So, I haven't written in a while, almost two months. That's kind of scary. I would like to blame this on my passionate dedication to schoolwork.
Here is what I am doing over the summer:
1. Internship for campus publications, which basically lasts all day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
2. Lifeguarding every day I don't have my internship.
3. Traveling to far off and distant lands to discover my own Golden Fleece:
Internet connection. By "far off and distant lands," I mean going to work, going to a nearby Starbucks, etc.
4. Trying to figure out what to do with my life sans internet.
5. Rediscovering the phenomenon that is literature.
6. Trying to remember what my favorite books are.
7. Trying to come up with books to read.
So, here's where YOU come in! Give me recommendations! I read anything that is good. I tend to like fantasy, sci-fi, and contemporary lit, but I also really enjoy lots of classics and lots of random books that come through recommendations. I read
The Help last summer and really enjoyed it, which is about as far away from my normal reading circle as possible. Also read the
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, which was great. Basically, if there is a book that you really enjoy and you're desperate to tell everybody else how awesome it is, then let me know! And I will read it! I really will! Unless there are 394820394234 recommendations, but there won't be, because this is a teensy tiny blog.
Eat Pray Love (Bad movie, but awesome book!)
ReplyDeleteThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series
Water for Elephants
Hmm well here are some that come immediately to mind, while trying to be a bit varied :)
ReplyDelete- Shantaram (a longer one, but with great pictures, writing, stories, characters... a couple gruesome scenes just warning you. But really one of the best books I've ever read. Caught me in his life and swept me along)
- Altered Carbon (a dark sci-fi/mystery, more of a fun page-turner, but still brilliant-ish)
- Dancing at the Rascal Fair (a story about friends settling in Montana, sounds boring, but the way Ivan Doig writes is beautiful)
(this was Matt)
East of Eden by Steinbeck (I can actually let you borrow it if you'd like)
ReplyDeleteThe Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman (I have the first 6 of those, I think)
have you read Good Omens by Gaiman/Terry Pratchett?
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya (I have that somewhere... It's a bildungsroman with magical realism. Quite a good book, and kind of an easy read)
Hmmm. I'll have to think some more. I'll let you know.
Gone with the Wind is my all time favorite book. It will keep you busy since it's also the size of a brick. If you like historical fiction southern romance, then you should check it out!
ReplyDeleteFantasy series are my favorite! Here's a list from my shelves (the ones I read over again every year or two):
ReplyDeleteWrinkle in Time, etc.
Many Waters is great; so is the parallel Meet the Austins, etc. series - the two series eventually combine, I think in A Ring of Endless Light.
Artemis Fowl, etc. by Eoin Colfer
Technically children's books, but a fun read!
Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix
SO. GOOD. Necromancy, magic, adventure - all the essentials. :) Very original stuff by an Australian author. His Keys to the Kingdom series is late elementary level, on par with Artemis Fowl, but very fun and original modern/Arthurian fantasy. He has a marvelous vocabulary.
City of Bones, etc. by Cassandra Clare
The first three are the best - this author is fairly new and quite well-read. Her premise and plot are interesting, although the characters get sort of annoying after a while. Not till the third book, though.
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede
You will LOVE these. Cats and dragons and fairy tale parodies. Clever dialogue, fairly fast-paced - quick reads, and SO AWESOME. Srsly. Read Talking to Dragons first, then treat the first 3 as prequels - it's more fun that way.
Anything by Terry Pratchett is good. The first one I read was Carpe Jugulum, which is smack-dab in the middle of a series, but I think you can start anywhere and enjoy it. Anything featuring the witches is my favorite, but books set in the city are also fantastic. I like Mort very well, also, which is set at DEATH's house.
I think Narnia is worth a reread. As an adult you get a lot more out of it.
If you haven't read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, you need to. I enjoyed the philosophical backdrop. The first and third books are my favorite.
A series I've been getting from the library that is fun is The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Wizard plus Ghoul mentor/helper living in modern Chicago help Chicago PD solve murders. Cute but tough female cop as co-protagonist. There's a TV series (it's on Hulu) based on the first couple of books that isn't bad, though it takes liberties.
Hope that gives you some ideas! If you had to pick just one from my list, I'd say the Wrede. :)
Mu Phi Lovin'!
Oh! Another good one is the Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. There's lots.
