some news and stuff :D

Markus Zusak on TV tonight (!)
Tonight on First Tuesday Book Club Markus Zusak* is part of a panel discussing Cult Reads that grip your imagination and never let go. Wahoo! I am pretty pumped for it: ABC @ 10pm (encore screening Sunday 4:30pm)


Anyone planning to tune in? Personally, I DON"T THINK YOU WANT TO MISS IT.


*Aussie author of The Book Thief, I Am The Messenger, etc...

Inside a Dog


I have LONG loved our Australian YA site Inside a Dog ~ and especially get all pumped up every year about The Inkys (even though I am too old to vote...)


If you hadn't heard, Inside a Dog has had a revamp and is looking very snazzy indeed and is also now the baby of Adele (of Persnickety Snark fame).


 Here's Adele having a chat about the site: "It's what I would loosely call a YA Goodreads, except titles can have book trailers, first chapter pdfs and audio book samples attached,  Users can also indicate if they want to read, have read or review any one title and that's indicated on their profile.  We also have a writer in residence every month - they write a minimum of 3 posts each week.  This month is Brian Falkner, next is Gayle Forman etc  There are forum boards and book clubs (public and private) as well as professional resources for teachers/librarians.  I've started posting my snapshot reviews on the site as SnarkyWench." 


It really is worth going and checking out ~ not only does the content ROCK ~ it is also completely been FUNKIFIED ~ for all Aussie and International book lovers :D 

Win some signed Aussie YA


The ever-so- funky Jess from the Tales Compendium is having an INTERNATIONAL give-away featuring three signed Aussie YA books. You should absolutely go check it out.

LOVED this post


Did you guys read Missie @ The Unread Readers post in relation to book blogging and negative reviews and the YA mafia shizz? I JUST LOVE HER and all she had to say.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously—and at great risk—documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

Between Shades of Gray is a stunning, unforgettable story that I really think should be on every readers must-read list (hint, hint ~ that means YOU ;)

It is the sort of book I sometimes think I have to psych myself up to read: because it looks intense and powerful and you know it's going to tug your heart strings. 


HOWEVER, it's not as daunting as you might think: despite the horror you know is about to be unleashed, it's quite effortless to read due to some gorgeous prose. It's a lovely blend of lyrical writing, teen voice and perspective and the scary stuff is lightened in parts due to some interesting characters. It will pull you in and hold you right until the end. 

It's brutal and heartbreaking and eye-opening and a testament to human endurance and the power of hope. 


It's not just a book with a powerful message ~ it's also a compelling story, sure to captivate any reader's heart. Once you start reading it's utterly addictive.  

I've been struggling with writing a review, so instead I am just going to share some personal thoughts about the book ~ hopefully you can get a taste of what I LOVED about it and get a feel for what you can expect:

• I ADORED all the drawing scenes. I love art-y stuff in books and Lena is talented and often looks at the world through an artists eye.
• I REALLY liked exploring right and wrong and morals and integrity against a back ground of survival, where often people have to make hard choice to ensure the survival of loved ones or themselves. Some characters made some tough choices in order to protect loved ones.
• I LOVED seeing how when everything is stripped away (possessions, loved ones, dignity) how the human spirit can soar against that and also how it crumbles. 
• The flashbacks to Lena's life before were awesome, adding some levity and painting a picture of all that had been stripped away. It added sunshine and a bitter-sweet nostalgia. The contrast was masterfully done.
• I think not only did I find this book mesmerising, but it also made me appreciate life and all we have. And, I SO wanted to slip through the pages and share some of my food around. Especially when you see how grateful they are for 'food' that most of us wouldn't even consider eating.
• I was very much compelled to see who would survive and how. It's a book that continually raises the stakes and beloved charcters do not survive no matter how hard you wish it to be so. I read this wide-eyed, equal parts dread and hope for the fate of characters I'd come to love
• I've already loaned my copy out to my mother-law and an older friend and they loved it as well. It's a book you will treasure. It's a book I want my kids to read (when we've moved on past 'The Faraway Tree' etc ;)
• The author's note in the back of this book will break your heart.
• Why, yes, there is a love interest... Andrius, a few years older than Lena, who is arrested at the same time as Lena. I loved the ARC of their relationship and I really liked the guy, hey:

  'He had a strong profile, an angular jaw. A piece of his dishevelled hair fell perfectly against the side of his face. I'd need a soft pencil to draw it. He saw me staring. I turned away quickly.' p 94.

