Top Ten Books I've Read So Far In 2013

1. Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan. Gorgeous, descriptive writing telling a beautiful, harrowing, whimsical story about selkies.

2. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers. A zombie novel focused on human relationships and emotions. So many feels.

3. Adorkable by Sarra Manning. Realistic characters + authentic romance = pure fun.

4. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. After loving the show

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Review: Sister, Sister by Andrew Neiderman

I picked this up randomly at a secondhand store for three dollars while I was away in the Blue Mountains. I had just finished reading Floundering and I needed something that wouldn’t hurt my head. A trashy horror novel about telepathic conjoined twins by V.C. Andrews’ ghostwriter seemed like just the thing. Also did I mention it was three dollars?

Anyway, to some extent I did enjoy it in a

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Friday Link Dump: Divergent, Anchorman 2 and Lego

Source

-New photos from Divergent have been released and it looks pretty good. (EW)

-I want to go to all of these bookish restaurants. (Flavorwire)

-Love the illustrations of this Tumblr artist, especially her Sleeping Beauty retelling. (Tumblr)

-Game of Thrones meets Terminator II in the mash up to end all mash ups. (YouTube)

-Meanwhile George R. R. Martin and Peter Dinklage are coming to

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Review: Floundering by Romy Ash

This book was such a disappointment.





I picked it up at the Sydney Writers' Festival after it won the SMH Young Australian Novelists of the Year award. Seeing that it also made the Miles Franklin Award shortlist, amongst others, I expected it would be amazing, and I liked the concept. Told from the perspective of a little boy, Floundering details a road trip and stay in a caravan park with

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Review: This Is Not A Test By Courtney Summers

Holy crap did I love this book.




It reminded my a little of The Walking Dead, in that it’s set in a zombie apocalypse but the zombies are merely the backdrop for the human drama. But while The Walking Dead features a mostly adult cast (give or take an annoying kid or two), This Is Not A Test focuses on six teens as they hole up in their high school and try to figure out how to survive. Or if

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Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR

I feel like I was just doing one of these, and embarrassingly I've read a big fat ZERO from my last TBR list. Hopefully I'll do better this time - here's what I'm hoping to get to...




1. Trumpet by Jackie Kay. I have to admit I'd never heard of Jackie Kay before seeing her at the Sydney Writers' Festival - but I was blown away by her talent, humour, wit and wisdom when I saw her. I immediately

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Friday Links: Judy Blume, Giraffe Butts and Game of Thrones

-Judy Blume did an AMA on Reddit. Best ever. (Reddit)

-I've been in a bit of a Game of Thrones Google binge since it ended this week. In my travels I came across this awesome Hitler reaction vid on the Red Wedding. Spoilers if you haven't read/watched it (YouTube). I also discovered Game of Kittehs, which is ridiculous but made me giggle (Tumblr). Then there's ah-mazing 80s-themed character

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Top Ten Beach Reads

1. Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares. It's all about summer (amongst other things), and it's so much fun. My kind of beach read.

2. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Teen romance at its best.

3. Adorkable by Sarra Manning. Teen romance at its second best.

4. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. Just pure fun.

5. Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan. Not exactly a

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Review: Liar By Justine Larbalestier

Micah lives with her parents and little brother in New York City. She spends summers with her eccentric grandmother and great aunt. She loves to run. She has a boyfriend who has gone missing. And she is a compulsive liar. Talk about an unreliable narrator!

Liar is split into three parts, and in each Micah tells a version of what she claims is the truth. I loved the first part of the book and

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Bookish Buys: Kitsch And Kooky Bookends

T-Rex bookends




Flamingo bookends




Elephant bookends




Vintage deer bookends




Pugs bookends




Sausage dog bookends




Sloth bookends



Mermaid bookends




Vintage horse bookends




Owl bookends



Kitten bookends




Vintage duck bookends




Vintage Colonial bookends




Deer bookends

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Top Ten Books Featuring Travel

1. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. The best roadtrip book I've read. It will make you laugh, cry and swoooon.

2. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta. I could put the whole of The Lumatere Chronicles, but Finnikin is the one with the most travel. They're all wonderful.

3. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. The magical, gorgeous tale of one unicorn's quest to find others

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