Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Both my Grandfathers fought in the Great War of 1914-1918; one died from the prolonged effects of mustard gas poisoning, when my own father was still only a boy; the other never spoke of the actions for which he was awarded the Military Medal, a medal which he kept in a shoebox his whole life, but which is now proudly on display in the Regimental Museum of the Queen’s Own Highlanders at Fort George near Inverness.

Perhaps because its horrors were so without precedent, the Great War has always held a morbid fascination for me. As a teenager I read lots of books about the subject and tried to imagine what the trenches must have been like - an impossible task. The experiences described in Edmund Blunden's Undertones of War and Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That are so truly shocking that the reader reels under the effect of their words as if being punched or kicked by them. Writers like Sebastian Faulks (in Birdsong) or Pat Barker (in the excellent Regeneration trilogy) do their best to imagine the carnage and bloody chaos in all its gruesome glory, but again the effect is strangely numbing. Morpurgo takes a gentler approach which is all the more effective for it.

The story of Tommy Peacful and his brother Charlie, the book unfolds in a series of flashbacks. We learn early on that Tommy has a dark secret, which not even his own brother knows, and this shapes some of his feeling s about events. The brothers grow up together, make an enemy of the local squire, fall in love with - and out with each other over - the same girl, before eventually joining up together to fight in 'the war to end all wars'.

The story unfolds at a gentle pace, but with a quickening dread as the horror of the trenches draws closer and closer. Morpurgo finishes the book with a flourish (even though if you read the novel closely enough you will work out the twist in time for the end) and creates a book of such rare warmth and depth that you'll want (as I did) to turn back to the first page and read it all over again!

Mr Mudd

Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Mrs Voyce recommended this book to me - it was her Book of the Month for June - and it did not disappoint. I'm normally quite a slow reader but I whizzed through its 200+ pages in a couple of days. Millions is about a young boy called Damian Cunningham, who lives with his older brother Anthony and their father. Damian is obsessed with facts about saints and frequently has visions. He also finds a bag stuffed with money, which he takes as a sign from God that he needs to help the poor. Of course, his brother has other ideas ...

The book is set at a time when Britain is about to join the Euro, meaning the boys must spend the money quickly before it becomes worthless. Damian is sensitive and genuinely wants to do 'the right thing'; Anthony has a shrewd business mind and is all for investing the money across a 'balanced portfolio of stocks and real estate'. Of course, things don't go quite according to plan for either of the boys.

The book is lucidly written and extremely entertaining. The characters are well-drawn and the action punchy and comic. There are also some unexpectedly creepy moments along the way. Frank Cotterell Boyce has written extensively for television and his ear for the way young children speak rings true. It is a book with a conscience and it manages to be thought-provoking without being all preachy and obvious. Millions is well worth checking out over the summer.

Mr Mudd

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John Le Carre

Although quite a few novels have passed under the bridge since I last posted anything, I recently discovered this classic Cold War thriller. Written by one of the most under-rated of modern novelists (a couple of years ago, I was given a copy of his The Constant Gardener for Christmas and had read it by my birthday four days later!), the book is set in Berlin (one of my favourite cities) and features one of the great twists in modern spy fiction. Ian Fleming - the man behind Bond - reckoned Le Carre was the real deal. You can see why here.

Passed over Berlin operative, Alec Leamas (think a shabby, clinically depressed Alex Rider) faces some tough questioning when his East German spy network is first betrayed and then systematically murdered. He takes up drinking and his life seems to fall apart. Sacked from MI6 for petty thievery, humiliated into working in a decrepit library and finally banged up for assaulting a greengrocer, Leamas seems intent on self-destruction. Consolation comes in the form of Liz, who works alongside him at the library. Might this shy and lonely young woman point the way to some kind of redemption for Leamas? When Leamas defects to his opposite numbers in the Eastern block, it seems unlikely.

However, this being a spy novel, things are not what they seem. There are plenty of red herrings and blind alleys before the Iron Curtain finally descends - trapping both Leamas and Liz. It is easy to sense the fear and paranoia of the very different times described in the novel. A frantic chase ends things. Having visited the remnants of the Wall when in Berlin, the desperation and tension of these closing chapters really catches in the throat.

I really recommend you check out this brilliant book - especially if you're amongst the Year 10 students visiting Berlin for the first time in the New Year. It has everything you would expect from a spy thriller - and then some!

Mr Mudd

Trivial Pursuit The book features an early appearance by Le Carre's great spycatcher George Smiley (as immortalized in the best-selling Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy).

