Z – Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Egypt Game

 

Yup, I cheated on this one, too. Author first, then the title in order to get the Z. ;)

Loved: I love the innocent seriousness with which the kids play the game! I totally remember making up pretend worlds and scenarios like that in my own youth. Plus, I really love the fact that the kids don’t have much in common at the beginning, but have formed solid bonds of friendship by the end.

Learned: A lot about Egypt! I think I read this at about the same time as we were doing our own “Egypt” presentations at school. I remember making a canopic jar out of clay and dressing up as an Egyptian princess when we turned our classrooms into ancient pyramids one week. I love to return to books like this when I need to remember the pure joy of imagination!

SUCCESS!! CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE IT TO THE END OF THE CHALLENGE (OR MADE A VALIANT EFFORT)!

Y – YaYa Sisterhood, Divine Secrets of, Rebecca Wells

Loved: The Ya-Yas stole my heart! They’re such a funny, crazy bunch of women, and I loved the “now and then” style of this book. It was a great snapshot of life, and draws the reader into the world of bayous, drama and Gone with the Wind!

Learned: This was one of the first well-done examples of non-chronological storytelling I've read. Wells uses a good approach for her flashbacks and framing style. It’s not something I’d want to use right now in my own stuff, but I admire her ability to weave two different time periods together into one plot. One of my crit group friends is telling a mother-daughter story, and uses a similar approach that works very well.

X – OXford Companion to Ships and the Sea

For the record, the only X entry in this sea-faring dictionary is Xebec, which is a type of small three-masted vessel.

Loved: This was one of my first purchases when I got serious enough with my original WIP to start buying research materials. It was a big step toward pursuing my writing as a career instead of simply a passion!

Learned: It’s a little sad how often I referred to this book while I wrote my sea-based WIP. I’ve got dog-eared pages and highlights all over the place. It was absolutely invaluable for getting all the little world-building details down. Plus, it was just cool to learn about all this stuff!

W – Wren to the Rescue, Sherwood Smith

Loved: When I was younger, I wanted to BE Wren! It’s quite possible that this is still the case.

She’s a girl with a big imagination and single-minded loyalty to her best friend. I really love that it’s a quest story with a bunch of social misfits who trump the “evil regime” in spite of their own considerable faults (i.e. None of them know what the heck they’re doing, at all!).

This is the second book I've featured by Sherwood Smith, and again I admire her portrayal of young adventurous characters.

It’s funny and heartwarming, and I just love it!

Learned: Wren’s spirit and voice are so fun. They’re light-hearted and optimistic, despite the odds being stacked against her (At one point, she’s turned into a dog and can’t speak). I’ve tried to adopt a similar personality for one of my characters…sort of an older version of Wren’s gumption.

V – V’laine; FeVer series, Karen Marie Moning

Okay, technically V’laine is a character not a book, but V was a rare letter on my shelves, so I had to get creative!

Loved: Mac and Barrons!! ‘Nuff said.

Learned: I loved the voice in this series. Mac doesn’t have a clue about the paranormal world she’s stumbled into, but she’s plucky, stubborn and refuses to yield to stronger immortal forces who, by all rights, should be able to squash her.

Moning affects just the right tone, and her witty exchanges between the two MCs is something I’d love to emulate. Sometimes a conversation goes on for pages with each character speaking only a handful of words per line, but it’s always silver-tongued, interesting and essential to driving the plot.

U – Under the Black Flag, David Cordingly

Loved: Pirates!! What’s not to love? The historical accounts were so interesting! It didn’t hurt that I read part of it while on the deck of a cruise ship coming in to dock at the Bahamas. I’m pretty sure my friends had to physically hold me back from starting my own treasure hunt at the beach that day!

Learned: I originally got this book as a resource for my own WIP, which was set at sea and featured a sea-faring nation (not pirates!). It was a huge help in that sense, lots of details about the old Tall Ships they used to sail, nautical terms and great firsthand descriptions of sea battles.

T – Twilight, Stephenie Meyer

Loved: Uh huh, yup, I brought it out into the open. The never-ending Twilight debate (and I’m not talking about Edward v. Jacob). I loved this story! Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s engaging and different (at least, it was to me at the time)*. It was a quick, light-hearted read, and I really enjoyed it! I remember shouting out loud when I got to the point where James uses the tape of Bella’s mom to lure her to the dance studio. It was so deliciously mean! My roommate thought I was nuts.

