Look At That Book

Review: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

2009-09-15T00:42:00.000-07:00

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug. She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po. She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace - or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone...

I really enjoyed Graceling by Kristin Cashore because it was a fun exciting novel that, while it was relatively long, had enough action and suspense to keep me reading and to want to find out the ending quickly. I believe in Australia Graceling is marketed as an adult book but is young adult overseas? I will have to confirm that but it definitely read as a young adult book in its simplicity and lack of an ultra-complicated storyline which I often find myself bogged down in with this type of fantasy-adventure genre adult novel but at the same time could definitely appeal to adult readers – the book is big!

There was actually quite a lot of violence in this book though I wasn’t really aware of it until after I’d finished and read the backcover where there was a mention of ‘graphic violence’ or something similar. As a fan of pretty violent cinema I might just be desensitised but the content of this book didn’t really strike me as overly violent, at least not to any extent where I would warn readers to be cautious (age dependent of course).

The medieval world were the story was set definitely intrigued me, along with the concept of people born with certain talents or ‘graces’. The two main characters, Katsa graced with killing, and Po graced with the ability to see things with his mind were very interesting and it’s very enjoyable to watch their talents develop. However, I do have the criticism that often there was a lot too much conversation going on with (often for chapters at a time) very little action to move the story along.

Overall, I would definitely recommend Graceling to anyone who’s looking for a fun, epic and adventurous journeys across fantastical lands with graced heroes leading the way.

Check Out The Scene Of This Blog

2009-09-02T00:28:00.000-07:00

I'm the weekly feature on Scene Of The Blog on Cathy's blog Kittling: Books - http://cathyskye.blogspot.com

You're totally invited to go check out my desk space... though I think I may have redecorated my area since the photo was taken :) And while it is technically the scene of this blog it has recently become the scene of some seriously study and exam-revision.

Only two months before I'm all done... at which point the blog will rise from the land of the dead.

Judging A Book By It's Cover (In A Good Way)

2009-07-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

I don't deny that I will often pick up and read a book based solely on its cover. Good cover design is important! A couple of days ago when it was already dark outside and pouring with rain I ventured out to check the mail and there was a big tough envelope which was getting a bit soggy in the rain. Once safely inside, I ripped it open and the first thing I saw was that elephant. And I immediately decided that I really wanted to read this book :)

I have since found out a little more about it, as you can no doubt read it's called The Billionaire's Curse (which is an intriguing title) and is written by Richard Newsome. The whole book is published as a result of The Text Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing which is an annual prize awarded to an 'outstanding unpublished manuscript' with the aim to discover more wonderful new books for young readers, by Australian and New Zealand writers.

If you are an Australian or New Zealand writer you still have until July 31st to enter your manuscript for thsi year's prize. All the info is here. Otherwise there's always next year!

But back to The Billionaire's Curse...

Someone has stolen the world’s most valuable diamond and a constable lies unconscious in the British Museum, two sedative darts protruding from his backside. Not something Gerald Wilkins knows or cares anything about. Not until he finds himself on a private luxury jet heading for London to attend the funeral of a great aunt he has never met. Not until he inherits her estate, worth twenty billion pounds. Not until he opens a bundle of envelopes from his dead great aunt. Was she murdered? Who stole the diamond? And what is the mysterious casket that everyone seems to be looking for? With the help of the Valentine twins, the rat-fearing Sam and the gymnastic champ Ruby, Gerald’s got a mystery to solve. A mystery that will take them into secret passageways, a musty bookshop, an ancient crypt, a ruined tower and a colossal cavern where the secret of a priceless treasure lies protected by deadly booby traps.

The Billionaire’s Curse is an irresistible adventure story with an array of curious characters, ancient folklore and a whodunnit. Young and not-so-young adults, get ready to stay up late.

It's not out until August in Australia, so expect my review around then :)

Great Australian YA Books That Are Also Great Australian Films (II)

2009-07-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

One of my all time favourite Australian films has to Australian Rules which in my opinion is seriously under appreciated. It's adapted from Phillip Gwynne's YA book Deadly, Unna? and is set and filmed in country South Australia. The main character, Blacky, is played by one of my favourite Aussie actors Nathan Phillips who was fortunate enough to play the guy who was the reason all those snakes were on that plane in Snakes On A Plane. This film was made in 2002 so yeah, it was before he was famous haha. Definitely try and find this movie if you can, I'm not sure how easy it is to come by, though I'd be interested to see if you felt you needed subtitles though if you're not Australian, there's some great slang in here.

In Prospect Bay, a remote outpost on the South Australian coast, two communities, the Goonyas (whites) and the Nungas (blacks), come together on the one field they have in common, the football field. But the underlying racism and class warfare threatens to make the team's greatest victories irrelevant. This holds particularly true for Blacky, a white teen who is more interested in books than sport, and his best friend, Dumby, the Aboriginal star of the team.

(Actually both book and film are available on amazon, you'll just have to ignore the film's sole review... it got one star haha - book | film)

Great Australian YA Books That Are Also Great Australian Films (I)

2009-07-11T02:44:00.000-07:00

Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta is an Australian YA book first published in 1992 and made into a film, released in 2000. It's probably close to ten years since I've read Looking For Alibrandi but I watched the film again recently. The film's is a bit girly but well worth trying to get your hands on a copy to watch. The beginning and the end of the film are a bit slow but the middle is amazing! Definitely an example of a good Australian film. It stars Pia Miranda as Josie Alibrandi as well as Anthony LaPaglia and Matthew Newton.

A teenage Australian girl deals with the traumas of everyday life. These include her difficult relationship with her single mother, the unexpected return of her long-lost father, the disapproving nuns at her strict Catholic school, the acceptance of her schoolmates,and romantic dilemmas over two very different boys...

(Both the book are and the film are on amazon - book | film)

No Time Wasters + Beatle Meets Destiny

2009-07-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

No Time Wasters is a collection of all the fake ads that some friends from Melbourne put in their local paper each week. Some of them are pretty funny so it's well worth a read.. the one above is an ad for a stalker. Which is funny because it's a joke but what happens when you reply as a joke and it turns out it's not a joke? This exact scenario happens in Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams (Penguin Australia, August 3 2009). Which should give you an indication of it's slightly quirky nature. It's a really adorable book... so more on that soon!

Imagine your name is John Lennon, only everyone calls you Beatle.

And then you meet your Dream girl and her name is Destiny McCartney.

But what if you're already with the perfect girl?

A novel about change, chance and everybody doing the wrong thing.

Guest Post - The Geek Girl's Guide To Cheerleading

2009-06-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Today's guest post is written by Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance, authors of The Geek Girl's Guide to Cheerleading, on their blog tour....

If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf.
— Lemony Snicket

I have a confession to make: I have not read any of the Lemony Snicket books. I suspect this will make me not so popular with the fair Lisa May. In my defense: I have wanted to read them since The Bad Beginning. It’s just that I want to read so many other books too. And, when I go to a bookstore, my natural ADD tendencies kick in. I am likely to purchase the first armful of books that call out to me, ‘Ooh, look over here! I’m shiny! Pick me!’

That is the essence of both what is horrible and wonderful about children’s and young adult book publishing these days. There are so many wonderful books out there that it is impossible to read them all.

That is also the essence of the difference between writing for young people and writing for adults. The next time you walk into a bookstore, take a look around. The adult fiction is segregated, all neat and tidy. Mysteries over here. Romances over there. Sci-Fi on the left. Literary Fiction on the right. The boundaries between each section are carefully drawn, but within each genre those boundaries are even more explicit.

Sci-Fi fanatics freak out if there is no actual science between the covers. Mystery readers are divided between those who prefer their stories hard boiled and the ones who expect their murders a tad cozier. The first group will be disappointed if a little blood isn’t spilled on the page. The second group might ask you to wipe your feet before you pull up a chair to discuss cats or casseroles or, ahem, the murder that has just occurred unseen, somewhere off the page, if you please.

Romance readers, oh my, there a gabillion expectations in that genre. At least one semi-sexual encounter by page 30? Check. Hero and heroine must commit to a forever love by the end of the book? Check. Adult paranormal readers expect their werewolves to know their time (full moon only) and vampires to know their place (in the coffin by dawn, please). Each genre and subgenre has its own strict rules and woe to the author who attempts to pull at those restraints.

Now take a look at the YA section of the bookstore. It’s a mess. Chances are, if any boundaries exist at all, the books might be divided between fiction and non, or between series and stand alone. Within just a shelf or two, you can find:

A book about three nerdy boys and a preppy girl who head off to follow mysterious clues about a mysterious girl who is holed up in a mysterious town that doesn’t actually exist. (Paper Towns by John Green)

A story where Death develops a soft spot for a young girl, then follows her around Nazi Germany (The Book Thief by Markus Zusak)

Or the palooza of young adult fiction – a series where a girl falls in love with a vampire who sparkles, then a werewolf who morphs when he pleases (screw that full moon thing). She must choose between these unlikely love interests while coming of age, dealing with loss and making large life and (un)death decisions (The Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer)

This is YA today. There are no boundaries, no rules and no limits for those who wish to write for young people. We are allowed to mix ‘n’ match genres and are encouraged to throw old conventions out the window.

What’s the difference between and writing Adult Fiction or YA?

Freedom.

I'm 'Blog Of The Day' at Fuel My Blog

2009-06-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

In exciting and unexpected news Look At That Book is the blog of the day on the blog network site Fuel My Blog so Look At That Book is the big picture up the top of the page. I think it must just be a random thing to become blog of the day, but I think it's pretty cool regardless :)

If you linked here from Fuel My Blog, hello to you!
So yeah.. I should get to putting up some new content or something :)

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 10)

2009-06-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

Like a church bell, a coffin, and a vat of melted chocolate, a supply closet is rarely a comfortable place to hide.
- Lemony Snicket

Criminals should be punished, not fed pastries.
- Lemony Snicket

When some is crying, of course, the noble thing to do is to comfort them. But if someone is trying to hide their tears, it may also be noble to pretend you do not notice them.
- Lemony Snicket

Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't so.
- Lemony Snicket

Entertaining a notion, like entertaining a baby cousin or entertaining a pack of hyenas, is a dangerous thing to refuse to do. If you refuse to entertain a baby cousin, the baby cousin may get bored and entertain itself by wandering off and falling down a well. If you refuse to entertain a pack of hyenas, they may become restless and entertain themselves by devouring you. But if you refuse to entertain a notion - which is just a fancy way of saying that you refuse to think about a certain idea - you have to be much braver than someone who is merely facing some blood-thirsty animals, or some parents who are upset to find their little darling at the bottom of a well, because nobody knows what an idea will do when it goes off to entertain itself.
- Lemony Snicket

Review: Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

2009-06-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

I was intrigued by this book ever since I saw it mentioned somewhere online and was eager to read my own copy. Red-Headed Stepchild is about kick-ass mixed-blood, outcast vampire assassin Sabine Kane. She is put on a mission to infiltrate a cult that is threatening her vampire community which is where the story really starts with Sabina stuck with a demon who tried to kill her, being stalked by a hot mage and forced to let another vampire suck her blood, all while discovering some unsettling truths about things she had been told from birth. (Just a note this is not young adult fiction - there's plenty of sexual happenings in this book (but no actual sex, heh) plus swearing etc.)

Things To Do:
1. Infiltrate rival vampire cult and assassinate leader.
2. Get rid of demon houseguest.
3. Ditch the hot mage stalker.
4. Betray family.

This book is really sassy, Sabina is a sharp, witty leading lady. The banter in this book is hilarious, especially between Sabina and the demon. The action in this book is full on, Sabina is one tough half-vampire :) It's quite graphic, but not extremely so.

I really enjoyed the storyline, apparently it's 'urban fantasy'. Heaps of mythical creatures all make appearances in the book; vampires, mages, faeries, nymphs, demons etc. All living in secret surrounded by humans in a modern-day setting. It was really interesting, fast-paced reading. It raised plenty of questions and gladly supplied the answers, but there's still enough going on for a sequel, The Mage In Black, which I will be looking out for!

Highly enjoyable, somewhat addictive reading. If you're still into vampires but don't want to go through the teen romance, this one is well worth a read.

Published by Orbit, Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells is out now.

I'm Back + Meet My Dog!

2009-06-12T04:16:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been ages since my last post, I have just been so busy but hopefully I will have some more time now! I've got plenty of reviews coming up :)

And in cool news, my dog Jack is on this week Wagging on Wednesday, which is a weekly feature on A.S King's - the author of The Dust of 100 Dogs - blog.

