This is a weekly meme now hosted by The Artsy Girl Reader.  This week’s theme is Books From My Favourite Genre.  This was a very easy choice for me as my absolute go-to genre is fantasy.  I think this goes right back to my childhood when I first entered Narnia and travelled down the rabbit hole with Alice.  There are so many fantasy books I adore that I’ve decided to restrict myself to listing only books in series and then divide these into YA and middle-grade.

The trilogy that really got me into reading fantasy as an adult was Lord of the Rings.  I remember going to the cinema to watch it, and just really not being able to cope with having to wait so long for the next film!  The next day, I ordered Lord of the Rings, and completely lived in that world for the next few weeks.  This led to The Belgariad (and all other David & Leigh Eddings books) and The Riftwar Saga, both of which I loved, not just for the world’s created, but because of the characters, who were incredibly believable and sympathetic. 

A few of these are probably really obvious choices, but I just had to include them anyway!  I came to Harry Potter late – after all the books had been published.  I remember picking one up at the end of July and, by the middle of August, I had read them all.  The Chronicles of Narnia completely hooked me, and drew me into this incredible world as a child.  James Nichol has created the most amazing character in Arianwyn, who fails her witch exams, but is really the most fantastic witch!  The Wild Magic Trilogy has had two books published:  Begone the Raggedy Witches and The Little Grey Girl, which has the best depiction of a ghost that I’ve ever read in middle-grade – just incredible! 

I’m sure there are some great series I’ve missed out on – I almost feel guilty choosing so few books but it was a Top 10 and, by including series, I got a few more books in my list!

Have you read any of these?  Are there some other great series I’m missing out on?

#20BooksOfSummer is an annual event hosted by 746 Books and runs from 3^rd June until 3^rd September.  The aim is to clear some books from your TBR pile.

I have only been blogging since April, so this is the first time I’m taking part in this challenge.  It looks like too much fun not to have a go and, hopefully, it is one I can complete – no pressure!  It gives me a good chance to go through my ever-growing TBR pile which seems to have taken on a life of its own – nothing to do with my book buying addiction, of course!

I think the hardest part of this challenge will be keeping to these titles as more books are published that I want to read!

I’ve chosen a mix of YA and middle-grade books. This is my list:

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20 books over 3 months – ready, steady, go …

The June theme for Six for Sunday, hosted by A Little But a Lot, is Bookish Wishes and today’s wish is for:  Books I Want to be Written.

I’ve decided to go for types of books I would like to see more of, or even more of, in children’s middle-grade fiction.  In no particular order, they are:

1.       Timeslip novels.  I can’t remember when I read my first time-slip story (I must have been just out of primary school), nor could I remember the name, but I do remember that it was about teenagers going back to the time of Cuchulain of Ulster, and that the memory of my fascination with the book still lingers, many, many years later.  Just recently, I think I’ve been able to re-discover the book:  The Druid’s Tale by Orla Melling, and have now managed to get a copy.  I’d love to see more of these stories, travelling to different periods of history.  I love the mix of the modern with the historical, and how characters from two very different periods of history interact. 

2.       Science-fiction set on other worlds.  I love sci-fi series like Star Trek and Firefly.  I would love to see middle-grade fiction set entirely on other worlds with interaction between alien and human species, as I think these would be fascinating.  

3.       Celtic mythology/folklore with a modern twist.  Growing up in rural Ireland, I read, and heard, many stories of Irish folklore.  We had a ‘fairy tree’ (hawthorn) tree on our family farm, which was never allowed to be cut down for fear of causing offence to the faery folk.  If I were ever to write a story, it would be linked to faery lore!

4.       Pre-historic.  I loved Earth’s Children’s series and The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness Series, and would love to read some more stories set in pre-historic times.

5.      Ghost stories:  I’ve read Seaglass by Eloise Williams and The Little Grey Girl by Celine Kiernan recently.  I would love to find more books suitable for middle-grade in this genre.

6.      LGBTQ:  I’ve read some excellent YA fiction with LGBTQ characters, but am not really familiar with this population being represented in middle-grade fiction.  I would like to see more stories where the diversity of modern families is shown.

If you know any great children’s fiction related to these types of book, I would love to hear your recommendations.

This is the story of one quiet girl making her voice heard, not by learning to shout the loudest, but by showing her inner strength, determination and courage, and making others listen in order to do something that matters.

As full of excitement, power and tension as a lightning storm! Mina, an Alorrian farm girl, is waiting for her storm beast, used to help manipulate the weather, to hatch. But the storm beast that emerges is not what her family expected for their quiet, dependable, sensible girl. Pixit, a Lightning Beast – unpredictable, loud, brave – bonds telepathically with Mina and helps her to believe in herself. Theirs is a heartfelt relationship, full of trust, support, love and humour.

Mina wants excitement and adventure, and to explore the world outside her farm. She soon finds herself training at Mytris Lightning School where she develops firm friendships, full of trust and humour, with some of the other students.

During an attempt to harness electricity from a lightning storm, she finds herself outside the boundaries of Alorria, where she makes a startling discovery. Are the devastating storms suffered by the Outsiders somehow related to the Ten-Year Festival celebrations of her people? Her visit to the Alorrian Capital does nothing to allay her suspicions, but what can she do? Can she be the spark that will change the world, just as she always hoped? Will she be brave enough to defy the authorities, and journey beyond the mountains to find the truth?

I would highly recommend this book to children of 9+: it is full of adventure, excitement and warmth, and has some powerful messages about self-belief, being true to yourself and inner strength.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for an e-ARC of this book.