allmyprettybooks-new

Reading When You Reach Me was a pleasant surprise. Not one I would normally have chosen to read, though having seen it recommended by Goodreads in the Magical Realism section (complete with rave 4+ star reviews) I was confident that I'd enjoy a good story at least! Many describe When You Reach Me as a YA title, though MLN readers are probably aware that such genre associations bother me not one bit. It is certainly a coming of age story, complete with the angst of teenage friendship and first crushes. But throughout it is threaded with just the right amount of sci-fi and magic to seem realistic, the type of story I enjoy reading the most. As you read, you might like to imagine this as a film which has absolutely no need for special effects... The story is told in the first person by Miranda, a sixth grader with a deep love of Madeline D'engel's A Wrinkle in Time . A strange homeless man has taken up residence beneath the post box on her street, and her childhood friend doe...

I'd seen this book recommended in various places: the Goodreads Magic Realism shelf, Amazon, and even in Waterstones. Eventually I picked it up, not quite knowing what to expect... And that's the beauty of it! No wonder it ended up on the Oyster list among the top 100 books of the decade so far! My review shall follow shortly. In the meantime, enjoy this teaser trailer and know that all the secrets in the world worth knowing are hiding in plain sight...

I am so excited about the release of these deliciously illustrated editions of each and every single volume  of the Harry Potter series! Starting in October 2015 with The Philosopher's Stone , these beautiful editions illustrated by Jim Kay will be available to purchase from Bloomsbury. I'm sure it will make bedtime reading for my children even more enchanting... Learn more (and pre-order) on the Bloomsbury website .

The man always sat in the same seat, the stool farthest down the counter. When it wasn't occupied, that is, but it was nearly always free. The bar was seldom crowded, and that particular seat was the most inconspicuous and the least comfortable. A staircase in the back made the ceiling slanted and low, so it was hard to stand up there without bumping your head. The man was tall, yet, for some reason, preferred that cramped, narrow spot. Read this new short story by Haruki Murakami on The New Yorker website .

You have to be the bravest person in the world to go out every day, being yourself when no one likes who you are... Memoirs of an imaginary Friend  is a very special book. Deliciously funny, terrifying and heartbreaking in equal measure, I discovered it at the perfect time and took away much more than the simple pleasure of a well-told story. Budo is our narrator. He is Max's imaginary friend, and is unlike most of the other "friends" he's encountered. He's much much older for a start: most "friends" disappear after only a few months, some after only a few minutes. Budo is five years old, because Max has needed him for much longer than most children need an imaginary ally. Max attends school, like all other children his age, but he has different needs to most of his peers. Sometimes he gets "stuck", when he's overwhelmed or frightened; he attends the "Learning Centre" for targeted support, and his mum wants to involve a psycholog...

The editors at The Oyster Review have painstakingly chosen 100 books released since 2010 which they believe are among the best reads of the decade so far. I was pleased to see some of my own favourites in there: Kate Atkinson's Life After Life and Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore among them, and dozens of others which I haven't yet had the opportunity to read. What do you think of these choices? Take a look at the complete list to see for yourself.

I'm yet to get my own copy of this book, but after enjoying several of Murakami's other works, I'm sure I'll enjoy reading it soon!

The Rose of Fire by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - download the ebook for free! (via Harper Collins )

Link: "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Twain: BerkeleyX Book Club Reading, discussing, and writing about Mark Twain’s classic novel, “Huckleberry Finn.” May 1st sees the return of the BerkeleyX Book Club on EdX, a free four-week MOOC to read and discuss literature. May’s book is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, followed in June by The Portrait of Dorian Grey; Dubliners in July; Dracula in August… You could even earn a free certificate for your participation! I’ve already completed A Christmas Carol and Frankenstein from previous courses (which I’m sure will be repeated later this year or next, if you want to try them too). Great fun for anyone wanting to brush up on classic works and discuss with others.

Link: Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2014 – Books on Google Play A free collection of original short stories from Tor.com, including Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen’s Where the Trains Turn  (the title I most look forward to reading!). Also available for Kindle devices on Amazon . Enjoy!

