March Favourites

The first half of March was a beautiful, dream-like reading month. Back to back good reads and two new fave reads! The second half was littered with DNF books (which means I did get through a lot of titles that are no longer waiting on my TBR). After too many disappointing attempts in a row, I turned to re-reading some old faves which held up on the reread (occasionally a reread doesn't hold the same magic and the book can fall flat). 

Total reads: 9 books and 4 audiobooks

Fave reads of March:

By Your Side by Kasie West 
Light, swoony and unputdownable ~ with just the right amount of character development to add some ache and depth. This is a rainy day comfort read kind of book that was perfect for my reading mood.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
A mesmerising blend of gorgeous writing and mysterious happenings,  this contemporary/fantasy/magical realism/genre-blending novel completely stole my heart. I was hooked after a few chapters but I did not anticipate how much the characters would endear themselves to me. Laura Ruby is a born storyteller and some parts had me feeling like I was inside a fairy tale. This book not only had achey, brilliant, shining characters to fall in love with, but it was also unpredictable and daring and wholly original while remaining full of heart. 

Fave Audiobook for March:

I really enjoyed listening to Salt to the Sea, which has four narrators to match all four teenage perspectives. The story was engaging the whole way through, effortlessly transporting me to another time and place, but it wasn't until the end that I really felt moved. I am absolutely glad I spent time with these characters and heard their stories, this is a story that will linger and that deserved to be told. 

Fave Rereads

I am such an Elizabeth Scott fangirl and I love to periodically revisit her work. Perfect You is one of my faves of hers and it always delivers. She captures teen voice so well, and Will is so dreamy! Ha! Tell Me Three Things was a fave read of 2016 and I'm still loving it <3

How was March for you? Any new fave reads?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top ten authors whose books I own the most of

My first Top Ten Tuesday (which is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish) :)

I always love seeing these posts roll by in my feed and am jumping in today with some pics from my shelves. This was fun to count up how many books I own by certain authors ~ major advantage to long time publishing faves :) All counted up from my shelves ~ not including any ebooks or audiobooks that I own.

First up you should know:

• I don't buy many books -- I am a very happy library addict. 
• I love scrounging around op shops and second hand books stores to find any fave books I need to possess ;)
• I am pretty ruthless with my collection -- I only keep my faves on my shelves and donate/giveaway any other books that accumulate (most recently had a huge clean out when moving house in May ~ I removed over 120 books from my collection then)
• I currently have about 40 books out on loan ~ so I couldn't include them when I went scrounging around my shelves (so my count could be out, haha)

1. John Marsden ~ 14 books

Mostly comprised by the brilliant Tomorrow, When the War Began series. I love Ellie and the gang so much. I finally completed my collection more than ten years after reading them when Coles put them on clearance for $2 (love a bargain!). 

2. Elizabeth Scott ~ 11 books

Elizabeth Scott is one of my all time fave comfort reads. I adore her and am so pleased to own almost her entire catalogue (I'm missing Living Dead Girl ~ which was startling and impressive yet I know I will never reread). My faves of hers are: Stealing Heaven, Miracle and Perfect You

3. Jaclyn Moriarty ~ 10 books

My favourite author! I own all her books to date. These books have all been read at least twice and will be read so many more times. My fave of hers is usually which ever one I happen to be reading ~ too hard to pick. Seriously. (Although I recommend Finding Cassie Carzy if you've yet to try her out)

4. Melina Marchetta ~ 8 books

I love Melina Marchetta. Her books have pride of place on my shelves. I find it hard to pick a fave as it's like  trying to pick your favourite child ~ but I am very happy to have two copies of the gorgeous on The Jellicoe Road ~ stunning, most brilliant book. 

5. Sonya Hartnett ~ 7 books

Sonya Hartnett is a long time fave of mine since I first read Sleeping Dogs when I was 14. Some of these copies have been hard won ~ out of print and gleefully snatched up like hidden treasure from hours spent scrounging around second hand books shops. There are still a few more of hers I would love to own! I read Wilful Blue about 5 times during year 11 and 12. I felt it was some kind of personal manifesto, haha (although it is objectively one of her weaker titles). She is amazing. 

6. Liane Moriarty ~ 6 books

I have all 6 of Liane's gorgeous books (Also I love how she is right next to her sister Nicola Moriarty on my shelves). I personally prefer the cute little trade paperbacks for sizing but am happy to have her latest three in first edition release :) My faves of hers are Three Wishes and the Husband's Secret ! but all of them are brilliant. 

