I reread two favorite books,

Lirael and Abhorsen by Garth Nix. I can hardly believe these books were only published a few years ago, the Sabriel trilogy is so much a part of my reading landscape. (I am excited to see that a related collection of stories, Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories will be published this summer. I must see if I can get an advance reading copy.) These books are the very best kind of young-adult fantasy. I find it heartening that there are such good new ones, really just as good as those favorite books of my childhood, Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence (which I ritually reread every few yeras). You expect the books you read when you're little to cast you in a magic thrall, but it is very delightful to find that new ones like Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials do exactly the same thing. For a wonderful book about childhood reading, take a look at Francis Spufford's The Child That Books Built.