10.
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
This is a great twist on the classic fairytale. There is a true sense of darkness that you feel when reading this book. It is loosely based on Yen Mah's own childhood. Considered bad luck because her mother died giving birth to her, Adeline has to struggle to find acceptance in her life. The language is emotive and sometimes bery chilling. A brilliant read.
9.
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
This book is very funny, there are very few books that can make a person literally laugh out loud, but I did a few times in this. The subject matter is very different and unique, the characters are lovable and the whole book is delightful. It was first published in 1932 and follows the lives of Flora, Judith, Seth, Amos and Elfine. There is a character for everyone to relate to and is a book to be read at least twice.
8.
Raspberries on the Yangtze by Karen Wallace
This is a very moving book and it weaves humour and touching subjects together effortlessly. It's a fairly short book and it probably would be higher up the list if it had a bit more length, but what it has never ceases to charm the whole way through. Nancy, who tells the story, and her best friends Clare and Amy name the woods near where they live The Yangtze. There they talk about all the problems that they are confronted with about the secrets of adulthood, never realising the problems are unique to their family. The surface of the book is calm echoeing the childrens innocence, but the reader knows of the underlying catastrophes that await them.
7.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
This book is probably over-rated, but what is being over-rated is pretty excellent. It is a widely read and celebrated modern classic and the poignant themes are recognisable anywhere in todays society. Some of the moments are quite haunting and they all add up to the almost surreal atmosphere of the book. Most of you will know the basic plot of this book but just to refresh. A group of boys arer washed up on a desert island after a plane crash, they must then take care and fend for themselves. Not before long a hierachy has been set up among them and they start to become more murderously savage by the day.
6.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
This is a fun book to read, the settings are interesting and the characters charismatic so it's altogether a satisfying and enjoyable read. There is always something going on and unlike most older books there is less description about nothing and more action. Seventeen yeard old Cassandra is living with her family in a lonely English castle. The book is told from her perspective and follows her frustrated thoughts at being cooped up in the crumbling ruin. A wealthy family become her neighbour and what she thought was romantic isolation becomes a somewhat different experience. A real page turner.
5.
Skin by Roald Dahl
This is a collection of short stories from legend Roald Dahl. They surprise at every page and the vivid description and dialogue make every thing so much more real. The stories are far fetched, but this is what makes the book so different from others. The stories are all thrillers about murders, robberies and secret discoveries. Each individual tale delights in its own way and every one is exceptionally well crafted.
4.
Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
This is an interestingly original book with some interesting characters and ideas. Judy lives in an orphanage when a mysterious benefactor is sending her off to college. He will do this as long as she writes him a letter once a month. She only ever catches sight of his shadow as he is leaving the orphanage, which is long and thin and shaped like a daddy long legs. The book is written as a series of letters and what makes it so ingenius is that as the letters get more personal so does the readers involvement in the character Judy. The book is dedicated To You at the start and the reader feels, as no daddy long legs is appearing in the book, that the letters are meant for them. I really enjoyed reading this book as it was quite different to anything I had read before. Although man ybooks are written as letters, Judy's added drawings and rushed annecdotes in the margins make it a personal encounter.
3.
Kensukes Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
This is, in my opinion, Morpurgo's best book. It's exciting and invigorating, while also being touching. It's beautifully written and thought-provoking, there is a moral question on every page. Michael is washed up on a desert island with no food or water, he just gives up hope but Kensuke is there to help him start his new life. The great thing about this book is that Kensuke never encourages Michael to do anything, he simply leaves the tools for Michael to do it. This wonderful book is very emotional and the relationship between old man and young boy is one of the most remarkable in any book.
2.
Nourghts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman
This book is intelligent and the readers ignorance is almost embarrassing as you read about how black people used to be treated. The book swaps the roles of Black and White, now the Black's are in charge and the White's are mistreated. But through allt he hatred appears a hatred between Callum and Sephy. Destined to be together in a world that tries to tear them apart, they will do anything they can to be together. Their determination drives the book forward at frightening pace stopping only briefly so that the two lovers may have a heart wrenching kiss. The book is so dramatic in its telling that you will find yourself shouting at the pages, crying at the brave attempts to try to make a bond between two races hating each other and not knowing why. It's a moden day Romeoa nd Juliet, for a new audience to love and relate to. This is destined to become a timeless classic and should be on every bookshelf.
1.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This is such a moving book it's quie ridiculous how a bunch of characters could make you feel so strongly for a cause. Set in Nazi Germany, Liesel, while burying her dead brother in the snow, comes across a book. She is determined to learn to read and decipher the book that was a major part of her brothers death. And thus, starts a love of words and books that Liesel will do anything she can to nurture. She steals books where she can from under the book-burning Nazi's noses. Suddenly she is faced with the challenge of hiding a Jew in her basement. The intensity of this book ostensibly gloomy but darkly humorous. The book is masterfully told by Death itself. Death is given a personality and many dimensions as he discusses how it feels to ferry souls from this world and into the next. The images are vivid and intracate, yet abrupt in their retelling. If someone dies then Death will go ahaead and tell you that someone died. There will be no tense build up, just a sentence, which makes the book chilling and stunning. It is very complicated and is a brilliant look at the lives of the ordinary people in Nazi Germnay, not the Jews, not the Nazis, but the ordinary people. You will find yourself feverishly reading the last pages desperate to know the end but desperately sad to see the book end.
Thats the end of the list. These books all deserve a special place on my bookshelf and I hope I have told you how deserving they are of a place on this list. If you have read a book that you think should be here let me know. I hope I have inspired you to read one of these remarkable books, thanks for reading.
