100 books like Moving Pictures

“Doors are very powerful things. Things are different on either side of them”’

I love this quote. There’s nothing like the threshold of a door when it comes to story magic! It’s steeped in tradition since long before Roman times. And Diana Wynne Jones is the underrated Queen of this whimsical genre. Her words flow so beautifully, and not only that, her characters are the cutest. I fell in love with Calcifer, the little fire demon, and the headstrong Sophie. 

This book was my favorite book for most of my life, so it holds a special place in my heart. It was only bumped by Well Witched (Verdigris Deep). 

This is the book I read over and over to my two children. One of whom loved to act out being the indomitable Bilbo Baggins. The prose is beautiful, the plot is tight, the adventure is fun, the wonder is wondrous. Who doesn’t love forest elves? And the world-building is amazing. I guess we all know that was Tolkien’s specialty!

I will argue with anyone that this is the best story Tolkien ever wrote. The prose is beautiful to read. It doesn’t wander, it doesn’t get off track, there’s a humor, and let’s not forget the dragon, and all packed into 310 pages!

Garth Nix is an amazing author, and this is his most memorable book, as far as I’m concerned. While it’s sold as an adult book, the sharp-eyed reader will note the ties to Susan Cooper's famous The Dark is Rising. I remember it as a fantastic story, but returning to it was like returning to The Greatest American Hero.

So that’s where this book comes in handy. It’s modern, it’s fresh, and it has tight ties to mythology—not unlike Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London. I also greatly respected that Garth Nix acknowledged his muse openly and with little Easter eggs. He even called the main character Susan! I adored this fast-paced, updated adventure of page-turning fun.  

I adored this book. It was so brilliant that I couldn’t write for a week after reading it. The crisp, clear, poetic text and darkly-edged brilliance of this fairytale absolutely blew me away. 

The imagery and fairytale elements resonated with so many of the old childhood fairytales that it took the story to another level. Added to that was the adventure, with stakes that ramped up with every page. For me, it wasn’t just an unputdownable story but one I didn’t want to leave. 

The funniest memoir I’ve ever read about being Australian and growing up in Sydney. It had me in tears throughout, with belly laughs and nostalgia.

Like Robert Hughes, Clive James was a stylish writer with a wonderful facility for words who sadly is no longer with us. He wrote a bunch of sequels (Falling Towards England, May Week Was in June, et al), and his poems are bloody good, too. He’s sadly missed.

Specifically, I'm recommending the short story "Sea Oak." In the expanse of horror fiction, it has to be said that there are very few stories about a kindly old woman who returns from the dead as a pissed-off, vulgar, rotting corpse demanding her nephew start showing his cock (Saunders’s phrasing, not mine) for extra money so that his family can stop being pushovers and start earning some cash. George Saunders, it should be noted, is not remotely a horror author—rather, one of the more offbeat, distinctive writers of short literary fiction of the last quarter century—and Pastoralia is determinedly not a horror collection. But it’s exactly this that makes “Sea Oak” the strangest, least likely zombie story, if you can call it that, that you’ll ever read.

The Cornish Wedding Murder is the first installment of Fiona Leitch’s wonderful cosy mystery series. It features Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker, ex-copper turned caterer, who butts heads with handsome DCI Nathan Winters to prove a childhood friend’s innocence, after an unexpected guest is found dead at his wedding. It’s an entertaining read with plenty of twists and turns and some added romantic tension to keep you wanting more. 

Jodie’s on my list as a female lead who’d make a great dinner guest because she’s bold, fiercely loyal and she doesn’t let others push her around. She’s also one to raise a smile with her deadpan humour and she’d have many a story from her police days to share. Oh, and with her being a caterer, I might not even have to cook!    

Frank and Bean opens with Frank, who visits the great outdoors to find peace and quiet. Then, Bean shows up. He is literally a one bean band, with a drum, trumpet, triangle and more. Needless to say, they don’t initially hit it off. But then it gets dark, and fears bring them together. Before you know it, they are making beautiful music together. The text is full of wry humor presented with a wink for adults, while the illustrations are pitched perfectly to make five- to eight-year-old readers giggle along. I love this friendship story because it’s so much fun to read out loud. 

If you were suddenly awarded 8.5 million pounds, what would you do with it? Would you take the advice of the financial consultants and invest it sensibly? How boring. If you were a visionary you might create a sensual paradise of your imagination. But if you are just an ordinary young working-class Londoner? You might remember an instant—on holiday, or at a party—when you felt happy and content, and decide to recreate it. 

This time the writing is sparse and matter-of-fact. I hardly noticed as the hero’s project proceeds gradually, logically into realms of absurdity, told with deadpan humour. For me, speculative fiction involves a world that is recognisable and familiar—but which gradually becomes ‘curiouser and curiouser’.

It’s a story that makes you think—though without telling you what to think.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for its compelling characters, especially the protagonist, MC McCall. She’s a postal inspector. I knew postal inspectors existed, but I didn’t know until I read this book that postal inspectors are federal law enforcement officers.

I also enjoyed the book’s other characters, McCall’s friends and co-workers, as well as the people she meets while she’s working. The author made the characters distinctive from one another, which made my reading experience so much more enjoyable. The plot lines were strong and held my interest, but I most enjoyed reading about McCall and those around her. This is the first book in the series, and I’m very much looking forward to reading all of them.