Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC ($4.79), by Henry Cole & June Sobel, looks like a cute title for the youngest pirates in your house. Like most books aimed at the kindergarten crowd, it's only a few dozen pages in length, but is meant to be read over and over again.Book Description
The captain of this brave and bumbling pirate crew has ordered them to capture the entire alphabet--and they'll walk the plank if they're missing a single letter! Now these swashbuckling mateys are embarking on an alphabet adventure unlike any other, and they won't (ahem, can't) rest until they've found an A, a Z, and everything in between.
June Sobel's hilarious text and Henry Cole's adventurous animal pirates harmonize in an irresistible book for alphabet-learning, pirate-loving kids everywhere.
For the slightly older pirates underfoot, consider Prince of Pirates ($6.39), by Philip Caveney, the second in his Sebastian Darke series. It may be a bit over the usual $5 limit at Amazon, but combined with the twodollar coupon at Kobo, it's only $4.29 today, HERE. If you want to start with the first in the series, Prince Of Fools is $3.49 with that same coupon.Book Description
Sebastian Darke, his opinionated buffalope, Max, and the fierce fighter Cornelius are heading to the bustling port of Ramalat to embark on a perilous sea journey. They are ready to risk their lives in search of the fabled lost treasure of the pirate King, Captain Callinestra. But first, they must make it through the dark and mysterious forest of Geltane and
survive an encounter with the beautiful and bewitching Leonora, a powerful enchantress with a magical hold over Sebastian’s senses. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, little do they know that, when they finally reach Ramalat, a feisty female sea captain, an infamous young pirate, ravenous sea creatures, and furious sea battles await them.
But there’s no turning back. Will they discover the lost treasure? Will Sebastian live to tell the tale? Will Max ever stop moaning?
No list of pirate books is complete without Treasure Island (free), by Robert Louis StevensonBook Description
Masterfully crafted, Treasure Island is a stunning yarn of piracy on the fiery tropic seas -- an unforgettable tale of treachery that embroils a host of legendary swashbucklers, from honest young Jim Hawkins to sinister, two-timing Israel Hands, to evil incarnate, blind Pew. But above all, Treasure Island is a complex study of good and evil, as embodied by that hero-villain, Long John Silver: the merry unscrupulous buccaneer-rogue whose greedy quest for gold cannot help but win the heart of every soul who ever longed for romance, treasure, and adventure. Since its publication in 1883, Treasure Island has provided an enduring literary model for such eminent writers as Anthony Hope, Graham Greene, and Jorge Luis Borges. As David Daiches wrote: "Robert Louis Stevenson transformed the Victorian boys' adventure into a classic of its kind."
I'm really not sure where Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas ($0.99), by Sara Lorimer (Author) & Susan Synarski (Illustrator), fits in age-wise, as one review mentions it being for adults and children, while another objected to the mature concepts and didn't give it to her grandchildren and a third review mentions a movie of the same name, where unbuckling, rather than swashbuckling seems to be the theme. It's also fairly small (85KB and just over a hundred pages, which doesn't seem to leave much space for the illustrations), but then again, it's only a buck. I'd sample first, though, before one-clicking.Book Description
A treasure trove of high adventure and bad behavior, Booty tells the all-true tales of real women pirates who prowled the seas from the 9th to early-20th centuries in search of easy prey and easy profit.
Raiding ships, boozing, brawling, and looting, they struck terror in the hearts of men from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea to the rivers of New York. Meet Rachel Wall, who traded her devout religious upbringing for “lewd and wicked company”; Cheng I Sao, who led a fleet of 2,000 ships and made her men drink cocktails of wine and gunpowder; Mary Read, who killed one pirate for the love of another; and Sadie the Goat, who headbutted her victims before fleecing them of cash.
Their exploits and those of many more swashbuckling women fill these pages, along with an informative look at the finer points of pirate life (grog, flogging, fashion, and more). Arrrrr.
Moving up to the adults in your ship, there are a number of pirate themed romances out there. This one's cover caught my eye: Pleasuring the Pirate ($4.79), by Emily Bryan.Book Description
When a notorious pirate comes home to England to claim his inheritance, he finds a courtesan's daughter and a group of orphans have taken over the estate...and soon capture his heart as well.
You might also take a look at these mainstream and indie titles
- My Wicked Pirate ($2.55), by Rona Sharon
- Captain Devlin's Captive ($2.99), by Susanne Saville
- The Pirate And The Puritan ($4.80), by Mary Clayton
- or even this trio of titles about pirate threesomes.
The Ghost Pirates (free), by William Hope Hodgson, fits not only today's theme, but is an early entry for Halloween, just in case you don't finish it quickly.Book Description
'The Ghost Pirates . . . is a powerful account of a doomed and haunted ship on its last voyage, and of the terrible sea-devils (of quasi-human aspect, and perhaps the spirits of bygone buccaneers) that besiege it and finally drag it down to an unknown fate. With its command of maritime knowledge, and its clever selection of hints and incidents suggestive of latent horrors in nature, this book at times reaches enviable peaks of power.' -- H.P. Lovecraft
Wolves of the Sea (free), by Randall Parrish, is one I bought a while back, on a forum recommendation and it's 5-star reader review. Guess I need to move it to the top of my TBR stack.Book Description
Full title: Wolves of the Sea Being a Tale of the Colonies From the Manuscript of One Geoffry Carlyle, Seaman, Narrating Certain Strange Adventures Which Befell Him Aboard the Pirate Craft "Namur"
The Frozen Pirate (free), by W. Clark (William Clark) Russell, is another public domain title that has a 5-star reader rating.Book Description
William Clark Russell was a writer of nautical novels, born in New York. He spent eight years at sea as a sailor, gaining the experience he would use in his fiction. After his years at sea, he turned to journalism, and was on the staff of New York's Daily Chronicle before he took to writing novels.
The Frozen Pirate is the story of Paul Rodney, a sailor who narrowly escapes death by shipwreck and exposure in the Straits of Magellan. Surmounting that peril, he faces another: Embedded in the Antarctic ice is an ancient vessel, filled with what seem to be frozen, contorted corpses. But the ship is a pirate ship, and the corpses aren't dead. When one of them revives, Rodney must fend off (and cooperate with, if he hopes to survive) one of the most bloodthirsty and black-hearted scoundrels ever to sail the seven seas!
There are a number of other good books with a pirate theme, if you are willing to look beyond the $5 bargain limit, as well. I've picked out my book for the day; what about you? Which one are you reading?
