I think I did. . . the title at least is familiar to me but it must have been a long, long time ago.

Does this jog your memory?

The novel is cast in a favorite traditional form for children's fantasy: Edward and Eleanor Hall, a pair of children in Concord, Mass. (circa 1962), discover a secret attic room in Uncle Freddy's big old house on Walden Street. The room contains a cryptical poem tantamount to a treasure map, and a variety of antique toys that draw them into an eerie and fantastic otherworld that continually impinges on this one through visions, through dreams, and through encounters bizarre and grotesque. There is a haunted harp, a spectral nautilus shell, an evil jack-in-the box, a magic mirror, a missing Prince Krishna of Mandracore . . . and permeating everything, references and reverberations of the Transcendentalists: Emerson, Thoreau, and the Over-Soul. I managed to forget most of the literary references in the 30 or so years since I first read this book, but I have never forgotten the nautilus.

I remember The Court of the Stone Children by Eleanor Cameron as another favorite.

I didn't read The Diamond in the Window, but I read The Swing in the Summerhouse (the sequel).

I loved L. M. Boston's Green Knowe books, in a similar vein.

I always did love that premise in children's books: the old attic (or curiosity shop, whatever) with magical doorways and enchanted objects.

Attics were best, though.

I loved L. M. Boston's Green Knowe books, in a similar vein.

I just unpacked these. I bought them a while ago when I went on a trip to England and we visited Lucy Boston's house. Her grandson, I think, runs the house as a museum. She made some beautiful quilts that were on display there. I can't remember if I read the books at the time or not.

I always did love that premise in children's books: the old attic (or curiosity shop, whatever) with magical doorways and enchanted objects.

Some of us still live in hope that this premise will come true. Why do you think I like weird antique shops so much?

I know I discussed Uglies here, briefly, back when I read it, but I disremember if my correspondent suggested Scott Westerfield's Peeps - his attempt at a vampire novel. I will say that I was completely and utterly enthralled by it until the end, when the universe he was building spiraled strangely out of control. I may not read the sequel, what with my opinion on the ending, but I highly recommend the rest of the book to YA-type people with a fantasy bent. Or an interest in parasitology, actually, since every other chapter tells you about a different parasite. Fun and informative!

I have so many books at home I need to read, and one 400 page book I need to finish before school starts on Monday... Life of Pi is boring my eyes out of their sockets!

I stopped in here to see if anyone had read Eclipse yet, the third in Stephenie Meyer's Twighlight series. It came out Tuesday.

But then I searched the thread, and discovered there is much hatred for the series.

Meep. I, um, loved it. Don't beat me!