Book Suggestions

Post by **Eaven Braenwood** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 1:09 am

Anything by Isabel Allende. She has an amazing ability to blend magic and reality and to bring the story of a nation or a people and bring it down to the level of family.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. This book is absolutely heartbreaking, but it is amazingly well written. The writing is almost poetic, and beautifully captures the loss of childhood innocence seen in story.

Eaven

Post by **Sophronia Bradenton** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:34 am

I second James's reccomendation of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series...it's amazing, it gets so in depth and she has this whole awesome history behind it. I've been reading it for years and I still wait for every new one to come out. The most recent, Dragonsblood, was pretty good I thought.

I also reccomend Terry Pratchett's Discworld to anyone who loves humour...these books will have you cracking up so much /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> They're brilliant.

Post by **Ben Ackerman** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 4:16 am

Here are two of my favorite books. They are really good!

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen ---> This book is about this girl named Hannah Stern. She doesn't really care about her family's Jewish heritage until she experiences the most bizzare thrill ever. While at her family's Jewish party, she finds herself back in the time of concentration camps and she relives what the Jewish people went through in the 1940's.

Lord of The Flies by William Golding ---> This book is about these small British boys that are on an airplane when it crashes on a deserted island. They must fend for themselves but some of the boys turn barberic and things get really rough.

These books are awesome! I had to read them both in school and I thought I'd hate them but it turns out I'm obsessed with them (I'm more obsessed with the Harry Potter books though lol) /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Oh and like Tia Sem mentioned above /cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" /> ...

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

That's another awesome book I had to read for school!

Post by **Sonne Lindemann** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:15 pm

I have to say Terry Brooks's Shannara series. I've read several of that series and if you like Tolkien you'll like that one as well. And eveyrone who hasn't read Eragon should do so soon (before the movie's out, because they're filming it). That one's the best book after the HP ones. Oh, and I can't leave out Dan Brown, I've read both Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons and they were great!

Post by **Etheria Angel** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:43 pm

It's an older series, but for anyone who likes Arthurian based stuff; my personal recommendation is:

The Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart. They start with the very early years of Merlin and go straight through Mordred's betrayal of Arthur. Excellent series!!

Another good series is :
The Avalon Series by Marion Zimmer Bradly. Another older series; but well worth the read.

Post by **Adelaide Carson** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:12 pm

Oh boy...here are some suggestions:

-Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
-Inkheart, The Theif Lord, and Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
-Song of the Lioness (series of 4 books), The Immortals (series of 4 books), Protector of the Small (series of 4 books), Trickster's Choice, and Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce
-The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
-Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
-Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
-The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Yeah, these are some of my favorites. /happy.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="^_^" border="0" alt="happy.gif" />

Post by **Christine McTague** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:07 pm

The New Jedi Order series of Star Wars if you're into Star Wars anyway...
Anything by Douglas Adams
Anything by Mercedes Lackey
Less than Human by Maxine McArthur. I wasn't that interested in the story, but I loved the ideas that she toyed with.
Druids by Morgan Llywelyn. Its fiction, but seems to be mostly historically accurate as well.
Spirits in the Wires by Charles de Lint. This seems to be in the middle of a much larger body of work but I don't know where it starts. Pick up this book though. Its really awesome even if you end up confused in the beginning.
And the classics I recommend:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

Post by **Kimri Elchi** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:55 pm

I have been checking out a lot of books this summer so far and I have read some really good ones.

The first set that comes to mind is Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. After reading the first one I simply had to read the other three, it is a great read about a young genius who discovers a secret fairy world, but the fairies are clearly written by a man author as they pack a punch and have a whole law and recon squad. It is action packed and really a good read.

Another good book I found was Feed by MT Anderson. It is futuristic and quite interesting. If you like sci-fi, 1984 type books, then you will like Feed.

Also, the Dresden Files that Angelus reccomended is an excellent set of books. I highly reccomend them if you are looking for something edgy and exciting.

Post by **Prof. Ruben Orion** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:54 pm

I recommend:
Imprimatur - Monaldi & Sorti This is one of the best books I've ever read.
The Sevenwaters Trilogy - Juliet Marillier
Letters de Mon Moulin - Alphonse Daudet

(I'm currently reading Wolfskin - Juliet Marillier and it seems decent too)

Post by **Ruby Slipper** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:17 pm

Everyone here definitely needs to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, both of which are reaaaaally great books.

Post by **Psylocke Furey** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 12:25 pm

I love "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger, "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and anything by Orson Scott Card (I ESPECIALLY recommend "Ender's Game.")

Post by **Steph Rowe** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:30 am

I'd recommend the Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden to anyone who wants to read something a bit different. They are about a group of teenagers whose country is invaded while they are camping in the bush. The books get a little bit gruesome at some points, so be warned, but they deal with teenage issues and feelings really well.

