
I have a hard time finding new books that I like. I like fantasy, humor, and a bit of Si-Fi. I do not like romance, but if it is a amount small enough to ignore then I am fine. I am also looking for more middle school age books. Here are some of my favorites:
Artemis Fowl and the rest of the books in the series
Maximum RideScience FairFablehavenThe Amulet of Samarkand and the rest in the trilogy
Skullduggery Pleasant
If you know of any books I might like I would really appreciate you posting them here.
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Nov 4, 2009, 4:56pm.
I'd recommend the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which starts with
The Lightning Thief.
You might also try the Attolia series, starting with
The Thief.
If I think of more, I will post them here.
I recommend
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. One of the first works of sf/f I ever read.
One series I would recommend is John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series, beginning with
The Ruins of Gorlan. This is an excellent fantasy/adventure series with some historical leanings to it. The fifth book was released in the US this past November, and the sixth book should be coming out this August.
I also recommend Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy, consisting of
Sabriel,
Lirael, and
Abhorsen.
James Dashner's
The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters is a wonderful middle-grade fantasy.
I second the recommendations for the Percy Jackson novels,
The Magic Thief, Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia series, and
The Dark is Rising.
If you are interested in Arthurian legend, you might want to look into books by T.A. Barron, particularly
The Lost Years of Merlin. I've really enjoyed everything of his that I've read.
Another Arthurian series you might look in to is
The Squire's Tales by Gerald Morris -- lots of humor in those.
Another fantasy series you might also look at is the Keepers of the Kingdom series by Garth Nix, starting with
Mister Monday.
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones (and the rest of the Chrestomanci series)
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (and the sequels)
Actually, all and any of Diana Wynne Jones' books. She writes some sci-fi, too.
Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan
Midnighters (series) by Scott Westerfeld
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Mar 6, 2009, 1:19pm.
Another series I loved was the Chronicles of Prydain by
Lloyd Alexander. The first book in the series is
The Book of Three. They're fantasy, with great characters.
I am not really interested in Athurian legend
I have read one of Tamora Pierce's books. Ilooked at the rest but they sounded like they had a lot of romance. Do they?
#13: pwaites, they do have romance in them, but I wouldn't say the romance is the focus of the stories. She also has other series like The Circle of Magic which don't have romance at all, I believe, although I didn't think they were as good as The Song of the Lioness and Immortals Quartets.
13/14: the
Circle of Magic books are pretty young, I think, so not much romance in those. I also did not like them as much as the Lioness/Immortals books. Pierce also wrote
Trickster's Queen and its companion.
Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians
Hi,
A very good series is Isobel Carmody's Obernewtyn series with the first book being Obernewtyn.
Cheers
I have read some of Terry Pratchett's books. They are really good! I loved
The Alchemyst! I have read the second in the series and cannot wait for the third.
Frindle and the
Landry News where also good. I didn't like the Golden Compass. It was to boring! My sister really wants to read Alcatraz vs Evil Librarians and I will look into it. There are a lot of books here and I will put some of them on my list to read.
Am a huge fan of the Artemis Fowl and The Amulet of Samarkand series, and am really enjoying the Fablehaven series which I recently got into as well so my recommendations are based on those since I've not read the other three you mentioned.
FAIRYTALES WITH A TWIST
The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley
~ Please don't be put off by the fact that I put fairytales. This series is a lot of fun and gets better with each one. The author's taken popular fairytale characters and placed them into a town which they can't escape from. The Sisters Grimm are two sisters who are descendants of the Brothers Grimm and they, along with their eccentric grandmother, are detectives, solving mysteries to do with these fairytale characters. Each book introduces a few new characters and it's fun figuring out who's who. My fave character of all is Puck who's hilarious and will have you laughing out loud the way the djinn in The Amulet of Samarkand, and the centaur and dwarf in Artemis Fowl probably do. I love the same kind of humor and Puck has me in stitches. The first book is good, but the second is better and the third is even better. With each one, Puck gets even funnier. Am on the fifth right now and another character in it (who I won't mention so I don't ruin the surprise) is hilarious as well.
