Winners & How Aussie Are You? & Links

Congrats to

 #27 Grace 

and #17 Jan von Harz 

who were selected from Random.org

Your choice of one book from this selection OR

 you can also choose from the Jaclyn Moriarty Ashbury/Brookfield series.

I hope there's a book somewhere in there that you're hanging out for :) 

And thanks so much everyone for entering! You guys rock :)

Two important links

One: CHECK THIS OUT - Over @ The Book Smugglers, Jaclyn Moriarty's The Ghosts of Ashbury High (Dreaming of Amelia) gets 10/10! One of the best books they have ever read! It's also the best review I've read of the book. Here's some quotes from the review - (which instantly made me nostalgic and feel like reading the book all over again):

• All is flawlessly linked and you only realise that in the EXTRAORDINARY ending when every.Single.Plot.Line comes together and my head exploded (gothically speaking) with the sheer brilliance of this book.
• I can’t think of a single thing that does not work in this book and I loved it with every bit of my being (brain and heart!) and I re-read it before writing this review and still it managed to evoke this feeling of greatness and warmth and it is awesome and I URGE you to go and read it. Your life may depend on it!!!!! You know, gothically speaking.

Two: Angie @ Addicted to Books has completed her ??? round of revisions on NIkki's Wish and is holding a contest to celebrate. Up for grabs: a 50 page LBL critique (and she's very good - if you have a WIP, you want this). Plus two winners choose a book from The Book Depository. Check it out

Now for this dooby I stumbled across @ Goodgollymissholly
How Australian Are You?

So, the one's in blue are a YES from me. I'm pretty sure some of them are kinda international but things that apparently characterise Australians. Like Lemon, Lime and Bitters? Surely that's not just an Australian thing? My score's @ the end. Any that you've done that are Australian? 

I also wrote a few comments, b/c, you know, I just couldn't help myself... :)