You can read it here!

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 9)

2009-06-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

A man of my acquaintance once wrote a poem called "The Road Less Traveled", describing a journey he took through the woods along a path most travelers never used. The poet found that the road less traveled was peaceful but quite lonely, and he was probably a bit nervous as he went along, because if anything happened on the road less traveled, the other travelers would be on the road more frequently traveled and so couldn't hear him as he cried for help. Sure enough, that poet is dead.
- Lemony Snicket

One of the world's most popular entertainments is a deck of cards, which contains thirteen each of four suits, highlighted by kings, queens and jacks, who are possibly the queen's younger, more attractive boyfriends.
- Lemony Snicket

Stealing, of course, is a crime, and a very impolite thing to do. But like most impolite things, it is excusable under certain circumstances. Stealing is not excusable if, for instance, you are in a museum and you decide that a certain painting would look better in your house, and you simply grab the painting and take it there. But if you were very, very hungry, and you had no way of obtaining money, it would be excusable to grab the painting, take it to your house, and eat it.
- Lemony Snicket

It is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed. If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven't, you cannot possibly imagine it.
- Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 8)

2009-05-31T07:09:00.000-07:00

Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby- awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess.
- Lemony Snicket

Pietrisycamollaviadelrechiotemexity.
- Lemony Snicket

I will love you as the iceberg loves the ship, and the passengers love the lifeboat and the lifeboat loves the teeth of the sperm whale, and the sperm whale loves the flavor of naval uniforms.
- Lemony Snicket

Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make -- bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake -- if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble. Making assumptions simply means believing things are a certain way with little or no evidence that shows you are correct, and you can see at once how this can lead to terrible trouble. For instance, one morning you might wake up and make the assumption that your bed was in the same place that it always was, even though you would have no real evidence that this was so. But when you got out of your bed, you might discover that it had floated out to sea, and now you would be in terrible trouble all because of the incorrect assumption that you'd made. You can see that it is better not to make too many assumptions, particularly in the morning.
- Lemony Snicket

The key to good eavesdropping is not getting caught.

- Lemony Snicket

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 7)

2009-05-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest myths in the world - & the phrase 'greatest myths' is just a fancy way of saying 'big fat lies' -- is that troublesome things get less & less troublesome if you do them more & more. People say this myth when they are teaching children to ride bicycles, for instance, as though falling off a bicycle & skinning your knee is less troublesome the fourteenth time you do it than it is the first time. The truth is that troublesome things tend to remain troublesome no matter how many times you do them, & that you should avoid doing them unless they are absolutely urgent.
- Lemony Snicket

The sad truth is the truth is sad.
- Lemony Snicket

Perhaps if we saw what was ahead of us, and glimpsed the follies, and misfortunes that would befall us later on, we would all stay in our mother's wombs, and then there would be nobody in the world but a great number of very fat, very irritated women.
- Lemony Snicket

There are two kinds of fears: rational and irrational- or in simpler terms, fears that make sense and fears that don't.
- Lemony Snicket

I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong.
- Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning

Interview with Anne Osterlund, Author of Academy 7

2009-05-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to interview Anne Osterlund, author of Aurelia and the just-released Academy 7 which came out in stores in the US on May 14th...

First off, what is Academy 7 about?

It is the story of a girl, Aerin, who is fleeing a dangerous planet and trying to find a better life. And Dane, a young man fresh out of prison, who is determined to want absolutely nothing because that is what he has been trained to expect. And together they become the top new students at the most prestigious school in the universe. Think Star Wars meets The Outsiders.

Can you describe Dane in three words?

Guts, self-destructive, trouble

How about Aerin?

Defensive, kick-ass, brilliant

How would you describe your writing style?

It is whatever the characters insist it should be. Generally swift YA with romance to taste and enough danger and death to keep the action going, even when stirred under a ream of— sometimes annoying—perfectionism.

Growing up, what sort of books did you read?

Tons! Especially young adult fantasy and historical fiction. Tamora Pierce, Ann Rinaldi, Richard Peck’s Blossom Culp books, Sally Watson, L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott, Walter Farley, Mark Twain, and, yes, I admit umpteen thousand Sweet Valley Twins and Babysitter’s Club books.

Who is your favorite character you've created?

A very loaded question. (They create themselves). I love Aurelia. She is very opinionated and stubborn, but her strength, passion, and agility within an argument are terrific fun. Dane is a blast! He is always tearing up everyone’s expectations, including mine; and there is really no getting around him because he is far too interesting to ignore. That said, I would go crazy trying to live in Aurelia’s or Dane’s heads all the time. There is definitely something to be said for Robert and Aerin and a wee bit of perspective, LOL. The truth is I love all my main characters, and if I didn’t I couldn’t do them justice.

What can we look forward to from you in the future?

Time shall tell. I have submitted a couple projects and am waiting to hear what my publisher is the most interested in. Personally, Robert, Aurelia, and I are currently confronting Lord Lester on his estate in the middle of the Asyan Forest in Exile, which is the second book in a trilogy; however, Penguin (much to Aurelia’s ire) says they would like another book but that they don’t think there is enough interest in a sequel. So…I can tell you there is a thief called The Cat, a boy who would rather not be everyone else’s salvation, a slave girl who breaks things, a pioneer girl who prefers to go by Alex, and—Oh yes!—a snake. You’ll probably meet one of them sooner and the rest ultimately.

You can find out more about Anne and her books at
anneosterlund.com

Waiting On Wednesday, May 20

2009-05-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

After reading Envy by Anna Godbersen the other day (you can read my review here), I am eagerly anticipating the next book (which will be book four!) in the series.

It's Splendour (with a U!!) and I don't know too much about it, but I have been eyeing the cover. The dress is cool and all but the styling and everthing doesn't look like what I would expect for the 1900s. (More so for the picture that was in the backcover of Envy than the little picture I have in this post, it looked different, honest!) It's pretty, though :)

It’s a new year, and Manhattan’s favorite socialites are stirring up brand-new drama: Elizabeth uncovers a dangerous secret from her past; Diana has an opportunity to follow her heart—and claim her future, Lina discovers money can buy happiness…for a time, and Penelope finds that life without Henry brings unexpected pleasures. In this dramatic conclusion to the bestselling Luxe series, old ties are broken, fresh bonds are formed, and every decision comes at a cost.

It's coming out in late October in the US. Not sure about Australia though as Envy was only just released here!

Review: Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

2009-05-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast is (yet another, hehe) vampire book and while I have been reading a lot of vampire books lately I am not getting bored of them! Marked is the first book in The House of Night series and is about Zoey Redbird, a 16 year old girl who is 'marked' to become a vampyre and must go to 'The House of Night' a school for fledgling vampyres... or else she will die. At her new school Zoey quickly finds out she is different than the others, she has great powers and a bloodlust well beyond her years. Taking a unique approach, the vampyres in Marked worship the goddess Nyx and focuses on the occult.

The writing style of this book really appealed to me. It seemed quite opinionated and had a lot of attitude :) The book is written by P.C Cast and her daughter, Kristin Cast, and clearly the mother-and-daughter writing team works very well! I'd be very interested to find out more about their collaboration (they've gone on to write many more books in the series).

The characters in Marked are very likeable (with the obvious exception of Aphrodite who we love to hate). Zoey is a smart, strong protagonist and her group of friends are varied and interesting.

Marked has a fast moving pace which kept me very interesting, I found it very hard to put this book down. Though the final scenes in the book seemed to come about, and end, a little too fast. The book ended with a lot of purposely unanswered questions - so I'm definitely looking forward to finding out what will happen to Zoey in the future.

Easily one of my favourite books of the year!

Marked is available now in Australia from Hachette - you can find out more here.

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 6)

2009-05-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

It is always sad when someone leaves home, unless they are simply going around the corner and will return in a few minutes with ice-cream sandwiches.
- Lemony Snicket

All the secrets of the world are contained in books. Read at your own risk.
- Lemony Snicket

I suppose I'll have to add the force of gravity to my list of enemies.
- Lemony Snicket

Duncan Quagmire

This is my knife. It is very sharp and very eager to hurt you.
- Lemony Snicket

The Hook Handed Man

...you know that a good, long session of weeping can often make you feel better, even if your circumstances have not changed one bit.
- Lemony Snicket

Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

2009-05-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

If I Stay by Gayle Forman is probably the book I have been looking forward to the most this year because there has been so much hype! I have heard so many people say how good it is and it's already got a movie deal so when my copy came I somewhat prioritized it and read it really quickly :) I wasn't really sure what to expect because after I decide that I want to read a book I don't really want to find out more about it because I'm going to read it anyway! It's like if I've already decided I want to see a movie I don't want to watch trailers for it because they're just going to give things away! Getting back on track, my point is that for me a lot of reading If I Stay was balancing what I actually thought of the book with this super-best-book-ever-ever-ever idea I had framed in my mind. And did it live up to the hype?

It was a good book, I was definitely absorbed in it because I read it very quickly which is always a good sign with me. The story is about Mia who is in a coma but sort of outside her body and able to see what is going on in a kind of spirit-way. She has to make a choice, 'to stay' - to fight and try to survive - or else die! W(hich is actually quite morbid.) I didn't find myself as emotionally involved as I thought I might have been, I didn't cry for one and I got the impression that I should have! (Thought I might be getting cold-hearted in my old age as I watched Titanic the other day and I didn't shed a tear!) The book is told in a combination of the present with Mia seeing what's going on when people come visit her at the hospital and in flash-backs as Mia remembers things about her family and the people that are coming to see her.

As a bit of a side note, If I Stay is going to be made into a film. I'm really interested to see how they will do this as it wasn't the sort of book I read and could really envision as a film because a lot of the action is really just going with Mia's thoughts I guess. I suppose there will be a lot of flash-backs?! I will definitely go see it at any rate.

If I Stay was the sort of book that raises a lots of questions and hopefully will make you think about yourself and the sort of decisions you would make in these kind of impossible situations. While I may not have been entirely taken in with the characters, the story itself was an extremely thought-provoking one and I am glad to have read it.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman is published by Random House in Australia and is out now. You can find out more here.

Review: Envy by Anna Godbersen

2009-05-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

Envy by Anna Godbersen is the third book in the Luxe series, which is all about a group of beautiful, young, incredibly wealthy people living in New York City at the start of the 20th century. Envy, is probably my favourite book so far in the series (I didn't really enjoy the first book (The Luxe) but I liked Rumours and this one is even better).

To keep things fresh and interesting, Envy sees most of the characters go down to Florida for a holiday. I think the change of setting was a good move and made for interesting reading. The whole Luxe series is quite reminiscent of Gossip Girl (even down to the 'society columns' which could easily be interchanged to Gossip Girl's modern blog-posts) it has a set of characters who all know each other but are all doing their own things with each chapter focusing on one of the characters. However, I think the historical aspects of the Luxe series keep the books from feeling 'trashy' like the Gossip Girl books, even though admittedly the story-lines are at times a little trashy, hehe. It's all good!

I always have mixed feelings about books where the story only focuses on one character at a time. It's great in one way because the different story lines are interesting and it means that the plot doesn't have to be racing along to keep the story moving. It does annoy me a little sometimes though when I'm really interested in finding out about a certain character and I know I'm going to have to read a lot of other stories before I can find out more.

The character and storyline that I really enjoyed was Carolina's; she used to be a maid for Elizabeth Holland (another main character in the story) but is now trying to make a name for herself as a society girl. This storyline began in Rumours and to me was made the difference between not really enjoying The Luxe and to making Rumours highly enjoyable. I would have been happy to read an entire book about this one storyline!

The cover art of Envy is gorgeous with the decadent dress and the pretty flowers and font. Although of course I would have loved the girl on the cover to be wearing a green dress to suit 'envy'! Often in the book the author described the dresses the girls were wearing in EXTREME detail which felt a little clunky to me but was interesting nonetheless.

The Luxe series is continuing with the next book, Splendour.

Envy by Anna Godbersen (more info here) is published by Penguin and is out now in Australia!

Waiting On Wednesday, May 13

2009-05-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm really looking forward to How It Ends by Laura Wiess. Laura is the author of Such A Pretty Girl and Leftovers both of which were aaaaaamazing. So I have very high expectations for this one too... it's not out until August though :(

And here's what it's about...

