On My Nightstand - Jan/Feb

The Wednesday Wars - Gary D. Shmidt*

Okay, I LOVED this book.  Sinking into it each night was such a treat, the perfect way to end a long summers day.  Shmidt deftly weaves events together, tying up loose ends neatly and in such a satisfying way.  If at times it became a little formulaic (and thus, predictable) this was more than made up for by a cast of truly lovable characters that I found myself really rooting for (sounds rude).  Holling's voice felt very authentic, and he is an all round ridiculously sweet protagonist (right up there with my fave literary characters).

The historical content is interesting, though this isn't pushed at all, serving more as a backdrop for a slice of life type novel.  I also enjoyed watching out for all the Shakespeare tie-ins, because I'm a geek, and I dig stuff like that.


Birthmarked - Caragh O'Brien*

So I definitely feel like I need a bit of a break from YA Dystopian novels, but this one was worth the read.

O'Brien's writing is smooth and confident, fairly well paced, and very gripping - the kind of story you sink into for several days before waking from your book coma.  Just my kind.  The set up is a little flawed and you definitely have to put your doubts aside and just enjoy the story, but that was easy enough to do.  There is so much about the premise that is original, and where there are gaps, this is made up for (in my opinion) by some well-researched background.  Most of the twists are fairly predictable, but the characters move in so many directions that at least in this respect you are left guessing.

Gaia is an unlikely hero, which was refreshing.  Plus, she's a 16 year old midwife.  So, already winning.  As far as romance goes, this came and went for me just a little bit.  I really enjoyed it up until about the halfway point, and then the tension fizzled a little and I lost some interest.  Still, I look forward to seeing what happens to these two lovebirds.  Because I'm totes reading more.  Totes.


Across the Universe - Beth Revis**

Oh no.  This was... Bad.  I picked this up when in search of some YA Sci-Fi escapism.  What a bummer.  First up, I felt veeeeeeery disconnected from each and every character, especially the two leads.  D'oh.  I really could have quit at any point, and never given any thought to either Amy or Elder ever again.  So there's that.  Theeeeeeen, there was my utter discomfort with so many of the choices Revis makes.  I can't really go into this without giving out spoilers, so if you do give it a try, let's talk.  The premise is outright terrifying in so many ways (not a book for the claustrophobic - AKA me - ten years ago), and it just. gets. worse.

I'm not recommending it, so I guess I'll just leave it at that.  And actually, I had a quick google while reading this, and discovered something I did love about this book - the interactive diagram on the Across The Universe site.  FUN!!!  So, all is not lost.

*Recommended by Angela of Striking Keys
**Found via recommendations on Goodreads

12 Months. 40 Books

So I fell off the 52 Project bandwagon last year.  There was a good reason for this and I may share my thoughts on that sometime, just a small shift in blog consciousness.  In the past few weeks I've feeling particularly inspired by the year-long challenges many of you have set yourselves, and I felt like I would enjoy some kind of simple challenge too.  With a big workload already, I knew it needed to be something I was already doing and enjoying, but with a specific goal in mind.  So.  40 books.  It does seem a lot, especially when I'm standing at this end of the goal, but honestly, most of the books on my list will be YA (and even a couple of middle grade), so hopefully I will breeze though many of them.  Hopefully.

So far I have added just over twenty books to my 2014 reading list.  These are titles that I already own, or will do soon (including a couple of rereads), but I will be perusing our local library for more titles, and of course, will keep an eye out for any of your recommendations too.

YA novels

The Wednesday Wars - Gary D. Schmidt (read)

Taming of the Tights - Louise Rennison (read)

The Maze Runner - James Dashner (read)

Birthmarked - Caragh M. O'Brien (reading)

Across the Universe - Beth Revis

Iron King - Julia Kagawa

Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta

Where Things Come Back - John Corey Whaley

How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff

Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

Days of Blood and Starlight - Laini Taylor

Dreams of Gods and Monsters - Laini Taylor

Prized - Carah M. O'Brien

Promised - Carah M. O'Brien

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Contemporary/Adult lit

Hyperbole and a Half (read) - Allie Brosh

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick

Me Before You - Jojo Moyes

Schooling - Heather McGowan

The Interestings - Meg Wolitzer

NZ fiction

Featherstone - Kirsty Gunn

One-a-pecker Two-a-pecker - Ruth Park

The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton

The Conductor - Sarah Quigley

Classics

The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner

The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot 

(I've been trying to read the above title since I was pregnant with Eleanor)

Have you set any specific challenges this year?  Or perhaps your challenge is to have as few of those as possible? (I quite like the idea of that). xx

On My Nightstand - January

I use Grammarly's online grammar check because bad grammar makes you look as cool as a bulldog in a rugby shirt (fact - this is something that I have actually seen on my facebook newsfeed). But on a real note.  Ohemgee.  Why was this website not active while I was at Uni???  Run a quote through this baby, and it gives you the reference in whichever format you're using!!!!  And that's just the start.  This is amazing yo. < Grammarly informs me that 'ohemgee' is not a real word.  Grammarly might be right. (Also, I am well aware that my grammar is often less than perfect - so I'm about as cool as that bulldog *shrug*).

