Need Ideas!

Manipulation, or Kindness? You judge!
My dear hubby, bless his heart, is one of the most encouraging men I've ever met. Usually though, he complains about my writing if I do it while he's around. "I want to spend time with you!" he begs. Too cute right?

Well, I found out an easy solution to quiet the begging. This might work for you too with your significant others!

I simply let him read my novel as I work on it, being sure to leave quite a few cliff-hangers for him to get excited over. Now he can't wait for me to write more, and is always asking, "have you written anymore on your novel?"! Success!! Now I get kindly nudged to write more, and I have *one* devoted fan! Actually I have more then one fan, I would be remiss if I did not mention my dear friend Ellie H, who is also reading my novel as I write it.

Lessons from Lord of the Rings
I'm not going to deny it, Lord of the Rings was the first fantasy book that I ever read, and is still my favorite. I've read very little other fantasy (more on that in a minute), but I feel that such a timeless classic has a lot to teach us on how to write well.
The thing that I'm learning tonight as I watch the movie (I know, I know, you don't have to remind me that it's not as good as the books!) can be summed up in one word: tension. Just when you think everything is going to be resolved, it's not. There's tension between the characters (Gollum turning Frodo against Sam, Eowyn silently loving Aragron) and there's tension between the good and the evil (duh, I know!). Every single scene has a purpose that moves the book forward. My problem is that every single scene shoots the book forward at an alarming rate. My book is moving very fast right now, and I can't deside if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess I don't have to worry about it too much until it comes time to revise and edit, right?

Advice Needed!
I need to start reading more books, especially more fantasy, as that is my chosen genre. Can someone give me some book ideas, especially in the YA area? Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you!

Cheers!
L Finch