FANTASY
The Divide by
Elizabeth KayThe Alchemist's Cat by
Robin Jarvis – series, but this is the only book with human characters
Endymion Spring by
Matthew SkeltonNightmare Academy by
Dean LoreyFaerie Wars by
Herbie BrennanThe Goblin Wood by Hilari Bell
Ingo by
Helen DunmoreChildren of the Lamp by P.B. Kerr – about twins (boy and girl) who find out their djinns. Loved the first one, but in the second book, the author pointed out the obvious four times which doubts reader intelligence so I've yet to pick up the third. The first one was really good though.
If you enjoy The Alchemist's Cat, book one of Deptford Histories – and this is confusing – the second in the series is not the second in Deptford Histories as you might imagine. It's the first in the Deptford Mice series, which is The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis. It goes book one in each series, then book two in each series, then book three in each series, starting with Deptford Histories books each time. See what I mean about confusing? I highly recommend that you DON'T read The Oaken Throne though, which is book two of Deptford Histories (which is how I found out I'd read it in the wrong order – coz I read that second). The ending was the worst I'd ever read (absolutely pointless) and bothered me for weeks. I can't recommend The Alchemist's Cat highly enough though. It's brilliant!
FANTASY/SCI-FI
The Merchant of Death by
D. J. MacHale – so good I'm eagerly awaiting book 10, the final book in the series. It mentions Arthurian in the first description on LT, but that's only in relation to the name Pendragon. It has nothing to do with Arthurian legends other than that. It's non-stop action that will have you eagerly turning the pages and is told in the first person so you feel like you're in the story yourself.
BOOKS WITH DRAGONS
The Hobbit by
J.R.R. TolkienEragon by
Christopher PaoliniHis Majesty's Dragon by
Naomi Novik, which is called
Temeraire in the U.K. – the author is a member of Library Thing as well
OTHER – highly recommended
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick – this book is huge, but two thirds of it are pictures so you only read the other third. The idea for it is so original. Have you ever seen a Charlie Chaplin movie or a similar black and white movie with no sound? Imagine that. The camera rolls and words appear on the screen (which you read on pages with words). It then flits to pictures, which tell part of the story as well so you're alternating between the two. This was the only way to portray a movie prior to the invention of sound and it's portrayed extraordinarily well in The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Such an incredible idea. It was my fave children's book last year, not just because of the original concept, but also because the story in itself is so original. It tells the tale of a boy who lives in a train station behind its walls. His parents have been killed so he's living there with his uncle. His uncle's job is to wind the clocks throughout the station, which he winds from behind the walls. One day the uncle goes missing and the boy takes over his job. His pastime, however, relates to an invention, a very clever one that I won't reveal as it will spoil it. The author/illustrator also illustrated Frindle and Landry News by the way.
The Capture by
Kathryn Lasky – my fave book series for children that I read last year. I thought it would be a cutesy story about animals, and it is in the very beginning, but quickly became a story about strength of character and perseverance as two owls try to escape the clutches of an evil society that reminded me somewhat of World War II.
-- MY TAGS --
If you click on
http://www.librarything.com/tags/Hermee, it will take you to my tags. If you look up mythical, you'll see I have tags for lots of mythical creatures, such as "mythical – fairies" and "mythical – werewolves" so if you read a good book about a particular type and are looking for more, you may find some you like there.
Hope you enjoy many of these. If you're looking for other types, you might see them among my tags. :)
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Mar 6, 2009, 10:27am.
21) I loved
the Sisters Grimm! I have read all of them. I think the next one comes out in May. I liked the whole
Divide trilogy except the last book. I just do not like ending. I also like all the Pendragon books. I am on the third. I hated
the Hobbit! It was the way it was written. It seemed to flowery.
Eragon was excellent! I have read all the books in the series so far and I really liked the chapters in Brisinger, which were told from Saphira's point of view. I have not read
his Majesty's Dragon, but it is on my list of books to read. I have read
The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I have also read
the Capture. A lot of people I knew liked it so I thought I would try it out. Thanks for all the recommendations! I cannot wait to read some of these!
22)
Inkheart was OK. I liked
Dragon Rider better. I read the first books in the
Dark is Rising series but got borad and stopped reading the series.
The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by
Libba Bray is fantastic. It's a fantasy trilogy but it is not si-fi. It does have a little bit of romance but that is not the main focus of the book. Anyway, the book takes place in the late 1800s at a girls boarding school in England. The main character is a 16 year old girl. It involves mythical creatures and is basically a story of good vs. evil. It can be incredibly funny at times. It can get very sarcastic. There were times when I burst out laughing while reading it. Anywho, it's a great story.
