Offical Website of Mette Ivie Harrison, Children's writer, triathlete

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen	I don't often buy books in bookstores without a personal recommendation from a friend, but this one jumped out at me and I loved how the magic worked into the everyday life of the people involved. It's not vampires and werewolves. It's a very different magical system that feels like it could be real.	The Magicians and Mrs Quent Galen Beckett	This is such a difficult novel to describe. The flap admits to the imitation of Dickens, Austen and Bronte, but the story is very much its own. I love romance, and I love the Regency period. But this is really more of a strange fantasy with bits and pieces of familiar things thrown together and shaken up just to confuse and delight you. Enjoy.
Transformation by Carol Berg	A heart-breaking story of a slave and a master and how they come to love each other. Not your every-day love-story. If you want a more traditional love story with lots of wonderful fantasy and angst, read Son of Avonar, Berg’s latest.	Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold	I never get tired of rereading this book. I love the refrains at the end of each section, and it's both a wonderful spy novel and a wonderful romance. Plus, you can't beat the way that Bujold has a woman be a captain, and a woman, both at the same time.
Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold	Can you tell how much I like Bujold yet? This is the first book in the wonderful Miles Vorkosigan series, about the twitchy little dwarf who takes over the universe. Or almost.	The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold	See? I think Bujold is probably the best writer alive today. I love the way that she uses religion so honestly in this book. These gods are real, and the way they use their servants so badly is real, too. Plus, of course, romance!
Storm Front by Jim Butcher	I am so addicted to this series! I love how at different places in the book, the glitch with electronics is a huge pain in the ass. Dangerous, too. Life-threatening. And then other moments in the book, it turns out to save him. Not the big climax, mind you. That has to happen with Harry's own innate intelligence and need to continue to fight evil. But the problem with electronics was so balanced. I love how character and world mesh to perfectly. I felt as though I have been dropped in the middle of a world and that I could go forward or backwards in time in it and be just as satisfied either way. There's stories everywhere here, and you just get a glimpse now and then. Can't wait to read more!	Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card	One of the great writers of speculative fiction and a personal friend of mine. This is the novel that brought him fame (and deservedly so). But it's more than the story of a boy who goes to war and becomes the general of all humanity's spaceships. Read it again, if you've forgotten the ending.
Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card	This is a book that made me think very differently about Christopher Columbus.	Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card	This is the first of the Alvin Maker series, about a magical, historical America and the UnMaker that lurks to destroy it.
The Devil You Know by Mike Carey	I went on a quest in the summer of 09 to read the first book in every major paranormal series recommend in Locus Magazine. This is the one I liked the most. It is dark, but it felt so real to me. That is, there are real consequences for having magic, and they aren't easy. The main character can not only see ghosts, but he can send them on to their next life, or to oblivion, he isn't really sure which. When he is asked to exorcise a ghost from a library, he thinks the job will be easy, but he begins to sympathize with her and realizes that she has a reason for hanging around and he wants to figure out what it is, even when his employers fire him.	The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon	I'm sure Michael Chabon doesn't need me to plug his books. Nonetheless, I loved this book, so I'm going to do it anyway. It's a science fiction novel with a heart of characterization. I'm not always a fan of alternate history because there can be so much backstory and I don't like to wade through it. Chabon handles it deftly, I think, and I wanted to read the sequel. Please, Michael, write one.
The Mirror of Her Dreams by Stephen R. Donaldson	I know, I know. This novel has been accused of sexism at its worst in sf. But I still love it, for the story of the magic and the story of the king.	Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier	The fairy tale of the seven swans is one of my favorites, and Juliet Marillier makes it come to life. To live silently, while the man you love believes you will betray him, is heartbreakingly real here. And so is the girl's love for her brothers.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke	A book that feels very real, about a historical England that has very real magic in it. You also to get meet a cast of characters that you thought you knew, but here they are in a new and different version of themselves.	Midshipman's Hope by David Feintuch	I read this series in a gulp and was astonished to discover that it had spent so long unpublished. A great story about one boy’s journey to manhood and the terrible choices—unforgivable, really— that he must make along the way. David Feintuch died in 2006. A loss to us all.
