Six "Unknown" books that You should Read this Winter.

I've realized that there are some masterpieces of literature that not many people know about, so I decided to tell all you all about them. Hopefully you will find at least a couple of them to be good and wholesome reads this season. 8-D

1.) Lark - Sally Watson

Set in seventeenth-century England under Cromwell, Sally Watson's LARK combines historical intrigue with romantic adventure in the high-spirited tale of a young girl who escapes from her uncle's stolid Puritan family.

Thirteen-year-old Lark is forced to stay with her puritan Uncle and his family after her Royalist parents are exiled to France. With an arranged marriage between Lark and her cousin Will-of-God looming in her future, Lark decides to flee to Scotland and stay with her sister who lives there. On the way, she meets young James Trelawney, a Royalist spy who takes her under his wing. At first he hopes to learn where Lark lives and return the curious runaway home, but as the two travel together they  build a strong friendship and grow to care for and protect one another. They find themselves in many complicated, insane situations, some incredibly dangerous. As the book mounts to a climax, members of Lark's family discover her whereabouts, James is caught in the middle of a battle, and a plan to rescue the young King Charles is set in motion - a plan both James and Lark may be a part of. - source.

This is a Must-Read for anyone who wants a soft, gentle romance, an adorable Scott who is seriously fabulous, a spunky, ridiculous girl who's a bit of a brat but definitely a lovable one, and lots of rambunctious adventures.

Ronia the Robber's Daughter - Astrid Lingred

Source

Ronia is the daughter of a robber chief named Matt. They live in a castle in the wilderness. The castle was struck by a bolt of lightning, a bolt which split the ground and divided the castle into two separate buildings, separated by a deep chasm. One half of the chasm is occupied by Ronia's band of Robbers, and the other half is occupied by robbers knows as the Borkas. Animosity grew up between the two robbers, and Ronia was not allowed to visit the opposite half of the castle, or to befriend any of the robbers living there.

One day, however, Ronia meets a boy of her age named Birk. The two  quickly becomes friends, but Birk is the son Borka's chief, and therefore such a friendship is forbidden by Ronia's father. When Matt discovers their secret he tries to end the friendship, but Ronia and Birk won't allow it and after a crucial climax between Ronia and her father, the two friends run away together and hide from their families in the wild, untamed forest. They share some incredible adventures and form a strong, lasting bond which no one can break.


This is a good book for anyone wanting a forest-adventure story with an adorable friendship that may or may not grow into something more, and amazing, well-written characters.


From Anna - Joan Little

From Anna* takes place in the 1930's and revolves around a nine-year old girl and the struggles they face when when they flee Nazi Germany, seeking refuge in Canada. For Anna the change is especially hard. She is a middle child, clumsy, awkward, and to herself, not particularly bright. Once in Canada however, Anna and her family soon discover a crucial predicament: Anna needs glasses. She is practically blind. 

   Once this discovery is made, Anna's life changes. Slowly she finds her own sense of self-worth and realizes that she has a plenty to give. She is like a blossom, just waiting to bloom.

This book is great for any reader who likes historical fiction, family stories, and strong messages about self-worth, hope, and growth.

*If you read From Anna, you'll also want the sequel Listen for the Singing. That one is about her brother joining the army in WW2, and the impact it has on his family, Anna, and himself.

A Charmed Life - Diana Wynne Jones

Cat admires and clings to his older sister Gwendolyn. She is all he has, and he clings to her viciously. Gwendolyn is a very promising young witch, capable of difficult and challenging spells, so there seems to be much for Cat to admire. However, trouble springs to life when the two orphans are summoned to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Elated by the invitation to such a high-standing place of magic, Gwendolyn is eager to try her hand in the new waters, but she soon learns that no one in Chrestomanci Castle seems to acknowledge her incredible talents. With ever growing frustration and anger, she comes up with a scheme that could cause problems for all the worlds, including Cat's.

A Must-Read for anyone in need of a clever, ingenious fantasy with quirky characters and solid writing. (Honestly, if you're looking for those things you should read all the Chrestomanci books.)

The Thief - Megan Whalen

I don't know how 'unknown' this book is, but if you haven't heard of it now is the time to be educated.

"I can steal anything!," - so Gen, the thief proudly proclaims. But this claim soon gets him in trouble when the King's Scholar, the Magus, frees him from prison with the sole purpose of enlisting him in a job. It is no ordinary Job either. The Magnus wants Gen to steal an ancient treasure for the king, a treasure which no one has successfully recovered in generations. In fact it's more of a legend than anything else. Yet the Magnus is convinced the treasure is real, and he is determined to find and take it - and he isn't going to give Gen much choice in the matter.

