My Favorite Books

Books I Love

I was an avid reader long before I ever thought about writing my own stories. Before I learned to read, I can remember my mother reading me Kipling's The Jungle Book and Just So Stories and Edgar Rice Burroughs' fabulous Tarzan books. I give her credit for teaching me the joy of books and the magic of good story telling.

I can't even begin to list all the authors whose work has entertained me over the years. As you'll see from the following list, I read a little bit of everything. Romance, mystery, fantasy, science fiction - it's an eclectic list.

The books I've read most recently are at the top but, after that, they're in no particular order, just however they happened to pop into my head.

	J.K. Rowling - How could I have missed adding the Harry Potter books to this list? I just read the newest installment - Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix - and was reminded of just how much I love Harry and his friends. The latest book is darker than the rest of them but that's pretty much inevitable when you've got a story arc involving a war between good and evil. It's going to get pretty dark before the good guys win. The whole series is a delight but I have to admit that I think the first book is my very favorite.
	Lisa Cach - George & the Virgin - This is an interesting mix of the downright silly - the hero is a pro wrestler who goes back in time to medieval England to slay a dragon - and some very touching and rather complex emotional issues. If your family and friends were willing to sacrifice you to a dragon to save themselves, just how would you feel about the whole thing? Nicely handled and a little out of the ordinary.
	Jim Butcher - Harry Dresden series. How can you not love a series about a wizard who advertises in the Chicago yellow pages? Harry is a great character, very human, despite being a wizard and Jim is building a solid alternate reality with believable rules and a great cast. I have the next couple of books and am looking forward to furthering my acquaintance with Harry and friends.
	Lee Killough - Bloodwalk - This is actually a reprint of two books about Gareth Mikaelian, a detective with the San Francisco Police Department who has a close encounter with a vampire and finds himself craving blood and preferring the night shift. This is really a mystery/cop story with the vampire elements providing an interesting complication.
	J.D. Robb - The Eve Dallas series. Okay, I've been resisting this series. I tried it back when the first book was released and decided it wasn't my cup of tea but certain people - Darla, you know who you are - kept nudging me back to it, telling me I ought to give it another try. So I did and found myself caught up in Eve's world. This is, of course, Nora Roberts writing under the J.D. Robb name.
	Michael Connelly - The Black Echo. First off, I've got to say that I'm not into police procedural novels. And I kept saying that, over and over again as I devoured this book.
	Randy Wayne White - Doc Ford and the Florida setting will almost certainly remind readers of Travis McGee but the books have a wonderful feel that's all their own. If you've been missing McGee, I highly recommend you try this series.
	Patricia Briggs - Dragon Bones. Actually, I've enjoyed everything I've read by this author but I particularly liked Dragon Bones. It's a good, solid fantasy with a nice little twist at the end and an endearing hero. There's also a terrific sequel called Dragon Blood.
	Wen Spencer's Alien Taste - This is an interesting science fiction novel with a contemporary setting and an interesting premise. Ukiah Oregon is a slightly enigmatic and very appealing hero.
	Sharon Lee & Steve Miller - The Liaden books. These are a recent discovery for me and I'm sorry I didn't find them earlier. They're science fiction but driven by character rather than technology. The flavor is a little hard to describe but I'd say it's sort of Andre Norton by way of Georgette Heyer. Unique and very enjoyable.
	Charlaine Harris - Dead Until Dark. A delightful romance/mystery with a vampire love interest. The sequels, Living Dead in Dallas & Club Dead are every bit as much fun. Sookie Stackhouse is a delightful heroine and how can you resist a vampire named Bill?
	J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy - and yes, I was first in line to see the movies!
	John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series. I've been madly in love with Travis since I read the first book when I was about 12 years old.
	Nora Roberts - Pretty much anything she writes is marvelous but I have a special fondness for Public Secrets & Sea Swept.
	Edgar Rice Burroughs - The original Tarzan books are still among the best adventure novels ever written. The Martian books are also wonderful.
	Linda Howard - Her Mackenzie series, in particular.
	Sandra Marton - I'll confess she's a good friend of mine but she also happens to be a terrific writer, which makes it easy to recommend her books.
	Anne McCaffery - the early Pern books are classics. I also loved Restoree, a wonderful romance in an other-world setting.
	Robert Heinlein - I love his earlier works. Farnham's Freehold, Glory Road and The Door Into Summer come to mind.
	Elsie Lee - Classic romantic suspense. Gothic without the clichés. Her books can be hard to find but they're well worth tracking down.
	Andre Norton - Another old favorite. I like her older books best. Try Catseye or the Witchworld series.
	Louis L'Amour - Just about anything he wrote but I particularly love his Sackett books. When I wasn't sighing over Travis McGee, I was mooning over Tell Sackett.
	Emma Bull - War for the Oaks. This is a fantasy/romance with a lot of rock and roll thrown in. Kind of hard to describe but a wonderful read.
	Connie Willis - The Bellwether. This is usually listed under science fiction but you'd have to look hard to find any s/f elements in it. It's a very funny book with a charming heroine.
	P.N. Elrod - The Vampire Files. This wonderful series is sort of Dashiell Hammet meets Dracula. Wonderful characterization and good, solid mysteries.
	Laurell K. Hamilton - Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. The first eight books in this series are especially good. She does a marvelous job of building sexual tension. They are pretty bloody though so be warned if you have a low tolerance for such things.
	Naomi Horton - I've enjoyed everything of hers I've read and I think I've read most of it.
	Georgette Heyer - The one, the only. There are a lot of good authors writing Regencies these days but no one has ever topped Heyer.
	Kate Ross - Speaking of Regencies, Kate Ross did a delightful series of books featuring Julian Kestral, Regency dandy and accidental sleuth.
	Tony Hillerman - Wonderful sense of place, great characters and solid mysteries.
	Elizabeth Cadell - Delightful low-key English romances where the characters always seem to be dashing off to Portugal for a vacation.