Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Be transported to a magical realm where ships fly, witches hunt for eternal youth, princes fight for the crown and a young man searches for a fallen star. Gaiman’s wit keeps this imaginative tale amusing and the ending is an antidote to sentimentality, taking stock of what a happy ever after really entails.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Full of characters that will stay with you forever (from a rhyming giant to a determined fencer), this tongue-in-cheek tale takes classic ingredients and runs head first into a Zoo of Death and a host of evil villains. The framing technique provides a lot of the laughs and the plot will keep you hooked.
Both have spawned film versions which you can watch once you return home: as is usually the case, for both of these it’s far more rewarding to read the book first.
Eleanor Cains 