Books I’ve Loved…

There are several books (and authors) that I couldn’t place in either Follow That Author! or Other Amazing Authors.  The former is for authors who blog (some more regularly than others) about aspects of writing.  The latter I’ve used for authors whose posts aren’t necessarily book-related.  This page… this page is for those authors whose books I enjoy just as much as those on the other pages, but who don’t post at all.  Or very rarely.  At least, so far as I’ve noticed….

Michael Reisman

Michael Reisman’s (“pronounced ‘Reeseman’, not ‘Riceman'”) books are fun.  If it weren’t based on the laws of physics, I’d call the books magical.  Simon Bloom, The Gravity Keeper and Simon Bloom: The Octopus Effect take the laws of the natural world and give them almost super-power status.  It takes all that “boring” science you never wanted to learn at school and makes it fun.

And, of course, you don’t want to miss out on a book told by an official Narrator.

Michael Buckley

I’ve been enjoying the Sisters Grimm series for several years now.  It takes all the fairy tales (fine, most of the fairy tales) you’ve ever heard of and makes them real.  Literally.

If Beauty, the Beast, giants, and the Frog Prince (as well as the Pied Piper, Miss Muffet, her Spider, and lots of others) are real, why haven’t you heard more about them?  Better read up on Sabrina and Daphne’s exploits to find out!

Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011)

Personally, I’m having trouble accessing Diana Wynne Jones’s website, so I don’t know what it’s like at all.  I thought I’d play it safe and put her here.

Anyway, I grew up with Diana Wynne Jones’s books.  When I think of her books, I think of magic twisted with science, and plot twists so ingenious and unexpected it hurts to think about – but in a good way.  I particularly love her Chrestomanci series (The Nine Lives of Christopher Chant, Charmed Life, Witch Week, Magicians of Caprona, and – more recently – The Pinhoe Egg and Conrad’s Fate).  I love her alternate-universe system (any time a major event occurs, the world splits into two – one world where the event took place and one where it didn’t).  Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air are also great fun (and, naturally, much better than the movie.  Not that the movie wasn’t… interesting.  You just can’t top a good book).  She’s written lots of books, and each is amazing.  One summer I decided to read as many as I could.  Each was different, and each had exceptional plot-twists where you least expect them.  Archer’s Goon and Dogsbody, The Dalemark Quartet (Cart and Cwidder, Drowned Ammet, The Spellcoats, and The Crown of Dalemark), and the Darkholm books (Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin) are more of my favorites.

Alexander Key

My mom exposed me to Alexander Key’s books when I was in middle school.  After reading The Forgotten Door, I said that it was such a good book that I’d be able to read it several times in a row without getting tired of it.  It’s a fairly short read, and I’ve managed to prove myself right on at least one occasion.  That book is one of my all-time favorites (I know I say that a lot, but I mean it this time.  Which isn’t to say that I don’t the other times – oh, you know what I mean!).

While I was growing up, my family had a copy of the movie Escape to Witch Mountain – I was pleasantly surprised several years ago to learn that Escape to Witch Mountain (the movie) is based off of Escape to Witch Mountain (the book), written by (you guessed it) Alexander Key.  He also wrote Return From Witch Mountain (based off the movie, this time).  He’s written many other good books, many of which I believe to be Out Of Print.  Very sad.  Just as sad, I’ve not been able to find an official website for his books.  I found this, but that’s more a listing of his books than anything.  Better than nothing, though.

Spencer Johnson

I found out about The Present a few years ago, and it’s changed my perspective on life.  I read Who Moved My Cheese and One Minute For Myself a year or so later, and they were amazing (pun not intended)!  The books tell me nothing I don’t already know, but it’s the way things are said, not what is said, that makes these books truly remarkable.  I’ve been recommending these books to friends and family ever since.  They’ll change your life (but in a good  way!)!

Christopher Stasheff

Now, I couldn’t find this author’s website – but that’s no reason not to read his books! My mom introduced me to his Wizard in Rhyme series some time ago.  Those books are ingenious!  You might say he’s a regular Wizard when it comes to words….


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