#LoveOzYAbookclub – February 2016 book selection

Welcome to a brand new year of bookclub! After a slightly, er, hectic start to the year, we’re back on track with our first title for 2016.

This month’s title was selected by Lili Wilkinson, the author of our Dec/Jan book, Green Valentine – Lili has chosen the new book by Alison Goodman, Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club.  A Regency adventure story about a society miss who becomes a demon hunter - Pride and Prejudice meets Buffy?  I’m twirling my parasol with excitement!

Kirkus Reviews describes Lady Helen as a ‘deep, deliberately paced journey’ through a Regency London filled with Reclaimers and Deceivers, a supernatural reflection of what was then the polite ton society and the seedy underworld of the period.  Lady Helen Wrexhall – led by her guide, the mysterious Lord Carlston – finds her destiny is a lot more unusual and deadly than she was originally led to believe…

This is the first book in a new series, about which Kirkus says: “Goodman’s prose is assured; her impeccable research shines through on every page … and brings to life questions of freedom and choice for women.”  All right, I’m convinced – sign me up!

For this month only we are having a very special bookclub event: Readings independent bookstore is also reading Lady Helen for their YA bookclub this month, so we thought we’d join forces and make things extra awesome for everybody.  So, lovely #LoveOzYAbookclub members, please make welcome visitors from the Readings YA bookclub on the title selection and discussion threads, and #LoveOzYAbookclub members will of course be welcome to join in the Readings bookclub discussion on Wed 17February, 7pm, at Readings St Kilda, hosted by St Kilda Children’s book specialist, Isobel Moore (click the FB link to book).  To make things even better, you now have two options for purchasing this month’s title: you can order it through Boomerang Books, with the special ‘loveoz’ promotional code, to receive free shipping, or – for February only – you can buy the book in-store at Readings for a 20% discount (just mention bookclub with your purchase at Readings).

I hope you enjoy Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club – stay tuned for some contact from Alison Goodman during the month, I’ll let you know when the discussion post goes live, and happy Leap Year!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub – January 2016 Book Discussion Post: Green Valentine (Lili Wilkinson)

So here we are – we’ve reached the moment of truth!  What did you think of Green Valentine?  I admit to being a little biased with this book, cos I launched it when it was released…but then I admitted to bias with our last book too, so I think I should just give up and admit that I have a general case of bias where books are involved.  But It was a very special launch, where all the participants went home with little seedlings for their gardens, and I got to mix a lot of metaphors involving 'growing' and 'sprouting' and 'putting down roots' into my launch speech, and a good time was had by all!

Green Valentine is the sweetest little book – this review by Trisha Buckley on the CBCA Reading Time website says it well:

“[Lili Wilkinson’s] books challenge expectations, and ask teenagers to look at their choices, and be sure they are making them for the best reasons… [Green Valentine] incorporates social justice concerns without sounding preachy or teachy… Astrid’s personal growth happens organically (see what I did there?) and in parallel to the guerrilla garden she and Hiro create. The issues are relevant to the target audience, and add in the romance, the humour and the diverse range of characters, and what we have here is a winner.” 

You can read the whole of Trisha’s review here.

What did you think of our Dec/Jan title?  Add your comments to the discussion thread on the FB page, where you can join in the conversation, or feel free to leave your opinion in the comments below.

Next week, be ready for the announcement of our #LoveOzYAbookclub title for February – see you then!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub – Author Q&A - Lili Wilkinson (Green Valentine)

Hi all, welcome to a brand new year with #LoveOzYAbookclub :)  To kick things off for 2016, our author for Dec/Jan’s title, Lili Wilkinson, has graciously agreed to answer some slightly ridiculous questions about herself, her writing, and Green Valentine.

The discussion thread for Green Valentine will be going up shortly (ie. when I pull my finger out, ieie. in the next few days)  Meanwhile, thanks for getting your sillies on with me and Lili, and happy reading!

