tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39979524755825394272024-03-06T07:54:23.890+11:00To The Point Book ReviewsYA fiction titles, short, to the point and simple book reviews.brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-4259949893750301532012-04-06T12:08:00.000+10:002012-04-06T12:08:00.868+10:00Sisterhood Everlasting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://sassisamblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Sisterhood_Everlasting.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://sassisamblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Sisterhood_Everlasting.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Title:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Sisterhood Everlasting</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Series</b>: Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants<br />
<b>Author:</b> Ann Brashres<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Contemporary, Family, ChickLit, Life, Romance, Travel,</span></div>
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<b>Published:</b> 2010<br />
<b>Rating:</b> 5 out of 5</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Despite having jobs and men that they love, each knows that something is
missing: the closeness that once sustained them. Carmen is a successful
actress in New York, engaged to be married, but misses her friends.
Lena finds solace in her art, teaching in Rhode Island, but still thinks
of Kostos and the road she didn’t take. Bridget lives with her longtime
boyfriend, Eric, in San Francisco, and though a part of her wants to
settle down, a bigger part can’t seem to shed her old restlessness.<br />
<br />
Then
Tibby reaches out to bridge the distance, sending the others plane
tickets for a reunion that they all breathlessly await. And indeed, it
will change their lives forever—but in ways that none of them could ever
have expected.</blockquote>
From <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/book/17701/sisterhood-everlasting-sisterhood-of-the-traveling-pants-by-ann-brashares" target="_blank">Random House Inc</a>.<br />
<br />
OH MY GOD! I read this book within 24 hours, which rarely happens with me. It was AMAZING. Those who haven't read any books in The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
series will still be able to read this and make sense of what goes on.
However, anyone who has read the previous four books in the series, <i>Sisterhood Everlasting</i> will be much more emotionally impacting. Why? Well, I can't tell you why, that'd be a spoiler!<br />
<br />
I
feel Brashares has done wonderful job of presenting the Septembers and the nature of their friendship when
they're older.Nothing in the plot seems far fetched and although it's
always sad to see a series end, <i>Sisterhood Everlasting</i> is a hear wrenchingly perfect ending.<br />brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-27196858163624869982011-12-09T15:44:00.001+11:002011-12-09T15:46:51.227+11:00Update 9/12/11<br />
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Hi everyone/ anyone reading this, </div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Finally I've finished high school. Woohoo! It's been weird not beig part of the YA book community for so long, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Also, now I
can resume my love for books and reading. I'm still reading YA, so no changes
there. But I'm also going to start reading 'the classics', and probably even
review them here. Anyways, update over! :)</span>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-33429061705696495852011-12-09T15:39:00.001+11:002011-12-11T19:18:58.458+11:00Graffiti Moon<br />
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<a href="http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/cover1/9780330425780.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/cover1/9780330425780.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Title:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> Graffiti Moon<br />
<b>Author:</b> Cath Crowley<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Contemporary, Family, Australian<br />
<b>Published:</b> 2010<br />
<b>Rating:</b> 3.5 out of 5</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Lucy is in love with Shadow, a mysterious graffiti artist.</i><br />
<i>Ed thought he was in love with Lucy, until she broke his nose.</i><br />
<i>Dylan loves Daisy, but throwing eggs at her probably wasn't the best way to
show it.</i><br />
<i>Jazz and Leo are slowly encircling each other.</i><br />
<i>An intense and exhilarating 24 hours in the lives of four teenagers on the
verge: of adulthood, of HSC*, of finding out just who they are, and who they
want to be.</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9780330425780&Author=Crowley,%20Cath" target="_blank">From Pan Macmillan Australia</a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*Note by the blogger: In Victoria (the state where the novel takes place), students complete VCE, not HSC. Factual error by publishers... awkward :/</i></span><br />
<br />
Graffiti Moon is written from alternating points of views. So although
Crowley has written all views, she's successful in creating a different voice for Lucy,
and a different voice for Ed. There was also some poet by 'Poet', a street
artist who works with Shadow appearing within the book. These were relevant
pieces but also provided a nice break from the alternating views of Lucy and Ed.
It was a bit surprising that the novel's setting takes place in one
night.But I think this adds to the intensity of emotions felt and reckless actions
by teenagers who have finished high school but still need to sit their exams (a kind of limbo one could say). Therefore, in my opinion, the 'teenage spirit'
is depicted well in this novel.<br />
<br />
I really enjoyed the fact that this novel is set in Melbourne and how
graffiti isn't portrayed as tags on train carriages, but as proper art. This
being said, Shadow's 'graffiti' is called street art, and not graffiti! Regardless,
being a big fan of street art, I was also quite happy with the Ghostpatrol
reference (look up his work people, trust me, it's wonderful).brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-19581200909293616002011-06-19T21:49:00.000+10:002011-06-19T21:49:23.825+10:00Update-a-mundoI know I have not posted in a long time. I honestly thought that I'd done a post of this type or put up those info-box things in the side bar to give a heads up for those who might wonder what happened to this blogger.<br />
<br />
Anyways, here are the two reasons why I haven't blogged in a long time:<br />
<ol><li>Too busy with year twelve/IB (that's the American equivalent to being a senior).</li>
<li>In the past two/three months I've only read two YA books. SHOCKING D:</li>
</ol>So basically I've had no time to read which leads to not really having something to write a review on, especially when I don't have time to blog?write/type/miaow a review.<br />
<br />
It is very likely, I'll not be able to frequently post reviews until I actually finish high school (which is in November!). Or maybe I will time to time when I procrastinate.<br />
<br />
Thank you to everyone who still follow/read this blog. 'Tis appreciated! :)brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-88520997200483093792011-06-19T21:35:00.000+10:002011-06-19T21:35:45.066+10:00Six Impossible Things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1279095275l/8579486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1279095275l/8579486.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br />
<strong>Title:</strong> Six Impossible Things<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Fiona Wood<br />
<strong>Genre:</strong> Contemporary, Family, Australian<br />
<strong>Published:</strong> 2010<br />
<strong>Rating:</strong> 4 out of 5<br />
<blockquote>Fourteen-year-old nerd-boy Dan Cereill is not quite coping with a reversal of family fortune, moving house, new school hell, a mother with a failing wedding cake business, a just-out gay dad, and an impossible crush on the girl next door. <br />
<br />
His life is a mess, but for now he's narrowed it down to just six impossible things...</blockquote>From <a href="http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/display_title.asp?ISBN=9780330426060&Author=Wood,%20Fiona">Pan Macmillian</a><br />
<br />
