Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice - The Rising Force (by Jude Watson, I think). Before I knew what a really good book was, this book captivated me. I thought it was the best book I'd ever read. Now it's woefully inadequate, but I'll always remember this book as one that made me sweat and shiver with excitement.
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The first time I read the first three books, I read them each in one sitting. They're so engrossing, exciting, and entertaining. I've stopped reading them so fast only because of their ever-increasing length and because I now read them out loud to my mother and brother. (Can't wait for book seven!!!
)
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Maybe it was just because I was on a six-hour bus trip when I read it, but I couldn't stop reading for more than five minutes or so. That book is wonderful, and I was thrilled when I saw on IMDb that someone's at least planning to make a movie of it.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Again, I was on a long bus trip and had basically nothing else to do but read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and would immediately recommend it to anyone who likes thoughtful, psychological books.
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. That book had like three climaxes! I put down everything else and just read and read and read. I didn't like the rest of the trilogy as much, but that first book was good.
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I read the majority of it in one day. It's so funny and wonderful, and it didn't hurt that I'd seen the Miyazaki movie of it and wanted to see how similar it was.
Myst: The Book of Atrus by Rand and Robyn Miller. Quite apart from my interest in it because of the Myst games, it was a wonderful book. My dad expressed surprise and maybe even exasperation that someone had made a book of a video game, but aren't the Myst games centered around books anyway? I loved the romance in it too.
Well, that's all that comes to mind right now. I'm sure there are others, though....
You can find out things about the past that you never knew. And from what you've learned, you may see some things differently in the present. You're the one that changes. Not the past.
- Ellone, Final Fantasy VIII
"There's a difference between maliciously offending somebody - on purpose - and somebody being offended by...truth. If you're offended by the
truth, that's your problem. I have no obligation to not offend you if I'm speaking the truth. The truth is
supposed to offend you; that's how you know you don't got it."
- Brad Stine