• Heard a kookaburra in person
• Slept under the stars
• Seen a koala
• Visited Melbourne
• Watched a summer thunderstorm
• Worn a pair of thongs
• Been to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock)
• Visited Cape York
• Held a snake
• Sang along with Khe San
• Drank VB
• Visited Sydney
• Have seen a shark
• Have used Aussie slang naturally in a conversation
• Had a conversation with an indigenous Australian (Aboriginal) (really? who hasn't?)
• Eaten hot chips from the bag at the beach
• Walked/climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
• Used an outside dunny (we had one for three years...)
• Seen Chloe in Young & Jackson’s
• Slept on an overnight train or bus
• Been to Sydney’s Mardi Gras
• Have gone bush-bashing (fave childhood pastime - grew up in the Blue Mountains)
• Taken a sickie (surely this is a world-wide phenomenon?)
• Been to see a game of Aussie Rules football
• Have seen wild camels
• Gone skinny dipping
• Done a Tim Tam Slam
• Ridden in a tram in Melbourne
• Been at an ANZAC day Dawn Service
• Watched a sunrise or sunset
• Held a wombat
• You have a favourite Wiggle (Anthony - Blue :)
• Been on a roadtrip of 800km or more
• Seen the Great Australian Bight in person
• Had a really bad sunburn (it's a tradition for me - I'm the palest of white...)
• Visited an Aboriginal community
• Seen a redback spider (kept some as pets when i was a teen. they didnt thrive... :)
• Have watched Paul Hogan
• Seen Blue Poles in person (?)
• Eaten Vegemite (not even interested. eww)
• Thrown a boomerang
• Seen the Kimberleys
• Given a hitch-hiker a lift
• Been to Perth
• Have tried Lemon, Lime and Bitters (who hasn't?)
• Tried playing a didgeridoo (yes and FAIL. It was hard)
• Seen dinosaur footprints
• Eaten Tim Tams
• Been to Darwin
• Touched a kangaroo 
• Visted the Great Barrier Reef
• Listened to Kevin Bloody Wilson
• Killed a Cane Toad
• Gone to a drive-in theatre (loads. Is this particularly Aussie?)
• Have read and own books by Australian authors 
• Visited Adelaide
• Know the story behind “Eternity”
• Been camping
• Visited Brisbane
• Been in an outback pub
• Know what the term “Waltzing Matilda” actually means
• Gone whale watching
• Listened to Slim Dusty (unfortunately ;)
• Own five or more Australian movies or TV series (I dont buy them, but I love Aussie films)
• Sang along to Down Under
• Have stopped specifically to look at an historic marker by the side of the road
• Eaten a Four N Twenty pie
• Surfed at Bondi (swam there, but can't surf...)
• Watched the cricket on Boxing Day (not my idea of fun, but every summer cricket was pretty much on all day long at my place)
• Visited Hobart
• Eaten kangaroo (for the first time a few weeks ago @ a friend's BBQ)
• Seen a quokka
• Visited Canberra
• Visited rainforests
• Used a Victa lawnmower
• Travelled on a tram in Adelaide
• Used a Hills hoist
• Visited Kata Tjuta
• Used native Australian plants in cooking
• Visited the snow
• Chosen a side in Holden VS Ford (HOLDEN. choosing sides was big out in the country where I spent my teen years as was watching the Bathurst 1000)
• Visited the desert (nah, but I've read Stolen which was sensory enough to make me feel like I was in the desert :)
• Been water skiing (another FAIL. I'm unco)
• Read The Phantom
• Visited Parliament House
• Gone spotlighting or pig-shooting (i didnt shoot anything though - along for the ride)
• Crossed the Nullarbor
• Avoided swimming in areas because of crocodiles
• Listened to AC/DC
• Called someone a dag
• Voted in a Federal Election
• Have been swimming and stayed between the flags
• Had a possum in your roof
• Visited the outback
• Travelled over corrugated roads
• Hit a kangaroo while driving
• Been well outside any mobile phone coverage (not hard to do...)
• Seen an emu
• Have woken to the smell of bushfires
• Subscribed to RRR
• Patted a pure-bred dingo
• Seen the Oils live

73/102 :) Not bad...

If you give it a go - let me know and I'll come and compare our Aussieness :)

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing ... and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago. Then she meets Ryan and Carly has to decide ... Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy? (from Penguin: publisher's site)


I was hanging out to read this because:

• Melina Marchetta mentioned it as a fave read of 2009.
•  author Julia Lawrinson said: 'If you only read one book this year ... it should be Kirsty Eagar's Raw Blue …" 
• with a 19 year old protag and a 26 year old love interest, it's my kind of fave upper YA
• surfing, Sydney, haunted past, Aussie YA :)

Mate, Raw Blue is so Australian, hey? It is also so authentic that I experienced little pools of tension in my gut and tiny bubbles of hope that Carly would be okay. A powerful, raw and beautiful novel that now sits proudly on my all time faves shelf.


It has this languid, quietly intense pace which you sit back in the pocket, holding your breath. I was only a fifth in when I was startled to discover that Carly had gotten under my skin in a way that a literary character hasn't for a very long time. I was crazily invested in her and felt all ripped up and torn inside-out as the novel progressed. I so wanted her to be okay.


Carly is such an awesome protag - 19, tough surfer girl, vulnerable and alone, hurting (after a traumatic/shocking event @ schoolies) not letting anyone in. Enter Ryan - surfer, 26. With his own dodgy/dangerous past. And, he likes Carly. The scenes of them meeting and starting to hang out and then Carly deciding whether to trust Ryan - it's mesmerising and lip-biting and beautiful and painful all at once. 


These characters are contemporary YA at it's best.


The characters and dialogue were not only distinctly Australian, but they were so nuanced and authentic that I felt like I was eavesdropping on real life. I loved the surfing scenes, where the ocean was like a living, breathing all-consuming force. Kirsty has such a way with words that you  are engaged in the scene with all your five senses. 