I've heard many good things about this YA debut, and although I really enjoyed <em>Six Impossible Things</em>, I did not love it. I think this was mainly due to the fact that I was feeling pretty old compared to Dan, who is fourteen. However, the humour was pretty good, especially the parts with the dog Howard, which I suppose is dry/sarcastic humour. I found Dan's caring nature towards his mother very honest and touching, especially since I don't get to see many male protagonists in YA. Also, it was pretty interesting to get into the mind of a fourteen year old, and what he things of girls, family life, school and his mother. <br />
<br />
I felt that the relationship between Dan and his gay father was a unique approach, especially with Dan not opening his father's present (i.e. Dan wasn't really ready to discuss his true emotions, fears and questions regarding his father).<br />
<br />
Reading this novel actually has me thinking about YA which is aimed at an older audience versus a younger (lets say the ages 12 to 15) audience. For example, my sister, who is Dan's age, loved the book, but I on the other hand felt that there was a bit too much idealism. Despite that (maybe I'm too cynical, ha!), I'd like a sequel and kind of see how Dan grows up. He's a unique boy with a very relateable voice.brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-76216353617035454332011-04-10T22:15:00.004+10:002011-04-10T23:41:54.208+10:00Interview: Nansi Kunze (part II)<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><a style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; FLOAT: right; MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; CLEAR: right; cssfloat: right" href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authordatabaselarge/Kunze,%20Nansi.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authordatabaselarge/Kunze,%20Nansi.jpg" width="200" height="153" r6="true" /></a></div><br /><p>Aussie author Nansi Kunze has kindly (and meticuously) answered my questions. I've been a fan of hers since I read her first published YA novel Mishaps (previously which I held a giveaway for). <em>Dangerously Placed</em> (which I reviewed <a href="http://tothepointbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/04/dangerously-placed.html">here</a>) is her second YA novel which was released in March 2011. Hopefully, there's more to come from this awesome author in the future. <a href="http://tothepointbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/04/interview-nansi-kunze-part-i.html">You can read part I of the interview here </a></p><br /><p></p><br /><strong>How much do you see yourself in Alex, the main character of <em>Dangerously Placed?</em></strong><br /><p>Not that much, oddly enough! Like most authors, I do think that my major characters have aspects of my own personality in them – Alex has some of my mannerisms and speech patterns, for example. But I wanted Alex to be a bit more of an ‘everyman’ character than the people around her (hmm … that should probably be ‘everygirl’, shouldn’t it?), so I found it easier to express some of my own quirks in the other characters. Ki, in particular, was really easy and fun to write – I’m sure that’s partly because I’m a bit of a nerdy Goth myself. And there’s also the fact that Alex is a really skilled gamer, which is not at all like me (there’s a reason I was playing Animal Crossing and not Tomb Raider when I thought up the story)! </p><br /><p></p><br /><strong>Did you base Ki and Sky (Alex’s best friends), Inge and Budi (Alex’s workplace mentors) on people you know? How far do you exaggerate real life personalities for your characters?</strong> <br /><br /><p>I don’t think I consciously base characters on any one person I know – they’re usually more an amalgamation of traits from lots of people. When I’m planning a novel, I start off with a vague idea of a few central characters I’ll need, and then I go and look for their names. I like to make sure my characters are from lots of different cultural backgrounds; my friends are from all sorts of backgrounds, so I feel my protagonists should have friends like that too. I have a file on my computer with lists of names from various cultures, and I go through them looking for the right name for the character I’m creating. Sometimes finding a name that interests me gives me an idea of what that character will be like, right then and there. There are some characters who’ve just seemed to arrive in my head pretty much fully-fledged, though – I think that happens to a lot of authors. Presumably our unconscious minds base them on aspects of various people we’ve seen or known. Although I sometimes exaggerate characters’ responses for humorous effect, I actually think it’s not necessary most of the time. My characters’ weirdest comments and most outrageous actions are quite often taken straight from things I’ve really seen people do. While I’m not sure I’d say that truth is stranger than fiction, real life can certainly give fiction a run for its money at times! </p><br /><br /><strong>Have you ever done work experience (university internship or high school)? What was it and what was it like?</strong><br /><p>I did two work experience stints in Year 10, and they were both pretty lame, to be honest! I went to the local radio station and did stuff like timing the new records with a stopwatch so the DJs would know how long the tracks ran (this was in 1990, and they were still using vinyl). After that I spent a week at a high school not far from my own school and followed a teacher around. Looking back, I really don’t know why I bothered – my parents were teachers, so I knew what went on in staff rooms, and I could see what it was like to be in a high school class any day of the week! The only fun I had there was one morning when my mentor didn’t turn up at work. I was waiting in a Year 7 English class, and when she didn’t show, I just decided to teach the kids myself. I took out my English textbook (who knows why it was in my bag!), read a short story from it and then quizzed them about it. They were much keener to impress a Year 10 student than their regular teacher, so it was great. Well … until the senior staff found out. Apparently it’s far preferable to leave a bunch of kids chucking stuff around the classroom and go tell the Vice Principal your mentor is missing than to engage them in literary discussion!</p><br /><br /><strong>What is one thing that you fear due to the advancement of technology?</strong> <br /><p><strong></strong>For the most part I think the advancement of technology is a positive thing. Despite having read a fair bit of old-school sci-fi, I’m not a big believer in the whole computers-take-over-the-world view! I guess the main thing that could be a worry is the environmental impact of increased technology, but there are a lot of areas that are clearly of more crucial concern in terms of the environment. If anything, advancing technology gives us the ability to learn more about the consequences of our actions and to see what the rest of the world is like, which seems like a good thing. I think technology is like anything else: it’s not what it could do, it’s what we decide to do with it that’s important. </p><br /><p></p><br /><p>Thank you Nansi for your super engaging and fantasic answers! You can also visit Nansi's blog <a href="http://nansikunze.blogspot.com/">here</a>. </p>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-30818658826823292992011-04-10T19:05:00.008+10:002011-04-10T23:38:01.922+10:00Interview: Nansi Kunze (part I)<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><a style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 1em; FLOAT: right; MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; CLEAR: right; cssfloat: right" href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authordatabaselarge/Kunze,%20Nansi.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authordatabaselarge/Kunze,%20Nansi.jpg" width="200" height="153" r6="true" /></a></div><br /><p>Aussie author Nansi Kunze has kindly (and meticuously) answered my questions. I've been a fan of hers since I read her first published YA novel Mishaps (previously which I held a giveaway for). Dangerously Placed (which I've reviewd <a href="http://tothepointbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/04/dangerously-placed.html">here</a>) is her second YA novel which was released in March 2011. Hopefully, there's more to come from this awesome author in the future. </p><br /><strong>Both of your YA novels have a plot heavily based on science and technology. Why does the combination of science and YA appeal to you?