HowardTheDuck
If it ain't funk, I don't feel it!
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2013
I grew up on the Harry Potter series and the Redwall series, mostly. I also kind of grew up reading the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.
Redwall is a series by Brian Jacques about woodland creatures who live in Redwall Abbey, deep in the Mossflower Woods. Every book is about a different character who lives there who usually goes on to make great friends and become a great historical hero or heroine. Every book also has a great villain willing to wage war on Redwall Abbey, but evil never prevails.
I would bet you know Harry Potter, though. In short, it's just a seven year struggle between The Boy Who Lived and He Who Must Not Be Named, and it's filled with as much teenage angst as it is magic and adventure... lol
The Inheritance Cycle is the story of Eragon "Shadeslayer" 'Brom'sson' (usually just 'Eragon'), and his beloved dragon, Saphira, whom he raised from an egg. In this story, Dragons are few and far between, as the elves and humans once drove them to the brink of extinction. But all does not stay peaceful. There is an evil king ruling the land named Galbatorix who is out to eradicate every last Dragon and Rider (Riders are those who have tamed Dragons as their partners), as they pose a threat to his throne. He soon discovers that Eragon is a Rider and sets out to kill him by sending just about every kind of magical or non-magical threat that he can muster after him. Much of this hullabaloo gets the other species- the dwarves, the rest of humanity, the elves, and the last few dragons involved in a nation-wide war attempt to overthrow Galbatorix. But the key factor in keeping everyone united is Eragon. The dwarves and elves were nearly always at war with each other, but certain qualities about Eragon allowed him to become the uniting bridge between the two species.
Another book I really love is "E.T. The Extraterrestrial In His Adventure On Earth" by William Kotzwinkle. It's based on the E.T. movie's screenplay and it adds a lot to your movie experience when you read it. It will even change how you view E.T. himself! For instance, lots of people that have only seen the film assume that he is just a baby and it was his family who accidentally left him on Earth. No. None of that is true. He's actually one of the elder botanists of his species, and his colleagues were forced to leave him stranded on Earth since he wasn't fast enough to catch up and government officials were closing in at a fast pace.
Let me go dig in my library... I have tons of book suggestions. I was one of those kids who grew up on books... XD
Theres a pretty good novel called "Superstitious" by R. L. Stine, if you don't mind adult paranormal/horror stuff. The most "adult" it gets is maybe a few cursings here and there, unless you include horrific scenes as adult material. It depends more on the person reading it or their parents' opinions of it. But it gets pretty graphic. It starts out where you're kind of looking at things from a younger woman's point of view and she goes back to college with one of her friends, meets this really handsome professor and his friends, and starts falling for him. As this is happening, horrible murders start cropping up all over campus and the killer is kind of a surprise ending!
There's also "Wicked" which was written by Gregory Maguire. It's about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz. It's her life's story, from her birth to her later years, in which she is made fun of, loved by friends, learns how to use her magic, and even falls in love. She also attempts to go a little undercover and mess with the current Ozian government system...
"How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend" is a really funny one by Gary Ghislain, where a guy accidentally gets saddled with a beautiful alien woman that has teleportation abilities and is after Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp doesn't even have a clue whats going on this entire story. lol
Theres also The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, which is a very entertaining read. A Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is unexpectedly nabbed by a group of Dwarves and with them, sets out on an amazing journey that he would otherwise have never had.
"Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury is also a good read. It's a classic novel about two boys who are best friends, at Halloween time, when a dark carnival rides into town. The boys tempt fate and even try to convince the town that they are being suckered into feeding the evils of the carnival before it's too late. Before the carousel makes another round in the night.
There is also "Beowulf", which is an epic poem to read. It's the story of the young prince/warrior, Beowulf and the challenges life throws at him, like when his brethren are being repressed with fear by Grendel- a fierce demon who emerges from the shadows of the nearby swampland every night to terrorize, kill, and feast upon those who stand in his way. Beowulf is the only hero in this story to withstand such horrendous beasts and overcome them all.