For anyone who wants beautiful, flawless writing, strong characters, a medieval/mytholigical setting and a freaking amazing male lead who will leave you wishing there was more of him. (There are three other books in this series - and a fifth and sixth one on the way! - so that is something to keep in mind. As the series goes on there is some incredible character development, character perception, world-building and all out magnificent writing and story-telling. )

Bloomability - Claire Calderon

When Dinnie Doone is sent off to an international school in Switzerland, she finds herself uprooted and replanted in a strange, interesting, and beautiful new world. Surrounded by new friends, a new school, and new sights, Dinnie builds herself a home and discovers all the "bloomabilities" that life has to offer.

For anyone wanting a simple, slice-of-life story with interesting characters and a fun, relatable lead girl who will make you feel that you yourself are in Switzerland, studying the Italian language and making new friends.


The Ordinary Princess - M. M. Kaye

When Princess Amelia is born she is given many wonderful, virtuous gifts from the Fairies in the kingdom, and one that is not-so-wonderful from her Fairy god-mother. She is is given the gift of Ordinariness. Unlike her six beautiful sisters, she has brown mousy hair, freckles, and a 'unhealthy' craving for adventure. There aren't many princes who would want such a plain, strange princess. Even her name is ordinary! But when Amy's parents come up with a Knight-and-Dragon scheme to set their daughter up with a husband, Amy runs away. She decides it's time to take fate into her own hands. Since she is so ordinary, she finds it quite easy to get a job as a kitchen maid in a neighboring palace. She finds immense joy in the simplicity of earning her own money, sharing picnics with the woodland creatures, and being free for however short a time, of the demands of royalty. While she enjoys her hard-working freedom, Amy meets a curious man who hangs about the palace. "A Man-of-All-Work," he calls himself. He doesn't have much free time, but he begins to join Amy and her woodland creatures for the Thursday Afternoon picnics. Their friendship quickly grows, for Perry is a funny, venturesome man and even better, he is just as ordinary as she is! Has Amy found her prince-charming after all?

This book is a short, easy read, the kind of book you could finish in a couple hours or less. It is fun, and quirky, and don't let the princess-fleeing-from-marriage dissuade you. The Ordinary Princess is a heart-warming story full of odd traits and vagary that separate it from any other runaway-princess story you've every read or ever will read. It's comical, sweet, and engaging, with just enough romantic flair to be touching and emotional. (Not bad emotional, but that-was-so-cute-I-might-actually-cry emotional.)

I hope this have given you some reading ideas! Cold months always make me think of books and Hot Cocoa, so I thought I'd share some of my favourite books, books for curling up by the Fireplace with.

Peace out y'all!

*swings around cape and leaps off sage*

Bella

Writers Camp [ Day Five ] Bring Out the Books!

Day Five: Bring Out the books!

Today, everyone will share certain Authors/book/series that are their personal favorites, and explain why they like them, how they were inspired by them, and how others might be inspired. (if a movie/tv show inspired you, you are allowed to mention it. Just make sure to mention some books too!)

Tolkien:

Tolkien Quote

J.R.R. Tolkien was a very big part of my life. Even when I was little my big sisters were always talking about him, about Lord of the Rings, about the characters he brought to life with his pen. I first read The Hobbit when I was about eleven. Tiny and I read it together. I cried at the end. Thorin and Bilbo, and their stupid friendship! *sigh* A couple years later I read the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy and fell in love with the way Tolkien shone hope into the darkest times and made your life a little easier to bear - because, hey, maybe your situation sucked but at least you didn't have to carry the Ring to Mordor before an Evil All-Powerful Lord took over the earth and made every living thing his slave! Tolkien inspired me a lot. He still does. I want to touch others with my writing the way he was able to touch me with his. He showed good and evil in a strong, certain way, and he showed how anyone can be corrupted, but in the same way anyone can rise again and be great. That is something not many people in today's society do anymore. (Or when they try they sort of mess it up.) 

Diana Wynn Jones:

Chrestomanci.

OH. MY. HEAVENS. We need more writers like Diana Wynn Jones! We need writers to follow in her footsteps, to make stories full of adventure and comedy, love and friendship, happiness and hopelessness... and best of all, character development!!! She did such a great job blending humor and tension, such a great job writing ridiculous, funny, wildly entertaining stories and making them believable, emotional and memorable. If I can be half the writer she is, I would consider myself victorious in my talents. She's clever and creative, and her characters are wonderfully, perfectly, human. I read her books when I need motivation. She makes me want to write. She makes me want to bring my characters to life. 

The Queen's Thief: (Series) - Megan Whalen

"I can steal anything."

*Drumroll* BOW DOWN BEFORE THE QUEEN OF CHARACTER PERCEPTION!  BOW DOWN!