</strong><br /><p>I write YA because it’s what I like to read. I hardly ever read books aimed at adults these days, because to me they just don’t have the same intensity. When I do read adult fiction, it sometimes even seems as though the authors have had this compulsion to include ‘adult’ elements – politics, substance abuse, adultery and the like – even when they don’t really mesh with the story or the characters, just to show how grown up their work is. Being a YA novelist, on the other hand, is really liberating: you can be as gritty or as light-hearted as you like! It’s hard to pin down exactly why science and technology appeal to me. I think it’s partly because I was a child in the 80s, when computers and hand-held games were pretty much the coolest things around, and I’m pretty sure some of it’s my husband’s fault! Back when we were in high school he introduced me to real gaming (I didn’t have a computer or a gaming system at home) and classic sci-fi writers like Isaac Asimov. I’ve been fascinated by things like robotics, IT and genetics ever since. What really amazes me is that speculative technology doesn’t appear more often in YA fiction, given how important technology is in teenagers’ lives. </p><br /><strong>Where did the idea for <em>Dangerously Placed</em> come from?</strong><br /><p>It actually started out as a short story called ‘To Detect and Surf’ which I wrote a couple of years before Mishaps was accepted by Random House. At that point I was trying to get short stories published as a way to make my CV look a bit more respectable when I was ready to submit one of my novels to a big publisher. I’d just had a very kind rejection letter from a sci-fi magazine editor in the US, telling me my latest story wasn’t for them, but that I should submit again because he liked my style. The mag’s website said that they were looking for ‘locked room murder mysteries’ for their next issue. I’d been playing a lot of Animal Crossing on the Gamecube at the time (yep, this was quite a while back!) and thinking about the allure of games like that, where you feel as though you’re almost living in a virtual world. It struck me that a virtual environment was a way in which someone could be in a locked room situation – theoretically sealed off from the outside world, yet in contact with people at the same time. I sent off the resulting story about a surfie boy on virtual work experience to the magazine, only to have it kindly rejected too (actually, the editor probably wondered why I kept sending him stories about teenagers when his magazine was clearly aimed at adults)! Dangerously Placed has a more complicated plot, a lot more characters and a female protagonist, but most of the basic concepts came straight from ‘To Detect and Surf’. <strong></strong></p><br /><p><strong></strong></p><br /><strong>What process did you go through to create the very well thought out technology of Virk (where even virtually photocopying has a clear and logical explanation)?</strong><br /><p>Well, I started out with the kinds of ideas people had about virtual reality when I was a teenager: stuff like visors and gloves that gave you basic visuals and controls for gaming. The more sophisticated details of Virk came about through narrative necessity – I had to add things so that my plot would be possible! I wanted the virtual office to seem extremely real to the people working there (I guess I was influenced quite a lot by the holodeck technology in Star Trek, although what I write isn’t ‘hard sci-fi’ like that). So I gave them pressure-sensitive full body suits so they’d be able to sit on virtual chairs and shake hands with their colleagues; masks equipped with cameras so they’d be able to see each other’s expressions properly and so on. A lot of things still had to be fixed during the drafting and editing process, though. My husband suggested the moving floor as a way of creating a large virtual space without needing a huge space in reality, and my editor pointed out that a tight mask would squash everyone’s hairstyles! In the end, it was all created bit by bit as the story required each new technological element. </p><br /><p></p><br /><strong><em>Dangerously Placed</em> is set in the not too distant future (in my opinion). How far off do you think a technology like Virk?</strong><br /><p>I didn’t really think of Dangerously Placed as being set in the future when I wrote it. I envisaged the story as taking place in a year or two, perhaps, but that’s about it. A lot of the technology you’d need for Virk already exists – the ability to get a lot of people communicating and sending their images to each other from around the world is obviously nothing new! In a basic sense, the tactile elements of Virk are already possible too: remote surgery can be performed with robotic technology, for example. But the level of realism that Virk offers – the ability to feel the skin of a person’s hand as if you were shaking it in real life, or to experience a cup of virtual coffee tipping down your shirt – is basically just fantasy. I’d say something that complex is many, many years off at this stage. </p><br /><p><a href="http://tothepointbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/04/interview-nansi-kunze-part-ii.html">See part II of this interview here</a>. </p>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-82355503504168026272011-04-10T16:56:00.000+10:002011-04-10T16:56:25.755+10:00Dangerously Placed<blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/system%20pictures/9781864718829.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/system%20pictures/9781864718829.jpg" width="259" /></a><strong></strong></div></blockquote><strong>Title:</strong> Dangerously Placed<br />
<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Nansi Kunze<br />
<strong>Published:</strong> 2011<br />
<strong>Genre:</strong> Sci-Fi, Adventure, Crime, Mystery<br />
<strong>Rating:</strong> 4.5 out of 5<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Alex Thaler can't wait to start her dream work experience placement at Virk, where staff from all over the world mingle in an astonishing virtual office. But when an employee is found murdered, the dream becomes a nightmare - because Alex is the prime suspect. Fortunately, Alex's friends are willing to brave shark tanks, disgusting pathology specimens and even a nude beach in order to clear her name . . . </blockquote><blockquote>Can a hippy chick, a goth girl in a lab coat and two guys with a taste for blowing things up really help solve the mystery - before Alex becomes the next victim?</blockquote><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">From <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/DANGEROUSLY-PLACED/9781864718829/Paperback/">Random House Australia</a></span></div><br />
The moment I discovered that there's a new YA by Nansi Kunze, I knew I would love it (cheesy, but true). The blurb suggesting such a mix of characters, an awesome plot and a unique setting had my hopes raised high. Were they met: hell yes!<br />
<br />
The characters were great to read about. Although some dialogue didn't sound like a group of teenagers would (i.e: there wasn't any swearing, meme language and the language was bit too formal sometimes), the uniqueness and contrasting personalities of each character (teenage and adult) was clearly visible. In my opinion, they meshed together very well, for plot development and for making the story a bit more different and fun than the usual YA. Also, I absolutely loved the fact that were are a variety of nationalities throughout the novel (and from prior reviews, one would've picked up that I appreciate diversity and multiculturalism, especially in Aussie YA).<br />
<br />
There was also some romance in <em>Dangerously Placed</em>, which was nice to read about (since Alex, the protagonist is a female teenager). It was very innocent and not the main focus of the novel, which I must say, is hard to find in current YA. But the plot was so strong, fast paced and intriguing that I still would've enjoyed the story if the romance wasn't there.<br />
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<em>Dangerously Placed</em> is a classic 'whodunnit' set in a not-too-futuristic setting with ubercool technology. I liked how a normal high school requirement turned from a learning experience into a crime investigation (yes, I would love that to happen to me, how exciting!). I was constantly trying to second guess the culprit but was always proven wrong. The world created by Kunze is extremely well thought out, realistic and indeed, very possible in the future.<br />