Hyperbole and a Half - Allie Brosh.

I'm a huge fan of Allie Brosh, and the book version of Hyperbole and a Half did not disappoint.  Oh man.  If you haven't come across HaaH before, check out her blog here.  The book sticks to the same format, including full colour illustrations throughout, and I personally feel that it is best read with on a pick-up-and-read-a-chapter basis.  The jokes are more surprising that way.

I loved it.  If you love her blog already, you are guaranteed to love the book too.

The Taming of the Tights - Louise Rennison.

I loved:  

The comedy.  It was still good, despite the recycling of jokes from previous novels, there was enough fresh stuff to keep it fun.  You have to understand, Rennison is mad.  I have never encountered a sense of humour quite like hers, and I love it.  She is the queen of catching you unawares.

Many of the characters.  Some of them are especially endearing.  Ruby's dad still has the best lines.

The setup.  A Performing Arts School stationed in Yorkshire, complete with a quaint village and very quirky villagers.  It's a fun world to step into.

The romance.  Always the romance.  This one features the ultimate bad boy, and he's a pretty amusing/strange/fun character.

I didn't love:

Tallulah is a little too naive at times.  It borders on implausible, and is often annoying.  Though I must say, I still think she is a sweet heroine.

The obsession with boys and corkers.  Oh dear.  There were times when I felt a little bit like I was reading my pre-teen diary.  Also, despite the continued (and sometimes embarrassing) emphasis on boys and snogging, there was little to distract from the fact that there were hardly any scenes that actually included boys, let alone snogging.  And like I was reading a teenagers diary.  Oi.

The story dragged a little, and I found myself more often than not, turning to another read.  When I think about it, nothing much really happens at all, until quite late in the book.  The last few chapters are quite fun though, and almost make up for it.

All in all this felt very much like a pre-teen rather than YA read, which in retrospect it probably is (the cover design certainly gives this impression).  Clearly I was barking up the wrong tree, and despite having a great fondness for Rennison's brand of hilarity, this one was not for me.  I still totally recommend Withering Tights though.

NB. I accidentally read Taming of the Tights without reading the prior novel, A Midsummer Tights Dream first.  In retrospect it really didn't make any difference whatsoever.  Will I read the rest of the series?  Not sure.  But probably, actually.

The Maze Runner - James Dashner.

First of all, creepy.  At times almost... too creepy.  (the first half anyway, at about the midpoint I became desensitized).  I enjoyed the creepy, but going to the bathroom in the middle of the night took on a whole new level of undesirability. 

I loved: 

That the story hooked me from the start, and for the most part kept me hooked.  This wasn't necessarily because the protagonist was in constant immediate danger, which can grow pretty old, pretty quick, but had much more to do with the slow doling out of answers to the host of mysteries the novel presents.

That Dashner took time to world build.  It's an unusual world - understatement - and I appreciated being offered a pretty vivid picture of it.

That the characters were three dimensional.  I even liked a some of them, and after Allegiant, this was especially refreshing.

I didn't love:

The main character.  I found him a little bit annoying, and found myself increasingly frustrated with the choices he made.

That Dashner constantly told the reader exactly what Thomas was feeling, in any given situation.  This was especially tiresome when Thomas experienced mixed emotions.  The show vs. tell balance might be a hard one to strike, but Dashner definitely didn't get it right.  Also irritating was the repetition of certain points, particularly in regards to Thomas' lack of memories.  And so on. You can remember what a farm animal is, but not who your mother was.  It's not a huge deal, but it grated on my nerves just a little.

The terminology.  In The Glade, all the boys use a bunch of terms that effectively replace swear words.  I wouldn't have a problem with this (though I'm not particularly fussed either way), but I strongly disliked all the words they used.  Shuck, klunk, shank and so on.  They gave the book a very dated feel.

The story lagged a little in the middle, but the pace picked up again and it was easy to finish.  Overall, I definitely enjoyed The Maze Runner and would recommend it to other YA fiction fans.  It's not Dickens, but it was a fun read.  Like this lady, I'm not rushing out to read the sequels, but if they landed in my lap I probably would.

Disclaimer:  This is not a sponsored post, nor were these books sent to me as review copies.  However the link at the top  was placed there in return for an Amazon voucher.  I'm only human.  And plus, that site is cooooool!