Also, I have to mention Danny, one of my fave characters. A 15 year old surfer with synaesthesia  (so completely fascinating) who befriends Carly and was an awesome dude in general.


I read this in one gulping heap and even now Carly's story continues to linger. Not only was this novel brilliantly engaging - but it's also an important novel about hope and pain and healing. I've re-read it already, as if hoping to absorb some of the magic of Kirsty's writing into my own (ahh, hasn't happened yet). Kirsty Eagar has shot straight up onto my list of whoa-crazy-good authors.


Her sophomore novel, Saltwater Vampires, is out in September and I am so there! If it's half as good as Raw Blue - it'll be the best paranormal out there :)

I hardly ever give 5 stars

 I only like to save them for the best of the absolute best.

This is 5 stars all the way.

Thanks to Between the Lines who sent me this book after I won a comp :)


Kirsty's Website
Raw Blue @ goodreads
Trailer for Saltwater Vampires

CBCA 2010 Winner for Young Adult Category

The winner 

of the coveted 

Children's Book Council of Australia Best Book of the Year:

Jarvis 24 by David Matzenthen

So far, Marc E. Jarvis has lost a white football boot, a school tie and a best friend.

But there's more in store for him when he completes Work Experience at a local car yard – where his world is truly rocked, shocked and shaken.

Then Marc meets Electra.

And nothing will ever be the same again . . .

A story of true friends, crazed coaches, shooting stars, and loves lost and found.

And the Two Honour Books:

A Small Free Kiss in The Dark - Glenda Millard

 Two young boys, an old tramp, a beautiful teenage dancer, and the girl's baby--ragtag survivors of a sudden war--form a fragile family, hiding out in the ruins of an amusement park. As they scavenge for good, diapers, and baby formula, they must stay out of sight of vicious gangs and lawless soldiers. At first they rely on Billy, the only adult in the group. But as civil life deteriorates, Billy starts to fall apart. Skip, who is barely into his teens, must take over and lead them on a search for sanctuary. This complex and haunting exploration of life on the edge and what it takes to triumph over adversity is a story about the indomitable nature of hope.

The Winds of Heaven - Judith Clarke

 Clementine thinks her cousin Fan is everything that she could never be: beautiful, imaginative, wild. The girls promise to be best friends and sisters after the summer is over, but Clementine’s life in the city is different from Fan’s life in dusty Lake Conapaira. And Fan is looking for something, though neither she nor Clementine understands what it is.                        

Printz Honor Winner Judith Clarke delivers a compassionate, compelling novel with the story of a friendship between two young women, and of the small tragedies that tear them apart from each other, and from themselves. 

Other three on the short-list which missed out:

• Stolen - Lucy Christopher
• Liar - Justine Labalestier
• Loving Richard Feynman - Penny Tangey 

And go here to read the winners and honour books in all the other categories. (Glenda Millard also has an honour book in the Children's Picture Book of the Year) And Lisa Shanahan wins Early Childhood Book of the Year - but I kinda wish she would write another YA, as I loved loved loved her YA title My Big Birkett.

And yay for National Book Week which starts next week. All sort of cool and funky things happening in libraries and book shops and schools all around Australia.

Sorry to all my international readers who I may bore with all these Aussie YA loving posts :)

Queensland Premier's Literary Awards

Australia's most exceptional literary talents, well known and aspiring, are recognised in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards.


The short-list this year has five titles:

• Phillip Gwyne -- Swerve (Penguin)
• Justine Larbalestier -- Liar (Allen & Unwin)
• Scott Westerfeld -- Leviathan (Simon Pulse)
• Melina Marchetta -- The Piper's Son (Penguin)
• Richard Yaxley -- Drink the Air (self-published)

I've read the top 4, but the 5th, by Richard Yaxley, is self-published (!)
So well done getting short-listed on a self-pub.

