Recommended Reads for November 2012

Check out the reviews section of our website for the latest recommended reads - from children's fiction to poetry and classic reads we're sure there is something for everyone. We also welcome your reviews too - email them to 'Reviews' at info@bookapoet.co.uk and we'll let you know when we use it!

Below are the titles we recommended during November 2012. You can read our reviews and recommendations at:  http://www.bookapoet.co.uk/book_reviews/book_reviews/november_2012/

‘Ghost Knight’ by Cornelia Funke (Published by Orion Books)
‘Blink Once’ by Cylin Busby (Published by Bloomsbury)
‘Cleopatra: The Last Pharaoh’ by Clint Twist (Published by Templar Publishing)
‘Ravenwood: The Glass Forest (Book 2)’ by Andrew Peters (Published by Chicken House)
‘The Christmas Unicorn’ by Anna Currey (Published by Oxford University Press)
‘Collected Poems’ by Sean O’Brien (Published by Picador)

‘Seeking Crystal’ by Joss Stirling (Published by Oxford University Press)
‘Star Fighters: Stealth Force’ by Max Chase (Published by Bloomsbury)
‘Deadly Diaries’ by Steve Backshall (Published by Orion)
‘Where My Wellies Take Me’ by Clare and Michael Morpurgo (Published by Templar Publishing)

‘Ninjago: The Character Encyclopaedia’ (Published by Dorling Kindersely Books)
‘Santa is Coming to Peterborough’ (Published by www.hometownworld.co.uk)
‘Cinderelephant’ by Emma Dodd (Published by Templar Publishing)
'The Weight of Water' by Sarah Crossan (Published by Bloomsbury) 

December's recommended reads will start to appear on the website from next week. A selection of reviews will be published here too, as well as on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BookaPoet) and links from our Twitter account (@bookapoet).

‘Blink Once’

By Cylin Busby
Published by Bloomsbury, October 2012
RRP £6.99 (paperback)
ISBN 9781408825808
Reviewed by Katy Hawkins

West has the perfect life until an accident leaves him paralyzed and completely unable to move or even breathe on his own. The future looks bleak, his girlfriend dumps him, and West believes the road to recovery is untenable (despite what his nurses tell him) ... until he meets the intense and mysterious Olivia. She becomes his best friend and eventually they begin to fall in love with each other. Meeting Olivia, whose room is next to his in the hospital, changes everything for West, and slowly, he begins to recover. But there’s more to Olivia than meets the eye - and West is stunned when he finds out the truth. The blinking of the title seems initially to refer to the way that West and Olivia communicate, but there’s a twist in the tale for that, too.

Blink Once is not the most unpredictable story and it’s fairly easy to figure out what is going to happen from about halfway through the book. However, having a good idea of what is coming doesn’t make the novel any less compelling and it gives the reader an opportunity to really become wrapped up in the complex characters Busby has created and the relationships between them as they blossom. The ending might not be the most surprising but it certainly satisfied me and although it wasn’t necessarily the happy ending some readers may have hoped for, it did tie things up neatly. I would recommend this book to any fans of young adult novels who enjoy well-written characters and strong writing.

Highly recommended for readers 11+