Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books Recommended: Minecraft Blockopedia Hardcover

Blockopedia is the ultimate reference guide, featuring information on every single block that makes up the Minecraft world. The world of Minecraft is made entirely of blocks. Some help you build, some help you stay alive. Every block you discover opens up new possibilities and exciting adventures.

This hexagonal book is a 'comprehensive reference tool for beginners and more experienced players alike', written by former Edge editor Alex Wiltshire and is accurate up to the latest 1.8 game update.

“Working closely with Mojang, we wanted to make sure this encyclopaedia was so much more than just an ordinary reference book, so it could truly reflect both the richness of the world and iconic visual identity of the game," said Sarah Bates, publishing director for licensed character books, Egmont Publishing.

"Blockopedia pushes the boundaries of what we expect a book to be. It’s totally unique and we’re extremely proud to be bringing such an innovative product to market."

Blockopedia is out on December 4th from all good book retailers, with an RRP of £30.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books - The perfect present for any Minecraft addict. Full of tips to help with the game. Hours of addictive fun for all the family. Once you start, you will not be able to stop. Recommended purchase this christmas. 

Mr Ripley's Book Review: Rob Davis - The Motherless Oven - Published by SelfMadeHero

"The Weather Clock said knife o'clock, so I chained Dad up in the shed." 

I had such a great time again at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal. One of the events that I attended was by Rob Davis 'The Motherless Oven' book launch. I heard him talk about his book in a relaxed and casual manner, but by the end of the event I still had no idea really what the story was about. However, this was perhaps partly due to me looking around the Council Chambers, playing with the microphone and also taking in the monochrome frenzy of images projected onto a screen. All of these probably played a large part in my distraction! After the event, I was very intrigued to plunge into the story and images, so clutching my character sketch prize I went home to read it with post haste.

Now I've read it twice and I love it even more. I still can't really tell you what the book is about, but what I can tell you is why I liked it. To me that is as important when I'm reviewing a book, so these are my thoughts . . . . . . 

The first thing that I loved was that it was 100% crazy - in fact it was raining knives (see illustration below). It's such a surreal fantasy that has been pulled from the hidden depths of Rob's imagination. It is a whirlpool of memoirs from his childhood with strong connections to his past and present. The narrative picks up on this and writes an alternate future that may require some reflection and perhaps a couple of reads, so that it can mature in your brain. 

We are living in a world of Scarper Lee where parents don't make children, children make parents. Scarper's father is a wind-powered brass construction whilst his mother is a bakelite hairdryer. 

These lines strike a chord with me; they indicate an unusual beauty through their words. The story has a twisted melancholic feel which is reflected in the black and white illustrations. 

It’s also a world without birthdays, only deathdays, and Scarper's deathday is fast approaching. With just three weeks left to live, Scarper is forced from his routine and strikes out into the unknown—where relationships are tested and authority challenged.

Graphically, this book is very special. Each illustration is very well executed and really takes you in to the world of the characters. It delivers a unique and enhancing strangeness that washes over the reader. Literally, it is puzzling, captivating, but also highly original. Once you have read the last page it will leave you asking: what has just happened here? Chaos ensues on every page, but if you look closer you may find some kind of order within a dream-like state. I can guarantee that it will have made you smile from ear to ear. 

Very cool teenagers will relate to this story in some places, whilst the older generation should feel it through their DNA. No heroes, no villains, but a world in a monochrome bubble full of teenage angst and a school-like rebellion that replicates some very real human interaction. This is a story full of metaphors and a play on words that beats it's own heart. 

I loved both the story and the visual experience right down to the unresolved ending. Hopefully, this should make a great start to another superb book.
Mr Ripley's recommended reading experience .....

Published by SelfMadeHero - October 2014, Check out more great things published by them here: http://www.selfmadehero.com/

Mr Ripley's Children's Book Recommendation - Allen Zadoff - Boy Nobody

                                        

They needed the perfect assassin.

