Shannon: recommendations
  "Yes, yes," you say dismissively, "I know what Shannon writes, but what does she read?" Fret no further. Here’s her answer.

These are some books I loved. Forgive the separation into genres, Gentle Reader. It is meant for ease alone. Personally, I believe “Young Adult” to be an arbitrary title that means the book "Can be enjoyed by anyone/Has a main character who’s not quite an adult/Isn’t really boring."

Young Adult
For fantasy lovers
  • Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith
  • Goddess of Yesterday, by Caroline B. Cooney
  • The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
  • The Blue Sword, Beauty, and The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
  • A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
  • The Earthsea series, by Ursula K. LeGuin, starting with A Wizard of Earthsea
  • The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer
  • The Dark is Rising series, by Susan Cooper
  • Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine
  • Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
  • Coraline, by Neil Gaiman
  • Wishing Moon, by Michael O. Tunnell
Still good, even if there's no fantasy
  • Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman
  • Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, by Joyce Carol Oates
  • Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli
  • The Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin
  • Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery
  • The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodges Burnett
  • Holes, by Louis Sachar
  • Homecoming & Dicey’s Song, by Cynthia Voigt
  • Charlotte's Rose, by A.E. Cannon
Younger readers (especially good for ages 7-10)
  • Anything by Roald Dahl
  • The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander, starting with The Book of Three
  • The Narnia Chronicles, by C.S. Lewis
  • The Wolves of Willoughby Chase and other books by Joan Aiken
  • Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White
  • The Frog Princess, by E.D. Baker
  • Whispering to Witches, by Anna Dale
Picture Books
  • Fanny's Dream, by Caralyn Buehner, Mark Buehner
  • A Very, Hairy, Scary Story, by Rick Walton, David Clark
  • Yesterday I Had the Blues, by Jeron Ashford Frame, Gregory Christie
  • Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems
  • Board books by Sandra Boynton are a big hit with our 1-year old
  • The Monster at the End of this Book, by Jon Stone, Michael Smollin
  • Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak


Fantasy reading targeted at adults
  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy (of course), by J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Riddle-Master: The Complete Trilogy, by Patricia McKillip
  • The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
  • The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter
  • Tales from the Sisters Grimmer, by Tanith Lee
  • Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel, by Susanna Clarke
  • Lots of graphic novels, mostly Batman, Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Astro City, and Invincible

Other loved literature
  • Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson
  • Ballad of the Sad Cafe, by Carson McCullers
  • Possession, by A.S. Byatt
  • Pride and Prejudice & Persuasion, by Jane Austen
  • House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel
  • Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
  • To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
  • The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
  • Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
  • Beloved, by Toni Morrison
  • The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
  • Lying Awake, by Mark Salzman
  • A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster
  • Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
  • Perma Red, by Debra Magpie Earling
  • Precious Bane, by Mary Webb

Books recommended by Shannon's husband
  • A Fire Upon the Deep and Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge
  • The Postman, Kiln People, and The Uplift Saga, beginning with Brightness Reef, by David Brin
  • Declare and The Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers
  • The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis
  • The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold