A Hat Full of Sky (2004)

Tiffany begins her apprenticeship not realizing that a trick that she has taught herself leaves her open to a hiver, a parasitic entity that takes over another's consciousness. The Nac Mac Feegle guard her, but how to protect against an enemy that cannot be seen nor kicked? ( )

I was already familiar with the story of this book, but reading it for oneself* is always a different experience than having it read to you, especially seeing as so may audiobooks are abridged versions.
Tiffany Aching never disappoints. I've enjoyed each of her story-lines (I have yet to read The Shepherds Crown) and am always pleased to get back to her. I found the stories quite late on, and have yet to manage to read them in the correct order.
*Although I heve listened to the audiobook version of this before, it was my first time in reading the hardcopy.

I am so glad that my friend forced The Wee Free Men on me, because this series continues to delight my entire family. In this second book, Tiffany leaves the chalk to more or less apprentice herself to another witch, where she encounters The Hiver -- a menace so dark that I sometimes worried it would overwhelm the fragile balance of this book. But Pratchett works true magic here -- juggling humor, hopelessness, empathy, usefulness, fear, love, and death, all wrapped up in a charming little adventure story.

Another thing I loved about this one is that the cast of characters (other than the wee free men), is almost entirely women and girls -- none of them perfect. Sometimes some of them are vain, boring, timid, flighty, arrogant, or take themselves too seriously. But they are also powerful, kind, staggeringly confident, brave, charitable, and clever.

I need to order the next one immediately. ( )

Amusing characters, simple philosophies and lots of laughs ( )

The 2nd in the Tiffany Aching series (part of Discworld), 11 yr old Tiffany is now going to become a witches apprentice, and of course, adventure will follow her along the way. I enjoy the Discworld books and love that my 13yr old has been able to get into Discworld a little bit through this series!