An excellent replacement for the Harry Potter fix...

I'm sure many of you blog readers must think I only watch TV and movies, but I do occasionally read books too, and here's a great series for all you non-grown-ups. The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer is another story of a young boy without parental supervision who uses his own powers (in this case an extremely high IQ) to improve his lot in life. Also, there's all kinds of magic, but our anti-hero Artemis doesn't actually possess any. In the first book (5 have been published to date), Artermis has figured out how uncover the secrets of the fairy underworld (fairies break down into elves, pixies, dwarfs, etc.). He's going to use this knowledge to kidnap an elf (our hero Holly Short - first female member of the LEP recon squad) and get the gold for her return. The story is wonderfully written, with enough complexity for all "grown-up" readers, and a similar simplicity to the Harry Potter books so it definitely falls under "children's literature". The next 3 in the series involve other adventures between Artemis, his body-guard Butler, and Holly. There are other characters that come and go, and descriptions of life underground in "Haven" and "Atlantis". My two favorite characters are Foaly - a centaur who runs all technology below, which is all light-years ahead of human ("Mud Men") tech, and Mulch Diggums - a thieving, tunneling dwarf with a huge mouth. It's a terrific series, with all kinds of funny magic and fantasy.