Goodbye Mickey Mouse and Yesterday's Spy by Len Deighton

I'm going through a bit of a Len Deighton phase at the moment. He writes with great knowledge and authority and researches his stories in enormous depth - Goodbye Mickey Mouse took six years alone. Like James Ellroy (with whom he shares absolutley nothing else in common), Deighton builds up compelling narratives which effortlessly blend fact and fiction.

Goodbye Mickey Mouse is the mixed bag of the two reviewed here. If you want great war storytelling, check out Deighton's earlier and far superior novel, Bomber. As an insider take on the American fighter pilot experience of the second world war, Goodbye Mickey Mouse packs in its fair share of thrills (the combat scenes are fantastic - vividly drawn and genuinely terrifying) and unexpected twists. But it is in the novel's clumsy attempts at providing a romance that the book fails miserably - cliched and turgid and melodramatic. As a Len Deighton novel goes, it is only half worth reading.

Something which cannot be said of Yesterday's Spy which turns in an absolutely bravura work of fiction. Deighton's spies have always been the real deal over Fleming's Bond, sharing much more in common with hard boiled detectives like Philip Marlowe or Mickey Spillane. Seemingly without a conscience in his genetic make-up, the book's anti-hero Charlie has to infiltrate his old friend's gang to prevent a nuclear warhead being passed onto the wrong people. Trouble is, everyone seems to be 'the wrong people' as Charlie is crossed and double-crossed, beaten up and tortured, half-killed and left for dead on more than one occasion. To reveal its blistering ending would be a betrayal too far, but it is harsh and unexpected when it finally comes.

Deighton has written other great spy stories: you could track down The Ipcress File or Funeral in Berlin. Alternatively, have a go with John Le Carre's The Spy Who Came In From the Cold or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. If you must start with James Bond, try Casino Royale - it's shorter and more like the Bond that Fleming intended before the films turned him into a suave, sophisticated killer in a tux.

Mr Mudd

Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

I make no apologies for including this wonderful book. I know that few of you are likely to pick it up and read it in your lifetime at school, but there are those among you who have already bitten the bullet of adult fiction. There are some great novels in the Extended Reader section of the LRC - this one amongst them. Go on - challenge your prejudices!

Behind the Scenes at the Museum is a triumph: an often hilarious and sprawling account of one Yorkshire family told in a fragmented, hugely accessible style by newest addition, Ruby. It is an ambitious novel - one which traces a line from the last hurrah of Empire through to the dog days of the 20th century - but it is so easy to read that the pages just fly by. Peopled with a huge, shifting cast of characters, the narrative leaps backwards and forwards in time with breakneck abandon, and Atkinson manages that most difficult of balancing acts namely the one between laughter and tragedy (the retelling of 'The Great Pet Shop Fire' being a case in point). The book is so rich and inventive that I was genuinely put out when I finished the final page.

I know we set up this blog to push reading and trust me, I'll get onto some children's books again soon. Meanwhile, if you do get round to reading this one and enjoy it, try Andrea Levy's Small Island or Pat Barker's The Ghost Road. The same writer has also written a hugely entertaining crime novel called Case Studies.

Mr Mudd

Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman

The sequel to ‘Noughts and Crosses’ doesn’t fall short of the action and drama of the first! I loved ‘Noughts and Crosses’ with its tangled web of relationships and race issues and this one offers even more. The shocking ending of the first book is matched by an even more disturbing ending to the second. I literally cannot wait to read the third!

‘Knife Edge’ is written in a combination of voices; Sephy (a 'cross'), Jude (an inferior 'nought') and Jude’s mum. Sephy has had Callum’s baby against everyone’s wishes. She is a 'cross', living in a 'nought' ladies' house, when she falsely learns that Callum, the love of her life who died for her, did not even love her. This story is the struggle of a young girl to bring up her child, single-handedly, against all odds in a society which hates her simply for bringing a mixed race child into their segregated world.

A must read!!!

Miss Robinson

Cherub: The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

Firstly, I need to admit that this was another of those audio books which have turned me into a geek who loves driving her car simply in order to listen to books! I wanted to drive for 5 hours straight with this one, as I could instantly tell that it was going to be one of my favourite series of books (along with Malorie Blackman’s trilogy).

‘The Recruit’ is about James, an ordinary boy, who leads an ordinary life with his mum and sister; until his mum has a heart attack and dies, and he is taken into care. James’ care workers realise that his naughty-boy behaviour might be used to his advantage, so they place him in ‘Cherub’; an organization for kid spies. After all, who would suspect a child?

The 100 day induction is tough… but James has Kerry as his partner and the book tracks both of their successes at training as well as on their first ‘jobs’. An interesting twist adds a bitter sweet touch at the end!

This is a must read for anyone who, like me, would quite like to be a spy or a secret agent!!!

Miss Robinson