Igor

(It's a little late for Halloween, but I found this story jotted in a notebook and thought I'd share it.  If nothing else, it's sure to remind me to do my anti-scoliosis physical therapy.)

His back hurt.  That was one of the constants in his life.  Sometimes it burned or spasmed or shrieked up his neck or down his leg, and usually it ached—as his spine crushed the muscles inside the curves and stretched those outside and pushed his ribs around. He did not know what it was like to be without pain; he had been born twisted.

His mother had been horrified, when he’d emerged, his ear nearly touching his shoulder.  Some of his earliest memories were of horrified faces quickly withdrawn, of repulsed voices asking what was the matter with him.  Nobody ever smiled.

In those days, his parents still had hope that he would grow out of it, and subjected him to many agonizing traction treatments.  But when it became clear the mutation of his spine had damaged his brain, his parents topped bothering.  What was the use?  He would never be able to even speak clearly; grunts and gesticulations were all he could manage.  He was doomed to be the village idiot, no better than an animal.  And everyone knew that animals didn’t have proper emotions or feel pain the way people do.

He knew he was inferior.  For years, he thought “ugly” as much his name as “Igor,” and responded accordingly.  He could not jump or dance like the others; his every attempt at lightness ended in broad clumsiness.

Yet nature had another trick to play on him.  Had he been straight, he would have been a world champion; twisted, he was merely prodigiously strong.  He could lift carts and sheep and fallen trees, and in this way, he earned a slight living—enough that he neither froze nor starved.

In this way, also, he made his tormentors afraid of him.

His heart hurt.  That was another of the constants in his life.  His heart hurt, and he hated everyone.

Then the stranger came.  He was tall and straight, with an aristocratic profile and sleek black hair graying about the temples.  He arrived in an elegant black carriage with an unfamiliar coat of arms painted on the side.

Immediately, Igor jumped forward to hold the horses, hoping for a tip.  The horses did not balk from him as long as they remained under the stranger’s hand.  But the moment the stranger jumped down, the horses kicked and blew, wild to kick him.  Igor hung on grimly, grunting with effort.

The stranger observed this with dark eyes, then laid one hand on the nearest horse’s neck.  Both animals calmed immediately.

“You are strong,” the stranger said, looking Igor up and down.  His voice was cool, neither praising nor condemning, and Igor basked in it.

“I have business to attend do,” the stranger went on.  “Watch my horses while I am gone.”

Igor nodded enthusiastically, even as the stranger strode off.  He remained there nearly three hours, guarding the horses, not moving to the left or to the right.

The stranger returned and saw this.  Without a word of thanks, he mounted his carriage, and tossed Igor a silver coin for his service.

A silver coin was more money than Igor had had in his life.  He stared at it in awe, then clutched it to his chest possessively.

The stranger came visiting often after that, and each time, Igor leapt forward to hold his horses.  When other entrepreneurial souls tried to take his place, he beat them back mercilessly, and the stranger did not rebuke him.

With his increasing wealth, Igor purchased a brush and bucket so he could care for the horses in the stranger’s absence.  He gloried in his newfound position.  But the more proud he became of his duties, the more hostile and suspicious the other villagers became.  Young women had been sickening; some had died.  And always, it was worse after the stranger visited. 

It became so bad that the next time the stranger visited, the villagers met him in a mob, bearing foul-smelling herbs, wild roses, and crucifixes carved from mountain ash.  They surrounded the carriage, and Igor saw they meant to hurt him.  He roared and lunged at them, swinging a stick and breaking bones until they scattered.

On his carriage, the stranger watched coolly, not interfering. “I’m told your name is Igor,” he said, when the last villager had fled.

Igor signed that this was correct.  He knew the stranger’s name, too—Count Dinu. 

“We are alike, Igor,” the Count mused.  “At once monster and human.  Come work for me.  Do all I say, and you shall have food, live in a castle, and have as much money as your shriveled heart desires.”  And he smiled at him.

Igor would have licked burning coals for the Count.  He prostrated himself and swore in gobbled grunts to be his.

Two decades passed.  The Count did not treat Igor well, but he kept his word.  Igor brought him supplies and showed him where beautiful young women lived.  He was despised by all he met, and he despised them in turn.  None could match the Count.

But Igor made a mistake.  The girl he found, a succulent sixteen, was courted by three men, two foreign, each brave and upright.  They waited until noon and then stormed the castle while Igor was away.  In Igor’s absence, they stabbed the Count through the heart, sawed off his head, and stuffed his mouth with foul herbs.

Igor came upon them as they left, congratulating one another and embracing the girl.  Wild, hot agony scorched him and searing cold flooded his brain.  He tore all four of them apart and howled and fell to his knees and beat his chest, but it was too late.  His master was dead, and he could not bring him back.

For a year and a day, he remained in that castle, feral and agonized.  And then he set out into the world, to find a new master.

Setting

I ran a setting workshop.  Here are my notes, based of experience and research.

Setting Workshop

Setting impacts every scene of every book.  It can be used to enhance writing or to detract from it.  Below is a brief set of notes describing the three primary elements of writing setting: 1) Relevance: When should you describe setting?  2) Revealing Setting: Through what method should you convey setting?  3) Descriptive Properties: What should be in setting description?

RELEVANCE: Descriptions should bring immediacy to the world, not stall you out.  Use them for multiple purposes. (“Skid Row,” from Little Shop of Horrors establishes setting, conflict, characters, theme, etc.)

Why does the character care? 

•     Does it affect him/her?  Does it inform perception, identity, or physicality?

•     Does the character affect the setting?

Why should we care? 

•     Is that prop important?  What message/feeling are you trying to get across?  What do we need to understand this scene?

•     Does the setting help the reader better understand the characters’ motivations and backgrounds?

•     Does it help the reader better connect to the story?

•     How does the setting prime reader assumptions?

•     Is it interesting?

How does it add to the world building? 

•     Is it consistent?  (Fact checking!)

•     (Setting can be physical, social, emotional, etc.)

Why is it important to the plot?

•     Does it make sense that your characters are there?

•     Is there symbolic or thematic importance?

•     Does it help move the plot forward?

•     Does it add to or subtract from conflict?

REVEALING SETTING: Setting can be revealed through motion, character perception, or exposition.  Setting can be revealed gradually or all at once.  Generally but not universally, setting is revealed either wide shot to close up or abstract to concrete.  More setting description will slow the book’s pace, so how quickly or slowly do you want to dive into the story?  ( For example: fast action sequences generally have less setting description; slow, tense build-ups generally have more.)

Motion

•     Use action to build setting instead of just description

•     Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”:

“During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher.”

Character Perception

•     Level of experience: Would he know what type of desk the wood was?  Is he in the right state of mind to notice?  How would different characters perceive the same setting?

•     Mood (is the ruin enchanting because they’re in love or creepy because they’re scared?)  (Reader perception and reaction doesn’t have to be the same as character perception – narrative distance.  Does the character think it’s romantic while the reader actually knows it’s dangerous/creepy?)

•     Even a 3rd person narrator has a character and personality and should be consistent.  How do you move the camera?

DESCRIPTIVE PROPERTIES: Regardless of the method used to describe the setting in any particular scene, here are some helpful elements to keep in mind.

Details: What defines the room?  What’s the first thing you see?  What’s unusual about it?  I don’t need to know that the kitchen has a sink.  But if it doesn’t have a sink—that’s weird. 

•     The more precise the detail, the more interesting (my dog is lying against me vs. my dog is curled up against my thigh).

•     Describing in terms of something else—leaves are tresses now.  Don't need to spell it out.

•     Sensory detail: Sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch, temperature, kinesthetic, pain, balance, vibration, direction

•     Locale, time of year, time of day (check accurate sun/moon positions!), elapsed time, weather, climate, geography

•     Effects of time’s passage (What was the Shire like when the Hobbits finally returned?  The movie left out the Scouring of the Shire.  Why did Tolkien think it was so important?)

•     Lack of detail: when is it more tactful not to describe.  What should we not describe?  (Sometimes, a brief, dry, clinical description can be more impactful than a page of gruesome prose.  Understatement of that type often feels more real, especially in contrast.)

Background:

•     Consistency (internally, with world, with character perception, etc.)

•     Do your research: know much more than you put down

•     If it’s boring, cut it

•     Are you excited about your setting?  Do you, the writer, want to spend time there? Does it frighten you, intrigue you?  Or do you not really care?

https://www.novel-writing-help.com/story-setting.html

https://www.nownovel.com/blog/talking-setting-place/

http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/settings.shtml

TL;DR: Should you include setting description?  How should you reveal it?  What should you include or not include?

Telling the Reader that Your Character is Epic

Recently, I read a novel about a woman who suddenly became queen after growing up in near-isolation, and her struggles to keep her throne and her life.  Most of the book was from her point of view, but maybe two-thirds of the way through, we switched to a pair of minor character’s POV for a page-long exchange that went about like this:

Character 1: Our queen’s pretty epic, isn’t she?

Character 2: She sure is!

Character 1: It’s wonderful how she’s going to save us all.

Character 2: It sure is!  Gosh, I’m glad she’s epic!

This didn’t ruin the book for me (the queen’s convenient new superpowers saving everything at the end did that), but it did make me start thinking—What’s the best way to make your character epic?  Because although this clunky attempt failed utterly, I have seen it done well and in multiple different ways, including:

Inconvenient acknowledgement of epicness

Villain acknowledgement: In the second book of Lois McMaster Bujold’s marvelous Vorkosigan series, The Vor Game, an antagonist recognizes Miles from the previous book.  He acknowledges Miles’s ability to talk his way out of any situation . . . and so orders his men to cut out Miles’s tongue if Miles says anything. 

Ally acknowledgement: Similarly, Miles gets into various scraps because people recognize his ability to get them out . . . and assume he’s coming to help him when he’s really trying to just pass innocuously through.  But once they beg him for help, he feels he’s obliged to do so . . .

In both situations, Miles looks epic . . . but naturally and thrillingly so.

Awkward and/or painful acknowledgement of epicness

I’m thinking here especially of a book in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.  The reader is used to seeing Harry Dresden scrape through encounters with beings far more powerful than he.  Since the books are entirely from his first-person POV, we see his fear and effort and luck.  It seems natural.  Then, at one or two points, a couple of his allies tell him how scary he is because he’s so powerful and always seems to win . . .

(Something similar happens to the titular Alex Verus in Benedict Jacka’s books, when a character points out to Verus that people who go up against him almost always end up dead.)

So we get great characterization and plot advancement while being told that Harry and Alex are epic.  And again, it feels natural.  It makes us more sympathetic to the protagonist—not less (and definitely not disgusted, as I felt about the queen after the ham-fisted attempt at epicness described above).

Untrue acknowledgement of epicness

My favorite example of this is actually from a film—Galaxy Quest.  In it, Alan Rickman’s character has a fanboy who tells him over and over how epic he is, until he just has to live up to that epicness.  (Come to think of it, this happens to some extent to all our main characters in that film.)  It’s inconvenient, embarrassing, and ridiculous—and pretty darn epic.

Overall

I don’t think it’s essential to tell the audience flat out that your character is epic, but I do believe that it can be done effectively and pleasingly while preserving good writing, advancing the story, and thrilling the reader.

Carmen Sandiego: Essential Characteristic

 


 Ah, Carmen Sandiego.  Sometimes her hair is auburn, sometimes black.  Sometimes her hatband and scarf are gold, sometimes her hatband and shirt are black.  Her hat is different shapes and sizes, her coat different lengths and styles, her shoes can be red pumps, black pumps, or black boots.  She usually has bright red lipstick and black gloves, but not always . . . and yet she is always recognizably the same character.

The first Doctor Who I ever saw was the second half of the Eight Doctor Movie.  Years later, I recognized the Doctor from a Reader’s Digest list of best sci-fi films . . . except it was the Fourth Doctor.  How in the world did I recognize them as the same person?  Recognize a picture of a guy in a magazine from a different guy in a film I watched years previously?

Rose City Comic Con, 2016.  Black hat
band and collar, auburn hair, black pants,
boots.

Denver Comic Con, 2018.
Gold hat band and scarf, black skirt
and pumps, black hair.  Same lipstick, same
hat with a different band, similar gloves.
(Also: This photo explains so much
about how Carmen gets around in
time and space  . . .)

