Mr Ripleys 100 Great Books To Read In A Life Time.......

                                               

This is a list of books, both new and old, of some of the best books that I have enjoyed reading over the years. These aren't in any order of preference and I have deliberately only chosen one book by each author. I'm sure that there will be many books that I have missed and there'll be some titles that you feel should have made it that I haven't referred to. Therefore, this is your chance to leave a comment and let me know what you think should be added to the list and what you have enjoyed reading over the years.


1. J.R.R Tolkien - Hobbit
2. Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
3. Arthur Ransome - Swallows And Amazons
4. Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Marcus Zusak - The Book Thief
6. Philip Reeve - Mortal Engines
7. Louis Sacha - Holes
8. Darren Shan - Lord Loss
9. Philippa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden
10. Robert Westall - Scarecrows
11. Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl
12. E. Nesbit - The Railway Children
13. Charmian Hussey - The Valley of Secrets
14. Chris Wooding - The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
15. Elizabeth Laird - Garbage King
16.  P.L Travers - Mary Poppins
17. Mark Lamb - Farperoo
18. Terry Pratchett -  Going Postal
19.  Julia Donaldson - Gruffalo
20. Cornelia Funke - Ink Heart
21. Brandon Mull - Fablehaven
22. Jonathan Stroud - The Amulet of Smakand
23. Kazu Kibuishi - Amulet:Stonekeeper
24. David Almond - Skellig
25. Robin Jarvis -  The Dark Portal
26 Brian Jacques - Salamandastron
27. Dean Vincent Carter - The Hand of the Devil
28. Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell - Stormchaser
29. Angie Sage - Magyk
30. Frances Hardinge - Fly By Night
31. Maurice Sendak - Where The Wild Things Are
32. Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book
33. Frances Hodgson Burnett - The Secret Garden
34. Philip Pullman - Northern Lights
35 J.K Rowling -  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
36. Joseph Delaney - The Spooks's Apprentice
37 Blue Balliett - Chasing Vermeer
38. G.P Taylor - Shadowmancer
39. Christopher Paolini - Eragon
40. Michael Malloy - The Time Witches
41. Anna Dale - Whispering to Witches
42. Dale Peck - Drift House
43. Eoin McNamee - The Navigator
44. Catherine Web - The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle
45. Julia Golding -  The Diamond of Dury Lane
46. Eleanor Updale - Montmorency
47. Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
48. Enid Blyton -  Five on Treasure Island
49. Richard Adams - Watership Down
50. Ian Fleming - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
51. Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels
52. Leon Garfield - The Ghost Downstairs
53. Jules Verne - Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
55. Mary Norton - The Borrowers
56. John Boyne - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
57. Garth Nix - Sabriel
58. Scott Westerfeld - The Secret Hour
59. Anthony Horowitz - Raven's Gate
60. Anthony Browne - Tunnels
61. Trudi Canavan - The Magician's Apprentice
62. Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams - The Highfield Mole
63. Charlie Higson - The Enemy
64. Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland
65. L.Frank Baum - The Wizard of Oz
66. Kenneth Grahame - The Wind In The Willows
67. Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island
68. Ursula Le Guin  - The Tales From Earthsea
69. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief
70. P.B Kerr -  Children of the Lamp:The Akhenaten Adventure
71. Sam Enthoven - The Black Tattoo
72. Adam Gopnik - The King in the Window
73. Linda Sue Park - A  Single Shard
75. Isobelle Carmody - Obernewtyn
76. E.E Richardson - The Devil's Footsteps
77. F E Higgins -  The Black Book of Secrets
78. Derek Landy - Skulduggery Pleasant
79. Steve Augarde - The Various
80. Patrick Carman - Atherton House of Power
81. Joanne Harris - Runemarks
82. Mark Walden - H.I.V.E
83. Michael Grant - Gone
84. Tom Becker - Darkside
85. Zizou Corder - Lion Boy
86. Michelle Paver - Wolf Brother
87. Liam Hearn - Across the Nightingale Floor
88. Gareth Thompson - The Great Harlequin Grim
89. Rudyard Kipling - Jungle Book
90. J.M Barrie - Peter Pan
91. Lemony Snicket - The Bad Beginning
92. Susan Cooper - Dark Is Rising
93. Suzanne Collins -  The Hunger Games
94. Henry Chancellor - The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn
95. Tove Jansson - Moomin's
96. Alan Garner - A Bag of Moonshine
97. Herge -  Tin Tin in the Congo
98. Justin Richards - The Death Collector
99. W E Johns - Biggles Learns To Fly
100. Stuart Hill -  The Cry of the Icemark

Mr Ripley's Memorable Reading Moments 2010 ( U.S Published)

