Recommend me something

[shaolina]

So, because I don't want everything about my hobby to be negative, I started the Currently reading/Read this instead section. Thing is I'm new to YA; I don't know good YA books. So far my next choices are because they seemed good. If anybody has a "YOU NEED TO READ THIS" suggestion, I'll welcome it.


Spork tomorrow, brain is fried after 3 hours and a half of phonetics and not a single break.

Comments

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I don't know if they count as YA, but you might like the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger--Soulless, Changeless and Blameless are the three in the series so far. Carriger is currently working on the fourth in the series, Heartless. The heroine is a snarky Plain Jane in a steampunk 19th century world. Her name is Alexia Tarabotti. She is a perfectly normal human save that she does not have a soul. She has no problem with this. She is also intelligent, resourceful, calm in a crisis, and very funny at times. (And yes, she does have a deadly steampunk parasol.)

I bought the entire set today for my birthday. A friend gave me a gift card.

[shaolina.livejournal.com]

XD I guess you don't remember the talk we had about that series where I told you everything wonderful about it.I know that series very well. I'm a HUGE PP fan and Lyall is my male equivalent to Adora Belle. I have read book 3 5 times already.


Everyone, read the Parasol Protectorate! It's everything Twilight will never be.

BTW: PP is 5 books. The series ends with Timeless. Carriger is also did a short story in an anthology, but I haven't seen it in my bookstore

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. I forgot who recommended it.

Okay, here's another one, then. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Utterly believable historical novel. The women are fantastic. Ellen--a woman who lives in a forest and is popularly supposed to be a witch--is bold and outrageous and strong and courageous. Aliena--an earl's daughter--loses everything multiple times and starts all over again. The lady is made of Damascus steel--she bends, but does not break. And would you believe that the building of a cathedral would be compelling? It is. It turns into a huge struggle between the forces of creativity and independence and the forces of dictatorial power.

You might also try the Swordspoint series by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman. Chronologically, the books go in this order: Swordspoint (about a swordsman for hire named Richard and his extremely messed-up boyfriend, Alex), The Privilege of the Sword, which takes place about twenty to twenty-five years after Swordspoint and deals mostly with Katharine, Alex's niece (who is an active and un-angsty bisexual young woman with plenty of idealism and integrity) and Fall of the Kings, which takes place about sixty years after Swordspoint and which deals with a young nobleman and an academic who are both interested in uncovering long-forgotten history about their land. The world is kind of a mashup of eras, but the authors make that work.

[shaolina.livejournal.com]

No worries. I just found it funny because I've been spreading my love for PP like the plague everywhere I go. I did here actually "10 reasons why you should read Soulless" Plus Carriger is a lovely person, very sweet.

Your recommendations sound awesome. I'll check my bookstore carries any of those two series ( especially the Pillars one)

[watson8888.livejournal.com]

Oooo - recommendations!! I love YA fantasy, so a lot of my recommendations are in that genre. (I really liked Ella Enchanted, too.)

First, I really liked Aurelia and Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund; I read Academy 7 first and I liked how she developed a relationship between the two main characters slowly. There's no undying confession of love, or obsessive stalking, in fact they kiss for the first time at the end of the book.

Also, Princess of the Midnight Ball and Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George are both wonderful. The first is a retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses, and the second is Cinderella. They're both well-written and subtly creepy, especially Midnight Ball, where the princesses are being forced to dance every night, even if they're sick, even if they're toddlers.

And I love love love the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Prachett. Well-written, funny, imaginative, and Tiffany is the kind of heroine I want to be like when I grow up. She's young and inexperienced and she knows how talented she is, which sometimes leads to problems, but she's intelligent and quick-thinking and a really good person at heart.

One last recommendation. I'm reading Graceling at the moment, and I'm liking it a lot. The main character, Katsa, is basically a thug for her uncle, breaking bones when people don't tow the line. She doesn't like it, and it actually shows her trying to deal with it. And when she meets The Guy, it's not love/hate at first sight. They actually develop a friendship. The part I'm at right now, Katsa just discovered that The Guy was keeping a secret from her, and it's a secret that makes her uncomfortable, but they're working through it and staying friends. Holy crap, why isn't this in more books?

Okay, that was a lot. I'm done, I promise.

[shaolina.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your recommendations! Actually, one of those titles is going to be in my first batch of CR/RTI. I'll keep the other titles you said close to me.

I loved the reasons you gave for the books you said. It really gives me confidence in the titles and shows great sensibility on your part.

[watson8888.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I read a lot of YA, and it really stick in my head when an author writes intelligent characters with realistic reactions. I guess cause so many other authors write morons who just drool over the new vampire/werewolf/zombie/mummy/etc in class and throw in crazy stuff for Drama.

[shaolina.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. I hate it when authors write about uninteresting morons who define their existance on who they're dating. -_-; I don't even hate romance, as Ella Enchanted proved. But at this point writing idiots sells. It kills me to say so, but it is. I hope that changes at some point and strong characters become important again.

Oh, boy...

[carey-pontmercy.livejournal.com]

"A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend" by Emily Horner

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie

"Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick

Anything by Sarah Dessen

"The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

"The Moves Make the Man" by Bruce Brooks

The Bloody Jack Adventures by L. A. Meyer

Re: Oh, boy...

[shaolina.livejournal.com]

Huh, I've never heard of any of those titles before. I enoy discovering obscure books in need of attention. I think that's one of the reasons I talk so much about the parasol protectorate. XD

The indian one sounds particulary interesting. I love memoirs and that sounds like a memoir. I'll check them out. Thank you for the suggestions.

Re: Oh, boy...

[carey-pontmercy.livejournal.com]

It's more like an autobiographical novel. And it has pictures!

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

I mentioned "Beastly" before. It's got fairy tale themes, a romance that's actually well built, likable characters, and the author nicely weaves in themes and references to Les Miserables, The Portrait of Dorian Grey, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

There's the Darren Shane Saga. That's twelve books long, so it's a bit of a read, but it's a very nice take on vampires. My only complaint about it is that it gets very complicated around the end, with all of the Xanatos Gambits and prophecies and whatnot going on.

It's not exactly young adult literature, but if you want something silly and frothy to read, I'd recommend "The Hunting of the Snark". It's by Lewis Carroll (Mr. Alice in Wonderland XD) and is basically a series of poems which tell about a party of people who sail to an island to catch a Snark. There's also the usual wordplay and genius bonus.

Last thing I can think of is The Two Princesses of Bamarre. It's also by the woman who wrote Ella Enchanted. Basically, it's another fairy tale-based story in which there are two sisters who are princesses. The one is brave and adventurous and the other is very timid. The land is suffering from the plague and the usual adventure ensues. Oh, and there's a wizard who helps out and a dragon and creepy magical creatures.

[shaolina.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendations, hon. I remember you mentioning Beastly in another post, so I'll get to that when I'm done with this batch.

I read the Alice series but I never tried his poems. Maybe I'll give it a chance.

[zelda-queen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, his poems are really good. It's just like a story that rhymes. XD