Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Recommended for all ages.

Danger, adventure, mutiny, buried treasure - Treasure Island was everything I expected it to be and more. This classic had been on my 'to-read' list for a long while, owing to my love of Stevenson's writings and pirate literature. And Stevenson does a marvellous job - the narrative is smooth and fast-paced and the writing is clear (allowing for its age), but it is the characterisation that will blow you away. From the creepy blind beggar (Pew) to wily Long John Silver and clever cabinhand Jim, Stevenson brings his characters to life as only a masterful storyteller can.

If you haven't read Treasure Island, here's your big chance. Particularly if you like reading good yarns about pirates. And it's squeaky-clean (unlike a lot of young peoples' fiction today).

Heidi - Johanna Spyri

Recommended for all ages.

Heidi is a gorgeous classic kids book. It is written in the old tradition of kids books about sunshine and roses and adventure and friendship, and contains many beautiful messages about thinking of others and trusting in God. I'd always teased my sister for reading it as a child, but since rediscovering it on the library shelves I was pretty impressed. It's very well-written, fast-paced and full of vivid description. It will make you want to go to the Swiss Alps.

A lot of children's fiction today features disfunctional families and disempowered protagonists. It's a relief to read something so uplifting and soul raising. Heidi the girl is an admirable protagonist who makes the best of what she's got and works miracles in the process. If only more kids could aspire to be like Heidi!!!

People of all ages would do well to read Heidi, although it is more geared towards younger readers (say up to year 8).

The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham

Recommended for ages 13-adult. Not recommended for kids who are afraid of giant human eating plants.

Wyndham's classic novel has been studied by kids at school for the last 50-odd years because of its fast-moving plot and semi-realistic series of events (as far as science fiction can go). The Day of the Triffids explores what happens to the earth when 99.9% of its inhabitants are left blind by a spectacular comet show. As if recognising the limitations of the storyline, Wyndham then adds the crucial element. What if 99.9% of the world turns blind, and then giant carnivorous plants take over, using what little intelligence they have to surround and attack the surviving humans?

Although discredited by a C-grade movie version, I really enjoyed the quick action and thought-provoking drama of The Day of the Triffids.

Best recommended for sci-fi lovers and kids over 13 because of the moral and philosophical questions surrounding the care of the blind.

Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe

Recommended for all ages.

Ok, move over The Yellow Wallpaper. I have a new favourite book. Seriously.

I was getting in a bit of a rut after reading all these novels which didn't live up to what others said about them ('brilliant', 'insightful', 'must-read' kind of books). I've gone through a series of books that deal with stupid issues and unconcerning concerns, that treat the reader like a sort of narcissistic teenager or petulant child instead of an intelligent, free-thinking adult, and that generally are not worthy of publication or anyone's time. Thankfully I got into Uncle Tom's Cabin.

It claims to be the best-selling nineteenth-century American novel, with its sensitive and intelligent portrayal of life as a slave in the South. I see no reason why it shouldn't still have resonance with its readership, because slavery isn't over with around the world (not by a long shot). We just call it something else.

Anyway, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1850's) is a beautiful and inspiring read. It's the sort of book that gives you an almost spiritual elevation, thanks to the honest and earnest discussions of faith. Its characterisation is brilliant, subtle and at the same time overwhelming. You really get to know and love the central characters, and I challenge anyone not to bawl their eyes out by page 270. The plot is fast-paced (definitely the sort of book you read under the table or by torchlight under the sheets) and the suspense is not prefaced by knowledge of the final outcome. But its most redeeming feature is that its moral tone isn't didactic. It is a genuinely good book, which will inspire any reader to greater acts of kindness towards their fellow humans.

Recommended to every reader. Now how can I enforce that??

Particularly recommended to those with an interest in the American history of slavery.

Beowulf - Translated by Burton Raffel

Recommended for all ages.

Move over Homer, I've got a new favourite epic poem. And possibly a new favourite book (!)

Beowulf is extraordinary. It's an incredible epic poem (very-long poem) about the adventures of Beowulf. Full of wars and battles, kings and dragons, treasure and kinship, Beowulf comes off as the ultimate guy. Move over Edward Cullen - Beowulf is so much smarter, kinder, more generous, strong and clever, and ultimately more awesome.

At first I thought this book would be a struggle - I've found the language of other epic poems really hard to get into (Homer, Milton etc), but this particular translation (from Old English into new) was very reader-friendly. Raffel did a marvellous job translating the beautiful language into something readable, to the point where I could hardly put the book down.

All in all, it's a brilliant translation of a gripping story, and readers of every age will love it. Particularly if those readers love tales of ancient glory!