I’m not a huge cosplayer, but I do like to dress up for Comic Con.  In 2016, I dressed as Carmen Sandiego.  Then this year, my planned costume (the titular character from Alice: Madness Returns) fell through, so I decided to redo Carmen.  Redo . . . but not repeat.

The interesting thing is that I was equally recognized as Carmen in both outfits.  I had dozens of people call after me and quite a few ask for my photo.

The question is: why would this be the case?  Just because different people were familiar with different versions?  I think it's more than that.

(Tip: It’s important to be aware not just of your character’s canon lore, but also the fanon surrounding it.  While I was at it, I memorized some of Carmen’s lines from the various games.  When people called after me, I responded, “Good detecting, detective!” or “You’ll never catch me, gumshoe!” etc.  It was fun, and people seemed to love it.)

In fanon, Carmen has a thing with Where's Waldo.  So I found a few . . . When taking
this photo, quite a few passersby also snapped shots. 
(This is also a demonstration of why you should learn to pose better—
which I did in in most photos but clearly not here!  I'm not posed,
and so I look much less like her than I do otherwise.  Fascinating, no?
But see below.)

 What I learned from this experience is that it’s the essentials of the character that matter.  Carmen likes to tilt her hat in photos—

I only met one other Carmen this year, although my friend said she saw three.

She wears a brimmed red hat and a red trench coat.  That’s literally all you need.  The red lipstick, dyed hair, gloves, color choice, shoe style—all inessential ingredients.

But how you put them together can make the difference between an okay costume and a good costume.  Ask yourself: would Carmen wear this?  She wears and oversized trench coat, so should I?  Well, what would Carmen do?  She is a very stylish lady.  Do you look stylish in that trench coat?  Are you standing stylishly?  Walking with confidence and good posture?

(Tip: if you want people to take pictures of you at Comic Con, look approachable.  I have a bit of RBF, but as long as I kept a slight smile on my face, people stopped me, sang at me, called out to me . . . and generally smiled back.)

This is where we come down to characters.  If you took away the trappings of yours, the nonessentials . . . would you be able to recognize your character?  Can you tell which character is speaking without a dialogue tag?  (J.K. Rowling is the master of unique-sounding characters.  That something I need to work on.)  If I had my eyes closed in a room full of Marvel movie characters whose voices went through distorters, I could tell you which one was Deadpool’s by the way he talked.  Maybe also Iron Man’s.  In the first movie, I could tell you Thor—but he’s now altered beyond recognition.  I couldn’t tell you who the vast majority of others were.  And that’s not even getting to the side characters and the TV shows.

This isn’t an answer, just something to muse on.

What’s essential to a character?  What’s unique?  What can you take away but still have the same person?

And why did one person mistake me for Agent Carter?  The hat?  I think it was the hat.

(In 2016, I went with an Agent Carter, and she got called Carmen more than Carter. . . .)

Concatenation

I played World of Warcraft, off and on, for about a year back around 2006.  I quit because it was expensive, addictive, and not even fun.  Around 2008 or 2009, I became interested in watching machinima—videos made using games, especially but not exclusively World of Warcraft.  I watched a lot of Oxhorn.  I still follow Cranius, who makes videos with Legs.

Probably the most impressive machinima I saw turned out not to be a machinima at all, but rendered animation.  You can watch it here:
The Craft of War: BLIND from percula on Vimeo.

The song is jpop singer Namie Amuro’s “Hide and Seek.”  I have a friend, whom I’ll call Ruby, who is a huge Namie Amuro fan, but I was just uninterested. My elder sister is a huge fan of the Japanese rock group L’arc en Ciel, which I never liked and probably biased me against Namie Amuro. 

Then I saw this video again and again, and the song really grew on me.  I wanted to hear more by the artist, but the few clips I looked up sounded nothing like “Hide and Seek,” and the story might have ended there, except that I became roommates with Ruby.  We lived together almost three years, and in that time, I watching all of Namie Amuro’s music videos and concert DVDs and acquired about eight of her albums and was generally converted into a fan.

Although most of her music still sounds nothing like “Hide and Seek.”  In fact, I get the impression (from her concert DVDs) that she doesn’t even like the song.  Oh, well.

So what was the point of all this?

Namie Amuro recently turned 40 and, after a 25-year music career, decided to retire.  I guess dancing energetically for three hours straight in high heels while singing flawlessly is pretty tough on a body, and one might want to do something different.

Anyway, I received an email from Ruby that had been sent at about 2am saying that Namie Amuro’s ~Finally~ concert was sold out in Japan, but that there were plenty of tickets left in Taipei, Taiwan, in about a month, and would I like to go?

Which is how and why I was in Taiwan for a week.

And it was amazing.

Pushing Past Personal Limits

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a post called Writing Advice, in which I listed the (few) things I believe are necessary for writing well.  I still stand by that post, although I think I’d like to add one item to it:

Writers, get more exercise.

If you’re anything like me, you have a tendency to sit for ages in front of the computer or with a notebook, which is great if you want to look like Jabba the Hutt but not so great if you want actual blood flow to your brain.  So you just sit there, getting stupider, when twenty minutes of exercise would cut right through your writer’s block and overall make you a happier, healthier person.

You’ll also learn a lot about writing action sequences and their after effects.  Have you ever worked out until you wanted to puke and faint?

I did, last week, because I did a high-intensity Zumba . . . my first really serious exercise in seven months.  15 minutes in, I honesty wanted to puke and faint.  I had to put my head between my knees for 30 seconds.  Then I kept going, and the endorphins kicked in.  After 45 minutes of Zumba, I felt like I could dance forever—and love it.

(Boy, was I sore the next day.)

And that’s something a lot of writers don’t bother with: action sequences leave you sore and aching (and often bruised and cut and broken and headachy and weak), and this effects not just what you can do physically, but what you can do mentally.  That hour of Zumba pretty much knocked out my brain for the rest of the day.  But after a week of getting lots of exercise, when I went back . . . I didn’t feel like puking or fainting.  I just felt fantastic.  And it totally worked out my soreness from the strength-training yoga two days earlier.

So exercise not only improves your brain and body, it also teaches you what certain types of exertion feel like.

But that’s not what I sat down to write about—it’s just what reminded me of it.

In my life, two instances stick out to me where I (out of character) exerted myself far beyond what I might have believed possible.  These aren’t necessarily the most exertion I’ve ever gotten—just the ones that I’m amazed at myself about.  Because I didn’t have to do them, and (beforehand), I couldn’t imagine wanting to try.

The first happened when I was maybe eleven years old.  I was a competitive swimmer.  One Saturday, during our dry land training, one of our coaches decided to run a contest: whoever could do the wall sit, with good form, for the longest would get a free PowerAde.

After 15 minutes, she begged us to stop, and promised that the six or seven of us left—er—sitting would all get a PowerAde.

I literally couldn’t walk after that. 

I have never, before or since, done the wall sit for more than a minute.  I’ve never enjoyed the wall sit.  But I did it.  And I got a PowerAde.

Yay?

The thing is, in the end, it wasn’t about the PowerAde.  It wasn’t even about my fellow competitors.  I just kept going because I was keeping going.  I think I would have been there for twice as long, if she hadn’t stopped us.  What madness is this?

The other time was last July 4^th.  I’d been doing Zumba for a couple of months by then, and I was friends with the woman who owned the dance studio.  She asked us to Zumba for the Fourth of July parade through town: 3.5 miles at noon in 95° weather.

I hate heat.  I’m not huge on physical exertion.  I wasn’t in that great of shape.

Our instructors dropped out halfway through.

I danced the whole way.  I was the only one who danced the whole way, and one of only two dancing at the end (my sister danced most of the way, but came over faint near the beginning and had to stop).  I danced through the puke stage, through the elation stage.  I danced through the fatigue stage and through the collapse stage.  I danced until my body’s air conditioning kicked in and I had chills running down my limbs.  I danced beyond all sense, beyond all endurance, and I smiled the whole time.

Why?  Madness?  Masochism?  No: because the people at the end of the parade deserved to see dancing as much as the people at the beginning.

How strange and uncharacteristic those two events—that wall sit and parade Zumba—were for me.  I never would have believed them of myself, but they’re true.  And now I know a little more about myself, and about what will drive me to push myself beyond endurance.

What would push your protagonist to that level?

Story Hook

Went to a writing workshop yesterday, which included a section on hooks. As an exercise, we were told to write a hook, "enough that a reader could get at least a sense of what kind of story it is. A romance? An epic fantasy? A horror story? A story about your cat? An epic horror story about your cat?"

So naturally, I wrote this. And when he asked for volunteers to read aloud, I couldn't resist  . . .

The eyes watched me.

The rest of the cat stalked down in the valley, disemboweling cattle and tormenting sheep, but the rest of the cat didn't matter. It wasn't dangerous. Only the eyes could hurt me now, because the eyes were the windows to the soul, and I was already dead.

I wrote another prompt too, for the fun of it, for a short humorous story I've been meaning for years to write -- "Financial Wizard."  It's about time to do that.

Bribing Cops

 

Three books I love.  One satirical literary fantasy, one Gothic romance horror, one epic high fantasy.  What do they have in common, aside from being amazing?  They’ve all been translated from another language—in these cases, German, French, and Russian.  And I’m currently rereading The Count of Monte Cristo, which is what prompted this post.

About two years ago, I went on a modern books-in-translation binge, especially Russian books.  Since 2016, I’ve read at least twelve books in Russian translation (the best of which is definitely the aforementioned Chronicles of Siala, beginning with Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov, translated by Andrew Bromfield).

One of the most fascinating things about this is one starts to see trends.  Most of the books I’ve read are either British or American (with the occasional Australian/Canadian/Irish/ etc. author thrown in).  Every nationality and culture has its own unique flavor, but all of these, ultimately, came out of the British empire, and so aren’t that different.  I’ve had a little more diversity through editing—I’ve edited for quite a few native Chinese speakers, whether they now live in China, Singapore, the U.S. or elsewhere—but my only real encounter with Russian culture was the semester of Russian I took my first year of college.  (And Russian Sherlock Holmes, of course).  Then I later had more exposure through a friend of mine who is a professional chess player and teacher (and with whom I wrote Game of Kings.)  But learning about a culture in class or hearing funny chess stories is much different than engaging with literature.

Here’s an example:

In every Russian book I read, police officers and guards could be bribed.  Almost all of them, almost always.  Didn’t matter if the books were high fantasy, sci-fi, or low fantasy, you could bribe law enforcement.  In none of these books was this made a big deal of; it was simply a fact of life.

Compare this to British/American stories.  When you find any bribable cop, he’s the exception, and scandalous.

That’s one of the fascinating things, to me, about reading books from less familiar cultures, especially in translation.  Not only will a good translator give you a taste of the language, the writer will give you a taste of something foreign—not through explaining it to you as in a class, but through trends of basic assumptions.

(Well, that and the fact that you have a higher probability of finding higher quality books in translation, since otherwise no one would have bothered to translate them.)

And through those basic assumptions, you begin to see your own assumptions—which may be more or less interesting.

Diana Wynne Jones

Written 2014.

I first had the pleasure of reading one of Diana Wynne Jones’s books when I was twelve years old.  I got it from a bookstore, and it wasn’t the book I intended to buy.  I don’t remember which book I wanted, only that it wasn’t on the bookshelf, and so I regretfully settled for The Homeward Bounders.

I was writing a book of my own at the time, one which involved the protagonist going from world to world for unspecified reasons.  As soon as I read The Homeward Bounders, I knew that here was exactly the book I wanted to write, but simply wasn’t good enough to manage.

Years passed.  One by one, I began to acquire Diana Wynne Jones’s books.  The library had a dozen, but a dozen wasn’t enough.  Besides, what if one was checked out?  What if the library wasn’t open?  What if I wanted to read one, but had no way to get to the library?  I had to own them.

Now it’s 2014.  I never stopped writing (what writer can?), and I never stopped adoring Diana Wynne Jones’s books.  When I, as I invariably do, run out of things to read, I slope over to my bookshelf and glumly look at my collection.  Should I read that?  I’ve read it a dozen times; surely any book pales after that many reads.  (Hers only get better.  How could I have missed so much on my first read?  Or my fifth?)  I pick out one of hers.  I have read her books aloud to my sisters and roommate, and sometimes failed to read them aloud because I was laughing so hard.  I’m never disappointed.

