I've just finished reading a fantastic book A dog called Grk by Joshua Doder.

Every afternoon, Timothy Malt walked home from school along the same route. Every afternoon, when he got home, he let himself into the house with his own door key.

He fetched a carton of orange juice from the fridge, and poured himself a glass. He grabbed three biscuits from the tin, hurried into the sitting-room and sat down on the big, squashy sofa. Then one day things were different. Tim finds a dog.

Actually, the dog found Tim. He had been hurrying home from school, pretending that he was flying through the jungle in a helicopter, weaving his way through the tall trees, creepers hanging from the branches and boa constrictors sneaking up the trunks, when, because he was concentrating so hard, he suddenly tripped over a lump of something on the pavement. The lump yelped, and Tim fell down.

After a few seconds of agony, Tim felt something soft touching his cheek. He opened his eyes and saw a pair of little black eyes staring up at him and a tiny pink tongue licked his face. And so begins a friendship and a story guaranteed to keep you glued to your chair right up to the last page.

A dog called Grk is published by Andersen Press at £4.99 and if you're a reader of about nine years plus who likes a great adventure book, you'll love this one.

My next book this week tells a tale of wizardry and magical skulduggery at a very grand old school Bloor's Academy.

The book is The Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo. The story follows the adventures of a magically gifted boy named Charlie Bone. He is set to start the new term at Bloor's Academy, a special school for children with unusual powers. But, not all is as it seems at Bloor's Academy.

An evil old man, Ezekiel, who also resides at the academy, has been carrying out some very suspicious experiments late at night in his laboratory, and the last thing he is about to allow is clever, gifted Charlie Bone to spoil his devilish plans.

The Castle of Mirrors is published by Egmont at £10.99 and is a great book for anyone finding it hard to be patient for the next Harry Potter.

See you soon, Karen Hart