Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…

Hello cyberworld. Yup, Wednesday Randomness is back, and I've managed to make another one. And did you notice there was a post between these? I know. And it was a fabulous cover reveal for three of the awesome Wednesday Random ladies—Bronwyn Green, Jessica Jarman and Jenny Trout. They have an Arthurian Collection releasing this summer and were showing off their pretty cover.

Okay, so I might be biased about the cover—hint, hint…I made it. But still. This collection is going to rock!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. This week's topic is…Some of my favourite things, specifically, Books!

From what I understand, this will be a recurring theme each month, we'll just be swapping out what kind of fave things we mention.

As you can probably tell from the title, as soon as I heard the topic, that song from The Sound of Music just starting playing in my head. And while I know it was an epic movie, it really isn't my favourite, lol. So spoiler alert—it won't be on my list of favourite movies. Which is, I guess, ironic for this week's post. But I couldn't resist the catchiness of it.

So…favourite books. Now, I could go ahead and site a few from the ladies who are in this group. Seriously, there is such huge talent in here and they have honestly written some of my favourite stories. But I thought that'd come across as being either kiss-ass, or promo-happy. So, let's just say, I love their work—all of them—and leave it at that. And for the sake of not appearing as if I'm sucking up to anyone, I'll just stick to books outside of this group. (but I could mention several!)

For those of you who know me, you'll know the first person—yes person—to make my list. And I say person because pretty much anything the man writes would make this list. I'll name a few, but it's safe to say that there isn't much he's written that I haven't loved. And yes, that's one of his awesome covers above. And I'll include another below.

Stephen King

I'm sure this surprises no one. He is the king of horror, but what's amazing, is that he has a whole host of other books he's written that have very little to do with horror. One of his best books is called… THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DRAGON… it's an amazing story that has a medieval flare to it. All about castles and honour. If you're the kind of reader that says, hey—Stephen King isn't for me, you have got to try this book. I promise you won't be sorry. (yes, Kellie, it's pronounced, sore-ree)

Also by him that's, again, not a horror book, THE DARK TOWER SERIES. Damn, western theme with enough paranormal shit tossed in to make your head spin. And do you know what else I love about his series? He doesn't waste half the damn book, retelling the first ones. He has a small paragraph or two in the pre-amble then just picks up where he left off. Again, a fabulous set of books by my number one favourite author.

Here's a short list of the books by him that make my all-time favourite list, and in no particular order…

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DRAGON
THE DARK TOWER-THE GUNSLINGER (SERIES)
IT
SALEM'S LOT (back when vampires weren't sexy heroes)
THE TOMMYKNOCKERS
THE DARK HALF
NIGHTMARES AND DREAMSCAPES

Now I could probably list more, but you don't need an outline of every book the man wrote.

Now, while he is a masterful story-teller, I do have other authors I adore.

Robert Jordan.

He's a fantasy writer, and the big series I loved of his was THE WHEEL OF TIME. It's an epic story encompassing over ten books (fourteen I believe), but the man is another who can weave a tale worth coming back to. It starts with EYE OF THE WORLD and doesn't let you go from there. And I won't list all the books in this series…

David Eddings.

This man wrote a couple of series I adored and have read more than once. THE ELENIUM... or what I call the chronicles of Sparhawk. Another fantasy novel with knights and evil forces, and of course some romance tossed in and a happily ever after. The characters continue in a second series, THE TAMULI, which was just as compelling.

Stephen R. Donaldson…the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The first in the series, LORD FOWL'S BANE. A great trilogy that I still remember most of to this day.

And I do love some YA as well. Having read so much to my kids over the years. But my favourite is the series by Eoin Colfer… ARTEMIS FOWL. I've read every one in the series, and the last couple without the kids, lol.

Another YA series... DELTORA'S QUEST by Emily Rodda. I loved reading all of the books over a number of series written by this lady to my kids. Made story time more than enjoyable. And it engaged my kids, which is not something books do that often. I know. Believe me I haven't missed the irony in it.

So…you can see I have a thing for fantasy and futuristic or sci-fi kinds of stories. And you might be wondering about romance? Hello, I write that so, where is my list of awesome romance books. Well, as I said at the beginning, there are a bunch from the ladies in this group, but I also have other authors I read. I think my favourite must be Tielle St. Clare. Her dragon series, like DRAGON'S FIRE was fantastic. Others, MATCHING SIGNS, NEW YEAR'S KISS, FAIRY DUST…I've read all of these multiple times.

I guess I could add other kinds of books. But I don't read a lot of non-fiction or self-help books. Perhaps I should, on the latter, lol, but I prefer to get lost in another world. And I don't want it to be dramatic or depressing. Hello, I said escape. I'm a single mom. I need alternate realities sometimes.

Okay, I'll wrap it up. Apparently I have more than a few favourite books, or perhaps, just favourite authors. Please hop on over to the other ladies and see what strikes their fancy…

Bronwyn Green
Jessica Jarman
Jenny Trout
Gwendolyn Cease
Kellie St. James
Leigh Jones
Tess Grant