I’m not embarrassed to read what some would call children’s books.  Or if I ever am embarrassed, I remember that I shouldn’t let that stop me.  I learned that from Fire and Hemlock.  I’ve learned so many things from her books over the years.  I’ve learned about people and about writing, about magic and about possibilities, about humor.

This competition says I’m supposed to write about how I’m Diana Wynne Jones’s greatest fan—but, frankly, there’s nothing great or special about my being a fan of hers.  Of course she’s my favorite author.  Of course I read her books again and again.  Of course I admire her work.  But that is not greatness in me; it is greatness in her.

But for myself, I can say this: in all I write, there will always be a little of her, a faint echo of all that I have learned and laughed and enjoyed from her books.  And I suppose that’s greatness of a sort.

How (Not) to Write a Series

So, I’m going to be talking a bit about things that ruin (or at least bring down) book series . . . when I loved the first book.  These aren’t absolute rules; but I do think they’re things to consider when writing.  Thinking about them has certainly prevented me from doing some things I really dislike in other authors.  All of the examples I use below are from real books by good writers.

So, without further ado:

1)      Changing protagonists between books.  I’ve read a couple of trilogies in which each book in the trilogy is written from a different character’s point of view.  In each case, the trilogy gets further and further from the original protagonist, so that that character is barely a footnote in book 3.  Why do I hate this?  Because I get very attached to my protagonists.  I want to read more about them, not about some character I barely know or have never met.

Doing this right: in his Bartimaeus trilogy, Jonathan Stroud adds a protagonist (who does sometimes hold the narrative) for books 2 and 3.  But he doesn’t get rid of his other protagonists.

In the Animorphs series, K.A. Applegate rotates the narrative between six protagonists.

2)      Excessive time lapses between books.  In effect, having excessive gaps between books can be the same thing.  If it’s been 10 years since we last saw our protagonist, who was then about 18, then the protagonist and surrounding characters are, in essence, different characters.  I don’t want to know what happens to the hero in 10 years—I want to know what happens next.

Doing this right: the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher sometimes has a jump between books, but he doesn’t do it in a way that I feel I’ve missed anything.  He fills the reader in.  Basically, the jumps between books are of all the unimportant filler bits—just like the jumps inside books.

3)      Nothing ever changes.  This is in some ways the opposite problem to #2.  Instead of too much changing, nothing ever changes.  Maybe things will sometimes look like they’re going to change, but it’s one step forward, one step back.  Soap operas do this a lot, and I find it very frustrating.  I want things to progress at a reasonable rate!  Otherwise, what’s even the point of having more than one book?

Doing this right: in the Nero Wolfe series, no one ever ages and neither of our protagonists gets married or moves away; they stay the same.  But the story isn’t about them: it’s about the mystery.  And the mystery is different in each book.  Personally, I wish Sherlock Holmes had been written like this . . . indeed, most of the TV show adaptations use this method.

4)      Changing genres between books.  There is a series of books I absolutely love.  They’re action-packed space opera . . . except that book 9 is instead a romance.  Not even a very well-written romance.  This isn’t an insult to romance novels, but if I want to read a romance series, I’ll read a romance series.  You promised me awesome space action, darn it, so what’s this nonsense?

Doing this right: in the Alien franchise, Alien is a horror survival film but Aliens is more of a military sci-fi thriller, Alien 3 is tonally fatalistic, Prometheus is more of a philosophical, exploratory film with horror elements, and Alien: Covenant is a combination.  Every film in the franchise feels like a different genre . . . yet somehow (with the exception of Alien: Resurrection, which felt to me like bad fanfiction), they work together.

5)      Not staying true to your premise: internal consistency.  This is related to #4, but is more internal to books.  It deals with proper and consistent characterization within your world and with consistent world-building.  This one seems to come out particularly in relation to sex.  Many authors, regardless of their settings and characters, write their characters with their, the author’s, sexual mores . . . when it makes zero sense.  If your hero is a very proper, religious, Victorian gentleman faithfully devoted to his fiancée, he should not out of the blue meet a rather rough woman and immediately decide to have sex with her.  Similarly, if your character is in a celibate profession in a world that Takes That Seriously, he should not just decide to get married because you, the author, want some romance.  Write a different character, if that’s what you want.

Doing this right: Harry Potter is a good example.  Rowling expands the universe with each book and lets the protagonists develop naturally.

6)      Not staying true to your characters: I’ve also seen this take the form of either creating caricatures of/writing fanfiction* about your own characters.  I read the sequel to one book, and found all the characters had turned into bizarre, exaggerated versions of themselves.  Then there’s a rather famous book that develops an awesome and intense villain.  Then in book 2, this villain is suddenly the hero with a backstory that’s basically a watered-down version of the hero’s story in book 1.  It’s an absolute waste.  Based on the way it’s written, my theory is that the author fell in love with his/her own character and so decided to retroactively make him “awesome.”  What this actually does is make him weak and pathetic.  This doesn’t mean your characters can’t learn and grow—they should.  But it should be natural growth.

*I love fanfiction, but there’s a time and a place for it.  And it’s for your fans, not you.  You shouldn’t be writing it about your own book.

Doing this right: It’s hard for a character to undergo a major shift while staying the same person, but it can be done.  The trick is to push the character past the breaking point so that a major transition between books/movies makes sense.  Darth Vader managed this between III and IV.  I’m having a hard time thinking of a book example, but I’d love to read one if anyone has a suggestion.

7)      Letting your protagonist get boring: It’s hard to know what to do with a really long series.  Some authors solve this by never letting their characters age—something that works well for detective stories.  But many series want their protagonists to continue to age, and that’s fine.  Just don’t let them get boring!  I don’t mean that your character can’t meet a romantic interest and get married and have kids.  But if your hero has previously been zipping around the galaxy performing heists, then don’t make him stay at home dealing with bureaucratic issues while waiting for the birth of his children.  Give him a spouse who will help him be more exciting, not drag him down.

Doing this right: the Star Wars Expanded Universe (or Legends).  These novels vary in quality, but Timothy Zahn starts us off very strong, and I’d also like to put in a good work for Matthew Stover’s Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. I haven’t read all the post-VI EU books, but the ones I’ve read keep all our heroes in character and interesting/awesome while letting them marry and have children and progress with their lives.

8)      Undoing the ending.  This usually comes about when the original material wasn't written to have a sequel but was then so successful that the maker decided to add a sequel . . . and so retroactively reset the universe (this fits into #2).  Either that, or the sequel is written years later and the writer tries to be realistic by being pessimistic.  So: you know that romance you were rooting for that finally came to pass?  Yeah, it went down the chute after the last installment and you'll never see that person again.  Or that happy ending?  Nah, they died off screen/ between books.  How about everything we've been working for for the entire series?  Disappeared when you weren't watching.  I hate this.  I will sometimes refuse to watch or read a sequel if it does this.  If I care at all about the characters, this will absolutely ruin the entire series for me.

Doing this right: I'm not sure I can think of any example, because the story needs to move forward, not back.  I have seen fanfiction that fixes problems with the source material by creating sequels (like, why did Loki have such a stupid plan in the Avengers?  Well, because he was building towards something else/ his motivation wasn't what people assumed.  I've seen multiple fan sequels that do this very well indeed).  This is, in fact one area in which fanfiction excels: recognizing and fixing problems.

TL;DR: Stay true to the premise and characters you’ve set up in book one, and progress that story at a moderate rate without undoing your ending or progress.

Based on a Real Person

In my career as an editor, I came to realize that the “these characters are based on no living people, living or dead” found in the beginning of only some books is, in many cases, nonsense. 

Of course, no writer writes in a void.  We all pick up ideas from our surroundings: from the people with whom we interact, the places we go, the jobs we work, and the books we read.  Where the wonderful diversity in writing comes from is in how we process these factors.  Take three professional gardeners, male, 30 years old, residents of Butte, Montana, married with two children and have them all read The Lord of the Rings and then write an original short story . . . and you will get three very different stories with perhaps a few connecting elements.

I am the middle of three sisters, separated from the eldest by 1.5 years and the youngest by 2.5 years.  We grew up in the same household, read many of the same books, and wrote.  We have approximately equal levels of intelligence and native writing talent, although I have done by far the most to develop that talent by writing most prolifically.  All of us write fantasy sometimes, but that fantasy is vastly different—not only in basic subject, but in the language we use, the descriptions, the settings, the characters, and so on.

But that’s not where I was going with this.  Where I was going was the phenomenon of basing characters off real people.  Since we don’t live in a void, everyone must necessarily take real life elements and recombine them; but some writers explicitly base characters on real people and some writers do not.

A writing friend of mine and I had a long discussion about this several years ago.  She is the sort of writer who loves basing characters on real people—indeed, does so almost exclusively.  There is practically no character in any of her books not based on a real person.  But contrast, nearly none of my characters are based on real people.  I find that trying to base a character on a real person (and I’ve tried this; some people are just so interesting they need to be written about—or I need some catharsis after dealing with them) makes it impossible for me to write them.  I get stuck in a box, unable to move creatively in directions untrue to the original person but not knowing the original person deeply enough to be interesting.

What sort of writer are you, if you do write—and if not, which do you think you would be?  And why?

Ten Years of Books

"Read more than you write" is one of the primary tenants of good writing.  Well, here we are.  For the past 10 years, I've kept a list of every book I've finished.  Perhaps I missed a book or two; and there is one book that I left off the list entirely, because I didn't want to honor it even that far.  Many books, I reread more than once -- and some, I read nearly every year.  Beginning in 2010, I marked the books I'd never before read with an asterisks.  The greatest compliment I can give a book is to reread it, so if you want recommendations, look to the unstarred books of recent years.

Here, then, is my list:

2007

Stardust – Neil Gaiman

The Book of Mordred – Vivian Vande Velde

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

Witch Dreams – Vivian Vande Velde

Songmaster – Orson Scott Card

Red Planet – Robert A. Heinlein

Sabriel – Garth Nix

Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman

Liriel – Garth Nix

The Enormous Crocodile – Roald Dahl

Interstellar Pig – William Sleator

The Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett

Abhorsen – Garth Nix

Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

Labyrinth – A.C.H Smith

The Fall – Garth Nix

Storm Front – Jim Butcher

Fool Moon – Jim Butcher

Grave Peril – Jim Butcher

Summer Knight – Jim Butcher

Death Masks – Jim Butcher

The Ragwitch – Garth Nix+

Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman

The Crystal Cave – Mary Stewart

Blood Rites – Jim Butcher

Deadbeat – Jim Butcher

Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher

The Dark Side of the Sun – Terry Pratchett

Daughter of the Forest – Juliet Marillier

Good Omens – Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

The Game – Diana Wynne Jones

Furies of Calderon – Jim Butcher

Urban Shaman – C.E. Murphy

Banshee Cries – C.E. Murphy

Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Louis Sachar

Mister Monday – Garth Nix

Wayside School is Falling Down – Louis Sachar

The Merchant of Death – D. J. MacHale

Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger – Louis Sachar

Aunt Maria – Diana Wynne Jones

The Lost City of Faar – D. J. MacHale

The Never War – D. J. MacHale

Grim Tuesday – Garth Nix

A Sudden Wild Magic – Diana Wynne Jones

The Last Juror – John Grisham (read by Terrence Mann)