After this I have a massive tie for authors whom I own FOUR books of:

Sherryl Jordan ~ New Zealand author whom I most nostalgically love and adore. My fave of hers is Winter of Fire.
Lisa Schroeder ~ love her verse novels <3
Sara Zarr 
C K Kelly Martin ~ I also have a bonus book on my kindle. Can't wait for her upcoming release!
Cath Crowley ~ Still collecting ~ I have one more Gracie Faltrain book to find and bring home (and hanging out for The Howling Boy)
Kasie West ~ I am fast feeling the same way about Kasie West that I feel about Elizabeth Scott. My fave of hers is The Distance Between Us.
Laurie Halse Anderson
Sarah Ockler ~ I know this number will grow the more Ockler writes.
Sarah Dessen ~ I was sure I had more but must've lost some along the way...

Which author do you own the most books of? 

Do you collect books or pass them on?

(This post would be entirely different if it was authors whom I have read the most books of... So many authors I used to burn through at the library)

Heart Beat by Elizabeth Scott

Life. Death. And...Love?

Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.

But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.

Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma-the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia-New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.

Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death-and maybe, for love?

I love Elizabeth Scott. She is one of my all time fave YA authors. I love the feeling of snuggling up with a new Scott book (she is, thankfully, a prolific writer ;)). Heart Beat has a gut wrenching, painful premise that would make the book hard work to get through were it not for Scott's effortless prose. Scott has this way of writing sparsely, making the emotion more gut wrenching (as opposed to waxing poetic about all the feelings). 

I liked Heart Beat a lot but it wasn't an easy read. Emma's emotions cloud everything and being in her head space made me feel like I needed a breath of fresh air. I hate confrontation and am a huge peacemaker and -- despite the emotional turmoil that consumes Emma -- I was so desperate for her to make peace with Dan, for the fog to lift, for some peace and resolution. At times the conflict felt repetitive, but that may have been me projecting where I wanted the story to go :) It was a really emotional read -- so much grief, and yet no room to grieve. It's a doozy of a premise and right up Scott's alley to explore. 

Scott creates some of the best YA boys and Caleb ticks all the boxes (without feeling like he was created to tick boxes, haha). He's mysterious, seriously cute, and behind his bad boy image, he's got a genuinely heart-breaking story. This bad boy is not a typical YA "bad Boy" (i.e. some kind of swaggering, tough, womaniser style kid) -- Caleb has been in trouble with the law and his reputation is earnt, yet his personality is honest and intriguing and, surprisingly, sweet. Scott brings some iconic and swoony moments (rooftop meetings and more) and Emma's scenes with Caleb really lifted some of the heavier themes in the book (even while adding more emotional trauma -- of a different achey kind).

I also really liked the best friend relationship -- which was layered and unique and added more depth to themes being explored. 

Scott has the perfect voice for teens. She writes with immeadiacy and her pacing is spot on. She gets right under her character's skins and writes with a lot of heart. She nails friendships and family and swoony boys -- I recommend all her work, all the time, and Heart Beat is no exception. If the premise interests you at all -- check this one out, it's perfect heart-wrenching contemporary YA fans. 

paperback cover

ebook cover

Aren't all three covers gorgeous? I own the hard cover and it's stunning with it's gold foil accents. I also adore the ebook cover -- and the paperback typography appeals to me as well 

Heartbeat @ goodreads

Thanks to Harlequin Teen for my providing an arc via netgalley

Heartbeat is available now :)

Do you love Elizabeth Scott? What's your fave books of hers?

(mine's Stealing Heaven <3 & I love Will in Perfect You ;) -- also, Miracle is really good, definitely check it out if you haven't yet. Seriously underrated book!)

Miracle by Elizabeth Scott

Megan survived the plane crash—but can she survive the aftermath? An intense, emotional novel from the author ofThe Unwritten Rule and Between Here and Forever.

Megan is a miracle. At least, that’s what everyone says. Having survived a plane crash that killed everyone else on board, Megan knows she should be grateful just to be alive. But the truth is, she doesn’t feel like a miracle. In fact, she doesn’t feel anything at all. Then memories from the crash start coming back.
Scared and alone, Megan doesn’t know whom to turn to. Her entire community seems unable—or maybe unwilling—to see her as anything but Miracle Megan. Everyone except for Joe, the beautiful boy next door with a tragic past and secrets of his own. All Megan wants is for her life to get back to normal, but the harder she tries to live up to everyone’s expectations, the worse she feels. And this time, she may be falling too fast to be saved

I am such an Elizabeth Scott fangirl. Her books are always highlights of my reading year (love that she has been such a prolific writer since debuting with Bloom) and Miracle was no different. 

Quiet, unassuming and utterly compelling. This novel was, in parts, relentlessness and terrifying. Yet Scott balances it beautifully with hope and the tiniest spark of life just in all the right places.

I love how Scott writes the bare bones. These succinct, achey sentences. Not quite telling the full story and yet creating a perfect whole, somehow. This style, written sparingly, brings so much depth.