Best YA Books (IMHO)

There's a lady I go to whenever I need a book recommendation, and boy has she been giving me some GREAT ones!  Recently we were chatting books, as we often do, and compiling lists of our favourite young adult reads (last year we simultaneously posted our favourite Christmas picture books).  It seemed like it would make a fun blog post, so today I'm sharing my favourite ever Young Adult novels.

I'm sure I've missed a couple out, but this is my top 15 - in a vague order of favourite-ness.  Many of these have been read and reread, and some are still on my read-again list.

1. A Solitary Blue - Cynthia Voight.  I'm a huge Cynthia Voight fan and The Tillerman Saga is such a favourite.  I discovered these when I was in my early teens and love them just as much now as I did then.   A Solitary Blue is a side-along novel to The Tillerman Saga and is a beautiful stand-alone novel too.  I fell absolutely in love with the protagonist, who is introduced in Dicey's Song, and loved seeing the Tillerman's from his perspective.  Utterly beautiful, poignant and absorbing.

2. I Capture The Castle - Dodie Smith.  Elevated to Classic status, and with such good reason.  Super funny, the cast of characters are unrivaled in their authenticity and hilarity and the setting (a tumble-down castle) is so divine.  This has a movie tie-in which is very sweet too (though of course I'm going to say that the book is better - it really is).  A read-reread-read-again-and-again novel.  Yep.

3. On The Jellicoe Rd - Melina Marchetta.  Melina Marchetta is one of my favourite YA authors, and in my opinion, this is her best.  Such a kick-ass protagonist and riveting story, filled with secrets, intrigue and a pretty great romance too.  I hear that there's to be a movie for this book soon and I cannot wait!

4. Harry Potter - JK Rowling.  I doubt I need to write anything at all about this series.  If you haven't read it by now, you probably don't want to (or maybe you are just about to - yuss).  I will say this, for those who have contemplated it but thought twice.  I took a lot of convincing, the cover and concept did absolutely nothing for me, and even when I started reading I spent the entire first two books trying to convince myself not to give up.  Glad I made it past my own preconceptions and the weaker of the novels, because I am a fanatic now.  I cannot count how many times I've read this series (including listening to the Stephen Fry audio books - "HI!  I'M A GEEK!") and I love it just as much each time.  I'm quite proud to announce that I recently converted my younger sister to this series too, woot!

5. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor.  This was the first recommendation I took from Angela, and since reading it will pretty much read anything that lady recommends me.  It took a few chapters to hook me, and then I was way past the point of no return.  Utterly addictive stuff.  Funny, complex, romantic and heart-stopping.  Eagerly awaiting the third in this series...

6. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins.  I joined the bandwagon for this series sometime during my pregnancy with Garland, and have recently finished rereading them.  Again, I hardly need to say anything about these books - either you've read/watched already, or they're not your genre.  I'm a fan.

7. His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman.  I know there's a lot of controversy over these books, and I strug.gled through the first one, but the second two.  Wow.  Mind. Blown.  Pullman has created such an intricate world, with sweeping landscapes and a riveting plot.  Some of the pages in the final installment totally brought me to tears.  Beautiful.

8. Dream Hunter - Elizabeth Knox.  I don't know what I expected this novel to be, but I was super pleasantly surprised by it.  I found the story riveting and spooky, with a certain quality I would liken to a dream (funny that, considering the title).  I was transfixed by this story and it's sequel and found them to be the perfect gateway into some of Knox's other works, which are also superb.

9. The 10pm Question - Kate De Goldi.  Funny and bittersweet.  The characters in this story are so lovable, and it sensitively deals with an issue that effects so many of us (self included).  I must reread this one because I don't remember all the details, but I do know that it was very easy to read and very hard to put down.  A total classic.

10. Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore.  This is another Angela recommendation (thank YOU Angela!).  I loved the entire trilogy, but this last was my fave.  These books are a little scary (for me anyway), but the protagonists are so kick-ass and Cashore has nailed her plot-lines.  Each in the series is centred around a different character, and really, they are kind of stand-alone novels in many respects.  Love that she created such fierce female protagonists, but also love that Bitterblue shows some vulnerability too.  This installment in particular is quite chilling, but super exciting.

11. Jacob Have I Loved - Katherine Paterson.  I read this a couple of times when I was younger and really loved it.  It's kinda happy-sad, and really interesting.  The story is centered around a pair of twins, one of whom lives in the shadow of the other, and has to find her place in the world, separate from her sister.  It's one of those books that sticks around in your head forever, kinda like a prelude to The Shipping News or something.

12. Tomorrow When the War Began - John Marsden.  I adored this series when I was a teenager and would read them again now, if I could track them all down.  I actually used to read a ton of John Marsden books, but these were my favourites.  Super enthralling, despite being all about war and so on.  Ellie is badass, and I actually really enjoyed all the action scenes (which is lucky because there are a lot of them).  Edge-of-your-seat unputdownable.