Ring for Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse

Coraline – Neil Gaiman

White Night – Jim Butcher

No One Noticed the Cat – Anne McCaffrey

Charmed Life – Diana Wynne Jones

Drowned Wednesday – Garth Nix

The Lives of Christopher Chant – Diana Wynne Jones

The Warrior Heir – Cinda Williams Chima

Sir Thursday – Garth Nix

Lady Friday – Garth Nix

Reality Bug – D. J. MacHale

Merlin Part 1: The Old Magic – James Mallory

The Pinhoe Egg – Diana Wynne Jones

MirrorMask – Neil Gaiman

The Hollow Hills – Mary Stewart

Academ’s Fury – Jim Butcher

Black Water – D. J. MacHale

The Rivers of Zadaa – D. J. MacHale

The Quillan Games – D. J. MacHale

Storm Front – Jim Butcher

Conrad’s Fate – Diana Wynne Jones

Merlin Part 2: The King’s Wizard – James Mallory

The Last Enchantment – Mary Stewart

Dave Barry Does Japan – Dave Barry

Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt

Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury

Cart and Cwidder – Diana Wynne Jones

Drowned Ammet – Diana Wynne Jones

The Game – Diana Wynne Jones

Lost Boys – Orson Scott Card

Merlin Part 3: The End of Magic – James Mallory

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling

Magic Street – Orson Scott Card

The Moorchild – Eloise McGraw

The Spellcoats – Diana Wynne Jones

The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Lewis Stevenson

The Crown of Dalemark – Diana Wynne Jones

The Hero and the Crown – Robin McKinley

Dragon’s Milk – Susan Fletcher

Stardust – Neil Gaiman

The Pilgrims of Rayne – D.J. MacHale

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator – Roald Dahl

Fool Moon – Jim Butcher

Dealing With Dragons – Patricia C. Wrede

Searching For Dragons – Patricia C. Wrede

The Thief Lord – Cornelia Funke

Intimations of Mortality – Susan M. Garrett

Grave Peril – Jim Butcher

Treason – Orson Scott Card

Summer Knight – Jim Butcher

The Color of Magic – Terry Pratchett

The Light Fantastic – Terry Pratchett

Death Masks – Jim Butcher

Wintersmith – Terry Pratchett

Dark Lord of Derkholm – Diana Wynne Jones

Year of the Griffin – Diana Wynne Jones

Equal Rites – Terry Pratchett

Skulduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy

How To Be A Vampire – R. L. Stine

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell – Susanna Clarke

Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman

Wyrd Sisters – Terry Pratchett

The Devil You Know – Mike Carey

Blood Rites – Jim Butcher

Dead Beat – Jim Butcher

Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher

The Skiver’s Guide – Diana Wynne Jones

Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë

The Ogre Downstairs – Diana Wynne Jones

You Don’t Have to be Evil to work Here, but It Helps – Tom Holt

Sourcery – Terry Pratchett

Hexwood – Diana Wynne Jones

Guards! Guards! – Terry Pratchett

Great Expectations – Charles Dickens

Men at Arms – Terry Pratchett

Eight Days of Luke – Diana Wynne Jones

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Lewis Stevenson

Feet of Clay – Terry Pratchett

The Last Continent – Terry Pratchett

Nothing But Clear Skies – Tom Holt

The Merlin Conspiracy – Diana Wynne Jones

The Fifth Elephant – Terry Pratchett

Across the Wall: A Tale of Abhorsen and Other Stories – Garth Nix

The Magicians of Caprona – Diana Wynne Jones

Thud! – Terry Pratchett

Carpe Jugulum – Terry Pratchett

Night Watch – Terry Pratchett

Interesting Times – Terry Pratchett

Conrad’s Fate – Diana Wynne Jones

The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly

Jingo – Terry Pratchett

Ill Wind – Rachel Caine

Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots – Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories – Susanna Clarke

The Akhenaten Adventure – P.B. Kerr

2008

Dogsbody – Diana Wynne Jones

The Field Guide – Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

All Hallows’ Eve – Vivian Vande Velde

The Princess Bride – William Goldman

The Night the Heads Came – William Sleator

The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R.R. Tolkien

The Magician’s Nephew – C.S. Lewis

The Seeing Stone – Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Lucinda’s Secret – Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

the Ironwood Tree – Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The Silent Gondoliers – William Goldman

Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You – Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Out of the Silent Planet – C.S. Lewis

The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien

Goblin Quest – Jim C. Hines

Interworld – Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Making Money – Terry Pratchett

The Wrath of Mulgarath – Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

The Return of the King – J.R.R. Tolkien

M Is For Magic – Neil Gaiman

Lud-in-the-Mist – Hope Mirrlees

Nightmare Academy – Dean Lorey

Marathon Man – William Goldman

Corbenic – Catherine Fisher

Witch Week – Diana Wynne Jones

Mixed Magics – Diana Wynne Jones

The Game – Diana Wynne Jones

Archer’s Goon – Diana Wynne Jones

Great-Grandpa’s in the Litter Box – Dan Greenburg

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson

White Night – Jim Butcher

Darkhenge – Catherine Fisher

The Nixie’s Song – Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

Unexpected Magic: Collected Stories – Diana Wynne Jones

The Homeward Bounders – Diana Wynne Jones

Pyramids – Terry Pratchett

Skulduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy

The Invasion – K.A. Applegate

Mister Monday – Garth Nix

Grim Tuesday – Garth Nix

One Beastly Beast (Two Aliens, Three Inventors, Four Fantastic Tales) – Garth Nix

Drowned Wednesday – Garth Nix

Sir Thursday – Garth Nix

Lady Friday – Garth Nix

The Looking Glass Wars – Frank Beddor

Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold – Terry Brooks

The Little Vampire – Angela Somer-Bodenburg

Truckers – Terry Pratchett

The Black Unicorn – Terry Brooks

Sorcerer’s Academy – (edited by) Denise Little

Seeing Redd – Frank Beddor

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland – Diana Wynne Jones

The Night Tourist – Katherine Marsh

The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

Dragon Sleeping – Craig Shaw Gardner

Od Magic – Patricia A. McKillip

Dragon Waking – Craig Shaw Gardner

Dogsbody – Diana Wynne Jones

Small Favor – Jim Butcher

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

Dragon Burning – Craig Shaw Gardner

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness – Andrew Peterson

The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart

Tamsin – Peter S. Beagle

Sabriel – Garth Nix

Interworld – Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

The Wednesday Wars – Gary D. Schmidt

The Truth – Terry Pratchett

Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

Prince Caspian – C.S. Lewis

A Malady of Magicks – Craig Shaw Gardner

Eric – Terry Pratchett

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – C.S. Lewis

The Silver Chair – C.S. Lewis

A Multitude of Monsters – Craig Shaw Gardner

The Mysterious Affair at Styles – Agatha Christie

Acorna: the Unicorn Girl – Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball

The Horse and His Boy – C.S. Lewis

A Night in the Netherhells – Craig Shaw Gardner

The Neverending Story – Michael Ende

The Last Battle – C.S. Lewis

A Difficulty with Dwarves – Craig Shaw Gardner

Something From the Nightside – Simon R. Green

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding – edited by P.N. Elrod

Nightingale’s Lament – Simon R. Green

Hex in the City – Simon R. Green

Paths Not Taken – Simon R. Green

Blue Moon Rising – Simon R. Green

The Green and the Gray – Timothy Zahn

The Hologram’s Handbook – Robert Picardo

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

Superior Saturday – Garth Nix

House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones

Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell – Susanna Clarke

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman (read aloud to Sarah)

Dark Lord of Derkholm – Diana Wynne Jones

Only You Can Save Mankind – Terry Pratchett

 Johnny and the Dead – Terry Pratchett

 The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories – Susanna Clarke

Castle in the Air – Diana Wynne Jones

Her Majesty’s Wizard – Christopher Stasheff

Stardust – Neil Gaiman

Another Fine Myth – Robert Asprin

Homebody – Orson Scott Card

Myth Conceptions – Robert Asprin

Myth Directions – Robert Asprin

Myth-Ion Improbable – Robert Asprin

The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest – Edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Blood and Honor – Simon R. Green

Hit or Myth – Robert Asprin

Deep Secret – Diana Wynne Jones

Going Postal – Terry Pratchett

Making Money – Terry Pratchett

Deathstalker – Simon R. Green

The Merlin Conspiracy – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Sarah)

The Farthest Away Mountain – Lynne Reid Banks

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Bruce Coville

The Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton

Myth-Ing Persons – Robert Asprin

The Man with the Golden Torc – Simon R. Green

Keeper of the King – Nigel Bennett and P.N. Elrod

Half Magic – Edward Eager

Monstrous Regiment – Terry Pratchett

The Boxes – William Sleator

Over to You – Roald Dahl

The Rebel Witch – Jack Lovejoy

Reaper Man – Terry Pratchett

Vampires – edited by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg

The Dragon Quintet – edited by Marvin Kaye

Aunt Maria – Diana Wynne Jones

The Fairy Rebel – Lynne Reid Banks

House of Dark Shadows – Robert Liparulo

The Wizard Lord – Lawrence Watt-Evans

Misspelled – edited by Julie E. Czerneda

The Other Sinbad – Craig Shaw Gardner

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents – Terry Pratchett

A Bad Day for Ali Baba – Craig Shaw Gardner

Invasive Procedures – Orson Scott Card

Down Among the Dead Men – Simon R. Green

Mere Christianity – C.S. Lewis

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire – Derek Landy

Hexwood –Diana Wynne Jones

Sculduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy

The Ragwitch – Garth Nix

Small Favor – Jim Butcher

Lud-in-the-Mist – Hope Mirrlees

Watcher in the Woods – Robert Liparulo

Goblins in the Castle – Bruce Coville

The Magic Thief – Sarah Prineas

The Mediation of Christ – Thomas F. Torrance

The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis

Tunnels – Roderick Gordan & Brian Williams

Roverandom – J.R.R. Tolkien

The Shadow of Malabron – Thomas Wharton

The Amulet of Samarkand – Jonathan Stroud

The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling

Barnaby Grimes: Curse of the Night Wolf – Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Fain the Sorcerer – Steve Aylett

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Barnaby Grimes: Return of the Emerald Skull – Paul Steward & Chris Riddell

Soul Music – Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! – Terry Pratchett

Aliens Ate My Homework – Bruce Coville

2009

House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones

The Golem’s Eye – Jonathan Stroud

The Twits – Roald Dahl

Ptolemy’s Gate – Jonathan Stroud

Jennifer Murdley’s Toad – Bruce Coville

The World’s Worst Fairy Godmother – Bruce Coville

Coraline – Neil Gaiman

The Better Mousetrap – Tom Holt

Beyond the Deepwoods – Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

The Thief of Always – Clive Barker

Stormchaser – Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

The Looking Glass Wars – Frank Beddor

The Official Politically Correct Dictionary and Handbook – Henry Beard & Christopher Cerf

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle – Catherine Webb

Buried Fire – Jonathan Stroud

Midnight over Sanctaphrax – Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

The Leap – Jonathan Stroud

The Last Siege – Jonathan Stroud

The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly

Dracula – Bram Stoker

The Shadow of the Galilean – Gerd Theissen 

The Last of the Sky Pirates – Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

The Lurkers – Charles Butler

Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror – Chris Priestley

Barking – Tom Holt

Seeing Redd – Frank Beddor

Heroes of the Valley – Jonathan Stroud

The Book of Three – Lloyd Alexander

Endymion Spring – Matthew Skelton

The Problem of Pain – C.S. Lewis

Woodenface – Gus Grenfell

The Black Cauldron – Lloyd Alexander

The Castle of Llyr – Lloyd Alexander

Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones – Derek Landy

The Princess and the Goblin – George MacDonald

The Princess and Curdie – George MacDonald

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen – Alan Garner

The Diamond of Drury Lane – Julia Golding

Cat Among the Pigeons – Julia Golding

North Child – Edith Pattou

The Fantastical Adventures of the Invisible Boy – Lloyd Alexander

Fain the Sorcerer – Steve Aylett

Blood and Honor – Simon R. Green

Abarat – Clive Barker

Vox – Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell

Ringmaster – Julia Golding

Greywalker – Kat Richardson

The Ship Between Worlds – Julia Golding

The Silmarillion – J.R.R. Tolkien

The Children of Húrin – J.R.R. Tolkien

Wildwood Dancing – Juliet Marillier

Shade’s Children – Garth Nix

Death in Yellowstone – Lee H. Whittlesey

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or the Murder at Road Hill House – Kate Summerscale

Charmed Life – Diana Wynne Jones

The Lives of Christopher Chant – Diana Wynne Jones

Buried Fire – Jonathan Stroud

Small Favor – Jim Butcher

Turn Coat – Jim Butcher

Test – William Sleator

The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich – Fritz Leiber

The Somnambulist – Jonathan Barnes

Cart and Cwidder – Diana Wynne Jones

Drowned Ammet – Diana Wynne Jones

A Book Dragon – Donn Kushner

The Little Lame Prince – Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

The Secret Country – Pamela Dean

The Hidden Land – Pamela Dean

The Whim of the Dragon – Pamela Dean

Idlewild – Nick Sagan

Sleeper Code – Tom Sniegoski

Sleeper Agenda – Tom Sniegoski

The Amulet of Samarkand – Jonathan Stroud

Corbenic – Catherine Fisher

The Stepsister Scheme – Jim C. Hines

The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles – Julie Edwards

A Curse Dark as Gold – Elizabeth C. Bunce

The Dubious Hills – Pamela Dean

Smith of Wootton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham – J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

