Ranting & raving is something I do periodically on this blog. Look for the “rants and raves” category for past rants and raves.
A little while ago (Gasp! Almost two years!), I did a Reading Rave post about how I love book recommendations by authors. I like a good list of recs, and in that post I found recommendations by Kristen Cashore, Rachel Neumeier, Linnea Sinclair, Holly Black, Shannon Hale, Garth Nix, Ann Aguirre, and Diana Peterfreund. I thought it would revisit the idea with some MORE recommendations.
More Author Recommendations:
Franny Billingsley lists her favorite books as a kid in her FAQ. These include the funny (like The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley and Once on a Time by A. A. Milne) and the more serious (like The Doll’s House by Rumor Godden and Mistress Masham’s Repose by T. H. White). I have not heard of any of these, but they all look charming and old-school in a good way. I’m very curious.
Tamora Pierce is the official QUEEN of recommendations. I hit the motherload on her site when I found.. am I counting this right? THIRTY? lists broken down into categories and year! Looks like Chachic pointed this out to me the last time I did this author rec post and I guess I forgot. Anyway – mind happily blown! There’s Recommended SF/F for Teens, Gifted 8-Year Old Booklist, The So Not White Medieval Europe Booklist… it goes on and on people. I’m focusing on her Ultimate Ever Fantasy List at the moment, where I’m eying Caroline Stevermer’s A College of Magics and A Scholar of Magics, Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell, The Gods In Winter by Patricia Miles, A Sorcerer’s Treason by Sarah Zettel, and Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, but there’s so many more books on here.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips recommends “Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels, Laura Kinsale’s Flowers in the Storm, Jill Barnett’s Bewitching, and Pam Morsi’s Simple Jess” in the historical romance genre. She’s a “big fan of Kristin Hannah, Patricia Gaffney, and Sarah Bird”, enjoys the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz (looks interesting to me), and Margaret Watson, Cathie Linzand, and Jayne Ann Krentz in the romance genre. She reads non-fiction as well and has some recs there too.
Marie Brennan has a lot of fantasy recommendations on her site (if you go to this link, her list is clickable – each title takes you to her review). I agree with her recs that I’ve read, like War For the Oaks by Emma Bull and Sunshine by Robin McKinley, but there’s a lot here I haven’t read that I’m interested in, like The Magicians and Mrs Quent by Galen Beckett, Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede, and Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear.
Speaking of Elizabeth Bear, she has book reports on her blog where she recommends Caitlìn R. Kiernan’s The Drowning Girl: A Memoir, Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora and its sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, Saladin Ahmed’s Throne of the Crescent Moon, and more.
Juliet Marillier answers a question about influences in her FAQ with a list of some of her favorite books: “these include the Lymond Chronicles (Dorothy Dunnett), John Crowley’s Little, Big, a young adult book called The Catalogue of the Universe by Margaret Mahy, and Women who run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, which examines the power of story in terms of women’s psychology. And Tove Jansson’s Moomintroll books!”
Phew! That’s a lot of recs. Any books up there you agree are good books people (and maybe me in particular?) should read? Any lists I missed and should be aware of?
specficromantic 
Oh, gosh. DEALING WITH DRAGONS is totally worth reading. The whole series, really. It’s middle grade but hysterical.
I like hysterical. *adds to want list*.
I really enjoyed Caroline Stevermer’s College of Magics and Scholar of Magics. I haven’t read Wrede’s Dealing with Dragons, but she and Stevermer collaborated on Sorcery and Cecilia and a sequel, a couple of epistolary novels that I found charming. Lisa Lutz’s Spellman Files is funny and offbeat, with a heroine who is fresh and original. Hope you try them and like them.
Yay, I was hoping someone would advocate the Caroline Stevermer books because I was really eying that duology (is it a duology or are there more?)
I read Sorcery and Cecilia but not the sequel. I had not heard of the Spellman Files at all, but they look like a lot of fun, so I’m going to have to check those out too.
OMG, I am such a slave for author book recommendations. There are a lot of books I’ve read because of them, and some of those books have been AMAZING (like Diana Wynne Jones). This is the second time I’ve seen Dealing With Dragons suggested in a week (I’m actually pretty sure I own this, but that it’s sitting on a shelf in my parent’s house and I never read it), and I really want to check it out now. Loving the Franny Billingsley kid’s read list! Thanks, Janice!
It’s funny how there is an overlap too. I saw ONCE UPON A TIME by A. A. Milne a couple of times, and different books by Rumor Godden were recommended by a lot of people (I think at least 3 people on this list here).
I’m glad you like the post!
It’s been two years since your post about author recs? I still remember that! Wow Janice, we’ve been friends for a while. 😛 I love the lists in Tamora Pierce’s website, I should drop by and check them out again. Dorothy Dunnet keeps getting recommended over at Sounis and I remember I started reading The Game of Kings but couldn’t get into the writing – hmm maybe I should try again soon. And I need to try Susan Elizabeth Phillips – Flannery (of The Readventurer) recommended her when were chatting about contemporary romance.
Well… something like 1 year and 9 months really.
Oh I like Susan Elizabeth Phillips. The humor is great. But I think a little hit or miss for me so far (I’ve only read maybe 3 of her books and she has a backlog).
This is the fourth rec for Lord of Scoundrels that I’ve seen recently. I am a sucker for romances with naughty bits in them. IT IS AT THE LIBRARY. It will be mine….oh yes. It will be mine.
Oh really! Are there naughty bits? I think you should read and then review this one so I can make up my mind about whether I should pick it up. 🙂
Lol. The cover would indicate naughty bits. Though we all know covers can be deceiving . . . 🙂
I adore the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz! Definitely a great recommendation.
I’m going to check out a few of the other fantasy books there 🙂
That’s two votes so far for the Spellmans. I will definitely give those a try.
Pingback: Links Luau #2 | aboutthestory
Pingback: Links Luau #2 - On Starships and Dragonwings