Before I start can I just say that I've left the Harry Potter series out of my list because, let's face it, it'd take up too much room and it's totally not fair on all the other brilliant books I want to stuff in! So here it is (minus Harry Potter!):

The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien
Ever since my big sister gave me the BBC dramatised version of this I've completely adored it. The BBC did an AMAZING job at creating the pictures in my mind and when I later read the actual book I could run the dramatised version while I was reading so it was doubly brilliant! Also, it's one of the few books that I can literally read over and over and over without getting sick of it (very rare!) And the best thing of all is that whenever I'm a bit down, listening to the tape always makes me feel better 'cos Bilbo is so CUTE and my sister and I have all these jokes about some of the scenes because I played it every night as I went to sleep (thus forcing my sister to listen too because we used to share a room.)! Anyway, I think the fact that it's practically branded into my brain shows how much I love it.

My Darling Villain by Lynne Reid Banks
Being a female teenager of almost the soppiest kind there is no way that I wouldn't have loved this book when I read it! You can guess what it's about, can't you? Well, it's brilliant because the romance is just so cool it just makes you shuffle around the place with a smile and a glazed look on your face and because it's written so realistically you wonder if the author hasn't based it on some of her own experiences and, last but not least, the characters (or at least one character!) are just mad!

The Hunter's Moon by Orla Melling
Wow, I just love this book so much it's amazing! It's fantasy and romance mixed together absolutely fantastically and is completely thrilling, too! Just thinking about it reminds me that I want to read it again but someone's borrowed it and I can't get it back! AArgh! Anyway, since it's set mostly in Galway, in Ireland, that adds to the brilliantness of it all because..... I live there! And I know all the places described in it and have been to most of them as well! AND, to make it even MORE exciting, I know the author! She's a brilliant writer but this book is definitely my favourite because every single thing about it is brilliant!! And another thing! The fact that the two main characters are scarily like me and my cousin down to the fact that they're cousins also and they are incredibly interested in fantasy and faeries and stuff just makes this book another one that I could read a million times without dying of boredom!!

Goblins in the Castle by Bruce Coville
This is one of the best finds I have ever made in the secondhand bookshop that I haunt for at least half an hour every Saturday. I bought it years ago because I loved the cover and the blurb sounded interesting and now I don't understand why the heck anyone wanted to sell it! It's been one of the best books I've ever read... just because it's brilliant fantasy and really funny, I suppose! And the characters are really cool, too!

The Conjuror's Game by Catherine Fisher
Another brilliant fantasy except this one for some really bizarre reason that I can't put my finger on makes me REALLY want to write, which is a good thing since I've always wanted to be a writer. Catherine Fisher is an amazing writer that I have just discovered. She's really good at creating an atmosphere without even trying, it's just the way she writes and her books are really interesting and you never get bored or anything 'cos the plot is usually always keeping you on your toes.

The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea
This book was read to me and my sisters when I was younger and I've read it a lot since then. We all absolutely adore it because the beginning is set in Galway again! And the whole thing is based on Irish myths and legends so we completely get all the references and jokes and stuff!! This is one of those books that you feel so excited after reading so that you go around thinking that a mad earwig who thinks he's Napoleon or a frog who has an Irish accent is going to start talking to you (read the book! Then you'll understand!). You know the feeling, like anything could happen to you, and I LOVE books that do that, in fact most of the books on this list do do that!

Daddy Longlegs by Jean Webster
This is one of my total comfort books that I read when I'm depressed and it totally cheers me up! I love the style it's written in, just a collection of letters, and the main character who writes the letters is just so funny and relaxing to read! You can really get into the character and you just can't put it down, you have to read letter after letter until you've finished it. It just cheers me up completely!

The Goblin's Companion by Brian Froud and Terry Jones
Last but not least! This is a book that I love because it has two of my favourite hobbies, reading and art. It's a book a incredibly talented drawings and goblins by my favourite artist, Brian Froud, and Terry Jones (Monty Python's Flying Circus) has written little ridiculous and HILARIOUS histories for each and every goblin and it just cracks me up! Terry Jones is just side-splitting and Brian Froud's drawings are just amazing and it's the most beautifully produced book I've ever seen, full colour glossy pages and a cushy cover... for only 12 Irish pounds! I seriously couldn't believe that and when I saw it I had to buy it!! Both the art and the writing totally inspire me to do either and it makes me feel good, like all these books listed, that's one of the main reasons why I love them all and why I can't wait to get the borrowed ones back!

Sorcha Ni Chroinin
Age: 14

Why not take a look at the other winning entries?
Gracie Carter
Harriet Dammone
Peter Grimshaw
Shafk Hanif-Khan
Fiona McCollum
Click on their names to see their choices.