Scarlet, Defender of the Universe
James Davis: Scarlet: Defender of the Universe (HarperCollins Publishers 2025) Scarlet, a nine-year-old girl, is smart and studies well. She feels that she doesn’t get enough attention at home, but of course her little brother is allowed to do anything. But now thanks to him, she saw an ad looking for someone to protect the Universe. She applies for the job. The ad was posted by Jasper, who is the current Defender of the Universe and is very bored alone. Moreover, he has no sense of fear, so a little protection wouldn’t hurt him either. Together they are immediately called to an urgent case. The planet Alpha 4267 KD4 is in danger, or, as its inhabitants call it: Earth. The story is very cute and funny, but it also deals with important topics such as family and the relationship between family members. The plot is very exciting and also logically…
The Mask of Aribella
Anna Hoghton: The Mask of Aribella (Chicken House 2020) Aribella is the daughter of a Venetian lacemaker. She likes to get up at dawn and go to the fish market – although she doesn’t have to -, where she helps her friend Theo. It’s only here that she feels she belongs. Her mother was lost ten years ago, but her father can’t free from the grief. She barely remembers her mother, but she misses her very much. One day she discovers a power in herself that she didn’t know about before. Unfortunately, others have seen it too, and they want to imprison her for witchcraft. At the last moment, she is saved by a mysterious stranger who introduces her to the world of the Cannovacci, people with extraordinary powers. Aribella can finally belong to somewhere, but this new world is overshadowed by an old secret and the whole of Venice…
The magician revealed themselves
Justyn Edwards: The Great Fox Revealed (Walker Books 2024) Justyn Edwards graduated from the University of Southampton with a degree in Archaeology. Since then he has worked as a caravan park attendant, paperboy and software engineer, but never as an archaeologist. He always wanted to be a writer and drew inspiration for his books from magic shows. He realized that a magician’s trick is defined by the story they tell their audience. A story can also be a magic trick because the author chooses when to reveal their secrets to the reader. This is how Justyn’s debut novel The Great Fox Illusion was born. Flick Lions is still searching for answers, and with them his father. Now she has a chance to find him, but to do so she must uncover one of her father’s tricks. She and her best friend, Charlie, set out to search an abandoned mine for…
Félix, Net, Nika again and again
Rafał Kosik: Félix, Net, Nika and the Theoretically Possible Catastrophe (originally published in Powergraph in 2005) Félix, the inventor, Net, the IT genius and Nika, the strange girl, are still inseparable. It is spring and they finally have a break from the gang of invisible people, but now they have to deal with more than just their exams at school, because new strange events are happening. Félix’s father is called to the sea by the latest secret mission, which was launched because of the documents found by Félix and his friends. This comes in handy for the children, because they can spend their summer vacation by the sea. However, here they have an even greater chance of starting a process that could end in a theoretically possible catastrophe for them and the whole world. Compared to the first book, this story turns from a classic adventure novel into a large-scale…
Japan
Márton Moór: Maji-de (Underground Kiadó 2017) We’ve all seen something that made us say, “Is this serious?” Márton Moór experienced this about every ten minutes in Japan. Japanese slang has a good term for such situations: Maji-de. Márton Moór lived and worked in Japan between 2010 and 2017 as an English teacher. During his stay abroad, he wrote a blog about his experiences, and upon returning home, this book was published, which summarizes the seven years spent in Japan as seven days, supplemented at the end of the chapters with memorable, sometimes astonishing, sometimes funny and kind moments from his English lessons. I first read the book when it was published and it had a great impact on me. This year, I read several Japanese authors and thought I would refresh my knowledge about the country. I was impressed by the ruthless honesty of the book, the way it tells…
Woody Allen’s first novel
Woody Allen: What’s with Baum? (Swift Press 2025) Woody Allen is one of the most well-known and controversial figures in Hollywood. Despite his personal problems and lawsuits, he has made an inescapable impact with 50 films and numerous writings. His work has been awarded numerous prizes: he holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, with a total of 16, winning three of it with Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Midnight in Paris. He also won the award for directing Annie Hall, and his actors have also received the honor several times. He stated that his 50th movie would be his last. He had previously written short stories and stand-up comedy performances, but after his last film he wrote his first novel. The main character of the story is Asher Baum, a Jewish journalist who has recently tried himself at writing plays and novels,…
Alex/Axel again
Sam Copeland: Alex vs Axel – The Thief of Time (Penguin Random House 2025) Alex Always has just recovered from his latest adventure. He has also learned from it. And although he is not known at home as a hero, the experience has made him stronger and more confident. Everything is going as usual, until suddenly time stops… Then the gateway to the other world opens and Axel Stormward, the defender of truth, the pursuer of evil, the conqueror of wolves emerges from it. This time Alex and Axel take Irving and Sienna with them to save the world. It looks like it is another Impossible Quest. The story this time also runs on two threads, as the two teams set off on two paths to obtain the weapon with which they can defeat their enemy. Although they do not yet know who He is. While Alex works with his…
Journey to Venezuela
Michael Palin: In Venezuela (Hutchinson Heinemann 2025) Michael Palin is an English comedian, writer and actor, who, apart from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, is best known for his travel series, which had such a great impact on those who want to travel all over the world and drew attention to exotic destinations that the process was named the ‘Palin impact’. In addition to the tv series, the stories were also published in book form and have been published ever since. Although he had previously participated in a BBC travel series, his first real big adventure was in 1988 in ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’, in which, 150 years after Phileas Fogg, he also circumnavigated the Earth using the route and means of transport dreamed up by Verne. From there, there was no stopping. He circumnavigated the Earth several times, first in a north-south direction, then around the Pacific Ocean,…
Insta fit
Serena Patel: Picture Perfect (Union Square Kids 2026) I was able to read the book in e-book format thanks to NetGalley. Sonal chose ‘family’ as the topic of her school photography project. However, she didn’t expect that it would be so difficult to keep her family in one place at the same time, let alone ask to look into the camera. Everyone is always busy with their own staff. Only Sonal’s grandfather wants to help her, so they come up with an idea to take the whole family camping, and on the condition that no one can use their phones or other digital devices. Will Sonal manage to take usable pictures of them this way? The topic of the story is very relevant, because nowadays, we could not exist without the digital world even if we wanted to. Social media often does not connect us, but isolates us from others…
Classics – A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol (originally published in 1843, this edition was published in 2024 in Puffin Books) Charles Dickens, an English writer, is considered by many to be the greatest writer of the Victorian era. He was very popular in his own time, and his books have been available in the in English, and in translations ever since. A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843 on December 19, and all copies were sold out on that exact day. By Christmas 1844, 13 editions had been published. Dickens also gave public readings of the novel, which were so successful that he had given a total of 127 readings by the time of his death in 1870. Dickens’s own childhood experiences also influenced the writing of A Christmas Carol, and the novel captures the atmosphere of the Victorian Christmas, featuring typical traditions and foods. There are many adaptations of the…