What to read if you love… Magic, Dragons and all things Fantasy

The last thing that Alanna wants is to become a Lady. She craves a life of adventure and dreams of becoming a warrior maiden, a female knight. But in Tortall girls aren’t allowed to become warriors and so Alanna has to take her fate into her own hand. Alanna switches places with her twin brother Thom, disguising herself as ‘Alan’ so she can begin training as a knight for King Roald. Alanna thinks her biggest challenge is making everyone think she’s a boy and lasting through the training exercises – if only it were that easy.

Meggie’s house is filled with books, there are piles of them stacked up everywhere, yet strangely Meggie can’t remember ever hearing her father read aloud. When Meggie discovers her father’s secret the mystery of her mother’s disappearance nine years ago is solved. Meggie’s father can read characters from books in to life; unfortunately it seems he can also read real live people… into books. Meggie’s father read her mother into a book! When a character called Dustfinger turns up on their doorstep Meggie and her father Mo suddenly find themselves in an adventure as exciting as any she’s ever read about in her books.

Sabriel is in her last year at private school in Ancelstierre, an ordinary world where no one believes in magic, but just over the border lies the Old Kingdom, where everyone knows that magic is real. When Sabriel is taken out of school following the death of her father she has more to do than simply grieving. Sabriel is the new Abhorsen, a sorcerer of great power whose duty is to make sure the dead stay dead and that the necromancer’s evil creations are stopped before they take over the world. If Sabriel can get over the wall to the Old Kingdom her first task is to save her father in death… she just has to get that far.

Twins Sophie and Josh take summer jobs in San Francisco, Sophie in a coffee shop and Josh across the street at a book store. When the book store is robbed by black clad goons a rare book is stolen, it’s a Codex, an ancient text of magical wisdom. Sophie and Josh learn that the Codex is even more important to them – because they’re mentioned in it! It seems Sophie and Josh are no ordinary teens, they’re potentially two of the most powerful wizards the world has ever known, and the book store owner is far from ordinary either he’s 700 years old and determined to get back what the goons have stolen, not just the book, but his partner too!

Nathaniel was only five when he was sold to his master, Arthur Underwood, to begin his training as a magician. Arthur Underwood is a cold and cruel master, and when Nathaniel is humiliated by ruthless magician, Simon Lovelock, his master stands by and watches. Nathaniel vows revenge. Honing his skills he manages to summon the 5,000 year old djinni, Bartimaeus instructing it to steal the powerful amulet of Samarkand from his foe, Simon Lovelock. But all is not what it seems and Nathaniel is plunged into an adventure more dangerous and deadly than he could ever have imagined.

One day a witch finds an abandoned baby, the baby is so ugly that he has a note attached to him “the devil’s child for the devil’s wife”. The witch knows she has no business with a baby but she decides to keep it anyway and names it Lump. But the witch knows next to nothing about being a parent and so she sets a bear to be its nursemaid and a djinn to be its tutor. As Lump grows he becomes increasingly more troublesome until one day the witch is forced to give up all her magic if she wishes to save him.

Jinx is unlucky. So unlucky that no one calls her by her real name (Jean) anymore, she’s simply known as Jinx. When a boy at school starts following Jinx everywhere her family decides she’ll be better off living at her Aunts. Jinx is fine with that, especially as she’s a little worried that she may have accidentally cast a spell that made the boy fall head over heels in love with her!

Jinx is determined not to try magic ever again but her plans are soon in danger when her cousin Tory reveals that they are a family descended from witches, with the first born female in each generation destined for great power. Jinx wants nothing more to do with magic and refuses to join Tory’s coven, when Tory sees Jinx save her latest crush through magic things suddenly get serious. Can Jinx keep her friends and family safe from Tory and still manage to stay away from magic herself?