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 June 2012:

‘The Bees’ by Carol Ann Duffy (Picador)
‘My Art Book – Animals’ (Dorling Kindersley Books)
‘My Tourist Guide to The Dinosaur World’ by Sam Priddy (Dorling Kindersley Books)
‘Human Body: A Children’s Encyclopedia’ (Dorling Kindersley Books)
‘Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs’ by Michael Gerard Bauer (Templar Publishing)
‘Little Grey Rabbit’s Noisy Night’ By Alice Corrie (Templar Publishing)
'Whisper' by Chrissie Keighery (Templar Publishing)
‘Sam Silver Undercover Pirate: Skeleton Island’ by Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler (Orion Books)
‘Sam Silver Undercover Pirate: The Ghost Ship’ by Jan Burchett and Sara Vogler (Orion   Books)
‘Adventure Island: The Mystery of the Invisible Spy’ by Helen Moss (Orion Books)
‘Katy’s Wild Foal’ / ‘Katy’s Champion Pony’ / ‘Katy’s Pony Surprise’ by Victoria Eveleigh (Orion Books)
‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls’ - Book 5’ by Cassandra Clare (Walker Books).

We have also received reader reviews from Newborough Primary School for
'Hey Little Bug' by James Carter (Frances Lincoln)
'The Language of Cat' by Rachel Rooney (Frances Lincoln)
'Not Bad for a Bad Lad' by Michael Morpurgo (Templar Publishing)

July'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 and links from our Twitter account.

Teen book review - ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Lost Souls’ by Cassandra Clare

Published by Walker Books
RRP £10.99 (large paperback)
ISBN 9781406332940
Reviewed by Lynsey Evans

‘The Mortal Instruments’ first book ‘City of Bones’ landed on the book shelves back in 2007 and the series was originally only going to be trilogy. Fortunately, it is such a fab series it has developed from a trilogy to 6 parts, plus 2 prequels have also been written for the series.

I have been a fan of this series since the start and it is a great read for teens and adults, though it seems plenty of adults have read the Harry Potter, Twilight and Hunger Games series, ‘The Mortal Instruments’ doesn’t appear to be in this league … yet. Why? Who knows as ‘The Mortal Instruments’  is as good as any of these other teen phenomenoms. As proof of its greatness the first book in the series ‘The City of Bones’ is being made into a Hollywood Blockbuster, with Lily Collins cast as Clary and Jamie Campbell-Bower as Jace, and I for one, cannot wait!

If you haven’t yet read any of this brilliant, thrilling urban fantasy series, do so, now. Meet Clary Fray, an “ordinary” girl, who realises she’s not so ordinary when she sees 3 teens kill someone. These teens are covered in strange markings and no one else appears to see them. This is the start of Clary’s adventures as she discovers the Clave, the Nephilim (who are part angel and fight demons – also known as Shadowhunters), their rules, their ways and how she is part of their world. The adventures keep coming thick and fast in the next 3 books in the series, encountering faeries, vampires, lots of demons, the Mortal Instruments, the villan Valentine, the Clave, warlocks, a romantic storyline and much, much more. It’s absolutely engrossing and when ‘City of Lost Souls’ arrived for review, I was excited to see what happens next after the ‘City of Fallen Angels’.

‘City of Lost Souls’ doesn’t disappoint, it’s as action and romance-packed as ever, with the moral dilemmas, the danger, the demons, the angels, the shadowhunters, Simon’s wit and sarcasm, revenge, betrayal, the twists and turns, the highs and lows we love and have come to expect when reading The Mortal Instruments series.

When Clary discovers both Sebastian and Jace are alive after Jace and Sebastian ‘Jonathan Morgenstern’ Verlac’s encounter with Lilith. But Jace isn’t the same now he’s bound to Sebastian with demon blood – hurt or kill either one and they’ll both die. Jace looks the same, but his thoughts are the same as Sebastian’s, which is only going to end in tears. With Sebastian taking up where Valentine left off, Clary has a choice leave her family, her friends and the Clave and join them to be with Jace forever and safe with Sebastian or follow the Clave’s rules – which say both Jace and Sebastian are a threat and need to be killed. Then there’s Simon and Isabelle, Maia and Jordan, Alec and Magnus – with dilemmas of their own. Each character bears a heavy weight on their shoulders in this instalment, each book growing darker in the characters’ battle between good and evil.

An absolutely brilliant read, totally engrossing, you have to read it, I cannot recommend the Mortal Instruments series enough. A must-read if ever there was one!

Recommended for readers aged 14+