<br />
I would recommend <em>Dangerously Placed</em> to anyone who likes to read crime/mystery and adventure novels. The novel also acts as a springboard for thoughts regarding the advancement of technology, its consequences and the possible exploitations of such a technology (as seen at the end of the novel). <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Note: I was provided a copy of </em>Dangerously Placed <em>by Random House Australia for review. This has in no way at all affected my opinion reagrding the book (especially since I kind of knew it would be awesome).</em></span>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-49804960075894823312011-03-23T19:29:00.002+11:002011-03-23T22:37:11.247+11:00thinandbeautiful.com<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="http://theothererin.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/thin.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://theothererin.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/thin.jpg" width="263" height="400" /></a></div><br /><b>Title: </b>ThinandBeautiful.com<br /><b>Author: </b>Liane Shaw<br /><b>Published: </b>2009<br /><b>Genre: </b>Eating disorders, Life, Diary<br /><b>Rating: </b>2.5 out of 5<br /><br /><blockquote><i>Seventeen-year-old Maddie has always felt a hole in her life, but she has finally found a way to fill it with her quest to mold her body into her ideal, thinnest shape. When she comes across the world of Pro Ana websites, where young people encourage each other in their mission to lose ever more weight, she realizes she is no longer alone. Finally, she has found a place where she is understood. Maddie quickly becomes addicted to the support and camaraderie she finds on thinandbeautiful.com. Now in a rehab facility where they are trying to "fix" a problem she doesn't think she has, Maddie is forced to keep a diary tracing how she arrived at this point. Angry that she is barred from accessing her online friends, Maddie resists therapy. Only when a tragedy befalls one of her comrades in arms is she shocked into admitting that she does need help.</i></blockquote><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: right">From <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/thinandbeautiful-com-Liane-Shaw/dp/1897187629">Amazon</a></div><br />Although thinandbeautiful.com was very informative, regarding the development and causes of anorexia, for me it was too 'text-book'. I understand that the author needs to present facts, as said <a href="http://thinandbeautiful.com/?p=162">here</a>, but the dialogue seemed too forced, to make it 'match' the plot and the characters just didn't jump out to me. However, I do really appreciate that Shaw didn't present readers with the 'perfect solution', of Maddie being fully recovered from anorexia. Also, I never knew about 'pro-ana' sites, so it just opened up my eyes even more at how harmful the Internet can be when used in a negative way.<br /><br />I don't really know anyone with/who had anorexia, nor have I had an eating disorder myself, so I do acknowledge that the book didn't have an impact on me, especially because I couldn't relate to Maddie or her family at all. I'd love to know how others who've read thinandbeautiful.com feel about this book (especially if you know someone who has/had an eating disorder, or even yourself).brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-78544029979835654462011-02-27T15:37:00.000+11:002011-02-27T15:37:27.635+11:00Little Paradise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bookgryffin.global2.vic.edu.au/files/2010/12/LP-cover-for-web1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://bookgryffin.global2.vic.edu.au/files/2010/12/LP-cover-for-web1.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br />
<b>Title: </b>Little Paradise<br />
<b>Author: </b>Gabrielle Wang<br />
<b>Published: </b>2010<br />
<b>Genre: </b>Historical (fiction and romance), Coming of Age, Travel<br />
<b>Rating: </b>5 out of 5<b></b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<blockquote><i>Melbourne, 1943, and Mirabel is seventeen. She's leaving school, designing dresses, falling in love. Then fate intervenes, her forbidden affair is discovered, and JJ is posted back to China where a civil war is raging. Despite all warnings, Mirabel sets off for Shanghai to find him . . .</i><br />
<i>Little Paradise is inspired by a true story.</i></blockquote>From <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780143011477/little-paradise">Penguin Books Australia</a><br />
<br />
I'm going to do a dot-point review because I really don't have much time these days :( <br />
<ul><li>The little bits of historical facts were fascinating. E.g. There used to be a cemetery where Victoria Market is now!</li>
<li>Reading about Melbourne in the 1940s... amazing. Recognising the suburbs and locations kind of made me zone out to imagine how it would be to live in the 40s in good ol' Mellie. </li>
<li><i>Little Paradise</i> could easily become a modern day love story if you add in the Internet, mobile phones (plus other 21st century things) and finding an equivalent for WWII and the Chinese Civil War.</li>
<li>Mirabel is a very strong and independent girl, considering what she goes through at a young age. I loved her 'can-do' attitude, which many other readers would agree with. </li>
<li>She's also not very fussy, which I appreciated, because during her time abroad, she is very open-minded, even through her difficulties! One would expect that a girl who's been brought up with everything(well... most things) she's wanted would be a princess, but not Mirabel.</li>
<li>Gabrielle Wang's storytelling is very simple yet exquisite, and the 'magical' element (which readers are introduced to in the first chapter) adds to the tale.</li>
<li>Reading about an Australian who isn't white was very refreshing, especially since it's set in the 1940s. I don't think I've come across a novel where the character is Asian and is living in a Western country during wartime. </li>
</ul>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-70331003378112110982011-02-18T17:36:00.000+11:002011-02-18T17:36:15.942+11:00I've been busy...I will not be able to post as frequently as I would like to on my blog due to a very heavy load of coursework. I will still continue to post reviews, but not on a weekly basis as I used to.<br />
<br />
This blog still exists, but the blogger is far too busy!<br />
<br />
Thanks y'all :)brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-2891672269063863622011-02-10T18:57:00.000+11:002011-02-10T18:57:34.528+11:002010 RoundupYes, I'm one month and a week or two late in 'concluding' my literary endeavours of 2010, but it's better to be late than never! My round up is basically a random list of the best books (from memory) I've read in each category. Not all the books I've mentioned have been reviewed on this blog, although you can check on the <a href="http://tothepointbookreviews.blogspot.com/p/reviewed-titles.html">Reviewed Titles</a> page.<br />
<br />
<b>Series I started *happyface*:</b><br />
<ul><li>Electra Brown (Life at the Shallow End) by Helen Bailey </li>
<li>Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen </li>
<li>Heist Society by Ally Carter </li>
<li>The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins</li>
<li>Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson</li>
<li>The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller</li>
</ul><br />
<b>Series I finished *sadface*:</b><br />
<ul><li>Fashionistas by Sarra Manning</li>
<li>Thieves Like Us by Stephen Cole</li>
<li>Roman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence </li>
<li>The Declaration by Gemma Malley</li>
<li>CHERUB by Robert Muchamore</li>
</ul><br />
<b>Series I'm still reading:</b><br />
<ul><li> Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz</li>
<li>Henderson's Boys by Robert Muchamore</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<b>Spy/Action/Adventure:</b><br />
<ul><li>Secret Army (Henderson's Boys) by Robert Muchamore </li>
</ul><br />
<b>Contemporary:</b><br />
<ul><li>The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson</li>
<li>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon<b> </b></li>