All Hanna's wanted since sophomore year is Seth. She's gone out with other guys, even gained a rep for being a flirt, all the while hoping cool, guitar-playing Seth will choose her. Then she gets him – but their relationship is hurtful, stormy and critical, not at all what Hanna thinks a perfect love should be.

Bewildered by Seth's treatment of her and in need of understanding, Hanna decides to fulfill her school's community service requirement by spending time with Helen, her terminally ill neighbor, who she's turned to for comfort and wisdom throughout her life. But illness has changed Helen into someone Hanna hardly knows, and her home is not the refuge it once was.

Feeling more alone than ever, Hanna gets drawn into an audio book the older woman is listening to, a fierce, unsettling love story of passion, sacrifice and devotion. Hanna's fascinated by the idea that such all-encompassing love can truly exist, and without even realizing it, the story begins to change her.

Until the day when the story becomes all too real...and Hanna's world is spun off its axis by its shattering irrevocable conclusion.

This is the US cover, I prefer it to the UK cover (above). It's in the same style as the covers of Laura Wiess's other two books so I hope we get this one in Australia! Which one do you like better?

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 5)

2009-05-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict.
- Lemony Snicket, The Grim Grotto

Right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

— Lemony Snicket, The Penultimate Peril

Evidence Desk

No matter who you are, no matter where you live, and no matter how many people are chasing you, what you don't read is often as important as what you do read.
- Lemony Snicket

Well-read people are less likely to be criminals.
- Lemony Snicket

Strange as it may seem, I still hope for the best, even though the best, like an interesting piece of mail, so rarely arrives, and even when it does it can be lost so easily.
- Lemony Snicket

Olaf

Love The Cover, Ash by Malinda Lo

2009-05-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

I love the cover of the as-yet unreleased Ash by Malinda Lo. When I saw it for the first time, I only saw a small picture and it looked like some kind of pretty flower or shell but then I saw it bigger and wow it is a fantastic cover! (You can click on it to enlarge)

Here's what Ash is about:

In the wake of her father’s death, Ash is left alone to pay off his debts in the service of her own step mother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, re-reading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she begins to believe that her wish may be granted.

The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash’s capacity for love—and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

Entrancing and romantic, Ash is an empowering retelling of Cinderella about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

It's not out until September. You can find out more here.

In My Mailbox (11)

2009-05-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Lots to report on again this week... even though 'In My Mailbox' is actually a deceptive lie since my postpeople rarely actually put my parcels in my mailbox they usually arrange them artfully around the front door. It's actually quite interesting to find them sometimes when I get home because every now and again the postman will do something totally crazy. Like propping a package against the wall and then lifting up the doormat to sort of disguise it... which works fine if you consider a doormat shaped mound a disguise. Or wedging them between the frontdoor and the flyscreen door. Crazy :) I digress..

17-year-old Mia narrates the story of one crucial day in her life, when a perfect morning with her family turns to tragedy, leaving her on the edge of death. As she lies in a coma, she contemplates her relationship with her family, her boyfriend Adam and all the complexities of life, love, and loss. Clinging to life, and contemplating the devastation of everything she held dear, she must decide if she should die, or if she should stay.

Memories of Mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blonde locks she feels transformed. She's not Holly any more, she's Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the super-sharp talk. She's older, more confident - the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head on.

It's been a year since Bailey, Delia, Annabelle, and Zo bought a set of enchanted temporary tattoos at the mall, and life is proceeding as usual. Almost. As the third Fate, Bailey has the lives of the world in her hands, and even though she's gotten used to weaving lives, she's not at all prepared when her own life - and the lives of her friends - take some unexpected turns. Delia sets out on a crusade to find a geeky boyfriend, and for the first time in her life, she finds herself being turned down. Meanwhile, Zo's mother reappears after a twelve year absence, and Bailey, suddenly immersed in a world in which the Furies are catty Sidhe teenagers and Aphrodite, the Love Sidhe has a strange obsession with Annabelle, is helpless to get her friends' lives back on track. But when Aphrodite possesses Annabelle, the friends must set aside their individual problems and work together to save their world - and their friend - once more.

Amy and her best friends - the Posse - are at year 11 camp and they're bored. In the scorching summer heat, sparks start to fly. Clare and Amy might be best friends, but they're sniping as if they're enemies. Camp leader Bevan is singling Amy out for attention, and Clare's jealous. Amy's feeling reckless enough to do something major . . .
In one night everything will change. Friendships will be tested and broken; careers will hang in the balance; and everything Amy knows about her friends and her family will be ripped away. What really happened when Clare disappeared that night? Who's telling the truth? And when things go too far, should you save your friends - or save yourself?

There is something strange at Tallis Point. Siggy knows, because he's seen it. And now the mysterious, non-blonde Amber want to see it too.
Should Siggy take Amber to Tallis Point? On the good side, he might end up with a girlfriend. On the bad side, he might explode. It's a tough decision.
Funny, touching, and outrageous, Siggy and Amber is Doug MacLeod at his very best.

Anya used to dream of moving to Britain to start a brand-new life. But as she sits in a school where nobody understands her, she dreams of Polish summer skies and the place where she once belonged.Then Anya meets bad boy Dan. He's no angel, but she's sure there's a sweeter side to him. And when things begin to fall apart, Anya realizes she's not alone - how can Dan be such bad news when being with him feels like heaven?

It's the first day of Term One, and Luke and Anna are on opposite sides of the student-teacher divide. School is the last thing Luke feels like - how can he feel halfway to good when his father is sick, his mother is sad and his older brother is painfully present?Anna's life still revolves around love, friendship and homework, but she's a graduate teacher now. Can she cope with a bullying co-worker, a persistent ex-boyfriend and a class of unforgiving Year Elevens, and still find time to help Luke?

Mary Seymour is the daughter of the great Katherine Parr--the last Queen of Henry VIII. Orphaned at a young age because of her mother's bad marriage to Thomas Seymour, Mary determines early on that love is a sentiment that causes foolishness at best, and death at worst. She is sent to be raised by Lady Strange, a mysterious noblewoman who informs her of her destiny: Mary is to be a white magician who will join Queen Elizabeth's court and ensure her safe reign.

Sixteen-year old Miranda has no idea how much her life is going to change upon hearing the news of her father's death. Left with little dowry to offer, Miranda faces a broken engagement, and is sent to live with her father's cousin, the Count John Hardwood, and his wife whose primary goal is to take her to Court and marry her off to the insufferable Lord Seagrave for their own profit.

When the story begins in Evernight, Bianca has just left the small town where she's spent her whole life. She's a new student at Evernight Academy, a creepily Gothic boarding school where her classmates are somehow too perfect: smart, sleek and almost predatory. Bianca knows she doesn't fit in.Then she meets Lucas, another loner, who seems fiercely determined not to be the "Evernight type." There's a connection between Bianca and Lucas that can't be denied. She would risk anything to be with him—but dark secrets are fated to tear them apart... and to make Bianca question everything she's ever believed to be true.

Review: Evernight by Claudia Gray

2009-05-08T23:44:00.000-07:00

This book really drew me in. At first I was slightly sceptical, after all it is another vampire book and after Twilight there YA vampire market has exploded so I was hoping that Evernight would bring something interesting and different to the table. And it did, it was great! I devoured it.... actually I pretty much inhaled it :)

Bianca is starting school at Evernight Academy‚ a prestigious boarding school deep in the countryside‚ and from the first day‚ she can′t wait to escape. Her parents‚ who are teachers there‚ are sure she′ll be happy‚ but Bianca has a feeling there′s something seriously wrong with the place. Something evil lurking in the shadowy woods at the edge of the school grounds...

So the boarding school setting has this awesome Harry Potter-esque vibe which I thought was very cool. With the whole old, stone building and dorm rooms and things like that. I thought Claudia Gray created this very spooky atmosphere, which is a perfect setting for vampires, and the school castle was a major part of that, as well as the creepy surrounding woods.

I felt the book was sort of in two parts, as there is a major plot twist in the middle which totally turns everything around. It was a good one too! So much so that I really didn't see it coming and felt a little cheated when it was revealed, but then I thought back and there were a lot of clever hints and things (that I totally missed) and it was actually really well done.

In fact, the whole plot and storyline was impressive; it was very detailed (but not in a confusing way) and when it came to the end and things started to get explained it was very satisfying to see all the bits and pieces start to fall in to place.

The main character, Bianca, was interesting and fresh although she was supposed to be shy but I didn't really see that too much! It's a pretty small thing, really, but I liked how Bianca thought of herself as beautiful, not in a full-of-herself kind of way, just in that she appreciated herself - it really stuck out for me. The secondary characters were also great, so much so that I'd be really interested to read about some of the other student's stories. (There was one character - Ranulf - who was barely in it but everytime he was mentioned I laughed out loud, it was a bit of a running joke)

I am so looking forward to the sequel, Stargazer, which isn't out in Australia until July. There is so much more that needs to happen and I can't wait to read about it. You can read more about Evernight here.

Movie News! The Forest Of Hands And Teeth

2009-05-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, posted on her blog yesterday/this morning (depending on where you are, haha) that the film rights for The Forest of Hands and Teeth have been sold. Now that's exciting!

This is from Publisher's Weekly:

Alan Nevins of Renaissance Literary & Talent has just closed film rights on Carrie Ryan's YA novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Nevins, who brokered the deal on behalf of Jim McCarthy at Dystel Literary, sold the book, which Delacorte Books for Young Readers published in March, to Seven Star Pictures (K-11, forthcoming). Nevins said the book, a zombie thriller set in colonial times about a girl who lives in a religious community in the woods and is equally worried about a zombie invasion and her planned marriage, is in line to "do for zombies what Twilight did for vampires." Supposedly Seven Star is developing the project for an-as-yet-unnamed A-list starlet, and fast-tracking the project with a first draft of the screenplay already in the works.

I'm a movie fan and I usually like to visualise how I'd adapt a book into a film as I read it. I'm really curious to see how they do this. As I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth I got a distinct The Village vibe, with the whole religious-community-in-the-woods thing and it's all about zombies so it's going to be a zombie movie - I wonder how they will set it apart from other zombie movies. Also will it be actual-scary or just scary-for-tweens?! Speaking of zombie movies, how cool is 28 Days Later?! I should watch that again sometime.

I wonder who the 'A-list starlet' will be!

And in other cool and related news, here's the UK/Australian cover for the follow-on book The Dead-Tossed Waves...

Good News for Aussie Vampire Lovers

2009-05-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

If you're into vampires there is a LOT of choice for you nowadays! The Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead is especially cool. There's three books in it now so far - Vampire Academy, Frostbite and Shadow Kiss - with a fourth book, Blood Promise, due out in August here in Australia.

And in exciting news... Richelle Mead is coming to Australia. She will apparently visit Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane in September 2009. Which is very, very cool. Unfortunately I don't live in any of those cities but I would definitely go meet her if I had the chance :)

Penguin Australia has also created a new website for Vampire Academy which has info about the books and is where you will be able to find out more about Richelle Mead's tour of Australia - http://www.penguin.com.au/vampireacademy/home.cfm

The pictue is of the cover art of the fourth book, Blood Promise. It looks a little different to the first three but I think it's a very cool cover regardless.

Here's the synopsis for Blood Promise from the Penguin Australia website:

GUARDIAN ROSE HATHAWAY'S LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck; a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

I'm looking forward to it :)

Review: Paper Towns by John Green

2009-05-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

It's funny because Paper Towns is the first book by John Green that I have ever read except I would have definitely said that I was a fan of his before I even picked it up. It's because he seems like a very funny guy and his Nerdfighting youtube videos are hilarious.

It was very cool to see that same wit and cleverness in book-form. I loved all the character's in Paper Towns they were a bit geeky but very funny. This book had a lot of funny moments. Basically, it's about Quentin who devotes the end of his senior year to try and find Margo, his impossibly cool neighbour who has run away and left behind a serious of complicated clues for him to track her down.

What can I say? It's hard not to enjoy a book with a non-stop 24 hour roadtrip and a character who's parents own the world's largest collection of black Santas. Apart from having lots of funny moments, Paper Towns also offers plenty to think over and ponder...

So it's pretty much made of awesome :)

Oh and this is the cover we have in Australia. We only got one option, not two :(

Review: Pearl Versus The World by Sally Murphy

2009-05-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

Australian children's author, Sally Murphy, is currently on a blog tour to promote her brand new book Pearl Versus The World. Written in verse, Pearl Versus The World, is about primary school student Pearl who feels very lonely at school and at home is living with her mother and her grandmother who is dying with Alzheimer's.