The thing is: I read it whole one quiet afternoon. Found it utterly compelling and heartbreaking and a touch surreal.

And now, weeks later, I am still thinking about it.

I am not ashamed to say I cried in this book. Not just for Megan, but maybe in part for myself. Even though I have no cause to suffer from PTSD, I think all of us can relate to those feelings in some way.

This book felt like the real deal. Not another YA book with a gimmicky catchy hook. Not trying to please a crowd. But as if it was written from somewhere deep inside the character's soul. I don't know how Elizabeth Scott does it. But I hope she never stops.

I wasn't intending to review this due to time. But I just wanted to say something because this book has said something to me. I loved it. I recommend it.

Miracle on goodreads

As I Wake by Elizabeth Scott

Ava is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There's only one problem: Ava can't remember any of them - and can't shake the eerie feeling that she's not who they say she is.

Ava struggles to break through her amnesiac haze as she goes through the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn't know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . . but only in exchange for her trust.


As I Wake is rather unlike any book I have ever read. The cover matches the contents brilliantly, it’s smokey and mysterious, gorgeous and a little bit eerie and, like the girl on the front, I felt head-achey trying to get my mind around it. 

I really do love Elizabeth Scott. Every book she writes, she surprises me: she does have a signature writing style but sometimes it is funny, cute or quirky, other times heartfelt and other times barren yet full of depth. As I Wake is written in a sparse style of prose, so the reader is instantly dropped into the plot with no preamble or reasoning. 

It opens with a girl in a world she does not remember, having headaches and memories of another world, another life. Nothing makes sense to Ava, and Scott puts her readers firmly in Ava’s shoes: I felt like the plot was swirling around me and it was hard to grasp all the pieces ~ just like Ava was struggling to make sense of it. Plot-wise, you have to discover for yourself, but it is a little bit The Adoration of Jenna Fox, parallel universe-y, dystopia, soft sci-fi elements, a dash of contemporary high school and there’s a love story in there too :) 

The whole thing has an incredibly eerie undertone. At times I felt uneasy, hopeless. Yet there were brief moments of beauty and compassion among the sadness and confusion. 

Like the writing, the world building is sparse. It is very much about one girl in this one crossroads moment of her life. The world(s) are not explained, details are sketchy ~ what it strong is the mystery, the emotions, the sensations of it all. It was hard for me to picture everything, but I still felt pulled into the story. 

This book may frustrate many readers. But I am firmly an Elizabeth Scott fangirl. I just love her stuff. Anyone else may not have been able to pull this off in so few words, with only splashes of detail and barely-there explanations for plot twists and turns. I thought it was gorgeous and compelling and I honestly felt swirly while reading it, and it has a strange lingering effect now. It is odd, that’s for sure, but it worked for me :) 

Conclusion: this is rather like a book you read while having a dream, all swirly and out of reach. It was a dream-like reading experience. Regarding the love story, it is more surreal and fairytale-vibe than true, but I easily slipped into it, I think it matched the whole thing superbly (and I always fall for Scott's boys. She has a swoony gift).

I don’t know if this is the book for you ~ hard to know if you will admire it or if it will drive you crazy? *shrugs* but maybe my review has evoked a little of how this book felt for me. I am defintely a fan because it's Elizabeth Scott (and I can be biased like that ;))


As I Wake @ goodreads
Me fan-girling over Elizabeth Scott (and talking about my fave Elizabeth Scott books)

Elizabeth Scott Week and GIVEAWAY

I *adore* Elizabeth Scott

She is one of my absolute favourite comfort read authors. I have often wondered what it is about her books that are so appealing to me. Here's some reasons why she's awesome:

She writes authentically for teens. She captures the teen voice so well and is never derivative or preachy. Her books are not bogged down by extended metaphors or "lessons". She's seamless and subtle in her approach.

Reading her books are such an effortless experience (okay ~ so maybe Living Dead Girl and Grace are a bit harrowing). I know I can sink and relax. Her prose is uncomplicated and breezy. She's funny ~ often snappy dialogue and gorgeous insights to different personality types.

She's diverse (which is making this list hard to do as some of her books are hilarious but others are tender and serious... moving on...) She can be nostalgic, whimsical, intense, heart-broken, funny, startling and ache-y. All of her books are unique to each other. She does not use a formula or have a signature pattern ~ it's refreshing and astonishing (I do not know many authors who showcase this same diversity with such ease and finesse)

Her books hold-up to the re-read test (you know when you read a book and love it but then on the re-read it's decidedly not so awesome?). In fact, I have lost count of the number of times I have picked up certain books of hers off my shelf and curled up and sought out my favourite passages ~ often ending up re-reading the whole book.