Last year, putting together a list of some of my personal favourites was a very hard and tricky thing to do, so I never actually produced a year end post. However, this year I have made the decision to do one list for books published in the UK and another list for US published books. Both lists give a true reflection of the books that I really enjoyed and that I would recommend without a second thought. So, without further ado here is the U.S list - I hope one of the following books or all of them might take your interest.
                                         
John Flanagan - The Kings of Clonmel:Book Eight (Ranger's Apprentice) - Published by Philomel - May 2010

Mankind puts its faith in many things—gods, kings, money—anything for protection from the world's many dangers. When a cult springs up in neighboring Clonmel, promising to quell the recent attacks by lawless marauders, people flock from all over to offer gold in exchange for protection. But this particular group, with which Halt is all too familiar, has a less than charitable agenda. Secrets will be unveiled and battles fought to the death as Will and Horace help Halt in ridding the land of a dangerous enemy.

The worldwide phenomenon is back with a gripping new adventure. Yet for these Rangers, the peril is only beginning . . .

Paolo Bacigalupi - Ship Breaker - Published by Little,Brown Books - May 2010 

In America's Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota—and hopefully live to see another day. But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his life: Strip the ship for all it's worth or rescue its lone survivor, a beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life. . . .

In this powerful novel, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers a thrilling, fast-paced adventure set in a vivid and raw, uncertain future. See Book Review

S.A. Bodeen - The Gardener - Published by Feiwel & Friends - May 2010

On a visit to the nursing home in which his mother works, Mason discovers that her job does not involve caring for the elderly patients as he imagined, but for several apparently catatonic teenagers. When his mother steps away, one of the teens awakens in response to a DVD that he puts on. She suffers from amnesia but somehow knows she must escape her current environment and begs Mason for his help. He suddenly finds himself on the run from TroDyn Industries, the scientific corporation that owns most of his town. It has been using the girl as part of some sort of research—but what kind? And might there be some link to the father Mason has never met? See Book Review

Blue Balliett - Danger Box - Published by Scholastic Press - Sept 2010

A boy in a small town who has a different way of seeing.

A mischievous girl who won't stay in one place.

A mysterious notebook .

A fire.

A stranger.

A death.

These are some of the things you'll find within The Danger Box, the new mystery from bestselling author Blue Balliett. See Book Review

Erin Bow - Plain Kate -  Published by Arthur A. Levine Books - Sept 2010

Plain Kate lives in a world of superstitions and curses, where a song can heal a wound and a shadow can work deep magic. As the wood-carver’s daughter, Kate held a carving knife before a spoon, and her wooden charms are so fine that some even call her “witch-blade” — a dangerous nickname in a town where witches are hunted and burned in the square.

For Kate and her village have fallen on hard times. Kate’s father has died, leaving her alone in the world. And a mysterious fog now covers the countryside, ruining crops and spreading fear of hunger and sickness. The townspeople are looking for someone to blame, and their eyes have fallen on Kate.

Enter Linay, a stranger with a proposition: In exchange for her shadow, he’ll give Kate the means to escape the town that seems set to burn her, and what’s more, he’ll grant her heart’s wish. It’s a chance for her to start over, to find a home, a family, a place to belong. But Kate soon realizes that she can’t live shadowless forever — and that Linay’s designs are darker than she ever dreamed. See Book Review

Adam Gopnik - The Steps Across the Water - Published by Hyperion -  Nov 2010

Ten-year-old Rose lives in New York, the city of bright lights and excitement, and a seemingly endless variety of people, architecture, and food—where extraordinary things happen every day on every block. But Rose wasn't born in New York; she was adopted as an infant from a far-away country. Though Rose loves her home and her adopted family, sometimes she can't help but feel different, like she's meant to be somewhere else.

Then one day in Central Park, Rose sees something truly extraordinary: a crystal staircase rising out of the lake, and two small figures climbing the shimmering steps before vanishing like a mirage. Only it's wasn't a mirage. Rose is being watched—recruited—by representatives of U Nork, a hidden city far more spectacular than its sister city New York. In U Nork, Dirigibles and zeppelins skirt dazzling skyscrapers that would dwarf the Crysler building. Impeccably dressed U Norkers glide along the sidewalks in roller skates. Rose can hardly take it all in.

Then she learns the most astonishing thing about U Nork. Its citizens are in danger, and they need Rose's help, and hers alone...

In a masterful new fantasy evocative of Alice in Wonderland, the brilliant novelist, essayist and critic, Adam Gopnik, explores the powerful themes of identity and the meaning of home, with stunning illustrations from Bruce McCall. See Book Review

Book Trailers For New Books May/June 2010 - (Three books to read this summer)