</ul><br />
<b>Romance:</b><br />
<ul><li> A Season of Eden by JM Warwick<b> </b></li>
</ul><br />
<b>Aussie: </b><br />
<ul><li>Noah's Law by Randa Abdel-Fattah</li>
</ul><br />
<b>Debut:</b><br />
<ul><li>Finding Freia Lockhart by Aimee Said </li>
</ul><br />
<b>Surprised that I liked:</b><br />
<ul><li>By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters </li>
</ul><b><br />
</b><br />
<b> Surprised that I didn't like (even though I really wanted to!):</b><br />
<ul><li>Vote For Larry by Janet Tashijan </li>
</ul><br />
<b>Classic:</b><br />
<ul><li>The Outsiders by S.E Hinton<b> </b></li>
</ul><br />
<b>Reread:</b><br />
<ul><li>Fingerprints series by Melinda Metz</li>
<li> Lola Rose by Jacqueline Wilson</li>
</ul><br />
<b>Something different:</b><br />
<ul><li>school texts! (Medea, Antigone, A Doll's House) </li>
</ul><br />
<b>2010 release that <i>nearly</i> everyone's read except me:</b><br />
<ul><li>DUFF by Cody Keplinger </li>
</ul>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-31330395119859375702011-02-06T23:41:00.000+11:002011-02-06T23:41:36.870+11:00Accidental Friends<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://server40136.uk2net.com/%7Ewpower/images/product_images/9780192755100.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://server40136.uk2net.com/%7Ewpower/images/product_images/9780192755100.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br />
<b>Title: </b>Accidental Friends<br />
<b>Author: </b>Helena Pielichaty<br />
<b>Genre: </b>Contemporary<br />
<b>Published: </b>2008<br />
<b>Rating:</b> 4 out of 5 <br />
<blockquote><br />
<i>'At any other time they would never have met. Bright, arty Emma with her steady boyfriend. James, the public schoolboy in disgrace. Leon, angry with the world and determined on revenge. Last but not least Grace, with her hidden secret. Thrust together on their first day at college they form an uneasy alliance that turns to friendship and even love. But if fate brought them together, it's a different, life-threatening accident that will test their friendship to the limit.'</i></blockquote>From Helen Pielichaty's <a href="http://www.helena-pielichaty.com/books/accidental-friends.php">website</a><br />
<br />
<i>Accidental Friends </i>was told in a very unusual format for a narrative, which I loved and appreciated. Four teens, who for different reasons end up at a place that I would describe as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAFE">TAFE</a> (in Australia). They are completing their final two years of high school due to not being able to attend a normal school. I did not loose track between the four characters at all, and each chapter ended in a manner which kept me reading well after 1AM! The characters' personalities, backgrounds, family and financial situations and the reason why they're at TAFE make the novel like a party mix, with enough characters for anyone to find and relate to or just like. Serious themes were also discussed, like body image, peer pressure (gangs), parental expectations and teen pregnancy.<br />
<br />
The cover may make <i>Accidental Friends</i> seem like a 'safe, sound and clean' read, but it's much more serious. Under 250 pages, it was a quick read, great for anyone who wants to read about Brit teens (a break from YA set in the US perhaps?). I think the whole idea of <i>Accidental Friends</i> was superb, by using ordinary problems and situations, and all the characters were well written for such a short novel. I would love to read the sequel please (even if there isn't one...)!brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-71420026128061786622011-02-01T18:18:00.028+11:002011-02-01T18:45:50.249+11:00Winner of 'Mishaps' by Nansi Kunze Giveaway <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu167/naturalpets/happydance.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><strong>Congratulations to Lisa from </strong><a href="http://badassbookie.blogspot.com/"><strong>Badass Bookie</strong></a><strong>!</strong> <br />
<br />
I will email the winner and if they do not reply within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen through Random.Org.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Thank you everyone for entering my very first giveaway, and thank you to all the new followers on my blog. Hopefully I'll have another giveaway on this blog in the future. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYSo9XQizuD8a8o0i8gWBhoYtbmbjItJTUxQ41sq6lHfUohh0Zskjp-yICkzt3JrIDkduZQsEZq5SHbPI7ioRC2FhxpJn17qkfCCCr9txQm4gQ5DZdiQ4eSeJWLq0q8_E-yBsx0KfEpH9e/s1600/HappyDance+Happy+Feet.gif%20%20%20" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYSo9XQizuD8a8o0i8gWBhoYtbmbjItJTUxQ41sq6lHfUohh0Zskjp-yICkzt3JrIDkduZQsEZq5SHbPI7ioRC2FhxpJn17qkfCCCr9txQm4gQ5DZdiQ4eSeJWLq0q8_E-yBsx0KfEpH9e/s1600/HappyDance+Happy+Feet.gif%20%20%20" /></a></div>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-71249609984772970212011-02-01T17:51:00.001+11:002011-02-01T17:56:42.270+11:00Talk to Me Tuesday (2)<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbDGBx3b9gqHxQIkSMH7PkcTfCNbf64xhFxZL7d6s7efi7FfQxx7VKpb0Y7tH6PFF6FKO-huRZPtExo6WL9NiJ8vqK1jUKWrKoCuIUQhu2MklVtCJEUr5mKXm-1Y9S5Mry6C4kS-dG0c/s320/talktome.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbDGBx3b9gqHxQIkSMH7PkcTfCNbf64xhFxZL7d6s7efi7FfQxx7VKpb0Y7tH6PFF6FKO-huRZPtExo6WL9NiJ8vqK1jUKWrKoCuIUQhu2MklVtCJEUr5mKXm-1Y9S5Mry6C4kS-dG0c/s320/talktome.jpg" s5="true" /></a></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><br /></div>Melissa at <a href="http://www.iswimforoceans.com/">i swim for oceans</a> hosts <a href="http://www.iswimforoceans.com/p/talk-to-me-tuesday.html">Talk to Me Tuesday</a>, a meme about bloggers discussing their views on all things literary.<br /><br /><strong><br /></strong><br />This week's question:<br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><strong>What is your favourite genre to read, and why?</strong></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">Currently, I'm loving all the YA Contemporary fiction out there. I love to relate to the characters and their situations. I like to read about other teenagers, from all different walks of life, whether they be posh private school kids or hipsters from NYC. I love to learn about the world and getting to know places and people (although I'm not a big people person) and I feel contemporary YA allows me to do that. Also, under the contemp banner there are many more 'sub-genres', such as fashion, family, coming of age, etc... I feel that although it's a small slice of what exists in the world, the story that I'm reading can give me an insight. An example would be where the novel is themed around fashion. I'm not a fashionista or obsessive about the fashion industry, but I love books like those from the Susanna series (by Mary Hogan) or Summer Intern (by Carrie Karasyov), which always take place in a fashion magazine house. I get to read about the industry, the requirements and laugh at the overly done stereotypes.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left">However, I also love to read books like CHERUB (by Robert Muchamore) and Kiki Strike (by Kirsten Miller), which I guess would come under the adventure genre, without going into fantasy. Both books take place in the real world during current times, but the element of mystery, suspense, action and the characters being spies is just way to cool for me to ignore.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left"> </div>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-25880103672883424142011-01-30T21:26:00.000+11:002011-01-30T21:26:32.047+11:00Fury<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bdb.com.au/images/books/large/300dpi/fury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.bdb.com.au/images/books/large/300dpi/fury.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />
<b>Title: </b>Fury<br />
<b>Author: </b>Shirley Marr<br />
<b>Published: </b>2010<br />
<b>Genre: </b>Contemporary, Crime, Suspense<br />
<b>Rating:</b> 3 out of 5<br />
<br />
<blockquote><i>Let me tell you my story.<br />
Not just the facts I know you want to hear.<br />
If I’m going to tell you my story,<br />
I’m telling it my way.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Strap yourself in...</i><br />
<br />
<i>Eliza Boans has everything.<br />
A big house.<br />
A great education.<br />
A bright future.</i><br />
<i>So why is she sitting in a police station confessing to murder?</i></blockquote>From <a href="http://www.bdb.com.au/books/fury">Black Dog Books</a> <br />
