Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Princess Academy, Book 1)

   My brother took one look at this book and made a dismissive comment, something along the lines of "That is definitely not my kind of book."

  I laughed, because it does look pretty silly on the surface, but it's actually surprisingly engaging. In all fairness, he's probably right about it not being his kind of book. However, I found that despite my own doubts as to whether or not it would be my kind of book... I enjoyed it, and am interested in reading the next in the series.

  Sure, it's a book about a "princess academy", but it's also a book by SHANNON HALE, so who cares if the premise sounds silly?

The final exam

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AfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSesothoSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZulu

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The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

Monsieur Cocq de Noir, Maria, and Wrolf in the pine-woods

. . . And then it seemed as though the light were taking form.
  It was still light, but within the light there were shapes moving that were made of yet brighter light; and the shapes were those of hundreds of galloping white horses with flowing manes and poised curved necks like the necks of the chessmen in the parlour, and bodies whose speed was the speed of light and whose substance seemed no more solid than that of a rainbow; and yet one could see their outline clear-cut against the night-dark background of the trees . . . They were the sea-horses galloping inland, as Old Parson had told Maria that they did, in that joyful earth-scamper of theirs that ushered in the dawn.

Dreamlander by K. M. Weiland

Chris Redston - the Gifted

Orias Tarn

Eulalia! by Brian Jacques

Ah, Rangval. I think I can safely say he's my favorite character in this book.

Teasing about delicious food is a very bad idea when you're stuck at the top of a mountain with a tribe of hungry shrews and not enough food to go around. It only took one sling-stone to the ear to teach Rangval the Rogue that lesson...

  I grew up reading (and loving) the Redwall series. I missed the last few books, though, so when I saw this one in audio book form at the library I wanted to check it out. Admittedly, the Redwall stories tend to blend together once you've read a lot of them (they do share a lot of similarities), but even so, I've enjoyed every Redwall book I've ever read. Eulalia! is no exception. Delicious food, dramatic battle scenes, and charming accents aplenty.

Boxing hare champ Mad Maudie takes on a gang of sand lizards

The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl, Book 6)

I was struck by the randomness of Artemis Fowl riding a quagga. So when I belatedly decided to sketch something from this book, that's what I ended up doing. It was pretty awful, though, so I'll spare you.

But then I went back and listened to the scene with the quagga again, just in case I'd missed any details. Now, I should say, I usually don't have trouble suspending my disbelief. I apparently can't distinguish good acting from bad because I so easily get into stories. And Artemis Fowl doesn't pretend to be realistic by any means. [nitpicky rant ensuing] But I found the likelihood of famously uncoordinated Artemis Fowl getting on (and staying on!) a panicked, never-before-ridden equine, who is likely already in motion, (and DIRECTING THE THING AROUND, no less...) is rather low, no matter how good of a rider he might be...

Sorry, Arty. I'm sure you'd like to claim you're an ace bareback rider, among your many other talents, but I'm afraid that exhibits 1 & 2 seem to be the much more likely results of your attempted quagga escape.

So then I got to thinking about things from the quagga's point of view.

AHHH! HUMAN-MONKEY ON MY BACK GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!!!

OH MY GOODNESS IT WON'T LET GO. But that crazy little pixie is scarier, sooo, time to run!

What is this? A tugging sensation on the back of my neck? This has got to be one of the lamest predators ever! Where's the pointy claws and teeth?

Ugh ugh ugh, stepping on tiny rodents is gross. Hey, look! Elevated surfaces! I can go up there and avoid all the little creatures underfoot!

I've got to give it to him, this monkey has the greatest sticking power ever. I thought surely this would knock him off.

OH! Light! Glorious, real, natural light! But I can't get to it yet! Oh, I'MSOEXCITED! *runs in giddy circles* Heyyy, why is this thing still on my back?! *runs in faster circles*

*ahem* Now, as for what should happen as soon as they get out on that ramp, refer back to exhibits 1b & 2b. [/end nitpicky rant]

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia, Book 7)

Boom--boom--ba-ba-boom went the horrible drum. Then another sound began to mix with it. 
"Listen!" said Jewel: and then "Look!" said Farsight. A moment later there was no doubt what it was. With a thunder of hoofs, with tossing heads, widened nostrils, and waving manes, over a score of Talking Horses of Narnia came charging up the hill. The gnawers and nibblers had done their work.
     Poggin the Dwarf and the children opened their mouths to cheer but that cheer never came. Suddenly the air was full of the sound of twanging bow-strings and hissing arrows. It was the Dwarfs who were shooting and--for a moment Jill could hardly believe her eyes--they were shooting the Horses. Dwarfs are deadly archers. Horse after horse rolled over. Not one of those noble Beasts ever reached the King.

King Tirian, Jewel, Jill, and Eustice look on as the first Talking Horse goes down...

Even though I've read this book before... hearing this scene again... well. Let's just say I agreed with the reactions of Jewel and Eustice:

"Little swine," shrieked Eustice, dancing in his rage. "Dirty, filthy, treacherous little brutes." Even Jewel said, "Shall I run after those Dwarfs, Sire, and spit ten of them on my horn at each plunge?"

They didn't have the chance to land even one blow of Talking Horse AWESOMENESS on those stinkin' Calormenes! Argh. 


The Last Battle audiobook on Amazon 

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

"I'll not find a better man than you, not on the steppes, not in any city or in all the wilds of the Eight Realms. You're better than seven years of food. You're better than windows. You're even better than the sky."

Dashti, the heroine of Book of a Thousand Days. Quickish color pencil drawing.

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Amazon listing for Book of a Thousand Days audiobook