to info about them!

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

Young Wizards by Diane Duane

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

The Unicorn Chronicles by Bruce Coville

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale :(

Valdemar: Vows and Honor by Mercedes Lackey

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

The Tarot Sequence by K. D. Edwards

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

The Cemeteries of Amalo by Katherine Addison

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

Hexwood by Diana Wynne Jones

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

Zachary Ying by Xiran Jay Zhao

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

The Fairy Realm by Emily Rodda

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

Star Wars: Jedi Quest by Jude Watson

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

The Merlin Spiral by Robert Treskillard

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale :(

Spellbound by Vivian Vande Velde

Goodreads

Storygraph

Thriftbooks

SecondSale

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

My friend is reading one chapter of Dian Wynne Jones' Castle in the Air to the 6yo every night and as somebody who hasn't read it myself yet, listening in on random chapters every couple of nights is very much a Troy Coming Back With Pizza kind of experience.

Me: *sedately crocheting my little hexagons*

This book: Listen to these two people attempt to deal with the oversupply of dirty wizard trousers by absolutely fucking up laundry day in every way imaginable

[kuh-boose]

gotta say, i fuckin love that diane wynne jones, mad genius author that she was, when presented with people that obsessed over and wanted to marry her romantic interest character, basically said "ew why, he's trash"

[zippocreed501]

AUTHOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

'Fantasy for me as a kid was real, and I had a fantasy about what life was, whether it was sort of wicked and dire, or wholly normal, or whatever. Anything really close to home is not, it seems to me, what a good book should be about.'

'If you take myth and folklore, and these things that speak in symbols, they can be interpreted in so many ways that although the actual image is clear enough, the interpretation is infinitely blurred, a sort of enormous rainbow of every possible colour you could imagine.'

'Things we are accustomed to regard as myth or fairy story are very much present in people’s lives. Nice people behave like wicked stepmothers. Every day.'

'It does seem that a fantasy, working out in its own terms, stretching you beyond the normal concerns of your own life, gains you a peculiar charge of energy which inexplicably enriches you. At least, this is my ideal of a fantasy, and I am always trying to write it.'

Author Extraordinaire Diane Wynne Jones

[peregrination-studies]

24 books in 2024

It is 2024, and I am here yet again with my bookish hopes and dreams!

I did this challenge last year (available here), and in 2022 (available here), and I'm STOKED to do it again this year! As is my way, I have been planning and revising this list for some time. My Goodreads overfloweth with ideas.

As always, if you have book recs, please send them my way! And, if you're participating in the challenge this year, I'd love to see your lists!

Without further ado, I gladly present to you my 24 in '24 book list:

Sci-Fi and Just for Fun :)

1) Randomize by Andy Weir (read April 2024)

2) Next by Michael Crichton (read May 2024)

3) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (read April 2024)

4) With a Little Luck by Marissa Meyer (read February 2024)

Environmental Science/Ecology/Books Relevant to my Studies

5) Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by Buckminster Fuller (read April 2024)

6) Must Love Trees: An Unconventional Guide by Tobin Mitnick (read April-November 2024)

7) Scientifically Historica: How the World’s Great Science Books Chart the History of Knowledge by Brian Clegg (read November 2024)

8) Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson (read November 2024)

Reading Around the World

9) The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar by Peter Tyson (Madagascar)

10) Everything is Wonderful: Memories of a Collective Farm in Estonia by Sigrid Rausing (Estonia) (read April-November 2024)

11) Willoughbyland: England’s Lost Colony by Matthew Parker (Suriname)

12) A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa and Daniel Hahn (Translator) (Angola) (read November 2024)

Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge/Classics

13) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (read April 2024)

14) The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir, H.M. Parables (Translator and Editor), and Deirdre Bair (Introduction) (read December 2024)

15) Gidget by Frederick Kohner (read November 2024)

16) Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (read December 2024)

Recommended by Friends

17) Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (recommended by @hedonism-tattoo and many, many others) (read December 2024)

18) Howl’s Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones (also recommended by many people now. @permanentreverie posted about it recently tho, and that was what really made me decide to include it on this list!) (read April 2024)

19) Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (recommended by @daydreaming-optimist ) (read April 2024)

20) The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (recommended by @kaillakit) (read May 2024)

Eco-Psychology

21) Ecopsychology by Lester R. Brown (read December 2024)

22) Against Purity: Living Ethically in Compromised Times by Alexis Shotwell (read April 2024)

23) Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life by Andy Fisher and David Abram (foreword) (read December 2024)

24) Sight and Sensibility: the Ecopsychology of Perception by Laura Sewall

Bonus

25) Bride by Ali Hazelwood (read February 2024)

26) Open Heart Surgery by Johanna Leo (read March 2024)

27) A Short History of the World in 50 Books by Daniel Smith

28) Candy Hearts by Tommy Siegel (read February 2024)

No pressure tagging: @daydreaming-optimist @kaillakit @permanentreverie @noa-the-physicist @silhouette-of-sarah @captaindelilahbard @senatorhotcheeto @the-bibliophiles-bookshelf @skyekg @of-the-elves @obesecamels @courageisneverforgotten @willowstea @its-me-satine @deirdrerose @notetaeker @theskittlemuffin and anyone else who wants to do this!

[johnbierce]

Magic school book sale

Into the Labyrinth, the first novel in my YA magic school series, Mage Errant, is a Kindle Daily Deal today! (November 15th.) Books 2&3 will be on sale as well for the next couple of days. Mage Errant follows the adventures of Hugh of Emblin, a young student mage whose magic doesn't want to work right- though his anxiety works just fine. Mage Errant features found family, a convoluted science-inspired magic system, a non-neurotypical protagonist, a queernormative setting, Machiavellian politics, lots of explosions, and more kaiju than you can shake a stick at. (Though, uh... I highly recommend against shaking sticks at kaiju in general.)

Mage Errant is heavily inspired by Diane Duane, Dianna Wynne Jones, Will Wight's Cradle, Andrew Rowe's Arcane Ascension, and a bunch of cheesy shonen anime. It's part of the new(ish) genre of progression fantasy, which is much more heavily focused on training and growing in power than average in fantasy. (I like to call the genre "books for people who like movie training montages way too much.")

The whole series is complete now, sans a short story anthology coming out in February. It's also getting a webtoon comic adaptation, which is super exciting! Oh, and whenever I got a bad review for having queer characters (of which I got MANY), I hit a mental button reading "make it gayer."

[cutpaperbleedswater]

There’s a really good book series by Diane Wynne Jone(s) called the Chrestomanci series. I’m not gonna say what it’s about but basically Chrestomanci is a job title and the only applicants are people with 8/9 lives and they have the chance to put a life into safe keeping like the ring actually used in the books.

Every time I read Katniss rubbing Peeta’s pearl across lips and thinking about how it’s Peeta’s life and no one can take that away, I think of that as a literal every single time.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Yo listen. Most of y’all don’t realize how fucking wild the difference between Howl’s Moving Castle (Diane Wynne Jones, 1986) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004, Studio Ghibli) is.

Dramatic recreation:

Movie Howl: Teehee, a new cleaning lady? Cool! I see you’re cursed but bet we can deal with that. In the meantime, wouldn’t you happen to know what in the hell happened in my bathroom? Did you try to ruin my life or smth? Ah well, I look better this way anyway.

Book Howl: BEGONE FROM MY SPIDERS YOU FAUL HAG. I don’t do crack, I am the crack, Methany. Now excuse me, while you and Michael will attempt to solve stuff I should be dealing with, Imma do my best to bang Sophie’s sister. BUT IF I COME BACK AND FIGURE YOU HAD TOUCHED MY STUFF SOPHIE I SWEAR ON THE POWER OF TEN THOUSAND CRACKHEADS-

On the other hand… Sophie is like:

Movie Sophie: Ah, so this is the infamous castle… I’ll just clean up… Wait, that Howl guy I’ve heard so many stories about… He’s actually nice and attentive in his own way… I’m in love.

