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I usually catch at least two good stories over a week’s time. With a virus that knocked me out for most of last week, I had plenty of time (but limited mental stamina) to read or watch a show.

Some favorites:

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The novel, Dancing on the Edge of the Roof by Sheila Williams, is a good read. It starts out with characters and setting seemingly stereotypical, then steps the reader into unexpected depths of theme, character, and setting.

What books I have read and re-read are many.  Some are special treasures.  Here are a few:

1. Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World

   Excellent writing, as much of Dahl’s works are, including the more famous Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.   Beyond the quality of writing, I like Danny because it’s more realistic and because of the imagery of the young boy doing brave things, but, most of all, I like Danny because of the warm relationship between father and son.  The humor also helps.

2. Francis Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

   My favorite of Burnett’s novels, this story is engaging and even captivating.  It’s also one of my favorite go-to’s when I read writing advice — it breaks many of the modern tidbits pundits try to make into rules.

3. L.M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams

   The richness and depth of the newly-married Anne and Gilbert outstrips in some ways the delightful stories of younger Anne living at Green Gables.

Where should I start when reading fantasy?

As with science fiction, this is a tough question — for the same reason.  Fantasy worlds can be entirely different than our own, eerily similar, or a mash-up of the radically different and the every day.

Fantasy can be humorous (Anthony’s Xanth series or Terry Pratchett‘s works), character-driven (Alan Dean Foster’s Flinx series), epic (Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings), a mashup with science fiction (Anne McCaffrey’s Crystal Singer), fairy tales, portal fantasies, and much more.

Read on for the list.

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