* Something important about your writing process you’d like to share:

I don’t write chronologically. I like to put together a detailed chapter outline before I start writing, and then every day I write the bit of the story I’m most excited about. It works really well, and I never get stuck… until I get to the last 20% of the draft which is all the tricky bits I’ve been avoiding.

* Your book makes No#1 with a bullet on the NYT Bestseller List, and a famous bartender at the Ritz-Carlton makes a cocktail in its honour.  What’s in the cocktail and what is it called:

Green Valentine seems like a pretty good name for a cocktail. It’s basically a gin and tonic, but served with muddled mint, kaffir lime and cucumber, garnished with a home-grown strawberry.

* If your book was a ride at SeaWorld, it would be…:

DEFINITELY NOT ONE THAT GOES UPSIDE DOWN BECAUSE WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT WHAT IF IT GOT STUCK AND YOU HAD TO HANG UPSIDE DOWN FOR HOURS UNTIL THEY RESCUED YOU DON’T LAUGH IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.

* We’re at a dance party right now, and the DJ wants to know which song gets you out on the floor for major boogies and you say…:

Pat Benatar’s Love is a Battlefield.

* The zombie apocalypse strikes, but it’s okay, cos you have your choice of weapons, and you choose…:

My iPhone, so I can google what to do in a zombie apocalypse.

Thank you Lili!  And now I totally want a cocktail with G&T and muddled mint, kaffir lime...er, maybe hold the cucumber.  I'm looking forward to seeing what Lili chooses for next month’s bookclub pick, and I'll be updating again VERY soon (I promise).

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub: December 2015 book selection

Can you hear the Christmas sleigh bells tinkling?  No?  Well, I hope this tinkles in your ear then – we have our second book for bookclub!

This month’s book has been selected by the authors of last month’s title – as #LoveOzYAbookclub operates on a domino system for titles.  So big thank yous to Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, who have chosen Green Valentine by Lili Wilkinson as our book of the month.

Green Valentine is the story of Astrid (Lobster Girl), a perky eco-warrior, and Hiro (Shopping Trolley Boy), a slouchy non-participator, and how they find common ground while taking on the enormous task of re-greening their hometown of Valentine.  The book has been described as ‘a charming and inspiring read’ – I was privileged to launch this book in August, so I’m delighted it’s come on the menu for bookclub.

Lili Wilkinson is a wonderful writer for teenagers, and was a direct inspiration for my own foray into crime fiction (after reading her book A Pocketful of Eyes). CBCA says that “[Lili’s] books challenge expectations, and ask teenagers to look at their choices, and be sure they are making them for the best reasons.” 

If you would like to order the book through Boomerang Books, use the code loveoz at the ‘use a promotional code’ step, and you’ll receive free shipping.

Because it’s such a busy time, I’ll put the discussion post up either a little early or a little late, depending on how people are getting through the reading – and we might have a delayed intro to 2016 as a result (that’s probably my fault, for selecting a brick like Illuminae for the first title – oops), but let me know how you’re getting on with it.

So I hope you enjoy Green Valentine over the holiday period, and may your December be full of calm, and many books!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub: November 2015 Book Discussion Post – Illuminae (Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff)

Hi and welcome to our first book club Discussion Post! 

Now, as book club host, it’s kind of my job to be impartial, but this is the first book off the rank, and (hopefully) the only book I’ll get to choose over the course of book club.  And I’ve got to say, I loved Illuminae – it shook up my head in the best possible way.  I’ve seen a few books that have tried to meld the narrative aspects with graphic-novel style, but this is the first book that I think actually managed to pull it off.  From page one to finish, I absolutely could not put it down (I read it in almost a single sitting) and I was truly blown away by the finale.  Now I’m praying that Brad Pitt and his movie production mates do the novel justice on the big screen.

