Why am I passionate about this?

In the summer of 1999, the second book in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series (The Chamber of Secrets) was published. It seemed that everyone was reading it–kids, young adults and grownups. More than that though, kids were getting excited about reading, maybe for the first time. Parents were reading it with their kids. The excitement they shared was inspiring. I thought Rowling had achieved something remarkable–something worthwhile–for a writer of fiction. It compelled me to change the story I was working ona rather violent, edgy taleinto a book for young adults. 


I wrote

Drowntown Girl

By Timothy Moriarty,

Book cover of Drowntown Girl

What is my book about?

Chloe is a happy teenage science fair nerd. Grigore is a sullen teen who wants to use computer power to…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of An Alien Heat

Timothy Moriarty Why did I love this book?

I love a book that makes me laugh. But if I immediately feel guilty or disturbed for laughing, if the story makes me re-examine my values page after page, that is a home run.

This – the first of the Dancers at the End of Time series of books and short stories – had me pondering the boundaries of scientific reality as well as right versus wrong while also being galactically entertained.

The (objectively awful) main characters are time- and space-hopping immortals. Virtually all-powerful, they can change their own appearance and environment at will. When one of them decides to experiment with the concept of Love…everything, and nothing, starts to change.

A vicious, delicious satire of unchecked indulgence that tests the bounds of good taste.

Book cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Timothy Moriarty Why did I love this book?

In my experience, long-form humor writing often loses its whammy before the finish line. It becomes tired or repetitive. Satire as well: cynicism can curdle when presented at length.

But not this book and its many sequels (a trilogy of five, says the author). This is a delirious, Monty Pythonesque satire of all things bureaucratic, philosophical – even sci-fi itself. Example: At the end of Chapter 3 of this first volume, Earth is destroyed by the Vogons, government flunkies of an alien species (and the universe’s worst poets) to make way for a hyperspace expressway.

My friends and I would have rambling conversations inspired by this book – all the time shaking our heads at how unlikely any serious discussion could be inspired by such out-of-this-world goofiness.

By Douglas Adams,

Why should I read it?

37 authors picked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This box set contains all five parts of the' trilogy of five' so you can listen to the complete tales of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Bebblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android! Travel through space, time and parallel universes with the only guide you'll ever need, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Read by Stephen Fry, actor, director, author and popular audiobook reader, and Martin Freeman, who played Arthur Dent in film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is well known as Tim in The Office.

The set also includes a bonus DVD Life, the Universe and…


Book cover of A Wizard of Earthsea

Timothy Moriarty Why did I love this book?

Dragon riders! Heroic quests! A flawed hero! Schools of magic!

The Earthsea trilogy has to be considered, alongside Lord of the Rings, as a template-setter for all the fantasy epics that have followed. What I loved about it, instantly, was the contrast in style to Tolkien’s book. Tolkien’s writing is ornate, his story epic. Leguin’s books, however, are short and lean with prose like a polished gem.

It inspired the style I aspire to in my own writing: slim, elegant prose, not a wasted word. And characters with flaws. In this first book, we follow Ged, a new student at a school of wizardry. In a rash action born of ego and power-greed, Ged unleashes a dark spirit, then must undo the wrong he’s done.

By Ursula K. Le Guin,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked A Wizard of Earthsea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

The first book of Earthsea in a beautiful hardback edition. Complete the collection with The Tombs of Atuan, The Furthest Shore and Tehanu

With illustrations from Charles Vess

'[This] trilogy made me look at the world in a new way, imbued everything with a magic that was so much deeper than the magic I'd encountered before then. This was a magic of words, a magic of true speaking' Neil Gaiman

'Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it' David Mitchell

Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge,…


Book cover of Titan

Timothy Moriarty Why did I love this book?

Female action heroes were rare-to-nonexistent when this book was published in 1979.

I will boast that I was slightly ahead of my time (or at least my friends) in embracing this novel’s intrepid protagonists. Get this: the two women, a captain and a navigator, are piloting an interstellar exploration vessel when they discover a planetoid. They set down on its surface.

