Review: Ancient Future by Traci Harding

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Publication Date: Omnibus 1st March 2014, originally 1996
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 9780732298784
Age Group: Young Adult (15+)
Genre: Fantasy, Time Travel, Science Fiction, History, Adventure
Source: Bookshelf!
Lootability: ***

Late one evening, an accident near a ring of stones throws Tory Alexander across the vortex of time and space to the Dark Ages. There she meets Prince Maelgwn of Gwynedd and his band of warriors, who initially brand her as a witch and are frightened by her strange appearance. They finally overcome their fears and soon the tales of her adventures, brave deeds and beauty spread across the land. Twenty years later, Tory Alexander, from the 20th century, has ruled as Queen in 6th century Britain. But dark forces are stirring...Tory seeks the advice of the triple Goddess, and the women of the Otherworld send Tory through time to Plato's City of the Golden Gates - Atlantis. Once there Tory has to find her own way home, and a cure for the High King's sickness. In an epic climax, the Shining Ones and the Chosen, who are hiding within the circuits of times, gather to defeat the evil ones and bring about a new age of awareness to the world. Yet again, Tory must draw on all of her courage, strength of character and resourcefulness.

Series Review: Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

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Publication Date: 1997-2007
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Age Group: All
Genre: Fantasy/ Magic/ Adventure/ Children's
Source: My favourites bookshelf
Lootability: *****

Why is Harry Potter such a strong contender for one of the greatest series of all time? Is it the pity and compassion we feel for this poor, undernourished orphan living under the stairs? Do we admire his courage and bravery in conquering his darkest enemy? Or are we jealous of the magical world he lives in?

Review: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

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Publication Date: 27th July 2007
Publisher: Hodder
ISBN: 9780340752029
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Literature/Thriller/Adventure
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: *****

It has been fourteen years since Thursday pegged out at the 1988 SuperHoop, and Friday is now a difficult sixteen year old. However, Thursday's got bigger problems. Sherlock Holmes is killed at the Rheinback Falls and his series is stopped in its tracks. And before this can be corrected, Miss Havisham dies suddenly in a car accident, bringing her series to a close as well. When Thursday receives a death threat clearly intended for her written self, she realizes what's going on - there is a serial killer on the loose in the Bookworld. And that's not all: The Goliath Corporation is trying to deregulate book travel. Naturally, Thursday must travel to the outer limits of acceptable narrative possibilities to triumph against increasing odds.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

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Publication Date: July 15th 2001
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
ISBN:  034073356X
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Literature/Adventure/Crime
Source: My beloved bookshelf
Lootability: *****

There is another 1985, where London's criminal gangs have moved into the lucrative literary market, and Thursday Next is on the trail of the new crime wave's Mr Big.
Acheron Hades has been kidnapping characters from works of fiction and holding them to ransom. Jane Eyre is gone. Missing.Thursday sets out to find a way into the book to repair the damage. But solving crimes against literature isn't easy when you also have to find time to halt the Crimean War, persuade the man you love to marry you, and figure out who really wrote Shakespeare's plays.Perhaps today just isn't going to be Thursday's day. Join her on a truly breathtaking adventure, and find out for yourself. Fiction will never be the same again... 

Jasper Fforde has made the world of literary classics into an intriguing and fascinating world of mystery and conflict. With Baconian’s and Oxford supporters promoting the ‘true’ author of Shakespeares plays, SpecOps fighting werewolves and a super-villain who can’t be caught on film, Fforde creates a literary world surrounding LitTech Thursday Next’s adventures.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

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Publication Date: 18th October, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN:  054522490X
Age Group: Young Adult/New Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Folk Lore
Source: Bookshelf
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Lootability: ****

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen

The concept of the waterhorse fascinates me and I was greatly appreciative to learn of the Scoprio Races.  Generally, the waterhorse is just one small facet of a story of the otherworld, and I never expected them to feature so heavily in a novel.
It's a delightful change from the infinitely long line of vampires, werewolves, zombies and pixies featuring in Young Adult literature. Not that Stiefvater didn't tackle werevoles well in The Wolves of Mercy Falls.

The Gathering Darkness by Leigh Bardugo

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Publication Date: 7th June, 2012
Publisher: Indigo
ISBN:  1780621108 
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Source: Bookshelf
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Lootability: ****

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.
Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?
The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.
But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

For the longest time this book felt like it was the book on everyone’s lips, and it was so out of my reach! I recently decided I’m only buying books on sale (my bank account bleeds books) and since I couldn’t find it at any of my local book shops, I was going to have to wait.

Last week however, something interesting happened. I saw The Gathering Darkness on the shelf at Dymocks. Noticing it was by Leigh Bardugo (and under the impression she’d only written one book), I picked it up and…viola!

I’d been looking for Shadow and Bone, while the Australian edition was published under a different title.

