Hi all, I thought I'd share some titles of my #1 all time favorite Fantasy/sci-fantasy novels. I am always looking for more to add to my collection, so feel free to add to this!

If any one has read any of these, I'd love to start up a discussion about the book(s) with you! I am an avid reader, but a slow one...but I do enjoy the well-written book!

In no real order, my list starts off with....

"A Fine and Private Place" by Peter S. Beagle. Peter Beagle was most well recognized as the author of The Last Unicorn, both the novel and the animated 80's movie of the same name.

A Fine and Private Place was his very first novel, and for the first time ever, it has been refined and perfected and is for sell at many bookstores. It is a novel, first and for most, about life and the epiphanies of. It is also about love and letting go, in order to let things in. Wonderful things, scary things, beautiful things.

Written in Beagle's fine prose, it's a story about a man who lives in a graveyard. Mr. Rebeck is a man of simplicity, a confused, lonely man who confides in the spirits of the dead. One of these ghosts is a middle-aged man, who has a problem letting go of a life he no longer lives, and another ghost, a woman, becomes a confidant to him. She seems very at ease with death--but what secrets does the grave truely hold for them? For us? Very beautiful read, I have read it over 10 times now--and that's literally!


"The Onion Girl" by Charles de Lint. This is definitely a more modern, urban fantasy. It can get very dark and sometimes rather graphic, but it opened my mind to how we as a people work. I originally read it because Jillie has to overcome her disabilities, something that I can relate to very well.

The main character shuts down after having a traumatic accident and ends up in a hospital. She is an artist and has a fantastic life; her paintings expressed the magic she often felt ran through her blood.

Her friends are also touched by the Fae, and are worried that Fae will consume their friend beyond repair. Indeed, Jillie enters a world made up of dreams and copes with her incident by running away--turning her back on everything that she knew and everything that makes her, her.

There is a side-story of Jillie's sister, who, surprisingly enough, turns out to be helpful in ways that surprised me at first. I can't recall the sister's name, but she is a rebel! Potty-mouthed and open-legged, I couldn't make myself love the sister as much as I wanted to, but she did make me laugh out loud some times...I mean, she has real spunk! Maybe a read for the younger generation.

Also by Charles de Lint is "The Mystery of Grace", one of his newer novels. Like ghosts? Like love stories? Like stories with more than one narrating voice? Have you ever been interested in rock-a-billie, redneck rock-and-role lifestyles, or Ford/classic Hot Rod restoration? Yes? No?? Well, if you're anything like me, than it may sound less than appealing, but the pace of "Grace", the whole grungy, redneck-a-billie lifestyle was very interesting! There was more than a few suggestions as far as musical tastes and car history goes--I mean, it was just really a delightful read! I can't recommend this cute book enough.

"Breathers: A Zombie's Lament" by S.G. Browne is hilarious! Dry, dark humor sets the mood for the book, but not once did I feel intimidated by the main Zombie's said laments.

Zombies are socially awkward....but that's not their fault. I mean, humans don't treat them with respect at all. Living humans ("breathers,") treat Zombies like trash--sending them to clinics to do testing on, throwing food at their faces in broad daylight, throwing them in the SPCA like an animal. The Zombies have had enough!

Zombies have emotions, they love, they get sad, they want happiness and respect in the community. Truly, the only thing that separates Zombies from Breathers is the fact that one of the species has a pulse.

And oh yea, one of them eats flesh.

But after all the crap that Breathers did to the Zombies, maybe it's time for them to fight for their rights. No more being the low-lives they are seen to be; no more being in the lowest dredges of society! Who wants to be looked down on for being a certain way? I related to the Zombies in so many ways. I also feel ostracized for my disorder, how am I any different from them? I mean, besides being alive and all.

I know many of us feel that we have what we have and had no say in the matter, it just happened, that's the way it is. It makes it so much easier to attach yourself to the characters, making them very true-to-life. Their struggles could easily be our own.

This book is very true-to-life for all social pariahs and people who live in the wings, waiting, watching, wishing for their voices to be heard and counted. It's still a pretty recent book and an incredibly quick read.

Try it on as a train/plane read, a weekend get-a-way pick-me-up, or a rainy day, get-rid-of-your-depression quicky. I didn't feel sorry for myself at all after reading the trials and errors of these undead folk....I really wanted to do something to help them, I felt so drawn to their cause. Hilarious!

"The Stolen Child" by Keith Donahue. Inspired by the Yeats poem with the same name, child Henry Day is whisked away by Changelings, and one of them takes his place, transforming his body to that of Henry's, and Henry's body changes that to a Fairy. But their minds retain their respected ages and memories...and truly, how can one rejoice, how can one be content, living the life that isn't their own? What if their society thrives in taking other's lives in order to maintain personal happiness? Is it really happiness, or is it tradition? Tradition that leads to madness, and madness, that leads to bliss?

Is Bliss worth it? Can we truly claim to be alive living a life we pretend is our own? If this book doesn't make you want to be a better person and take life by the reins, I don't know what will. I was inspired greatly by this book. It made me want to truly be myself--and be proud of myself, at that.

For a truly terrifying, dark, scary story, I am currently reading "World War Z" by Max Brooks Another Zombie story, but realistically so.

Think the world is bad now? Think Global Warming is all we have to worry about? Or what about terrorists?? Nothing seems as scary as the news-like, pace-by-pace narrative of how Zombies took over the planet.

I have screamed out loud while reading this novel. It is very realistic and fast-paced. Do not read in the dark, at night, or while alone! But if you love well-written grudge, gore, or are into seeing how much you can take, scare-wise, well, I think this is the best it gets. Up there with Stephen King's earlier works--you know the ones, where you had to sleep with the lights on for weeks and sleep with the doors locked?---Yea! I mean, this is good fright!

Some I have not read yet but am wanting to read, or have started to read but haven't gotten too far into yet are...

"Little, Big" by John Crowley. Faeries? As lovers? Old mysterious houses and magical forests that dwell nearby? That sensation of child-like wonder? This book has it all.

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zuzak Overcoming every obstacle there is, a little girl takes on Nazi Germany by stealing, one by one, precious information and teaches herself how to read. Narrated by Death himself!

"Lost Souls" by Poppy Z. Bright Beautiful Vampires...A touch of homosexuality....The glam of The French Quarter, and blood-sucking glory, I mean, this book is really sweet. In that, "Oh dear, that's hot, I want to be there doing that, too!" kind of way.

"Interview with the Vampire", "The Vampire Lestat", "Queen of the Damned" and "Tale of the Body Thief" by Anne Rice Classic! I can't wait to get to TotBT. Lestat is a wonder--the Brat Prince never ceases to please, that jerk. But we love him. How could we not? Who wouldn't want to be in his place!

I may add more! I am a fantasy/sci-fantasy/macabre fanatic! Hope my synopsis made you want to pick these titles up next time you're at the library. I aim to please

Oh, I love Charles DeLint!

I don't see George R.R.Martin on your list. Do give him a looksee.. I read 4000+pgs of him on vacation, at hubby's insistence, and got totally hooked:
http://www.georgerrmartin.com/

The Song of Ice and Fire is fascinating!

Poppy Z Brite also wrote Drawing Blood. You might want to find that. Not my usual fare, but both were A1 reads I thought. What an outstanding writer. Great visuals, great character developement. Most books fade quickly from my memory - even good ones - but these have stayed with me years after the last pages.