A Malady of Magicks – Craig Shaw Gardner

The Golem’s Eye – Jonathan Stroud

Warlock at the Wheel and Other Stories – Diana Wynne Jones

The Spellcoats – Diana Wynne Jones

Ender in Exile – Orson Scott Card

The Crown of Dalemark – Diana Wynne Jones

Parasite Pig – William Sleator

Ptolemy’s Gate – Jonathan Stroud

A Multitude of Monsters – Craig Shaw Gardner

Thief of Time – Terry Pratchett

Backup – Jim Butcher

Storm Front – Jim Butcher

Fool Moon – Jim Butcher

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

Grave Peril – Jim Butcher

Sorcery & Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot – Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

The Skiver’s Guide – Diana Wynne Jones

Death of a Travelling Man – M.C. Beaton

Death of an Outsider – M.C. Beaton

Death of a Perfect Wife – M.C. Beaton

Death of a Snob – M.C. Beaton

The Visitor – K.A. Applegate

Death of a Charming Man – M.C. Beaton

Death of a Nag – M.C. Beaton

The Encounter – K.A. Applegate

The Message – K.A. Applegate

The Predator – K.A. Applegate

The Capture – K.A. Applegate

The Stranger – K.A. Applegate

Wild Robert – Diana Wynne Jones

Horns and Wrinkles – Joseph Helgerson

Eight Days of Luke – Diana Wynne Jones

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

Unexpected Magic – Diana Wynne Jones

Thud! – Terry Pratchett

A Tale of Time City – Diana Wynne Jones

Larklight – Philip Reeve

The Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett

Superior Saturday – Garth Nix

A Hat Full of Sky – Terry Pratchett

Wintersmith – Terry Pratchett

The Leap – Jonathan Stroud

Wilkin’s Tooth – Diana Wynne Jones

Witches Abroad – Terry Pratchett

Tales from the Brothers Grim and the Sisters Weird – Vivian Vande Velde

Witch’s Wishes – Vivian Vande Velde

The Magic Finger – Roald Dahl

Summer Knight – Jim Butcher

The Magic Thief – Sarah Prineas

Three Good Deeds – Vivian Vande Velde

Stopping for a Spell – Diana Wynne Jones

The Changeling War – Peter Garrison

Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett

Tigerheart – Peter David

How to Ditch Your Fairy – Justine Larbalestier

Sorcerer’s Gun – Peter Garrison

Ghosts Who Went to School – Judith Spearing

Time Cat – Lloyd Alexander

The Magic Dead – Peter Garrison

Power of Three – Diana Wynne Jones

The Game – Diana Wynne Jones

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke

Puss in Boots – Diana Wynne Jones

The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Orczy

Conrad’s Fate – Diana Wynne Jones

Fire and Hemlock – Diana Wynne Jones

Yes, Dear – Diana Wynne Jones

The Magic Thief: Lost – Sarah Prineas

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aiken

H.I.V.E. – Mark Walden

Tom’s Midnight Garden – Philippa Pearce

The Thief – Megan Whalen Turner

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl (read by Roald Dahl)

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making – Catherynne M. Valente

The Manual of Detection: A Novel – Jedediah Berry (read by Pete Larkin)

Changeover – Diana Wynne Jones

The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare – G.K. Chesterton

Discordia: the Eleventh Dimension – Dena K. Salmon (read by Nick Podehl)

Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary – Pamela Dean

Skulduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy

Playing with Fire – Derek Landy

The Truth – Terry Pratchett

Odd and the Frost Giants – Neil Gaiman

Small gods – Terry Pratchett

Wild Robert – Diana Wynne Jones

The Seventh Tide – Joan Lennon

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle – Catherine Webb

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy – Jeanne Birdsall

Unseen Academicals – Terry Pratchett

May Contain Traces of Magic – Tom Holt

Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie (read by Jim Dale)

The Fifth Elephant – Terry Pratchett

In Your Dreams – Tom Holt

The Secret Country – Pamela Dean

The Hidden Land – Pamela Dean

The Whim of the Dragon – Pamela Dean

ArchEnemy – Frank Beddor

2010

Tigerheart – Peter David

Heroes of the Valley – Jonathan Stroud

Horns and Wrinkles – Joseph Helgerson

Dark Lord of Derkholm – Diana Wynne Jones

*Instead of Three Wishes – Megan Whelan Turner

Year of the Griffin – Diana Wynne Jones

The Pinhoe Egg – Diana Wynne Jones

Dead Beat – Jim Butcher

Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton

Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher

*Enchanted Glass – Diana Wynne Jones

Superior Saturday – Garth Nix

*Letters From Father Christmas – J.R.R. Tolkien

Across the Wall – Garth Nix

A Bad Spell in Yurt – C. Dale Brittain

*A Short History of Fantasy – Farah Mendlesohn & Edward James

Charmed Life – Diana Wynne Jones

A Bad Beginning – Lemony Snicket

*The Hotel Under the Sand – Kage Baker

The Lives of Christopher Chant – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Thirteen Clocks – James Thurber

Turn Coat – Jim Butcher

*Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers

*The Anvil of the World – Kage Baker

*The Accidental Sorcerer – K.E. Mills

The Witches – Roald Dahl

Jingo – Terry Pratchett

Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Boy – Roald Dahl

*The Children of Green Knowe – L.M Boston, read by Simon Vance

*The Worst Witch – Jill Murphy

*The Gremlins – Roald Dahl

*The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington – Jennet Conant, read by Simon Prebble

*Surprised by Joy – C.S. Lewis, read by Geoffrey Howard

*Carmen – Prosper Mérimée

*The Light Princess – George MacDonald

My Teacher is an Alien – Bruce Coville

*The Pilgrim’s Regress – C.S. Lewis, read by Robert Whitfield

The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

*Lord Sunday – Garth Nix

*The Great Divorce – C.S. Lewis, read by Robert Whitfield

*The Abolition of Man – C.S. Lewis, read by Robert Whitfield

The Faceless Ones – Derek Landy

The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien

Witch Week – Diana Wynne Jones

The Amulet of Samarkand – Jonathan Stroud, read by Simon Jones

*Whose Body? – Dorothy L. Sayers, read by Nadia May

The Last Continent – Terry Pratchett

*The Four Loves – C.S. Lewis

*Clouds of Witness – Dorothy L. Sayers

*The Lost City of Z – David Grann

*Unnatural Death – Dorothy L.Sayers

*The Dragon Book – ed. Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois

The Wood Nymph and the Cranky Saint – C. Dale Brittain

*Crows and Cards – Joseph Helgerson

*The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club – Dorothy L. Sayers

*Ingledove – Marly Youmans

*The Wonderful O – James Thurber

All Things Bright and Beautiful – James Herriot

*The Documents in the Case – Dorothy L. Sayers and Robert Eustace

Mage Quest – C. Dale Brittain

*Strong Poison – Dorothy L. Sayers

Playing With Fire – Derek Landy

Something from the Nightside – Simon R. Green

*Dark Days – Derek Landy

The Other Sinbad – Craig Shaw Gardner

Faust Eric – Terry Pratchett

*Fairest – Gail Carson Levine, read by Sarah Naughton

*The Fairy’s Mistake – Gail Carson Levine

*The Princess Test – Gail Carson Levine

All Creatures Great and Small – James Herriot

*Fly By Night – Frances Hardinge

*The Black Book of Secrets – F. E. Higgins

*Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve

*Barnaby Grimes: Phantom of Blood Alley – Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

*Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense – N.T. Wright, read by Simon Prebble

*The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine – Colin E. Gunton

Mister Monday – Garth Nix

Odd and the Frost Giants – Neil Gaiman, read by Neil Gaiman

Quidditch Through the Ages – J.K. Rowling

Night Watch – Terry Pratchett

Minnow on the Say – Phillipa Pearce

*I Am Not a Serial Killer – Dan Wells

Maskerade – Terry Pratchett

Dogsbody – Diana Wynne Jones

Johnny and the Bomb – Terry Pratchett

*The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden – Catherynne M. Valente

The Witch and the Cathedral – C. Dale Brittain

Hogfather – Terry Pratchett

*A College of Magics – Caroline Stevermer

Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

Maskarade – Terry Pratchett

*Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos – R.L. Lafevers

*Treasure Box – Orson Scott Card

*Magic Below Stairs – Caroline Stevermer

Lords and Ladies – Terry Pratchett

The Last Siege – Jonathan Stroud

The Secret Country – Pamela Dean (read aloud to Elizabeth)

The Hidden Land – Pamela Dean (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Skulduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy (read aloud to Sarah)

*The Once and Future King – T.H. White

The Whim of the Dragon – Pamela Dean (read aloud to Elizabeth)

*Changes – Jim Butcher

*Gifts – Ursula Le Guin

*The Book of Merlyn – T. H. White

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J. K. Rowling

*The Fall – Garth Nix

The Magic Thief: Lost – Sarah Prineas

*Castle – Garth Nix

*Aenir – Garth Nix

*Above the Veil – Garth Nix

*Into Battle – Garth Nix

*The Violet Keystone – Garth Nix

Which Witch – Eva Ibbotson

*The Secret of Platform 13 – Eva Ibbotson

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J. K. Rowling

*From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E. L. Konigsburg

*The Great Ghost Escape – Eva Ibbotson

*The Ghost Rescue – Eva Ibbotson

The Merlin Conspiracy – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones, read by Jenny Sterlin

*Thief of Midnight – Catherine Butzen

*The Challenge of Jesus – N.T. Wright, read by Simon Vance

*The Sherlock Holmes Theatre – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

*The Wizard of London – Mercedes Lackey

The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly

Enchanted Glass – Diana Wynne Jones

*Doctor Dolittle: A Treasury – Hugh Lofting

Men at Arms – Terry Pratchett

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis

M is for Magic – Neil Gaiman

Moving Pictures – Terry Pratchett

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Interworld – Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling

House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones

Treason – Orson Scott Card

The Homeward Bounders – Diana Wynne Jones

Mortal Coil – Derek Landy

Lord Sunday – Garth Nix

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Douglas Adams

Castle in the Air – Diana Wynne Jones

The Last Hero – Terry Pratchett

*Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

*Unseen Academicals – Terry Pratchett

*Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

*Verdigris Deep – Frances Hardinge

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis

Danny Champion of the World – Roald Dahl

*The Ring of Solomon – Jonathan Stroud

Lirael – Garth Nix

I Am Not a Serial Killer – Dan Wells

*Mr. Monster – Dan Wells

Abhorsen – Garth Nix

*Gullstruck Island – Frances Hardinge

Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror – Chris Priestley

*The Ghastlycrumb Tinies – Edward Gorey

North Child – Edith Pattou

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell – Susanna Clark, read by Simon Prebble

*I Shall Wear Midnight – Terry Pratchett

*Tales of Terror from the Black Ship – Chris Priestley

*Spellbinder – Helen Stringer, read by Helen Stringer

Conrad’s Fate – Diana Wynne Jones

*Philosophical Fragments – Johannes Climacus/ S. Kierkegaard

*The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Winnie-the-Pooh¬ – A. A. Milne

The House at Pooh Corner – A. A. Milne

The Ring of Solomon – Jonathan Stroud

*Found – Sarah Prineas

*The Worst Witch Saves the Day – Jill Murphy

*Wizard at Work – Vivian Vande Velde

*Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris – R. L. LaFevers

*The Werewolf’s Guide to Life – Ritch Duncan and Bob Powers

2011

Archer’s Goon – Diana Wynne Jones

The Hotel Under the Sand – Kage Baker

*The Rumplestiltskin Problem – Vivian Vande Velde

*Flight of the Phoenix – R.L. LaFevers

*The Basilisk’s Lair – R.L. LaFevers

*The Wyvern’s Treasure – R.L. LaFevers

The Ellimist – K.A. Applegate

Which Witch – Eva Ibbotson

Hexwood – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Glass Demon – Helen Grant