Learned: Honestly, I think I’ve learned more from the aftermath of this one than from the book itself. With all the controversies and debates surrounding Meyer's writing skill and the perhaps oversaturated YA vampire market, Twilight has become a kind of measuring stick for the pulse of the latest trends (or non-trends) in publishing.

*For the record...the movies...no, just no.

S – Seventh Tower, The, Garth Nix

Loved: I have a confession.

My mom and I bought this series for my younger cousin’s birthday…I may or may not have read the first book before we wrapped it!

It remains one of my absolute favorite MG series. I love how Tal and Milla start out in two different worlds, completely distrusting of each other, and end up forming a strong friendship and alliance. Plus, Milla is a great kick-ass chick!

Learned: In a lot of little ways, this series has been a frequent source of inspiration. The idea for my first WIP came from a dream I had shortly after finishing one of the books. I like how each of Nix’s main characters is strong in his or her own way…yet in a way that’s at odds with the fellow MC. It creates a great push-and-pull dynamic that helps the characters grow into their own.

R – Rascal, Sterling North

Loved: This was one of my favorite non-fantasy books as a kid! It made me want to go live in a cabin along the Bruel River. I love the humor, the descriptions, and the down-to-earth fun stories of a boy and his raccoon! Reading this book is like being reunited with a favorite stuffed animal from our childhood – it takes us back, helps us remember simpler times and makes us feel warm, safe and happy!


Learned: That I’m a sucker for animal stories…and, apparently, raccoons!

Q – Queen of Song and Souls, C. L. Wilson

Loved: This was another romance/fantasy that came out of the blue and totally rocked my world! The first volume of the series is a bit shaky, but after that I was really impressed with Wilson’s ability to create a deep, unique fantasy world and wonderful secondary characters.

There are several romances throughout the series, and each one is intricately and purposefully connected with the overall plot. It was a delightful surprise to discover the Tairen Soul series!

Learned: Two things – C. L. Wilson’s language and her bad guy. For the series, she created a beautiful, flowing Fey language, which is something I always admire. She manages to do it with a lighter hand than Tolkien, and I’ve used her example while working on my own stuff.

She also is a fantastic model to follow for creating a smart bad guy. At any given point in the series, the bad guy is working on about five different nefarious plans to reach his end goal…and the MCs might only know about two of them. Several of his plans actually come to fruition, with disastrous consequences for our heroes, and that’s what drives the plot at such an intense level! There’s an honest question about whether or not the MCs will be smart enough to beat him in the end.

P – Paksennarion, Deed of

Loved: I’m actually still in the middle of this one, but its opening pages sucked me in better than just about anything. It’s a tale told in front of a crackling fireplace about a pair of old swords and mysterious family legends!

Learned: This is another interesting one in terms of how it stacks up today. On one hand, it’s a brilliant example of a strong female MC in epic fantasy. On the other, it feels almost old school compared to the expected “heroines” of today.

O – Off Armageddon Reach, David Webber

Loved: Um…honestly not much. I liked the premise and the back cover. I never actually finished the book. But I did learn a lot from it…

Learned: I learned NOT to change the spelling of commonly-pronounced names just for the sake of being different (Haarahld - Harold; Zhenyfyr - Jennifer). I also learned the dangers of burying a somewhat intriguing main character (A woman whose intellect is basically transferred into a male cyborg centuries later) beneath boring plotlines and secondary characters. The book had a great title, great cover, great description, but it still fell flat for me and reinforced the idea that it’s the story that counts!

N – Narnia, Chronicles of, C.S. Lewis

Loved: Just about everything! This book is such a classic – I can’t believe I didn’t read it until I was older. If I’d read it in my childhood, I would have opened every single wardrobe I could to find Narnia! This series gives a wonderful sense of escapism, and though it deals with heavy good vs. evil issues, it retains its optimism, innocence and strong family bonds.

Learned: This is another great example of worldbuilding. C.S. Lewis creates a fantastically detailed world, complete with a long storied history and amazing characters (talking animals!). I admire his style. It’s like sitting on my grandpa’s knee, listening to him weave me a tale!

M – Mistborn, Brandon Sanderson

Loved: Brandon Sanderson brings classic epic fantasy into the modern day! I love all of his stuff. This series was particularly great for me because of the combination of Kelsier, the scarred yet ever-optimistic and defiant fighter, and Vin, the young but totally jaded and untrusting street rat. It’s great to see how Vin grows into her own under Kelsier’s guidance. She transforms from a scared teenager into a confident, powerful woman who’s ready to take on the kingdom.

