Firstly, I'm so sorry it's been so long! I've busy finishing my degree, but that's done now (hooray!) so I'm pleased to say that I can get back to reading for this project again!
I cannot understand why Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is not further up the list!? 95 out of 100 seems awfully low for such a good book! It deserves to be so much higher! It is a great read; a gripping, exciting, enticing and beautiful novel for ages 12+. It is a book within a book, a story within a story. Inkheart is not only the name of Cornelia Funke's novel, but the name of the book around which the story centres.
Have you ever wished the characters in a book would come alive and you could be part of their story? I know I have! But what if those characters were the baddies... Not sounding so nice now is it! For father and daughter, Mo and Meggie, this is their reality. When Mo reads Inkheart aloud the evil dictator Capricorn and his men appear out of the fantasy novel, changing Mo and Meggie's life forever.
I don't want to give too much away, as its a wonderful, interwoven story, and my description of what happens wouldn't fall close to doing it justice! You should all just go and read it instead!
What I can tell you is:
It is set in the Italian hills, in several little villages, which you can easily summon up in your imagination from the writing, which is lovely. I found the setting wonderfully refreshing, as so many books seem to be set in either the UK or America. It was really nice to explore a more European setting.
If you love books then this story is definitely for you! The humble book is treated like the most precious of jewels, and the words inside like priceless gold thread. Mo restores old books, taking care of them like sick and injured people. In turn his daughter Meggie has a similar affinity with them, keeping all her favourites in a secure box that she takes with her wherever she goes. They both have a habit of stroking a book before they open it, in a kind of greeting I suppose, which I think is a lovely thing and might even take to doing myself!!
There is a quote from another story at the beginning of every chapter. Funke has quoted the likes of Kenneth Grahame, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson and even Shakespeare to name but a few! Each quote she chooses foreshadows the contents of that chapter, linking her story with so many others, which I think is a really nice touch.
There is magic in this story! There are people disappearing in and out of books, there are fairies, and trolls and people made of glass. J.M Barrie's Tinkerbell even makes an appearance!
There are some really nasty characters too. Evil Capricorn for a start; and then some of his men are pretty horrible, for example Basta is someone you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night!
Inkheart is a fantastic tale of good and evil, with an edge that will entice any book lover. You feel the ups and downs of every character, and the heroine Meggy is a brave and powerful force! I would recommend this book to everyone, its been my favourite on the list so far. And, whats more, Inkheart is the first of a trilogy of books; Inkspell and Inkdeath are certainly on my 'to read' list now!
Next up, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin, which, if the cover is anything to go by, could be quite bizarre......
Thanks for reading, L x
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