The planetoid, Titan, is a living entity that proceeds to destroy the ship and devour the crew alive. Our two heroes are examined and expelled, though now physically transformed. They proceed to explore this bizarre planet-entity.

I just love (and as a writer, aspire to craft) a novel this bizarre, lively, and head-spinning, continually confounding expectations from page to page. The First of the Gaea Trilogy.

By John Varley,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Titan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Twenty years ago, the Gaean Trilogy dazzled critics and readers. Now a new generation will discover that brilliant world--beginning with Titan.


Book cover of The Golden Compass

Timothy Moriarty Why did I love this book?

Nothing about this book, or the His Dark Materials series, should appeal to me: Talking polar bears? Witches? A protypically cynical, devil-may-care adventurer?

But any thoughts of “children's book” faded when I encountered the book’s dark heart—as in parent-trying-to kill-perfectly-lovely-child kind of dark. Setting his saga in a steampunk variation of Victorian England, Author Pullman is deadly serious.

I often wrestle with issues of spirituality, fate, and the role of religion, and with this trilogy I found much to enjoy and think about. The religion vs. science theme might strike some as heretical, but I find it intriguing and thought provoking. And the world-building offers much to surprise:  every character has a has a daemon, an animal that shares her soul and serves as a guide and companion.

By Philip Pullman,

Why should I read it?

30 authors picked The Golden Compass as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

The first volume in Philip Pullman's groundbreaking
HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy, now a thrilling, critically
acclaimed BBC/HBO television series. First published
in 1995, and acclaimed as a modern masterpiece, this first
book in the series won the UK's top awards for children's literature.

"Without this child, we shall all
die."

Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live
half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford.

The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands
of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight.

Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences
far beyond her own world...



This…


Explore my book 😀

Drowntown Girl

By Timothy Moriarty,

Book cover of Drowntown Girl

What is my book about?

Chloe is a happy teenage science fair nerd. Grigore is a sullen teen who wants to use computer power to resurrect dark magic spells for the purpose of making himself more popular at school. Big mistake. Grigore is possessed by a Demon. Poor Chloe is caught in the maelstrom that results, and both are hurtled to the mysterious world between earth and eternity: a drowned New York City, a canal city of pirates, slavemasters, and unholy monsters. Chloe is soon running for her life.

Meanwhile her best friend Maya is back home in New York, doing what she can to save her friend while also passing algebra – and while the Demon possessing the dorky sorcerer is working to destroy mankind…slowly. Painfully.

Book cover of An Alien Heat
Book cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Book cover of A Wizard of Earthsea

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By Yvonne Osborne,

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Why am I passionate about this?

Author Organic Gardener Environmentalist Reader Traveler Birder

Yvonne's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

After her mother is killed in a rare Northern Michigan tornado, Sadie Wixom is left with only her father and grandfather to guide her through young adulthood. Miles away in western Saskatchewan, Stefan Montegrand and his Indigenous family are displaced from their land by multinational energy companies. They are taken in temporarily by Sadie’s aunt, a human rights activist who heads a cultural exchange program.

Stefan promptly runs afoul of local authority, but Sadie, intrigued by him and captivated by his story, has grown sympathetic to his cause and complicit in his pushback against prejudiced accusations. Their mutual attraction is…

Let Evening Come

By Yvonne Osborne,

What is this book about?

After her mother is killed in a rare Northern Michigan tornado, Sadie Wixom is left with only her father and grandfather to guide her through the pitfalls of young adulthood.
Hundreds of miles away in western Saskatchewan, Stefan Montegrand and his Indigenous family are forced off their land by multinational energy companies and flawed treaties. They are taken in temporarily by Sadie's aunt, a human rights activist who heads a cultural exchange program.
Stefan, whose own father died in prison while on a hunger strike, promptly runs afoul of local authority, but Sadie, intrigued by him and captivated by his…


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