Laura’s list of cool books to read, some old and some new and some in-between. I’ve read most of them in the last couple of years, and, yes, I do know most of the authors of the YA books, but that’s not why I like their books. I'll update the list from time to time.
Adults:
David Farland: Runelord series (fiction, epic fantasy)
Farland is one of the original contemporary fantasy writers and knows how to build worlds and magic systems that can be believed. Lots of action and cool characters.
Eric Kandel: In Search of Memory (non-fiction, scientific).
The Nobel Prize winner explains how memory works neurologically in an engaging, story-telling manner.
Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus (fantasy, historical 1890s)
Charming, lyrical prose. Great premise with characters you feel for. One of the best books of the year.
Brandon Sanderson: The Way of Kings (fiction, fantasy)
Epic fantasy without elves or dwarfs, set in an intricate society on an impossible world.
Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (non-fiction, scientific)
Fascinating account of a young black woman in the 1950s and how doctors took her cancer cells without the knowledge of her family and cloned them to produce the majority of cells now used in scientific research.
Kathryn Stockett: The Help (fiction, historical 1960s)
Absolutely fascinating and gripping story of a small Southern town and the black servants employed there during the Civil Rights era.
Jacqueline Winspear: The Maisie Dobbs series (fiction)
Charming character driven mysteries set in post WWI England dealing with post-war issues and the coming of age of female independence. Good beach read.
Young Adult:
Orson Scott Card: Ender’s Game (science fiction) (yes, he is my brother-in-law, but that is not what makes this a great read)
Remember that this book was written in the 1970s, pre-video game era. It is required reading for many AP English classes across the country. Movie rights have been sold. Script is written and cast and may actually get made, if everyone can agree to disagree without tearing each others’ throats out.
Kristen Chandler: Wolves, Boys, & Other Things that Might Kill Me (fiction, contemporary)
Set in West Yellowstone against the backdrop of re-introducing wolves back into Yellowstone. A teenage girl must solve the mystery of what’s been going on in her high school while also exploring her feelings for a new boy and experiencing wolves first hand. Well-written. The language is particularly engaging.
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games series (fiction, dystopian science fiction)
The government controls society with an iron hand and requires sacrificial gladiators from each geographical area, only the gladiators are children and expected to kill each other for the entertainment of society. Gripping and gory.
Ally Condie: Matched series (fiction, dystopian science fiction)
The government chooses the spouses. But what happens when a girl falls for a boy who isn’t her matched future spouse? Well-written and provocative.
James Dashner: The Maze Runner series (fiction, dystopian science fiction)
Amazingly inventive look at a study using young people in cruel ways in order to find a hero after the world is devastated. Interestingly, Europeans love this one and have even made their own trailers for it.
Bree Despain: The Dark Divine series (fiction, contemporary paranormal)
The teenage daughter of the local minister finds out that a boy she liked when she was younger was turned into a werewolf and accidentally bit the teenager’s brother. The minister and his daughter try to help the boys amid moral turmoil and danger.
Ann Dee Ellis: Everything is Fine (fiction, contemporary)
Poignant, heart-wrenching and finely crafted story of a young girl dealing with a mother who loses her grip on reality.
John Flanagan: The Ranger’s Apprentice series (fiction, fantasy)
Medieval fantasy about an orphan boy who is taken on as the apprentice to an awesome ranger who can do just about anything. Most beloved series my grandsons have read. My copies are nearly worn out.
Jessica Day George: Princess of the Midnight Ball series (fiction, fantasy)
Charming retelling of the fairy tale about the twelve dancing princesses with some darker twists.
Shannon Hale: The Goose Girl series (fiction, fantasy)
A unique take on the goose girl fairy tale with captivating characters and magic system.
Shannon Hale: Book of a Thousand Days (fiction, fantasy)
Has the flavor of the Arabian Nights. Beautiful characterization and description.
Mette Ivie Harrison: The Princess and the Hound series (fiction, fantasy)
Medieval fantasy—The princess is a hound turned human by magic and the hound is really the princess. Then they meet a bear who is really the king. Twist on twist.
Mette Ivie Harrison: Tris and Izzie (fiction, contemporary fantasy)
A rather twisted take on the Tristan and Isolde myth set in a modern high school. Consider that the author has a PhD in German literature from Princeton.
Matthew Kirby: The Clockwork Three (fiction, historical fantasy)
Three children in a city, something like the late 1800s America, must solve the mystery of a clockwork man while figuring out their unlikely connection to each other. Well-written and provocative.
Matthew Kirby: Icefall (fiction, Nordic lore)
The heirs of a Nordic king are sequestered on an island for their safety only to find there is a traitor among them. Well-written.
