Loads of literati...
Sep 28, 2007 …made loads of literature suggestions. Thanks y’all…some of them I would’ve never considered. This is probably going to end up a little slap-dash…I do apologize. My whole life feels a little dash slappy these days.
From Trevor:
Tolkien (there’s plenty of that laying around here)
CS Lewis Space Trilogy
Stephen Lawhead
Gina sent the following link from Mere Comments with suggestions:
From Christina:
Madeleine L’Engle (need to have some of that laying around here)
Lois Lowry
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Rick Riordan series about Greek Gods
The Golden Compass series (she forgot the author)
From Magda:
The Prince Commands by Andre Norton
My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth, Jr., and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
The Fields and the Hills by Harald Bakken
The Spellcoats by Diana Wynne Jones (part of a series, but a good stand-alone; her other books are also enjoyable)
Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J. Sobol (maybe a little young)
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Sword in the Stone and The Once and Future King, etc., by T. H. White
Eragon by Christopher Paolini (the movie is a great disappointment, but the book was wonderful)
Pure Dead Magic by Debi Glori
The Time Bike by Jane Langton
Eyeballs for Breakfast by M. M. Ragz
Frindle by Andrew Clements
….and a few comments did make it through on the last post and comments are open on this one (I checked) so feel free to add more suggestions…
God bless…the trees got a trace of rain for all their dancing and singing yesterday. I’ll keep joining their chorus for more, more, more!!
Reader Comments (6)
I have to second the recommends for:
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (We're reading it aloud right now, nearing the end)
The Once and Future King, etc., by T. H. White
The Golden Compass mentioned is the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman. I found them so annoyingly blatantly anti-Christian I gave up on him for his lack of originality and obvious ax to grind.
I would add:
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Sherlock Holmes( complete works) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy Sayers (Brilliant!)
Crime and Punishment and other Dostoevsky novels, but only in the recent Richard Pevear and Larissa Volohonsky tranlations (all the Orthodox bits are left in and footnoted for the non-Orthodox in these translations)
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, an story told about a girl named Sophie that is also a cool introduction to all the main philosophical modes of thinking over history.
Into sci-fi/fantasy, I'd add:
Dune (original series) by Frank Herbert (I think I've read the first one about 14 times now)
Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
Stone and Flute by Hans Bemmann (only available used or via interlibrary loan, out-of-print but excellent)
I'm sure I could think of many many more, I read 2-3 novels a week along with some non-fiction, but that is what immediately came to mind.
Laura,
Really, my recommends were more for you, most of the books on my list are too much for someone younger than 14-16yrs old I'd say.
Sorry about that... (grin)
For Kids, I'd recommend:
Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. I enjoyed them as a boy, and William has been too.
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, and its successor -- we've read these aloud, and the kids enjoyed them.
Xanth Series by Piers Anthony (the first six are decent, then they degrade) and the Adept series, first three books.
The Adventures of Pip and Flinx by Alan Dean Foster, starting in For Love of Mother-Not and continuing in The Tar-Aiym Krang and others
If I think of more, I'll either keep spamming your comments, or (gasp) write a post on my site. Heh.
THanks, John...those are all great. I am considering getting Mike into Sherlock Holmes...I think he might enjoy those.
Ana, David and I are about halfway through the Princess and Curdie (read aloud) now and I'm hoping to maybe read The Light Princess to them...better get them used to that beautiful language now. I'll be holding onto your other requests for when they are needed.
Mike read almost all of The Hobbit this weekend...which made me pretty happy!
I would keep a strict eye on any Piers Anthony books. I was introduced to them by my older sister when I was in middle school, and read them for many years. There is way too much sex and violence in them for me to suggest them to anyone under 18. I would not want to have them regarded as parent-recommended reading, although they did spark discussions with my father about the effects of what I chose to read.
Magda,
You know, I'd forgotten about that element of Anthony's stuff -- haven't read it since I was about 14-15 -- but now that you mention it, it is coming back to me. Ick! Sorry about that.
Laura, skip the Anthony books, he is a bit icky -- there is so much better stuff out there.