The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Exciting secret societies, mystical encounters in forests, creatures from myth walking our modern (well, 1983) streets, booksellers with a secret history and supernatural powers? If I'd read this when I was thirteen I would have really loved it. Even as a curmudgeonly fortysomething I still enjoyed it a lot. It takes the classic YA / fantasy theme of someone on the edge of adulthood discovering their true self and heritage, but reflects it through a lens of English folklore and landscape. There's a nod to Alan Garner early on that gives you an idea of the territory Nix is working in, and there's a strong Dark Is Rising vibe as well. Very readable, very enjoyable.