Having spent most of my adult life thinking Hans Christian Andersen was the least  gruesome of the classic fairy-storytellers, reading this pocket-sized book was quite a revelation! Within these six “children’s stories” we read of heads and feet being chopped off; princesses being kidnapped in their sleep; regicide, and of course the terrible fate of the brave tin soldier… Yet I thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgic foray into the literature of my youth, particularly as I found these tales presented in the manner by which a favourite relative relates the stories of their own experiences. For me, The Tinder Box  remains the most memorable of these six tales: imagining those dogs with eyes as big as teacups, saucers and mill-wheels sends me back to my childhood, reading the collections of classic, non-illustrated,  literature handed down from my mother, by torchlight under my quilt when I was supposed to be sleeping each night. The story I enjoyed  the most though, is ...

From S. by Doug Dorst and JJ Abrahms. Photo credit: Sam Javanrouh , via Flickr.

Link: Sir Salman Rushdie claims 'I was just fooling around' as his ratings of other authors' work go viral An author’s worst critic is usually themselves – unless Sir Salman Rushdie weighs in with a broadside, that is. The award-winning Rushdie, who has himself been at the receiving end of stringent and often highly personal literary criticism, has now sparked controversy with some trenchant opinions of some authors widely regarded as among the finest of their generation. What exactly is the big problem about Salman Rushdie giving Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning To Kill a Mocking Bird just three stars on Goodreads? He didn’t enjoy it! That doesn’t mean it isn’t a “classic”.

One of my favourite quotes from The Rabbit Back Literature Society . Read a full review of the book here .

Book cover via Pushkin Press “Where would we be if anything could turn up in books?” The best type of bookstore find is one where you take a peek the blurb on the back cover, then start reading the first page or so to see if it piques your interest… only to realise after quite some time has passed that staff are eyeing you suspiciously, wondering if you plan to read the whole thing in an entire sitting without first taking it to the counter to be checked out! The Rabbit Back Literature Society  was - for me - one of those  books. From the (all-too) brief impression I received before purchase I knew it contained all the ingredients of a novel I knew I would love. It’s a book about books , authors, literary research, wonderfully strange characters, and just the right amount of magic. Had I the chance to read the whole thing in one sitting without disturbance  then I probably would have done so. Instead, I found myself enjoying it so much that I only wanted to savour it, to ...

Looking forward to reading this soon!

From  A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.

Read the novella  Where the Trains Turn by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen  (author of The Rabbit Back Literature Society ) free on Tor.com (or download to your device for a very small price!). Love this author: his odd, unsettling and mind-boggling take on the theme of magic-realism. Really hope some of his other works are translated to English soon!

“Stories are wild creatures,” the monster said. “When you open them up, who knows what havoc you might wreak.” I can’t quite remember how this book ended up on my “To-Read” list, though I certainly do recall getting excited about reading it once I’d ordered my copy to collect from the bookstore. It is certainly a treat to hold in your hands, to flick through the deliciously thick illustrated pages in wonder at what this seemingly magical story will offer. But first, I should say that A Monster Calls is nothing at all like I’d imagined. The creature in question is certainly not of the type young children fear lurks under their bed, or one which would leave you cowering behind the sofa on movie nights. No, it is far more haunting than that… For me, this was a “modern fairy tale” of the best kind, one which goes far deeper than original and spellbinding storytelling; to really make you think about the protagonist, his feelings, and above all how his experiences translate to yours. Hav...

Link: 25 Great Facts about Children's Books Fascinating trivia about classic children’s books and their authors Hans Christian Andersen once stayed at Dickens’s house for five weeks; when he eventually left, Dickens wrote on the mirror in th…

From the master of the macabre comes A Death  - a short story by Stephen King, which you can read online for free via The New Yorker .

Image via Neil Gaiman Unfortunately not  the glorious illustrated version, merely the text. Regardless, this should not disappoint! This is a dark tale, reminiscent of legend, old knowledge, and truth . Read The Truth is a Cave in the Dark Mountains by Neil Gaiman on Fifty-Two Stories .