"The Phantom of The Opera" by Gaston Leroux is also a classic. Christine Daae, a young Opera diva in Paris, France, attracts the attention of a well-known "Angel of Music" when she is just a young girl at the opera house. Every night, he approaches her from the darkness and teaches her to sing, and before long, he is smitten with her. But the real story takes place when she is older and can finally sing well enough to "make his song take flight" (as is said in one of the songs from the musical adaptation). Well, the Opera Ghost makes sure that Christine will have her debut and take the stage from the previous opera diva. When she takes the stage, she is spotted by one of her former childhood sweethearts- Raoul, le vicomte de Chagny (The Vicomte, that is 'Head', of the Chagny Estate). From then on, Raoul makes it his goal to try to win her over and becomes a regular patron of the Opera Populaire. This enrages the Phantom, as he now has competition for his girl.
"Arthur Et Les Minimoys", known in America as "Arthur and The Minimoys" or "Arthur and The Invisibles", by Luc Besson, is a wonderful short series about a boy who stumbles upon the world of the Minimoys in his grandparents' own backyard, and falls in love with their princess, Selenia. But, as in most daring tales of knights and princesses, all is not well. A sickly, twisted, demented ex-Minimoy named Malthazard is terrorizing Selenia's people, and she takes it upon herself to be their defender, even when Arthur beats her to pulling the royal sword from the stone in the center of town.
"The Phantom of Manhattan", written by Frederick Forsyth, is the heart-wrenching sequel book to "The Phantom of The Opera". In this half of the story, Eric, the Phantom, travels to New York and learns about the business of freaks and carnies on Coney Island. He builds up a fortune and opens a new opera house in NYC so that he may invite Christine to perform for him once again. Christine arrives with Raoul, and little Pierre, their son. Eric and Raoul, again, fight over Christine the entire time, leaving her to choose who she would rather end up with again. But this time, she isn't the only one who has to choose.
Pierre must also choose his REAL father.
"King Kong" by Christopher Golden is also a fun read. It gives you a really good look through the eyes of Kong. If you're a Disney films fan like myself, you might find yourself thinking of Kong not as a true savage, but as a kind hearted soul, kind of like Kala from Tarzan. He falls in unconditional love with a beautiful actress and you just might cry when he gets carted off to NYC, because it seems really inhumane, somehow...
"The Looking Glass Wars" is a great novel based on Alice In Wonderland, written by Frank Beddor. It follows the POV of Alyss Heart, who is the true heir to Wonderland's kingdom, as she gathers her friends and prepares for all-out war against her aunt Redd, the current Queen of Hearts.
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" edited by Robert L. Mack is one of my favorite horror/suspense/serial killer tales. You would have to run it by your parents first though, since it's pretty gruesome. But theres a lot of good drama in the story. :3 Sweeney's real name is Benjamin Barker. Benjamin was sentenced to serve time in Africa on a trumped up charge for 15 years. He did nothing to deserve it, it's just that the reverend judge Turpin fell in love with his (Benjamin's) wife and sent him away so he could take his wife and daughter, Johanna, from him. But that's the musical version of the tale. In the book, only his wife was taken, actually. But either way, he wants revenge. He arrives back home in London after escaping on a sailing ship, possibly, as in the musical version, after having befriended the young sailor, Anthony. I don't think it's like that in the book, though. But in both versions, he makes a deal with the baker, Mrs. Lovett for a means of disposing of the evidence of his kills. Mrs. Lovett runs a meat pies shop that is known far and wide (not so in the musical) and agrees to use the meat from his victims in her pies as special ingredients. After this is set up, Benjamin has by now, changed his name to Sweeney Todd, and is killing nearly all of his patrons, in hopes of someday killing Turpin. Meanwhile, in the musical version, Anthony is winning over Sweeney's daughter, Johanna, and both are planning to elope, as her caretaker is the strict judge Turpin. But in the book, poor Anthony was one of Sweeney's patrons and the string of pearls he brought to give to Johanna are put through a lot before they find their way into her hands.