Pearl is a very insightful young girl with a unique voice. The book is very effective in showing the way such a young girl is feeling isolated at school and the way she deals with the loss of her grandmother. Although Pearl Versus The World is written for a younger audience than what I'd usually review here I still found it a highly enjoyable read. For me it was short and sweet but in the primary school age group it would make for a very touching and powerful read. The book is also illustrated by Heather Potter and the (watercolour I believe) illustrations are gorgeous and compliment the story wonderfully.

As well as being an author and poet (Pearl Verses the World is her twenty eighth published title!!), Sally Murphy is also a blogger and reviewer and has a myriad of websites that you can check out:

Author Site: http://www.sallymurphy.net
Writing for Children Blog: http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/
Sally's Review Site: http://www.aussiereviews.com/

Pearl Versus The World by Sally Murphy came out on May 1st so it's in Australian bookshops now. To buy it online you can go here for Fishpond or here for Dymocks :)

Teaser Tuesdays, May 5

2009-05-05T00:56:00.000-07:00

Today's teaser comes from Malcolm and Juliet by Bernard Beckett...

Juliet was determined to cover every angle, turn every stone, abuse every cliche. She took to picturing her blackmailer in her head, to help focus her anger.

Sex was a latecomer to the party of Malcolm's life, and when it did arrive, it didn't come dressed in any of the usual guises.' Malcolm is sixteen. With the mind of a scientist, the body of a teenager, and an ambition to reconcile the two, he embarks upon his latest research project - sex. Join Malcolm in his journey, as he meets the cast of characters who will take him a little closer to the center of life's mystery. Will Charlotte find true love? Will Kevin get his man? How did Juliet lose her virginity and will the school principal succeed in having Malcolm's project banned? Malcolm is just eh man to find out. Hilarious, with a marvelous sting in the tail.

Review: Willow by Julia Hoban

2009-05-03T18:54:00.001-07:00

Willow by Julia Hoban is about 17 year-old Willow, struggling to deal with her feelings of guilt and grief over her parents death. Willow attempts to deal with her pain by secretly cutting herself. When one day Willow's secret is accidentally revealed to Guy, he feels morally obliged to help Willow and the two form a strong relationship without secrets.

Throughout Willow we are brought along on Willow's painful journey with an all-access pass. Julia Hoban doesn't shy away from showing the reader the reality of cutting instead of obscure references or hinting. The result is a very confronting and emotional book that is definitely not for younger readers or the easily shocked.

Willow is a strong, powerful book that shows us both personal destruction and the redemptive power of love and friendship. I highly recommend it!

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 4)

2009-05-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

Reading is one form of escape. Running for your life is another.

— Lemony Snicket

Carmelita Spats

Everyone should be able to do one card trick, tell two jokes, and recite three poems, in case they are ever trapped in an elevator.

— Lemony Snicket

Beatrice

Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don’t always like.

— Lemony Snicket

A passport, as I'm sure you know, is a document that one shows to government officials whenever one reaches a border between two countries, so that the official can learn who you are, where you were born, and how you look when photographed unflatteringly.
- Lemony Snicket

Wicked people never have time for reading. It’s one of the reasons for their wickedness.

— Lemony Snicket

In My Mailbox (9 & 10)

2009-05-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

There was no In My Mailbox (brought to you by The Story Siren with Pop Culture Junkie) last week so there will be a bumper one this week...

Paper Towns - John Green
Marked - P.C. and Kristin Cast
Red-Headed Stepchild - Jaye Wells
The Adamantine Palace - Stephen Deas
Pearl Versus The World - Sally Murphy
Malcolm and Juliet - Bernard Beckett
Bait - Alex Sanchez
The Awakening - Marley Gibson
Ballads of Suburbia - Stephenie Kuehnert
Coffeehouse Angel - Suzanne Selfors
Hidden Voices - Pat Lowery Collins

I know I've forgotten some but two weeks is kind of a long time! Haha it doesn't look very impressive without pictures. It is impressively daunting in person though.

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 3)

2009-04-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

The moral of Snow White is never eat apples.

— Lemony Snicket.

Madame Lulu

A library is like an island in the middle of a vast sea of ignorance, particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area has been flooded.

— Lemony Snicket

Mr. Snicket

It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.

- Lemony Snicket

A good library will never be too neat or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.

— Lemony Snicket

Carmelita Spats

If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if that thing is cats.

— Lemony Snicket

Teaser Tuesdays, April 21

2009-04-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

So, Teaser Tuesday! What's it all about? (Though you can probably disregard these this week as I haven't followed any of them...)

Grab your current read
Let the book fall open to a random page
Share 2 "teaser" sentences from the page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
No spoilers! Just teasers :)

I haven't done Teaser Tuesday is waaaaaaaay too long.

Our words sound very loud. They take up all the room in my head and sit there echoing back at me.

I've had Before I Die by Jenny Downham sitting around for ages and I had to quickly pick something up to take with me to the hairdresser for a four-hour stint and I chose this one! Luckily I chose wisely and wasn't bored at all.

Review: The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren by Wendy Toliver

2009-04-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren by Wendy Toliver is from the Simon Pulse rom com range, which I must say I am a fan of so far. Well actually, I've only read two books from it so far and they have both been by Wendy Toliver so it would probably be more accurate to say I am a fan of Wendy Toliver. Oh well, both are probabyl true :)

In The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren, Roxy is a plain band geek - that is until her 16th birthday when she transforms into a beautful siren who can make men do whatever she wants just by playing her flute ("Geeky to gorgeous in sixty seconds..."). She quickly has all the guys lusting after her, and bewitches the popular guy she's been crushing on to start going out with her. It comes at a price though, all her old band friends feel like she's ditching them (which she is).

I read the first part of the book a bit tentatively, I thought it was either going to go one of two ways - either it would be incredibly vapid and superficial with Roxy just getting everything she wanted as a siren (with the moral I suppose that you have to be pretty to go anywhere, lol) or else that Roxy would discover that she didn't have to be stunningly beautiful and would decide to go back to her old ugly ways and have a huge moral lesson about inner beauty. Fortunately, the story didn't follow a predictable path and found a happy medium between the two.

It really enjoyed reading this book, it's light, fun and not too taxing, I pretty much read it in one sitting. Lots of funny moments, good doses of romance. Nice, interesting characters. The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren has everything you'll look for in a romantic comedy. I give it 4/5 stars.

You can read my interview with Wendy as well as my review of her other book Miss Match here.

Review: Watchmen by Alan Moore

2009-04-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

Watchmen by Alan Moore is pretty much the first graphic novel I've ever read... so I am obviously not much of an authority on the format but I will try to write a review anyway! I pretty much chose to read it because it sort of dominates the 'best graphic novel' list, plus the film was coming out and I found it at my library so I thought I'd give it a go.

For those who don't know; the story is interesting, it's very dark and gloomy. There are a group of character's who used to fight crime in costumes (they don't have super powers) but have mostly retired and the story switches between them as they start getting killed off and discredited.

The artwork is amazing and the writing is fantastic. It was very well done and I can definitely understand why it's received so much praise since its publication in '86. However, I didn't really love it - I think that superheroes just aren't my thing so the story was never really going to appeal to me.

I give Watchmen 3/5 stars. For an introduction to graphic novels for me, it was an okay start! I'm going to read Maus by Art Spiegelmen next.

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 2)

2009-04-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlgkhasdfasdf.
— Lemony Snicket

The Cast of the Marvelous Marriage

For Beatrice- When we met, you were pretty, and I was lonely. Now, I am pretty lonely.
— Lemony Snicket

As I’m sure you know, a good night’s sleep helps you perform well in school, and so if you’re a student you should always get a good night’s sleep unless you have come to the good part of your book, and then you should stay up all night and let your schoolwork fall by the wayside, a phrase which means 'flunk'.
- Lemony Snicket, The Austere Academy

One can remain alive past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.
— Lemony Snicket, The Penultimate Peril

The way sadness works is one of the strange riddles of the world. If you are stricken with a great sadness, you may feel as if you have been set aflame, not only because of the enormous pain but also because your sadness may spread over your life like the smoke of a great fire. You might find it difficult to see anything but your sadness, the way smoke leaves its ashen colors and scents on everything it touches. And you may find that if someone pours water all over you, you are damp, distracted, but nor cured of your sadness, the a fire department can douse a fire, but never recover what has been burned down.

— Lemony Snicket, The Grim Grotto

In My Mailbox (8)

2009-04-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

Is it Sunday already? Wow the week went fast. In My Mailbox is brought you by The Story Siren. This is what I got in my mailbox this week...

Delia Truesdale has no idea her life's about to change forever. She's too busy enjoying the California summer. Her internet tycoon mother, T.K. Truesdale, is out of town, and that means Delia can spend all her time at the beach, surfing. That is, until everything unravels.

Jealous whispers.
Old rivalries.
New betrayals.

In this next thrilling installment of Anna Godbersen's bestselling Luxe series, Manhattan's most envied residents appear to have everything they desire: Wealth. Beauty. Happiness. But sometimes the most practiced smiles hide the most scandalous secrets. . . .

Waiting On Wednesday, April 15

2009-04-16T01:53:00.000-07:00

It's kind of not Wednesday anymore, huh. Oh well, I am still waiting on It's Not You, It's Me by Kerry Cohen Hoffman. The cover is too cute and it sounds awesome.

Here a synopsis from Kerry's website:

Zoë loves Henry. Henry dumps Zoë. Zoë wants Henry back - at any cost. Zoë's two best friends come up with a plan to help Zoë get what she thinks she wants. The plan: make Henry jealous. But the plan takes a surprising turn... Spanning thirty-one days in the cycle of a breakup, Kerry Cohen Hoffmann's funny and touching novel depicts a girl whose single-minded focus on her ex-boyfriend has pulled her far from the person she most needs to win back - herself.

It comes out in June! Eeee! :)

An Abandoned Library, In Pictures

2009-04-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

From English Russia

Lemony Snicket Appreciation Post (Part 1)

2009-04-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

It is always cruel to laugh at people, of course, although sometimes if they are wearing an ugly hat it is hard to control yourself.
— Lemony Snicket

Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they appear.
— Lemony Snicket, The Carnivorous Carnival

Everyone, at some point in their lives, wakes up in the middle of the night with the feeling that they are all alone in the world, and that nobody loves them now and that nobody will ever love them, and that they will never have a decent night’s sleep again and will spend their lives wandering blearily around a loveless landscape, hoping desperately that their circumstances will improve, but suspecting, in their heart of hearts, that they will remain unloved forever. The best thing to do in these circumstances is to wake somebody else up, so that they can feel this way, too.
— Lemony Snicket

The Snow Scouts

It is one of life’s bitterest truths that bedtime so often arrives just when things are really getting interesting.
— Lemony Snicket, The Grim Grotto

Duncan and Isadora Quagmire

Taking one’s chances is like taking a bath, because sometimes you end up feeling warm and comfortable, and sometimes there is something terrible lurking around that you cannot see until it is too late and you can do nothing else but scream and cling to a plastic duck.
— Lemony Snicket

An Interview With Me!

2009-04-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

In awesome news, Steph from Hey, Teenager of The Year has featured me on one of her book blogger interviews. I am Book Blogger Interview #8.

Go have a read!

Other Uses For Books

2009-04-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

You could build a house.

Or..

ENCLOSED CONTENT CHATTING AWAY IN THE C0LOUR INVISIBILITY
2009 by Anouk Kruithoff.

Fun!

In My Mailbox (7)

2009-04-12T04:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! Two books this week! (In My Mailbox is brought to you by The Story Siren from an idea by Alea)

I'm pleased as punch. I got...

Secrets of Truth and Beauty by Megan Frazer

The Good Daughter by Amra Pajalic

Good holiday reads! Which I will be enjoying for the next two weeks. Which will mean lots more posts, sorry for the lack of posting lately. It will pick up again, promise :)

What A Library!

2009-04-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

Amazing.

Waiting On Wednesday, April 8

2009-04-08T01:12:00.000-07:00

After reading and loving The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan I am super eagerly waiting on the next installment, The Dead-Tossed Waves.

It's not out until Spring 2010 though..

