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Our August book is House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones! Companion book to Howl's Moving Castle, and takes place I think a couple of years after Castle in the Air...

If we want to TRY doing weekly discussions again, since we haven't been able to make that work lately... :P There are 16 chapters in House of Many Ways, so we could try reading 4 chapters per week. :)

Anyways, I'm very excited for this month's book! (I read it before but am dying for a reread, so yay!)

Anyone else excited? Have you found a copy?

I'm fine with weekly discussions but I'm not sure if I have time to participate since I'm still reading The Night Circus and The Scarlet Pimpernel... But I'll try!

I'm so excited to read this book! I loved Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Air was great too. I hope I can get a copy next week! :)

So! We're a week into August (already??? O_O) and the chapters for this week's discussion would be... 1-4.

I'll admit: I sat down to read just the first chapter on the 1st and ended up plowing through all four of them an only barely stopping myself from devouring the rest of the book. XD It is so so addicting!

What's everyone's thoughts on the first four chapters, once you've read them? Here's mine. :) I'm just putting it all in spoiler tags... because.

CHAPTER 1-4:
(view spoiler)[
Okay, so I immediately connect with Charmain because she's such a bookworm and doesn't really do much other than read. (And eat. Oh my goodness, I love the pasties and foods that are mentioned in this book! It makes me so hungry. XD) When she ended up at the house and it was a mess and all she wanted to do was just read and ignore everything because she was so overwhelmed, half of me was like "Honestly, Charmain, you should totally start cleaning things! Stop being so irresponsible!" ...While the other half of me was going "Yep. Exactly what I'd do... >.>" Hee. XD Also, I think it's kind of original that she's a FIERY bookworm. Normally the two don't mix. I like it. :D And she doesn't have much practical experience, like doesn't even know tea is made with boiling water and it's great. XD

The house! Okay, it's so intriguing with all the different rooms sort of squished places and I guess it's a little hard to imagine exactly how the door works but still, I love the house and how the wizard's voice is lurking around to answer her questions sometimes, like an answering machine or something. XD I don't remember all the stuff about the rooms and things so I'm looking forward to reading further because I feel like there was a lot more interesting things about the house that I don't remember but we'll find out later I think?

I don't like the purpley thing in the meadow that for some reason I can't think of the name of right now. ...Lubbock, that was it. NO. IT IS CREEPY AND I DO NOT LIKE IT. I'm glad Charmain's messed-up flying spell worked... But maybe that'll teach her to not mess around with magic when she doesn't know what she's doing. :P

Waif is adorable. Little whiny polite wispy white dog. ^_^ I WANT A WAIF DOG.

PETER! I love Peter. The second he showed up I think he endeared himself to me. :D He's kind of hilarious and awkward and is a great character to pair off with Charmain since she's so fiery. XD Just... PETER. I can't wait to read more with him! ^_^ And he accidentally made Waif big and oh my goodness they're awesome.

And the whole bubble scene was hilarious. XD

OH OH! And one more thing: the letters on the wizard's desk. One of them was from Howl!! *flailing* As a sort-of sequel-ish book, I love in this (and in Castle in the Air) picking up on hints! :D And Charmain thought he had horrible handwriting and must have written it with a poker. :D *diiiies* That is so Howl-ish to have awful handwriting. XDDDD
(hide spoiler)]

Okay, so there's MY babbling... :P So!

Have you guys read the first four chapters yet? What do you think of all of the book so far? :)

So, um, I sort of had no self control whatsoever and already read through this whole thing in just a few days... Whoops. But it's so goooood! And, again, rereading these books is the best. For some reason I didn't remember all the plot points and goings-on of this one as much as the other two, I don't know why, but it was a blast rediscovering it.

I guess I shouldn't say too much about it yet since not everyone has read through it all. But I do have to add that when Charmain found the note from Howl and could hardly read it I almost died of laughter. Basically any mention of Howl gets me grinning like a moron. XD

And, Celti, we are so brain twins because I literally agree with absolutely everything you said! Charmain is awesome, Peter is adorable, the Lubbock is terrifying. o.o But everything is so FUN.

@Lauri: Haha! That's awesome. XD It's such an addicting read, though! :) I entirely agree that it's just as good (or perhaps better!) rereading it! Howl's letter--yes. XD ALL THE HOWL REFERENCES. Braintwins! :) You're right, it IS so FUN!!!! <3

So... We're about halfway through the month, and I read the next four chapters.

Chapters 5-8
(view spoiler)[I'm now trying to remember what happened in these... I forgot how I like the king... Peter is getting awesomer. I want those pasties!! Waif = still more adorable. I so connect with Charmain about all things books. <3 TWINKLE. I love Twinkle so much. XD Howl is such a handful. *dies of laughter* It's also good to see Sophie again! She was hardly in Castle in the Air, and of course she had only turned young again for the very very end of Howl's Moving Castle, so it's cool to see her here! Also Morgan. XD It's funny, when I read this book eons ago, I didn't know about Castle in the Air, so in the sense that this is the first time I've read the three books in order, it's like reading them for the first time! I mean, like getting to see Jamal and his dog!!! And of course Morgan is something you'd miss out on a bit without reading the middle one. It's just delightful to read this one now! :D (hide spoiler)]

Anyways, still enjoying it SO much! :) Can't wait to read more!