(In no particular order)
1.
Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice
- I love everything Gothic and Vimpire-y, and everything from the characters to the amazing language drew me into this book after it was recomended to me by my mum. It's the first of three books but, like most things, the first is always the best.
2.
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern
- I read this book whilst going through the tremendous beauty that is puberty and the magic in this book helped take the sting off it, I think. It has a strange familiar vibe to it, and I was sucked in within the first few pages, which isn't something that happens to me very often.
3.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman
- This utterly bestial and dark book sickened me to the core - and I loved it. I read this almost two years ago now, and it was one of the reasons why I didn't leave the house in the summer of 2k14. The beautiful and harrowing imagery has stayed with me ever since. Also pre-warning you that this won't be the last you see of Neil Gaiman in this list.
4.
Caroline Smailes
- This is probably the only book on this list that I'm going to un-recommend to some people. Don't read this book if you're all touchy about sex (that didn't sound as bad in my head as it did out loud) and don't read this book if you're under 15. But appart from that, this is one of the best books I've ever read. It took me a chapter or so to get into the story and to wrap my head around the concept - but it's the sort of book that, when you put it down, you begin to miss the characters.
5.
Charlotte's Web
E.B. White
- I never re-read books. I never re-read books because I feel there's no point in reading something where you know how it's going to end. So when I say that Charlotte's Web is the only book I've read more than once (5 times), it's the biggest accolade I could give anything. It's a classic so, if you've never even debated reading it, please do.
6.
Alone on a Wide Wide Sea
Michael Morpurgo
- Another book from my childhood that still remains one of my all-time favorites. In fact, I feel like I need to re-visit this one because this was actually the first 'proper' book I read independently. And by 'proper' I don't mean Pass the Jam, Jim or Read with Biff and Chip. But, yeah, it was the first book to make me cry - and nothing makes me cry. So a round-of-applause for this one.
7.
Dracula
Bram Stoker
- Do I really need to say anything about this? It's Dracula. It's a book about Vampires. The first one. Read it.
8.
Twist of Gold
Michael Morpurgo
- Another Michael Morpurgo, which comes as no surprise as he's my favourite childhood author. But this book I read when I was slightly older, mainly because it's about famine and death and murder. You know, the classic kiddy stuff. But yeah, it was the sort of novel that I read half of it, forgot about it because of school, came back to it a few months later, and still carried on to finish it. It was my 'bath book', my first and only... because my copy of Twist of Gold is all mangled and crinkly after repeatedly soaking it in liquid LUSH bath bombs.
- This is probably the only book on this list that I'm going to un-recommend to some people. Don't read this book if you're all touchy about sex (that didn't sound as bad in my head as it did out loud) and don't read this book if you're under 15. But appart from that, this is one of the best books I've ever read. It took me a chapter or so to get into the story and to wrap my head around the concept - but it's the sort of book that, when you put it down, you begin to miss the characters.
5.
E.B. White
- I never re-read books. I never re-read books because I feel there's no point in reading something where you know how it's going to end. So when I say that Charlotte's Web is the only book I've read more than once (5 times), it's the biggest accolade I could give anything. It's a classic so, if you've never even debated reading it, please do.
6.
Michael Morpurgo
- Another book from my childhood that still remains one of my all-time favorites. In fact, I feel like I need to re-visit this one because this was actually the first 'proper' book I read independently. And by 'proper' I don't mean Pass the Jam, Jim or Read with Biff and Chip. But, yeah, it was the first book to make me cry - and nothing makes me cry. So a round-of-applause for this one.
7.
Bram Stoker
- Do I really need to say anything about this? It's Dracula. It's a book about Vampires. The first one. Read it.
8.
Michael Morpurgo
- Another Michael Morpurgo, which comes as no surprise as he's my favourite childhood author. But this book I read when I was slightly older, mainly because it's about famine and death and murder. You know, the classic kiddy stuff. But yeah, it was the sort of novel that I read half of it, forgot about it because of school, came back to it a few months later, and still carried on to finish it. It was my 'bath book', my first and only... because my copy of Twist of Gold is all mangled and crinkly after repeatedly soaking it in liquid LUSH bath bombs.
9.
Neil Gaiman
- I like to call Neil Gaiman a transitional author because his work borders on the cliff-edges of children's and adult fiction, so his book tend to be the first books kids look to when they want to move into maturer fiction. But The Graveyard Book is a book that I'm actually half way through at the moment, so I can't really say that much about it, but so far it's pretty damn good. And I don't care if it's classed as a children's novel - it doesn't make it not good.
10.
Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg
- So this one is actually a collection of graphic novels published by Vertigo (of DC fame). These were the first graphic novels I read, so it was pretty much a baptism of fire, because the novels are full-on both image and story-wise. I'd say they're definitely only for willing victims that are 16 and over. So even if you don't think you're into graphic novels, I feel like this collection will definitely decide whether or not they're you're thing. I'm currently on volume 4, and they just keep getting better. But it's the sort of thing that you have to keep taking a break from because, otherwise, you'd literally go insane.