And it's a timely YA release. Although this is a historical novel (which makes it all the more haunting and powerful and memorable), it is a period in history where Stalin (and other world leaders) created their own DYSTOPIAN pockets of society, where people were stolen and hidden away and abused and killed and forgotten. Not only is this a MUST READ for all fans of historical ~ it has FANTASTIC appeal to fans of DYSTOPIA novels.

First Line: 'They took me in my nightgown.' 

Teaser line: 'Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch' p27

It's a beautiful beautiful book. Compelling and haunting and it's up there among my favourites. 


Here's a snippet from Nicole's review @ The Uncommon Nonsense (LOVE her blog insanely. Crazy about her reviews):

"sepetys had a message, simple though it may be, it said: don't forget. some moments were painful and horrible and inhuman.
some moments were inspiring and beautiful in their innocence."

And from Alpha Reader's review (which, I mean, how eloquent is she!!?! In awe...):

Sepetys has managed to replicate what Anne Frank did posthumously with her diary – she has humanized the war. Books about WWII can get bogged down in dry facts and politics. Sepety’s novel is phenomenal because of the human connection. Lina’s perspective is made all the more heartbreaking for her young years. She is a teenage girl who had the world at her fingertips – a talented artist who dreamed of going to university, and a daughter devoted to her family. Until the night her world is turned upside down and inside out. This isn’t just a novel of paradise lost – it’s about a young dreamer who is ripped away from her country and introduced to the harsh realities of an unfair world during turbulent times – but Lina has to realize that paradise is something she can build for herself. 

‘Between Shades of Gray’ is a sadly sublime, and an absolute must-read. You will pass it on to friends and family, and it will have pride of place on your keeper shelf. 

Between Shades of Gray @ goodreads

Between Shades of Gray @ Penguin

Between Shades of Gray Official Site  read an excerpt, watch a youtube (a tear-jerker!), etc :)

Author's Site

Between Shades of Gray comes out in Australia on the 28th of March. Wahoo!!

It is Ruta Sepety's début novel

Thank you thank you to  Penguin Australia for sending me a copy of this book :)

Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers

From the author of Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are comes a gripping story about one girl’s search for clues into the mysterious death of her father. 

When Eddie Reeves’s father commits suicide her life is consumed by the nagging question of why? Why when he was a legendary photographer and a brilliant teacher? Why when he seemed to find inspiration in everything he saw? And, most important, why when he had a daughter who loved him more than anyone else in the world? 

When she meets Culler Evans, a former student of her father’s and a photographer himself, an instant and dangerous attraction begins. Culler seems to know more about her father than she does and could possibly hold the key to the mystery surrounding his death. But Eddie’s vulnerability has weakened her and Culler Evans is getting too close. Her need for the truth keeps her hanging on...but are some questions better left unanswered?

I am a HUGE fan of the lovely Courtney Summers ~ yet I have mixed feelings about this book.

Fall For Anything has a very different vibe to her two previous novels. It is less energetic and in your face. It has a quieter vibe ~ yet I think her writing style is just as brilliant as ever. It feels like a more sophisticated work than her previous novels ~ the prose is gorgeous and the sentiments and themes HIT HARD.

It's a BRILLIANT portrayal of grief and confusion and loss ~ which works particularly well against a back-drop of art and with a main character who is just at that perfect coming-of-age age :).

The emotion just OOZES out of the pages.It's an addictive read ~ grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. I loved the quiet intensity and the way Courtney Summers just throws the reader into the world making you feel all lost and swirly alongside Eddie.