Book Sophie: BICH WHAT DO YOU NEED THEM SPIDERS FOR ANYWAY!? YOU ARE TRYING TO DO WHAT TO WHOM? COME CATCH THESE HANDS I SWEAR TO GOD…. Now that he’s gone, I’ll look for the hearts he’s feasting on, I know that son of a gun has them stashed away somewhere. Whooping ass can wait a bit, I need my elderly beauty nap and I need it now.

Meanwhile Michael and Calcifer are still living thic-ass legends and I can’t appreciate them enough.

Bonus for those who read the book:

Someone: Is your man possessed by a fire demon?

Sophie: No, he’s just Welsh.

[scarlet--wiccan]

Do you have any other fantasy book recommendations besides Young Wizards by Diane Duane?

I've mentioned this before, but Madeline L'Engle's Time Quintet went hand-in-hand with Young Wizards, in terms of defining my conception of fantasy and sci-fi principles. The series themselves are not that similar, in terms of story, but they are similarly effective at blending very tactile magic systems with extremely well-realized conceptions of, time, space, and the nature of material reality. I read them both around the same time (too young, perhaps) and that's what really programmed my brain-- that, and most of Diana Wynne Jones and Garth Nix, although they operate in very different realms. And Animorphs, which is not fantasy, but I'll never pass up the opportunity to evangalize about Animorphs. You might notice I'm not actually a huge fan of high fantasy-- I gravitate more towards books that take place in or around the real world.

Anyway, I am trying to get back in the habit of reading more novels. I no longer commute on public transit, which is how I used to do most of my reading, so I've fallen out of the habit for a few years, and my to-read pile is embarrassingly high. I'm afraid I'm not as well up on contemporary novels as I'd like to be-- I give all my time and attention to comics! But I did just finish Mortal Follies and Confounding Oaths by Alexis Hall and loved both! I also re-read several of Molly Knox Ostertag's graphic novels this month-- they're definitely for middle-grade readers, but I find them delightful. Her Witch Boy trilogy, in particular, is so special and healing to me. Even if it's not your cup of tea, there might be a young reader in your life who'd enjoy it!

[sachermorte]

Hey what are your TOP 5 or TOP 10 favourite books?

These change frequently and I'm certainly forgetting many, but here are a few favorites, alphabetical by title

Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett and that other one

Howl's Moving Castle - Diane Wynne Jones

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

The Other Side - Alfred Kubin

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë

[book--brackets]

Best Fantasy Book Round 1 Results

Poll 1: Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

Poll 2: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Poll 3: Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce

Poll 4: Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud

Poll 5: Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce

Poll 6: The Queen’s Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Poll 7: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan

Poll 8: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Poll 9: Discworld by Terry Pratchett

Poll 10: The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir

Poll 11: The Immortals Quartet by Tamora Pierce

Poll 12: Young Wizards by Diane Duane

Poll 13: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones

Poll 14: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Poll 15: Simon Snow by Rainbow Rowell

Poll 16: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Apologies for the delay, and round two will be posted tomorrow!

[alexlacquemanne]

2023 in 12 movies (1 per months)

January

The Horse Whisperer (1998) directed by Robert Redford with Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Neil, Chris Cooper and Cherry Jones

[First Time]

February

L'Horloger de Saint-Paul (1974) directed by Bertrand Tavernier with Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Denis, Yves Afonso, Julien Bertheau and Jacques Hilling

[First Time]

March

The Fabelmans (2022) directed by Steven Spielberg with Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Keeley Karsten, Julia Butters and Judd Hirsch

[First Time]

April

The Third Man (1949) directed by Carol Reed with Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard and Bernard Lee

[First Time]

May

The World, The Flesh and the Devil (1959) directed by Ranald MacDougall with Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens and Mel Ferrer

[First Time]

June

La ciociara (1960) directed by Vittorio De Sica with Sophia Loren, Eleonora Brown, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Carlo Ninchi, Andrea Checchi and Pupella Maggio

[First Time]

July

Oppenheimer (2023) directed by Christopher Nolan with Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett and Casey Affleck

[First Time]

August

Heat (1995) directed by Michael Mann with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Dennis Haysbert, Donald Breedan and Ashley Judd

