Hello again. Or hello, if this is the first blog of ours you’ve read. If I’m being honest, so far I can only think of three reasons why you’re here.
1) You’re really bored.
2) You really like books.
3) You’re really nosy.
Congradulations! It appears you have at least two things in common with yours truly! (I’ll let you figure out which two on your own)
So you like books, eh? Well you’d better, because here are my three all-time favourites.
Harry Potter – by J. K. Rowling
I know what you’re thinking. It’s something along the lines of
“Ooohhhh… I know this one. Everyone’s heard of this one. I can scroll past it seeing as I know it so well … loopty doopty doo la la la …”
Or whatever noise your brain makes when you’re thinking about what you’ll have for lunch.
There are so many reviews and twitter/tumblr accounts dedicated to the Harry Potter fandom that there’s not much I can say on the subject. For those of you that don’t know (and I’m very worried if this is you – there’s references everywhere), the Harry Potter series follows a young orphaned boy as he finds out he’s a wizard and goes through wizarding school – called Hogwarts. Without giving anything away, Harry’s life is tough and at times very sirius (oops). His parents killer, Lord Voldemort, is a bit of a riddle (oops again). As the whole, the series is about life and death, good and evil and how to cast numerous spells … that are useless if you don’t carry the ol’ magic gene. A.K.A. if you’re a muggle. I unfortunately found out on my 11th birthday that I was a muggle. Many tears insued. I don’t like to talk about it.
If you don’t like Harry Potter, I don’t understand you. If you do … then I do. Really, it’s as simple as that. Also, McGonagall’s the cat.
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
It must be the luck of the Irish – or maybe this is just a great series. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a pattern here. I like books with magic in them.
The Skulduggery Pleasant series is big, but not as big as Harry Potter, so here’s a few details. Landy wrote this series to incorporate all the things he loved – action, adventure, horror, comedy, mystery, fight scenes … and a lot of stuff I’m probably forgetting. There’s also a few vampires and the romance begins in the 3rd and 4th books and starts again later for you paranormal romance fans. But really, the books mainly focus in on action, detective work and comedy. It’s a fantastic mixture.
This series is a very different from Harry Potter. Yes, there’s magic, but it’s totally different. Really. I promise.
A particular golden plot twist comes to mind when I think of this series. Oops. I just gave it away. Guess you’ll have to read it to find out what it is.
In the books you follow Skulduggery Pleasant, who is a skeleton and form of consciousness held together by magic. Which is neat, really. He also has this really young sidekick called Valkyrie Cain. Of course her name was Stephanie Edgley before that but …
Okay, that got confusing. Basically, in the series, people have three names. You learn this pretty early on, so I’m not spoiling anything. Well, maybe only a little. Anyway, so you have your given name obviously (the one your parents gave you), your taken name (the one you decide on) and your real name (which is hidden from you or else you’ll become really powerful- trust me, it’s bad). Once you start using magic, other mages can use your given name to control you, so you have to come up with your own name – something that suits you. Valkyrie Cain was a pretty awesome name for any 12 year old to come up with, and the awesomeness continues throughout the series.
Look, if you need any more persuasion – when I found out there was gong to be a 10th book I cried. It was the scariest crying I’ve ever done – and I don’t cry that much. It was a serious hyper-ventilation cry of joy and it went on a while. My dad later regretted showing me the tweet. I got the book very soon after it came out and didn’t read it for a month because I was scared of the series ending again. Thankfully, I think it’s continuing on.
Seriously though, read this series.
Or things may get pretty … vile.
Damn it. I’ve really got to stop giving away all these plot twists.
And so … last and certainly not least –
The Eddie Dickons Trilogy by Philip Ardagh
Before we begin – there are 6 books in this series, but I’m only going to be talking about the first 3 because I got them as a massive big chunky book of happiness and they’re my favourite. And I want to. So there.
I think Ardagh must be mad. To write something like this and have that massive beard, he really must be. And I’m so glad he is. Because those books seriously shaped my sense of humour. I now find the most ridiculous things funny.
My aunt got me the books for my birthday when we were on holiday. Suffice to say, I had my nose stuck in them permenantely until I had the whole trilogy finished. And then I started again. Because that’s the kind of books they are. It’s a 9 – 12 kind of series, but you can honestly read it at any age and be in stitches. Eddie (the hero) is perfectly normal and very clever, while everyone around him is utterly bonkers. He has a very hard time knowing what’s going on, which leads him on many crazy escapades. The copy I have is also illustrated by David Roberts, who brings the books to life in the most fantastic way.
Ever since I got those books I have brought them on every holiday I’ve been on, which means they’re rather battered. The reason for this is because they’re so good that I could read the three books right through and then start at the beginning again, which is useful if you’re away for a while. Despite it being utterly mad and hilarious, it’s also easy reading – perfect for a bit of relaxation.
Read it. You won’t regret it.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. I met Mr. Ardagh once, and he wrote “burp” in my copy of the book. I treasure it to this day. You should be very proud, mister.
Well I must leave you now. There’re plenty to be done.
Moo.