Sigh :(

Review: The Lucky Ones by Tohby Riddle

2009-04-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Look! I'm finally reviewing an Australian book! See the bridge?! See!! And it's not a girly book! Amazing :)

The Lucky Ones by Tohby Riddle takes place in Sydney in the 80s. Tom is out of high school and going to art school, just kind of meandering along in life. His best friend is Cain, who is needy and troubled and very interesting. He's interested in Kara, but is too shy to do much about it.

The book is really laid back, not that it doesn't go anywhere (plenty happens!), just that it doesn't make you feel like you need to rush to any destination. It reads a bit like a memoir, everything's believable, it's like Tom is just filling us in on all these things that happen, telling it like it is. He makes keen observations and expresses things in really interesting ways.

I kept trying to imagine how these events could possibly have happened. I mean, one minute Cain and I are joking about our awkwardness with this girl, and the next minute he's catching the late bus to see her on a wild stormy night. It sounded like something from a Bronte sisters novel. What was Cain doing in a Bronte sisters novel?

As I mentioned above, this book has guy-appeal! Written by a male with a male persepective (but it's perfectly fine for the ladies too). I don't seem to ever see that many YA books for guys that aren't fantasy so I am pleased that this one is so great. It's also quite witty! I laughed quite a few times throughout the book.

I particularly liked the setting, Australia in the 80s, the book has an amazing atmosphere. (Plus the boys crash a Bob Dylan press conference, well worht reading!)

It was a fantastic read, especially if you're looking for something that's not generic and might make you think a little outside the box. I give it 4/5 stars :)

You can check out Tohby Riddles website at www.tohby.com.

Review: Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols

2009-04-03T17:38:00.001-07:00

Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols is a perfect example of when a romantic teen novel can be done oh-so right. A fresh storyline; Meg gets caught, trespassing and drunk, and is made to spend her spring break riding around with (spunky) tough cop John on the night shift for the week to learn her lesson. It's got deep, well-developed characters with secrets and desires and the capacity to make witty, sarcastic or cutting remarks. Plus there's plenty of teen angst and attitude and conflicting emotions.

Jennifer Echols is also great at dropping hints and clues that you can pick up on if you want to be all sleuthy and try to figure out some stuff if you like or else you can go with it and marvel at the sneaky things that you read but thought nothing of earlier.

It's really addictive stuff, I loved the story and the characters. Plus, it wasn't superficial, there was plenty of things going on that the character's had to work out and get over so I didn't feel like my IQ was slowing dropping but I still got that great buzz from reading a chick book! Aaaah book heaven :)

Highly recommended! 4/5 stars!

I don't think you can find much stuff by Jennifer Echols in Australia but I will now devote my time to trying to track down her other books :)

Also, check out Jennifer's website (http://www.jennifer-echols.com/) and blog (http://jenniferechols.livejournal.com/)

Review: Heartbreak River by Tricia Mills

2009-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Heartbreak River by Tricia Mills is about Alex who is spending her summer, like usual, working for her family's river rafting company. Having not been in the water since her father died in a rafting accident, Alex is still grieving her father and she's still not over her ex-boyfriend, Sean, who left soon after her father's death. When Sean returns to work at the rafting company for the summer, Alex is forced to confront her fears and work up the courage to really talk to Sean.

This is a really romantic novel - Tricia Mills usually writes romance novels under the name Trish Milburn - with the story centering around Alex and Sean's rekindling romance. Plus there's lots of other great characters who work with Alex, and they all react differently with each other (they rarely get along!) and make for great reading.

Why couldn't he wear his emotions out in the open? Didn't he realize that I needed to know what was going on in that head of his? Had he had any reaction at all to Tommy saying he wanted to kiss me?

Alex was dealing with some really complex emotions about her father and his death which grounded the story and gave it a more serious aspect rather than just Alex and her summer fling. It was a good fun read though and I definitely enjoyed it.

I give Heartbreak River by Tricia Mills 3.5/5 Stars, go check it out if you're in the mood for a romantic read! It's released in April!

Children's Book Council of Australia 2009 Shortlist!

2009-03-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

The shortlist for the Children's Book Council of Australia's awards for the book of the year have been announced :)

Here's the shortlist for Older Readers:

Book of the Year - Older Readers Short List 2009
Author	Title
CORNISH, D. M.	Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two: Lamplighter
EATON, Anthony	*Into White Silence*
FRENCH, Jackie	*A Rose for the Anzac Boys*
MARCHETTA, Melina	*Finnikin of the Rock*
MOLONEY, James	*Kill the Possum*
TAN, Shaun	*Tales from Outer Suburbia*

I haven't actually read any of these, have you? I've been meaning to read Finnikin of the Rock and I will definitely check out the others. Have you read any?

To look at the other shortlists (younger readers, picture book etc) click here :)

In My Mailbox (6)

2009-03-30T23:30:00.001-07:00

Hmm.. what was in the mailbox this week?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan

Yay!! So happy to get this :) I prefer the US cover to the Australian one (this cover reminds me of Twilight).

And then I got...

13 Treasures - Michelle Harrison
The One and Only - Sophie McKenzie
The Secret Ministry of Frost - Nick Lake

Review: A Map Of The Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell

2009-03-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell is a beautifully written story about high school student, Cora who is struggling to return to some level of normalcy after the death of her older brother. Taking refuge in her art she forms an unlikely relationship with her dead brother's best friend, Damian who helps her make sense of things.

The language used throughout this book is a delight to read and has made me seek out other books by Lisa Ann Sandell (I have Song of the Sparrow on my TBR pile). I was immediately drawn in to Cora's story and pretty much read the entire book in one sitting I was so captivated. One part in particular, made me tear up a little :(

'This feels like I'm turning a corner, and once I make this turn, I can't go back. But what exactly am I leaving behind? Nothing good, I think. If this is a turning point, I'll take it.'

The story isn't always a happy one, Cora and her family are almost torn apart trying to cope with their loss, but ultimately the story is one of survival, creativity and staying true to yourself.

I give A Map of the Known World 4.5/5 stars it's definitely one of my favourite books of the year and I would highly recommend it to everyone, especially anyone who is a fan of Sarah Dessen as they'd go well together.

A Map of the Known World (Ages 12+) by Lisa Ann Sandell (lisaannsandell.com) is available in hardcover in April.

Friday Fun ANSWERS (2)

2009-03-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

These are the answers to this weeks Friday Fun, First Lines Game. If you haven't had a chance to check out the game yet it's never too late! Just go here! :)

So these are the titles of the books which the first lines come from, just highlight the text (ctrl + a) to see the answers, that way there's no spoilers if you don't want them!

Peter Pan, J M Barrie
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
The Dawn Treader, C.S Lewis
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Book of a Thousand Days, Shannon Hale
The Field Guide, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Holly Black
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Princes, J K Rowling
James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld
The Wide Window, Lemony Snicket
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Looking for Alaska, John Green

How did you go? :)

Does anyone have any suggestions for next week's game?

In My Mailbox (5)

2009-03-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

I got tired of my unruly tag cloud so I neatened up the tags a bit and compressed them into the navigation bar you can see on the left hand side. So if you want to look at past In My Mailboxes just click the appropriate button, fun! Also, does anyone know how to have a search feature on blogger?

Without further ado, In My Mailbox (which is hosted by The Story Siren) is a weekly feature in which you get to find out what books I received last week :)

Not a big week, which is nice because it gives me a chance to catch up!

Willow - Julia Hoban

I post that I am eagerly waiting on Willow by Julia Hoban on a Wednesday and it arrives Thursday morning! Made me so happy :)

Vampire Academy Series - Richelle Mead

I already had the set of these books but for some reason I received another one.. except this time there were one copy of the first one and two copies of the second one!

Behold my Vampire Academy stack!Perhaps I will have to have a competition to get rid of a few of them? :)

Friday Fun, First Line Games (2)

2009-03-20T21:11:00.000-07:00

Every Friday I'm going to post a bit of a book related game, maybe some trivia or a quiz or something entertaining. I'll give you the weekend to ponder it over and then I'll put the answers up on a Sunday :) Sound like fun?

First Lines Game - Can you work out what books these first lines come from?

All children, except one, grow up.
In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit.
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
My lady and I are being shut up in a tower for seven years.
If someone had asked Jared Grace what jobs his brother and sister would have when they grew up, he would have had no trouble replying.
It was nearing midnight and the Prime Minister was sitting alone in his office, reading a long memo that was slipping through his brain without leaving the slightest trace of meaning behind.
Until he was four years old, James Henry Trotter had a happy life.
Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that had happened a long while ago, and I said to you, "That afternoon when I met so-and-so...was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst afternoon."
First the colors.
The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit.
If you didn't know much about the Baudelaire orphans, and you saw them sitting on their suitcases at Damocles Dock, you might think that they were bound for an exciting adventure.
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.
The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party.

Think it over! You can post your guesses here if you like, and then on Sunday I'll put the answers up so you can see how you went :)

[Future suggestions appreciated!]

Review: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

2009-03-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

I didn't know what Inkheart was going to be about before I started reading it (and even when I started reading it I still didn't know what it was going to be about!) but I wanted to read it because I'd heard people talking about it and I'd seen posters for the film-adaptation and it just seemed like this could be a book I might really enjoy.

What I found was an increeeeeedibly slooooooww beginning. I swear that nothing excitement happened for the first 100 pages, I kept reading all that time with the faith that surely something amazing was going to happen very shortly and I would be captivating by the awesomeness of it all.

Well, it did pick up after that but I still felt that Inkheart was entirely too long, the length could have been cut in half and a lot of the slower bits could have been condensed. Even the exciting ending seemed to drag a bit for me :(

I'm tempted to say if I were younger I might have enjoyed it more, after all the protagonist, Meggie, is 12 years old. I'm not sure though if the length of the book would have bothered younger readers. I'd be interested to know what experiences other people have had with this book!

However, the book was incredibly well written. The words are written like poetry and the imagery from this book is beautiful. Inkheart is a book within a book about books and a love for the stories and books pours out of the pages.

The fantasy story is about a Meggie who's life changes dramatically when she discovers her father can read the characters out of books.

The climax was built up very well and I was incredibly satisfied with the ending of the story! Everything wrapped up well and I know there are two sequels, Inkspell and Inkdeath but the ending Inkheart didn't suggest anything of what might happen in the next volumes. I think I will read the next book but I'm not going to go out and get it anytime too soon, I need to have a nice rest after Inkheart! :)

I give Inkheart 3.5/5, it's the sort of book I would love to read to young children in small chapter size morsels over a long period of time. I do, however, think it would be a great story to translate into film (to cut out all the slow bits) so I'll probably check out the movie. Has anyone seen the film version?

Have you read it? Tell me what you thought about it, I'd be very interested to know...

Thursday Themed Booklists: Fashion

2009-03-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

I've put together a list of young adult books about fashion - designer clothes, starting trends, modelling - some of them are pretty girly and don't make you think too hard but others aren't so shallow...

So Yesterday - Scott Westerfeld
So Yesterday is a fascinating thriller aggressively questions consumer culture. Seventeen-year-old Hunter lives up to his name. A "cool hunter," he's paid by corporations to comb his native Manhattan in search of street style that could become the next new trend. Hunter meets and falls for fellow teen culture-watcher Jen, just before Hunter's boss mysteriously disappears. Jen and Hunter hold the most clues, and their wild, increasingly dangerous search uncovers a plot to subvert a consumer system that dictates what is cool. (From Booklist via Amazon)

Gossip Girl - Cecily von Ziegesar
At a New York City jet-set private school populated by hard-drinking, bulimic, love-starved poor little rich kids, a clique of horrible people behave badly to one another. An omniscient narrator sees inside the shallow hearts of popular Blair Waldorf, her stoned hottie of a boyfriend, Nate, and her former best friend Serena van der Woodsen, just expelled from boarding school and "gifted with the kind of coolness that you can't acquire by buying the right handbag or the right pair of jeans. She was the girl every boy wants and every girl wants to be." Everyone wears a lot of designer clothes and drinks a lot of expensive booze.... (From Amazon)

The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger
Most recent college grads know they have to start at the bottom and work their way up. But not many picture themselves having to pick up their boss's dry cleaning, deliver them hot lattes, land them copies of the newest Harry Potter book before it hits stores and screen potential nannies for their children. Charmingly unfashionable Andrea Sachs, upon graduating from Brown, finds herself in this precarious position: she's an assistant to the most revered-and hated-woman in fashion, Runway editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. (From Publisher's Weekly via Amazon)

Violet On The Runway - Melissa Walker
A wallflower in the spotlight can do one of two things: wilt, or blossom...
Violet Greenfield's life changes forever when a lady in giant Chanel shades tells her she could be IT, the next Kate Moss-but taller, and without the PR problems. That's how Violet winds up with a business card in the front pocket of her jeans on her first day as a senior in high school. Angela Blythe from Tryst Models in New York City wants to put Violet on a plane and whisk her into the world of high-heeled boots and oversized sunglasses. Tall, skinny Violet, who's been P-L-A-I-N practically forever.
And guess what? She's going. (From Amazon)

Just Listen - Sarah Dessen
Annabel Greene seemingly had everything: cool friends, close family, good grades, and a part-time modeling career in town. But it all came crashing down, and Annabel has spent the summer in shaky, self-imposed exile. She finds herself dreading the new school term and facing, well, everyone again. The last thing she wants to do is revisit old friendships while the losses are painful, the secrets behind the rifts are almost unbearable. Her solid family seems fragile, too. What happened to cause the stiff silences and palpable resentments between her two older sisters? Why is no one in her loving but determinedly cheerful family talking about her middle sister's eating disorder? Annabel's devastating secret is revealed in bits and snatches, as readers see her go to amazing lengths to avoid confrontation. (From School Library Journal via Amazon)

Got anything to add to the list?