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Maio 10, 2009, 5:47pm.
We have a lot of books in common then. Started the Mysterious Benedict Society, but had to return it the library (darn it) so need to reorder that one. What I read was really gripping.
Once Upon a Marigold is on my must reads list as well. Did you know there's a sequel? It's called
Twice Upon a Marigold. It's in paperback now so your library should have it.
Jean Ferris has written quite a lot of books. My fave site for looking up books by author is
www.fantasticfiction.co.uk coz you can see the whole bunch then. Library Thing is good for that too only it depends on who's added them on here. Anyhoo, all of Jean Ferris' are here if you'd like to check them out:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/jean...Finished
The Good Thief by
Hannah Tinti this weekend and give it five stars. It's amazing. Although it's written for adults, it's told in a child's perspective so is good for all ages really though it's quite sinister in parts. Those parts are short though. The description is best at this link:
http://www.hannahtinti.com/goodthief.htm.... Just scroll down to the "About This Book" section. It's got tons of wonderful reviews there as well and shows the book awards that the author's won. It's my fave book this year. It's different to the types you mentioned, but I thought you might like to check it out since it's that good.
As you love The Sisters Grimm series, perhaps you'd like to check out my Fairytales With a Twist tag:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Herm.... Have a tag for Fairytales Retold as well if you're interested.
By the way, are you a boy or girl? It would help with recommendations.
Dealing with Dragons from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It turns into a romance after that book, bt the first one is amazing!
The
Young Wizards series by Diane Duane are
fabulous, and there are eight of them so far, so if you get into them, there's a lot to keep you occupied.
Anything by Terry Pratchett is good. I started reading his books when I was in high school and still love them!
I strongly suggest you check out
The Ranger's Apprentice series by
John Flanagan. The first book is called
The Ruins of Gorlan and you really need to read book one before you read the others. Book one is probably one of my favourite books of all time and I read a LOT of YA books! I think the series is absolutely fantastic, and I haven't recommended it to anyone who didn't like it. You do need to be a decent reader to enjoy it however, so I usually don't recommend it to younger boys.
I am not a teen, but I have loved most of the books you've mentioned, so I feel qualified to respond. You've gotten a lot of good suggestions from previous posters, by the way. I would add:
The Last Apprentice series by
Joseph Delaney (which I found much more enjoyable than the similarly titled
Ranger's Apprentice series...
The
Leven Thumps series by Obert Skye
The Gideon Trilogy by
Linda Buckley-ArcherThe
Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer (about a girl pirate - more historical fiction than fantasy, maybe).
100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
The Chronicles of Chaos series by John C. Wright
I have to add
Abarat by Clive Barker, a fantastic series about a girl who goes to a different world full of weird and wonderful creatures and is pursued by an evil man. It's the first of four intended books - books one and two are out, three is supposed to be coming out soon!
There are an awful lot already listed, quite a number of which I'm familiar with, but one that I notice hasn't come up yet is Ysabeau Wilce's
Flora Segunda series. I guess you might say there's some romance, but it's not really a "romance" series in any way, and it's quite off-beat with a bit of humor. It's fantasy, not sci-fi.
One caution. The first volume was decent enough but really wasn't anything to write home about. In fact, I was a bit put off by its off-beat slang and the rather unusual "alternate history" use of Aztecs. You'll have to read the first volume (
Flora Segunda), though, to get the background you'll need for the second volume (
Flora's Dare). Don't be put off by the first volume. Read it, be patient, and then go on to
Flora's Dare, which is absolutely out of this world and ties together some of the threads that started in
Flora Segunda.
Try The Light of the Oracle by Victoria Hanley, it was really good as well as
The singer of all songs by Kate Constable
Well, my brother reads almost the same books as you do, so I could recommend some of his favourites:
-
Evil Genius and
Genius Squad by Catherine Jinks
- Land of Elyon by Patrick Carman
-
Children of the Lamp by P. B. Kerr
-
The Demonata by Darren Shan
- Cirque de Freak by Darren Shan
-
Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan
Hope you'll like some of them and have a great fun reading them ^^
My daughter says try Trudi Canavan, Marianne Curley (fantasy with some romance, but male readers have enjoyed it too), Kenneth Oppel and Karen Miller. And of course, Lord of the Rings.... I like Percy Jackson too.