<br />
If anyone else's mind is like mine, then they too would be intrigued by the girl named Eliza. I was very excited to read<i> Fury</i>, because it's just like the books I like to read, full of mystery. But for some reason, I couldn't get into the story. I felt detached with the characters and setting (the eerie gated and secure community) and putting it down and then rereading it again and again does not help either. However, I do admit that the storytelling by Marr was sophisticated, kinda like thick, gooey, high cocoa percentage, melted cooking chocolate, it's delicious but at the same time too rich (err... this only makes sense in my head methinks).<br />
<br />
<i>Fury </i>was a novel with a heavy emphasis on character development, in my opinion. The teenagers are normal, but there's a dimension that only the reader knows through the narrating of Eliza. The ending was actually quite unexpected as well. I think the best part was the final few chapters, it's where the suspense has been built up to. It was the most exciting part actually. <br />
<br />
I don't want to put anyone off <i>Fury</i> because I've heard great reviews around the blogosphere for this Aussie debut. I'd recommend it to those who especially like heavily developed characters, who are flawed, but impossible to hate.brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-24975729223684301312011-01-25T01:00:00.007+11:002011-01-28T00:07:34.363+11:00Talk to Me Tuesday (1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbDGBx3b9gqHxQIkSMH7PkcTfCNbf64xhFxZL7d6s7efi7FfQxx7VKpb0Y7tH6PFF6FKO-huRZPtExo6WL9NiJ8vqK1jUKWrKoCuIUQhu2MklVtCJEUr5mKXm-1Y9S5Mry6C4kS-dG0c/s1600/talktome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbDGBx3b9gqHxQIkSMH7PkcTfCNbf64xhFxZL7d6s7efi7FfQxx7VKpb0Y7tH6PFF6FKO-huRZPtExo6WL9NiJ8vqK1jUKWrKoCuIUQhu2MklVtCJEUr5mKXm-1Y9S5Mry6C4kS-dG0c/s320/talktome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<i>Melissa at <a href="http://www.iswimforoceans.com/">i swim for oceans</a> hosts <a href="http://www.iswimforoceans.com/p/talk-to-me-tuesday.html">Talk to Me Tuesday</a>, a meme about bloggers discussing their views on all things literary. </i><br />
<br />
This week's question:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Do you have any specific literary pet peeves in the genres you read?</span></b> </div><br />
I haven't really thought about this, but now that it's mentioned, I do realises that there are some things that bother me. I read mostly contemporary, and a peeve of mine is when the character is always pointing out a physical problem, anything from having 'mousy brown lifeless/stringy hair' (I've read this one a lot) or that their basooma's aren't big enough. Okay, I get it there's an aspect the character doesn't like about themself, but I'm not a fish brain (although Mythbusters have busted this <a href="http://mythbustersresults.com/episode11">myth</a>!).<br />
<br />
Also... when the characters drink and party alot and that it's mentioned everywhere all over the book, repeatedly (hello, it isn't <i>Skins</i>). I don't know which brand of drink is which (and I won't advertise by giving examples), because my family and I don't consume alcohol. And frankly, I do not care.<br />
<br />
<br />
Okay, now that I've started ranting, I also find it quite bothersome when there's a type of music of movie that's mentioned, especially cult movies. I guess I'd find it less bothersome if the author leaves a note at the end of the book (Sarra Manning did this in <i>Nobody's Girl. </i>She mentioned French movies and music, and told the readers a little about them at the end of the novel).<br />
<br />
Erm, last one, but it is such a pet peeve of mine when there's Spanish. Me no hablo Espanol. Ok? Please, please, please give the readers a translation if there are quite a few sentences (random words like yes/no/mum/dad are ok, but not sentences).<br />
<br />
P.S: I've started to do this meme because I like the questions and how it's not just about what new books I've received to read. The questions make me think aboutbrave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-27543536677160812462011-01-19T22:27:00.000+11:002011-01-19T22:27:02.893+11:00Coffeehouse Angel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkuPScDkD0uUrAvTSFyGpiPznsn9nxqLvcHYp9AyyahV689d1UGA9tuo1J3pZYs2iBfljWR-o9oHzBgWzB-hG_wvd4gME0MwId76fZQXX5JadYuJEDtYCnChIbmsgaTv9_6s-j185-IQ/s1600/CH_coverLG.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkkuPScDkD0uUrAvTSFyGpiPznsn9nxqLvcHYp9AyyahV689d1UGA9tuo1J3pZYs2iBfljWR-o9oHzBgWzB-hG_wvd4gME0MwId76fZQXX5JadYuJEDtYCnChIbmsgaTv9_6s-j185-IQ/s400/CH_coverLG.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br />
<b>Title: </b>Coffeehouse Angel<br />
<b>Author: </b>Suzanne Selfors<br />
<b>Published: </b>2009<br />
<b>Genre: </b>ChickLit, Contemporary, Supernatural (Angels)<br />
<b>Rating:</b> 4 out of 5<br />
<br />
Katrina is an orphaned high school student who helps her grandmother everyday to run their coffeehouse, which is their sole source of income and livelihood. But ever since the opening of a much new and popular cafe next door, business hasn't been great. On top of this, Katrina showed kindness to a hobo (<span style="font-size: x-small;">yeah, I wanted to use that, haha</span>) by giving him some food and coffee, and now the young man, who she discovers is names Malcolm and is a Messenger, won't leave her alone, until he can grant Katrina her deepest desire.<br />
<br />
<i>Coffeehouse Angel</i> was very sweet (<i>no, I didn't lick the cover, thankyouverymuch</i>). I loved everything about it, including the setting, which was a small town influenced by Norwegian culture and the characters, who were predictable, yes, but still very likable. Katrina was a strong and independent girl, who respected her elders (I admire that). There was also the classic 'guy friend' who oh-so-obviously Katrina <i>doesn't</i> like (*wink, wink*), an 'artsy and loud' girl BFF, a 'loving and caring' granny and the 'popular and perfect blonde' who also happens to be the evil enemy cafe owner's daughter! Mr. Malcolm, the Messenger, is also a sweet character who is very odd, quirky and lovable.<br />
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I can't give too much away, or I'll spoil the story (it's all very connected from the first two/three chapters) but <i>Coffeehouse Angel</i> is like a ray of sun after a few days of rain; i.e: not getting enough good happy-ending books? This one will be the perfect one to make you smile. Yes, it's a light read, nothing too serious, but it's a very positive and moral story about lurve, fwandship, coffee and.... entrepreneurial skills without any cussing and other teenage 'stuff''.brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-8376670376360862322011-01-14T23:42:00.000+11:002011-01-14T23:42:47.335+11:00Nobody's Girl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaAV8CRva0AqzrqOpsbN2B05JmA9hxuMeQ0UTVex3mclhfNdUMftXe2jT4Wm5t6E8GO5wJQpF8FlfdszH_e5D71u-VDnhEl0mVFJCXMupQ1rrjdq3TEfFKodnW6LcNOCjpDFga0HlIs9s/s1600/Nobody%E2%80%99s+Girl+by+Sarra+Manning.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaAV8CRva0AqzrqOpsbN2B05JmA9hxuMeQ0UTVex3mclhfNdUMftXe2jT4Wm5t6E8GO5wJQpF8FlfdszH_e5D71u-VDnhEl0mVFJCXMupQ1rrjdq3TEfFKodnW6LcNOCjpDFga0HlIs9s/s400/Nobody%E2%80%99s+Girl+by+Sarra+Manning.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br />
<b>Title: </b>Nobody's Girl<br />
<b>Author: </b>Sarra Manning<br />
<b>Published: </b>2010<br />
<b>Genre: </b>Contemporary, Travel, Coming of Age, Family, Romance<br />
<b>Rating:</b> 5 out of 5 <br />
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Seventeen year old Bea considers herself a very average and boring girl. So when the school's most popular girl Ruby includes Bea in her exclusive group, Bea feels special. But Bea feels her over-protective mother, who had her at seventeen is holding Bea back. So when the chance comes to go on a holiday to Spain with Ruby and the girls, Bea takes the chance to become more confident and cool.<br />
But when she sees the true nature of the girls, Bea escapes and runs away to Paris, in search of her 'phantom father' who Bea knows is French. On her journey, Bea becomes friends with a group of American backpackers, learns how to stand up for herself and find the truth about her father.<br />
