The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

No blog hop for me this week, but because I like lists, I was interested to see that last week NPR posted the results of their reader (listener?) poll of 100 Top Science Fiction and Fantasy works. (For some reason, some books are listed singly, others as series.) Reader surveys are notoriously flaky in their choices, and I missed the initial spate of posts about this list since I was out of town with limited internet access. Now, of course, I want in on this discussion/meme. Thanks to The Hopeful Librarian and Dreaming About Other Worlds for calling my attention to this. Here's NPR's Article And here's my commentary on the list: Bold titles are those I've read, and I'm going to go ahead and give myself credit even if I haven't read an entire series. 1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy , by J.R.R. Tolkien - Duh. 2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy , by Douglas Adams - Again, Duh. I actually have a really fun oversized edition of this book t...

I'd like to thank anyone who read through all my reading meme posts this month. (If you missed the month-long meme, see index post here .) I know it's cliche, but I hope that you had as much fun reading them as I had putting them together. Please steal the prompt list for your own if you like, memes are meant to be shared after all. Thinking through these short articles put a lot of books back on my "to re-read" list. Partially inspired by this post  and partially by a gift I received for the holidays, I've decided on a special event for the upcoming month. I'm declaring the week of Feb 14th Fantasy   Flashback Week here at the Bookshelf. I'm going to read a large pile of classic Middle Grade fantasy, all books that I loved as a child but haven't read in years and years. Some will be obscure, some less so. I'll post about a different book every day that week. If you reread an old favorite recently, I hope you'll come by and leave a com...

What a depressing way to end. I'll have to think of something fun to post tomorrow.  Spoiler blocks in place for this. Highlight to read. I think my answer is  Jake    in The Dark Tower (Book 7) . That one hit me right in the gut.  (and yes, I read the epilogue-happy-ending, but still...)   Aral   in Cryoburn was pretty hard too, but not unexpected. Beautifully written, though. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Hmm.. not too much specific going on right now. My current obsession is variety, I guess. Reading a little of this and that, then switching gears entirely. Recent/ongoing obsessions: Military Science-Fiction, Noir, Classic Pulp, Classic Sci-fi, Popular Science... Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

I have to say my first full-blown obsession was fantasy novels in general. I started with Lloyd Alexander, and by the time I went to college and took a break from novels, I had read just about everything available in my local library, and literally owned hundreds of them. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

How do you define “mainstream” I wonder? Most of what I read is genre, most of it is decently known... Well, I'm sort of sweet on one particular indie writer , but that hardly seems fair. Hmmm... how about David Petersen, the writer/illustrator behind Mouse Guard . Small press comics are pretty non-mainstream, and Mouse Guard ( review ) is consistently beautiful and intriguing. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Hmmm. A decent book with a WTF plot: Perdido Street Station . It's been a while, but I think there are bug people and a caterpillar that eats brainwaves and the plot completely shifts about half-way through. I thought it was well written, but loathed the ending with the fire of a thousand suns. A bad book with a WTF plot: Space Junque . This little e-novella starts out as pretty good post-apocalyptic sci-fi romance, but completely switches into poorly plotted future religion-destiny-fantasy stuff and abandons the original tone entirely. I didn't like that much. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Any book? There are plenty on my TBR list. Among them: The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One    The Purity Myth  The Handmaid's Tale  Name of the Wind  The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us ( Throne of Jade ) read since compiling the list The Black Company  Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

 “...the true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock on the witch's door when she is already away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.” - Prince Liir, The Last Unicorn  Honorable Mentions: “Some prices are just too high, no matter how much you may want the prize. The one thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart” - Miles Vorkosigan, Memory  “I've always thought–tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and so...

