I have recently been obsessed with the Shadowhunters/The Mortal Instruments series. It's kind of a modern day fantasy series and it's really cool! I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 13 or 14 though. Lots of... umm... inappropriate stuff. I like a little romance, but not too much. Although Shadowhunters does have a little more of it than I would like, it still gets five stars for pure awesomeness. I love Alec and Magnus as a couple so much, I'll walk around my house grinning like a crazy person and my brothers will just look at each other, knowing exactly what I've just been reading. There are six books (I'm on the last one! Whoohoo!) but they keep you interested the whole time. I'm considering making a thread about it, actually.

I would recommend:

The Penderwicks Series, by Jeanne Birdsall. These books are extremely good. I generally don't read realistic fiction, however these are a definite exception. They are so full of heart and humor, and are so very well written.

Savvy, by Ingrid Law. This is sort of a realistic fiction/fantasy blend, if that makes any sense. It's about this family whose kids, when they turn thirteen, get special powers. But it's not really about the powers. Instead it tells this story about family and expectations and growing up. It's well-written, and story flows very well. It has two sequels that aren't quite as good, but are good reads nonetheless.

The Princess Bride, by William Goldstein. I've loved the movie for years, so I thought I'd give the book a try. It is brilliant. It toes the line between serious adventure and satire perfectly, and is even better than the movie, if that is possible. While somethings were changed to make the movie a better screenplay, both versions feel very much the same. The book is adventure/fantasy at it's finest. It might not be for a youngest CBers, because it's full of thing like torture, revenge, true love, swordfights, adventures, giants, death, and the like. 

Half Magic, Magic by the Lake, and any other books by Edward Eager. These stories were some of my favorites when I was younger. They're fun fantasy stories, and although they were written quite a while ago, the kids are very relatable, and fun to read about. They're for a younger audience than the books I'm currently reading, but they are very good. 

Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynn Jones. Howl's Moving Castle, and it's sequels, are some of my favorite books. It's a book that deals with fairy tales in a humerous way, and is all about expectations, change, and believing the worst about people. It's heroine is an absolute queen of sass. She's funny, persnickety, and complicated. The relationships between people and misconceptions about them are the main focus of this book, but there's plenty of fantasy battles thrown in as well. Nothing's as it seems, and that's the way it's always been.  

I just scanned the comments but the books that I saw that I've read are great. Here's a book I didn't see while I was scanning: The Book Theif. Has anyone read it?? It is AMAZING!!! I just finished it for the second time and I LOVED it. The prologue is hard to follow and some parts of it are really sad (I almost cried!!) but overall it is amazing. BTW, does anyone know if you have to get the mag to do this? I want to invite my friend but she doesn't get the mag (or as my brother would call it "the maz")..... let me know.

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A book recommendation for lovers of fantasy realism. . . (I'm looking at you, Biblio!)

I recently finished Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, and I absolutely fell in love with it. It's based off the folktale, "Vasalissa the Beautiful", and it's about a girl named Vassa who's sent to pick up lightbulbs from a chain convenience store called BY's that just so happens to behead shoplifters. . . and sometimes innocent shoppers as well. . .  

When I first read the summary, it sounded totally weird, but I can promise you that this is definitely amazing, and the author has a beautiful style as well!  

Goodbye Stranger by Rebbeca Stead is a book I finished recently and it's seriously amazing. The genre is realistic fiction, and there's a teeny, tiny, bit of romance, but by no means is it a love story. There is swearing and some innuendo but nothing graphic. The characters are all extremely awesome and well developed, plus there is diversity, which is always something I look for in a book. (Tab and Celeste are Indian, Bridge is Armenian, Sherm is Italian, etc.) The writing is very detailed and lovely and the plot twists were perfectly timed and executed.