Book Recommendations

[Ryutana]

I definitely have to second the recommendation for the Ranger's Apprentice book series!

Also, if you want books with strong female characters, I would definitely recommend any of the books set in the Tortall universe by Tamora Pierce! Current series included in that universe, in the order written, with a quick summary of the series. Since these all take place within approximately thirty-ish years of each other (both the first and third series span the length of 8+ years), all the books will refer to characters from the previous books.

Note: The majority of these were written in time periods where most romance in novels was written in specific ways, and it does tend to appear in how the romances come about in the novels. Also, with the exception of the last two series, all were written in pre-Harry Potter time periods. As such, they are shorter.

Song of the Lioness - a Quartet, first in the universe. Shorter novels, but still good. Main character is Alanna of Trebond, a girl who wants to be a knight. Decides to trade places with her twin brother by cutting her hair and calling herself Alan. Father is the absent professor type, so is able to get away with it!
The Immortals - Also a Quartet, second in universe. About a girl called Daine. Orphan who ends up in Tortall. Turns out her being able to talk to animals is part of this thing called "Wild Magic". Eventually learns how to shapeshift into and heal animals as well as talking to them. Also, dragons.
Protector of the Small - Quartet. Main character is Keladry of Mindelan, the first female to chose to try for her shield after King Jonathon makes it legal. Has to deal with centuries of sexism and prejudice in order to be given a fair shot for her shield. Also, some issues of social class. Most realistic of the first three series, as she has no magic whereas pretty much all the others do.
Daughter of the Lioness / Trickster's Series - A Duology. First of the series released post-Harry Potter crazy, as such each of the books about twice as long as most of the preceeding books. Main character is Aly of Pirate's Swoop, Alanna's daughter. Spy novel, compared to the action of the previous ones.
Provost's Dog - Trilogy. While the most recently written of the main series, this one actual acts as a prequel series to the other novels. Follows the ancestress of George Cooper, a main character from Alanna's quartet. More crime novels then anything, as Beka is a Provost's Guard. Basically, medieval cop. Also, different from the others in that this is written from the first person perspective, being treated as if it is Beka's journals.

Tamora Pierce also has the Emelan series, which has a quartet of protagonists still with strong female characters. Also very enjoyable. I just really love her novels.

The Acorna series by Anne McCaffery is also good, as is Dragonriders of Pern. Older, also dealing with that issue of how romance was written in that time period.

Also the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede is great. Animorphs is always good, and I really enjoy Tiger Eye by Marjorie Liu.

[ripples]

If you are into fantasy and satire, I highly recommend any of the Discworld novels written by Terry Pratchett. He is a comic genius, and his world is really fun and awesome. He has a number of different arcs following different characters, but each of his books is also a stand-alone. Here are some of the arcs, all of the specific ones are listed in order:

Stand-Alone:
Monstrous Regiment (MY FAVORITE!)
Pyramids
Small Gods

Death:
Mort
Reaper Man
Soul Music
Hogfather
Thief of Time

City Watch:
Guards Guards
Men at Arms
Feet of Clay
The Fifth Elephant
Jingo
Thudd
Snuff
Night Watch

Wizards:
The Color of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Sourcery
Eric
Interesting Times
The Last Continent
Unseen Academicals

Industrial Revolution:
Moving Pictures
The Truth
Going Postal
Making Money
Raising Steam

Witches:
Equal Rites
Wyrd Sisters
Witches Abroad
Maskerade
Lords and Ladies
Carpe Jugulum

He was a truly amazing writer! I have read through most of his work- I am still finishing the Wizards arc, I'm on Sourcery right now!

[eppy]

Young Adult:

Warrior Cats
Seekers
Bravelands
His Dark Materials

Adult (still PG-13!)

The Dresden Files
Harry Potter
Sigma Force
The Sight
Fell
Lightbringer

I read series but also select books and I can never remember the names...

[MintehFreshness]

I've read a lot of books and most of them were good! But I'm terrible at remembering Titles and Author Names so I can't list them all, but here are some that I own that I definitely recommend. (Most of these are Fantasy types)
Richelle Mead - Bloodlines Series, Vampire Academy Series, Soundless
Susan Dennard - Witchland Series
Sarah J. Maas - Throne of Glass Series and her Court Series
Andrea Cremer - Nightshade Series
Victoria Aveyard - Red Queen Series
Alyson Noel - The Soul Seekers Series (The Imortals series starts out good but there was one book I couldn't finish, and that's the only book I've never finished. I've known others that have loved the series all the way through so the choice is yours!)
Melissa De La Cruz - Blue Bloods Series, Witches of East End Series, and her Frozen Series
Moira Young - Dust Lands Series
Thomas E. Sniegoski - The Fallen Series
P.C Cast + Kristin Cast - House Of Night Series
James Patterson Books
Kami Garcia + Margaret Stohl - Beautiful Creatures
Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights
Erin Hunter - Warriors, Seekers, and Survivors
Kelly Creagh - The Nevermore Series
Julie Kagawa - The Iron Fey Series
Joy Preable - Dreaming Anastasia and it's sequel Haunted

And so many more! (This doesn't show my favorite to least or anything like that, I was just going off of what is on my shelf xD)

[bookworm83197]

If anyone likes action-packed books akin to the scale of Michael Bay, but with much better pacing, might I recommend books by Matthew Reilly? His style leans mature, and there's quite a bit of graphic violence in his stories, so I'd only recommend him to older readers, at least in their mid-to-late teens.

Series (books in canon chronological order):
Jack West - 7 Ancient Wonders (7 Deadly Wonders in the US), 6 Sacred Stones, 5 Greatest Warriors, 4 Legendary Kingdoms
Shane Schofield - Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, Hell Island (short story), Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves
4 Legendary Kingdoms is actually a minor crossover between his Jack West and Shane Schofield series, so they are officially set in the same canon universe!

His standalones are usually more tame than his series, and more suitable for a younger audience
Standalones:
Hover Car Racer (PG/PG-13)
The Tournament (high PG-13)

He also writes various short stories, many of which are available on his website to read for free! If you don't want to check out his books yet (some of them are quite long), you can go read the short stories to see if he might be up your alley.

[TheAngryPademelon]

Dragon teeth is an excellent book full of adventure, only book i wanted to read a heap recently, it's not too short either.