Best Lackey, Mercedes
New York Times bestselling fantasy author Mercedes Lackey breaks into the YA genre with a dangerous, utterly original futuristic world in which a fearless teen girl stands between bloodthirsty monsters and the safety of a city. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous monsters fighting to break through. To Joyeaux Charmand, who has been a Hunter in her tight-knit mountain community since she was a child, every Cit without magic deserves her protection from dangerous Othersiders. VERDICT A perfect choice for "Hunger Games" fans and readers looking for stories with strong female heroines.—Marian McLeod, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, CT. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"While I have been disappointed with her recent additions to the Valdemar saga (basically all of Mags story - I am sorry, but those were just phoned in, and I rarely am so critical) I was so happy I still stuck with her novels."
"Hunters have some level of magic use at their disposal; their charge is to protect ordinary citizens from the Othersiders who would like to make them lunch. It is written with a young adult audience in mind, but as usual that means good writing, non-stereotypical characters, and clean language."
"But this book was so completely different it could have been written by someone else entirely!"
"While I was reminded strongly of Hunger Games and even a little of Divergent, the story and characters are unique enough to make it interesting."
"This is the first book in a long time that I just couldn't put down."
"Hunters are the ones who can fight the Othersiders - monsters out of world mythology - by using magic, physical training and weapons and a pack of magical creatures to assist. Joy is called to go to Apex city to join the core of Hunters there who protect the heart of the country and the important Cits. But Joy is an excellent Hunter which quickly moves her up in the ranking which incites the jealousy of Hunter Ace who has had a long hold on first place. Joy also makes friends with her mentor Karly and another Hunter called the White Knight who is also a Christer, a minority religious sect. Joy was an interesting character who battled loneliness but who has a strong sense of duty as a Hunter to protect the Cits who are in danger from the Othersiders."
"Mercedes Lackey can take any topic, scenario, plot structure, or character set and make it better, richer, and more enthralling."
As she begins her training Talia has no idea that a spoiled Princess, some nobly-born bullies, and a conspiracy that will threaten her life will all stand between her and the destiny she must fulfill. Chosen by the Companion Rolan, a mystical horse-like being with powers beyond imagining, Talia, once a runaway, has now become a trainee Herald, destined to become one of the Queens's own elite guard.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It all begins with young Talia, a wisp of a girl who loves to sneak horseback riding and reading into her chores, acts almost unthinkably useless to her parents and fellow Holderfolk inhabitants, girls after all should either marry off or live at the temple, both options are visions of horror for young Talia for she has bigger dreams, ones that make no sense to the simple but quite brute people she lives with. He is a snow white horse, one who's velvety nuzzle makes her completely melt in his presence, one that looks like an important animal, one she recognizes form her reading about warriors and the evil creatures who pursue them, suddenly her life feels like one of the books she reads, unfortunately with heroism comes danger, and with danger comes death."
"Great story."
"Mercedes Lackey has a knack for writing engaging brain candy novellas and short stories."
"If you're a fan of fantasy fiction, you will love this series, and the magics price series."
"The first in the series (first written, though not first events in that world) by one of my favorite authors."
"I love all the Valdemar books but Arrows for the Queen is one of my favorites."
"Gave them to best friend when she was I'll, pregnant and in hospital."
"Beginnings are always fun to return to!"
Apprenticed to a venerable wizard when his hunter and trapper parents disappear into the forest never to be seen again, Darian is difficult and strong willed-much to the dismay of his kindly master. Though apprenticed to the wise old wizard Justyn, he's contemptuous of magic in general and unwilling to make the effort to develop his own talents. When invading barbarians burn the village and kill Justyn, Darian flees into the forest and meets the Hawkbrothers, a magical elflike race who bond with birds and bear such names as Snowfire, Starfall, and Nightwind.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is a continuation of the Valdamer story line with emphasis on the outer reaches."
"This series follows Darian through losing his parents as a child, to finding out he has the gift of magic, to finding his place in the world."
"This is a great book for the young and young at heart."
"It's Mercedes Lackey."
"I love every book Mercedes has ever written about the Heralds and the mysterious hawk brothers."
"Once you get past the set up at the beginning, the story becomes a grand adventure."
