It has been an entire week and I have not read a single book of late. I have been nowhere near a library or bookstore and my bookshelf is collecting dust. I need suggestions for a good book to read but don't know where to start would you mind giving a brief description of a book you enjoyed or one you would recommend with strong characters? I was also wondering if anyone could tell me about Tamora Pierce's series of books The Song of The Lioness and if they've read it. I was going to order it since my library doesn't have any of her works and maybe get caught up in reading them.
I haven't read The Song of the Lioness, but I have heard good things about it.
Without Warning (a series of three) by John Birmingham is a alternative history, where everyone in America vanishes, causing all sorts of mayhem. It is set in 2003, just before the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, so the US has military, but no resources, etc. It has multiple narrators, and are pretty detailed, so all three will keep you busy for a long time!
Have a go at Isobelle Carmody's other works, especially her short story collections, Metro Winds and Green Monkey Dreams (AMAZING!). I have read the first two of the Gateway trilogy, and they were really good. Typical Carmody!
I would have said The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone who isn't over 16, but it is something to look forward to!
I've read The Song of the Lioness and I definitely reccomend it! :) I'm not very good with descriptions but basically it's the story of Alanna of Trebond a noble girl who wishes to become a knight, something that is most definitely not an opportunity offered to her. However with help she takes the place of her twin, Thom, and travels to capital to train for her knighthood. The other books are consequent adventures of this. Have you read any other of Tamora Pierce's works?
I second Daniel's suggestion of Green Monkey Dreams, it's an absolutely briliant collection of stories that are certainly unexpected in plot. They're a bit mind stretching too.
Hmm, as for other books I'd reccomend . . . I can't think of many at the moment other than Percy Jackson, which is directed at younger readers though the following series The Heroes of Olympus is darker. Some of my friends are pretty enthusiastic about The Mortal Instruments series, though I don't know much about it.
Just going to second the reccomendation of The Song of a Lioness. It's pretty much about a nobel (as Meza explained) pretending to be a boy for, what, six years? They're amazing and you should definitely order them :)
All of Tamora Pierce's books are AMAZING, definitely recommend them. Song of a Lioness is a good place to start!
Tamora Pierce is amazing! the immortals quartet is my favourite with the alanna/song of the lioness quartet being a very close second (the quartets are very slightly linked - so you should read alanna first so as not to inadvertantly find out "stuff").
My recommendations are :
Diana Wynne Jones. She has lots of books - Howl's Moving Castle (about a girl who is cursed to look old who sets off to break the curse and ends up working for Howl, a wizard with a fearsome reputation. It's got a bit of everything & seven league boots) or Fire & Hemlock(which is about a girl who comes to the realisation that she has two sets of memories and is based on the story of Tam Lin, a folk tale I hadn't heard of but in no way impacted on my enjoyment of the story) are two of my favourites.
Kristen Cashore has a loosely linked trilogy out - the first of which was Graceling, the second (and my favourite) is Fire and then Bitterblue (which I havent read yet). All 3 feature strong female leads - overcoming different hurdles...
and finally, Maria V. Snyder - another author with a couple of series' out - the first being the "Poison" series (about a girl in jail, sentenced to die who is given the opportunity to become the poison tester for the head of state - she soon gets caught up in lots of intrigue and there is friendship, magic and a mysterious past thrown in)
Happy reading! :)
I also recommend the Percy Jackson series, as well as all Rick Riordan's work, he's really great at mythology and fantasy!
As for the City of Bones by Cassandra Claire, they are probably aimed at older readers (as in young adults) in the same vain/vein (?) as Twilight. If you were into Twilight, then City of Bones (and also The Mortal Instruments series) are probably for you. Though I think City of Bones is better than Twilight, and is no where as near angsty and whiny.
I would also recommend The Book Thief and The Messenger (or I am the Messenger, depending on where you live) by Markus Zusak. BOTH AMAZING books that are fantastic, though they can be more for mature readers, again something to look forward to.
11 years ago
Fri Nov 30 2012, 12:40am
I whole-heartedly agree with reading The Lioness Quartet. Also, if you like those, i suggest trying out some of the new post-apopalyptic books, very interesting... especially hte ones where a new form of government has already started, etc.
Like The Matched Trilogy, the Delirium Trilogy, The Enclave Series (zombies ftw!), The Legend Series, Birthmarked Trilogy, The Selection Series, Divergent Trilogy... (i have more)
Too many? sorry, that's one of my favorite genre of books. Anyways, i agree with the Percy Jackson suggestion. One last suggestion - The Chronicles of Elantra Series. Awesome series, really indepth.
Need more? I've got more :P Sorry, i'm horrible with description, the most i can say is that they are all set in a world that is either a lot like ours, or used to be ours.
Along the same veins of strong characters and fantasy setting, I would recommend Seraphina by Rachael Hartman. It is an excellent read -- and there are dragons! ;)
Ooh I second Diana Wynne Jones. Loved Howl's Moving Castle--quite fun and quirky and I enjoyed how it played on fairytale tropes a bit.
There's also Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series, the first book being Sabriel. I keep meaning to reread these but I enjoyed Mogget the evil demon cat and what's not to like about snarky demon cats. The series also presents quite a nice concept of necromancy and Nix has some truly enjoyable similes.
Also, since people are mentioning Twilight kinda stuff, if you do enjoy the supernatural/paranormal genre then I'd go for Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver series which works with werewolves but doesn't fall into the trap that a lot (should I say most) of the books of that genre do. Personally, I have only read the first book but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
