Book List Recommendation

(from alexjay by way of jpsorrow by way of pbray)

Once the shock of reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the fifth time in a row wears off, some readers may be wondering what they can read next. So why not start a meme of suggestions?

Here are the rules:

1. You must copy and paste the directions, rules, and the list so far into your blog and then add three (and only three) books to the list.

2. These three book must NOT already be on the list so far. They must be fantasy or science fictional in nature that those who enjoyed Harry Potter may also enjoy. You must provide your name and a link to your blog and/or website so that people may contact you to ask for more information about the books, if they want. They must be books that you have actually read yourself.

3. You cannot recommend a series; instead, recommend the first book in the series. Terry Pratchett's Discworld would NOT be considered a series; but Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time would. Use your best judgment about whether you're recommending a series or not.

4. You must label the books as either YA (young adult, suitable for the younger fans of Harry Potter) or A (adult, suitable for the not-so-younger fans of Harry Potter). Please be clear about this. It will be understood that anything labelled YA is also recommended for A.

5. If you are an author, you CANNOT recommend your own books. (You can however hound your friends into recommending your books.)

6. Providing a link to information about the books you are recommending is optional.


And here's the list so far:

Mario Di Giacomo mdg1 recommends:

1. Good Omens(A), by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Humorous fantasy, with a similar English mindset.
2. Lord Darcy (A), by Randall Garret. Short mystery stories set in a world where magic is part of society.
3. A Wizard of Earthsea (YA), by Ursula K. LeGuin. The ORIGINAL "wizarding school" book, as far as I know.


Alex Jay Berman alexjay recommends:
1. Alma Alexander's Worldweavers (YA)--about learning magic despite yourself; despite being a bust at being he seventh child of a seventh child, and what a Potterhead would call a "Muggle".
2. Diane Duane's So You Want to be a Wizard (YA)--a very up-to-date, very American take on the schooling of new wizards and their first clashes with Evil. Perhaps even better than the Potter books for young adults, as it offers a very good reason why Evil exists and continues to exist. (first in a trilogy)
3. Either Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow or Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (very much A)--we've already got them hooked on the drug of reading with Potter; now it's time for them to start mainlining the hard stuff ...

(Kidding on that last, of course ...)

Patricia Bray pbray recommends:
1. Diana Wynne Jones's Charmed Life (YA)
2. Susan Cooper's Over Sea, Under Stone (YA)
3. Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three (YA)

Patricia's picks are books that are marketed as YA, but that she first read and enjoyed as an adult. Much like the Harry Potter books, come to think of it.

Janni Lee Simner janni recommends:
1. Lene Kaaberbol's The Shamer's Daughter (YA)
2. Robin McKinley's The Blue Sword (YA)
3. Tamora Pierce's The Magic in the Weaving (Circle of Magic, Book 1) (YA)

(All books that are, one way or another, about learning magic.)

Joshua Palmatier jpsorrow recommends:
1. S.C. Butler's Reiffen's Choice (YA)
2. Jim Hines' Goblin Quest (YA)
3. Patricia Bray's The First Betrayal (A)