Husband and wife Justine and Scott are up against each other :)

I loved Swerve, great Aussie male POV.

But, my pick for this would be Marchetta's The Piper's Son, which is (obviously) being nominated in the YA section, but it's not really a traditional YA title at all. YA Highway featured an outstanding review of The Piper's Son.

Winners announced Tuesday 31st of August.

Here's a link to previous winners in the YA category who include authors Markus Zusac, Judith Clarke, Joanne Horniman, David Metzenthen, Martine Murray & Ursula Dubosarsky.

Also, *drumroll*, tomorrow we will finally find out who takes out this years title of Young Adult Book of The Year from CBCA. The notables list had 22 titles - the following six made it onto the short-list:

• Stolen by Lucy Christopher
• A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard
• Loving Richard Feynman by Penny Tangey
• Liar by Justine Larbalestier
• Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen
• The Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke

Can't wait to find out who the 2010 winner is :)

And, for those who are interested, the 2009 category winners

Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams

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. (blurb)








Beatle Meets Destiny has all the makings of an Aussie YA cult classic. 


Set in Melbourne, it's completely charming with it's off-beat feel,  whimsical yet sexy romance and huge belly-aching moments. This book is ridiculously good, refreshing, original and completely addictive.


What's it about? In Gabrielle's words taken from We Love YA
I threw my two main characters together with a kiss at the end of the first chapter, and then added an extra girlfriend, a stalker, a stolen tapestry, a teacher/student romance, some superstitions, astrology, feng shui and a kooky mother and it all kind of kicked along from there. 


And what a sweet, sexy, inspirational kiss it is :)


My attempt @ a mini synopsis/teaser thingy: Beatle meets Destiny and and she's charming and he's hot and they kiss and have it going on... only Beatle already has a girlfriend of three years, who's sweet and stuck by him though some intense stuff. Meanwhile, Destiny gets herself all tangled up with a stalker and some arty drama with her next-door neighbour and Beatle finds his sister making out with his English teacher (who just happens to be Destiny's older brother). There's lots about twins (so funny! Beatle's a twin, but two months older than his sister) and some laughs about astrology and fate and a large cast of friends and family who each have their own pocket of individuality to add.


There's tension about what will happen with the mess Beatle makes for himself, but even as it builds, it's so quirky and whimsical and teenager-y that you're just enjoying the ride and the tension is a niggling feeling lurking behind the mayhem of it all.


The characters are theatrical and kooky and I love them for leaping off the page and into my heart. I want to hang out with them :)


It has a Moriarty-esque feel about it. The seemingly random threads all tying together in a belly-aching, extraordinarily twisted and awesome way. The climax is one of the best I've ever read. So funny it was almost painful, so cringe-y (for poor poor Beatle) that I almost couldn't bear to read it. So brilliant that it left me stunned - how did she co-ordinate it so well?

Also, the dialogue: snappingly awesome and witty and whimsical and just. so. true.

Did I mention that I grinned and laughed a lot? And that I read it in one afternoon and re-read most of it the following day?

If I could, I'd put a copy of this book in everyone's hands and the world would be a brighter place :)

5 stars of whimsical brilliance and a place of honour with my favourite books of all time

Snippets from an interview with Gabrielle Williams:

“I think there are a lot of books out there for young adults which have a grim storyline – bad things happen to kids in books,” said Gabrielle Williams. “But I wanted to write a book about kids that are pretty happy – they’re not self-mutilating, they’re not Emos, they’re not totally depressed, and they don’t hate the world.”


"I really think teenagers are gorgeous and I know they can give you grief. But generally they are lovely and they are experiencing the world – and it’s so exciting and interesting.”

