A personal list of favourites
These are the books that I like much more than any others. They may not necessarily be the best books, and I am not here to debate that. I am here to say, 'gosh, yes, these books make make my life better for my having read them, and I would read them many times over again'.
BOOKS SILVIE ENDORSES FOREVER:
- The Sandman oeuvre, but especially Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives, The Dream Hunters, Endless Nights, and The Little Endless Storybook. [Neil Gaiman and various artists]
- Most of Discworld, but especially Guards! Guards!, Jingo, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Hogsfather, Going Postal, Making Money, Thief of Time, and the Tiffany Aching Quartet. [Terry Pratchett]
- Good Omens [Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett]
- The Chronicles of Amber, and indeed, all of Roger Zelazny's short stories.
- The Box of Delights, infinitely superior, I feel, to its prequel. [John Masefield]
- Stardust [Neil Gaiman]
- Anansi Boys [Neil Gaiman]
- Howl's Moving Castle and its sequels. [Diana Wynne Jones]
- The Merlin Conspiracy [Diana Wynne Jones]
- Hexwood [Diana Wynne Jones]
- The Chronicles of Chrestomanci [Diana Wynne Jones]
- The Orphan's Tales, in two novels. [Catherynne Valente]
- The Horse and His Boy (I know, it has problems, but fuck it, I want to be Aravis.) [C. S. Lewis]
- The Hobbit [J. R. R Tolkien]
- Til We Have Faces [C. S. Lewis]
- Saiyuki, the entire run thus far. [Minekura Kazuya]
- Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, because they are weird and fantastic little short stories. I wish I'd found them as a child, actually, because I'd be able to love them that much longer. (What, is there some sort of problem with handing a child a book with bestiality, premarital sex, polygamy, ghosts, violence, and foxes in it?) [Pu Songlin]
- The Dark is Rising sequence, especially the sequence namer and The Grey King. [Susan Cooper]
- Kurogane, in five volumes and complete. [Toume Kei]
- Shinsengumi [Romulus Hillsborough]
- Mushishi, which is also still ongoing. [Urushibara Yuki]
- That Sweet Enemy (aka Cette Exquise Ennemie) [Isabelle and Robert Tombs]
- Dreadnought [Robert Massie]
- The Jeeves canon, especially Much Obliged, Jeeves and Aunts Aren't Gentlemen [P. G. Wodehouse]
- The Famous Five, with reservations because yes, Blyton is racist, but this was also my childhood. [Enid Blyton]
- St. Clare's, the boarding school series. I still prefer it to Malory Towers or Whyteleafe. But I really love boarding school stories that are boarding school stories. [Enid Blyton]
- Jill the Reckless [P. G. Wodehouse]
- Chronicles of the Kencyrath [P. C. Hodgell]
- The Vast Spread of the Sea [Ono Fuyumi]
- So You Want to Be a Wizard? [Diane Duane]
- Saving Francesca [Melina Marchetta]
- Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates [Mary Mapes Dodge]
- Sabriel [Garth Nix]
- The Farseekers [Isobel Carmody]
- A Wizard of Earthsea [Ursula K. LeGuin]
- The Man Who Was Thursday [G. K. Chesterton]
- Nation, I must admit, would have made it on if solely for the octopi. [Terry Pratchett]
- The Graveyard Book [Neil Gaiman]
- Un Lun Dun [China Mieville]
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld [Patricia McKillip]
- The Blue Girl [Charles de Lint]
- Swordspoint [Ellen Kushner]
- A College of Magics [Caroline Stevermer]
- The Lies of Locke Lamora [Scott Lynch]
- The Thief and its sequels [Megan Whalen Turner]
This is a Work in Progress, and therefore unfinished.
BOOKS SILVIE ENDORSES FOREVER:
- The Sandman oeuvre, but especially Fables and Reflections, Brief Lives, The Dream Hunters, Endless Nights, and The Little Endless Storybook. [Neil Gaiman and various artists]
- Most of Discworld, but especially Guards! Guards!, Jingo, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Hogsfather, Going Postal, Making Money, Thief of Time, and the Tiffany Aching Quartet. [Terry Pratchett]
- Good Omens [Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett]
- The Chronicles of Amber, and indeed, all of Roger Zelazny's short stories.
- The Box of Delights, infinitely superior, I feel, to its prequel. [John Masefield]
- Stardust [Neil Gaiman]
- Anansi Boys [Neil Gaiman]
- Howl's Moving Castle and its sequels. [Diana Wynne Jones]
- The Merlin Conspiracy [Diana Wynne Jones]
- Hexwood [Diana Wynne Jones]
- The Chronicles of Chrestomanci [Diana Wynne Jones]
- The Orphan's Tales, in two novels. [Catherynne Valente]
- The Horse and His Boy (I know, it has problems, but fuck it, I want to be Aravis.) [C. S. Lewis]
- The Hobbit [J. R. R Tolkien]
- Til We Have Faces [C. S. Lewis]
- Saiyuki, the entire run thus far. [Minekura Kazuya]
- Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, because they are weird and fantastic little short stories. I wish I'd found them as a child, actually, because I'd be able to love them that much longer. (What, is there some sort of problem with handing a child a book with bestiality, premarital sex, polygamy, ghosts, violence, and foxes in it?) [Pu Songlin]
- The Dark is Rising sequence, especially the sequence namer and The Grey King. [Susan Cooper]
- Kurogane, in five volumes and complete. [Toume Kei]
- Shinsengumi [Romulus Hillsborough]
- Mushishi, which is also still ongoing. [Urushibara Yuki]
- That Sweet Enemy (aka Cette Exquise Ennemie) [Isabelle and Robert Tombs]
- Dreadnought [Robert Massie]
- The Jeeves canon, especially Much Obliged, Jeeves and Aunts Aren't Gentlemen [P. G. Wodehouse]
- The Famous Five, with reservations because yes, Blyton is racist, but this was also my childhood. [Enid Blyton]
- St. Clare's, the boarding school series. I still prefer it to Malory Towers or Whyteleafe. But I really love boarding school stories that are boarding school stories. [Enid Blyton]
- Jill the Reckless [P. G. Wodehouse]
- Chronicles of the Kencyrath [P. C. Hodgell]
- The Vast Spread of the Sea [Ono Fuyumi]
- So You Want to Be a Wizard? [Diane Duane]
- Saving Francesca [Melina Marchetta]
- Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates [Mary Mapes Dodge]
- Sabriel [Garth Nix]
- The Farseekers [Isobel Carmody]
- A Wizard of Earthsea [Ursula K. LeGuin]
- The Man Who Was Thursday [G. K. Chesterton]
- Nation, I must admit, would have made it on if solely for the octopi. [Terry Pratchett]
- The Graveyard Book [Neil Gaiman]
- Un Lun Dun [China Mieville]
- The Forgotten Beasts of Eld [Patricia McKillip]
- The Blue Girl [Charles de Lint]
- Swordspoint [Ellen Kushner]
- A College of Magics [Caroline Stevermer]
- The Lies of Locke Lamora [Scott Lynch]
- The Thief and its sequels [Megan Whalen Turner]
This is a Work in Progress, and therefore unfinished.