BOOKS I RECOMMEND TO YOU:
A list of books and stories by other authors with my reviews of them below that you might be interested in...
SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT
What a pleasant book! 'Skulduggery Pleasant' is such a fun, free-flowing book that basically turns its pages for you. Just as you think it's gotten to the point of perfection, you round a corner and find a new twist or character that just sets the rollercoaster right back around the bend. With humour, magic and a talking skeleton, Derek Landy has managed to create such a world that is almost impossible to come out from. The first words of this book capture your attention straight away, leaving your mind desperate to find out why, how and what exactly happened. "Gordon Edgley's death came as a shock to everyone - not least himself." With the power to capture and entrance its readers, Skulduggery forms a bond with the readers and with his fellow characters, making everyone feel as though they were in the book with him. A dead man forms a special bond with a young girl, and their adventures are unimaginable and completely wonderous. Jump through the window and into the world Derek Landy has created, because doors are for people with no imagination...
HEROES OF OLYMPUS: THE LOST HERO
Join Jason, Piper and Leo in the first book of the Heroes of Olympus series set after the world of Percy Jackson as new characters, new quests and new Gods are introduced and illustrated with such power and ease. In this compelling novel by Rick Riordan, there are Gods, famous Dads, magic daggers that lets you see glimpses of the near future and a bunch of curly black hair that will make you fear, make you wonder, gasp and laugh in a way that not many other stories can. In a whole new world with a whole new mystery, The Lost Hero focuses on the friendships that can be formed on fake memories, and the ones that can be created on the new ones.
ERAGON
The story of the relationship between a boy and a beast, one that has been misunderstood for its existence. Eragon follows the adventures of a dragon growing up with her new rider and best friend, raising her since birth into a fully grown dragon. With unlikely friends made along the way, Eragon shows that you don't necessarily have to be the dragon to get people to do something; you simply have to love as Eragon does for his dragon, and to stick up for something like that is special. The intriguing book Christopher Paolini has produced for his audience is the first in a series of four, and each are thought out and executed exquisitely. I only wished for more when I finished reading them!
CHASING THE VALLEY
Two different types of people in the world of this book; the scruffers and the richies. You can guess why each are called this. In a time where nowhere is safe for anyone anymore, the scruffer Danika sets out to escape the horrors of life with a group of unlikely companions: two richy twins, a scruffer theif and a young man who makes it his duty to get them to escape to their only chance of freedom. With unique marks on their necks that mark them apart from each other and very their abilities, Chasing the Valley sets you on the adventure with its characters, getting the reader to feel the trees as Danika does, or to hear the bombs as the other scruffers do. It holds you in a grip of steel until the final words, and then leaves you craving for more. A very good choice for those interested in Fantasy. Action and Adventure novels!
PRIDE & PREJUDICE
For such an inspirational and exotic author is Jane Austen, I felt the need to recommend one of her most famous books; Pride & Prejudice. Its story follows a young woman with a kindred soul, drawn to a man whom she despises at once. For a woman of her particular family, she gets cuaght up in her own stubborness as to whether she likes him or not, leaving the readers feeling conflicted, admiring and bitter all at once. It gets your heart going, and the way it is written reflects the era perfectly well, but is written in the most elegant and impeccable way that cannot quite contrast with anything else fairly. It was recommended to me by my mother, and I didn't think I'd like those kind of books but I read it, and now I've read it so many times that I'm starting to memorize some scenes! A good, hearty book on the very thing that defines our life; romance.
THE LITTLE COFFEE SHOP OF KABUL
Deborah Rodriguez has written a piece of art. The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul follows the lives of five completely diverse and opposite women, from an old wise den mother to a pregnant widow to a sappy yet wealthy American. It all evolves around the time frame; set in Afghanistan where rules were strict and many. With problems like security, protection and money coursing through one small coffee shop in the middle of the most dangerous part of Kabul, These five women meet and find that despite their differences, they all have a special bond; a connection, that cannot be shaken or even described. It's such a heartfelt book that can either bring you to tears or make your heart pound with fear, dread and happiness all at once. With such a fascinating storyline and inspirational characters in one of the harshest places in the world, these women still find the time to laugh with each other and to be simply who they are; women.
RED QUEEN
Red Queen is one of the most recent books I've read, following on in the far future; into another era, in fact. With tragedies like no other, love like never before and power as you've never seen it, Victoria Aveyard perfectly captures each moment with a hidden meaning, leaving the reader to 'read between the lines' to discover what it is. It's like an alternate version of Romeo & Juliet; a forbidden love, two households divided although they are not really seperated by names. They are seperated by blood, in another form of discrimination for the ones thought low of. The Red-Bloods and the Silver-Bloods. One race has unimaginable power at their fingertips, and the others are simply slaves to them, thought as low of just as the people in our world, with darker skin who get put down for how they were born. Red Queen shows the courage of one girl who proved to everyone that it didn't matter what colour you bleed; it mattered what colour you bled for the ones you loved. And if they were willing to risk it all.
WINTER BE MY SHIELD
Winter Be My Shield is such a cold, thrilling start to an alluring trilogy that will chill your bones from the very first words. In this world, friendships turn into romance, shelter and hospitality turn into home and hiding morphs into running as such an evil that should make you shiver, concedes to participate in a dangerous chase of cat and mouse. Except in this game, the cat and mouse switch positions. and switch bodies. With a broken man, his kind brother and all their friends and family harbouring the biggest secret in their land, Jo Spurrier continues to impress and deliver perfection through her writing, delivering us to a world literally like no other.