ReplyDeleteYay! Okay, let's see--
ReplyDeleteKaty-- I've read Dragon Tattoo and Water for Elephants, but not Eat, Pray, Love, so I will try that. (I've also wanted to read Eat, Prey, Love, because I'm kind of a sucker for those vampire spinoffs, but that one can wait) :P
Matt-- those sound great! And I've never heard of them before! Well, I've heard of Ivan Doig, but I've never read any of his writing, even though I've heard that I should. So now I will. Thank you!
Maria-- I've read The Sandman series, but I STILL HAVE NOT READ Good Omens, which I must do. Also have wanted to read Bless Me, Ultima for a while-- one of those that I've heard of often, but never got around to looking at.
Alexa-- I actually read Gone with the Wind when I was at camp several years ago. I liked it way more than I thought I would! Except I got made fun of a little bit because I read Gone With the Wind instead of doing camp things, because reading was more interesting than talking to other people (I didn't really go back to camp after that). It's been a while...but I didn't know you liked that book, as well! We have to discuss it sometime!! Now I just need to see the movie...
Kelley-- Love love love Madeline L'Engle, haven't read her books in ages. Used to be so obsessed with A Wrinkle in Time, and I was very excited when the Disney Channel made one of her books into a movie several years ago. Love Artemis Fowl, too-- I cried when a certain central character died in the fourth (or fifth?) book. Apparently we have very similar tastes! I'm crazy about Garth Nix-- I've read almost everything he's written, including the Lirael, Sabriel,and Abhorsen-- and I read two or three keys to the Kingdom books. Mister Monday, something Tuesday, and Drowned Wednesday, but the library I went to ran out of the books after that.
I haven't read City of Bones- I need to try that one!I will put that on my list (since I know at this point that your recs are trustworthy!) :P
I LOVE THE ENCHANTED FOREST CHRONICLES. Totally read this in middle school, and I may or may not have reread it over winter break. I remember I liked the fourth one the most because I liked the fire-witch. I've never tried it in that order before...I remember being really confused when I first picked up the fourth one, because it was told from the son's perspective. I liked Morwen, too. She kind of reminds me of you.
Read Narnia, His Dark Materials (<3 Will), Dragonriders (got confused after a few books...I think I read them out of order).
Oh, I forgot about the Dresden Files. I meant to try one of the books last summer and totally forgot to. I will definitely try one of those.
Sorry for the thesis-reply--- thanks for all the recs!!!
And anyone else with them-- keep 'em coming! They're great! :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I am tickled that Morwen reminds you of me. She is my favorite! :D I rarely find anyone who's read these books. Let's make obscure references to them in mixed company and enjoy the inside jokes! :P
ReplyDeleteSecond, obviously I need to work harder to find things you haven't read! Here goes...
Enchanted by Orson Scott Card. Actually, anything by him is bound to be interesting, but I love this one. It's a fairy tale retelling - Sleeping Beauty basically but minus the fairies and plus some Russian folk figures. Really really well done. Involves time travel.
The Sevenwaters quartet by Juliet Marillier. Not amazing, but pretty darn good. Another fairy tale retelling, this time the one with the seven swan brothers (Anderson, I think) but it spans several generations and it's set in pre-Christian England.
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series is good too - the first one is Furies of Calderon.
The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula Guin. Not one of my all-time favs, but pretty good.
The Mists of Avalon by Marian Zimmer-Bradley. A "classic" - the mythology is interesting. I got tired of it by page 900ish, but it's a good read other than being far too long. There's a movie that's pretty good.
So You Want To Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. I've only read the first in the series, and it was a long time ago, but it was pretty cool. Geared toward younger readers.
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville (yes, the My Teacher Is An Alien guy). Young audience, very short read, but very good. I reread it recently. It's part of a series, but they're all stand-alone books. This is the best of the ones I've read.
The Unicorn Chronicles, also by Bruce Coville. Unicorns, dragons, Delvers, Hunters, the Dimblethum, the Squijm, Players, magic portals to Luster... Interested yet? :)
If you haven't read Pratchett's Small Gods, you really should. Religious parody is the best. ;)
I'm going to assume you've read Ella Enchanted....
If you don't mind some steamy, trashy bits, the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charline Harris are interesting. Fantasy murder mystery stuff. Kinda graphic, but not NEARLY so bad as the HBO tv show.
Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson is hilarious!!! It's in the trashy section as well, but it's mostly just one long stream of fantastic sarcasm. It's great.
My guilty pleasure is Tamora Pierce's Tortall books. They're basically feel-good feminism books for teens, but I really enjoy them, especially the Immortals quartet. The first quartet, though, is called the Song of the Lioness and it starts with Alanna: The First Adventure (they were so clever in the 80s...) Each heroine is truly different, which I like, because usually authors have a favorite kind of character and they stick with that one - not so with Pierce. Also, although the main characters change, the whole series spans a couple generations, and you get to see the old characters again in later books. Pierce also writes the Circle book, which are set in a different world entirely. They're not as good, in my opinion, but they're still fun. More elemental magic, less adventure. It's whatever you like.
Hopefully that list will keep you a little busier! :P
hmm.. a few that come to mind as having stayed in my mind from over the years.
ReplyDeleteWilla Cather. I just like her. I especially like her descriptions of place like the prairies and cliff dweller houses. I have a dance friend who specializes in Cather at a private college here in Minnesota.
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels. I was seriously obsessed with these for awhile. Like mapping out genealogy obsessed. They were not published in chronological order and the stories are all over the place in mood, time, and characters. Did you know she set Tolkien poems to music?
American Gods. If you like Gaiman, you have to read this because it has the most freaky place I've ever been to: House on the Rock.
The Mabinogian series by Evangeline Walton.
The Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. I've read a few other books by her I enjoyed, as well.
I've always enjoyed Kate Wilhelm. She writes over a range of genres. I remember laughing all the way through Oh Susannah. The fantasy novels that I remember reading by here were Juniper Time and Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.
I always enjoy Charles DeLint's fantasy but I can't recommend a particular book.
I think everyone should read Ray Bradbury. Dandelion Wine is a good summer read.
Maybe I'll end with three children's books: The Princess and the Goblins by George MacDonald. Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. And The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
HEY! I have a TON of books you can borrow, I'm only a phone call away. Some of my favorites already mentioned are His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman and the first book by Cassandra Clare (haven't finished the series), also the Dragonriders of Pern. Bless Me, Ultima is a great book too, and I love the So You Want To Be A Wizard series and Unicorn Chronicles. If you help me unpack, you can borrow all of these. :)
ReplyDeleteSome other recommendations: T.H. White's Once and Future King - if you read up on the celtic mythology book I gave you you'll find a lot of referenes. I also love anything by Holly Black, especially her Modern Faerie Tale series, although I also like the Spiderwick Chronicles (the movie - not so much). I also love anthologies by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, like Green Man and Faerie Circle. If you can, also read Howl's Moving Castle. There are so many others, Charles De Lint is a good author, as is Jane Yolen, Tamora Pierce, and Molly Harper (I enjoy her Nice Girls Don't series, a light, sassy, slightly comedic vampire tale). I could go on and on, come to my house and pick some out!
If you like fantasy, read East by Edith Pattou. It is more like a fairy tale than a typical fantasy story, but I love it.
ReplyDeleteMore in the fantasy vein:
The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) - you might have read this already, but it's a super fun and fast read.
Graceling (Kristin Cashore) - I haven't read this in a while, but I remember it being nicely written and a very engaging plot. And the world Cashore creates is wonderful.
Mk now I'm going to give you some of my favorite books in general.
Persuasion (Jane Austen) - I'm a pretty intense Jane-ite, and this is my favorite one of hers, so if you haven't read it, READ IT. So good.
Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis) - So I kind of am also obsessed with C.S. Lewis. This is his retelling of the Psyche and Cupid myth and it is SO PRETTY! It makes me oh so happy.
Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K. Jerome) - This is laugh-out-loud funny British wit about three men who take a boat trip on the Thames in the late 1800s. Sounds weird, but is hilarious.
The Nine Tailors (Dorothy Sayers) - Dorothy Sayers writes extremely well-crafted murder mysteries (and I also have a giant crush on the "detective", Lord Peter). She was uber smart and hung out in the same crowd Lewis and Tolkien did.
If you need more, I'm more than happy to give you lots and lots and lots, seeing as I read compulsively. :)
I loved "A Wrinkle in Time" and loved it. Then I discovered "A Severed Wasp", a completely different adult novel. Madeleine L'Engle whas written some wonderful books one religion. How perfect for you.
ReplyDelete