in mazes lost

So it turns out that I really like a lot of books. Surprise! And I really want one place I can direct people with similar tastes to books that I am willing to reread (many, many times, some of them). Because when people ask for recommendations I am having a really hard time limiting myself. This way they can look through and see which ones interest them.

(Obviously I like more books than I'm listing here. I'm writing this list as if I were recommending books to myself, to read again. Because I do that. If you want different recommendations, look at my booklists and ask me about the titles if you're interested.)

Also, your local library is your friend. We own hardly any of these books.

Authors

Instead of listing all the books by an author I like, I thought it might be more useful to list the authors that have multiple books, and list the standouts from there. We'll see how that goes.


Diana Wynne Jones
Dalemark Quartet: I might be the only one that really likes this series, but I really like it.
Chronicles of Chrestomanci: They are fun.
Also most other things she wrote.

Elizabeth C. Bunce
Haven't reread any of her work yet, but I keep meaning to put "A Curse Dark as Gold" on my reread list.

Hilari Bell
Shield, Sword, and Crown series: For younger readers (or young at heart? ugh). I think they're YA.
Knight and Rogue series: Definitely YA. I can't remember too much about these except I enjoyed them.
Fall of a Kingdom series: If you're into a little more of the epic, these books are long.

Jacqueline Winspear
Maisie Dobbs is the first in the series. They're mysteries. Do you like mysteries?

Janette Rallison
My Unfair Godmother
Just One Wish
My Double Life
(the other books are okay too. I just mostly like these.)

Jessica Day George
I like the princess books best, but everything she writes is good.

Juliet Marillier
Sevenwaters series...es: I think she has like 4 trilogies out now? As the generations go the stories branch out. They are grownup books but I don't recall anything bad.
Wildwood Dancing: YA that I enjoyed. It's yet another 12 Dancing Princesses remake but that doesn't make it bad.

J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter series: just in case.

Megan Whalen Turner
The Thief: the first one. You have to read it first. Lots of people don't like it as much as the rest of the series, but you really ought to start with it anyway.

Mercedes Lackey
Collegium Chronicles: while I still haven't read the first one in this series, I have enjoyed the rest a lot.
Five Hundred Kingdoms: My favorite is probably "Sleeping Beauty". Some of them are kind of grown up, in the way that you skip a few pages.

Robin McKinley
Spindle's End
Rose Daughter
The Blue Sword
(and the others are good too. I'm just trying to remember the "standouts" I said I was doing)

Shannon Hale
Everything is good, but I especially recommend Princess Academy (+ sequel).

Sharon Shinn
The Safe-Keeper's Secret series: Bonus, it's YA, so you don't have to worry about adult material. I remember really liking them.
The Archangel series: These are first and foremost romances against the backdrop of a fantasy planet. At least, that's how I feel about them. Since they're adult you may have to skip a few pages (if you're like me).
Troubled Waters: A stand-alone novel that I loved.

Terry Pratchett
I think the Discworld is really fun. Tiffany Aching is good. I also enjoyed Dodger when I read it recently.

Wendelin van Draanen
Sammy Keyes series: If you have daughters you ought to read this and see if you want your daughters to read it. It's a mystery series and she's in 7th grade and I've really enjoyed them.
read other books by her too, it's cool

Books

And sometimes I just have one book to put on a list (so far. I don't know, I could probably organize some of these in the other category).

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (cyborg Cinderella!)

Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey (safely YA and I think good? Once upon a time I can only remember I liked it)

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis (Fun times with fractured fairy tales!)

Entwined by Heather Dixon (I think it's also 12 Dancing Princesses it's been a while but it was good)

Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (fabulous)

Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt (sometimes I read not fantasy, sometimes I read middle-school boy)

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine (sometimes I read historical fiction)

The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal (I think the juxtaposition of these two is funny. They might even tell the same story I don't remember.)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato-Peel Pie Society (just in case!)

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (This is a story about normal girls living a normal life! That's all it is! It's good!)

The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell (This book was so refreshing when I read it. Well-written, etc. Fairy tale retelling but I'm not quite sure which one?)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (Loved it!)

The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley (this is a series! why is it here? anyway it's good I guess)

Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (What is: a book I don't remember at all except that it was pretty good probably?)

THERE IS NO WAY THIS LIST WILL EVER BE COMPLETE EVER WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP WRITING BOOKS

ALSO WHAT CRITERIA DID I EVEN USE TO CHOOSE WHAT I PUT ON MY LIST THIS IS NOT SCIENTIFIC OR ACCURATE it is a mess

So, for those of you looking for book recommendations, enjoy my enormously unhelpful list. This is more than a year's worth. Probably even for me. BUT YOU'RE WELCOME

Title Text: "My Medea" ~ Vienna Teng