Interview with Aussie Charlotte McConaghy (Part 3)

2009-03-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

It's Charlotte McConaghy week over at the Aussie YA Alliance so Adele, Allie and myself conducted somewhat of a SUPER interview with Charlotte. So super that it had to be divided up into parts or else you would be scrolling downwards forever. I got the lovely part 3, so if you want to read what comes before this, and to continue reading all the way to part four, the links are at the bottom of the post...

Your debut book is Arrival. Is it just Australian distribution at this point?

Yes, at the moment, but Black Dog Publishers also do international publishing and translations into other languages, so I guess if it does well, we might be looking at other countries...

Is Arrival going to be the first part of a trilogy?

That's what it has always been in my mind. Although I guess now that it's called a series, it could be opened up to the possibility of more.

So you haven't planned out how it's all going to end then?

I do have an ending, actually. I've written it. But things can always get changed. I tend to write and rewrite a lot.

As I get older, my style changes subtly.

I find myself wanting to explore different things.

What kind of music were you listening to while writing Arrival? Is there a playlist?

There was definitely music involved, I love listening while I write, it helps with the mood, but it was so many years ago now that I can't really remember what I was into at the time! Sorry.

Where did the Anna/cancer plot come from?

Umm... I was just thinking about all the kids who have serious stuff going on in their lives like illness, and I wanted to include something like that to bring a bit of realism to the story. Perhaps so that people can relate to it, where everything else is so fantastical?

If Arrival was made into a movie, who would you cast as the leads?

That is the hardest possible question in the world!!! They all have to be young, just teenagers.

What authors do you really enjoy reading?

I love Isobelle Carmody, Melina Marchetta, Guy Gavriel Kay

Of course... Stephanie Meyer, lol, but who doesn't? I just love Edward!

Back to Melina Marchetta... I LOVE on the Jellicoe Road. And the new Finnikin book.

Were you consulted with the look of the book?

No, actually, but I love it. The original cover was very different, it was a drawing of Jane and Fern, but this cover is far more striking and mysterious I think.

Want to put all of this in context? Then you should check out the rest of it...

Part 1 - Aussie YA Alliance

Part 2 - Just Listen Book Reviews

Part 3 - Look At That Book (You're here already!!)

Part 4 - Persnickety Snark

Interested in Arrival? You can buy it online here at Dymocks.

Waiting On Wednesday, March 18

2009-03-18T02:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Wedesday everyone! Short and sweet today... I really want to read Willow by Julia Hoban!

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen year- old Willow’s parents died in a horrible car accident. Willow was driving. Now her older brother barely speaks to her, her new classmates know her as the killer orphan girl, and Willow is blocking the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when one boy —one sensitive, soulful boy—discovers Willow’s secret, it sparks an intense relationship that turns the “safe” world Willow has created for herself upside down.

Told in an extraordinary fresh voice, Willow is an unforgettable novel about one girl’s struggle to cope with tragedy, and one boy’s refusal to give up on her.

Sound good? It's out in April.

An Interview With Tracy Madison, Author of A Taste of Magic

2009-03-17T03:10:00.000-07:00

Today's author interview is with Tracy Madison author of the novel, A Taste of Magic which is released this March. Tracy lives in Northwestern Ohio with her husband, four children, a bear-sized dog, a snobby cat, and a loud-mouthed bird. Her house is often hectic, noisy, and filled to the brim with laugh-out-loud moments. Many of these incidents fire up her imagination to create the interesting, realistic, and intrinsically funny characters that live in her stories...

1. To begin with, can you tell us a bit about your new book, A Taste of Magic?

A Taste of Magic is the fun story of what happens when one woman receives the family's gypsy magic on her birthday. Here's the back cover copy:

Elizabeth Stevens is one bite away from happiness.
Today is Elizabeth Stevens’s birthday, and not only is it the one-year anniversary of her husband leaving her, it’s also the day her bakery is required to make a cake—for her ex’s next wedding. If there’s a bitter taste in her mouth, no one can blame her.

But today, Liz is about to receive a gift. Her Grandma Verda isn’t just wacky; she’s a little witchy. An ancient gypsy magic has been passed through her family bloodline for generations, and it’s Liz’s turn to be empowered. Henceforth, everything she bakes will have a dash of delight and a pinch of wishes-can-come-true. From her hunky policeman neighbor, to her gorgeous personal trainer, to her bum of an ex-husband, everyone Liz knows is going to taste her power. Revenge is sweet…and it’s only the first dish to be served.

2. Have you always wanted to be an author?

I've always enjoyed writing, but didn't give serious thought about trying to become published until my mid-twenties. Even then, it took me a while to get to the point I was ready to submit. With marriage, several moves across the country, and four children, I was more than a little busy! I continued to write, though, and was thrilled when my long-awaited dream of publication came true.

3. What was the road to publication for A Taste of Magic like?

I'd been submitting the book to agents for a while, and at the same time, it was at Dorchester Publishing. After about 8 months there, I received a phone call from the editor with an offer. It was amazing! I didn't have an agent yet, so I took a few days to contact those that still had the novel, and ended up with two offers of representation. While it was a tough choice, I decided to go with Michelle Grajkowski from 3 Seas Literay, and couldn't be happier!
4. Where do you get your inspiration for your stories?

This is a tough question to answer, because almost anything can inspire me. A dream. An article in the paper. A news story on the TV. Normally, though, my inspiration comes in the form of a question that I just have to answer, so I write a book to answer it!

5. What do you think makes a good story?

Hmm, I'm going to answer this question as a reader, not a writer. Even with that, my answer will likely vary from any other reader you asked, because we all have different tastes. For me, what makes a story work is far more about the characters than the plot. Obviously, there has to be a plot, there has to be conflict of some sort to keep me intrigued, but my heart will follow a poorly plotted novel if I love the characters. On the other hand, if I don't love the characters, the greatest plot in the world won't keep me turning the pages.

6. Do you listen to music when you write?

Nope, I find it too distracting. But I do like to listen to music before I start writing, and sometimes I'll take a break from a scene to listen to a few of my favorites. Unfortunately, as much as I've tried, I cannot focus on the writing if I have music playing.

7. Who is your favorite character you've created?

I love all of my heroes and heroines, naturally, but I also have a special love for wacky older lady -- Grandma Verda. She's funny, has great instincts, and wow, I just LOVE writing her.

8. And finally, what can we look forward to from you in the future?

My second novel, A Stroke of Magic, will hit the shelves on June 30, 2009. This time, we get to see what happens to Elizabeth's sister, Alice, when she receives her gift of magic. It's a great story and I can't wait for others to be able to read it!

Thank you for having me here today! I really appreciate it. :)

Teaser Tuesdays, March 17

2009-03-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I'm a bit Irish so I can celebrate too!

So the books I'm currently reading I seem to have been reading for a while and have already teasered them in previous Tuesdays. I finished A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell already but that doesn't mean I can't tease you with it.

So, Teaser Tuesday! What's it all about? (Though you can probably disregard these this week as I haven't followed any of them...)

Grab your current read
Let the book fall open to a random page
Share 2 "teaser" sentences from the page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
No spoilers! Just teasers :)

So I cheated and wrote out an entire paragraph. I just thought it was a really great paragraph :)

I cannot figure out for the life of me how to put an outfit together like these girls do. I can never seem to find that adorable top or the perfect pair of jeans. And even I do have the "right" clothes, forget about wearing them the ways these girls do. I simply cannot carry it off. Rachel says it's about attitude. Clearly I have an attitude problem.

Review: How To Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier

2009-03-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

As you may (or may not) know, I'm part of the Aussie YA Alliance with fellow Aussie book bloggers Adele and Allie. A few weeks ago we featured Justine Larbalestier's How To Ditch Your Fairy.

As part of the feature which included an interview with Justine, we all read the book and discussed it together, in an exciting and interesting 'reviewchat' in which we discussed and reviewed and said all sorts of fun things...

Adele: HTDYF is a departure for JL from her normal genre. Were either of you familiar with her other works?
Allie: No, this is my first novel by JL.
Adele: Mine too
Lisa: Familiar in that I've heard of them...haven't read them though.
Adele: So what did you expect the book to be like prior to reading?
Lisa: I figured there would actually be fairies, with personalities.
Adele: Yeah, I was expecting there to be clearly delineated fairy characters also.
Allie: I thought that it would be a cute fairies story. :)
Lisa: It was almost as though they were all crazy and it was all in their heads because none of the other places had fairies.
Allie: Everyone was a little brainwashed.
Allie: And arrogant...
Lisa: Well Charlie was at least
Adele: I loved it when Steffi told her that they were all self-obsessed and narrow minded. She needed to hear that
Lisa: Steffi was too good for her haha
Allie: She did need to hear it. Maybe a little more though, it took a while for it get through
Adele: I thought he was too good for her too. I didn't really see why he would be interested in her. The kissing scenes were a little off putting too, especially when he's in "zombie mode" but I guess that was the intention
Lisa: She was very self obsessed
Allie: Steffi was my favourite, but I didn't see why he didn't run from that crazy town. XD
Adele: Do you think the intention was to have someone have that kind of sports obsession one-track mind in all areas of her life? Let's face it we all know Aussie sports crazed individuals who would see their footy team like Charlie saw her home city of New Avalon....

Well, that's a taste. To read the rest of the reviewchat click here

For the record, I give How To Ditch Your Fairy 3/5 stars, it was fun but I had some issues with it.

In My Mailbox (IV)

2009-03-14T17:26:00.000-07:00

If I keep doing these In My Mailboxes I'm going to have to learn my Roman Numerals past 15 haha, or maybe I'll just switch to numbers.

Now In My Mailbox (which is hosted by The Story Siren) is a weekly feature in which you get to find out what books I received last week :)

This week there were lots of series(es) lol but first there was the beautiful A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell which should be put on everyone's go-out-and-read lists because it's wonderful, I'll elaborate more in my review.

Then I got the first two books in The Elite Series by Jennifer Banash (who I interviewed a little while ago) which are The Elite and In Too Deep. They look like fun.

And lastly, I got the entire Unwritten Books by James Bow. They go The Unwritten Girl, Fathom Five, then The Young City. I'm looking forward to reading these as well! I really like the cover of Fathom Five.

Review: Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

2009-03-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

I'd been wanting to read Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender for a while, there was something about the title and the creepy cover image that really made me want to find out what the story would be like.

Bad Girls Don't Die is about pink-haired Alexis, a social outcast living with her dysfunctional family in an big old house full of secrets. Her life gets turned upside down when all these bizarre things start happening - the air conditioner breaks and turns the whole house freezing cold, someone tampers with the brakes on her Dad's car - and Alexis doesn't know if she's going crazy or if her doll-crazed younger sister is actually responsible.

'I stared at the dolls, which were lined up on the built-in shelves like a sinister chorus.'

Alexis was a very independent character, she has few friends at school and doesn't fit in. Throughout the novel she changes and challenges her preconceptions about people and for all those who enjoy a bit of romance, she gets a love-interest in blond-haired, sparkly eyed Carter.

