Five Books With… Pirates!

Yaaaaar! I meant for this post to go up in connection with International Talk Like A Pirate Day (yes, it’s a real thing) but unfortunately my health got in the way and it wasn’t ready. But there was no way I was backing down from writing about something so much fun, so I’m posting it now anyway.

I’ve written several posts in my series of Five Books With… now, and they’ve all been very different. From strong women to musical themes, and now onto pirates, I love this selection of posts because of how versatile the idea is. Gold star for me.

Pirates, real and fictional, have been around as long as boats have, and stories involving them have been passed or written down for almost as long. The five books I’ve picked here are books I’ve read and enjoyed with pirates in them, some good, some bad, all open to interpretation, and all very different.

The Ship of Shadows – Maria Kuzniar
I reviewed this book for a blog tour a bit earlier in the year, and absolutely loved it. It’s a middle grade book, but easy to love regardless of your age. Full of powerful women, cake, and magic, there is nothing NOT to like about this book. The writing of Maria Kuzniar is enough to transport you to Morocco by itself, so engaging and utterly compelling is the story. I shared this book with my ten year old who loved it as much as I did, and it will take a lot of patience to wait for book two!

A Touch of Gold – Annie Sullivan
A fairly recent read, the pirates in this book are the bad guys. When Princess Kora ends up onboard a ship to find the gold of her father, King Midas, they are faced with numerous obstacles to retrieving it. One of those is Captain Skulls, the pirate captain who, working on orders from above, has taken to depositing pieces of the gold in various locations. My review is spoiler free, and those aboard the ship of the good guys will capture your heart, even if the pirates are to be avoided.

All the Stars and Teeth – Adalyn Grace
One of my young adult fantasy reads earlier this year, this book sees another princess sailing her kingdom, but for very different reasons. On the run after a ritual goes wrong, Amora takes the only chance at freedom she is offered, and follows Bastian to his ship. What she finds on their adventures destroys everything she ever thought she knew, and changes her forever. Book two, All the Tides of Fate, is out early next year, and I can’t wait to read it.

To Kill A Kingdom – Alexandra Christo
I read this as part of one of my reading challenges, and it really opened my eyes to the fact that I enjoyed reading fantasy books. In this book, we have a princess of sirens and a prince who calls the sea home. When Lira is transformed into a human, the two fall dangerously entangled, despite initial distrust. It’s only writing about it now I realize I haven’t actually reviewed it yet, so maybe I’ll need to get around to that!

The Princess Brides – William Goldman
A classic as opposed to the more modern books I’ve listed above, this well known film is also a stunning book. When a princess marries the man of his dreams, what happens when it turns out that he’s, well, not? Full of everything that makes a book worth reading, the pirates take rather a different role in this book than in those above, and that’s why I’ve included it in my Five. Witty and wonderful, it’s really something special. If you’ve never read the book or watched the film – what HAVE you been doing?

Thanks for joining me for an adventure on the high seas. I’ll be back with more book tales soon.