The Thief is King

The final results are in for the YA Fantasy Showdown and I couldn't be more happy (or surprised). To my unending happiness, Eugenides of Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series took the victor's crown in the final round after a grueling match against Howl Jenkins of Dianna Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle.

Hooray for Gen!

After reading the various fight predictions, I've become immensely intrigued by Howl. I've never read a single Diana Wynne Jones novel but feel like I'm missing out on something HUGE since he obviously is beloved by so many. So here's my question: What Diana Wynne Jones book should I start with? Howl? Or something else? Let me know in the comments which you'd recommend and I'll see about tracking her books down. Cause if he's right up there with Gen, then this is a character I really want to meet.

You're The Best.... Around!

Please, please just do yourself a favor on this sunny Tuesday morning and head over to the YA Fantasy Showdown. It's a bracket style match-up of all your favorite YA characters in a fight to the death a la Hunger Games. In short, it's a feat of creative genius. Vote for who you think might win each battle to the death - but be sure to read each and every one of the creator's How We Think The Fight Might Go... because that section is hugely made of win. And awesomeness.

Excuse me while I go waste spend monumental amounts of time online.