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card

*Mr Rosenblum’s List – Natasha Solomons

*The Warrior’s Apprentice – Lois McMaster Bujold

*The Vor Game – Lois McMaster Bujold

*Borders of Infinity – Lois McMaster Bujold

Companions of the Night – Vivian Vande Velde

*Spindle’s End – Robin McKinley

*Brothers in Arms – Lois McMaster Bujold

The Four Loves – C.S. Lewis

*Belin’s Hill – Catherine Fisher

*At the House of the Magician – Mary Hooper

Labyrinth – A.C.H. Smith

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories – James Finn Garner

I Shall Wear Midnight – Terry Pratchett

*The Thornthwaite Inheritance – Gareth P. Jones

*Cetaganda – Lois McMaster Bujold

Vertigris Deep – Frances Hardinge

*Mont Cant Gold – Paul R. Fisher

*Mirror Dance – Lois McMaster Bujold

*Memory – Lois McMaster Bujold

Changes – Jim Butcher

*Barrayar – Lois McMaster Bujold

Pentecost Alley – Anne Perry, read by David McCallum

The Warrior’s Apprentice – Lois McMaster Bujold, (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Cart and Cwidder – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Servants – M.M. Smith

Blood Rites – Jim Butcher

*Komarr – Lois McMaster Bujold

*A Civil Campaign – Lois McMaster Bujold

*The Last Tsar: the Life and Death of Nicholas II – Edvard Radzinsky, read by David McCallum

*The Bone Collector – Jeffery Deaver, read by David McCallum

The Lord God Made Them All – James Herriot

Tertiary Phase – Doublas Adams, read by Simon Jones

*Memoirs from the House of the Dead – F.M. Dostoevsky

*Diplomatic Immunity – Lois McMaster Bujold

The Manual of Detection – Jedediah Berry, read by Pete Larkin

*The Changeover – Margaret Mahy

*Ghost of a Chance – Rhiannon Lassiter

Ptolemy’s Gate – Jonathan Stroud

Mixed Magics – Diana Wynne Jones

Deep Secret – Diana Wynne Jones

*Cryoburn – Lois McMaster Bujold

*Side Jobs – Jim Butcher

A Sudden Wild Magic – Diana Wynne Jones

Puss in Boots – Diana Wynne Jones, read by Sarah

The Ogre Downstairs – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Vampire Affair – David McDaniel

*User Unfriendly – Vivian Vande Velde

Curses, Inc. – Vivian Vande Velde

*The Sharing Knife: Beguilement – Lois McMater Bujold

*Shards of Honor – Lois McMaster Bujold

*The Lost Gate – Orson Scott Card, read by Stefan Rudnicki and Emily Janice Card

*Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – Douglas Adams

Fly by Night – Frances Hardinge

Dark Lord of Derkholm – Diana Wynne Jones, (read aloud to Elizabeth)

*Darkly Dreaming Dexter – Jeff Lindsay

*Dearly Devoted Dexter – Jeff Lindsay

*Dexter in the Dark – Jeff Lindsay

*Dexter by Design – Jeff Lindsay

*Dexter is Delicious – Jeff Lindsay

Year of the Griffin – Diana Wynne Jones

*Falling Free – Lois McMaster Bujold

*The Man with Two Left Feet and Other Stories – P.G. Wodehouse

*Unforgettable – Eric James Stone

*Quick Service – P.G. Wodehouse

*The Innocence of Father Brown – G.K. Chesterton

*The Wisdom of Father Brown – G.K. Chesterton

*The Eight Doctors – Terrence Dicks

*The Bodysnatchers – Mark Morris

*War of the Daleks – John Peel

*The Thousand Coffins Affair – Michael Avallone

*The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss

Mr. Monster – Dan Wells

*I Don’t Want to Kill You – Dan Wells

*The Doomsday Affair – Harry Whittington

*The Seven Towers – Patricia C. Wrede

Blue Moon Rising – Simon R. Green

*The Android’s Dream – John Scalzi

*Jack the Giant Killer – Charles de Lint

*Agent to the Stars – John Scalzi

*Among Others – Jo Walton

Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman

*Old Man’s War – John Scalzi

*Banquets of the Black Widowers – Isaac Asimov

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson, read by David Warner

*Ghost Brigades – John Scalzi

Warlock at the Wheel and Other Stories – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Bird’s Nest – Shirley Jackson

*Chalice – Robin McKinley

*Tales of the Black Widowers – Isaac Asimov

*Alchemy – Margaret Mahy

*Time for the Stars – Robert Heinlein

*The Witchcraft of Salem Village – Shirley Jackson

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making – Catherynne Valente

*The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley

*Beauty – Robin McKinley

*The Last Colony – John Scalzi

*The Incarnation of the Word of Christ – St. Athanasius

*The Magic Wings – Diane Wolkstein

House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones

The Dubious Hills – Pamela Dean

*Welcome to the Jungle – Jim Butcher

*Wise Man’s Fear – Patrick Rothfuss

*Ghost Story – Jim Butcher

*Firebird Anthology

*Spiderman: the Darkest Hours – Jim Butcher

*Old Friend of the Family – Fred Saberhagen

Homeward Bounders – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Being Dead – Vivian Vande Velde

*Nevermore – Keith R.A. DeCandido

*The Stone Fey – Robin McKinley

*Confessions of a Tax Collector – Richard Yancey

*Dragon Slippers – Jessica Day George

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland – Diana Wynne Jones

Heir Apparent – Vivian Vande Velde

Backup – Jim Butcher

*The Illyrian Adventure – Lloyd Alexander

The Vor Game – Lois McMaster Bujold

Borders of Infinity – Lois McMaster Bujold

*All Things Wise and Wonderful – James Herriot

*Fuzzy Nation – John Scalzi

Nightfall and Other Stories – Isaac Asimov

*Hana Kimi (1) – Hisaya Nakajo

*Angelmass – Timothy Zahn

*The Door in the Hedge – Robin McKinley

*Book of a Thousand Days – Shannon Hale

*A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L'Engle

*A Wind in the Door – Madeleine L'Engle

*Manta's Gift – Timothy Zahn

*A Well-Timed Enchantment –Vivian Vande Velde

*Green Rider – Kristen Britain

Never Trust a Dead Man – Vivian Vande Velde

The Alien – K.A. Applegate

The 13 Clocks – James Thurber

*Aesop's Fables – Aesop

Little House on the Prairie – Laura Ingalls Wilder

White Night – Jim Butcher

Dealing with Dragons – Patricia C. Wrede

*Earwig and the Witch – Diana Wynne Jones

*Frogspell – C.J. Busby

Searching for Dragons – Patricia C. Wrede

Calling on Dragons – Patricia C. Wrede

Talking to Dragons – Patricia C. Wrede

*God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament – Richard Bauckham

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

*Works of Love – Søren Kierkegaard.

*World War Z – Max Brooks

*The Ogre of Oglefort – Eva Ibbotson

*The Iron King – Julie Kagawa

Witch Dreams – Vivian Vande Velde

Dark Days – Derek Landy

Mortal Coil – Derek Landy

*Death Bringer – Derek Landy

*Mansfield Park – Jane Austen

*Persuasion – Jane Austen

Death Masks – Jim Butcher

Witches Abroad – Terry Pratchett

*A Night of Blacker Darkness – Dan Wells

Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain 1942 – War Department, Washington D.C.

*The Ghost of Shadow Vale – Jonathan Stroud

*Snuff – Terry Pratchett

*Throne of Jade – Naomi Novik

Carpe Jugulum – Terry Pratchett

*His Majesty's Dragon – Naomi Novik

Agent to the Stars – John Scalzi

Archer’s Goon – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Elizabeth)

*Black Powder War – Naomi Novik

2012

Wilkin’s Tooth – Diana Wynne Jones

Ghost Story – Jim Butcher

*Empire of Ivory – Naomi Novik

*Victory of Eagles – Naomi Novik

Cetaganda – Lois McMaster Bujold

Komarr – Lois McMaster Bujold

Cryoburn – Lois McMaster Bujold

*The Death of Yorik Mortwell – Stephen Messer

Feet of Clay – Terry Pratchett

*Working Stiff – Rachel Caine

*Resonance – Chris Dolley

*Theology and the Problem of Evil – Kenneth Surin

Power of Three – Diana Wynne Jones

*Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: the Social and Literary Context – David Instone-Brewer

Memory – Lois McMaster Bujold

*You Buy Bones – Marcia Wilson

*First Flight – Robin McKinley

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Fire and Hemlock – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Elizabeth)

A Night of Blacker Darkness – Dan Wells (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins

*Plot it Yourself – Rex Stout

The Android’s Dream – John Scalzi (read aloud to Elizabeth)

*Partials – Dan Wells

*A Confusion of Princes – Garth Nix

The Sign of the Four – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Eight Days of Luke – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Blood and Honour – Simon Green

Brothers-in-Arms – Lois McMaster Bujold

Wild Robert – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Elizabeth)

The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien (audio book)

Winnie-the-Pooh – A.A. Milne

Complete Guide to Guys – Dave Barry

The Secret Country – Pamela Dean

The Hidden Land – Pamela Dean

The Whim of the Dragon – Pamela Dean

Cauldron Spell – C.J. Busby

Verdigris Deep – Frances Hardinge

*Cursor’s Fury – Jim Butcher

I Don’t Want to Kill You – Dan Wells

Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Thief of Midnight – Catherine Butzen

*Etiquette (17th Edition) – Emily Post

*The Hollow City – Dan Wells

*Sunshine – Robin McKinley

*Captain’s Fury – Jim Butcher

Chalice – Robin McKinley

*Dragonhaven – Robin McKinley

Beauty – Robin McKinley

The Merlin Conspiracy – Diana Wynne Jones

*A Face Like Glass – Frances Hardinge

*Blue Diablo – Ann Aguire

*Flora Segunda – Ysabeau S. Wilce

*White Cat – Holly Black

*The Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan

*Red Glove – Holly Black

*Black Heart – Holly Black

*The Demon’s Covenant – Sarah Rees Brennan

*The Demon’s Surrender – Sarah Rees Brennan

*Deerskin – Robin McKinley

*The Changeling Prince – Vivian Vande Velde

The Ring of Solomon – Jonathan Stroud (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Mission Veritas – John Murphy (read aloud to Elizabeth

Enchanted Glass – Diana Wynne Jones

Earwig and the Witch – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Poison Study – Maria V. Snyder

*Cold Days – Jim Butcher

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (read aloud to Elizabeth)

*Tales of Terror from the Tunnel’s Mouth – Chris Priestley

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens (read aloud to Elizabeth)

2013

*The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There – Catherynne M. Valente

*Unspoken – Sarah Rees Brennan

*Unlock the Einstein Inside: Applying New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart in Your Child – Dr. Ken Gibson with Kim Hanson and Tanya Mitchell

*View From the Imperium – Jody Lynne Nye

*Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh – Robert C. O’Brien

Death Masks – Jim Butcher

Sunshine – Robin McKinley

*Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance – Lois McMaster Bujold

*Little One-Inch and Other Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories – Tuttle

*Intermix Nation – M.P. Attardo

Partials – Dan Wells

*Fragments – Dan Wells

*Dragon and Thief – Timothy Zahn

*Dragon and Soldier – Timothy Zahn

*An Unexpected Apprentice – Jody Lynne Nye

*A Forthcoming Wizard – Jody Lynne Nye

A Bad Spell in Yurt – C. Dale Brittain

The Wood Nymph and the Cranky Wizard – C. Dale Brittain

*Wishbringer – Craig Shaw Gardiner

*The Black Dudley Murder – Margery Allingham

*Fairy Godmothers, Inc. – Jenniffer Wardell

Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman

The Time of the Ghost – Diana Wynne Jones

*Mystery Mile – Margery Allingham

*The Dark Lake – Anthea Carson

*Call Me Jane – Anthea Carson

Wizard at Work – Vivian Vande Velde (read aloud to Elizabeth)

*Deadly Pink – Vivian Vande Velde

The Silver Chair – C.S. Lewis

*Thin Ice – Anthea Carson

*Police at the Funeral – Margery Allingham

*Stolen – Vivian Vande Velde

*Death of a Ghost – Margery Allingham

*A Hidden Magic – Vivian Vande Velde

*Descendants of Darkness – Yami no Matsuei

*The Code Book – Simon Singh

*The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman

Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen

Buried Fire – Jonathan Stroud (read aloud to Elizabeth)

