Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
Fiction: Fantasy/Humor. Hardback from HarperTeen. Published in 2006. 336 pages. Purchased from Amazon.com.
Publisher's summary:
At 9, Tiffany Aching defeated the cruel Queen of Fairyland.
At 11, she battled an ancient body-stealing evil.
At 13, Tiffany faces a new challenge: a boy. And boys can be a bit of a problem when you're thirteen. . . .
But the Wintersmith isn't exactly a boy. He is Winter itself—snow, gales, icicles—all of it. When he has a crush on Tiffany, he may make her roses out of ice, but his nature is blizzards and avalanches. And he wants Tiffany to stay in his gleaming, frozen world. Forever.
Tiffany will need all her cunning to make it to Spring. She'll also need her friends, from junior witches to the legendary Granny Weatherwax. They—
Crivens! Tiffany will need the Wee Free Men too! She'll have the help of the bravest, toughest, smelliest pictsies ever to be banished from Fairyland—whether she wants it or not.
It's going to be a cold, cold season, because if Tiffany doesn't survive until Spring—
—Spring won't come.
Online book shopping:
Powell's: Wintersmith
amazon.co.uk: Wintersmith
amazon.com: Wintersmith
Audible.com: Not currently available to download from Audible, but available on CD's from Amazon: Wintersmith
.
Much of what author Peter Scazzero says in this book rings true with me. I don't know how easy it would be to get people in a congregation to move forward in the ways he suggests, but I do believe doing so would make a big difference in the body of Christ.
While I had heard the title before, I really had no idea what this book was about when my Mom recommended it. Since she indicated that both she and my brother had enjoyed it, I decided to bypass concerns about the bizarre title and give it a read. Turns out a strange title was a good fit for this book. The main character makes you waver between laughing outloud and shaking your head in disbelief. It was a very entertaining listen. I spent a fair portion of it anticipating with dread what on earth he would do next, yet sometimes agreeing with his assessment of things. (It's not a rated G listen - probably R.) 
by Mary Pride. This book brought home schooling to my attention, and while I know I do not agree with a lot of what is in there, the fact that it got me to consider teaching the kids at home as an option certainly changed my life (our whole family life actually).
by Mercer Mayer (over and over again at bedtime), but just for me: 
by Douglas Adams.
(I figure I've been needing a silent retreat anyway. Might as well have some devotional materials.)
by Terry Pratchett. (I've also read this one more than once.)
by Audrey Niffeneggar.
by Jane Austen. (Though I don't think I would want to be Jane Austen, and without her experiences, I doubt the book would be as good as it is.)
by Joel Osteen or 
by Bruce Wilkenson.
by Peter Scazzero.
by William J. Webb.
by Virginia Lee Burton.
by John Bibee.
This slim volume is a good introduction to the importance of the arts. I found it very interesting in light of some of the recent online discussion I've seen about whether Christians should spend money on art or not. It is really just a bare scratching of the surface of the topic, and I'd say look for something more indepth if you have already spent time contemplating this issue. As an aside, I found the sentence structure to be a bit difficult to follow at times.
On a recent visit, my Mom recommended Life of Pi to me. So, when I needed a new audiobook, this time it was an easy choice. 
I did not look carefully enough at this tome before checking it out of the library, and thus inadvertently picked up book number eight. I did not suspect that it was part of a series until I was well into it and the author began to refer back to things that had happened in the previous books. Then, when I went to Amazon to get the picture of the cover to add to the "Current Read" sidebar, I found out it was not a stand-alone novel. (I really hate it when they don't prominently display on a book cover that a book is a part of a series.) Thankfully, the book was enjoyable even without having read the previous seven books. I don't think I'll go back and read the earlier volumes, but may look for any that have been written since this one.
Well, one more Hat Tip is due to 
I've probably mentioned before that Jasper Fforde was recommended to me at a Terry Pratchett book signing. It's not without good reason that the gentleman said "If you like Terry Pratchett, you might enjoy Jasper Fforde." While Pratchett's work is Fantasy/Humor, Fforde's is Fantasy/Detective/Humor, but they both share many things in common, one being that they make me laugh out loud every time I read them. Fforde is very creative. It's not classic literature, but you'll certainly understand many of the jokes better if you have read some classics. Really quite a fun read. But, for the record, Pratchett is still my favorite of the two. 
Rick Atchley has been preaching a series on unity at his church in Texas, and I've been downloading and listening to them (albeit rather slowly), so as I expected much of the material in this book is just a repeat for me. But, since it's a short book and not a difficult read I thought I'd give it a look see before my parents carted it home tomorrow. I like the book's call to unity. The thing I don't like, even though I think I understand the logic behind it, is the fact that the book is calling only for unity with the Christian Church, not with all christian churches. However, baby steps are better than nothing.