Fionen

Thanks for the suggestions, Chrissy. Jasper Fforde sounds like a good read. I have read two books by Neil Gaimain: The Graveyard Book, I loved, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane was just okay. I really like how subtle he is with his writing. Like sometimes if there is a being with magical abilities in his book, he doesn't do the typical paragraph about what the being is labeled (ie. vampire, werewolf, faerie) and everything it is capable of doing. He lets you figure it out for yourself. I will give one of the other two books suggested a try. I know I am asking for books written for grown-ups but oddly enough, I think I prefer his YA stuff. lol

Athena, I found your list of favorite books. It was very helpful. Michelle, The Machine sounds interesting and I loved Frankenstein. Thanks everyone.

Thanks for the suggestions, Spaceh. I should probably give Terry Pratchett a try since everyone seems to love him so much. I'm sure some of his books have grown-up main characters. As for The Lord of the Rings, I dunno if I'd be able to get through them. I have had several people tell me that they can be tedious. Btw, I just want to make it clear to everyone that I don't mind if there is religion in a book. However, I do mind when an author is obviously against my religion and makes it a point to keep bringing it up throughout the book. Stating ones beliefs is different than bashing someone else's beliefs.

I don't like most Romance novels but I have read a couple of the Urban Fantasy series Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs and will probably read more of them in the future because they include so many cool creatures. So far they have had werewolves, vampires, faeries (which is actually the larger category of "The Fae" so like Nymphs, Selkies,and Gremlins), demons, witches, and shape shifters. Each book tends to focus on some crime that has happened in Mercy's town and of course she gets involved and plays detective to sort out what is really going on. Part of her reasoning is to keep the peace between the magical beings and humans. You might also like The Host by Stephenie Meyer which is a Sci-fi with some romantic relationships thrown in. It is very different from Twilight. I forgot they made a movie based on it... so if you saw the movie and didn't like it, just know that the book is better. My last suggestion is another Urban Fantasy, The Autumn Castle by Kim Wilkins.

I have mostly read YA. Favorite YA: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken Seraphina by Rachel Hartman Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The Old Kingdom/Abhorsen Chronicles by Garth Nix and Harry Potter Favorite non-YA: Wool by Hugh Howey The Host by Stephenie Meyers (I hated Twilight though, too much like a romance novel.) Giants of the Frost by Kim Wilkins (I LOVE her fantasy books but with each new book she pushes harder towards Paganism and against Christianity... I don't enjoy reading about how much the author despises me... ) Edit: Forgot to include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams because I didn't know if it goes in YA or non-YA. Right now I tend to be drawn to books that have some kind of twist on the typical genres. Like with Wool it was the dystopian subject but the new thing was that they were in a self-sustaining silo underground. I hadn't seen that take on it before. Giants of the Frost was really interesting because of the Norse mythology. Gregor the Overlander is a nice go to because of all the giant talking bugs/animals. For when I'm bored of reading about humans I guess. lol

If I take out the swearing requirement will it mean that people have suggestions? I only put the swearing thing in because I hated reading Catcher in the Rye with the swearing every other sentence. It was so irritating.

I'm in my 30's now and sick of reading Young Adult books but don't know where to start. I'm looking for books that: have a main character that is at least 25 years old are in the fantasy, sci-fi, or paranormal genre are NOT from the Romance genre and don't contain a bunch of descriptive sex don't have a lot of swearing (some swearing is okay) don't contain incestuous relationships (remind anybody of a certain popular series?)

I ended up using part of the card on birthday gifts for my bookworm sisters. That left enough for me to get Magyk (Septimus Heap #1) by Angie Sage. Roxi, I will get around to reading the Coldfire series. It sounds great.

Hmm... Roxi is so passionate about The Coldfire Trilogy that I might have to go with that one. lol I'll give it another day to see if anybody else wants to chime in. I'm going to get the first book of one of the epic fantasy series and one of the YA fantasy series. Ben, I have heard of His Dark Materials. My sister owns it so I'll borrow it from her someday. Has anybody read the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series by Greg Keyes? Well, that eliminates Kushiel's Dart. I was already on the fence about it so bye-bye, Kushi.