So – on with the show!  Illuminae is reviewed by Danielle Binks, of Alphareader fame, and she had some great things to say about it, including this:

“Y’know how Battlestar Galactica is actually exploring religion and civil liberty … Or, okay – how Joss Whedon’s Firefly isn’t really just an intergalactic-Western? But rather it’s inspired by the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg and the everyday people who are stepped on in the great moments of history, and that it’s even a story of the immigrant experience and outsiders pushed to the fringe by the victors in a war they never wanted any part of? Yep, okay – well, in the same way there is a lot happening beneath the surface of Illuminae.”

You can read Danielle’s full review of Illuminae right here.

What did you think about Illuminae?  Add comments below, or feel free to join in the Facebook group for discussion about this book, as well as general book talk and a bit of silliness on the side.

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub: Author Q&A – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Illuminae)

To value-add to our book club experience, I’ve asked authors whose books we’re reading to either a) answer a short Q&A, or b) participate in an FB author chat, if they’re able.  As authors can get very busy, I’ve tried to keep it light-hearted, with the emphasis on something fun and easy.

The authors of our November book, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, have been very busy indeed of late, so I’m hugely appreciative that they’ve agreed to join in at #LoveOzYAbookclub with the answers to a few silly questions.  The Discussion Thread for Illuminae will go up early next week – until then, enjoy!

* One curious or unusual thing about you that most people don’t know: is that Jay is a Karaoke King (you should hear him do metal songs) and Amie used to work as a professional sailing coach—she walked on a boat before she took her first steps on land.

* Your work space – tell us about it: Right now Amie’s is wherever she can perch amidst towering stacks of boxes, because she’s moving house, but usually it’s a study lined with bookshelves, where she writes at her treaddesk, or in an armchair. Jay has a study too, with a great big fancy desk and a fireplace… but he always ends up writing on the couch in his uggs.

* Writing Must-Haves – snacks, drinks, music…whatever: For Amie, the music is mostly by Muse or Two Steps From Hell, and for Jay, it’s mostly silence, or the classical music of Ludovico Einaudi (which is hilarious, because usually Jay listens to metal.) When we’re brainstorming, Jay drinks Jack Daniels and Amie eats chips. When we’re at home writing, it’s Red Bull for Jay and Pepsi Max for Amie all the way.

* If your book was a ride at SeaWorld, it would be…: banned for its incredibly high death toll.

* The zombie apocalypse strikes, but it’s okay, cos you have your choice of weapons, and you choose…: copies of Illuminae. Seriously, have you seen that thing? It’s the size of a brick. As our secondary weapon, we choose a friend who runs far more slowly than us. That should slow them up.

Thanks Amie and Jay! And see you all ‘round the Discussion Thread next week :)

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub : November 2015 book selection

Welcome to the #LoveOzYAbookclub debut book selection!

This month’s book is our very first, and the only book I get to choose – after November, the title selections will be made by the authors of the books under discussion.  I spent a long time thinking about which title to choose…and finally made a decision by asking myself Which book would I want to read more than any other?

So…*drumroll*… our book for the month of November will be Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

Illuminae is the first book in The Illuminae Files series, and has been described as “a fantastically entertaining space opera with explosions and romance” combined with “a thoughtful and expansive tale of political intrigue and subterfuge”.  It’s one of the biggest things to come out of Australian YA in a long time – it’s already hit the New York Times Bestseller List.  It’s also (if you have a quick glance at the insides) a mashup of graphic design and story – in fact, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

AmieKaufman is the co-author of the Starbound Trilogy with Meagan Spooner, and Jay Kristoff is the author of The Lotus Wars series, and they both live in Melbourne and are both quite lovely.  Amie and Jay have already agreed to choose a title for #LoveOzYAbookclub for next month.

I've made an arrangement with Boomerang Books (who specialise in Australian books and had all the titles I searched for at excellent prices) so that #LoveOzYAbookclub members can get free shipping.  If you would like to order the book through Boomerang Books, use the code loveoz at the ‘use a promotional code’ step, and you won't have to pay for postage.

So go forth and read!  I hope you enjoy Illuminae, and I’ll look forward to the discussion we’ll have about it at the end (probably early in the last week) of November here on the #LoveOzYAbookclub group.