"Vamped", by David Sosnowski, is an adorable, fresh Vampire novel where Martin, one of the world's first Vampires to help boost it's Vampire numbers before the war, begins the story by wondering what to do with himself now that life just didn't exist. Humans are being "bred" in blood plants for consumers, normal TV channels are mostly replaced, and while everyone is asleep, that is, in the daytime, the world is just a wasteland of nothingness, complete with broken items scattered about that humans would have needed in high demand, but that which Vampires no longer require... Even the early morning life no longer interests Martin, as the clubs are far too crowded, hot, and noisy. So, he goes out for a brisk drive in the rain through the woods and finds a huge surprise. A small, human, living girl covered in mud and blood, armed with a knife, and even weirder, all alone. He thinks about maybe sucking her dry several times, but in the end, after discovering her mother, decides to raise her as his own daughter. Now, in this story's world, remember, most humans are confined to slaughter houses, so you can bet there are a lot of things that a child needs in childhood that a Vamped world could never provide. Because of this, loads of hilarious memories between the girl (Isuzu) and Martin back at his apartment. For instance, little girls need good meals. So what does Martin do? He goes on ebay and pays up to hundreds of dollars for foods such as muffins or canned raviolis that are no longer made on a regular basis.
"Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural: Night Shivers, The Ghost Stories of J. H. Riddell" is a fun read for those dark, stormy nights. Especially if you don't mind too much about reading in a slightly older tongue. It's a collection of spine-chillers that are all fairly good-sized. The book is about 449 pages long.
"Ex Heroes" by Peter Clines is a good super heroes versus the zombie apocalypse novel. A small community of citizens is surviving in a small corner of Los Angeles, on just a few movie sets because of a group of very powerful superheroes who can help with both fighting and healing. But a bigger threat is on the horizon- someone with evil intent has amassed a following and they have learned to be able to transform themselves into perfectly conscious zombies.
Lastly...
I have "Memoirs of A Geisha" by Arthur Golden. This is a fiction novel that could actually trick you into thinking it was nothing but fact. It pulled the wool over my eyes for years! But anyway, it's about a young girl named Chiyo, who is taken from her home and separated from her sister Satsu at a young age. While Satsu is automatically carted away to a place where men pay to stay the night, Chiyo is put to work as a servant at a well-known geisha house where she is later promoted to the level of an apprentice geisha. Chiyo desperately searches for her sister for years before giving up hopes of ever seeing her again, and the geisha woman living with her treats her like dirt, but not all is sour for Chiyo. She soon begins to attend the local geisha institutions for lessons with her friend Pumpkin and along the way to school one morning, she runs into a man she once knew back home, Mr. Tanaka, and he shows her tremendous kindness and though she is just a child at the time, she falls immediately in love with him. But a geisha's life is strict and she blossoms from an unpolished jewel into something radiant that catches the attention of every important man in Gion, Japan and causes some fierce rivalry between every geisha house in the district. She eventually drives Mameha, the older geisha at her house and Pumpkin off of the charts, even though she doesn't actually mean to do them any harm, no matter how Mameha treated her, Chiyo, now known as Sayuri, was never a vengeful type. But her focus is set on winning the Chairman's, Mr. Tanaka's heart no matter what. It's a beautiful story. Although, again, it's one you would first want to run by your parents to see if they feel it is okay for you to read, as there is some mild cursing and the book is extremely descriptive of the passionate and erotic scenes.
Here's what the back of the book actually says:
"#1 International Bestseller
Over one year on the New York Times Bestseller List
'Captivating, minutely imagined... a novel that refuses to stay shut.'- Newsweek
a literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel presents with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.
In Memoirs of A Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as an illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction-at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful- and completely unforgettable.
'Part historical novel, part fairy tale, part Dickensian romance, Memoirs of A Geisha immerses the reader in an exotic world. An impressive and unusual debut.' -The New York Times
'Enthralling... written as if it were a memoir dictated by a geisha. The story draws the reader in from the very first page.'- USA Today"
Redwall is a series by Brian Jacques about woodland creatures who live in Redwall Abbey, deep in the Mossflower Woods. Every book is about a different character who lives there who usually goes on to make great friends and become a great historical hero or heroine. Every book also has a great villain willing to wage war on Redwall Abbey, but evil never prevails.
