I know most of you have probably read and loved these for many years, but just in case, Robin McKinley's classic The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword.  Sterling adventure for young adults and anybody else, a beautifully crafted world, wonderfully real characters...it's all here.  I like the second one best, for some reason.  There are Damar short stories to be had, in Water and A Knot in the Grain, also marvelous. 

Here are heroines who are real and strong without being cliched or overconfident, people I'd like to know.  Harry in particular.  These books are one reason why fantasy succeeds as a genre. 

Grace Livingston Hill's Crimson Roses.  One of many, many romances by Ms. Hill, most of them with Christian themes; they are almost all set either during the Depression or the Great War, and vary in quality, but this one is my favorite.  It has the sort of delicate romance that is hardly thought of any longer, and while the heroine presents as meek, she has a strong will.  Also, there's not too much of the Prohibition sensibilities that feel so odd to the modern reader.  Not for everyone--one must have a taste for early-twentieth-century literature--but not heavy going and simply a tender, sweet story. 

I just finished re-reading N. Lee Wood's Looking for the Mahdi, which is a unique and fascinating near-future novel--now slightly out of date politically, as it was published in 1996, but that doesn't matter. It's complex, uncomfortable, and a great read, and while I do not recommend the author's Faraday's Orphans (ew ew EW) this one is a keeper. I always finish it and think "Why not?"

Walkabout Woman by Michaela Roessner (not Michael, Amazon.com is wrong), though actually I just finished it. A very interesting pre-apocalyptic novel, though I'm not at all sure it's anywhere near accurate. I don't enjoy it as much as Vanishing Point, which is really unique, and I recommend the latter if you can find a copy, but still--a great read.

Speaking of books, there's another one I need to look up--Harriet the Spy.  I don't know why I no longer own a copy, but that one I want to reread before I decide whether I should again.  

If I recall correctly, the sequel wasn't as good.  But this is a book I haven't thought about in years on end, really.  And I remember it as being pretty unique.  Hmmm. 

My brain is weird.  

Finding myself in some dream version of Half Magic wasn't so odd as the realization, upon waking, that I actually don't own a single E. Nesbit book aside from Melisande and possibly The Book of Dragons. *frown* This is definitely untoward. It has been far too many years since I read her stuff.

I'll not bother with the chain of interest that led to me looking this up, but apparently it's hard to find a copy of Paul Darrow's Avon: A Terrible Aspect for anything under $50. This doesn't surprise me; it's a collector's item for Blake's 7 fans, and out of print; it's also written by one of the show's stars. It makes me smug, because $50 is the paperback price, and I got my hardcover years ago, rather randomly, for much less. It's not in great condition, at least as regards the dust jacket, but I can't complain (and that's a yummy picture of Avon on there, too).

But this also amuses me no end, because it's a terrible book. *snerk* I admire Mr. Darrow greatly, but he really needed a ghostwriter; his skills lie in the dramatic arts, not the literary ones. The plot is poor, the characterizations laughable and often unpleasant; it fits a certain time and genre, to a degree, but it's by no means a decent read. I keep it because I'm a B7 fan, and have ambitions of having it autographed someday, though now I'm tempted to put it on eBay and see what happens.

Never mind, Mr. Darrow. We cherish you as the irritating, irresistable Avon, among your other roles, and always will. "I have never understood why it is necessary to become irrational in order to prove that you care, or why it should be necessary to prove it at all."