My 10 Favorite Fantasy Covers

So, we’ve got that old adage about not judging a book by its cover but, let’s face it, we do. That’s part of why books HAVE covers. Well, cover art that is. Have you ever read a book that had cover art you could just sit and stare at?

I have, and here are are my top ten favorite fantasy book covers (of books I’ve read and have in my collection):

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Books I Love

It’s February 14, a day necessitating the mass use of the word ‘love’. So, in that vein, here are the books that I simply love. (hey, I’m a re-read-aholic after all)

• Leave it to Psmith by PG Wodehouse

  Hilarious fiction by the master of prose who brought us Jeeves & Wooster. The flower pot scene makes me crack up.

• Foreigner by Robert J. Sawyer

  An alien world of intelligent dinosaurs. Featuring the best space elevator EVER. Not to mention the most well-written alien culture I’ve ever encountered in fiction.

• The Queen Jade by Yxta Maya Murray

  Adventure, Mayan archeology, a hurricane, family drama, political upheavel, mystery, romance. It has it all.

• The Harper Hall Trilogy by Anne McCaffrey

  Set in McCaffrey’s Pern world, and is about the survival and growth of a girl who loves music and her firelizard firends.

• All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

  A great storyteller regales with humorous tales of his adventures as a veterinarian in Yorkshire. You might have seen the BBC TV series based on the books.

• The Garret Files/Garret PI series by Glen Cook

  Fantasy noir & my absolute FAVORITE cross-genre series. I reviewed Bitter Gold Hearts some time ago.

• Naked Once More by Elizabeth Peters

  Witty and fun mystery novel that’s also a bit of a poke at the publishing world. VERY enjoyable read.

• Yotsuba &! series by Kiyohiko Azuma

  LOVE this sweet day-in-the-life manga about a strange little girl, her single ‘dad’ and their adventures with their friends and neighbors.

Mystery Books I’ve Loved

I really love mystery books. I especially like historical mystery books. Being a voracious reader I’ve read quite a few over the years; from YA mystery series like Encyclopedia Brown and Dakota King to adult title like Tony Hillerman’s Talking God to classics like Sherlock Holmes.

Interestingly, though Mystery is my favorite book category our collection takes up less space than the rest of the fiction in our home library. I guess, over the years, I’ve refined my mystery book collection, like a fine vodka, down to the absolute best. (In my humble opinion)

Here’s a list of the mystery titles and series that I love, my favorites in my favorite genre:

5 Vikings Out of 5

I RARELY give anything five stars. Interestingly, not only does the following list contain all the MYSTERIES I’ve given five stars/vikings to but it also contains the ONLY books I’ve ever given a five-out-of-five rating to. Ever. (NOTE: Some of these are cross-genre noir [oh, how I love thee])

Click a cover to view on GoodReads database.

4 Vikings Out of 5

I’ve given a lot of mystery titles a rating of four-out-of-five stars/vikings over my reading career so far. Here’s a montage of my favorites from this group.

December Book Gift Ideas

December is a big gift giving holiday month for a variety of folk. For us book lovers this provides one of many yearly opportunities to add to not just our own home libraries but to the book collections of our friends and loved ones.

It’s not always easy to come up with book ideas, though. So, to help out I’ve present my personal Wishlist shelf on the social book site GoodReads; I have some really eclectic tastes so this is a great way to give a wide range of suggestions.

My Book Lists section is another good source of book gift ideas; from steampunk to noired.

Chriss’ Own Wishlist Book Shelf

1. Angel Diary Volume 1by YunHee Lee & Kara (illustrator)fantasy manga/graphic novel
2. Bookhunterby Jason Shigalibrarian fiction graphic novel
3. Carnal Knowledge: A Navel Gazer’s Dictionary of Anatomy, Etymology, and Triviaby Charles Hodgsonword book and lexicon
4. Chobits, Volume 1by CLAMPsci-fi romance manga/graphic novel
5. Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experimentsby Alex Boesehumorous science reference
6. Essential Herbal Wisdom: A Complete Exploration of 50 Remarkable Herbsby Nancy Arrowsmithherber
7. The Eye of Jade: A Mei Wang Mysteryby Diane Wei Liangmystery novel set in modern China
8. Five Hundred Years Afterby Steven Brustfantasy novel
9. Her Royal Spynessby Rhys Bowenday-in-the-life manga/graphic novel
10. Herbie Archives Volume 1by Shane O’Sheacollection of classic comic book
11. Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Feweredited by Robert Swartwoodshort fiction anthology
12. Hi-Fi Color For Comics: Digital Techniques for Professional Resultsby Brian Millercomic coloring how-to
13. Jerry Baker’s Terrific Tomatoes, Sensational Spuds, and Mouth-Watering Melonsby Jerry Bakervegetable gardening reference
14. Letter Perfect: The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Zby David Sackswords and history
15. Murder With Puffinsby Donna Andrewshumorous mystery novel
16. Yotsuba! Volume 1by Kiyohiko Azumaday-in-the-life manga/graphic novel

Vampire Fiction Origins

So, books with vampires in them are HOT right now. Though, some readers and purists feel many of these new angsty fangsters don’t deserve the name “vampire”.

Vampires aren’t new to the literature scene, though; the first work of prose featuring a vampire was published about 300 years ago. So let’s take a quick look at where the vampire novel started out:

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Steampunk Comics Guest Post Over @ Mad Hatter’s

I’ve written a guest post on steampunk comics for Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf. October is his Steampunk Month. Check it out.

Undead Detectives Reading List

I’m a big fan of detective fiction. But this is October, the big leadup to Halloween. So, in celebration of things that go bump in the night, here’s a reading list of some of the best undead detectives in the business; vampire PIs and zombie cops, OH MY!

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Werewolf Reading List

Looking to read some werewolf fiction this October? Here you go…

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2010 Comic-Con Wrapup

Sweet, sweet Comic-Con has come and gone here in San Diego. Another year of massive TV panels, crowded Gas Lamp restaurants, piles of freebies, new comic releases, great vendors, and small press discoveries for all.

Last year I attended on a Professional pass with Fanig, a buddy’s company, because of some freelance coloring and book layout work I’d done for their RPG module. This year I was on an Exhibitor pass, helping my jeweler friend run her booth (Adorable Mayhem). Was that ever EXHAUSTING! I did make it out onto the floor a few times (as well as into the Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog Sing Along Panel [go on, say THAT three times fast] with some friends).

I’ve got to get myself on the Press list for next year’s Con.

My 2010 Comic-Con Discoveries

Here’s a big list of all the wonderful new small press, indie, and web comic titles I discovered at this 2010 Comic-Com:

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Superhero Fiction Reading List

No, I don’t mean non-illustarted novelizations of existing comic book titles (i.e. the Spiderman novel by Jim Butcher and the Final Crises novel by Glen Cook). Nor do I mean origianl graphic novels. What I’m talking here is that tiny category of novel fiction where the author sat down and wrote a prose story about their own superhero characters.

Not something that happens often, since folk tend to think comics when they think superheros. Makes it a little hard for authors and publishers to think of superhero fiction outside of the world of sequential art.

Superhero Prose Novels

Looking to read some cross original superhero novels? Here’s a list of books in this tiny genre.

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