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die-of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target.

But when he's assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's mission.

In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero.

The explosive new thriller for fans of Jason Bourne, Robert Muchamore and Michael Grant.

Book Published by Orchard - 23 May 2013

Follow him on twitter @allenzadoff and check out his website here http://www.allenzadoff.com/

More Books For The Busy Month Of July 2009

Mr Ripley has some more great books to bring to your attention for the busy month of July. Also Some recommended U.S titles for May to get your teeth stuck into.

J.C Bemis - The Mystifying Medicine Show - Oxford University Press - 2, July 2009 Paperback

Orphan Ray has been separated from his sister. The only clue to finding her is a lodestone, left to him by his father before he vanished. The lodestone tugs Ray towards a train bursting with astounding characters. Soon Ray is hurtling across the Wild West, joining in as they perform their enthralling medicine show. But something dark is following the train. Something that wants to steal people's souls. How long before Ray realizes it? And can he and his new friends do anything to stop it?

Michelle Lovric - The Undrowned Child - Orion Children's Books - 2, July 2009 Paperback

It's the beginning of the 20th century; the age of scientific progress. But for Venice the future looks bleak. A conference of scientists assembles to address the problems, among whose delegates are the parents of eleven-year-old Teodora. Within days of her arrival, she is subsumed into the secret life of Venice: a world in which salty-tongued mermaids run subversive printing presses, ghosts good and bad patrol the streets and librarians turn fluidly into cats. A battle against forces determined to destroy the city once and for all quickly ensues. Only Teo, the undrowned child who survived a tragic accident as a baby, can go 'between-the-linings' to subvert evil and restore order.

Rob Stevens - The Mapmaker's Monster:Vampanther Attack! No 2 - Macmillan Children's Books - 3, July 2009 Paperback

In their next hilarious adventure, Hugo and Savage travel to the unchartered mountains of deepest Transylvania, where nothing is as it seems. With a fortune telling cat, an anxious wolf-man and some seriously angry rabbits to deal with, can Hugo rescue Uncle Walter from the clutches of the evil vampanther lord before it's too late?


Picture book recommendation from a great team must check this out.

Julia Donaldson Author and David Roberts Illustrator - The Troll - Macmillan Children's Books - 3, July 2009

Trolls are supposed to lurk under bridges, ready to eat billy goats, and pirates should always dig where 'X marks the spot. But what happens when goats are hard to come by, map reading skills aren't up to scratch and everybody has rumbling tummies? This is a rib-tickling tale, brilliantly woven together by a winning picture book team.


The U.S Book Picks for May 2009 is:

Book One:

Patrick Carman's third book in the Atherton series entitled The Dark Planet Published by Little, Brown Young Readers - May 1, 2009


In the dazzling conclusion to the epic story of Atherton, Patrick Carman takes readers on the most rewarding journey of all, to the perilous realm of The Dark Planet: Earth.

When Edgar discovers a way to leave the mysterious satellite world of Atherton, he couldn't have imagined the gloom that awaited him on the dark planet, where the oceans are toxic, the forests are full of mutant monsters, and children toil in darkness, controlled by ruthless maniacs. Max Harding, an orphan of the Silo, the maker of Atherton, and the last hope of a dying world, left this place behind, and now Edgar is determined to complete the mad scientist's spectacular plan, revealing Atherton's true purpose.


Book Two:


Michael Grant second book Hunger:A Gone Novel Published by HarperTeen - 26, May 2009 Hardback


By It's been three months since everyone under the age of fifteen became trapped in the bubble known as the FAYZ.

Three months since all the adults disappeared.

Gone.

Food ran out weeks ago. Everyone is starving, but no one wants to figure out a solution. And each day, more and more kids are evolving, developing supernatural abilities that set them apart from the kids without powers.

Tension rises and chaos is descending upon the town. It's the normal kids against the mutants. Each kid is out for himself, and even the good ones turn murderous.

But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.

The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.


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