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters - Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters

Recommended for ages 8-adult, particularly tomboys or Austen fans.

What happens when you take one Jane Austen book about romance and add an ocean full of menacing sea creatures? You get this book, or something very similar.

Winters obviously had a lot of fun with this quirky take on Austen's classic. He got to expand his vocabulary into the world of tentacle-snot, and seems to relish in presenting the most repulsive images to the reader.

About halfway through the book I got a bit bored, and started to get annoyed with the author for stuffing around with Austen just for laughs, but the ending was nicely summarised and all the loose ends tied up (which I really appreciate in a book). Although I still think some of the tentacle references and octopi attack scenes are unnecessarily sensationalist, I can appreciate the new dimensions to which Winters has taken 'Sense and Sensibility'.

Note that this book is best enjoyed while NOT eating. It's hard to maintain one's appetite when hearing of Lady Middleton's dinner parties which frequently involve the maggot version of Russian roulette...

Recommended for all who enjoy quirky literature and sea monsters!

A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

Recommended for ages 12-adult.

Charles Dickens appears on just about every "Top 100" book list you can find, and for a good reason - the guy was a masterful storyteller. He weaves a magical web of language that makes his books as enjoyable to listen to as comprehend. You don't have to understand the complex plot of this book to be mesmerised by his metaphors and turns of phrase. And the guy is pretty funny too - more than once I burst out laughing at his expressions (not a good look if you're in the USA Social Security offices like I was...) 

In A Tale of Two Cities Dickens crafts a dramatic tale of espionage, adventure and love. Although I found the first half of the book slow-going (owing to my increasing exposure to the {for the most part} simple and poor-quality novels available today), the dénouement and final conclusions of this book left me reeling. It deals with the almost-forgotten codes of decency, gallantry, justice and family by exposing a time where each struggled to survive: the French Revolution. You will love Dicken's central characters: Lucie, Charles, Mr Lorry, and ultimately even the incorrigible Sydney Carlton. You will gasp in horror at the sinister Madame Defarge and her knitting. And you will cry (more than you did in the Hunger Games series) bitter-sweet tears at the courage of the little seamstress and the knowledge she carries to the guillotine.

Lots of young adult fiction works today dramatise and heighten their suspense and romance to the point where it is almost unbelievable. Dickens doesn't. Instead, his portrayal of human emotion is sincere and often understated. He chooses to show, rather than tell you how much his characters love and hate one another, and in doing so sets himself apart from his weaker counterpart authors. Let yourself be caught up in the turbulence and uncertainty, the terror and treason that is the French Revolution.

Recommended for kids over 12, because of the language complexity more than anything. Stick with it until you have gotten into a 'Dickens groove' and can really enjoy it.

The Tennant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte

Recommended for ages 15-adult.

This book has been on my 'must-read' list for ages now, and I finally got around to reading it at then end of last month. It's one of the Bronte classics, and is the last novel written by Anne who died when she was quite young.

The plot is told through the eyes of a young English gentleman who finds himself falling in love with his new neighbour - the supposedly widowed Mrs Helen Graham. The neighbours all gossip and speculate about the mysterious origins of her and her young son, and much of the book concerns itself with slowly revealing Mrs Graham's troubled past. Her diary, handed over to the narrator and thus to the reader at a critical point in the book, reveals the terrible truth of her position and her past.

Although it was considered a challenging and dangerous book for its time, the modern reader might wonder why Helen did not do more to help herself and her son. One Victorian critic went so far as to deem the novel "utterly unfit to be put into the hands of girls", but now we can read it as an early feminist novel. Its funny how attitudes to literature change over time!

This book is recommended for 15years-adults because of the heavy way it deals with the issues of alcoholism, infidelity and violence within a relationship.

PS. If you don't want to buy a copy, you can read this and many other classic books online at http://gutenberg.net.au/ (Project Gutenberg).

Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

Recommended for 15-18 year olds.

Brideshead Revisited is one of those delightul books which create an intoxicating picture of a certain time and place - in this case England in the 1920's. The narrator, a Mr Charles Ryder, gets swept up in the aristocratic Marchmain family while at university. Brideshead Revisited is the tale of his ongoing relationships with that family over the next 15 or so years.

Although it takes a a little while to fall into the rhythm of the story, once you have become accustomed to its slower, more reflective pace this book will not let you far out of its reach. Wonderfully descriptive, it evokes the mood of a time long ago.

A delight to read from start to finish, this book is most suitable for 15-18 year olds because younger readers simply won't appreciate its period charm. Also because some of the events and relationship melodrama are best suited to an older audience.