Learned: Sanderson’s magic systems are, frankly, unsurpassed. In this world and his Elantris world, he creates incredibly complex, elegant and entirely new magical constructs. Who would’ve thought of “burning,” aka digesting, various metals to achieve a source of power? I really admire his ability to outline his magic, as well as limit it in ways that leave his characters both strong and vulnerable. So very cool!!

L – Lightning Thief, The, Rick Riordan

Loved: This was such a purely fun read! It’s smart, it’s snappy, and I love the way Riordan makes mythology accessible for younger readers. It takes me back to great books from my own youth like Garth Nix’s Seventh Tower series, The Egypt Game and The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, except it utilizes today’s faster pacing and has a ton more action!

In a time when female MCs sometimes seem to be everywhere (especially YA and urban fantasy), it’s great to see a smart, witty guy as the MC for kids.

Learned: This is the book that taught me how to pace for today’s market. I’ve used it as a model to tighten the action during my editing process, and while beginning my own middle grade WIP. Read this book and then review your own work, I dare you. You’ll immediately be able to tell where your own stuff drags.

K – Knife of Dreams, Robert Jordan

Loved: Somewhere in the blog-o-sphere, someone is cringing at my Wheel of Time love! This is one of the later books and, admittedly, plods along a bit more clunkily than others. But Jordan’s series is pretty close to unbeatable for me in terms of worldbuilding and character development.

I grew up with these characters and have known them like old friends, ever since my grandma bought me Eye of the World years ago at a garage sale for fifty cents. For me, this is the series against which all others must be judged. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do with myself when it comes to a close next year...

Learned: A lot of folks take issue with the repeated character tics Jordan uses (Nynaeve’s braid pulling is the prime example), but I love the depth he uses to create his characters. Yes, sometimes they’re annoying, or bull-headed, or you want to smack them. That’s what makes them real and relatable. I’m also constantly amazed at his ability to make readers fall in love with random secondary characters who only appear for a page or two. Even in that brief time, Jordan paints a microcosm of their beliefs, their backgrounds, what they stand for, what they’re willing to die for…everything. All within a few hundred words. Wish I could do that!

Another aspect I greatly admire and try to pull into my own stories are the overall life lessons that Jordan sprinkles throughout. Sayings like “We are always more afraid than we wish to be, but we can always be braver than we expect,” and “The only thing sadder than a battle won, is a battle lost.” stick with me in real life, too.

J – Jumper

Loved: So, I got this book because a family friend did special effects for the movie version. It was a little reminiscent of an edgier, moody version of Ender’s Game, without that level of brilliance. The jumping between cities was fun. It’s also the only official “J” on my shelf!

Learned: I remember feeling intrigued throughout, even though I wasn’t overly impressed with the writing. It’s a good example of the plot being unique enough to carry a rather mediocre story.

I – Inda, Sherwood Smith

Loved: I love Sherwood Smith’s stuff! I’ll be talking about one of her middle grade books later in the month. I read her when I was very young, so when I discovered Inda, the first installment of her adult fantasy series a few years ago, I was thrilled that she’d “grown” with me as a reader. She writes the plucky MG hero with humor and heart, and does it better than almost anyone else I’ve read.

Learned: This book breaks just about every POV rule you can imagine. It head-hops like crazy but you know what…it works! She weaves together the storylines and individual character thoughts in a way that doesn’t make it distracting. She also delves into very serious, complicated political situations as seen through the younger eyes of those who will soon take over. I get a lot of inspiration from her about how to age characters realistically, moving them from innocence to maturity in a believable way.

H – Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling; Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Loved: Neither of these series need much introduction. I absolutely loved the characters and the worlds in both of them. Okay, Katniss occasionally often annoyed me. But I don’t think anyone can argue that these books pull you in and don’t let go!






Learned: Both HP and HG are fantastic examples of friendship. Yes, there’s romance between some of the characters, but loyalty and friendship are really what drives both of these series, and I love that! I think friendship can sometimes be a deeper, more powerful relationship force than love. I continually refer to these books for examples of how friends joke together, fight and make up, and ultimately come through for each other in the clutch.