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub: Title Suggestions Masterlist and How This All Works

Hi all, this is the introductory post for the #LoveOzYAbookclub – welcome!  If you enjoy reading YA books, and specifically Australian YA, then this is the club for you.  I'm not going to make stupid references to Fight Club, cos that is passe, and the only rule of #LoveOzYAbookclub is talk all you want about bookclub.  Oh, and invite whoever you want - young readers, older readers, readers of all shapes and sizes and persuasions.  The more the merrier. 

I’ll be updating with posts here on the blog, but running the discussion threads on the #LoveOzYAbookclub Facebook group page – feel free to run on over there and join to stay current.

This post is just to say hi, and thanks for coming along, and to show off the list of books from which we’ll likely select the books we’ll be reading.  We'll read a book a month - makes it nice and easy, huh?  I’ve made a big OzYA master list below, which will be added to from time to time, as new titles get suggested and old ones get crossed off.

If we’ve left out your fave, or you’d like to suggest a particular title to be read for #LoveOzYAbookclub, add a comment here or at the FB page, or you can always tweet me (just remember to tag me and #LoveOzYAbookclub).

This will be the process for #LoveOzYAbookclub (title selection and general procedure):

I’ll select the first book (because I'm bossy like that), which I’ll announce in early November.  Then I’ll ask the author of that book to choose the next title from the list (for December), and so on down the line (Janurary, February, etc...).  If the author of the current book doesn’t want to choose or is unavailable to do so, I’ll ask someone else to do it or do it myself.  I’ll ask someone who enjoyed the book to review it for the first discussion post, which I'll put up here/on FB in the last half of each month.  Then folks who'd like to comment about how they liked the book of the month can take it from there.  And so on, ad infinitum, until we run out of books, or the internet collapses, or the zombie apocalypse arrives, or whatever.

So, you got that?

*I'll pick the first book, then it will domino from there

*I'll make a Title post at the start of each month, letting you know which book we're reading

*I'll make a second Discussion post near the end of the month, after we've all had a chance to read

*Discussion and comments will be on the relevant thread over at the #LoveOzYAbookclub FB group page.

*If the author of the book is amenable, I’ll try to arrange an interview, or a Facebook author chat, during the relevant month.

*I’m also in the process of organising a way for those buying the book to get free shipping for online orders.

Masterlist of OzYA Books Suggested So Far (feel free to suggest more!):

InBetweenDays – Vikki Wakefield

TheFlywheel – Erin Gough

Risk – Fleur Ferris

Talk Under Water – Kathryn Lomer

Sidekicks – Will Kostakis 

Razorhurst– Justine Larbalestier

GoodOil – Laura Buzo

Zeroes– Margo Lanagan, Scott Westerfeld, Deborah Biancotti

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl – Melissa Keil

The Book of Days – KA Barker

GreenValentine – Lili Wilkinson

A Little Wanting Song – Cath Crowley

The Intern – Gabrielle Tozer

Notes from the Teenage Underground – Simmone Howell
Burn Bright - Marianne dePierres

My Life as an Alphabet – Barry Jonsberg

Head of the River – Pip Harry

Atmospheric– Carole Wilkinson
Deucalion - Brian Caswell

Grace Beside Me – Sue McPherson

Steal My Sunshine – Emily Gale

Hate is Such A Strong Word – Sarah Ayoub

How to be Happy – Dave Burton

Undine– Penni Russon
The Last Girl - Michael Adams

90 Packets of Instant Noodles – Deb Fitzpatrick

Finding Grace – Alyssa Brugman

Clara in Washington – Penni Tangey
Living Hell - Catherine Jinks

Killing Darcy – Melissa Lucashenko

Jasper Jones – Craig Silvey

Into the River – Ted Dawe
The Extinction Gambit - Michael Pryor

Girl Saves Boy – Steph Bowe
First Person Shooter - Cameron Raynes

ThingsYou Either Hate or Love – Brigid Lowry

Laurinda _ Alice Pung

Cooper Bartholomew is Dead – Rebecca James

Spark – Rachael Craw
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club - Alison Goodman