THE HOBBIT
Now, this is a book simply not like any other. J.R.R. Tolkien has created such a world where all these new and diverse creatures come together and live amongst each other, some in harmony and others, not so much. This story follows the adventures of a single hobbit, with large feet and a large ego, as he joins forces with some unlikely companions not for his own sake, but for theirs, to help them and not just himself. It turns a selfish hobbit into a selfless one as Bilbo Baggins forms a strong bond with people he was not expected to be seen ocnversing with, let alone helping. With something large and thrilling to happen in each chapter (literally), The Hobbit will take you on Bilbo's journey, and once it's over, you'll wish it never was.
THE OUTSIDERS
What an excellently executed book! The Outsiders represents the story of two completely different groups - the Greasers, which are the dirty, poor and dumb kids and the Socs, who are the rich, valued and smart - and how they come to get involved in each other. In a time where gangs were popular and having a blade on you in case you get jumped was the only way to protect yourselves, S.E. Hinton has orchestrated such a compelling and mind-throttling book that throws you on the edge with every chapter. This is a really well-written book, and I recommend it to all highly.
HARRY POTTER
Ahh, the classic story of wizardry. I wasn't going to put this up in my website originally because it's such a well known book, but I changed my mind because it's Harry Potter! This series, in case you haven't read it yet, is a 7 set series with a compelling, intriguing and rather unpredictable story line of courage, bravery and loyalty. Harry Potter starts off as a young boy living in a closet and goes to being one of the greatest heroes known in the fiction world and in the real world. His adventures are so amazingly thought out and gallant as not a single character goes for the cheap way out of a situation (apart from Slughorn and Lockhart) but instead try and help their friends, no matter the cost. Each character has an original personality so unlike everyone else, and everyone in the book has their own little story to tell when you meet them so if you're ready for an adventure, I highly suggest you follow the spiders and go for Harry Potter.
DEMON ROAD
Demon Road is one hell of a book! It's the most recent series by Derek Landy, the author of the well-known series 'Skulduggery Pleasant' (review above) and is an amazing book full of such diverse characters. They aren't stereotypical Americans, and the main character struggles with a self-consious thoughts about her face and her body and her parents, who try to kill her almost straight away. It's full of demons painted in a beautiful way, vampires who you'll want to kill at the end and a deal with a powerful demon that goes very, very wrong. I love how each character is introduced, and how they are treated towards the end of the book compared to the beginning and Derek Landy has yet again managed to incorporate a wild spin of humour in an otherwise serious situation. Follow Amber, Glen and Milo on an adventure of a lifetime as they chase witches and run from demonic parents and all in a killer car that holds so many secrets it'll leave you begging for the next book!
GAME OF THRONES
Now, this is a book I could talk forever and ever about, because let's face it; GoT is one of the most intriguing, blood-curdling, astonishing and flawless books I've ever had the pleasure of reading, no matter how frustrating it is when George R.R. Martin kills every character that could ever grow on you, and keeps the most disgusting people alive. It's written so freely and fluently, with chapters dedicated to multiple different characters that you learn more about on every page. Such an excellent book, guys; I would definitely reccommend this to anyone that wants to pass the time and possibly not stop reading until they realise that it's 5 in the morning... It can happen with a good book! And that is exactly what this is: a truly amazing book by a truly amazing author. I suggest getting the whole series because the first few pages will leave you addicted.
DELTORA QUEST
Truthfully, this is one of my favourite series ever. I started reading them years and years ago, and I've re-read them so many times since. Deltora Quest follows the intricate story of three unlikely companions on their quest to restore their home to what it once was, by finding all seven gems that belong to the belt. In order to complete this journey, Lief, Barda and Jasmine encounter many difficulties with guardians stopping them from achieving their goal. But it's not as simple as just finding all the gems, and that's what I love about these books. With dragons introduced in the second part of the series and unpredictable twists around every corner, these short novels may look like an easy read, but there are so many details and riddles and thoughts put into them that make them so original and brilliant that they're so hard to put down!
THE THREE DOORS
Emily Rodda exceeds expectations again with 'The Three Doors' trilogy. A truly amazing series that incorporates even more skillful thinking and carefully thought-out riddles that leave you wanting more and more after each book. These books take place on the island of Dorne, which is in the same ocean as the land of Deltora during the time of King Lief (I love when authors do that). Rye lives in a small place called Weld, which is walled up to block out the 'skimmers' which are terrorising Weld and killing everyone out after dark. The Three Doors - the Golden door, the Silver door, and the Wooden door - are all magical doors that the Warden of Weld sends willing volunteers that are of age to choose and go through in order to kill the skimmers for a reward. Rye's brothers, Dirk and Sholto, are all old enough to volunteer, but after an extended amount of time, are announced dead. Rye, who is only sixteen, fakes his age and makes a move to save his brothers, whom he believes are still alive. With the help of Sonia, a sixteen year old girl who forces Rye to let her tag along, Rye sets out to find his family, but ends up discovering something much larger than he bargained for. An amazing read, all three books are detailed wonderfully and I didn't put them down until i finished them!