Several book related questions & suggestions ? (you don't have to answer them all)?

Question

Hi! I have quite a few questions so bear with me, I also need a few book suggestions. You'll hate me by the time you read my book suggestion part, I'm begging you to stay put. You can pick and choose your answers too...

#1 - Are there any good books telling where are the origins of book characters, what things in the book represent in real life, such as who and what inspired the author to write a certain character and story?

#2 - Do you know of any good biographies of Lewis Carroll? (I'm very interested in seeing what his life was like, I've read many of his other works and I'm really captivated by his writing)

#3 - Is "The Tales of Beetle the Bard" going to be published? When I say this I mean will it be open to the general public.

#4 - Could anyone give me suggestions for books? I'm pretty much tired of books set in real life and my tastes really range. Some of my favorites include ....

~ Alice in Wonderland

~ A Good Earth

~ Romeo and Juliet

~ Othello (almost finished, I'm in act 4)

~ All Norse Mythology and any European mythology (not Greecian and and Roman though)

~ Hans Christian Anderson's works

~ East by: Edith Pattou

I would love to read some books with some of these elements/themes...

~ Native American stories (The Last of the Mohicans is on my list)

~ Placed in China pre-communist

~ Stories that take place in northern Europe in the BC time period

~ Romances of any kind (no modern period please)

~ Fantasy that's alot like Alice in Wonderland (such as "The Looking Glass Wars)

By the way, I know I have rather childish tastes when I read but, I'm 13. My list of books to read consist of allot of classics including "The Great Gatsby", "The Last of the Mohicans", "The Picture of Dorian Grey" and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". I enjoy "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" because of the backstory behind all of it and how you can relate it to things that were going on in that period. I'll stop now, if you answer all the questions and give a few reccomendations I'll probably automatically give you the best answer. Thank you SOOO much! (Your brave souls)

Answer 1

3. Yes, it comes out on December 4th, 2008 (:

4. The Twilight Series! (twilight, new moon, eclipse, breaking dawn!)

my favoriteess!(:

Answer 2

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (So awesome--really)

I liked Lewis Carroll: a Celebration  (its kinda old)

Tales of the Beetle Bard is coming out on December 8th.

Answer 3

Well, I can answer your first question with just the greatest book, it is really so cool. I don't own it now, but I will again, I swear it. It is Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia and here is the amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Benets-Readers-Enc...

As to your second question I haven't read any of these, but the first one on the page is well regarded. I'd check out the reviews on a few of them though, and try to read more than one if you can, and are interested.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/103-...

Third question: Yes it will be released to the public on December 4th of this year.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=...

This is hard actually, because you have such a diverse list of likes and I'm not sure just what you want, or rather, if I can offer it to you. How about just a list of books I think are cool that your tastes somehow remind me of? I think that's the best I can do.

Recommendations:

Mistress Mashams Repose ~ T.H. White

and if you like that, or even if you don't,

Gulliver's Travels ~ Jonathan Swift

The Once and Future King ~ T.H. White

The Tapestry Room ~ Mrs Molesworth

The Borrowers Series ~ Mary Norton

Anything by Elizabeth Enright

Anything by E. Nesbit

Anything by Edward Eager

The Gammage Cup ~ Carol Kendall

The Gypsy in the Parlor ~ Margery Sharp

The Fountain Overflows ~ Rebecca West

Holy Pictures ~ Clare Boylan

Greengage Summer & The Diddakoi ~ Rumer Godden

The Death of the Heart ~ Elizabeth Bowen

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter ~ Carson McCullers

The Ballad and the Source ~ Rosamond Lehmann

Sacajawea ~ Anna Lee Waldo

Gone With the Wind ~ Margaret Mitchell

The first part of this list is mostly kids books but they are also books that I am still reading as an adult after reading them a million times as a kid. They are all wonderfully written and though most of them answer your fantasy request rather than broadly ranging through your list, I really do think that you'll enjoy them. The last part  is just a bunch of great books that I enjoyed at your age and still do. They don't meet your geographic specs so just think of them as romance since they all involve a little of that.  Amazon will have them all for reviews and further info. I'm sorry I couldn't do better here, but I really hope you'll check into these.

I enjoyed your question and I hope I was of some help to you.

Cheers!

Answer 4

I can't answer your first two questions -- though you may be able to find something for the first question online (GOOGLE). For the 3rd, yes it is going to be sold in stores. FOUR: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray and The Luxe by Anna Goberson. Both are set in the late 1800s. Both with romance -- the luxe more so that AGATB, but AGATB is a bit better.