13. Divergent - Veronica Roth.  I just finished this one, on recommendation by Angela (also recommended by blog reader, Jenn - thanks Jenn!  Please recommend any other faves!) and really enjoyed it.  Pleasantly melodramatic and a pretty exciting concept for a novel too (a futuristic city divided into five factions, according to personality and aptitude - the protagonist chooses the darkest and most dangerous faction - chaos ensues).  This totally filled the gap when I was mourning finishing The Hunger Games for the second time, and I'm willing to bet I will reread these again in a year or two.

14. Feeling Sorry For Celia - Jaclyn Moriarty.  I read this in my teen years so I don't remember a great deal about it, but wanted to include it in the list because I know that I really enjoyed it at the time.  I do know that the entire story is told in a series of letters, notes, postcards and emails.  I have since read the rest of the Ashbury High series, some of which I liked better than others, but I think this was the best of them all, and definitely the funniest.  Loves me a comedic YA novel.

15. Withering Tights - Louise Rennison.  Speaking of which, Rennison is the super hilarious author who penned the Georgia Nicholson stories (Angus, Thongs, etc).  I loved the Georgia books, but the protagonist in Withering Tights is much more likable, and just as funny.  Tallulah is a boarder at a performing arts college, which is a really fun set-up for a novel.   I *need* to get hold of the sequel to this...

Others of note (mostly for younger readers):  Rowen of Rin - Emily Rodda.  I own this whole series.  LOVE (hate the cover in the above link).  The Borrowers - Mary Norton.  Same as previous.  The Silver Crown - Robert C O'Brian.  Exciting and chilling.  This Time Of Darkness - H. M. Hoover.  AMAZING!!  My first introduction to Sci-Fi/Dystopian novels as a pre-teen - would LOVE to get hold of this.  River Secrets - Shannon Hale.  Via Angela - this was my fave out of the three I've read, now hanging out to read the last.

Next on my reading list:
Daughter of Smoke and Bone final installment - Laini Taylor
Divergent final installment - Veronica Roth
Forest Born - Shannon Hale
Midsummer Tights Dream - Louise Rennison
Enders Game - Orson Scott Card
The Maze Runner series - James Dashner
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
The Uglies Series - Scott Westerfeld
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
Where Things Come Back - John Corey Whaley
Angelfall - Susan Ee

And a bunch of others that I can't remember just now...

For more great recommendations check out this diagram on Upworthy.

So what are you reading next?  x

Bubba Book Club

This week for Bubba Book Club I thought it would be perfect to share these two sweet books via Gecko Press.  If you haven't come across Gecko Press yet, they are a beautiful publishing house that have the. best kids books.

Toucan Can! by Juliette MacIver & Sarah Davis, seriously, what a gem!  I immediately fell for the cover of this book, and loved it more and more with every page turned.  The text has such a great rhythm which means it's truly fun to read aloud (even the tongue-twisting bits).  There's something a little unexpected about the rhyming, which I LOVE.  I wish more children's books surprised me in such a delightful way.

The illustrations are joyful and sweet, with a wonderful use of negative space.  The characterizations are bang on, and there's such a sense of wild abandonment and fun throughout the book.  This escalates as the story reaches a close, until the pages become a riot of colour and cuteness.  Those birds, oh oh. 

I have to admit, I'm sneakily saving this book to give to Eleanor on her birthday, so the kids haven't seen it yet, but judging by their current list of criteria (rhyming story, amaze illustrations, animal characters) this is going to be such an instant hit with both of them.  Read another review of this beautiful book over at Create Hope Inspire.

Gecko Press also sent me a review copy of 100 People by Masayuki Sebe.  Yuss!!!  This book is a total find!  I don't know about you, but we are a tad obsessed with these 'Find The...' type books.  Is there a genre for this?  If there is, it's our favourite.  Eleanor is super duper obsessed with finding all the hidden items, and she's actually pretty great at it.  Better than me anyway.

100 People has a lot of appeal for us.  I'm totally digging the quirky illustrations for a start.  They open up heaps of room for discussion about a wealth of different things, and make it super easy to create new 'Find The...' games.  Each page has a little box with ten characters you need to find as a starting point.  The speech bubbles then extend the game, and you can spend a great deal of time on each page discussing all sorts of additional observations.

I was pretty thrilled to reach the Christmas page as I am rather a fan of Christmas, and look forward to including this book in our Christmas Book Advent.

Overall, two fun and beautiful books that have been added to our book collection with so much pleasure.  Check out the Gecko website for other new releases as these guys only print the very best of the best, including a new Joy Cowley title - eeee! x

These books were sent to me as review copies, but all opinions expressed are my own x

Small - by Jessica Meserve

This isn't exactly a book review, but definitely a recommendation.  I adore this book.  I dream of creating illustrations this good, one day...  Seriously lovely.

 Amazing right?  *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*  Check back later for some busy bag inspiration...