I would bet you know Harry Potter, though. In short, it's just a seven year struggle between The Boy Who Lived and He Who Must Not Be Named, and it's filled with as much teenage angst as it is magic and adventure... lol
The Inheritance Cycle is the story of Eragon "Shadeslayer" 'Brom'sson' (usually just 'Eragon'), and his beloved dragon, Saphira, whom he raised from an egg. In this story, Dragons are few and far between, as the elves and humans once drove them to the brink of extinction. But all does not stay peaceful. There is an evil king ruling the land named Galbatorix who is out to eradicate every last Dragon and Rider (Riders are those who have tamed Dragons as their partners), as they pose a threat to his throne. He soon discovers that Eragon is a Rider and sets out to kill him by sending just about every kind of magical or non-magical threat that he can muster after him. Much of this hullabaloo gets the other species- the dwarves, the rest of humanity, the elves, and the last few dragons involved in a nation-wide war attempt to overthrow Galbatorix. But the key factor in keeping everyone united is Eragon. The dwarves and elves were nearly always at war with each other, but certain qualities about Eragon allowed him to become the uniting bridge between the two species.
Another book I really love is "E.T. The Extraterrestrial In His Adventure On Earth" by William Kotzwinkle. It's based on the E.T. movie's screenplay and it adds a lot to your movie experience when you read it. It will even change how you view E.T. himself! For instance, lots of people that have only seen the film assume that he is just a baby and it was his family who accidentally left him on Earth. No. None of that is true. He's actually one of the elder botanists of his species, and his colleagues were forced to leave him stranded on Earth since he wasn't fast enough to catch up and government officials were closing in at a fast pace.
Let me go dig in my library... I have tons of book suggestions. I was one of those kids who grew up on books... XD
Theres a pretty good novel called "Superstitious" by R. L. Stine, if you don't mind adult paranormal/horror stuff. The most "adult" it gets is maybe a few cursings here and there, unless you include horrific scenes as adult material. It depends more on the person reading it or their parents' opinions of it. But it gets pretty graphic. It starts out where you're kind of looking at things from a younger woman's point of view and she goes back to college with one of her friends, meets this really handsome professor and his friends, and starts falling for him. As this is happening, horrible murders start cropping up all over campus and the killer is kind of a surprise ending!
There's also "Wicked" which was written by Gregory Maguire. It's about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz. It's her life's story, from her birth to her later years, in which she is made fun of, loved by friends, learns how to use her magic, and even falls in love. She also attempts to go a little undercover and mess with the current Ozian government system...
"How I Stole Johnny Depp's Alien Girlfriend" is a really funny one by Gary Ghislain, where a guy accidentally gets saddled with a beautiful alien woman that has teleportation abilities and is after Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp doesn't even have a clue whats going on this entire story. lol
Theres also The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien, which is a very entertaining read. A Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins is unexpectedly nabbed by a group of Dwarves and with them, sets out on an amazing journey that he would otherwise have never had.
"Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury is also a good read. It's a classic novel about two boys who are best friends, at Halloween time, when a dark carnival rides into town. The boys tempt fate and even try to convince the town that they are being suckered into feeding the evils of the carnival before it's too late. Before the carousel makes another round in the night.
There is also "Beowulf", which is an epic poem to read. It's the story of the young prince/warrior, Beowulf and the challenges life throws at him, like when his brethren are being repressed with fear by Grendel- a fierce demon who emerges from the shadows of the nearby swampland every night to terrorize, kill, and feast upon those who stand in his way. Beowulf is the only hero in this story to withstand such horrendous beasts and overcome them all.