Spy in the House by Y.S Lee

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Publication Date: 6th April 2009
Publisher: Candlewick
ISBN:  0763640670
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Adventure
Source: Bookshelf
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Lootability: ****

Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, young orphan (and thief) Mary Quinn is surprised to be offered a singular education, instruction in fine manners — and an unusual vocation. Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls is a cover for an all-female investigative unit called The Agency, and at seventeen, Mary is about to put her training to the test. Assuming the guise of a lady’s companion, she must infiltrate a rich merchant’s home in hopes of tracing his missing cargo ships. But the household is full of dangerous deceptions, and there is no one to trust — or is there? Packed with action and suspense, banter and romance, and evoking the gritty backstreets of Victorian London, this breezy mystery debuts a daring young detective who lives by her wits while uncovering secrets — including those of her own past

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

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Publication Date: 31 January 2012
Publisher: Tor Teen
ISBN:  0765329581
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopian/Adventure
Source: Bookshelf
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Lootability: ***

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.
The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.
There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.
Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.
That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved.

After the world as we know it has been decimated and a new order has been set up in its place, the ordinary people have no choice but to follow. Until, the new Order starts punishing people for meaningless past transgressions.
When Ember and her mother are taken from their home, and split up for breaking Article 5 of the Moral Statutes, Ember must learn that no one is ordinary and everyone can fight back.

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

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Publication Date: May 8th, 2012
Publisher: Harcourt's Children's Books
ISBN:  0547645708
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fairytale/Romance
Source: Bookshelf
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Lootability: ***

It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.
When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.
The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

Seven Days of Austen: Emma by Jane Austen

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Publication Date: Originally published 1815
Publisher: 2008, Random House
ISBN:  0099511169
Age Group: Adult/Young Adult
Genre: Classic/Romance
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: ***

Emma is wealthy, beautiful, accomplished and a self-proclaimed matchmaker. When Emma meets Harriet Smith, a young girl of unknown parentage, Emma is convinced she can find Harriet a suitable husband. But, in her quest to find Harriet the perfect match, Emma jeopardizes Harriet's happiness and, much to her surprise, her own happiness too.

The last of my 'favourite' Austen novels, I can never really decide if I like Emma more or less than Sense and Sensibility. More, I think, probably because Emma Townsend and George Knightley are far more interesting, and possibly more dynamic than any of Austen's other romances.
George was a teenager when Emma was born and has always acted as more of a guardian than a lover, until a rival for her attentions arrives on the scene turning their lives upside down.

Seven Days of Austen: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

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Publication Date: Originally published in 1811
Publisher: 2008, Random House Publishing
ISBN:  009951155X
Age Group: Young Adult/Adult
Genre: Classic/Romance
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: ***

Elinor is as prudent as her sister Marianne is impetuous. Both sisters must learn from the other after they are forced to leave their home and enter into the contests of polite society after the untimely death of their father. The charms of unsuitable men and the schemes of rival ladies mean that their paths to success are stocked with disappointment, but together they attempt to find a way to happiness.

Seven days of Austen: Persuasion by Jane Austen

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Publication Date: Originally published 1818
Publisher: Oct 1st, 2008 Random House Publishing
ISBN:  0099511177
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Classic/Romance
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: *****

Eight years ago Anne Elliot bowed to pressure from her family and made the decision not to marry the man she loved, Captain Wentworth. Now, circumstances have conspired to bring him back into her social circle and Anne finds her old feelings for him reignited. However, when they meet again Wentworth behaves as if they are strangers and seems more interested in her friend Louisa.

7 Days of Austen: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

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Publication Date: Originally published 1813
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
ISBN:  0679783261  
Age Group: All Ages
Genre: Classic/Romance
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: *****


What is it about Pride and Prejudice that makes it such a successfil and romantic love story? Why do Elizabeth (Lizzy to her friends) Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy appeal to us, and make such a dynamic duo?
I first read P&P when I was fifteen and spending the last two weeks of my summer holidays trying not to look like a dunce in literature by reading classics. I expected to struggle, to miss the fantasty realms I was used to, what I didn't expect was to fall head over heels in love with this book.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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Publication Date: October 1st 1986 (first published 1860)
Publisher: Arrow
ISBN:  0099419785
Age Group: Young Adult/ Adult
Genre: Classic
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: ****

The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine's father. After Mr Earnshaw's death, Heathcliff is bullied and humiliated by Catherine's brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible revenge for his former miseries. The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure, the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English literature

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Publication Date: Originally published 1847
Publisher: Norton and Company
ISBN:  0393978893
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Classic/Gothic/Supernatural
Source: Bookshelf
Lootability: *****

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M.Montgomery

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Publication Date: First published in 1921
Publisher: McClelland & Steward
ISBN:  0553269224
Age Group: YA/Adult
Genre: Romance/Historical/War
Source: My Bookshelf
Lootability: ****

Anne's children were almost grown up, except for pretty, high-spirited Rilla. No one could resist her bright hazel eyes and dazzling smile. Rilla, almost fifteen, can't think any further ahead than going to her very first dance at the Four Winds lighthouse and getting her first kiss from handsome Kenneth Ford. But undreamed-of challenges await the irrepressible Rilla when the world of Ingleside becomes endangered by a far-off war. Her brothers go off to fight, and Rilla brings home an orphaned newborn in a soup tureen. She is swept into a drama that tests her courage and leaves her changed forever.