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).

Ranger's Apprentice: Book One: The Ruins of Gorlan - John Flanagan

Recommended for ages 8-18.

Ranger's Apprentice is a great fantasy series which follows Will as he learns the craft of being a Ranger and then proves his courage hundreds of times. Book One is full of mysterious creatures and sets the reader up for later books in the series by tempting us with snippets of information about Morgarath (the evil guy).

Although the prologue didn't draw me in at all, after the first chapter I was hooked. I didn't want to put the book down at all because it's so fast-paced and interesting! The characters have wonderful depth, the plot is pretty clear (for the most part) and the protagonist (Will) has so many qualities I could relate to.

Grab a copy of Ranger's Apprentice from your local library if you're a fantasy buff in need of some good reading.

PS> It's not as dark as the cover implies.

Recent reads

I've read a few good novels recently but none really deserve a post of their own. They are all young adult fiction and are fairly similar in their construction and writing style (although they concern very different subjects).

Cherub: The Recruit by Robert Muchamore is book one in an exciting series about underage intelligence officers. It's a fast, entertaining read and presents an honest portrayal of young adolescent life.

The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman is a novel set in a new world where everything is controlled by Earth Mother and her minions. Honour's family fight against this usurpation of their rights, pay the ultimate price, and then (of course) join a successful revolution. Quite the entertaining read.

Peak by Roland Smith tells the story of Peak Marcello who has the opportunity to climb and summit Mt Everest with his long-lost father. It's a lovely coming of age story that ends with Peak making a massive sacrifice and learning the real nature of his relationship with his parents.

Each of these books was interesting in content and fast to read, but they are symptoms of our modern literary culture which appreciates pared-down writing, writing devoid of all complexities, the kind of writing that you can read much as you would sit in front of the tv - mindless reading.

The above books would be enjoyed by kids aged 8-18, and are great choices for boys or not-so-avid readers.

Stormbreaker - Anthony Horowitz

Recommended for ages 8-18.

Stormbreaker is an example of an excellent graphic novel: it has a rocketing plot, its characters hold your attention, and the illustrations merge perfectly with the text to tell the story. Like other graphic novels, it's a fast read, and makes a great intro to graphic novels for readers new to the genre.

The story itself focuses around Alex Rider - a regular kid who is suddenly plunged into the dangerous world of spies and secret agencies. I'm not going to say more, other than this: if you want a fast-paced, action-filled story then this book is for you!

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!

When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead

Recommended for ages 8-16.

When You Reach Me seems at first like the story of a regular 12 year old girl growing up in the suburbs - family and friendship dramas, boys, school etc. But suddenly she receives an anonymous note, then another, and another. These notes are weird, and hint at future events, personal things that their author could have no way of knowing about. They creep Miranda out in more than one way.

It's not possible to know about things that haven't happened yet. Or is it???

Playing on the borderline of mystery, adventure and science fiction, this book is a quick and engaging read. The characters are satisfactorily drawn, the plot is fast-paced, and although the ending is not as neatly drawn together as I like, I concede that the topic is one that denies a tidy ending.

This book has similarities with The Time-Traveller's Wife, although explores its themes in a much more child-friendly way. Great for readers who are happy to be left in the dark a little.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol 1 The Pox Party - M.T. Anderson

Recommended for ages 8-adult.

Thought I'd tackle this book with a ridiculously long name as it was on the New York Times bestseller list a while ago.

I don't see why.

Anderson explores the concepts of slavery and human dignity amidst the setting of the Boston Tea Party et al, while commenting on the incompetence of philosophical societies at the time. Sadly, Anderson's attempts to replicate the language of the past has made his book somewhat inaccessible for the average reader. I don't know why he makes such an effort, given the thematic complexity of the book. It's a challenging book in terms of its length, its vocabulary and its perspectives. That's not to say that challenging books aren't worth reading, but I just didn't enjoy this one.

I didn't really connect with any of the characters, and found the end quite unsatisfying. I also got bored reading during the battle scenes, and thought the overall storyline wasn't too well though out.

BUT I did think Anderson was clever in employing the device of scratching out pages of Octavian's thoughts - it really told the reader more about Octavian's grief than words ever could.

Perhaps this is a book better suited to boys, or readers particularly interested in American history...

The Word Spy - Ursula Dubosarsky

Recommended for all ages.

The Word Spy is a great book about the English language. Dubosarsky explores how our language and types of words came to be in a really fun way, with codes to crack and mysteries to solve along the way. It's full of wacky titbits that English teachers love - for instance, Lewis Carroll (author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) loved apostrophes so much that he used as many of them as he could!

This book will be loads of fun for any reader, and adults will find they learn a lot too. But be warned - some of the codes are really tricky!

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!