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[artemisrae]

Anyone out there?

Don't laugh at me. I'm trying to get back into reading. School has destroyed my ability to read. Looking for something preferably an easier read, maybe in the sci-fi or fantasy genre although there isn't a lot I won't read. And remember that I'm hooked by characters and not necessarily plot.

Suggestions? I'm tired and

Comments

[artemisrae]

Oh man I haven't heard of ANY of these, but I'm really interested, especially the Iron Druid Chronicles - maybe bouncing off of Percy Jackson will make it click faster? IDK why nothing has really interested me lately.

[greenconverses]

Just going to throw a bunch of YA at you since that's all I've been reading lately.

- The Curse Workers by Holly Black is an edgy urban fantasy series involving the mob that I just finished up and adored to death. There's three books in that one, all of them very fast reads.

- Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series is aaaamazing and has a great cast of awesome female characters that you'll really enjoy. Not fantasy, but it's set at an all-girl spy school therefore it's awesome by default. Plus Cammie/Zach ranks right up there with P/A for favorite YA couples. The first book is kind of, "Meh," compared to the other four, but they get sooooo good later on and they're incredibly fast reads. I think I finished the fourth book in two hours. If you like those, I'd also recommend Ally Carter's Heist Society series too.

- Rachel Hawkins' Hex Hall series is fun and so are her characters.

- Again, not fantasy, but Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins is one of my favorite contemporary YA books I've read in a long time

[artemisrae]

A SPY SCHOOL? OMG I WILL CHECK THIS OUT.

Thank you for the recs! I am making a list. That might involve an Excel spreadsheet.

[greenconverses]

You should get a GoodReads account, dude. Easiest way to keep track of books ever and find a bunch more to read too.

BUT YES, SPY SCHOOL WITH SUPER SMART AND KICKASS GIRLS AND THEY'RE HILARIOUSLY AWKWARD AROUND BOYS, IT'S AMAZING.

[pandoraculpa]

If you aren't particular about the suggestions being new, I'd suggest The Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia McKillip. And the subsequent books in the series, for that matter. I love that universe very much.

And anything by Peter S. Beagle. He's the guy who wrote The Last Unicorn, and the book is far better than the animated movie, even though that does follow it fairly faithfully. But the prose of that book is an absolute delight; it is, bar none, some of the best fictional prose I've ever read. I don't think he uses a stale metaphor anywhere in the book. Definitely an easy, effortless read, and it's gorgeous.

Other than that, the only things I can rec are by China Mieville, though it's not easy material by any means. But The City and The City has got to have one of the most original concepts I've ever seen. It's brilliant, and I wish he wrote more in that particular world.

Ooh. Or The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling. But I am a Kipling fangirl, and I adore those stories, so I'm biased there. :)

[artemisrae]

...That's so strange you brought up Kipling, we were just talking about him at work today (when we were talking about mandatory high school reading). I'm wondering if that's a sign?

Thanks for the recs! I'm definitely keeping a note of all the suggestions.

[pandoraculpa]

Kipling is wonderful; his prose is poetically descriptive, often wry, and thoroughly captivating. Both of the Jungle Books are among my favorite stories of all time- and lemme tell you, Disney left out all the best parts (besides utterly wrecking most of the characters). The actual stories blow the film's adaptation- charming though it is- way the fuck out of the park. Disney made a story full of elegance and real danger, and filled with characters both wise and cunning, into a buffoonish comedy.

So, erm, yeah. Read some Kipling. (told you I'm biased)

And you're welcome! I hope you'll enjoy any of the suggestions I had, should you take them up. I don't read a lot of new fiction (besides Mieville), but fantasy was my lifeline growing up. (and a little sci-fi on the side, but Asimov was dry and Heinlein was all over the place, in terms of books I enjoyed. Have Space Suit, Will Travel and Stranger In a Strange Land? Oh good god hell yes. The Number Of the Beast and Starship Troopers? Um... really?)

[oneoffour111]

Definitely read The Ghost and the Goth series by Stacey Kade. It's a super easy read, has characters that'll hook you, an adorable pairing, and overall it's pretty fantastic!

[mediate89]

I've always thought that book sounded so weird, and I especially do now after reading the summary...but I'm going to give it a shot. I've heard so many good things about it.

[oneoffour111]

It does seem super weird. But the characters will make you love them!

[artemisrae]

Thank you! I will definitely check it out and see if it hooks me - that seems like an impossible task lately, but I trust you guys :)

[cornerofmadness]

The Alloy of the Law by Brandon Sanderson made me very happy recently, sort of a steampunky/fantasy thing set in the Mistborn series about 300 years after the original trilogy (providing you know what that is. I didn't)

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake a YA ghost story/horror was really pretty good too

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta pure fantasy. I enjoyed it

The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones This was a Middle Eastern Ali Baba flavored fantasy

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs the first in her shape shifter Urban Fantasy.

I'd send you my novella but I don't think you do m/m stories.

[artemisrae]

Ooooh thank you! I'm very intrigued by this Mistborn series, I'm going to check it out! (And the ghost story. I always love a good ghost story.)

[cornerofmadness]

a couple words of caution. I've not read the mistborn series (yet) and alloy of the law sounds very different from the source material

and the ghost story is also a weird YA romance sort of thing too

but i really liked them both