The Haunting – Shirley Jackson

The Demon’s Lexicon – Sarah Rees Brennan

*Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Grace Lin

Dragon of the Lost Sea – Laurence Yep

Cold Days – Jim Butcher

*The Magical Adventures of Prunella Bogthistle – Deva Fagan

*Jinx – Sage Blackwood

*The Wizard of Oz – L. Frank Baum

*The Land of Oz – L. Frank Baum

*Ozma of Oz – L. Frank Baum

*The Icarus Hunt – Timothy Zahn

*Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz – L. Frank Baum

*Night Train to Rigel – Timothy Zahn

*The Third Lynx – Timothy Zahn

*The Road to Oz – L. Frank Baum

The Hollow City – Dan Wells (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Turn Coat – Jim Butcher

*The Cuckoo’s Calling – Robert Galbraith

*The Emerald City of Oz – L. Frank Baum

*The Patchwork Girl of Oz – L. Frank Baum

*Child of Fire – Harry Connolly

*Trading in Danger – Elizabeth Moon

Puss in Boots – Diana Wynne Jones

*Odd Girl Out – Timothy Zahn

*Shadows – Robin McKinley

*The Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris

*The Screaming Staircase – Jonathan Stroud

Snuff – Terry Pratchett

The Amulet of Samarkand – Jonathan Stroud

*Airs above the Ground – Mary Stewart

The Screaming Staircase – Jonathan Stroud (read aloud to Elizabeth)

Spindle’s End – Robin McKinley

The Genesis of Jazrael – Jeannie Ingraham

*The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings – Kevin Crossley-Holland

Angelmass – Timothy Zahn

Frogspell – C.J. Busby

Cauldron Spells – C.J. Busby

The Changeling Prince – Vivian Vande Velde

The Conjurer Princess – Vivian Vande Velde

*The Domino Pattern – Timothy Zahn

*Frogged – Vivian Vande Velde

*Ghost of a Hanged Man – Vivian Vande Velde

*Tuesdays at the Castle – Jessica Day George

2014

*Wednesdays in the Tower – Jessica Day George

The Cuckoo’s Calling – Robert Galbraith

Jinx – Sage Blackwood

*Jinx’s Magic – Sage Blackwood

Spider-Man: the Darkest Hours – Jim Butcher

*Hyperbole and a Half – Allie Brosh

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

*The Scarecrow of Oz – L. Frank Baum

*Between Silk and Cyanide: a Codemaker’s War 1941-1945 – Leo Marks

The Wonderful O – James Thurber

*Double Cross: the True Story of the D-Day Spies – Ben Macintyre

Now You See It . . . – Vivian Vande Velde

Dragon Sleeping – Craig Shaw Gardner

Dragon Waking – Craig Shaw Gardner

Dragon Burning – Craig Shaw Gardener

*Influence: the New Psychology of Modern Persuasion – Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D.

The Changling War – Peter Garrison

The Sorcerer’s Gun – Peter Garrison

The Magic Dead – Peter Garrison

The Warrior’s Apprentice – Lois McMaster Bujold

The Vor Game – Lois McMaster Bujold

*Last Stand of Dead Men – Derek Landy

*The End of the World – Derek Landy

The Kingdom of the Wicked – Derek Landy

*Ruins – Dan Wells

Death Bringer – Derek Landy

*Dark Whispers – Chris Blaine

*Judgment at Proteus – Timothy Zahn

The Worst Witch – Jill Murphy

*Redshirts – John Scalzi

*Cuckoo Song – Frances Hardinge

*Raising Steam – Terry Pratchett

*I Heard That Song Before – Mary Higgins Clark

*Stillwatch – Mary Higgins Clark

*I’ll Walk Alone – Mary Higgins Clark

*Heir to the Empire – Timothy Zahn

*Skin Game – Jim Butcher

*The Islands of Chaldea – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Luck of Relian Kru – Paula Volsky

*All Around the Town – Mary Higgins Clark

*Heart’s Blood – Juliet Marillier

*Portal to E’ewere – Irma Walker

*Slaves of the Volcano God – Craig Shaw Gardner

*Bride of the Slime Monster – Craig Shaw Gardner

*Dark Force Rising – Timothy Zahn

*The Silkworm – Robert Galbraith

*The Curse of the Witch-Queen – Paula Volsky

*The Last Command – Timothy Zahn

Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones

Charmed Life – Diana Wynne Jones

I Am Not a Serial Killer – Dan Wells (read aloud to Elizabeth)

*Next of Kin – Dan Wells

*Israel Rank: the Autobiography of a Criminal – Roy Horniman

*By These Ten Bones – Clare B. Dunkle

The Magicians of Caprona – Diana Wynne Jones

The Pinhoe Egg – Diana Wynne Jones

The Ghost of Shadow Vale – Jonathan Stroud

Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary – Pamela Dean

*The Dying of the Light – Derek Landy

Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen

Persuasion – Jane Austen

*The Whispering Skull – Jonathan Stroud

Cloaked in Red – Vivian Vande Velde

The Cuckoo’s Calling – Robert Galbraith

The Silkworm – Robert Galbraith

*The Maleficent Seven – Derek Landy

*Bunnincula – Deborah and James Howe

Archer’s Goon – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Amityville Horror – Jay Anson

*Clariel – Garth Nix

Sabriel – Garth Nix

*Howliday Inn – James Howe

Lyrael – Garth Nix

Abhorsen – Garth Nix

The Creature in the Case – Garth Nix

*The Celery Stalks at Midnight – James Howe

*Nighty-Nightmare – James Howe

The Icarus Hunt – Timothy Zahn

*Return to Howliday Inn – James Howe

Skin Game – Jim Butcher

Hexwood – Diana Wynne Jones

Skulduggery Pleasant – Derek Landy

The Ragwitch – Garth Nix

Conrad’s Fate – Diana Wynne Jones

Side Jobs – Jim Butcher

The Demon’s Covenant – Sarah Rees Brennan

The Demon’s Surrender – Sarah Rees Brennan

*Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allen Crow – James Howe

Shadows – Robin McKinley

Blue Moon Rising – Simon R. Green

Mansfield Park – Jane Austen

*Emma – Jane Austen

The Spellcoats – Diana Wynne Jones

The Crown of Dalemark – Diana Wynne Jones

*How to Train Your Dragon – Cressida Cowell (read by David Tennant)

*Killing Floor – Lee Child

A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

*The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two – Catherynne M. Valente

 

2015

*Mars Evacuees – Sophia McDougal

The Book of Lost Things – John Connolly

*How to Be A Pirate – Cressida Cowell (read aloud by David Tennant)

Earwig and the Witch – Diana Wynne Jones (read aloud to Sarah)

Next of Kin – Dan Wells

Mr. Monster – Dan Wells

I Don’t Want to Kill You – Dan Wells

*Anno Dracula – Kim Newman

*How to Speak Dragonese – Cressida Cowell (read aloud by David Tennant)

*Icespell – C.J. Busby

Dragon of the Lost Sea – Laurence Yep

*How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse – Cressida Cowell (read aloud by David Tennant)

Dragon Steel – Laurence Yep

*A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons – Cressida Cowell (read aloud by David Tennant)

*Dreamer’s Pool – Juliet Marillier

*How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale – Cressida Cowell (read aloud by David Tennant)

*Moonraker – Ian Fleming (read aloud by Simon Vance)

*Ten Little Indians – Agatha Christie (read aloud by Norman Barrs)

*The Perilous Gard – Elizabeth Marie Pope

Dracula – Bram Stoker (read aloud by Audible cast)

Dragon Cauldron – Laurence Yep

*Rebecca – Daphne duMaurier

Dragon War – Laurence Yep

*The Lost Princess of Oz – L. Frank Baum

*How to Ride a Dragon’s Storm – Cressida Cowell (read by David Tennant)

Fain the Sorcerer – Steve Aylett

*Swordspell – C.J. Busby

*Sapphire and Steel – Peter J. Hammond

*The Red House Mystery – A.A. Milne

*Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog) – Jerome K. Jerome

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson (read by David Warner)

*How to Break a Dragon’s Heart – Cressida Cowell (read by David Tennant)

*The ABC Murders – Agatha Christie (read by unknown)

*The Vampire Tapestry – Suzy McKee Charnas

*Interview with the Vampire – Anne Rice (read by Simon Vance)

The Manual of Detection – Jedidiah Berry

*The Sherwood Ring – Elizabeth Marie Pope

*Ivanhoe (abridged) – Sir Walter Scott (read by David Warner)

Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers

*Mary Poppins Comes Back – P.L. Travers

*Mary Poppins Opens the Door – P.L. Travers

*The Crime Studio – Steve Aylett

*The Ruby Tear – Suzy McKee Charnas

Hogfather – Terry Pratchett

*Life Among the Savages – Shirley Jackson

*The Vampire Lestat – Anne Rice (read by Simon Vance)

*The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work – Suzette Haden Elgin

My Friend the Vampire – Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

How to be a Vampire – R. L. Stein

The Vampire Moves in – Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

*The Bronze King – Suzy McKee Charnas

The Vampire Takes a Trip – Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

*The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense – Suzette Haden Elgin

*The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus – L. Frank Baum

*The Mystery of the Yellow Room – Gaston Leroux

*The Silver Glove – Suzy McKee Charnas

*Japanese Fairy Tales – Yei Theodora Ozaki

The Innocence of Father Brown – G.K. Chesterton

*The Golden Thread – Suzy McKee Charnas

*The God Collector – Catherine Butzen

*The Little Vampire in Danger – Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

The Little Vampire in Love – Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

*Dave Barry’s Homes and Other Black Holes – Dave Barry

*Not in the Flesh – Ruth Rendell (ready by Simon Vance)

Dave Barry Does Japan – Dave Barry

A College of Magics – Caroline Stevermer

Magic Below Stairs – Caroline Stevermer

*The Perfume of the Lady in Black – Gaston Leroux

*More on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense – Suzette Haden Elgin

Emma – Jane Austen

Aunt Maria – Diana Wynne Jones

*Beast Charming – Jenniffer Wardell

*The Phantom Clue – Gaston Leroux

Fairy Godmothers, Inc. – Jenniffer Wardell

Deep Secret – Diana Wynne Jones

The Secret Country – Pamela Dean

The Hidden Land – Pamela Dean

The Whim of the Dragon – Pamela Dean

Spider-Man: the Darkest Hours – Jim Butcher

A Sudden, Wild Magic – Diana Wynne Jones

The Rebel Witch – Jack Lovejoy

The Book of Mordred – Vivian Vande Velde

*Darkwater – Catherine Fisher

*The Silver Crown – Robert C. O’Brien

Dealing With Dragons – Patricia C. Wrede

Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Louis Sachar

The Ghost Wore Gray – Bruce Coville

*To Hold the Bridge – Garth Nix

*The Devil’s Only Friend – Dan Wells

Winnie the Pooh – A.A. Milne

*Book of Enchantments – Patricia C. Wrede

The Ghost of Shadow Vale – Jonathan Stroud

A Confusion of Princes – Garth Nix

*Nine Goblins – T. Kingfisher

*The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison

Carpe Jugulum – Terry Pratchett

*A Well-Timed Enchantment – Vivian Vande Velde

Wizard at Work – Vivian Vande Velde

*Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

Chalice – Robin McKinley

*Deep Amber – C.J. Busby

Heroes of the Valley – Jonathan Stroud

*The Ghost in the Third Row – Bruce Coville

*Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – John le Carré

*Murder One: a writer’s guide to homicide – Mauro V. Crovasce & Joseph R. Paglino

The Whispering Skull – Jonathan Stroud

The Screaming Staircase – Jonathan Stroud

The Golem’s Eye – Jonathan Stroud

*Perverting the Course of Justice – Inspector Gadget

*The Spy Who Came In From the Cold – John le Carré

Ptolemy’s Gate – Jonathan Stroud

East – Edith Pattou

*Midnight Magic – Avi

*The Shepherd’s Crown – Terry Pratchett

*Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training – Tom Jokinen

*Does This Mean You’ll See Me Naked? – Robert D. Webster

Dead Beat – Jim Butcher

Ghost Story – Jim Butcher

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

Mansfield Park – Jane Austen

*The Hollow Boy – Jonathan Stroud

The Silkworm – Robert Galbraith

Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen

*The Lie Tree – Frances Hardinge

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

*Just the Facts, Ma’am: a writer’s guide to investigators and investigation techniques – Greg Fallis

