Fornasetti: Designer of Dreams - Patrick Mauries, Ettore Sottsass

Advantages: well written, engaging story
Disadvantages: Difficult for younger children to read on their own

...Theresa Breslin has been writing books since 1988 and in that time she has become one of the most prolific children’s fiction authors around. Her work is easily distinguishable by the way she makes the child the centre of the story in a believable way. Her outlook is childlike and this makes her stories very engaging especially for younger readers. Her books seem to comprise all the essential ingredients for successful child fiction. The heroes are often children that are slightly marginalized in their own lives whether it is through bullying at school, dysfunctional family or more general teenage worries. There is also a familiarity about the settings, average households, average schools in average towns but inevitably these ‘ordinary’ children find a way to have extraordinary magical adventures. THE DREAM MASTER We are told... Read review

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Advantages: Very atmospheric
Disadvantages: No disadvantages to a book, surely?!

...I think a lot of people will agree that this seems to have been a very popular book. Considering Patrick Suskind hasn't written very much yet people have really embraced "Perfume" as the thoroughly original and unusual read that it is. Set in eighteenth century France we follow the life of Suskind's fictional character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. As Grenouille's character grows we become aware of his superlative sense of smell. His world seems to be utterly dominated by smell. So sensitive are his olfactory capabilities that he is disgusted by so many crudely manufactured scents worn by the rich French aristocracy. The catalyst for his maddening disgust of the smells that surround him comes when one day he smells the scent of pure unadulterated beauty. It comes in the form of an adolescent girl and, such is his hunger for this rich... Read review

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Advantages: A very good read, gives an insight into a sailors life at sea in the 1800's.
Disadvantages: This series of books is a little expensive

..."Master & Commander" is the first in a series of books by Patrick O'Brian. The story is set in the year 1800 and follows the story of recently promoted Captain Jack Aubery RN and his new acquintance Stephen Maturin. Captain Aubery takes command of the 'Sophie' and persuades his new friend - Stephen Maturin - to join as the new ships surgeon. Jack Aubery proves to be an able captain both in seamanship and in battle. We are told of gripping accounts of his battles - most especially against the Cacafuego where Capt. Aubaery gains the reputation of becoming Luck Jack Aubery. Stephen Maturin gains a reputation of a most learned surgeon, and in later books uses this to disguise his real brilliance as an intelligence officer causing mahem against the Napoleonic movement. This is a gripping book and along with a good plot line... Read review

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