Need something good to read?

I have been re-reading some of my favorite books lately, and thought I would share. Robin McKinley is a great author! I would describe her writing as light fantasy (I know that this is not an official genre, but I don't want to scare any non fantasy fans away =}). Her retelling of the story Beauty and the Beast was the basis for the Disney movie. Now for the books that I have been reading lately:



and



The Blue Sword was actually written first, but I prefer to read them in the opposite order, as chronologically speaking the Hero and the Crown takes place before the Blue Sword. They are about a land called Damar. In The Hero and the Crown, we follow Aerin and her journey from awkward girl to hero and leader of her land. In The Blue Sword, which takes place many years after, we follow a girl named Harry, who comes from a place called Home (very reminiscent of England) to the land of Daria to live near her brother who is stationed there in a military post after the death of their father. The post at which he is stationed borders the land that contains what is left of the once great Damar. She is kidnapped during the night by the king of Damar, and we follow her adventures as she discovers that she is blessed with what the people of Damar call kelar (what we would call magic).

Both books are wonderfully written. They are classified as Young Adult fiction, but would be enjoyed by those of us who are not so young adults as well!