Her BOYS. Okay ~ SWOON. Gosh ~ my top literary crush list is peppered with Scott boys. Some of them win over my heart with just a few adept lines when they are introduced. She does not cheat when creating her love interests by making them the standard HOT boy. They are nuanced and not perfect and not OMG dazzling to look at ~ but much hotter in my mind than other characters who authors make look perfect.

There is probably more I could say. But you don't need an essay to tell that I love her :)

Really, I just love sinking into her books. Good good times ~ and a little bundle of her books have made it onto my favourites shelf for different reasons. My top 3 so far are:

STEALING HEAVEN is my absolute favourite of hers

It's gorgeous and swoon-y and ache-y and pretty much just entirely perfect. 

If you love contemporary YA you should ABSOLUTELY read it.

So here's your chance :)

Open internationally via The Book Depository

I am giving away one copy of my fave Elizabeth Scott book 'Stealing Heaven'

Open one week (until the end of May)
~ fill in the form below :)

Elizabeth Scott's Bibliography (As I Wake will be out Sept 2011)

German edition of Stealing Heaven :D

Love You Hate You Miss You - Elizabeth Scott

It's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her. And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone, and Amy doesn't want to talk about it. No one knew Julia like she did. No one gets what life is without her.
No one understands what it's like to know that it's all your fault.
Amy's shrink thinks she should keep a journal but instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia. And as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past holds its own secrets--and that the present deserves a chance. from front flap
It's no secret that I am huge Elizabeth Scott fan. She is so diverse in what she writes. If you were to read Something, Maybe, you'd think she was a quirky, light-hearted rom-com kinda author. My librarian recently read Living Dead Girl and was astounded when I said her other work is often funny and sweet. Living Dead Girl so haunted my fave librarian that she is scared to let young teenagers read it :) Love You Hate You Miss You is edgier than some of her other work (nothing like Living Dead Girl though) and it's one of my favourite reads this year.
On first appearances, LYHYMY may seem like a cliche story-line: girl's vibrant best friend dies, girl is somehow responsible, girl seeing a psych and trying to move on with life. The thing Elizabeth Scott does best is take a ordinary situation and not only make it startlingly original, but also infuse it with real, living breathing characters.
LYHYMY is extremely readable. I was effortlessly turning the pages. It got me from page one where I instantly fell in love with Amy's voice. She's honest and refreshing and she worked her way into my heart.
Amy's parents are portrayed awesomely. Unlike many novels, her parents are together and happily in love. So in love in fact, that this in itself is a source of conflict for Amy - who makes three a crowd. I love how this impacts on Amy's decision in seeking out that belongingness with Julia.
And, although Julia was her bff, not all is as it seems - as the title suggests*. Friendships in teen years are complicated and the more you get into the book, the more you see the shades of grey in their relationship. As the book opens, Julia is already dead - yet Scott weaves in back story so brilliantly that you never feel like you are being taken out of the moment. For a dead character - Julia is contagiously vibrant and alive :)
Of course, Scott always has the most crush-worthy of love interests, and she out-did herself with Patrick. He is the quiet, mysterious type. A lot of love interests win over fans hearts by witty lines, looking hot, being romantic, etc, etc. Patrick is more of a typical teenage guy. He stares out the window. A lot. Sometimes he doesn't even talk. When he does, he's not trying to dazzle anyone. Despite Amy's first person POV, Scott really lets us peak into Patrick's soul and he is a fully fleshed out character, with his own set of problems, that you can't help but love. And, just like Scott doesn't write cliché characters, she also knows how to masterfully write those URST** moments. There's a few lines in there you can re-read to try and absorb how she does it.
So, you know, just a heads up that there's a bit of hotness in there :)
Here's a typical Patrick moment:
It was Patrick. He was leaning against the wall, only not so much leaning as looking like he wanted to press through and get outside, get away. For some reason, I thought about asking him if he was okay, and even took an almost-step towards him, but before I could he looked at me and the expression in his eyes sent me walking away as fast as I could. p.151
Elizabeth Scott is also the master of showing, and her understated style of writing only serves to heighten the moments. Sometimes less is more:
When he (Patrick) did, his hand touched mine, and I felt something, a strange, sudden jolt inside of me.
I used to act annoyed whenever Julia talked about Kevin and how she felt a spark every time he touched her, but the truth was, I knew exactly what she meant after that night.
He must've felt that jolt too because he said, "Oh," quietly, almost startled. p36.
It's a novel about friendship and grief and guilt and identity and love. It's an honest story about a girl - you see her bad choices and why she made them. And, it's by Elizabeth Scott, so, obviously, it's a must-read.
For more mature teens - touches on alcohol, drugs, sex and some occasional language.


*It's the coolest title, yeah?
** URST - confession here - I saw this acronym everywhere for a long time before finally figuring our what it meant :) Yeah, I'm out of the loop on the lingo. Un-Resolved Sexual Tension.