Have a look for the books by British author
Alan Garner.
Some more suggestions:
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. It's the first of three books. We can't keep these books on the shelves at our library. Also, The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede; it's a brand new book out that is supposed to be a mixture of
Harry Potter and
Little House on the Prairie. Another series you may enjoy is
The Vampirates by Justin Sompers. The first book in the series is
Demons of the Ocean. This is another series that won't stay on the shelves.
I am almost at the end of City of Bones by
Cassandra Clare and it's excellent, I will get through the next in a matter of days but the third book isn't out until sometime over the summer.
I just read
The Ruby Key and really enjoyed it -- not too much romance, and an interesting fantasy world. It sounds like something you might be interested in.
The third book City of Glass is already out and in bookstores. I am currently reading the second one and can't wait to read the third
A wee boast from the other side of the world - City of glass was released in NZ March 24th - bought it, read it the same day. Yahoo for books being released on the same day everywhere, as we get it first!
the UK edition isn't out until July, just check amazon - what a pain, may have to bribe a lovely american relative to post me a copy NOW!
I would suggest the Sabriel series from Garth Nix. His Keys to the Kingdom series is also a good one for young adults.
I would also suggest anything about Tamora Pierce. Most of them don't have too much romance, although there is some. Also I think that you might like the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield. The four books in the series are more Sci-Fi-ish. Also The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was really good. I hope you enjoy any books that you read.
> 51 Hooray! I was just thinking today that I should cross-post and get some YA folk to help us out!
I second
A Wrinkle In Time,
The Dark is Rising series which actually starts with
Over Sea, Under Stone,
Howl's Moving Castle, and
Ingo. I LOVE Howl's Moving Castle. It is so well written and it is one of the few books I have re-read again and again. The others being The dark is rising series,
Warriors Saga, Twilight, and Harry Potter.
You could also try
Eragon,
Wicked Lovely,
The Prydain Chronicles or
The Golden CompassMensagem editada pelo seu autor, Maio 7, 2009, 6:45pm.
Yes! They are SUCH good books!
Enjoy it! :D
Have to say that the second book in the series, the eponymous
The Dark Is Rising, is one of my "perfect" stories. Those are the ones, and they are few in number, when I just sigh with regret and repletion when I turn the last page and think, "Now THAT is a story!"
ibetonalice- Have you read any of the Discworld series by
Terry Pratchett? They are amazing. I started reading them a couple of years ago when I was 16.
Esta mensagem foi removida pelo seu autor.
> 58 I know exactly what you mean. I feel the same way about
The Golden Compass but really nothing else.
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Maio 9, 2009, 2:19pm.
> 59
Oh yes - the Discworld books are so funny, even if you aren't British and miss some of the satire. My favourite is
Soul Music where Death resigns and someone else has to do his job. Ha ha.
Agree re
The Dark is Rising. What a good book!
Another good one by
Susan Cooper, a standalone that isn't part of this series, is
King of Shadows, a time travel book involving a present day production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and one in Shakespeare's time, with the main character Nat working closely with Shakespeare.
Eon: The Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman
Graceling by Cashore
I know absolutely nothing about The Dark Is Rising, except that it's an awesome track by Mercury Rev on their All Is Dream album.
http://terraem.com/Book Summary:
Fourteen year-old Menaha Ohlend has never quite felt as if she fit in. She spends most of her time alone trying to ignore the strange noises and voices she often hears inside her head. After winning a sponsored essay contest, Menaha can hardly believe her luck as the grand prize is a trip to Camp Squamish, a place she has dreamt of going her entire life. Yet, Camp Squamish will have to wait, for Menaha will soon enter a world beyond her wildest imagination. The van waiting in the parking lot will not be taking her to summer camp, but will instead be the first step on a journey to Terraem, eight light years away, where she was not only born, but where her father, someone she has not seen for years, has been living all her life. With the help of her new Terraemi friends Sananda and Soter, will soon learn to grow and understand her natural gifts, both as a young Terraemi put onto Earth for a specific purpose, and as a normal teenage girl growing up in North America.
