Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

You all have probably heard of the popular Japanese anime, Howl's Moving Castle, but what you probably haven't heard is that the movie is based on a book, not by Hayao Miyazaki as you think it would be though. I think the book is very well written, filling in all the blanks in the movie. (no offense, but it was a little hard to understand the movie, although it was cute) If you don't already know the overall plot, I'll explain.

The story begins with a girl named Sofie Hatter who lived in the town of Chipping, England. Sofie's sister, the beautiful Lettie, was a headstrong, independent sort of girl who couldn't stand people telling her what to do and what not to do. Mr. Hatter owned a small hat shop in town. When Lettie and Sofie were children, their father remarried to his youngest shop assistant, Fanny. Just two years later, Martha was born. Unfortunately the three girls' father died just a year after Martha was born, giving Fanny the chance to own the hat shop. All three girls grew up to be pretty, strong-minded women. When the girls turned into women, Fanny decided it was time to send them off to their own life. Martha she sent to live with a close friend who practiced magic, and Lettie she sent to work at a nearby bakery. Sofie, the eldest of all the three was left to own the hat shop because Fanny was remarrying (for the two-thousandth time) Sofie spent most of her time working in the back of the shop, sewing the hats. Her life was pretty dull until one day, the infamous Witch of the Waste visited Sofie's hat shop and turned Sofie into a ninety-year-old woman. Sofie, desperate, ran away from the hat shop and went up to the hills to collect herself. There, Sofie discovered a castle, and surprise, it was literally Howl's moving castle!  The castle was basically a big piece of junk that lumbered from place to place constantly. Wizard Howl, the handsome owner of this castle, had a reputation for luring young woman to love him, then stealing their hearts. However, rumors are rumors and always shall remain rumors, so this was not necessarily true. Sofie climbs aboard this "castle" and discovers that it's run by a fire demon named Calcifer. She also meets Howl's young apprentice, Michael. Add a weird creepy turnip head, a rusty old guitar, and a old pair of shoes. 

This book will definitely keep you on your toes. I also suggest watching the movie after reading the book, so you can see the differences more clearly. Both book and movie are amazing in their own cute little way though :) Lovely little mix of fantasy, humor, and romance. Two thumbs up definitely!