If you are seeking some excellent books to read, or need something to do while waiting for the new Harry Potter book to come out, here's a few that I highly recommend. Unless otherwise specified I have read ALL of the books in any series I recommend.

Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce
Alanna pretends to be a boy so she can train to be a knight. The first two books are the only ones I am willing to reread because...Well, I won't spoil it for you!

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Two young brothers run away to Venice where they join a group of theiving runaway children that work for the clever and mysterious Thief Lord, who has a dark secret.

The Wizard's Map by Jane Yolen
Twin brother and sister must prevent a Scottish wizard from using a magical map that when one alters aspects of the map it changes the actual world.

Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix
Arthur is a shy, asthmatic book that is supposed to die, but he doesn't. Instead he winds up discovering confusings things, such as the rulers of the seven days of the week that are based on the seven deadly sins.

Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger by Louis Sachar
A school of vastly different students with teachers that have dark pasts and can read minds. Beware: there are 'dead rats living in the basement!'

Someday Angeline by Louis Sachar
How does a motherless eight-year old girl, who loves to read about pirates and drink salt water, live when she is as intellectual as a college student and as tempermental as a five-year old?

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
When Harry discovers that he is a wizard he embarks on a challenging journey through the magical world, which is made ever more perilous by the threat of the evil Lord Voldemort. 6 of the 7 are out. (The Order of the Phoenix and The Prisoner of Azkaban are my favourites.)

visit The Time Turner, my harry potter section

Children of the Red King quintet by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bone is endowed with a magical gift and so are some of his friends at Bloors Academy. Together they must stop the despicable plots of the Bloors and the Yewbeam sisters- Charlie's sinister grandmother and wicked great-aunts. (Midnight for Charlie Bone and Charlie Bone and the Time Twister are the best in my opinion.)

Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborn
Jack and Annie find a treehouse full of books and they are able to go into the books! (Over about 31 out. There is no set number as to how many there shall be.) I have only read the first eight, and of those eight I like #2 Knight at Dawn best.

Artimes Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Obscenely rich and precocious, Artimes is a twelve-year old Irish criminal mastermind that knows all about the fairy world, and it is beyond dangerous for the fairies that he posesses such knowledge. (The 1st and 3rd of the 5 books that are out are my favourites. I'm in the 5th one; really, I am!)

visit Aurum Est Potestas, my Artimes Fowl

Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
Fletcher Moon is a seventh grader without any friends. He can't afford them since he desires to become a private detective, but when the most popular girl in school hires him to delve into a crime semmingly involving the Sharkeys, their town's matfia family, he might be in over his clever head.

Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Regan attempts to live a typical adolescent life, however, it is impossible since she constantly worries about her transexual brother.

Young Wizards series by Diane Duane
The bold Nita and her smart-mouthed friend, Kit, save the world from the dastardly plights of the Lone Power while trying to cope with everyday teenage problems. (I like Deep Wizardry the most in that series because it is a great tale of sacrifice.)

visit Sapphire of Magic, my young wizards section

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
Fiery Countess Meliara and her fellows go to war to overthrow the wicked king. Soon, however, she is summoned to the royal court, which may prove more dangerous than the bloodshed of war.

Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix
Sabriel's father is the Abhorsen, a benevolent necromancer that is required to undue the work of the evil necromancers. When he goes into Death an insulting spirit helps (mostly helps) her to take her father's place. Meanwhile, as she grows older, there is one Seer that actually cannot See the future.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
Nathaniel is a talented and ambitious magician's apprentice that seeks revenge, so he summons the witty demon, Bartimaeus, to assist him in carrying out his vindictive plan. Unfortunately for him, summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two very different things...

go to Essence OF Fantasy, my bartimaeus section

Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson
The forest keeps the valley safe from the foul king and the river keeps the valley safe from raiders, but when the enchanted river stops flowing and the woodland's magic ceases someone needs to go renew the spell. A spell that almost no one believes truly exists.

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
A girl in another universe requires the assistance of a young murderer in our universe to acheive her destiny while avoiding the wrath of her evil parents.

investigate Daemon Soul, my His Dark Materials section

Abarat quintet by Clive Barker
Candy Quakenbush is beyond bored of her unexciting life in Chickentown, though when she is whisked off to a world of magic and peril she realises she might have been better off staying at home. The strange world has 25 hours, each representing a different hour of the day, including the mysterios 25th hour.

Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini
When Eragon finds a dragon egg his life shall change forever...but can he handle the immense changes? Let's hope so, for the fate of all Alagaesia depends on it.

visit Eithgri Garjzla, my inheritance section

Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Torquoise is a human that was enslaved by vampires, so can you fault her for becoming a bounty hunter that specialises in murdering the bloodsuckers once she escapes? She is forced to rethink her career, though, when she meets a vampire she becomes fond of.

