1. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

This is book 2 of the much loved YA British fantasy series (also called "The Dark is Rising").  I started on it this summer and struggled with it for several months, taking it on trips and never opening it.  But I finally buckled down after the xmas break.  It's a good read in the end, but it just dumps so much of its own mythology on you that I couldn't keep interested.  Basically, young Will, who is part of a big, happy British family in the country is now also a sort of chosen one (an Old One) in the eternal fight between the Light and the Dark.  The first book took place during their summer vacation.  This one happens at their family home in a small village at the height of the Christmas season.  Will learns more and has to fulfill a bunch of small but dangerous quests.

What really works in the book is the setting and what happens there.  As Will learns more about the struggle he is invovled in, he moves back and forth in time, all the while the Dark mounts a vicious attack against the Light (and against his village and by extension all of Britain).  The attack begins with an endless heavy snowstorm.  So you get the battles and quests on the fantastic front all the while the regular people are struggling with all the effects of the weather.  For me, I wish the book had been more weighted towards the latter, but I imagine younger readers probably tend to prefer the magical stuff.  (It took me decades before I learned to appreciate the deep culture richness and joy of snow removal).

I'm not loving it, but it is not really the fault of the book but where my tastes lie today.  I shall continue to push forward though.