Hello my lovelies!

To continue my Bookworm series I thought I could share my favourite EVER reads with you. These are the books I can quote from; the books that have travelled back and forth with me over the last few years; the books I can re-read a million times without getting bored. Only a few books make this elusive shortlist, so I hope you enjoy!

Harry Potter - J.K Rowling - Like no one saw this one coming. I still remember beginning to read the first book in the car despite severe carsickness. I remember spending my summer holiday in France reading Goblet of Fire on the beach and pretending the hotel we stayed in was Hogwarts. I remember reading the Quidditch-Cup-winning chapter in Prisoner of Azkaban in the car and making up heroic playlists to accompany my reading. I remember sharing the Order of the Phoenix with my best friend; sniffling at Half-Blood Prince in bed late at night. And outright sobbing my heart out, to the extent my mum thought something was seriously wrong (IT WAS SNAPE) over Deathly Hallows.

Chances are you have done the same. If you have not, get thyself to a bookshop, and discover the world of Harry Potter. NOW.

 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell - I hear they are filming this now. I'm not sure how I feel about this; to me the book is somewhat unfilmable and should remain pure in novel form. It is a wonderfully interwoven journey across time and space and is simply one of those books that stays with you long after you have put it down. I love how characters from one portion are vitally important in another, or even only vaguely linked by the thinnest of threads. I can't possibly pick a favourite chapter, they're all fabulous. I also love Ghostwritten as it has a similar style of connecting different stories to make a wonderful whole.

The Shadow of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - After I graduated from lycee, my dad bought me the sequel to this book. In Spanish. The fact that I spent the subsequent year trying to read it ahead of its English language release is testament to how much I adore this book. It's one of those really random finds, dragged out from under my nana's sofa before it became a book club favourite, but it is set in mid 20th century Barcelona (always a win) and is the most delightfully haunting love story (another win). There's a mystery at the heart of it (SUPER WIN) and I can now testify that the English translation is just as beautiful as the Spanish original (being able to read it without constantly referring to a dictionary is fab too).

I Capture The Castle - Dodie Smith - I was unsure about this because this is the woman that brought us 101 Dalmatians and I did not love that book as much as I wanted to. This, however, is a lovely whimsical story of a poor family living in a run-down castle, and how the narrator and her sister come of age and fall in love. I'm awful at describing these things, but honestly, this is such a beautifully written book and I could read it over and over...in fact I am re-reading it again at the moment!

The Bartimaeus Trilogy - Jonathan Stroud - I absolutely LOVE this series and yet I never seem to hear anybody wax lyrical about it, so, well, I'm going to start now. It is set in an alternate version of our universe, mainly London, and it has lots of MAGIC. Magicians cannot do very much on their own, so they summon djinn to assist them with their nefarious tasks. I adore the chapters told from Bartimaeus' point of view - imagine the cheekiest, most sarcastic and riproaringly funny djinni and you might just come close. There are also a few heartwrenching moments and the final book made me cry - always a sign of a fantastic book! I heartily recommend this trilogy, even if you aren't a fan of anything magical!

 So those are my all-time favourites that I am able to recall at the moment. I have plenty more, but I will be here forever if I list them all at once so I may save them for a later post.

What are your all-time favourites? Do let me know, I love hearing about other people's reading experiences and if you mention something I haven't read, well, that would be fabulous!

xoxo