G – Gabriel’s Ghost, Linnea Sinclair

Loved: I was very skeptical of this book the first time I picked it up. A romance? Shelved in my fantasy section? Blasphemy! But Linnea Sinclair pulls it off nicely. I love the witty push-and-pull between Chaz and Sully, the two MCs. What really stood out to me though was Sinclair’s attention to the overall conflict, rather than only romance and sex. The book works because of the nuanced plots and subplots that Chaz and Sully are trapped within.

Learned: Sinclair keeps the pacing steady and tight without straying into the “stream-of-consciousness” sprint that many first person urban fantasies use. She also does a great job of weaving together several complex plot lines within a fairly short stand alone. A nice lesson for me, whose default setting is writing epics that take umpteen volumes to tell properly!

F – Far Pavilions, M.M. Kaye

Loved: This is another stand-by favorite of mine. The story is utterly beautiful and gives new meaning to phrase “sweeping epic.” It was one of the first books to completely captivate me in our world rather than a fantasy one. The setting (India) is rich, violent and vibrant; the main characters (Ash and Juli) are unbelievably complex and touching. I would be beside myself with joy if this story ever came to the big screen (and the TV mini-series does NOT count).

Learned: Although the narration is fairly distant, M.M. Kaye does an excellent job of getting us into the minds of her characters. And we understand, as the story unfolds, that it is simultaneously India’s tale as much as it is Ash and Juli’s. The setting descriptions are painted with an expert touch. Kaye doesn’t use dialogue often, but she has a way of making a single word speak volumes! It packs far more power than three pages of quick-witted quips. I’m still trying to figure this out for my own stuff.

E – Eragon, Christopher Paolini

Loved: For me, the coolest thing about this book wasn’t necessarily the story itself, but how it came about. I loved that someone my age could write a fresh twist on the stereotypical quest epic and make it work.

Learned: In a weird way, this book really brought home the fact that someone had written the story. Someone with a notebook or a computer, and a headful of ideas, just like me. Not those amazingly cool authors of my youth, who were seemingly unmatched in their story-telling prowess (at least in my fan-oriented mind). When Eragon came out, I had about a third of my first WIP done and had been working on it haphazardly in my free time.

This book was the fire that said, “Holy cow, if this kid can do it, so can I? What the heck am I waiting for? He’s my age, I can’t let him *gasp* beat me!”

I finished that first draft in less than a year.

D – Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey

Loved: Most of you probably already know of my ongoing love affair with this book. For me, it was the one that started it all. To this day, Lessa is one of my favorite female characters of all time. She’s smart, she’s strong, she’s a little vengeful and conniving, and her love for F’lar and for Pern works perfectly to drive the story. And, oh yeah, the dragons!!

Learned: McCaffrey’s worldbuilding sets the standard. She crafts the details seamlessly into her plot so that we don’t get bogged down in backstory, but we know exactly how Pern is different from our world. Her technique of sprinkling in terms, traditions and history is one I try to emulate in my own writing. I think the long-term success of the entire Pern series is a testament to the depth of worldbuilding she started in this very first book.

Have I mentioned I love the dragons?

C – Changes, Jim Butcher

Loved: I can’t think of a more appropriate title for this book—there is quite literally nothing left untouched by Jim Butcher in this book. No aspect of Harry Dresden’s life from the previous 11 books is safe in this one. It’s jarring at times, as a reader, and literally made me squirm uncomfortably or hold my breath. Everything changes, and I LOVE that Butcher took this risk.

Learned: If you’re struggling with “how can I make things worse,” or “what else can I do to throw obstacles at my characters,” look no further for inspiration than this book. You know that little voice that whispers when we get a brilliantly evil idea for one of our MCs. The ones that make us say, “I couldn’t do that…could I? No, it’s scary, it’s irreversible… I can’t go that far…right? Right?” Yeah, Jim Butcher ignores that voice.

B – Belgariad

Loved: I didn’t read this one until last year, and it was surprisingly refreshing! I felt like a kid again, because the story is told from such a youthful perspective. I loved Garion and all the colorful supporting characters, especially Aunt Pol and Silk.

Learned: Although it follows somewhat stereotypical plot lines and character types, it still manages to stand out through world-building details and simply because we’re seeing things happen through Garion’s eyes. I also think it’s a very interesting example of how the genre and market have morphed since the Belgariad was first published in the early 80s. I’m not sure it could stand on its own these days…not sure what that says about us now.