Jaran by Kate Elliott	All right, I'm a sucker for romances, and this one has some fun elements of fantasy and science fiction. But what I liked the most was the backstory about nomadic tribes that are matrilineal instead of patriarchal. Seeing how that would play out in an entire society was very interesting. And then Elliott takes it a step further in subsequent novels. It's the key to understanding the aliens' culture, as well.	The Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb	A story about a young boy coming to himself, and then losing himself. Also a love story. Two love stories--at least. Also the story of a king losing his kingdom. The story of a son giving all he has for his father. A story of a boy with forbidden magic. A story of a boy who dies and comes back to life. A story of a boy and his wolf. A story I could not forget.
Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay	Another alternate world with magic story, but this one is set during the reign of the Roman Empire. Kay is known for his wordsmithing, but he is also a great storyteller.	A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin	This is a book about twisted minds, written by a man with a twisted mind. And it is wonderful. So long as you are not squeamish and do not throw books across the room when your favorite characters die and the antagonists win—over and over again. All the old fantasy conventions are set on their head here. You think life in medieval times was simpler? You want to go back to it? You don’t. You think dragons are wonderful creatures? Well, maybe not. But there is a reason for them.
Dog Days by John Levitt	I can't get enough of Harry Dresden. If you are like me, this book is for you. I'm not saying it's an imitation. It's not. Imitations are rarely any good, anyway. This is its own story, with its own hero. But it has many of the same draws. I like how it starts with the feeling that I am in the middle of the hero's life, not at the beginning, but that there is a lot of depth for me to discover. I love the characters. I love the magic. And I had to keep reading to the end.	A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.	If you haven't read this sf classic, you have missed something extraordinary. No other dystopian future means anything without this as context. And if they tell you the old sf writers didn't know how to do characterization, they were wrong.
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon	The story of a woman warrior written by a woman who knows what she is talking about. The discussion of sword fighting here wasn't based on the movies.	The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon	In the future, they can cure autism. But if you had lived with it all your life, would you choose to change?
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon	The best sf about a grandmother you will ever read. What happens when you are left alone on a planet because you are too stubborn to leave? What happens when you discover there is a native population, after all?	His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik	I can't believe I missed this series for so many years. On the other hand, it was wonderful to be able to read it all in a stretch. Novik does a wonderful job of revamping Horatio Hornblower with a dragon to boot. It was so fun for me to watch her use the same story elements, but twist them for her own purposes. I love Laurence more than I ever loved Hornblower, and you get Temeraire, to boot. I also love how the romance is drawn out, bit by bit. Real life stuff.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss	This is one of those books that made me laugh and cry, almost in the same sentence. It is a detailed, intense description of a hero's early life. Do not miss it!	The Arrival by Shaun Tan	I discovered this book in 2008 when an illustrator friend of mine pointed it out as "the book that should have won the Caldecott" except for the fact that the author/illustrator did not qualify. I opened the book and found black and white pencil drawings, which are my favorite and the thing I lust over most. In another life, I wish I could be an illustrator, and if I was, I would wish I had done this book. If only I had a little more time in this life, I might go take some classes and illustrate that graphic novel I have waiting for me. Anyway, this is about a magical America that never was. Wordless, but you will spend so long looking at the pictures you will feel you have read a novel.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis	"Necrophilically" funny! About a girl who travels back in time to the days of the plague. She gets sick herself, but it's not the plague. There's a disease she's brought from the future, and it's killing everyone then, too!	Bellwether by Connie Willis	This is a funny, little romance. But for me, it's a book that made me think entirely differently about fads. And about the sheep who follow them. Also, hula hoops.
The King's Peace by Jo Walton	A realistic retelling of the story of Guinevere and King Arthur. Jo Walton has a wonderful voice and a clean, perfect, precise writing style.
Farthing by Jo Walton	This is one of those haunting stories that you don't want to get to the end of, not because you love the story so much (although you do) but because you know it's not going to end well. This is a story of what might have happened if the US had never entered WWII and Britain had made a pact with Hitler to give him the continent and leave Britain in peace. Only what happens then to the Jews? And to those who love Jews?
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