"The Phantom of The Opera" by Gaston Leroux is also a classic. Christine Daae, a young Opera diva in Paris, France, attracts the attention of a well-known "Angel of Music" when she is just a young girl at the opera house. Every night, he approaches her from the darkness and teaches her to sing, and before long, he is smitten with her. But the real story takes place when she is older and can finally sing well enough to "make his song take flight" (as is said in one of the songs from the musical adaptation). Well, the Opera Ghost makes sure that Christine will have her debut and take the stage from the previous opera diva. When she takes the stage, she is spotted by one of her former childhood sweethearts- Raoul, le vicomte de Chagny (The Vicomte, that is 'Head', of the Chagny Estate). From then on, Raoul makes it his goal to try to win her over and becomes a regular patron of the Opera Populaire. This enrages the Phantom, as he now has competition for his girl.
"Arthur Et Les Minimoys", known in America as "Arthur and The Minimoys" or "Arthur and The Invisibles", by Luc Besson, is a wonderful short series about a boy who stumbles upon the world of the Minimoys in his grandparents' own backyard, and falls in love with their princess, Selenia. But, as in most daring tales of knights and princesses, all is not well. A sickly, twisted, demented ex-Minimoy named Malthazard is terrorizing Selenia's people, and she takes it upon herself to be their defender, even when Arthur beats her to pulling the royal sword from the stone in the center of town.
"The Phantom of Manhattan", written by Frederick Forsyth, is the heart-wrenching sequel book to "The Phantom of The Opera". In this half of the story, Eric, the Phantom, travels to New York and learns about the business of freaks and carnies on Coney Island. He builds up a fortune and opens a new opera house in NYC so that he may invite Christine to perform for him once again. Christine arrives with Raoul, and little Pierre, their son. Eric and Raoul, again, fight over Christine the entire time, leaving her to choose who she would rather end up with again. But this time, she isn't the only one who has to choose.
Pierre must also choose his REAL father. "King Kong" by Christopher Golden is also a fun read. It gives you a really good look through the eyes of Kong. If you're a Disney films fan like myself, you might find yourself thinking of Kong not as a true savage, but as a kind hearted soul, kind of like Kala from Tarzan. He falls in unconditional love with a beautiful actress and you just might cry when he gets carted off to NYC, because it seems really inhumane, somehow...
"The Looking Glass Wars" is a great novel based on Alice In Wonderland, written by Frank Beddor. It follows the POV of Alyss Heart, who is the true heir to Wonderland's kingdom, as she gathers her friends and prepares for all-out war against her aunt Redd, the current Queen of Hearts.
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" edited by Robert L. Mack is one of my favorite horror/suspense/serial killer tales. You would have to run it by your parents first though, since it's pretty gruesome. But theres a lot of good drama in the story. :3 Sweeney's real name is Benjamin Barker. Benjamin was sentenced to serve time in Africa on a trumped up charge for 15 years. He did nothing to deserve it, it's just that the reverend judge Turpin fell in love with his (Benjamin's) wife and sent him away so he could take his wife and daughter, Johanna, from him. But that's the musical version of the tale. In the book, only his wife was taken, actually. But either way, he wants revenge. He arrives back home in London after escaping on a sailing ship, possibly, as in the musical version, after having befriended the young sailor, Anthony. I don't think it's like that in the book, though. But in both versions, he makes a deal with the baker, Mrs. Lovett for a means of disposing of the evidence of his kills. Mrs. Lovett runs a meat pies shop that is known far and wide (not so in the musical) and agrees to use the meat from his victims in her pies as special ingredients. After this is set up, Benjamin has by now, changed his name to Sweeney Todd, and is killing nearly all of his patrons, in hopes of someday killing Turpin. Meanwhile, in the musical version, Anthony is winning over Sweeney's daughter, Johanna, and both are planning to elope, as her caretaker is the strict judge Turpin. But in the book, poor Anthony was one of Sweeney's patrons and the string of pearls he brought to give to Johanna are put through a lot before they find their way into her hands.