[First Time]

September

Catch Me If You Can (2002) directed by Steven Spielberg with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, Martin Sheen, James Brolin and Brian Howe

[First Time]

October

Le Grand Bain (2018) directed by Gilles Lellouche with Mathieu Amalric, Guillaume Canet, Benoît Poelvoorde, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Philippe Katerine, Félix Moati, Alban Ivanov, Balasingham Thamilchelvan, Virginie Efira et Leïla Bekhti

[First Time]

November

Fools Rush In (1997) directed by Andy Tennant with Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, Jon Tenney, Carlos Gómez, Tomás Milián, Siobhan Fallon et John Bennett Perry

[First Time]

December

The Great Race (1965) directed by Blake Edwards with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn et Ross Martin

[First Time]

Honourable Mentions :

Airplane! (1980)

Duel (1972)

Les Sentiments (2003)

The Carpetbaggers (1964)

Scoop (2006)

Mon crime (2023)

To Have and Have Not (1944)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

臥虎藏龍 (2000)

The Glenn Miller Story (1954)

Le Dernier Voyage (2020)

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

L'ingorgo (1979)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Adieu Gary (2008)

Conflict (1945)

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

La Nuit américaine (1973)

Sorcerer (1977)

La Guerre des polices (1979)

Life of Pi (2012)

The Big Short (2015)

Le Hussard sur le toit (1995)

Excalibur (1981)

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

Le Procès Goldman (2023)

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Matrimonio all'italiana (1964)

Chaplin (1992)

La Vie de château (1966)

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Au-delà des grilles (1949)

Second Tour (2023)

Le Couteau dans la plaie (1962)

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

JFK (1991)

Le Fugitif (1993)

Chef (2014)

Quai des Orfèvres (1947)

Appointment with Death (1988)

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

River of No Return (1954)

L'Assassinat du père Noël (1941)

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Die Glasbläserin (2016)

The Lion in Winter (1968)

Les Mystères de Paris (1962)

[stardustandrockets]

Here are some recs to read in lieu of the Boy Wizard series.

I asked my followers for recommendations on what to read instead of That Series™ and y'all definitely delivered. I included my own recs with little descriptions and most of the others are either on my tbr or completely new to me. I made sure to list whether it was a middle grade or young adult read.

I only put two of my favorite Diana Wynne Jones books on here, but anything she's written has magic in some form or fashion.

Books listed:

My personal favorites:

Slide 2: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones (middle grade); A 7 book middle grade series that follows the world of the Chrestomanci—a nine-lived enchanter who oversees the use of magic. The 7 books follow different characters that all intersect with one another. Did I mention there are parallel worlds?

Slide 3: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (middle grade); Seen the movie? The book is just like that but far more chaotic. It's still whimsical, but there's more depth and development. It's nostalgic even if you haven't read it before. It's also book 1 of a trilogy.

Slide 4: The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. LeGuin (young adult); A series of 6 books that follows the wizard Ged. Very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings to me, but in a more approachable way. (Idk, I haven't read LotR. I've just seen the movies.)

Slide 5: The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques (middle grade); A 22 book series featuring talking animals as protagonists, this series set mainly around Redwall Abbey has something for everyone. The books don't have to be read in order, but publication order is suggested.

Slide 6: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (middle grade); A retelling of Greek myths. Neurodivergent rep, badass kids, humorous, and so full of heart! This series (and the others) aren't just for kids. I got into them late in the game (maybe early high school?) and revisited them as an adult and they're so good! Perfect for anyone wanting to dive into mythology.

Slide 7: TBR/Follower Recs (MG): Witchlings by Claribel Ortega, Nevermoore by Jessica Townsend, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Slide 8: TBR/Follower Recs (MG): The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, Septimus Heap by Angie Sage

Slide 9: TBR/Follower Recs (YA): Alanna the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, Little Black Bird by Anna Kirchner, Young Wizards Series by Diane Duane (falls between MG & YA)

Slide 10: TBR/Follower Recs (YA): Summoner Series by Taran Matharu, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (trilogy), The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper