My Summer Reading Adventures

It's been a busy time this summer professionally and I've neglected this blog terribly. But that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. Oh no, I've been devouring books at an even more rapid pace than normal. I don't know about you, but the more full my work life becomes, the more I need the downtime and to escape into reading.

This summer I decided I would read any classics that I've somehow missed as they came across my path and were affordable. So when our local Borders in downtown Long Beach was replaced by a $1 bookstore I began keeping an eye out. Here's what I've found and recommend:

Fire & Hemlock* - Diana Wynne Jones

*The link I've provided is for a newly released version of this book which is coming out in March of 2012 and being introduced by Garth Nix (whose Abhorsen trilogy is one of my very favorites series ever). This is now one of my all time favorite fantasy books with a romantic twist. I cannot say enough for this book. It's a little slow and dreamy in the beginning but it picks right up. And I love it's slow reveal. You can find the old version online if you need it now but I warn you the cover is not appealing. I only picked it up because I knew I wanted to delve into the worlds of Diana Wynne Jones and it was a $1.

Sadly Wynne Jones passed away of cancer this past March. I am so delighted this book is being brought out again. It's such a treasure, and so deserves a new audience.

Conrad's Fate - Diana Wynne Jones

I finished this just last night. I am now a die hard Wynne Jones fan and can't wait to read more. This book stands on its own but is also consider a "Chrestomanci Book."

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleleine L'Engle

How I never read this book as a child, or young adult, is beyond me. What I adore about this book is the family relationship, the kindness and the love and the respect for differences. I belive we lost L'Engle last year, another amazingly talented and original thinker is gone. How fortunate we are to still have her books to treasure. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Newer Discoveries

The Chathrand Voyage Books by Robert V.S. Redick - including The Red Wolf Conspirancy, The Ruling Sea & The River of Shadows (4th book coming in 2012). This series has such a marvelous tough spirited young heroine and such a smart brave young hero. It's not a young adult book, but certainly right for the younger reader who can handle Lord of the Rings. Rich, layered and complex. There is quite a lot going on in this series, twists in plot

Nancy Farmer's The Sea of Trolls, The Land of Silver Apples, and The Islands of the Blessed. Oh this is such a good series. How can you not love a series about a young Saxon boy and a young Viking girl off on Middle Earth adventures during an era when the old gods were fading and Christianity was coming to the fore? I don't know how I missed it before except that I found it at Barnes & Noble so maybe Border's never carried it - and for some reason it never came up as a suggestion on Amazon.