Stuff you should know

• Beatle Meets Destiny is being made into a major feature film (and while the book is set in Melbourne, they're thinking of doing the shoot in Ireland)!
• It's also a 2010 notable for CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia).
• And, on the short-list for the Prime Ministers Award (which comes with a $100 000 tax free prize). It's up against Stolen, but I'm totally rooting for Beatle Meets Destiny to win (and Stolen can win CBCA :) Stolen was powerful and lingering, but Beatle is quirky and cool and totally my thing. 
• Also, selected for the Books Alive Campaign - one of the 50 books you can't put down.
• The best thing about being nom'ed for the biggest Australian awards is every respectable public library in Australia should carry the book (as part of national book week, Aug).

Read the first chapter here. The first half of the chapter you can see the narration style sometimes used throughout and the second half is Beatle meeting Destiny and it's just so grin-worthy you'll crush on them straight away.

*the story is told from Beatle's POV, Destiny's POV, has small anecdotes throughout and sometimes adopts a slight omnipresent-style narration. 


EDIT: Due for US release on the first of October 2010.

Winners of As you Wish by Jackson Pearce

Jackson Pearce and As You Wish :)

Using the random number thingy 

I got #19...recently agented Kara 

Whoo Hoo! 

Which was kinda cool considering her smiling face @ the end of my post

Anyway, I thought, why not give away a second copy? 

And so #28 was chosen

The ever-so-funky Bee - yay!

Have a great weekend guys. It's Saturday night here and the kids are all in bed and I'm back to my book - Beatle Meets Destiny - which is a startlingly good debut, very Moriarty-esque, brilliant and funny and makes me want to weep over my own floundering MS... (i should be writing, really. But, the book... so good).

x Nomes

Hi5: First chapters that hooked me

A meme hosted by Cara @Chasing Words, Anne @Potter, Percy and I and me...


This weeks topic: First chapters that had you hooked. In no particular order, here's some YA books that sucked me in from the start:

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusac
Read first chapter here

How funny is it? And it just gets funnier. And then, impossibly, even funnier.

And it's so Australian and the characters are just brilliant from the first few pages. It's not just amazing voice, it's a bank robbery that's the inciting incident for the whole premise of the novel. He's a genius, Zusac.

The Sky Always Hears Me and the Hills Don't Mind by Kristin Cronn-Mills
Read first chapter here

I loved Morgan from the first page and didn't really care what the book was about, I just wanted to read her narration. It also didn't hurt that Rob's cute butt entered the scene on page one... :) "Where has that ass been all my life?" page 1

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Read first chapter here

Collins so smoothly opens with world building. Plus in one chapter she manages to have me in sync with how katniss feels towards her sister and Gale and her dread @ the reaping. And then, the end of chapter one happens and you can't put it down.

Plus, Gale had me @ Catnip :)

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
Read first chapter here

Just. Awesome. You will either want to be Josies BFF by page two, or be her. I remember the first time I read it and after the second page, that feeling of looking forward to hanging out with her for pages and pages to come.

One of the cleverest, teenager-y openings ever.

Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Read first chapter here

First three lines: "I wish I had a boyfriend. I wish he lived in the wardrobe on a coat hanger. Whenever I wanted I could get him out and he's look at me the way boys do in films, as if I'm beautiful."

The prose is so gorgeous. I felt captivated from the first scene. Beautiful book :)



Some runner-ups:

• Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell Has a prologue! And it rocks really hard. Hooked me instantly. No link :( But the first three lines are: I am the maniac behind the wheel of a stolen dune buggy. Dylan Luck is by my side. We are tearing up the desert, searching for proof of God.
• Wintergirls - it's Laurie Halse Anderson and her prose just has me spellbound.
• Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway - her first chapter is just so fun and rocking.
• Dreaming of Amelia because it's Jaclyn Moriarty and I just slip back into my favourite world and her sentences make words shine hard. They make me feel good. "Amelia, eh?," said I.
• The Devil's Staircase by Helen Fitzgerald because the pacing is insane and a litte wild, even startling. Love it.

What books had you hooked from the first chapter?

xx Nomes