The best fantasy book you'll ever read. Ever.

I've been holding off, but really, I cannot hold back any more. I must, must, must tell you, dear reader, about Sabriel. Because Sabriel (by the lovely, wonderful, talented Garth Nix) is the best fantasy novel you'll ever read. Really and truly. It's one of the books I recommend the most at work for readers looking for new and different fantasy. This is one of the books that I hardly ever get in used. I think that really speaks to the book itself. Some people get rid of their books because they don't reread, but most readers discard books if they didn't like them.

Sabriel was born in the Old Kingdom to a man named Abhorsen. As a young girl, she was sent over the Wall to a country much like ours in the 1920s. In the Old Kingdom, magic is possible, necromancers are real, and dead things roam the land. Sabriel, having attended boarding school near the Wall in a country with none of these things, is summoned just after she turns 17 to find her father. An adept Charter Mage and possessing tools sent to her by her father - most importantly the bandolier of bells used to put the dead to rest - Sabriel sets out with all kinds of terrors behind her to discover what happened to her father. As she travels deeper into the Old Kingdom, and the knowledge that a deeper evil than any she could have imagined awaits her, Sabriel collects several allies to aid her on her quest.

I first found Sabriel as a young teenager. A copy popped up in the local used bookstore, and stayed there until I became an employee. It was one of the first books I purchased with my new earnings, and the only thing to endure it to me was the cover. The book itself had no synopsis on the jacket, just a girl with dark hair, a blue tunic, some odd looking bells, and a dark shadow with slits for eyes behind her. I couldn't leave it alone and finally read it straight through (staying up far too late to even manage school the next day). I was already well on my way to becoming a science fiction aficionado, having grown up on a healthy diet of Star Wars, Star Trek, Red Dwarf, and so many others. But Sabriel is the book that really launched me into fantasy. I have never been a fan of the epic, hundreds-of-pages-long fantasy series, so the fantasy I was familiar with was Alice in Wonderland and Narnia. Sabriel took that budding love and helped it bloom. At the age of 17, my lovely mother came home with a copy of Lirael and I cannot describe to you, dear read, the joy I felt at knowing that not only had Mr. Nix created a series with my beloved characters, it continued to be as different and wonderful as Sabriel first was to me.

Only a few months ago I was able to meet Mr. Nix when he came to America for a book tour for Clariel, the latest book in the Old Kingdom series. I couldn't contain myself, I actually wept tears of joy. I never thought I would ever meet him, as he lives literally on the other side of the planet from me. And he brought more exciting and wonderful news: he's continuing the Old Kingdom series. I can't wait to see what else he has planned for this world that has so shaped my own.

Post Script: If you, dear reader, are at all interested in audio books, Tim Curry reads the audio versions of Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen. They are the best audio books I've ever listened to, and an experience unto themselves. I highly recommend them!

Ladies and gentlemen, the following post is not for the faint of heart!

I am completely inspired to tell you all about my very favorite circus novel. Which is hard, because I love circus books. I don't know what it is about them - possibly the idea of the incredibly unknown life of a circus performer - but I can't help myself. If said book looks even remotely striped tent-y, I must have it! Must! Have! It! Why am I inspired to bring this to your attention at this particular moment, dear reader? Well, on Friday, my darling husband and I went to Kurios, the newest Cirque de Soleil show, for our birthdays (which are five days apart).

And so, I present to you Ladies and Gentlemen! The best book on earth! You won't be able to put it down! Step right up, step right up and I'll tell you all about Rain Village by Carolyn Turgeon!

I think this is one of the first really amazing novels centered around the circus that I read. And it is really amazing. Tessa Riley was a tiny baby. And as she grew, it was apparent she was going to be a smaller than average person. And in the early 1900s, born to abusive parents who own a working farm, being small is no excuse for skipping out on work. Yet Tessa can hardly do any of the chores due to her diminutive stature. In ignorance and viciousness, her Bible obsessed mother forces Tessa to hang from a rod set into the kitchen doorway - in hopes that it will force Tessa's body to stretch to a normal size.

Then, one day in her 12th year, Tessa heads into the small nearby town of Oakley, Kansas, and discovers that a new librarian has moved into town. Mary Finn is everything Tessa wants to be - educated, beautiful, normal-sized. Tessa begins to visit the library as much as her overbearing parents will allow, and slowly learns how to read and write from Mary. She also discovers the new librarian harbors a secret: she was once Marionetta, a trapeze flyer for the Velasquez Circus. Mary regales Tessa with stories of her days as a performer, and a mythical place called Rain Village. Tessa begs Mary to teach her the art of trapeze. And Mary finally caves. Just months after Mary arrives in Oakley, Tessa's father becomes sexually abusive, and Tessa knows she needs to get out.

What follows is an beautifully written discovery of ones worth and place in the world. As Tessa ventures into the world of the circus, her enormous personality wins over first the other performers, and then the audiences she entertains. This glorious book incorporates the mystical adventure of the circus with the realness of life.

After seeing Kurios, I've pulled out all of my favorite books about the circus. Rain Village is at the top of the stack, and this will be my third time reading it. If you're like me, dear reader, and absolutely dazzled by contortionists and strong men, trapeze artists and clowns, do yourself a favor and get a copy of Rain Village!