Well, I hated all the characters in Oliver Twist when I read it in High School.... Oh! I stopped reading A Song of Fire and Ice because I couldn't come around on all the annoying characters in that. I don't even remember their names at this point. So for most annoying character, I nominate everyone who survived to book three, more or less. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Okay, this one I have to give to Lord of the Rings . The destruction of Mount Doom through to the rescue by the Eagles is one of my favorite parts of any book ever. I'm even highly partial to the Scouring of the Shire. Honorable Mention: The end of Moonraker (James Bond) I find notable for tension and dark humor, and the end of Memory (Vorkosigan Saga) for mental and moral triumph. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Unsurprisingly, given yesterday's answer, my top two have to be Russell/Holmes and Miles/Ekaterin. These are both adult, intelligent relationships between equals that are also romantic and sweet. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

End of A Monstrous Regiment of Women . Zero doubt in my mind about this one. As hardcore as I can be about my Holmes canon, I'm totally a Russell/Holmes fangirl. Honorable Mention goes to the end of A Civil Campaign I enjoy sex scenes, but I usually find a well written kiss far more satisfying. Especially these ones. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Hmm... I'm repeating myself a bit, but the obvious answer is Dragonlance. Tanis, Flint, Tasslehoff, Raistlin, Caramon, Sturm, (even Riverwind, Goldmoon, Kitiara, Laurana, Tika, etc...) were my constant companions as a teenager, and still what I think of first when I think of a good wide cast of characters. A newer choice is the lovely ladies of the Birds of Prey. Oracle, Black Canary, Huntress, and Lady Blackhawk make me quite happy, not to mention occasional members/newer members Hawk and Dove, Vixen, Gypsy, guest spots by Catwoman and Wonder Woman and many others... besides there are the opposing characters in Savant, Lady Shiva, Cheshire, many smaller parts... it's an all around carnival of awesome, and one of the best uses of an ensemble in comics. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

I already posted about book covers for a Book Blogger Hop, see my answer here . I'll add few more pictures of some favorites: Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Is it too cliché to say LOTR ? Maybe so. I find I don't read trilogies much anymore... are they falling out of fashion? I do have a soft spot for Dragonlance: Legends , or some of the older stuff by Mercedes Lackey. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Well, Guilty Pleasures ( review ) comes to mind. Much of the Anita Blake series would fit this category. Yes, many of them are awful. That, clearly, is not the point. Other paranormal romance books come and go on my radar, but these ridiculous books hang around, particularly the first few. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

Molly Grue, Lady Ekaterin Vorsoisson Vorkosigan, Mary Russell. That's three intelligent, decisive, independent women. Molly might be more clever than intellectual, but she's still fantastic, and deals sensibly with many a difficult situation. I adore Ekaterin, watching her find her feet, then take a breath, and follow both her head and her heart. Mary Russell is a match for Holmes. Of course she's extraordinary.   While we're here, I'm also going to throw some love to Wonder Woman, and the Birds of Prey when they're well written (i.e. Gail Simone). Because superheroines are awesome. Birds image source Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here . 

Sherlock Holmes, Stephen Maturin, Samuel Vimes, and Lord Miles Vorkosigan. That's one consulting detective, one physician/natural philospher/intelligence agent, one head of the City Watch, and one enthusiastic and eclectic minded leader of men, if you're keeping track. Back in the day, I would have cited my personal trilogy of favorite magic-users: Raistlin (Dragonlance), FireSong (Valdemar) and Naitachal (Bard's Tale). I still have a soft spot for them, actually, though many of those books don't hold up to much re-reading. Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .

The Phantom Tollbooth . I love The Phantom Tollbooth as a fun story, a funny series of metaphors, a well written adventure, and a rallying point for overly thoughtful, intellectual children. If you missed this one as child, it's a fairy-tale style adventure of a bored little boy who is transported to the Kingdom of Wisdom (containing the major cities of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis) and tasked with rescuing the Princesses of Rhyme and Reason to restore order to the land. It's full of puns and colorful characters, including the Awful Din, the Humbug, the Spelling Bee, and the demons who live in the Mountains of Ignorance. Honorable Mention: The Prydain Chronicles , The Cat in the Hat Full schedule of the Reading Meme Here .