I'd also recommend The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, anything by Diana Wynne Jones, Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman, and The Bad Seed by William March. And I'll leave it at that, although I could probably go on forever.

Post by **Elandra Maerdyn** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 4:15 pm

I would recommend many a book! The more the merrier I always say...as do many others but that's beside the point ^.^ All of these novels, no matter how boring or odd they sound, are amazing by the way.

Alicia - Alicia Appleman (a true story of a young girl during the war)

On Wings of a Dragon - Cora Taylor (two stories that weave together, one about a female taken into servitude by the crown and another about a girl locked in a tower who is trying to recall her past with the help of a certain scaly companion)

The Belgariad - David Eddings (a five book series about a farmhand named Garion who is destined to defeat the dark plague upon the land: too difficult to give justice in an explination! This is my favorite ^.^)

The Songs of the Lioness Quartet - Tamora Pierce (a four book series about a young girl who trains to become a knight by disguising herself as her twin brother)

Black Jewels Trilogy - Anne Bishop (WARNING: this is a series for older teens, most likely fifteen/sixteen and up due to violence and sexual scenes. It is simply wonderful though!)

Post by **Asteria Moonglow** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 4:52 pm

Personally, I think David Eggers is brilliant! I have never been a fan of 'memiors', but I happened to see this young, good looking guy on BookTV once and so I lingered on the channel to "watch" and once he started talking, I decided I had to get the book.

The book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, is phenominal. He's not your typical writer though. He's got a great but offbeat sense of humor that you see throughout the book. I never read the forward or introduction or even the cover page to any book, but as soon as I opened AHWSG, I started laughing. The whole preface to the book is nothing but random stories, jokes, references to the book, diagrams...there's even a spread sheet of how much it cost to produce the book and how much David actually made off the book...complete with a random diagram of a stapler! The book itself is not so funny though, considering it's his memiors and all, but still a brilliant book.

He also released a second book, this one fiction, entitles You Shall Know Our Velocity. It's a GREAT story about a couplw of friends who for some reason have to go around the world in a week and give away $32,000...sounds a little offbeat, but that's David Eggers for ya.

Post by **Hazel Goldenrod** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 8:09 pm

One good series is the Sevenwaters Trilogy. I'm only about halfway through the first book (Daughter of the Forest) but I absolutely love it! They're in the fantasy genre, but they're very solidly based in Celtic mythology and history.

Post by **Seren Edwards** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:34 pm

I love anything that will either put me on the edge of my seat or send me off to another world. I love escapism.
Also like any books relating to movies or programmes I watch such as Star wars and Charmed.

Shaun Hutson is very good at scaring me but his writing isn't all about the scream its the back plot that I love. There is never just a mad dog or a psycho its always something that has a cause which is man made. I never thought I would be thinking of environmental issues whilst reading a horror story. Though I do have to say Shaun's work is extremely gory and I was put of my midnight snacks more than once.

Post by **Riona Carcaroth** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:48 pm

I do read a lot and I spent a lot of money on books. Since I like reading recommendations a lot, I don't want to withhold mine.

"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel - already suggested above
"The Fairy-Tales of the Brothers Grimm" collected by the brothers Grimm - This might seem like a suggestion for children but I very much enjoy reading especially the unknown fairy-tales every once in a while.
"His Dark Materials" Triology by Philip Pulmann - Great story
"The Nautical Chart" by Arturo PÃ©rez-Reverte
"Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" by Dai Sijie
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown

Riona

Post by **Koharu Kun** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 10:25 pm

I don't know if you can find this at a Library, but the manga Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa is exellent. It's my favorite series of all time, both as a manga and anime.

It's about two young brothers who are alchemists. When they were 10 and 11 years old, they attempted to revive their dead mother through alchemy, using a forbiddin act called human transmutation. Instead of bringing her back, the older brother lost his left leg, and the younger his entire body. Sacrificing his right arm, the older bound his brother's soul to a nearby suit of armor. Now, a year later, they're on a quest to find the legendary Philosopher's stone, an alchemic ampliphier, and the only thing that can restore their bodies.

Post by **Brittney Behr** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 6:16 pm

yo!does anyone like the artemis fowl books?they are like up there with harry potter! /happy.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="^_^" border="0" alt="happy.gif" /> i also suggest lord of the rings trilogy and the hobbit by tolkien! /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> /cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />

Post by **Gemma Formbey** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 4:00 pm

Stargirl- its a really emotional story, not really long though. Its about 180 pages. Its written by Jerry Spinelli. I'm really hooked into the bok, even after I finished reading it again and again. Its about a boy who meets a girl named Stargirl, and Stargirl is really different and special, and they like each other. But almost their entire school hates Stargirl, so they both get shunned, and the boy becoems really confused and doesnt know what to do. Its really good story, its sad though. I bought it from Barnes and Nobles.