Just recently published, you might want to try Ellen Jensen Abbott 's
Watersmeet. Although sometimes the characters' motivations change awfully quickly, and although the ending is a little bit contrived, it's takes an interesting look at issues of racism in a fantasy setting.
My possibly Number One book of 2008 was Philip Reeve's
Here Lies Arthur, which I see shows up in the touchstone listing to the right, but I don't find it actually mentioned in a post. It's a very interesting take on the Arthurian legend, told from the perspective of a young girl whose village has been burned and whose family has been murdered by a bandit gang, and there are also some interesting transgender twists involved. I'll say no more to avoid SPOILER.
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Jul 20, 2009, 4:59pm.
The singer of all songs by Kate Constable along with the waterless sea and the tenth power
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The
Redwall series is amazing and you don't have to read them in any certain order.
Just finished reading
Libyrinth by Pearl North and I'd highly recommend it. (That's the correct spelling, BTW. It's a word play on "library" and "labyrinth.")
I found
Redwall kind of boring.
I loved the
Ruby Key!
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Ago 5, 2009, 10:37am.
Everyone knows about
Orson Scott Card's Ender series but another of his series is in the fantasy genre with alternate history thrown in. The Alvin Maker series, starting with
Seventh Son (1987) was reviewed very well and is worth searching for.
Re: Redwall
I suggest you give the series another chance, but start with a different book.
Redwall,
Mossflower, and
Mattimeo were the first three Redwall novels Brian Jacques wrote, and the writing and pacing are rather rough. He was, stylistically speaking, a young author at that point, and it shows in the writing. His style starts settling in
Mariel of Redwall, and by the time he wrote
Martin the Warrior things were pretty polished.
So I'm seconding Calwise's suggestion of
Martin the Warrior as a good starting point.
Mariel of Redwall is quite good as well, and her story is continued in
The Bellmaker (one of the few points in the series where paying attention to chronology is rather important).
there is a series by Madeline L'Engle called a wrinkle in time.
the books in the series are:
-A Wrinkle in Time
-A Wind in the Door
-A Swiftly Tilting Planet
-Many Waters
-An Acceptable Time
i LOVE those books!!
they are so good!
hope u can get ur hands on them!
How about this?
The Green Bronze Mirror By Lynne Ellison
Karen is playing on the beach when she finds an ancient mirror buried in the sand. She looks into it, and is transported back in time to the Roman empire. Finding herself a slave, she faces many hair-raising adventures in her struggle to return to her own time.
try the Warlocks of Talverdin series by K.V. Johansen. Bk 1 is Nightwalker.
A Great and Terrible Beauty is my favorite!
City of Bones - Clare
Uglies - Pretties - Specials - Extras - Westerfeld
Poison Study - Magic Study- Fire Study - Snyder
Storm Glass - Sea Glass - Snyder
GREAT BOOKS!
Also think about Inkheart
Mensagem editada pelo seu autor, Nov 13, 2009, 2:43pm.
My favorite Orson Scott Card series is The Homecoming Series.
I love his futuristic SCI-Fi - Folk on the Fringe
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ya twilight series is really good
cullen21, did you read the description of the books I like? Did you see where I said 'I do not like romance'? It is largely referring to twilight.
Even though there is a love triangle in "The Mortal Instruments" series, you could probably stand it, because the main character, Jace, is a terribly fun bad ass, with an unsentimental heart, but a heart non the less. So yeah, just check out "The Mortal Instruments" xxoo
I agree with 30. The 9th book is coming out in 2010. I started reading
Diane Duane books in high school, continued through college, and am still reading them as an adult. They follow 2 teenagers (after book 3, there are 3 main characters) as they perform magic in the hope of fighting of the Lone One and slowing down entropy. I HIGHLY recommend this author/series!
I have read all of her books to. :) I didn't know when the new book was coming out though. Thanks for telling me.
Anne McCaffrey's dragon books are wonderful. They are about a world in which dragons and their riders fight against dangerous threads that fall from a nearby star. The series for middle schoolers is called the Harper Hall Trilogy, and the first one is
Dragonsong. They are particularly enjoyable if you are also into music. McCaffrey has many more titles that would be good for older teens and adults.
I tried them. I couldn't get past the first chapter.
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