"This book is just an example of the true artistry of Mercedes!"
Best Lahaye, Tim
Only one series will take you to the end of the world as you explore eternal truth: the best-selling Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is one very long book file that includes all 12 titles of the series from Left Behind through Glorious Appearing. It says the title is lendable, but it can't be broken into parts, so whoever you lend it to will have to read all 12 books in 14 days."
"And those who find their faith, will find the glory of God and the heart of Christ."
"if you want a really good series that takes you on a journey the the Revelation of the Bible, then this is it."
"Great Series!"
"The novel series was an enjoyable way to see one's interpretation of the Bible's prophetic end times."
"Can't wait to finish reading the entire series!"
"Great read, engaging, thrilling, a plot line that teaches while entertaining throughout the series."
"I enjoyed this collection but there were times when I was ready to just be finished as there were events and characters that just didn't seem to fit and were just put into place to fill pages."
Best L'Engle, Madeleine
A flash of lightning, quivering ground, and, instead of her grandparents' farm, Polly sees mist and jagged mountains -- and coming toward her, a group of young men carrying spears. Madeleine L'Engle was the author of more than forty-five books for all ages, among them the beloved A Wrinkle in Time, awarded the Newbery Medal; A Ring of Endless Light, a Newbery Honor Book; A Swiftly Tilting Planet, winner of the American Book Award; and the Austin family series of which Troubling a Star is the fifth book.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I know a lot of people who read it as kids and think it's a wonderful book so I don't want to rain on their parade, but I found the Christian overtones really silly and off-putting, especially in a book about alternate universes and planets."
"Overall, this book holds up as an entertaining and unique story for a new, adult reader."
"I loved this book as a child and can’t wait for my 12 year old to read it."
"I like the fairy tale and fanciful aspect to the characters and story line."
"Not at all what I expected to be read!"
"One of my all-time favorites as a child, and definitely holds up!"
"Great book!"
Best Lindsey, Johanna
Book by Lindsey, Johanna.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"You will fall in love with James and Georgina as they literally take to the high seas. This time we get to see his character in full and watch as the delightful Georgie comes in contact with him."
"The hero is so hilarious with his wry humor and had me laughing throughout the entire book, and the fact that he was hot made the book all the better. Together with the hero's humor, they made a wonderful couple."
"The way that James and Georgina interact with each other shows that love is not always perfect and can actually intensify with a little bantering and even fighting. I didn't want to give away to much in the novel but I would recommend reading this book to anyone who loves a great romance novel that has scandal, adventure on the high seas, deceit, romance and sex, fun family interaction, and even comedy (there are quite a few scenes that made me laugh if for no other reason than the fact that I could totally see someone doing or saying something like what I was reading!"
"This novel was a vast improvement over the 1st two installments of the Mallory saga."
"Georgie had waited 6 years in Connecticut for her fiance to return from the war against England, not knowing whether he had survived or not."
"So, when he realizes that the enticing girl he encountered in a tavern dressed as a lad has just boarded his ship still disguised as a boy (named Georgie), he decides to make her his cabin boy with the idea of getting her into his bed. No concern she might be an innocent (and there is much evidence of that), or that having seduced her, he might hurt her or worse--get her pregnant (we're talking months at sea...). After all, he already has one bastard he knows of, his 17 year old son Jeremy, and he routinely seduces married women. In fact he has a very low opinion of women just because he so easily seduces them from their marriage vows. So when her brother's ship sails away to New England, leaving her no time to tell James good-bye, she is resigned to going home alone. A well told installment in the Mallory series, even if you do have to suspend belief to accept that Georgie could be that naïve (or that stupid) and that a jaded reprobate like James could actually have a heart. And I love the Malory banter, though there were instances when I had to re-read dialog to figure out what was happening."
Best Leonard, Elmore
[Read by Richard Poe]. Grand Master Elmore Leonard is justifiably acknowledged as ''the best writer of crime fiction alive'' ( Newsweek ) -- and, in fact, one of the very best ever, alongside other all-time greats like John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker. ''Although known for his mysteries, Elmore Leonard has penned some of the best western fiction ever.''.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I haven't read anything by the author, nor viewed the movie adaption so can't compare the two however it's no secret that I enjoy a good "western"."
