Essential Books for Teens and Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

A Tweet from @MacKidsBooks via @halseanderson led me to an Amazon list of Essential Books for Teens. What a cool list, even if there are so many I would add. :) I still haven't finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak because it's just so sad, but it is without a doubt one of the most well-written stories I've ever seen. I loved The Giver by Lois Lowry and have always encouraged my students (and friends, and family, and complete strangers in the bookstore) to read it whenever possible. I blogged about Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green back in February, and was beyond excited to see a few of my more mature students reading it (and passing it around, recommending it to friends!!) toward the end of the school year. I read and blogged about The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman waaaaay back at the beginning of 2008 when book blogging was still sort of new and my opinions were young and unformed. I don't entirely disagree with everything I wrote, but I think I would write something entirely different today. I own Crank by Ellen Hopkins and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (both of whom I follow on Twitter) and will be reading their books soon. All in all a convincing list.

At any rate, while I was checking out the Essential Books for Teens, I discovered a link to Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. I was deeply conflicted! My bookavore heart leapt with joy at the sight of the familiar cover layout, the pretty green color, and the idea of another book from such a talented author. Then my heart sank: I'm going to have to reread Eragon and Eldest, because it's been so long that I've forgotten them, and then I'm going to have to finally get my hands on Brisingr and read it. I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet, other than the backlog of books I mentioned here. But now, surely, I'll have to!