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OMG, it's been ages since I've read a really good contemp, and <i>Nobody's Girl</i> was perfect. I loved the Brit-speak, the destinations, the plot and the characters. Bea's anger and pain was my anger and pain and her revenge on her 'frenemies' was perfect (it has to be read and admired, I cannot spoil it)! Manning writes in a very real tone and creates very, very relatable, lovable and hateable characters which I'm sure every reader can relate to, love and loath. The <i>only </i>downside would be the French that's used. It's simple French, but if you don't have an idea about the language it would be super frustrating (it is for me when there's Spanish).<br />
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I recommend <i>Nobody's Girl</i> to... anyone who enjoys contemporary YA with lots of travel and a very cute romance. Yes. there's swearing and the usual themes that come along with promiscuous teens, but <i>Nobody's Girl </i>is awesome.brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-68262336765476666122011-01-11T23:29:00.002+11:002011-01-14T22:40:47.249+11:00Buying Books: Online vs. BookshopsMegs at <a href="http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/">Literary Life</a> has put together a five post discussion of buying books online versus buying books in bookshops. The point of views from consumers, booksellers, publishers, authors and librarians can be read. Its quite an interesting series of posts to read, because not only is there a healthy discussion, personally I'm learning and very much appreciating the effort that goes into making books available for me to read.<br />
<br />
Below are the links: <br />
Here's the post from the<br />
<ul><li> <a href="http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/2011/01/consumers.html">consumers</a></li>
</ul><ul><li><a href="http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/2011/01/booksellers.html">booksellers</a></li>
</ul><ul><li><a href="http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/2011/01/authors.html">authors</a> </li>
</ul><ul><li><a href="http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/2011/01/publishers.html">publishers</a> </li>
</ul><ul><li><a href="http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/2011/01/librarians.html">librarians</a></li>
</ul><br />
Although the posts may seem lengthy and a bit more relatable to Australian book buyers, there's no doubt that this is food for thought and I encourage everyone to visit Megs wonderful blog!brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-1151150961493872402011-01-09T17:18:00.000+11:002011-01-09T17:18:43.492+11:00CHERUB: Shadow Wave<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.art-gallery-newzealand.com/site/ronaartgallery/images/large/550x9999/Shadow%20Wave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.art-gallery-newzealand.com/site/ronaartgallery/images/large/550x9999/Shadow%20Wave.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<b>Title:</b> Shadow Wave<br />
<b>Series:</b> CHERUB<br />
<b>Author:</b> Robert Muchamore<br />
<b>Published:</b> 2010<br />
<b>Genre:</b> Action, Adventure, Spy, Travel<br />
<b>Rating:</b> 4 out of 5<br />
<blockquote><div class="campus1"><i>After a tsunami causes massive devastation to a tropical island, its governor sends in the bulldozers to knock down villages, replacing them with luxury hotels.</i></div><div class="campus1"><br />
</div><div class="campus1"><i>Guarding the corrupt governor’s family isn’t James Adams’ idea of the perfect mission, especially as it’s going to be his last as a CHERUB agent. And then retired colleague Kyle Blueman comes up with an unofficial and highly dangerous plan of his own.</i></div><div class="campus1"><br />
</div><div class="campus1"><i>James must choose between loyalty to CHERUB, and loyalty to his oldest friend.</i></div></blockquote>From <a href="http://www.cherubcampus.com/book12.htm">CHERUB.com</a> <br />
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As always, CHERUB is high on the action and spy-stuff. But for me, as the last book of CHERUB, it kinda fell short. <i>Shadow Wave</i> was more about tying things up for the older characters rather than being action packed. What I did like was the character development. Throughout the series, James has evolved from a very immature and typical boy into a young adult who is building his future and knowing how to behave in a much respectable way with girls. Which is great for the boys who do read the series! Also, the villain of this book was a bit more sophisticated and political (he's a Malaysian MP) than the others in the series (which are normally terrorists, cults, motorcycle gangs, corrupt Russians and drug syndicates), which gave me a feel as if the series has matured, instead of only just the characters. <br />
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There are many themes (family, loyalty, loss of innocence, etc...) present within the whole series too, which is great when especially the younger readers reread the series and notice these <strike>things due to EngLit</strike>. I won't lie and will say I was expecting way more from <i>Shadow Wave</i>, but, the good news is there's a new CHERUB series (basically everything's the same except the new main character is someone else). It's called <a href="http://www.cherubcampus.com/aramov.html">Aramov</a>.<br />
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A must read for anyone who's read most of the series! And if you haven't but are interested in the series, <a href="http://www.cherubcampus.com/books.htm">here's</a> a list of the books in order.<br />
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BTW, don't forget to enter my international giveaway <a href="http://tothepointbookreviews.blogspot.com/2011/01/giveaway.html">here</a>!brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-49278163735830730632011-01-06T13:34:00.000+11:002011-01-06T13:34:43.510+11:00Beatle Meets Destiny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Bxt1jlVsuWkKQRaSqTb_Mm-jQxQjfAJ5V_V9B2VNZy9pP1hhA9U1KjOma3u0OPo2UJfH4gR5A0jmWY6f4IHWX3hb-G12WMj1oxA6eIe7IYnq8BAsR-WZ6IK13KqSRABhWCvWkDjBuNRY/s400/Beatle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Bxt1jlVsuWkKQRaSqTb_Mm-jQxQjfAJ5V_V9B2VNZy9pP1hhA9U1KjOma3u0OPo2UJfH4gR5A0jmWY6f4IHWX3hb-G12WMj1oxA6eIe7IYnq8BAsR-WZ6IK13KqSRABhWCvWkDjBuNRY/s400/Beatle.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<b>Title:</b> Beatle Meets Destiny<br />
<b>Author:</b> Gabrielle Williams<br />
<b>Published: </b>2009<br />
<b>Genre: </b>Contemporary, Australian<br />
<b>Rating: </b>3.5 out of 5<br />
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Beatle meets Destiny early on a Friday night at a tram stop. They acquaint each other and become more than friends. From there, is the tale of two teenagers consisting of school, love, friendship, stalkers, twins, astrology, cheating, Melbourne and family.<br />
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I did not find Beatle Meets Destiny as amazing as many other fellow bloggers did. The two characters and their friends seemed almost pretentious. I loved how Melbourne was the backdrop, but to anyone who doesn't know Melbourne would've felt out of place when streets and specific landmarks were mentioned. It was fascinating that the story started out at a time when I'm in the same situation... enjoying my summer holidays before year twelve (<i>maybe a sign to start doing homework, since Beatle did practice for exams...</i>). Also, I was irked how the novel was very 'whitewashed'. Melbourne is full of people from all races, but the group of friends were pretty similar.<br />
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Overall, it was a nice Aussie YA. I loved how I actually knew what the story about the German eating the American was and the little bits of local knowledge. However since I couldn't connect to the characters much, I don't love the novel, just like it for being interesting.brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-90955067479427603512011-01-01T01:24:00.000+11:002011-01-01T01:24:13.782+11:00Giveaway!With the Aussie YA Challenge I'm participating in this year, I thought that my very first giveaway should be related to my very first challenge. Which is why a copy of <em>Mishaps</em> by Nansi Kunze is up for grabs. I remember when I read the book about two years ago, and loved how it included science, celebrity and contemporary YA without getting too confusing.<br />