Merideth Gentry series by Laurel K. Hamilton
Princess Meredith is heir to the faerie crown if she can stay alive long enough to claim it. None of the books have much of a plot, however, they are highly erotic and have timeless characters.

The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
In gang wars even the best people can get killed.

Guardians of Time by Marianne Curley
The Guardians of Time are a syndicate that go back in time to ensure that the Order of Chaos does not alter history. Each opposing group is led by one of two immortal siblings. Both immortals have followers with two paranormal gifts. The plot focuses on the dangerous and romantic lives of young members of the Guardians of Time with less-than-perfect home lives that are referred to in an ancient Prophecy.

look at my Guardians of Time section

The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
Hannah has the Sight, thus she becomes a "Holy Fool" at the royal court in England. She is infatuated by Lord Robert Dudley, yet she is engaged to another. Also, she must invariably fear being charged with heresy for her religion.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The tale of Anne Bolyen's sister, Mary, and how she only managed to survive her sibling rivalry as well as all of the ambition, sex, and intrigue of the English court by following her heart.

Wicked: The Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
I never was a big fan of The Wizard of Oz, but this is the story of how an intelligent, prickly girl with emerald skin grew up to be the Wicked Witch of the West in a world with sensual desires and where talking Animals strive to be treated as equals that causes the reader to rethink their definition of "evil."

investigate my WICKED section

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
The Wheel spins and weaves the world's destiny and three boys in particular seem to effecting how the Wheel spins. No wonder the Dark Lord wants them in his clutches! He may well succeed since the young men don't know who they can trust.

'Wolf' series by Jane Lindskold
Raised by intelligent language using wolves, Firekeeper is the only survivour of Prince Barden's settlement in the mountains, so humans bring her to the kingdom to contend for the throne, but she shall have a difficult time achieving it with the sorceress, Lady Melina, supporting her children. (This is only the plot of book one. If I tell you the scenarios of the other tales it shall spoil the first. Book 4 is my favourite.)

The Adept quintet by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris
A fantasy\mystery about how charming Dr. Sir Adam Sinclair, leader of a benevolent group with peculiar powers, stops the shy and modest artist, Peregrine Lovat, from commiting suicide and helps him to control the strange ability that nearly caused him to kill himself in the first place, which was fortunate since Adam's syndicate need Peregrine's assistance to eradicate a foul league of murderers. (All 5 books are out of print, so you must purchase them used.)

check out Skean Dubh, my Adept section

A Seperate Piece by John Knowles
Envy can effect even the closest of friendships.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins is whisked away from his simple lifestyle in the Shire by the wizard, Gandalf, to help a band of dwarves reclaim their treasure from a terrible dragon.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
Frodo Baggins and a select group of companions join together to destroy the sinister Ring of the the Dark Lord Sauron.

visit Glamdring, my lord of the rings section

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
After helping a convict Pip tries so hard to go from a pauper to a gentleman in order to capture the woman he fancies, but will he ever be good enough?

The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
There are gates leading into several worlds and someone sends only the best man to retrieve him people from each world.

The Josephine Bonaparte Collection by Sandra Gulland
A trilogy that follows Josephine's inspiring life through her late teens until her death.

Assassin's Apprenctice by Robin Hoob
Fitz is the bastard son of the Crown Prince. Consequently, few are fond of him. He can communicate with animals and is being trained to murder people in a world full of treachery, uncertainty, precious little triumph, and characters that are seldom what they appear to be.

The Sorceror's Companion by Allan Zola Kronzek and Elizabeth Kronzek
Said to be a guide to the magical world of Harry Potter, though in truth is full of information of many mythical creatures.

Ologies
A series of absolutely beautiful and informative books including Egyptology, Fairyopolis, Dragonology, The Egyptology Handbook, Wizardology, Piratology, and The Dragonology Handbook.

The Complete Book of the Zodiac by Jonathan Cainer
I have read numerous books on Western astrology and in my opinion this one isd the grandest.

The Unauthorized Autobiography
The hilarious autobiography of Lemony Snicket, the man who wrote A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Diane Duane describes vistas, such as sunsets, flawlessly and is fabulous at incorporating the religions she creates into her books.

Jane Lindskold is the most brilliant person at characterisation the world has ever known. All of her characters have different personalities without being too eccentric and she allows her readers to appreciate each individual personality by showing every person's perspective.

J. R. R. Tolkien's works are so rich in detail, including each race having its own language, that the reader can easily tell he truly believed in the places and people he wrote about.

Philippa Gregory has the most accurate and interesting historical fiction novels.

Eoin Colfer's wit result in his books being a pleasure to read.

Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris posses the most impressive vocabulary of any authors I have ever read, and invariably do the research for their novels.

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has very fast-paced books since she does not put needless details throughout her tales just to fill up the pages.

J. K. Rowling manages to make a fantastical world seem real by her perfect portrayel of every type of relationship.