Thea's Desert Island Keepers

Whasssaaaaa! FINALLY it is here! My turn to seize control of host the blog *cackles maniacally in a nasal voice*

Ok, I promise not to abuse my power and go crazy. Now, dear minions, my books are as follows! (I have made some changes...and because of the power of Skeletor and Snake Mountain, this is totally legit)

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

1. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King

At the age of 19 Stephen decided he would like to write an epic similar to The Lord of the Rings. The “spaghetti Westerns” of that time and a poem written by Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” became the inspiration for his magnum opus. The series written and published separately over a period of 22 years consists of seven books and the short story, “The Little Sisters of Eluria” published in his short story collection, Everything’s Eventual. ~ from The Dark Tower Official Website

So, I notice that some folks are snagging entire series' and bringing them to the island. I want in--and I'm taking all The Dark Tower books with me *ninja flip* These books are my favorites of all time, even though the series itself is deeply flawed...it just makes it that much more endearing. These are some of King's best novels, very epic, and tragic, and grand in scale. I cried after finishing the last book and had to reread the series immediately.

"Hammering my fist against the back of my closet wasn’t one of my more pleasant dreams. Actually, it kind of hurt."

2. For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison

Despite dating one vampire and living with another, Rachel Morgan has always managed to stay just ahead of trouble . . . until now.

A fiendish serial killer stalks the Hollows, and no one living in or around Cincinnati—human, inhuman, or undead—is safe.

An ancient artifact may be the key to stopping the murderer—a mysterious relic that is now in the hands of Rachel Morgan, fearless independent bounty hunter and reckless witch. But revealing it could ignite a battle to the death among the vast and varied local supernatural races.

Rachel's been lucky so far. But even she can't hide from catastrophe forever. ~ from Kim Harrison.com

The Rachel Morgan series is flat-out my favorite Urban Fantasy series. Kim Harrison is easily my favorite UF author--make that one of my favorite authors, period. Rachel's adventures are incredibly fast-paced, with stakes that get higher in each book. This one, book five, is my favorite because of the character growth and the heartbreak.

"This should be agony. I should be a mass of aching muscle -- broken, spent, unable to move. And, were I an older man, I surely would... but I'm a man of thirty -- of twenty again. The rain on my chest is baptism --
I'm born again...."

3. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

It is ten years after an aging Batman has retired and Gotham City has sunk deeper into decadence and lawlessness. Now as his city needs him most, the Dark Knight returns in a blaze of glory. Joined by Carrie Kelly, a teenage female Robin, Batman takes to the streets to end the threat of the mutant gangs that have overrun the city. And after facing off against his two greatest enemies, the Joker and Two-Face for the final time, Batman finds himself in mortal combat with his former ally, Superman, in a battle that only one of them will survive. This collection is hailed as a comics masterpiece and was responsible for the launch of the Batman movies. ~ from DC Comics.com

Not only my favorite Batman book, but my favorite graphic novel, period. Batman is back, as an older man who cannot retire and give up that darker, savage, alive part of him. There is an air of finality to this book--but in a beautiful way.

"The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years--if it ever did end--began, so far as I can know or tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain."

4. It by Stephen King

A promise made twenty-eight years ago calls seven adults to reunite in Derry, Maine, where as teenagers they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city's children. Unsure that their Losers Club had vanquished the creature all those years ago, the seven had vowed to return to Derry if IT should ever reappear. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that summer return as they prepare to do battle with the monster lurking in Derry's sewers once more.

It is incredibly ambitious. It's sinfully long, and yet amazingly, not long enough--I finished It in middle school, and try to reread it at least once a year. AND, drumroll please, I've convinced Ana to read it too. This is King at his finest--scariest shit I have ever read, and yet heartwarming too. If you can believe that.

"Mara! Oh, Amon, no hand but mine shall slay that misbegotten Libyan."

5. Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Mara is a proud and beautiful slave girl who yearns for freedom. In order to gain it, she finds herself playing the dangerous role of double spy for two arch enemies - each of whom supports a contender for the throne of Egypt.

Against her will, Mara finds herself falling in love with one of her masters, the noble Sheftu, and she starts to believe in his plans of restoring Thutmose III to the throne. But just when Mara is ready to offer Sheftu her help and her heart, her duplicity is discovered, and a battle ensues in which both Mara's life and the fate of Egypt are at stake. ~ from Barnes & Noble.com

I first read this book in sixth grade, and it has been one of my favorite books ever since. Actually, this was the first book I had ever finished and then immediately reread. This young adult novel was written and published in the 1950s, and is still in print today, testament to how damn good it is. It's wonderfully romantic, set across a vivid ancient Egyptian backdrop and EVERYONE must read this novel. Seriously. Read it.

"We speak of stories ending, when in truth it is we who end. The stories go on and on."

6. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

The land of Terre d' Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phedre no Delaunay is a woman born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, and he was the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phedre's path has taken a strange and sometimes dangerous course. She has lain with princes and pirate kings, battled a wicked temptress who is still determined to win the crown at any cost, and saved two nations with her courageous actions and sacrifices. Through it all she has had the devoted swordsman Joscelin at her side, who knew from the beginning what she was. Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, and it is a bane on their lives--but he is sworn to her and by accepting who she is, Joscelin has never violated the central precept of the angel Cassiel: to protect and serve.

But Phedre's plans will put his pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe. She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture to the Master of Straights, a bargain with the gods that he struck so that a nation could be saved; in doing so, he took Phedre's place as a sacrifice. She cannot forget, and she cannot forgive--herself or the gods. She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death.

Their search will bring Phedre and Joscelin on adangerous path that will carry them across the world, to fabled courts and splendid vistas, to distant lands where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world.

And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name. ~ from Powell's Books.com

Kushiel's Dart having been taken, I would take this last book in Phedre's trilogy. This is probably my second favorite series of all time. Lyrical, heartbreaking...Jacqueline Carey is, in a word, brilliant.

So there you have it! Feel free to borrow whatever books you choose--just make sure they make their way back into my hut. Speaking of which, I have some heroes to take care of...

Until tomorrow! Cold beers for everyone!