Thrive– Mary Borsellino

The Dead I Know – Scot Gardner

The Protected – Claire Zorn

Hating Alison Ashley – Robin Klein
Between The Lives - Jessica Shirvington

One True Thing – Nicole Hayes

48 Shades of Brown – Nick Earls

Twinmaker: Jump – Sean Williams

Whisper– Christine Keighery

Illuminae– Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff 

Finnikin of the Rock – Melina Marchetta

How to Make A Bird – Martine Murray

Rise of the Fallen – Teagan Chilcott

A Small Madness _ Dianne Touchell
Eon - Alison Goodman

Facing Up – Carolyn Gilpin

Fire in the Sea – Myke Bartlett

Little Paradise – Gabrielle Wang

Intruder– Christine Bongers
Black Glass - Meg Mundell

Crashing Down – Kate McCaffrey

Zac & Mia – AJ Betts

Cloudwish – Fiona Wood

The Gathering – Isobelle Carmody

Frankie– Shivaun Plozza

Nona and Me – Clare Atkins

Deadly,Unna? – Phillip Gwynne

Pieces of Sky – Trinity Doyle

The Guy, The Girl, The Artist and His Ex – Gabrielle Williams

Does My Head Look Big in this? – Randa Abdel-Fattah

A Single Stone – Meg McKinley

So Much To Tell You – John Marsden

Summer Skin – Kirsty Eagar 

The Cracks in the Kingdom – Jaclyn Moriarty

Sabriel – Garth Nix

You’re the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About – Daniel Herborn
Stay With Me - Maureen McCarthy

Shadows– Paula Weston

The Vanishing Moment – Margaret Wild

Footy Dreaming – Michael Hyde

This is Shyness – Leanne Hall

I Am the Messenger – Markus Zusak

Frankie and Joely – Nova Weetman
Preloved - Shirley Marr

Cry Blue Murder – Kim Kane, Marion Roberts

Calypso Summer – Jared Thomas

Freedom Ride – Sue Lawson

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf – Ambelin Kwaymullina
The Pause - John Larkin

The Astrologer’s Daughter – Rebecca Lim

Five Parts Dead – Tim Pegler
Sky Legs - Irini Savvides

Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean – Kirsty Murray, ed.

Losing It – Julia Lawrinson

Fairytales for Wilde Girls – Allyse Near
The Big Dry - Tony Davis

The Tricksters – Margaret Mahy

Cracked – Clare Strahan
Oracle - Jackie French

Run – Tim Sinclair
Kill The Music - Nansi Kunze

The Minnow - Diane Sweeney
Snow White: This is No Fairy Tale - Keith Austin

*Many of the authors have multiple books, so I’ve only put up one book per author.  The decision on which book to include was either suggested, or made by me (because I wanted to read a certain book.  Soz.).  If you’d like to suggest a different book for the same author, that’s fine, but let’s make sure we spread the love around.

*Some books have collaborative authors – once their joint book is read and crossed out, I’m happy to include works they’ve penned as individuals.

*Yes, I’ve included some NZ authors (mainly because I want to read Into the River and Spark, and why not).

*No, I haven’t put my own books on the list, cos I didn’t want to feel like a der.  I’m getting plenty of love by facilitating this bookclub, which is good enough for me (and if you want to go read the Every series, thank you, and the link to Booktopia is on the sidebar at right! #officialplug).

* If you’re a blogger/reviewer and you’d like to have your reviews included in the bookclub, please get in touch.

And that’s it!  Hope you like the list and please feel welcome to join in the reading and discussion by joining the #LoveOzYA bookclub on Facebook.  Keep an eye out for the first book, coming up soon (first week of November) – I’ll post it here and cross-post to the group plus everywhere else.  I can’t wait to start reading!

xxEllie