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Here's the synopsis from <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3628128.Mishaps">Goodreads</a>:<br />
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<blockquote><em>Pen O'Connell is, without a doubt, the unluckiest girl at Callindra Secondary College. Her dream date's just fallen through, her dog has literally eaten her homework, and don't even mention the incident at school camp. But when Pen meets Sebastian Meyer, teenage genius and genetics expert, she begins to wonder if everything that happens to her really is just bad luck. </em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Could the bizarre theory that's turned every teacher in the school against Sebastian explain why Pen is more likely to get a head injury than a hot date? Why does Pen's name strike terror into the heart of pop princess Sereena? And just how far will Pen go to get what she deserves</em></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/system%20pictures/9781741662757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><em><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/system%20pictures/9781741662757.jpg" /></em></a>Anyways, summed up here are the deets:</div><br />
<strong>WIN:</strong> Mishaps by Nansi Kunze<br />
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<strong></strong><strong>HOW:</strong> Fill out the form below<br />
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<strong>WHO:</strong> Everyone. This giveaway is open internationally and you don't have to be a follower to enter, although if you like the blog enough you can become a follower :)<br />
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<strong>WHEN:</strong> 1st January til 31st January 2011<br />
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<strong>FINE PRINT: </strong>If you're under 13 years old, let a parent know; giveaway date may be altered without notification; a winner will be selected at random and contacted by email ASAP.<em><br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="600" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?formkey=dEE5RUFIRlI3RGRhaVdkOGoyWHdXZHc6MQ" width="470"></iframe><br />
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<em></em></center><div align="left"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">P.S: Happy New Year everyone!</span></strong> </div>brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-8979290778409434592010-12-29T22:25:00.001+11:002010-12-29T22:26:02.736+11:00Vibes<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5qvfB7PVBjz1ui8zLOw30GJWenJS47aiNyfmG0t3woJ0wnvU6ZhCQFKdJm7fUWb7QU7HyZxcAZqfZ7rNpjIay8lxIQlDHYzTZfsgX6uiz4q8aTyD0FLCzb60_jHmGsdsbL-2AGRVawQ/s1600/book+cover+vibes+amy+kathleen+ryan.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5qvfB7PVBjz1ui8zLOw30GJWenJS47aiNyfmG0t3woJ0wnvU6ZhCQFKdJm7fUWb7QU7HyZxcAZqfZ7rNpjIay8lxIQlDHYzTZfsgX6uiz4q8aTyD0FLCzb60_jHmGsdsbL-2AGRVawQ/s400/book+cover+vibes+amy+kathleen+ryan.jpg" width="255" height="400" n4="true" /></a></div><br /><strong>Title:</strong> Vibes<br /><strong>Author:</strong> Amy Kathleen Ryan<br /><strong>Published:</strong> 2008<br /><strong>Genre:</strong> Contemporary, Supernatural (psychic)<br /><strong>Rating:</strong> 3 out of 5<br /><br /><blockquote><em>Gusty Peterson, the hottest bimboy in school, is always thinking I’m sick, as in totally gross to look at. Not that it matters, since I don’t have a crush on him or anything. And Mallory, my first real friend since forever, has disturbing romantic ideas about me and my ginormous gazungas.</em><br /><br /><em>Ask me if I’d rather not know these things.</em><br /><em>I have enough to worry about with my dad showing up after two years of saving Africa from typhoid, ready to resuscitate our relationship. There’s something he’s not telling me. I know it.</em><br /><em>And now I’ve been assigned to work with Gusty in a hideous new project the faculty are torturing us with at school. It’s so wonderful to explore yourself with someone who’s always thinking you’re sick.</em><br /><br /><em>I’d probably be a lot better off if I weren’t psychic after all . . .</em><br /><br />From <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3212848.Vibes">Goodreads</a></blockquote><br />I didn’t find Kristi the best of characters. Although she was realistic, she repeatedly mentioned her boobs, which annoyed me. Her ability to read thoughts isn’t as prominent in the books as I felt it would be, from the blurb. Also, I just knew that when Gusty uses the word "sick", it's being used in a 'whoa that's awesome' way.<br /><br />However, this doesn't mean I didn't like <em>Vibes</em>. It was interesting enough because the novel didn't focus too much on Kristi's ability. Her attitude towards others was completely reasonable, with her putting up a tough front. She seemed aloof only because she wanted others to like her for who she is, rather than how she looks (e.g: boys like her chest).<br /><br />I would recommend this read to someone who likes to read about teens having supernatural abilities but set in a more contemporary setting. <em>Vibes</em> was a light read (with a happy ending) and although there were mentions of serious issues like body image, eating disorders and divorce, they weren't the main feature.brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997952475582539427.post-10137995622731825412010-12-23T23:27:00.003+11:002010-12-23T23:29:12.383+11:00High Jinx<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oFqaNnyDL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oFqaNnyDL.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><strong>Title:</strong> High Jinx<br />
<strong>Series:</strong> High Jinx <br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Sara Lawrence<br />
<strong>Published:</strong> 2007<br />
<strong>Genre:</strong> Contemporary, ChickLit <br />
<strong>Rating:</strong> 3 out of 5<br />
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Jane 'Jinx' Slater is a lower sixth form (that's a junior, or an eleventh grader) at Stagmount, an exclusive girls boarding school, with girls attending from all over the world. Jinx and her friends sneak out and party as hard as they can without being caught- meaning life is well. However, when the super stylish and suspicious Stella Fox arrives from a rival private school, havoc is caused between the girls at Stagmount, most noticeably between Jinx and Stella.<br />
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<em>High Jinx</em> involved a large amount of underage drinking. The girls drank so much that I don't think it's possible that they were able to function in a sane manner as written (yes, I know it's fiction, but still). Promiscuity and swearing was also frequent, especially the f-bombs which appeared at least thrice every page. Interestingly, chapters weren't present. The only thing resembling a break between sections would be spacing and a small swirly image. Apart from these points, I liked High Jinx due to the characters. The teachers were comical and the girls were likable, despite their well mentioned flaws. The sisterhood and friendship between the girls is admirable and makes me want to go to boarding school. Jinx's family was also adorable, with a doting mother and father and two lovingly protective older brothers. Although the Slaters were an idealistic family, I appreciated the change where the main character doesn't have family issues.<br />
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<em>High Jinx</em> is suited more for upper YA. Although I don't usually mind swearing, I did find it overused just this once. It's a very quirky read which takes time and concentration to get into despite the fact it doesn't actually deal with deep-thinking themes or issues. I actually found it a bit biographical to the author's own time at boarding school, as Stagmount is loosely based on an exclusive British private (<em>surprise, surprise!)</em> school called Roedean School. I felt that Lawrence has written something with inside jokes for her fellow Roedeans to relate to and laugh about.<br />
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It's not a must read, but if you like to read about i) quirky British teens ii) boarding schools iii) both, with alcohol, OCD swearing and drug use, look no further (<em>I'm not being sarcastic... honest</em>).brave chickenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08813981107464941612noreply@blogger.com1