I would give the prose 5 starts straight up. 

BUT as for the actual story ~ for some reason, I just didn't particularly enjoy the plot. There's no doubt it was intense and beautifully, achingly written.  I love the way she built the mystery and the creepy vibe that gives the astute reader clues that Eddie in her grief is oblivious to.

I wanted to crush on Milo ~ but didn't really. He held himself too aloof and some of his actions didn't make sense to me, even in hindsight. One particular secret he kept from Eddie (despite her constant distress) turned out to be so anti-climatic when revealed that it made me wonder why that sub-plot had been so built-up to begin with?

Despite being sucked in and more than a little in awe of so many crush-worthy sentences, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. I felt like the plot floundered a little (I grew tired of the secrecy with Milo and the hopping from one place to the next when I could already see where it was all headed). It creeped me out a smidgen (in a sick in the tummy way) and it just wasn't completely my thing. I found myself feeling uncomfortable while reading this and a bit disturbed, haha.

I recommend this if you are looking for an intense, well-written exploration of grief with a tiny bit of mystery and a creepy guy thrown in :D

Have you guys read this? What did you think?

Fall For Anything @ goodreads

Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler

Things in Delilah Hannaford's life have a tendency to fall apart.

She used to be a good student, but she can't seem to keep it together anymore. Her "boyfriend" isn't much of a boyfriend. And her mother refuses to discuss the fight that divided their family eight years ago. Falling apart, it seems, is a Hannaford tradition.

Over a summer of new friendships, unexpected romance, and moments that test the complex bonds between mothers and daughters, Delilah must face her family's painful past. Can even her most shattered relationships be pieced together again?

Rich with emotion, Sarah Ockler delivers a powerful story of family, love, and self-discovery. (from goodreads)

Sarah Ockler debuted with Twenty Boy Summer ~ an addictive, emotional yet fun must read for fans of contemp YA. I became an instant fan of her writing and themes handled so dexterously for teens. Twenty Boy Summer was like a blend of Sarah Dessen mashed up with The Sky is Everywhere (Jandy Nelson) in a cute little beach read with a huge emotional punch.

Anyways, I was MOST thrilled to read her sophomore novel, Fixing Delilah.

Fixing Delilah is quite different to Twenty Boy Summer, but equally as gorgeous.

Ockler's prose is JUST STUNNING. Gorgeous and lyrical and surprising. It's the sort of book you don't want to skim ahead. Each sentence is written to be savoured ~ it's a book where I'm crushing big time on the writing.  The way Ockler finds the perfect rhythm with her prose, and the eye for details and the gift she has for expressing emotion sets her apart as a talented author to keep your eye on.

As for the story ~ it is another book set over summer. Not at the beach this time, but in a small country town. The plot focus's on relationships:  Delilah's relationships with her mum, her mum's relationship with her sister, family relationships and secrets from the past AND Delilah's relationship with The Boy Next Door.


The Boy Next Door is Patrick and I'm sure he is leaping onto people's literary crush lists all over the world.  He's one guy you really should meet ~ often shirtless, plays guitar, sings, mucks around and is Delilah's childhood playmate. Ockler also knows how to write some verrrry sweet make-out scenes heating it up while keeping it PG. SWOON


It's a classic coming of age. Working through your stuff and growing up, Delilah's character ARC was wonderfully done, subtle and quiet and ultimately touching.


This is very much a book for fans of literary fiction. It's plot may not be as dynamic/addictive as Twenty Boy Summer for some readers, but the setting is just as rich and it's a book you can fall into and find yourself lost in.


I ADORED it and plan on re-reading it. It's on my keepers shelf, guys :)

Thank you thank you thank you Jess for sending me this book (and for giving me Patrick, another literary crush)! :D

Fixing Delilah @ goodreads

Hard Cover v Paperback

Here's a bunch of contemp YA books that are all currently out in hard cover.
They ALL have had a make-over for their up-coming paperback release.

I'm a Paperback Girl: it's cheaper, less chunky and I love the little spine creases that show the readers love. However, sometimes I crush harder on the hard cover's cover. What do you guys think of these books new looks?

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott
hard cover V paperback

Hard cover: I like purple, and I like the denim blue. I like the tentative-ness and the high school-ness and the hint of conflict. I like that the guys feet aren't hairy.

Paperback: Hmm, I do like the red ~ but I don't get it? What is the cover even about? I think I'll need to warm up to this one...

The Unwritten Rule: My fave is the hard cover

The Unwritten Rule @ goodreads

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour

Hard cover: I like it. I love the road trip vibe, the symmetry and the colours, which are nearly sepia, but not. 

Paperback: It's cute and probably had a lot of thought put in. It is kind of funky ~ but only after I spend time with it ~ it doesn't instantly grab me...

My fave: I think I'm liking the hard cover better...

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour @ goodreads

Hard Cover V paperback

The Karma Club

The Karma Club @ goodreads

Both are cute. I probably favour the hard cover (again). I like her eye colour and the sneaky feel ~ the other one is cute but, hey, it does look like yoga (is there yoga in the book?) I think the hard cover is more visually arresting. I DO like how the paperback will match Jessica Brody's upcoming 2011 YA release >>> My Life Undecided

Hard Cover V Paperback

Gimme a Call by Sarah Mylnowski

Gimme a Call @ goodreads

Hard cover: it's cute and fresh and I love the face in the screen and the white space.

Paperback: It's retro and funky and very quirky/fun.

Me?: I'm undecided... I'm thinking I like the paperback best though... (?)

Dirty Little Secrets by C J Omololu

Dirty Little secrets @ goodreads

Conceptually, I like the keyhole design of the paperback ~ but all the black is SO bleak (although the text adds a bit of funk) . I have heard it's a bit of a bleak (but powerful and haunting) kind of read. I think I'll go with the paperback here :)

What do you guys think?

 Are there any here that you think is kicking it's fraternal twin cover's butt?

ALSO... have you read and loved any of these? Most of them look cute and fun. 

All are kind of hovering on my wish-list (none are out in paperback yet...)

Slice by Steven Herrick

A funny, refreshing look at the most awkward time in any young boy's life—from school, girls, and parties to parents, friends, and the dreaded "sex talk"

Darcy Walker is a normal 16-year-old boy—but he can handle that. He can even cope with parents, deal with parties, and soldier through the occasional fight. He's certainly got his infatuation with the beautiful Audrey under control, is clearly the best at spending quality chess-time with his nerdy best friend, Noah, and doesn't blink an eye at the misadventures that can occur when kayaking on a school excursion. He's a teenage boy—he can handle anything. That is, if only he'd learn to keep his mouth closed first.

Slice is set in Katoomba* ~ and I read it while in Katoomba on holidays :) Okay, that's irrelevant to the review, but it made the experience just that more cool, you know?

It's funny
and brilliant
and everything you'd expect from Steven Herrick.

See the watermelon on the cover? It's grinning. I couldn't stop smiling when I read this one.

It was also, sneakily, powerful and life-affirming.

And that's what I LOVE about Steven Herrick. He has characters that feel like you've known them forever. Characters that sneak up on you and then BAM you care about them completely and feel like you're the one sitting down at the dinner table with them. He takes those ordinary, mundane parts of day-to-day life and makes you appreciate them ~ and find the awesomeness in just being alive and being in the moment.

Okay, so this review just got a little Oprah-esque ~ so putting it back on track... This book is FUNNY. Grin-achingly, laugh-out-loud witty and clever and, mate, how I loved it. It's a male POV that makes you simultaneously love all male characters and also feel sorry for them in a lovingly-cringe-y way. Life is not always easy for the adolescent male. Particularly for Darcy who just can't keep his mouth shut (much to my amusement and to his detriment)

I loved it all but in particular, LOVED: 

• the school kayaking trip on the river 
• the shaving scenes 
• the awkward father/son sex talk moments, haha. 
• the romance with Darcy and Audrey. Cute and hilarious and when the kissing scene arrives ~ ahh, it's just grin-worthy and sigh-worthy and makes me all nostalgic :) 
• the whole side-plot with Noah's dad. That's the kind of stuff that just blows me away in books. LOVED it. 

