Share-A-Book Saturday (2)

This is something I found over on Just Another Book Addict =), and I thought I'd do my own. There are so many great books out there that get overlooked (especially if they've been out for a while)!

Every Saturday, you share (recommend) a book, preferably one that you haven't reviewed yet. It's just a way to get other books out into the blogging world. This is NOT a review.

Today I'm going to recommend Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones.

A photograph called "Fire and Hemlock" that has been on the wall since her childhood. A story in a book of supernatural stories -- had Polly read it before under a different title? Polly, packing to return to college, is distracted by picture and story, clues from the past stirring memories. But why should she suddenly have memories that do not seem to correspond to the facts?

Fire and Hemlock is an intricate, romantic fantasy filled with sorcery and intrigue, magic and mystery, all background to a most unusual and thoroughly satisfying love story. (Product description from Amazon.com.)

This is one of my all-time favourite books, but I rarely hear it talked about. It was first published in 1985. I read it around 2000, during my one-and-a-half hour bus rides to work. Let's just say that, when I was reading this book, one and a half hours at a time wasn't long enough!

To be honest, I actually picked up this book because I was drawn to the cover. Here in Canada, we got the UK edition, which (in my opinion) is much more attractive than the US edition and better reflects the story (I don't even know who that old guy on the blueish US cover is supposed to be!). Even though I selected this book based almost solely on its cover, once I started reading, I could not put it down. I think this was actually the first Diana Wynne Jones book that I ever read... and it made me want to go in search of others. After Fire and Hemlock, I read Dogsbody, Eight Days of Luke, The Homeward Bounders, Hexwood, Deep Secret, The Time of the Ghost, Howl's Moving Castle, and The Game. Some were good, some were just okay... but none of them captured my imagination quite the way that Fire and Hemlock had done.

This is a paranormal romance that would probably be enjoyed by many of today's YA fans. It's about memories, friendship, sacrifice, and fighting for the ones you love.

I won't say any more. There's plenty to discover and enjoy in Fire and Hemlock... and you'll get more out of the actual book than anything I could say about it here.