"An unusual western in that there are lots of taut situations where the waiting and stand-offs are filled with a terse suspense."
"If you've seen the movie with Paul Newman and Richard Boone, then you know the story."
"Few movies ever come close to being as good, or better, than the book they are based on, but some do just that (Jaws by Peter Benchley comes to mind as a great example of a book made far better by the movie)."
"By the end I could barely stand upright."
"Elmore Leonard is not nearly as well known for his Westerns as his hardboiled crime dramas, but in fact he is one of the finest writers in the genre of the past fifty years. Though treated with disdain by his fellow stage coach passengers (actually, they travel in a mud wagon), he becomes their only hope after bandits hold them up. Russell is striking for being treated as both heroic and extremely capable, but not impossibly skilled as many Western heroes are depicted. Written in 1961, Leonard anticipates the far more positive treatment of Indian characters in the seventies and beyond."
"This is one instance where the film is very true to the book, and I very much enjoyed the book even though I read it long after I'd first seen the film."
Best Lewis, C.S.
Listen to all seven stories in C. S. Lewis's classic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia in this unabridged 31-CD collection, read by some of the world's most renowned performers: Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) fue uno de los intelectuales más importantes del siglo veinte y podría decirse que fue el escritor cristiano más influyente de su tiempo. Fue profesor particular de literatura inglesa y miembro de la junta de gobierno en la Universidad Oxford hasta 1954, cuando fue nombrado profesor de literatura medieval y renacentista en la Universidad Cambridge, cargo que desempeñó hasta que se jubiló.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Also, the book description says "text only", which is strange, because this copy has tons of the original illustrations in full-color (I'll try to post pictures soon)."
"This is a beautiful paperback box set of the Narnia collection, that so many of us grew up with."
"The book is a beautiful blue with silver embossed images, classic style art and maps, an attached ribbon bookmark, and golden page trim (not pictured)."
"This is a very small set of B&W books."
"We are living in such tumultuous times with a medieval death squad marching from the middle east slaughtering innocents, we need teach of children that good is worth sacrifice."
"The voices and sound effects make you feel like you are there with the characters!"
"This is an excellent peach of art wort reading even as a teenager I love all of c.s.Lewis's works my favorite is probably the great divorce even now I'm learning new thing from the allegorical narnia series if your a fantasy fairytale type of reader I highly suggest the chronicles of Narnia only read them in the order they were written I bought the audio book copy cause I'm more of a listener it came very fast looks exactly like the pictures lovely boxing design with original pictures around the box and on the individual CD slips very good price if narnia is your thing then I suggest buying this."
"This is a great edition of the series."
Best Le Carre, John
Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London, and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself, are to be scrutinized by a generation with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications. “[Le Carré's] novels are so brilliant because they’re emotionally and psychologically absolutely true, but of course they’re novels.”— New York Times Book Review. Praise for John le Carré. “One of our great writers of moral ambiguity, a tireless explorer of that darkly contradictory no-man’s land.”. — Los Angeles Times “No other writer has charted—pitilessly for politicians but thrillingly for readers—the public and secret histories of his times.”. — The Guardian (UK). “I would suggest immortality for John le Carré, who I believe one of the most intelligent and entertaining writers working today.”. —Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune “The constant flow of emotion lifts le Carré not only above all modern suspense novelists, but above most novelists now practicing.”. — Financial Times “A writer of towering gifts.”. — The Independent (UK). --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"You should probably read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy first, too, if you haven't already. This has left me with a book hangover that I fear only another le Carre novel can cure."
"Terrific."
"I'm giving this a five star because was interesting to understand or even imagine the consequences of a career ended."
"The way he plays with language and toys with his readers--whimsically articulate British understatement to achieve overstatement--is something to behold."
"I can't imagine a world without Le Carre and I hope he has many more books in him..."
"Viewed from a single character point of view we look at a mix of the modern spy establishment with the old spy craft, different times, different objectives, different incentives."
"Read Berlin 1961, then Spy Among Friends, then watch Spy Who Came In From the Cold, then read this."
"He is still the unmatched master of espionage writing with his unerring ability to confound and draw the reader into tangled webs of intrigue."