Howl's Moving Castle

Holy crap I love this book! As much as I love Hayao Miyazaki's films, this book is so much better. It just cracks me up. Sophie gets turned into a 90 year old woman by the Witch of the Waste (bad guy) so instead of freaking out she packs a bag and wanders out into the wild and runs into Howl's moving castle. She bullies her way in, declares herself the cleaning lady and chaos ensues. It's a very entertaining book and a relatively quick read.

Lost Years of Merlin

This is the first in T.A. Barron's Merlin series. It's about Merlin's childhood. He washes up on the shore of Wales when he's about 8 (I think) with a lady who claims to be his mother, magical powers, and no memory of his childhood. After recovering from a horrible accident he goes to find his home and his memories. Eventually he recovers his memories, loses a great friend and destroys a spinning castle. I'm excited to read the other books. Barron does a good job with fantasy and seems to have a fascination with Merlin. He also wrote the Merlin Effect and the Great Tree of Avalon.