I have a gift certificate for Barnes and Noble so I'm trying to figure out which books to buy. I've looked through some of the fantasy book suggestions on this forum and Goodreads but I just can't decide. To give an idea of what I like, some of my favorite series are Children of the Changeling by Greg Keyes, The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix, Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce, and Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. I have a shortlist so tell me which series you think I'd like best. You can suggest series that aren't on the list. Keep in mind that if its a super popular series, I've already heard about it, and its not listed for a reason. The reason might be that I've read it, my sister owns the series so I don't need to buy it for myself, or I'm just not interested in reading it. Here are the series I'm considering: Canavan, Trudi - Black Magician Trilogy Carey, Jacqueline - Kushiel's Legacy Cashore, Kristin - Graceling Croggon, Alison - Pellinor Series Duncan, Dave - King's Blades Duncan, Dave - Seventh Sword Fanney, Robert - Luthiels Song Feist, Raymond E. - The Riftwar Saga Friedman, C.S. - The Coldfire Trilogy Hale, Shannon - The Books of Bayern Haydon, Elizabeth - Symphony of Ages Hobb, Robin - The Farseer Trilogy Kay, Guy Gavriel - The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy Kay, Guy Gavriel - Tigana Moore, Leslie Ann - Griffin's Daughter Trilogy Mull, Brandon - Fablehaven Sage, Angie - Septimus Heap Sanderson, Brandon - Mistborn Spencer, Wen - Tinker Sullivan, Michael J. - The Riyria Revelations Williams, Tad - Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn

*pushes Asian historical fiction into the ring* I read The Good Earth in high school and loved it. Unfortunately it doesn't make the deadline. Are there any good Asian classics? o_O

I have major motion sickness so reading in the car is impossible.

It was a typical November day. A Worthy Legacy - Tomi Akinyanmi

Okay. :/ I sent an e-mail on Wednesday to get some help but I haven't received a reply. I guess all I can do is send another one and hope somebody gets back to me. *shrug*

So nobody else is having trouble logging in?

I'm still unable to log into LibraryThing.

The Black Cauldron - Lloyd Alexander

Where the Red Fern Grows - Wilson Rawls

Leaden, self-important silence isolated the chief surgeon's office from the clamor of the hospital and the clangor of the street outside. The Serpent's Shadow - Mercedes Lackey

I also had a hard time getting into it and I struggled to keep going during the dull parts. There were so many times that I wanted to ditch it for something else. It's the first book I've read in a while so I was determined to finish. Otherwise I would have thrown it out the window. I am glad I read it but it's not on my list of books to recommend.

She said her name was Alison Simms. Whispers and Lies - Joy Fielding

Our Lady Peace - Waited Hit the ground, Weighed down again You walked out But I'm sure you're my friend It must have been good This can't be for good Everyone's ... Is everyone ok I waited But I must be too dumb to be proud Because I waited, I waited Woke to sounds I prayed you were there I fell back down But I'm sure you still care The Juliana Theory - Into The Dark Dad, your boy is about to fall. He walks the razor's edge. He's on the brink of fading out. He's at his bitter end. Dad, your boy who used to run, you taught him how to crawl. He left home to find his own, now all he had is gone.

Mating Rituals of the North American Wasp by Lauren Lipton

Welcome. I've also been checking out the bands listed. I've found a few that I haven't heard of and really love. I think it was Grey's Anatomy that introduced me to Tegan & Sara. I only have one song of theirs "Where Does the Good Go". I'll have to listen to their other songs. I listened to some Keri Noble and love her! Our Lady Peace is one of my favorite bands. There are two songs in my playlist by Something Coporate: I Woke Up In A Car and Punk Rock Princess. I had no idea that the singer moved onto Jack's Mannequin. I've never even heard of that band. I listened to them the other night and they are awesome. Thanks for the tip!

Format: Hardcover 640 pages Date of publication: October 11th 2005 Publisher: Candlewick ISBN: 0763628808 The Dream Merchant by Isabel Hoving is about a twelve year old boy named Joshua Cope who is recruited by Gippart International as a salesman (or rather salesboy). Gippart specializes in selling merchandise to people in the dream world, also referred to as umaya. They don't usually enlist twelve year olds but they feel that Josh has a special gift and they need him for an urgent umaya mission; to find the legendary people known as the Tembe. This book has two modes: I can't-wait-to-read-what-happens-next and I will-die-if-I-have-to-read-one-more-sentence. It goes back and forth every couple of chapters during the first half of the book. Then all of a sudden the writing gains consistency and the book shines. Chapter sixteen is by far my favorite part and the fact that Hoving was capable of writing it shows a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it relapses just in time to detract from the ending. As a whole the book isn't very good but it has a lot of charming aspects. Racial diversity is included throughout the entire book. I feel that Hoving put a lot of thought into developing each character and their cultural ties. I also found it to be unpredictable. Just when I thought I knew where the story was headed it went in another direction. It was a nice change. Then there is Zizi, a little green love-bird, who belongs to Josh and joins him on his quest. At first I thought the idea was a bit dumb but I grew to love Zizi and her adorableness. Ultimately, I have to give The Dream Merchant only 3 out of 5 stars. There are a few really wonderful parts that I will remember for a long time, if not indefinitely, but I'm never going to read it again. It was such a pain to get past the dull parts. Although, if Isabel Hoving were to write another fantasy book, I would read it. She has the ability to write an amazing piece of fantasy literature and hopefully she will someday.