Kristen Landon: The Limit (fiction, dystopian science fiction)
Everyone is so deeply in debt, they’ve turned their personal finances over to the government. If a family can’t stay within a budget, the government takes over their money or takes a child to work off the debt; they really do. Provocative.
Justine Larbalestier: How to Ditch Your Fairy (fiction, contemporary fantasy)
What if everyone has a personal fairy? Your best friend has a shopping fairy that gets her the best deals on high fashion, but you just have a parking fairy and you don’t even drive. What do you do to get rid of your fairy and what happens when you do?
Dene Low (yes, that’s my very own nom de plume): Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone (fiction, fantasy, mystery)
Set in 1903 London—What’s a girl to do when on the day of her coming out party, her uncle eats a foreign beetle and becomes an obsessive compulsive insectivore, a foreign general is kidnapped from her party, and soon several other people are also kidnapped? She saves nearly everyone, of course. (Bragging rights: Edgar Award finalist, Junior Library Guild top pick, and a few other awards)
Stephanie Meyer: Twilight series (fiction, paranormal)
While not the best writing in the world, the story is gripping. All about a normal (?) teenage girl and her vampire and werewolf boyfriends.
Sheila A. Nielson: Forbidden Sea (fiction, historical fantasy)
Set in a small fishing village, a girl meets a mermaid who is not so nice and endangers the very existence of the town. Not the Little Mermaid.
Louise Plummer: The Romantic Obsessions and Humiliations of Annie Sehlmeier (fiction, contemporary)
You’ll laugh out loud and ache for Annie who has just immigrated from the Netherlands to the USA and must deal with a heartbreaking crush on a cute boy, new customs, a grandmother suffering from Alzheimers, and everything else that could possibly happen.
Janette Rallison: My Double Life (fiction, contemporary)
What do you do if you are the spitting image of a very famous star and you are asked to act as her double? You do it, of course, and are paid very well indeed, only there’s a twist.
Janette Rallison: My Fair Godmother (fiction, contemporary fantasy)
What do you do when you find out you have a fairy godmother, but she’s really an apprentice and a rather weird one at that?
Rick Riordan: The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series (fiction, fantasy)
Percy is the son of Neptune, although he’s been raised as a regular kid. Things get bad when some of the other Olympians are out for his blood and a plot is hatched to destroy Olympus. Great boy adventure, although girls will love them, too.
Dan Wells: I am not a Serial Killer series (fiction, contemporary paranormal)
Warning: a bit gory. The protagonist’s family owns a mortuary and he must help in the morgue, which wouldn’t be so bad except he has all the psychological markers of a sociopath and he knows it. He doesn’t want to end up as a serial killer and so has set up rules for himself, which all go out the window when he must track down a real serial killer, with a surprising twist. The Germans love this one, too. Go figure.
Scott Westerfeld: Uglies, Pretties, Specials (fiction, dystopian fantasy)
The government offers certain people the chance to be beautiful at the peril of their intellect, only they don’t know the cost. The heroine must decide, but her decision is interrupted by finding out there is a rebel society set to destroy her home.
Scott Westerfeld: Leviathon, Behemoth (fiction, steam punk science fiction)
It’s pre-WWI and the Germans (Clankers who base their society on machines) and the British (Darwinians who have developed biological creatures and weapons) are ready to face off. I can’t wait for the final book in the trilogy.
Patricia Wrede: Thirteenth Child series (fiction, fantasy set in the pioneer West)
Twins in a large pioneer family are the thirteenth and fourteenth children. The girl is the thirteenth and the boy is the seventh son of a seventh son. Both have amazing magic and must deal with an American West where mammoths and saber tooth tigers still exist, along with dragons.
Middle Grade:
Jessica Day George: Dragon Slippers series (fiction, fantasy)
Dragons can talk and even do needlework, as does the heroine who must save them. Charming and full of unexpected twists.
Jessica Day George: Tuesdays at the Castle (fiction, fantasy)
The castle can alter itself at will, and it really likes one of the princesses. The two of them together must overcome an evil group of people trying to take away the kingdom. Very charming.
Brandon Mull: Fablehaven series (fiction, contemporary fantasy)
Grandpa and Grandma run a compound in New England that is larger than it seems on the outside and houses many mythical creatures. The kids must battle a secret order bent on destroying not only the family’s compound, but all the compounds for mythical creatures in the world. Tons of fun and a best seller.
Jennifer Nielsen: Elliot and the Goblin War series (fiction, contemporary fantasy)
Elliot is pulled into a war between the brownies, who crown him their king, and the goblins. The charming series has been a runaway best seller and is currently being made into a movie.
Brandon Sanderson: Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians series (fiction, contemporary fantasy)
Alcatraz (no, the prison was named after him) is nearly kidnapped by evil librarians who want to rule the world. They did kidnap his father. He must defeat them and save the world. My grandsons adore this series.
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