"Vamped", by David Sosnowski, is an adorable, fresh Vampire novel where Martin, one of the world's first Vampires to help boost it's Vampire numbers before the war, begins the story by wondering what to do with himself now that life just didn't exist. Humans are being "bred" in blood plants for consumers, normal TV channels are mostly replaced, and while everyone is asleep, that is, in the daytime, the world is just a wasteland of nothingness, complete with broken items scattered about that humans would have needed in high demand, but that which Vampires no longer require... Even the early morning life no longer interests Martin, as the clubs are far too crowded, hot, and noisy. So, he goes out for a brisk drive in the rain through the woods and finds a huge surprise. A small, human, living girl covered in mud and blood, armed with a knife, and even weirder, all alone. He thinks about maybe sucking her dry several times, but in the end, after discovering her mother, decides to raise her as his own daughter. Now, in this story's world, remember, most humans are confined to slaughter houses, so you can bet there are a lot of things that a child needs in childhood that a Vamped world could never provide. Because of this, loads of hilarious memories between the girl (Isuzu) and Martin back at his apartment. For instance, little girls need good meals. So what does Martin do? He goes on ebay and pays up to hundreds of dollars for foods such as muffins or canned raviolis that are no longer made on a regular basis.
"Tales of Mystery & The Supernatural: Night Shivers, The Ghost Stories of J. H. Riddell" is a fun read for those dark, stormy nights. Especially if you don't mind too much about reading in a slightly older tongue. It's a collection of spine-chillers that are all fairly good-sized. The book is about 449 pages long.
"Ex Heroes" by Peter Clines is a good super heroes versus the zombie apocalypse novel. A small community of citizens is surviving in a small corner of Los Angeles, on just a few movie sets because of a group of very powerful superheroes who can help with both fighting and healing. But a bigger threat is on the horizon- someone with evil intent has amassed a following and they have learned to be able to transform themselves into perfectly conscious zombies.
Lastly...
I have "Memoirs of A Geisha" by Arthur Golden. This is a fiction novel that could actually trick you into thinking it was nothing but fact. It pulled the wool over my eyes for years! But anyway, it's about a young girl named Chiyo, who is taken from her home and separated from her sister Satsu at a young age. While Satsu is automatically carted away to a place where men pay to stay the night, Chiyo is put to work as a servant at a well-known geisha house where she is later promoted to the level of an apprentice geisha. Chiyo desperately searches for her sister for years before giving up hopes of ever seeing her again, and the geisha woman living with her treats her like dirt, but not all is sour for Chiyo. She soon begins to attend the local geisha institutions for lessons with her friend Pumpkin and along the way to school one morning, she runs into a man she once knew back home, Mr. Tanaka, and he shows her tremendous kindness and though she is just a child at the time, she falls immediately in love with him. But a geisha's life is strict and she blossoms from an unpolished jewel into something radiant that catches the attention of every important man in Gion, Japan and causes some fierce rivalry between every geisha house in the district. She eventually drives Mameha, the older geisha at her house and Pumpkin off of the charts, even though she doesn't actually mean to do them any harm, no matter how Mameha treated her, Chiyo, now known as Sayuri, was never a vengeful type. But her focus is set on winning the Chairman's, Mr. Tanaka's heart no matter what. It's a beautiful story. Although, again, it's one you would first want to run by your parents to see if they feel it is okay for you to read, as there is some mild cursing and the book is extremely descriptive of the passionate and erotic scenes.
Here's what the back of the book actually says:
"#1 International Bestseller
Over one year on the New York Times Bestseller List
'Captivating, minutely imagined... a novel that refuses to stay shut.'- Newsweek
a literary sensation and runaway bestseller, this brilliant debut novel presents with seamless authenticity and exquisite lyricism the true confessions of one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.
In Memoirs of A Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount; where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as an illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction-at once romantic, erotic, suspenseful- and completely unforgettable.
'Part historical novel, part fairy tale, part Dickensian romance, Memoirs of A Geisha immerses the reader in an exotic world. An impressive and unusual debut.' -The New York Times
'Enthralling... written as if it were a memoir dictated by a geisha. The story draws the reader in from the very first page.'- USA Today"