Steven Herrick is one of my all-time (I'm talking ALL-TIME) fave authors. His books are brilliant for teens and still just perfect for adults or anyone really.

* I grew up in The Blue Mountains and lived in Katoomba for 3 years. Love the place :D

Slice @ goodreads
Steven Herrick site (you can order his books (cheaper than bookstores and FREE postage, and get them personally signed)


ALSO> Major drum roll... Steven Herrick has a new book coming out this year and it sounds BRILLIANT and I am most most thrilled. Cannot wait to buy it! Steven Herrick's books are always a guaranteed certainty for me as I know I'll want to keep my copy to re-read and share with my friends and family.

upcoming 2011 YA novel:

 What a spunky cover! 

And the tentative blurb: ‘How about we toss a coin? Heads, it’s west and a lift. Tails, it’s still west, but no lift.’

James is heading into the country on a teaching round, but his life takes a new direction when a mysterious girl asks him for a ride. Sophie has him all worked out: you live with your parents and they bought you this car, and a very nice car it is too…
But gradually James gets past her wild hair and attitude, and Sophie trusts him with a secret she’s been keeping too long.

A captivating and tender-hearted story about living the life that’s true for you and being open to love.

Saltwater Moons by Julie Gittus

In the beginning it seems so simple. A poem in the mail. A weekend invitation to the coast. But when Sun says yes to a midnight walk, her life becomes suddenly complicated. 


Saltwater Moons tells the story of Sun Langley during her final months of Year Twelve. There's the intensity of her first relationship, complicated by the fact she continues to exchange poems with her boyfriend's best mate. It's a story about love and betrayal, about constantly longing for the things we can't have.(from author's site)


Gosh, what a beautiful book for teenagers.


This is the story of Sun, in the last few months of high school. She meets two older guys and everything changes. 


It's a story of love and betrayal and heartbreak and loyalty and getting it all mixed up. It seamlessly portrays that adolescent feeling of muddling through a confusion of feelings ~ of wanting independence from your family, and get tangled up in a relationship which can be beautiful and painful. Of being unsure of yourself but determined to keep doing things your way. Of longing. 


It also perfectly captures the complication of girl friendships ~ the fights and fierceness of emotion. The nostalgia of growing up together and all changing as you're balancing on the cusp of adulthood.


And the sex. Wow. It's intense ~ losing your virginity and maybe not to the right guy and nothing is like you imagine it would be. I love the exploration of that. This is added to my list of books that explore teen sex brilliantly: with honesty and all the myriad of emotions that come with it.


So far, I've only really mentioned the vibe and the themes in this book. It sounds like a love triangle in the blurb, and in a way it is: but in an honest way ~ in a way where you genuinely are not sure about love and you hold all your hopes and dreams out and there's longing for one guy while being in your first intense relationship with another. The romance is there but it's not all swoon-y all the time ~ it's much more real and layered, at times, it's a smidgen melancholy.


I could describe this books as authentic. It feels like it's written straight from the heart of a teenager. The emotions are subtly handled, a constant yearning and hopefulness mixed up with sadness. 


You can feel Sun's parents ache as she barrels along a path that adult hindsight knows will bring pain and possibly stuff things up a crucial time in Sun's life ~ but for Sun, she is a teenager in the moment and Julie Gittus captures that adolescent ache and intensity so marvellously. It's a classic coming of age. And it's written beautifully. There are poems scattered throughout (which Sun exchanges with a guy) which are just divine to read. 


This is another Aussie book set in Melbourne :) It's an easy read and, I think, a lingering one. (it was published in 2008)


Persnickety Snark review
Author's site
Saltwater Moons @ goodreads


What do you think of the cover? I'm really liking it :D


Have an awesome day/night (wherever you are)