Welcome to Gaia! ::

Just to start things off - Here are a few of my favorite books and some good selections that I've plucked from my bookshelves. I'll try to organize them by reading level as these selections are going to vary from children's books to novels because a really good children's book can still be just as enjoyable when you're an adult. wink

Children's and Young Adult:

You can take these with a grain of salt because children's books in particular often have great sentimentality to one person but not the next. I think that these are all great books but you may not find any of them spectacular. (read some Greek myths anyway though).

D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - I think I picked this book up at a school book fair when I was a child. It has beautiful illustrations and depicts a lot of the central cannon of Greek mythology. It is definitely a bit simplified and a bit less violent compared to the full spectrum of Greek myth that is really out there, although nymphs are still said to rip peoples limbs off and Zeus is still having his numerous affairs so it's not something to read to your five-year-old.
Reading any version of Greek myth is highly recommended. This particular copy is just one that has brought me many years of enjoyment and I still pull it out from time to time as a reference for some details of the myths.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - It is simply one of my favorite books. A wonderful and creative retelling of the fairy tale Cinderella with an intelligent and funny heroine.
I recommend this author in general for her zany and funny retellings of classic tales.

Stardust by Alane Ferguson - A tale of tv actress wanting to stay that cute little kid everyone loves but nevertheless having to adjust to growth and change.

Phoenix Rising by Karen Hesse - How do I describe this one? A girl and her family take in a couple of people who were survivors of a nuclear power plant explosion and the surges of despair and hope that go along with that.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - It's a classic for good reason! A young woman moves into what is for her a strange puritan colony, and once she finally finds some people that she is comfortable with she's accused of being a witch. It's better than my uncreative description sounds.

The Secret of Dragonhome by John Peel - Okay, this one has a very basic, predictable, and sort of fluffy story, but I recall is as a particularly pleasant read never the less. A young woman and her brother have special skills referred to as "Talents" that would get them executed so they are going into hiding and find refuge at a mysterious estate called "Dragonhome". A bit of adventure, a bit of romance - a fun little story, even if it's predictable. The animals that are talked to in the book often say the funniest things.


What makes a book one for a child, or what is often called an intermediate reader, or a young adult, or an adult? The lines are fuzzy at best. Let's nevertheless call this bridge the one to more adult books.

Night by Elie Wiesel - There are many accounts of the horrors of Nazi concentration camps and the effects of the Holocaust, but I recommend this one in particular. It is the real account of a young man's own experience in a concentration camp during World War II. It is pretty short, and you may have had to read it during middle school already like I did, but it nevertheless is a great account. Warning to the ladies: it will probably be a tear-jerker for you.

Gone with the Wind by Margret Mitchell - If you're very anti-Confederacy and "Old South" just skip this one because it definitely is written with sympathy to the Confederacy of the American Civil War. It is a sweeping epic tale of the Old South of the Civil War era that to some great extent could be called an old-school soap opera. It has the romance, the drama, and so forth and there is much more to the book than what was put in the movie. Warning: It is 1037 pages long and about the first 200 pages through are intro that sets up the story and it's actually fairly hard to get through that introductory section the first time you read it as it, at least for me, is pretty boring when you don't know why all of that introduction is important yet.

Dune by Frank Herbert - This is another epic tale, although instead set in space and wrought with the political struggles of various nations all trying to get their hands on the precious "spice". One young man breaks out the regime to make great changes on the political and natural fronts of his home world.

"Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare - No offense to all of my wonderful English teachers, but I didn't think Shakespeare was as great as everyone said that he was - until I read this play and I decided that this man was a genius. He wove such a beautifully complex comedy this time. It is simply a joy to read, complete with imagined boughts of insanity and a cross-dressing servant. I realize that I'm failing at coming up with a good description for this one, but please just take my word for it. It's a great read.

Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach - My first encounters with this book were actually via listening to it on tape as read by the author, which I highly recommend if you get the chance. This tale is about a non-conformist seagull that begins to experiment with his physical and mental capabilities and eventually learns to transcend to a much higher level of flight than his other seagull peers. He also teaches others and faces opposition to his radical ideas.
This book is very short but very inspiring. It explores the pursuit of learning and growth and change that are available to living beings.


Also - trust Impy on those fantasy authors. I haven't read them all extensively, but I know from my own reading and from the opinions of those that I trust that those are great fantasy authors worth checking out.

Quite agreed. Hurrah for books!
I need to read some of those authors that Impy recommends. ^_^
Alas, for the time being college texts will reign as the supremes of what I read.

If you prefer nonfiction, the only advice I can offer on the subject is to check out books by Ann Rule. She has a lot of "true crime" novels. She got started with The Stranger Beside Me, which is about her co-worker, Ted Bundy.

You're welcome! I read Johnny Tremain when i was in 8th grade.

Some good books are those written by Tamora Pierce. They are more for young adults, well enless you are a kid that doesn't mind a bit of moderate romance( not like super graphic but still, there you know) but adults can read then too. My mom reads them too because she just adores them and the fact that the newer ones are over 400 pages is a bonus( the first ones were just over a houndred pages)

I remember loving reading books by Tamora Pierce, although I don't think I've read one since I graduated from high school. I'd actually describe her books as fantasy-adventure featuring female main characters. A good friend of mine compared her to Mercedes Lackey.

I have read Eragon and Eldest. I was wondering when the third one would be coming out.