Cold Days – Jim Butcher

Summer Knight – Jim Butcher

Down Among the Dead Men – Simon R. Green

Mister Monday – Garth Nix

Grim Tuesday – Garth Nix

Drowned Wednesday – Garth Nix

Sir Thursday – Garth Nix

Lady Friday – Garth Nix

Superior Saturday – Garth Nix

Lord Sunday – Garth Nix

*Career of Evil – Robert Galbraith

*Hawk and Fisher – Simon R. Green

*Winner Take All – Simon R. Green

*The God Killer – Simon R. Green

The Icarus Hunt – Timothy Zahn

*Conquerors’ Pride – Timothy Zahn

Heir Apparent – Vivian Vande Velde

*Dragon Amber – C.J. Busby

Dragon’s Bait – Vivian Vande Velde

The Shining – Stephen King

Angelmass – Timothy Zahn

*The Dark Crusader – Alistair MacLean

*What Makes Love Last?: How to build trust and avoid betrayal – John Gottman and Nan Silver

A Night of Blacker Darkness – Dan Wells

*A Pear-Shaped Funeral – Dan Wells

*The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi

Blood Rites – Jim Butcher

Dark Lord of Derkholm – Diana Wynne Jones

Year of the Griffin – Diana Wynne Jones

*The Golden Rendezvous – Alistair MacLean

Clariel – Garth Nix

Buried Fire – Jonathan Stroud

*South by Java Head – Alistair MacLean

The God Collector – Catherine Butzen

*Night Without End – Alistair MacLean

*Deadman Switch – Timothy Zahn

The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis

Surprised by Joy – C.S. Lewis

*Santorini – Alistair MacLean

Life Among the Savages – Shirley Jackson

 

2016

*The Spirit Lens – Carol Berg

*Ice Station Zebra – Alistair MacLean

*The Soul Mirror – Carol Berg

*Raising Demons – Shirley Jackson

*Newt’s Emerald – Garth Nix

*The Daemon Prism – Carol Berg

*The Satan Bug – Alistair MacLean

Manta’s Gift – Timothy Zahn

*If Death Ever Slept – Rex Stout (read by Michael Prichard)

*Bear Island – Alistair MacLean

*Breakheart Pass – Alistair MacLean

*Fer-De-Lance – Rex Stout (read by Michael Prichard)

*Plot it Yourself – Rex Stout (read by Michael Prichard)

*Homocide Trinity – Rex Stout (read by Michael Prichard)

*The Way to Dusty Death – Alistair MacLean

*Before Midnight – Rex Stout (read by Michael Prichard)

Roverandom – J.R.R. Tolkien

*A Family Affair – Rex Stout (read by Michael Prichard)

*Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson

*The League of Frightened Men – Rex Stout

The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison

Mansfield Park – Jane Austen

*The Rubber Band – Rex Stout

*Puppet on a Chain – Alistair MacLean

*Caravan to Vaccares – Alistair MacLean

*The Guns of Navarone – Alistair MacLean

The Hollow Boy – Jonathan Stroud

*When Eight Bells Toll – Alistair MacLean

*The Golden Gate – Alistair MacLean

*Outbound Flight – Timothy Zahn

The Rising Force – Dave Wolverton

*Scoundrels – Timothy Zahn

The Satan Bug – Alistair MacLean

*Fear Is the Key – Alistair MacLean

The Field Guide – Holly Black (read by Mark Hamill)

*Night Watch – Sergei Lukyanenko (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

*The Forgotten Room – Lincoln Child

*Sorcerer to the Crown – Zen Cho

*Fated – Benedict Jacka

*Shadow Prowler – Alexey Pehov (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

*Shadow Chaser – Alexey Pehov (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

*Shadow Blizzard – Alexey Pehov (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

*Cursed – Benedict Jacka

*Twilight Forever Rising – Lena Meydan (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

*The Scar – Sergey and Marina Dyachenko (translated by Elinor Huntington)

*The Third Gate – Lincoln Child

*Taken – Benedict Jacka

*The Genome: A Novel – Sergei Lukyanenko (translated by Liv Bliss)

*Chosen – Benedict Jacka

The Dark Crusader – Alistair MacLean

*Hidden – Benedict Jacka

*Veiled – Benedict Jacka

*Burned – Benedict Jacka

*Clean – Alex Hughes

The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson (read by David Warner)

*River of Death – Alistair MacLean

*Survivor’s Quest – Timothy Zahn

*The Sea of Trolls – Nancy Farmer

*Cat Stories – James Herriot

All Creatures Great and Small – James Herriot

*Labyrinth of Evil – James Luceno

*Ghost King – David Gemmell

*Enchanted, Inc. – Shanna Swendson

*Once Upon Stilettos – Shanna Swendson

*Damsel Under Stress – Shanna Swendson

*Don’t Hex with Texas – Shanna Swendson

*Much Ado About Magic – Shanna Swendson

*The Secret Ways – Alistair MacLean

*Favorite Norse Myths – Mary Pope Osborne

*Odin’s Family: Myths of the Vikings – Neil Philip

Bear Island – Alistair MacLean

Eight Days of Luke – Diana Wynne Jones

Enchanted Glass – Diana Wynne Jones

*Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Norse – Leonard Everett Fisher

The Game – Diana Wynne Jones

All Things Bright and Beautiful – James Herriot

The Devil’s Only Friend – Dan Wells

The End of the World – Derek Landy

The Golden Rendezvous – Alistair MacLean

*Over Your Dead Body – Dan Wells

*Bluescreen – Dan Wells

Odd and the Frost Giants – Neil Gaiman

*Norse Gods and Heroes – Morgan J. Roberts

*Ghoul Goblin – Jim Butcher

*Cloak – Timothy Zahn

*The Last Wish – Andrzej Sapkowski

*Sword of Destiny – Andrzej Sapkowski

*Blood of Elves – Andrzej Sapkowski

*Survival of the Prettiest – Nancy Etcoff

*Labyrinth of Reflections – Sergei Lukyanenko

*Demon Road – Derek Landy

*Revenge of the Sith – Matthew Stover and George Lucas

*The Five Love Languages – Gary Chapman

*Queen Amidala – Jude Watson

*Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor – Matthew Stover

*Lady Susan – Jane Austen

*The Creeping Shadow – Jonathan Stroud

*The King’s Speech – Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

Persuasion – Jane Austen

*Goldenhand – Garth Nix

*Thor’s Wedding Day – Bruce Coville

Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen (read by Elizabeth Klett)

*The Land of the Silver Apples – Nancy Farmer

*The Vampyre; A Tale – John William Polidori

*Murder and Mayhem – Randall Garrett

*Too Many Magicians – Randall Garrett

*Books of Adam: the Blunder Years – Adam Ellis

*Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and Other Stories – John Taylor (read by Benedict Cumberbatch)

*Death in a White Tie – Ngaio Marsh (read by Benedict Cumberbatch)

*Embers – Laura Bickle

*Final Curtain – Ngaio Marsh (read by Wanda McCaddon)

*Doctor Strange: The Oath – Brian K. Vaughan

*The Golden One – Deborah Chester

*Extreme Makeover – Dan Wells

*Crystal Bones – C. Aubrey Hall

*The Crimson Claw – Deborah Chester

*A Wreath for Rivera – Ngaio Marsh (read by Wanda McCaddon)

 

2017

*The Rise of Darth Vader – James Luceno

*Pawn’s Gambit and Other Strategems – Timothy Zahn

*Artists in Crime – Ngaio Marsh (read Benedict Cumberbatch)

*Scales of Justice – Ngaio Marsh (read by Benedict Cumberbatch)

Shadow Prowler – Alexey Pehov (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

*The Crystal Eye – Deborah Chester

*Court of Fives – Kate Elliott

*Shades of Milk and Honey – Mary Robinette Kowal

*The Midnight Queen – Sylvia Izzo Hunter

*Darth Plagueis – James Luceno

*The Girl with Ghost Eyes – M. H. Boroson

Pyramids – Terry Pratchett

Thief of Midnight – Catherine Butzen

*Fell the Angels – Catherine Butzen

*Between Two Thorns – Emma Newman

*Any Other Name – Emma Newman

*All Is Fair – Emma Newman

The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work – Susette Haden Elgin

*The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – N.K. Jemisin

*Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King – William Joyce & Laura Geringer

*The Troll With No Heart in His Body and other Tales of Trolls, from Norway –  Lise Lunge-Larsen

*Ash & Bramble – Sarah Prineas

*The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch – Joseph Delaney

*Curse of the Bane – Joseph Delaney

*The Warded Man – Peter V. Brett

*Night of the Soul Stealer – Joseph Delaney

*Attack of the Fiend – Joseph Delaney

*Ghost Prison – Joseph Delaney

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

Night Train to Rigel – Timothy Zahn

The Third Lynx – Timothy Zahn

Odd Girl Out – Timothy Zahn

The Domino Pattern – Timothy Zahn

Judgment at Proteus – Timothy Zahn

*The Tin Woodman of Oz – L. Frank Baum

Fated – Benedict Jacka

Cursed – Benedict Jacka

Taken – Benedict Jacka

Chosen – Benedict Jacka

Hidden – Benedict Jacka

Veiled – Benedict Jacka

Burned – Benedict Jacka

*Bound – Benedict Jacka

*Miss Ellicott’s School for the Magically Minded – Sage Blackwood

*Pawn – Timothy Zahn

*The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster

Stolen – Vivian Vande Velde

Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird – Vivian Vande Velde

*Warhorse – Timothy Zahn

*Thrawn – Timothy Zahn

*Nothing Left to Lose – Dan Wells

Over Your Dead Body – Dan Wells

Shadow Chaser – Alexey Pehov (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

Shadow Blizzard – Alexey Pehov (translated by Andrew Bromfield)

Curses, Inc. – Vivian Vande Velde

The Islands of Chaldea – Diana Wynne Jones

*Chasers of the Wind – Alexey Pehov

The Green and the Gray – Timothy Zahn

*The Diviners – Libba Bray

House of Many Ways – Diana Wynne Jones

Puppet on a Chain – Alastair MacLean

*Hand It to Bandit – Sandy Bacon Harding

Caps for Sale – Esphyr Slobodkina

Eric – Terry Pratchett

*The Face in the Frost – John Bellairs

The House with a Clock in Its Walls – John Bellairs

*The Figure in the Shadows – John Bellairs

When Eight Bells Toll – Alastair MacLean

*Madness – Marya Hornbacher

*The Center Cannot Hold – Elyn R. Saks

Blood and Honor – Simon R. Green

The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison

*Blind Descent – James M. Tabor

Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer

*The Deep Zone – James M. Tabor

Deadman Switch – Timothy Zahn

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

The Creeping Shadow – Jonathan Stroud

*The Empty Grave – Jonathan Stroud

Mansfield Park – Jane Austen

*Hell House – Richard Matheson

Dracula – Bram Stoker

*The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear – Walter Moers (trans. John Brownjohn)

*The City of Dreaming Books – Walter Moers (trans. John Brownjohn)

*The Lair of the White Worm – Bram Stoker

*Forever on the Mountain – James M. Tabor

Sunshine – Robin McKinley

*Rumo – Walter Moers (trans. John Brownjohn)

Shadows – Robin McKinley

*Partisans – Alastair MacLean

Scoundrels – Timothy Zahn

*The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books – Walter Moers (trans. John Brownjohn)

*The Bear and the Nightingale – Katherine Arden

Night Without End – Alastair MacLean

*Crispin: Cross of Lead – Avi 

*The Peculiar – Stefan Bachmann

Emma – Jane Austen

Ice Station Zebra – Alastair MacLean

*The Little White Bird – J.M. Barrie

Cetaganda – Lois McMaster Bujold

*Murder Most Unladylike – Robin Stevens

*The Whatnot – Stefan Bachman

*The Doubtful Guest – Edward Gorey

*Resurrection – Derek Landy

*13 Days of Midnight – Leo Hunt