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Young Writers Society


Suggestions for Summer Reading



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Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:11 am
BrokenSword says...



Does anyone have good recommendations for really good books? I'm going to be going to Barnes and Noble for my birthday, and I really don't know what's good and what's not (I usually get a book that sounds good, but really isn't that great once I start reading it).

Thanks!
  





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Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:35 am
snap says...



What kind of stuff do you like to read? Fantasy? Historical? Sci-Fi? Romance? I'll do my best to help!! :)
The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.
~ Robert Cormier
  





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Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:46 am
BrokenSword says...



Oh boy...I like romance, historical stories, mystery, horror and suspense, but I know that pretty much anything you guys suggest will be really good. :P
  





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Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:14 am
snap says...



Oh, wow, okay. Got a pen? Good. I'll try to list some that aren't very common, and therefore there's less chance of you already having read them.

One of my favorites is Pirates! by Celia Rees.
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.
Twilight (obviously :)) by Stephenie Meyer.
Speak and Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Bloody Jack Series by L.A. Meyer
The Uglies series (again, obvious) by Scott Westerfeld
Maximum Ride series (another obvious :)) by James Patterson
Tithe by Holly Black
Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde
Fairest and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi Avi
The Giver by Louis Lowry
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien (yet another obvious, but if you haven't read it, you really should.)
The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman series by Brian Jaques

And that was just from surfing Amazon and spotting ones I've liked in the past :) Well, it's getting late here, and that's all for now. Let me know if you want more, though. ;)
The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.
~ Robert Cormier
  





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Wed Jun 20, 2007 4:25 am
Teague says...



snap wrote:The Giver by Louis Lowry

Isn't her name Lois? ;)

A few of my recommendations:

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman <--- The first one in that series is coming out as a movie in December.
1984, Animal Farm, and Down and Out in Paris and London all by George Orwell.
and
Smack by Melvin Burgess.
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Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:52 am
snap says...



Isn't her name Lois? ;)


Darn, and I thought I did a once over. Well, I guess spell check doesn't catch everything.... :)
The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.
~ Robert Cormier
  





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Wed Jun 20, 2007 2:36 pm
Rydia says...



I second the ones by Phillip pullman and George Orwell. Excellent books! Also, I've only read one by Lois Lowry but it was very enjoyable.

As for my own suggestions...

The Pact by Jodi Picoult if you're looking for a sad one or anything by Terry Pratchett if you want something a bit lighter though his genre's fantasy or science fiction rather than romance or thriller.
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Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:00 pm
Denouement says...



Hmm, I'm reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel at the moment and i think it's wonderful

I've heard great things about What is What? by Dave Eggers

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut is a great read

Revenge of the Lawn by Richard Brautigan is a great collection of short stories

Anything by Chuck Palahniuk, except Choke which i didn't enjoy at all.

Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series is one of my favourite crime thriller series
Characters are people too you know!
  





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Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:10 pm
Alainna says...



I third His Dark Materials!!!

The Butterfly Tattoo by Philip Pullman. Romance & thriller in one.

Tamar by Mal Peet. Historical fiction and very moving.

Rani and Sukh by Bali Rai. Romance.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin. Romance I suppose.....

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Romance.

Ode to Billy Joe. can't remember who it's by... But it'll sure make you cry!!!

The Hollow by Agatha Christie. Mystery.

Junk. by Melvin Burgess, which has already been mentioned under the title Smack which is the American version.
Doing It. Also by Burgess.

Hope that helps!!!!

Alainna
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Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:14 pm
Emerson says...



The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, but be sure it is a good translation, or you will die. It's long, but you have all summer, right? And it is the best book ever.


If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (more modern than all the other suggestions I would give!)

Among anything else by Dostoevsky, Waugh, or Nabokov. Speaking of Nabokov, Lolita by him.
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Thu Jun 21, 2007 3:31 am
Leja says...



In my opinion, you can never go wrong with the classics (unless it's Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter, in which case I suggest avoiding it like the plague). I like Jane Austen; I thought Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park were pretty good, though lesser known than her other novels. Wuthering Heights is interesting as well, though a little (alright, a lot) twisted.

I liked the Uglies series as well, and My Sister's Keeper was good too. (to second people above)

Good luck with your summer reading,
-Amelia
  





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Thu Jun 21, 2007 6:17 pm
BrokenSword says...



Wow! Thanks for all those recommendations! Now I need to find a piece of paper to write all these down... :lol:
  





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Thu Jun 21, 2007 9:45 pm
Areida says...



I second all the Gail Carson Levine, George Orwell, Jane Austen, Avi, and Lois Lowry books mentioned. All of the above are excellent authors.

Another good one, besides Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale, is Goose Girl. I like her writing style.

I also second The Historian.

A few other good historical fiction novels:
The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
The Mark of the Lion series, Francine Rivers
Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers
The Other Boelyn Girl, Philipa Gregory
Mara: Daughter of the Nile, Eloise Jarvis McGraw
Constance, Patricia Clapp
Thorn in My Heart, Fair is the Rose, Whence Came a Prince, and Grace in Thine Eyes, Liz Curtis Higgs
A Coal Miner's Bride: the Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Also, pretty much anything by Meg Cabot, Orson Scott Card, Madeleine L'Engle, and C.S. Lewis are good bets too.

Happy reading! :mrgreen:
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Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:56 pm
Jasmine Hart says...



Hey. It's kinda hard to recommend books if I don't know what you're into, but here's a few of my favourites, and hopefully you'll like a couple:

1) Any of the sisterhood books by Ann Brashares ("The Sisterhood Of the Travelling Pants", "The Second Summer Of The Sisterhood", and "Girls in Pants". The new one is "Forever in Blue" but I haven't managed to get my hands on it yet!)
2) "Feeling Sorry For Ceila", "Finding Cassie Crazy" and "Becoming Bindy Mackenzie" by Jaclyn Moriarty.
3) "Hush" by Jaqueline Woodson
4)"Journey to the River Sea" by Eva Ibotson
5)"Across the Nightengale Floor", "Grass for his pillow", "Brilliance of the moon" and "Harsh Cry of The Heron" by Lian Hearn.
6) The "Switchers" trilogy by Kate Thompson. "The Beguilers" is good too, also by her.
  





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Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:40 am
DragonWriter says...



Let's see. You are looking for a good book, well you came to the right place. Step into my office. Some books i know the authour name, but i have read way to meny good books to remember them all. An astrik means it is a serries not a book, (in here is the first book.)

*(tricksters choice, and then tricksters queen.)=tamora perice. Honestly enything by her is great. I have currently read all her books( i think) and none of them have been a let down.

twilingt
his dark materials
*on the run(the falconeers)=gorden kormen. Again another excellent authour.

anythiong by garth nix, who is great.
bloody jack
the curse of the blue tatto
no dogs allowed
the pendragon serries
the cry of the icemark
the blade opf fire
lion boy
lion boy:the chase
lion boy:the truth
gregor and the overlander
travel team
*shdow children=haddix
teen idol

Umm, that is all i can surrently think of of off the top of mind, pm me if you want more.
Twilight rocks!
New Moon rules!
Eclispe kicks butt!
In coclusion, Steaphine Meyer is a rocking, ruling, and kick butt authour!
That is the TRUTH!
  








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