One big thing that I was wondering about this book was whether it would actually be creepy/scary or would it fall short of actually creating a chilling atmosphere. In answer to my own question, it turned out that it actually had a pretty good mix. There were definitely a few moments when Alexis' younger sister was possessed that were very convincing and genuinely creepy but there were plenty of light-hearted moments to keep the balance too :)

"Whatever I felt in there," Megan said, "it's totally evil. Like bad evil, Alexis."

There were plenty of twists and turns in the plot that kept me guessing and the ending worked well. I was really drawn into the book and pretty much read the whole thing in one sitting. It had all the elements you'd expect form a young adult novel, there was some romance, and I felt that Alexis' actions and motivations in the impossible situation of having your a possessed sister seemed believable. Well worth a read if you're looking for something a bit different then you're average teen book.

Bad Girls Don't Die is the debut young adult book of Katie Alender (katiealender.com). I give it 4/5 Stars :) (It's out on April 21)

First Lines Game!

2009-03-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd make a bit of a game as something fun for everyone :) So I scooped out a pile of books from my bookshelf and wrote out the first lines. Your task is to try and figure out what book the first line is from! (The answers are revealed in the comments)

None of them are too obscure, don't worry! It's actually quite interesting how the first line can set the tone for the entire book...

First Lines Game!

Once there were four children whose name's were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.
Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.
If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
Lyra and her daemon moved through the darkening Hall, taking care to keep to one side, out of sight of the kitchen.
I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.
The reason Weetzie Bat hated high school was because no one understood.
Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.
Once upon a time there was a pair of pants.
There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.
Dad had Uncle Eddie around so naturally they had to come and nose around and see what I was up to.
It's only half an hour since someone - Robyn, I think - said we should write everything down, and it's only twenty-nine minutes since I got chosen, and for those twenty-nine minutes I've had everyone crowded around me gazing at the blank page and yelling ideas and advice.
In life, Elizabeth Adora Holland was known not only for her loveliness but also for her moral character, so it was fair to assume in the afterlife she would occupy a lofty seat with an especially good view.
This book is largely concerned with Hobbits, and from its pages a reader may discover much of their character and a little of their history.
Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.
I felt her fear before I heard her screams.

Have a go! The book titles are in the first comment in the comments section, have a look then tell me how you did :)

Waiting On Wednesday, March 11

2009-03-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

Waiting on Wednesday - Waiting For You. Too perfect! :) I really want to read Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti. Read a synposis...

From amazon:
At the beginning of her sophomore year, Marisa is ready for a fresh start and, more importantly, a boyfriend. So when the handsome and popular Derek asks her out, Marisa thinks her long wait for happiness is over. But several bumps in the road—including her parents’ unexpected separation, a fight with her best friend, and a shocking disappointment in her relationship with Derek—test Marisa’s ability to maintain her new outlook. Only the anonymous DJ, whose underground podcasts have the school’s ear, seems to understand what Marisa is going through. But she has no idea who he is—or does she? In this third romantic novel from Susane Colasanti, Marisa learns how to “be in the Now” and realizes that the love she’s been waiting for has been right in front of her all along.

Sounds like a good read :) Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti is out in mid-May!

I'm Fabulous! And Loved! Twice!

2009-03-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Look at this everyone! Proof that people actually like me! Hazaa!!

The super awesome Carrie from Carrie's Ya Bookshelf tagged me for this one and so did robin_titan the TV And Book Addict! :)

Here are the rules to keep the award moving:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

Coincidentally, I am also fabulous! Well, Adele (from Persnickety Snark) and Donna (from Bites) think so :)

List five things you're either obsessed or addicted to and then nominate five more blogs.

What am I obsessed with? Hmmm.

I am kind of obsessed with fruit smoothies. Strawberries blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are my current breakfast smoothie of choice.

I enjoy The Godfather. I watched it again yesterday, I love it.

I am loving bright nail polish. Sportsgirl has the best colours I've ever seen :)

I'm loving The Cat Empire, an awesome Aussie band. I saw them play on the weekend. They are too good! There were trombones and a piano-accordion and good, good times.

And finally - somewhat obviously - I am addicted to books! I am addicted to books and I am only slightly daunted by my TBR mountain.

Now for the re-tagging. I love you all in a non-discriminatory all-inclusive kind of way and I think you are all ridiculously fabulous.. if no one has told you that yet then consider yourself tagged! :)

Teaser Tuesdays, March 10

2009-03-09T22:53:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday! I had a long weekend so I am still in Monday-mode though I know it's Tuesday so it's like I have my weekend-rest-edness but I am also pumped because it is Tuesday which means it's almost Wednesday which is very nearly Thursday which is practically the weekend! :)

So, Teaser Tuesday! What's it all about?

Grab your current read
Let the book fall open to a random page
Share 2 "teaser" sentences from the page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
No spoilers! Just teasers :)

Sometimes the roamers would stop to mill and sometimes the millers would take to roaming. And sometimes a miller or a roamer would lose their balance. Everybody started to look the same.

I was thinking of making this a SUPER teaser and not even telling you want book it is. But then I figured that would be counter-productive and plus if I didn't say what book it was I wouldn't get to post the cover. And I like pictures...

It's from The Lucky Ones by Tohby Riddle.

In My Mailbox (III)

2009-03-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

In My Mailbox (which is hosted by The Story Siren) is a weekly feature in which you get to find out what books I received last week :)

This week's mailbox featured...

Shadowed Summer - Saundra Mitchell

Nothing ever happened in Ondine, Louisiana, not even the summer Elijah Landry disappeared.
His mother knew he ascended to heaven, the police believed he ran away, and his girlfriend thought he was murdered.
Decades later, certain she saw his ghost in the town cemetery, fourteen-year-old Iris Rhame is determined to find out the truth behind "The Incident With the Landry Boy."
Enlisting the help of her best friend Collette, and forced to endure the company of Collette's latest crush, Ben, Iris spends a summer digging into the past and stirring old ghosts, in search of a boy she never knew.
What she doesn't realize is that in a town as small as Ondine, every secret is a family secret.

The Lucky Ones - Tohby Riddle

Set in 1980s inner-city Sydney, The Lucky Ones follows maverick teen Tom, as he tries to make sense of life after school.The novel reveals in poignant and hilarious ways the workings of a young male mind – with all its misplaced romanticism, youthful delusions, bewilderment about girls and need for adventure.

Pop Princess - Isabelle Merlin

It's a simple twist of fate that catapults Australian teenager Lucie Rees from her ordinary life in an ordinary town to a strange, exciting job in Paris as friend to ultra-famous but troubled young pop star Arizona Kingdom. But it is more than a simple twist of fate that will see Lucie entangled in mysterious happenings that soon put her in terrible danger. Who can she trust? Will the holiday of a lifetime in Paris turn into her last days on earth?

The bottom two are Australian books (in case the giant Sydney Harbour Bridge didn't give it away!) I've started reading The Lucky Ones and I'm really liking it.

What was in your mailbox this week?

Love The Cover, It's Pinocchio!

2009-03-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Let's all just take a moment to examine this cover of the classic story of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.

Sure, that piece of tree bark has eyes.

And yes, it is kind of creepy.

But is it not an excellent and entirely fitting cover for the little wooden boy, Pinocchio?

I believe it is. I love it. It makes me want to read it rather than watch my Disney video version.

(You should go here to read an interesting piece that educating alice wrote about Pinocchio.)

What do you think think? Do you love it or is too creepy?

An Interview With Allison van Diepen, Author of Raven!

2009-03-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today's author interview is with Allison van Diepen, the talented writer of Snitch, Street Pharm and the her newly released book, Raven. Allison, who is a full-time high school teacher, stopped by to talk about being an author and to fill us in about Raven...

To begin with, can you tell us a bit about your latest book, Raven?

Sure. Raven is the story of Nicole, a teen who works underage at a New York City dance club. Nicole is madly in love with Zin, the head of her breakdancing crew, a gorgeous guy with a mysterious past. Nicole believes that she and Zin are like magnet and metal -- destined to be together. But Zin has a very good reason for keeping his distance...

Have you always wanted to be an author?

I've wanted to be an author since I was about twelve -- that's when I fell in love with reading. Writing my own stories was a natural extention of that. A couple of years later, I finished my first manuscript, and I was officially hooked on writing. I promised myself that I would hold on to my goal of becoming a published author, and I did.

Where do you get your inspiration for your stories?

Anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes a character or a premise just pops into my head while I'm listening to music. Other times a story idea comes from the day-to-day issues I'm concerned with; I'm a high school teacher, so I see a lot of real-life teen drama on a regular basis.

What do you think makes a good story?

It's all about believable, real characters. When I read a book, I don't need it to be artfully written, but I do need to care about the characters and what happens to them.

Raven by Allison van Diepen

Do you listen to music when you write?

Oh yes. Music is essential to get me in the mood of a certain scene. For Raven, I listened to dance music for the club scenes, and ballads for the romantic scenes.

Who is your favorite character you've created?

That's incredibly tough, so I'll have to go with my latest love, Zin from Raven. He's got this charisma, this something about him that draws Nicole. And I've already heard from readers that they're falling in love with him.

What other great things can we look forward to from you in the future?

I have two novels coming out in 2010 from Harlequin's new teen line. And I have a great idea for another paranormal and another gritty urban book -- all I need is the time to write them!

Thanks Allison!
Raven by Allison van Diepen is out now! Check it out here on amazon :)
You can also find out more about Allison on her website, http://www.allisonvandiepen.com/

The Hunger Games - Australian Cover Art!

2009-03-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

Everyone has been raving about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins! I've had so many people tell me to read it, and I really want to! Published by Scholastic, it's finally out in Australia, with a totally different cover design.

I'm going to go and get myself a copy ASAP! :)

What do you think of the Australian cover art?

Top Teen Books Meme

2009-03-06T00:11:00.000-08:00

I've seen lots of other bloggers putting this up on their blogs and thought I'd steal it for myself and join in the fun :)

The following list of books teens love, books teens should read, and books adults who serve teens should know about was compiled IN ABSOLUTELY NO SCIENTIFIC MANNER and should be taken with a very large grain of salt.

Instructions:
Put an “X” next to the books you’ve read
Put a “+” next to the books you LOVE
Put a “#” next to the books you plan on reading
Tally your “X”s at the bottom
Share with your friends!

1. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy / Douglas Adams
2. Kit’s Wilderness / David Almond
3. Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian / Sherman Alexie #
4. Speak / Laurie Halse Anderson #
5. Feed / M.T. Anderson #
6. Flowers in the Attic / V.C. Andrews
7. 13 Reasons Why / Jay Asher #
8. Am I Blue? / Marion Dane Bauer (editor)
9. Audrey Wait! / Robin Benway #
10. Weetzie Bat / Francesca Lia Block X+
11. Tangerine / Edward Bloor
12. Forever / Judy Blume #
13. What I Saw and How I Lied / Judy Blundell #
14. Tyrell / Coe Booth
15. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants / Ann Brashares X+
16. A Great and Terrible Beauty / Libba Bray X
17. The Princess Diaries / Meg Cabot X
18. The Stranger / Albert Camus
19. Ender’s Game / Orson Scott Card
20. Postcards from No Man’s Land / Aidan Chambers
21. Perks of Being a Wallflower / Stephen Chbosky #
22. And Then There Were None / Agatha Christie
23. Gingerbread / Rachel Cohn X
24. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist / Rachel Cohn and David Levithan X+
25. Artemis Fowl (series) / Eoin Colfer X
26. The Hunger Games / Suzanne Collins #
27. The Midwife’s Apprentice / Karen Cushman
28. The Truth About Forever / Sarah Dessen X
29. Little Brother / Cory Doctorow
30. A Northern Light / Jennifer Donnelly
31. Tears of a Tiger / Sharon Draper
32. The House of the Scorpion / Nancy Farmer
33. Breathing Underwater / Alex Flinn
34. Stardust / Neil Gaiman X+
35. Annie on My Mind / Nancy Garden
36. What Happened to Cass McBride / Gail Giles
37. Fat Kid Rules the World / K.L. Going
38. Lord of the Flies / William Golding X
39. Looking for Alaska / John Green #
40. Bronx Masquerade / Nikki Grimes
41. Out of the Dust / Karen Hesse
42. Hoot / Carl Hiaasen
43. The Outsiders / S.E. Hinton
44. Crank / Ellen Hopkins
45 The First Part Last / Angela Johnson
46. Blood and Chocolate / Annette Curtis Klause
47. Arrow’s Flight / Mercedes Lackey
48. Hattie Big Sky / Kirby Larson
49. To Kill a Mockingbird / Harper Lee
50. Boy Meets Boy / David Levithan X
51. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks / E. Lockhart #
52. The Giver / Lois Lowry
53. Number the Stars / Lois Lowry
54. Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie / David Lubar
55. Inexcusable / Chris Lynch
56. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big, Round Things / Carolyn Mackler #
57. Dragonsong / Anne McCaffrey
58. White Darkness / Geraldine McCaughrean
59. Sold / Patricia McCormick
60. Jellicoe Road / Melina Marchetta#
61. Wicked Lovely / Melissa Marr #
62. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer X
63. Dairy Queen / Catherine Murdock
64. Fallen Angels / Walter Dean Myers
65. Monster / Walter Dean Myers
66. Step From Heaven / An Na
67. Mama Day / Gloria Naylor
68. The Keys to the Kingdom (series) / Garth Nix
69. Sabriel / Garth Nix
70. Airborn / Kenneth Oppel
71. Eragon / Christopher Paolini
72. Hatchet / Gary Paulsen
73. Life As We Knew It / Susan Beth Pfeffer
74. The Golden Compass / Phillip Pullman X+
75. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging / Louise Rennison X+
76. The Lightning Thief / Rick Riordan
77. Always Running: La Vida Loca / Luis Rodriguez
78. how i live now / Meg Rosoff #
79. Harry Potter (series) / J.K. Rowling X+
80. Holes / Louis Sachar X
81. Catcher in the Rye / J. D. Salinger X
82. Push / Sapphire
83. Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi #
84. Unwind / Neil Shusterman
85. Coldest Winter Ever / Sister Souljah
86. Stargirl / Jerry Spinelli X
87. Chanda’s Secrets / Allan Stratton
88. Tale of One Bad Rat / Brian Talbot
89. Rats Saw God / Rob Thomas
90. Lord of the Rings / J.R.R. Tolkien X
91. Stuck in Neutral / Terry Trueman
92. Gossip Girl / Cecily Von Ziegesar X
93. Uglies / Scott Westerfeld X
94. Every Time a Rainbow Dies / Rita Williams-Garcia
95. Pedro and Me / Judd Winick
96. Hard Love / Ellen Wittlinger
97. American Born Chinese / Gene Luen Yang
98. Elsewhere / Gabrielle Zevin #
99. I am the Messenger / Markus Zusak #
100. The Book Thief / Markus Zusak X+

There's a HUGE chunk of books on this list that I haven't even heard of... I think I'll go update my wishlist now! :)

How many have you read?
And also, which ones that I haven't I read, should I read?

A Lovely Quote From Inkheart

2009-03-05T23:42:00.000-08:00

First of all, I'm sorry I haven't been around much this week! I've been so busy :) I'll make it up to everyone with a super fun-filled week of posts next week!

So, I've just started reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. It's translated from German and I don't know how much of the beauty of the original writing might have been lost in translation but there was something about this sentence that made me stop and savour it...

"It was early dawn when Meggie woke up. Night was fading over the fields as if the rain had washed the darkness out of the hem of it's garment."

Now isn't that just a great mental image?!

A Guest Post From Debut YA Author, Jillian Cantor

2009-03-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today at Look At That Book HQ we've been honoured with a guest post by newly published author, Jillian Cantor who is the author of The September Sisters. You can find out more about Jillian and her book The September Sisters over at her blog - http://www.jilliancantor.blogspot.com/ Read on...

My “Glamorous” Life as a Newly Publisher Author

I’ve been waiting most of my life to be able to call myself a published author. Well, since I was nine, anyway, so it’s been about 21 years. And since my first book, The September Sisters, was officially released last Tuesday, I am finally able to call myself one. Exciting? Absolutely! Nerve-wracking? Yes. Glamorous? Not so much.

You see, it took me a long time to get to this place. I wrote another book before The September Sisters, that I could never get an agent for. And then even with The September Sisters – it took me a long time and a lot of rejection – 5 ½ years worth – to go from the first draft to the day of publication.

A friend of mine, whose second book just came out, told me that the publication day for your first book is a funny thing. You anticipate it, and it feels like such a momentous event, that when you wake up that morning, you expect everything will be different. Only, it’s not.

And she was right! I woke up Tuesday morning feeling exactly the same as I did the day before. I updated my Facebook status to announce that I was now officially published, and after a fleeting moment of excitement, I went downstairs to make breakfast. I should add that I was dressed in my oh-so-glamorous sweatpants, toting a box of Kleenex and two kids (All three of us had horrible colds).

I spent most of the morning wiping runny noses, and answering e-mails and phone calls from my well-wishing and awesome friends. And then, since it was a nice day outside, and I felt I had to do something, I changed out of my sweatpants and took the kids to the bakery to get celebratory cookies (my son’s idea). When my husband got home, all four of us went out to dinner, where I tried to keep my youngest son from throwing his rice instead of eating it.

After my kids went to bed, I spent my normal few hours at the computer, working on revising my next book, stressing out about whether or not it was any good or whether it would ever sell. And then I stopped and looked The September Sisters up on Amazon. It had reviews! And a sales rank! People were buying it and reading it, and I realized that everything was different, even though nothing really was. I was now a published author, and no matter what else would happen from this day forward, I would always be a published author. I felt utterly overwhelmed and amazed and proud. . .and then I went downstairs to do the dishes!

Thankyou so much for guest posting today, Jillian! The September Sisters is out now :)

Happy 105th Birthday, Dr. Suess!

2009-03-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

Today would have been Dr. Suess' 105th Birthday.. he's the Google picture of the day. Mr. Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Suess, was a personal favourite of mine as a kid, and still is today. I love the rhymes and the nonsense words and the fun little characters.

My all-time favourite Dr Suess book is The Lorax. Though it's actually quite sad, I'm not entirely sure what appealed to me about it when I was a kid! There is a bit of hope in the end, though :)

'Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.'
- The Lorax

Some parting words from the doctor:

'I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!'

I was never a big fan of The Cat in the Hat. What's your favourite Dr Suess book?

In My Mailbox (II)

2009-02-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

I've decided I will keep doing In My Mailbox (which is hosted by The Story Siren). It was good fun last week :)

This week's mailbox featured...

Chains - Laurie Halse Anderson

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom.

Before I Die - Jenny Downham

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.

Bad Girls Don't Die - Katie Alender

When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

How To Ditch Your Fairy - Justine Larbalestier

Welcome to New Avalon, where everyone has a personal fairy. Though invisible to the naked eye, a personal fairy, like a specialized good luck charm, is vital to success. And in the case of the students at New Avalon Sports High, it might just determine whether you make the team, pass a class, or find that perfect outfit. But for 14-year-old Charlie, having a Parking Fairy is worse than having nothing at all—especially when the school bully carts her around like his own personal parking pass. Enter: The Plan. At first, teaming up with arch-enemy Fiorenza (who has an All-The-Boys-Like-You Fairy) seems like a great idea. But when Charlie unexpectedly gets her heart’s desire, it isn’t at all what she thought it would be like, and she’ll have resort to extraordinary measures to ditch her fairy. The question is: will Charlie herself survive the fairy ditching experiment?

Going Too Far - Jennifer Echols

All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far...and almost doesn't make it back.John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won't soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won't be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge -- and over....

Arrival - Charlotte McConaghy

It has been foretold. Two worlds will collide when six mortals from Earth enter Paragor through a portal.
They will face forces of terrifying darkness.
Their journey will become the stuff of legends.
It is time.

I've already finished How To Ditch Your Fairy and Bad Girls Don't Die. They were both great! And Bad Girls Don't Die was actually genuinely creepy (well I thought so at least), more on that in my review. Right now I've started on Arrival, with the author started writing when she was only 14!

Love The Cover, Justine Larbalestier

2009-02-27T17:12:00.001-08:00

The new paperback cover for Justine Larbalestier's How To Dtich Your Fairy is officially awesome. I love the lettering and everything is just genuinely cool. Plus, the blue and purple is pretty :)

The image isn't exactly true to the story. But it's eyecatching and awesome regardless!

I just finished reading this book (with the original cover) the other day. I thought it was pretty awesome.. the Aussie YA Alliance is going to be doing some fun stuff with it because Justine is an Aussie author, so stay tuned...

An Interview With Laura Whitcomb, Author of The Fetch!

2009-02-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today's author interview is with Laura Whitcomb, author of the YA novels A Certain Slant of Light and The Fetch. I just posted my review of The Fetch which you can read here. Laura was kind enough to talk about her new supernatural romance, The Fetch...

To begin with, can you tell us a little about your new book, The Fetch?

THE FETCH is a supernatural romance about Calder, who is a death escort or Fetch. He breaks his vows and leaves heaven to come to earth. He falls in love, but his leaving his post has caused an imbalance in heaven, on earth, and in the Land of Lost Souls (where the ghosts dwell.) Calder has to make things right.

The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

What inspired you to write this story?

I was walking my Min Pin puppy in the park one day when the idea came to me that there were three very interesting characters in history that were all part of one chain of dramatic true events: Rasputin, the controversial holy man who was confidant to Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family; Anastasia, youngest daughter of Nicholas and famed for the rumor that she survived after her family was executed; and her brother Alexis, heir to the throne and a victim of hemophilia. I love writing the paranormal understory of a slice of history or a piece of well-known literature, so I decided to write a story about these three real people and offer the supernatural "what if . . . " version of their adventure.

Have you always been interested in Russian history/the Romanov family?

I've always been intrigued by the Romanovs and Rasputin, but I hadn't done much reading on the subject.

The Romanov Family

Did you have to do a lot of research for the book?

Yes. I read several books, watched three films and read parts of many other books. And I spent hours on the Internet finding little facts that were not in the other sources. I even emailed a history professor to ask a couple of tricky questions.

The Fetch had a very well developed plot line - how long did it take you to write?

I thought about the plot and took notes for a few months before I started really writing. The first draft of the novel took about 7 months. And rewriting went on for over a year with the help of my editor. (A not so well-kept secret about novelists -- most of the time we spend writing is rewriting.)

Did exploring death and the afterlife through The Fetch cause you to evaluate your own beliefs (or even consider your own mortality)?

I've thought about life and death and heaven and hell and God for decades. I've loved reading various authors like C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Madeleine L'Engle, and others, on the subject of the afterlife. It's not a frightening concept to me. I've known many people who are on the other side now. My gut instinct is that there is great good and much love in that place we try to, but can never truly, imagine.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

And finally, what can we look forward to from you in the future?

I am just starting now to work on a sequel to my first novel, A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT. I hope to write more about Calder and to continue creating supernatural understories about historical events or pieces of literature. And I imagine most of them will include romances. I so enjoy writing love stories.

Thanks so much Laura! You can read my review of The Fetch here! :)

Review: The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb

2009-02-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb, author of A Certain Slant of Light, is a 'supernatural romance'. It's about Calder who is a Fetch - he fetches the souls of the dead and escorts them to heaven. At one death scene he visits he falls for a women he sees there, and breaks all the rules by making the rash decision of going backwards through Heaven and occupying the body of a living person in pursuit of her.

While The Fetch is marketed as a supernatural romance, that is a bit of an over simplification. When Calder goes from Heaven to Earth he comes out during the chaos of the Russian Revolution, in Rasputin's body! So the book is a sort of cross between historical fiction and the supernatural. I really enjoyed this historical aspect of the novel. It was really interesting! Calder ends up taking Anastasia and Alexis Romanov all around the world so the book gives a look at the world during the early 20th Century.

'Time is not the same everywhere. On earth it is as constant as the planets pulling against one another in their dance around the sun, but in the Aisle of Unearthing time stops and starts, stretches, and flies forward depending on how many earthlings are dying at any given hour.'

It was a long book with a very well-developed plot line. When I first started reading it I thought it was just going to be a basic story - Calder goes to Earth, gets the girl, goes back. But it went much further past that and then further again! Fantastic!

The writing was beautiful and poetic. And the ideas explored were thought-provoking. I recommend you go have a read of The Fetch if you're at all into historical fiction, anything supernatural or just after a good read. I didn't think there was a great deal of romance in the book, so that could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you like!

Also, for those who are interested in book design. The edges of the pages are all rough and uneven - Lemony Snicket style, I suppose to give the book an old/authentic look. I don't know?! It's fun though.

I give The Fetch 4/5 stars :) Also, I asked Laura Whitcomb some questions about the book and I'll be putting them up tonight, so check back!