If anyone ever tells you J.K. Rowling is master of character perception and development, she's not, I would just like to say that no, Megan Whalen is the master above all masters. That women writes characters that you start out hating or at least violently disliking, and then she turns the tables and you see them, all of them, and suddenly you don't hate them anymore. You care about them. You are invested in their story, in their well-being. Even with her protagonists she is master of development and perception. You read all about a character for two whole books and you know him and love him; and then you see this other side of him, and it's so cool! It was a part of him all along, really, but in that third book you actually see all of it, and it's absolutely brilliant! It makes you love him more! You also want to slap him  or shake him, but you know. Isn't that always the way? Also, the protagonist in the fourth book. Talk about development! That boy grows so much!

I can honestly say that The Queen's Thief is one of my favorite series ever. Every few months I get this itch to re-read it, and I have to restrain myself because the longer I can wait the better it is when I read it again. And I don't want to kill it's intrigue by reading it too often in a year. That would be sad. I haven't read anything else by Megan Whalen, so I don't know how her other stuff is. But I know that regardless of she writes about, she is extremely talented and capable of brilliant things. And her Queen's Thief books are the bomb diggity. They deserve all the awards.

Keturah and Lord Death - Martine Leavitt

“The soul, it longs for its mate as mas as the body. Sad it is that the body be greedier
than the soul. But if you be happy all your days, as I was with your grandfather,
 subdue the body and marry the soul. Look for the heart-and-soul love.”

Keturah and Lord Death. This book... oh my gosh. It is the kind of book which you finish and you're overwhelmed with warmth. I sat in silence for a long time, hugging it, and feeling ridiculously achy, full of bittersweet emotions. It is amazing and beautiful, and there are so many lines that just sweep your soul up and make you think. The writing is incredible, the characters are in-depth, flawed, and beautiful, and the whole story is an absolute masterpiece. I really love Keturah. She is a strong female, in ways that you hardly ever see female characters in society today.

Jean Birdsall -  (The Penderwicks)

A Professor and a lot of girls.

Jean Birdsall is one of the very, very few writers who has managed to write about a big family with a bunch of sisters, and do it well. She writes the challenges of being part of a big family well, and she shows how a family crisis shouldn't mean the end of the family itself. (Like.. the only time I was a little skeptical was in book four when there was some money problems. Coming from a big family I kind of know how money works, and with both parents working well-paying jobs, and some of the girls helping out, I really don't think money would have been that big of a problem...otherwise, that book was great! AND SAD! But really great!) Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty are all unique and different, but you can definitely see their similarities, and the way they play off each other is absolute perfection. Jean Birdsall writers sisters who are goofy, and fun, and silly, sisters who bicker, who tease and make fun, sisters that take care of each other, sisters that love each other.  Sometimes they get themselves into trouble because they are crazy, adorable dopes, but they always try to do the right thing and be honest. They're good girls with an incredible Daddy, and a really sweet aunt, and they tend to adopt people into their family. I love them.

"Tell me how Mommy gave me my name."

Rosalind is the oldest Penderwick, the sensible one with a motherly attitude, who can be quite the firecracker when needed. Skye is the middle Penderwick, brazen and full of integrity, clever, and fierce. Jane is the third child, passionate, energetic, full of imagination, and an aspiring writer. Batty is the youngest Penderwick, imaginative, shy, curious and basically the sweetest sweetheart you will ever meet. The four of them together are pretty much perfect. Of course, I also have to mention their adorable adopted brother Jeffrey, and they're equally adorable adopted sister Mercedes, They're adopted brothers from next door, they're adopted Uncles, and they're adopted Mommy and adopted little brother... (They adopt about as many people as we do. lol.) In fact, there is too much I want to mention about these amazing books. Now I feel like doing a Penderwick Readathon! *aggressively fangirls*

Birdsall shows in a realistic light, how sisters relate to each other, how sisters act with each other, and how sisters can be best friends, even if they don't always get along. I really love that Skye and Jane are close even though they seem so different. I really love that the sisters acted like sisters. I loved that they were friends with their Daddy, but they also respected him and treated him like their father. I loved that Mr. Penderwick was sweet and gentle and protective. I really loved that the family was honest, decent and goodhearted. Basically they are everything society needs to remember about what it means to be a family. I highly recommend these books. They're incredible. Simple, yet emotional, humorous and heartwarming. Sometimes surprisingly sad; and other times incredibly sweet. They make you laugh, cry, and feel better about life in general. seriously. Read them.

What are some of your favorite writers/books? Who do you draw inspiration from? Tell me all the things!

*swings around cape and leaps off stage*

Bella