Books I Love
"The Blue Sword" - Well, anything by Robin McKinley, really. There's just something about her writing style that gets right inside me. But I think of all her works, "The Blue Sword" is the one is I love the most. I adore Harry, who is my favorite heroine ever.
"Black Sun Rising" - C.S. Friedman has quickly become one of my favorite authors.
Jame's Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small" series - I love these for the stories, but probably just as much because I associate them with my grandmother, who gave me her set to read back when I was about twelve.
"Persuasion" and "Pride and Prejudice" - I like most of Jane Austin's work, but these two are my favorites. And not just because Colin Firth makes a very yummy Mr. Darcy.
"The Sparrow" - I read this initially because Mary Doria Russell graduated from the same college and department I did, and fell in love with it. There's some very powerful stuff in this story.
"The Fionavar Tapestry" - I just reread this for the first time in years, and while Guy Gavriel Kay's style kind of irritates me now, certain parts of this story still had me in tears, they were so moving and poignant.
"Nor Crystal Tears" - I read a lot of Alan Dean Foster in late grade school, but this story always stuck with me.
"The Lord of the Rings" - I tried reading the series when I was in high school, and just couldn't get into it. The summer I went on an arhaeological field school, I borrowed "Fellowship" from my then-boyfriend for something to read on the plane. A week later I called him and demanded he ship the other two and "The Hobbit" to me in New Mexico.
"Outlander" - While the later books in the series start to feel a little ridiculous, I devoured this one in a day. Diana Gabaldon's engaging style and characters just sucked me right in. (Before Christmas last year, I loaned the first book to a co-worker who scorns the romance genre with a fiery passion. When we came back from the holiday break, I was informed that I was evil; she had finished the first book, and gone out and bought the rest, spending her entire break reading them.)
"War for the Oaks" - Emma Bull's quirky fairy story just blew me away. I want a Phooka.
"Blood Debt" series - While I am addicted the Anita Blake series in that brain-candy-guilty pleasure-trainwreck sort of way, it's got nothing on Tanya Huff's work for a sharp, dark and engrossing vampire story.
"A Game of Thrones" - I acquired this book accidentally; I forgot to send in the response card for the SF Book Club and it showed up on my doorstep. I read it because that was easier than sending it back, and boy was I glad of my laziness! George R.R. Martin may have managed to restore my faith in epic fantasy.
"Last Call" - Tim Powers
"Lincoln's Dreams" - Connie Willis
"Fool on the Hill" - Matt Ruff