Stacking
The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your
shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books
you buy in physical stores or online bookshops, books you borrow from
friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks. Hosted
by Tyngas Reviews.
Thanks to Harlequin Australia, Scholastic Australia, and Putnam Penguin Books in the U.S (my first international ARC paperbacks), this week I received through publishers and purchase:
The Well's End by Seth Fishman and Scan by Walter Jury and S. E Fine. I also have a paperback copy of SCAN to giveaway in the new year for my fellow Aussies. Thank you to Putnam U.S.
Twelve (The Last Thirteen) by James Phelan (cover not pictured) and The Skull In The Wood by Sandra Greaves. Thank you to Scholastic Australia.
Captivate by Vanessa Garden. Thank you to Harlequin Australia.
And a very special extra thank you to the lovely folk at Scholastic, for sending me a copy of:
Catching Fire, the New
York Times bestseller by Suzanne Collins, is now a major motion picture, and this is your guide to all of the movie's excitement, both in
front of the camera and behind it.
Go behind the scenes of
the making of Catching Fire with exclusive materials, including
back-stage photos and interviews. From the screenwriting process to the
casting decisions, from the fantastic new sets and gorgeous costumes to
the actors' performances and the director's vision, this is the
definitive companion to the second Hunger Games film.
This week I also purchased: Heart On My Sleeve by Ellen Wittlinger, Two Steps Forward by Rachel Cohn and Cupid Painted Blind by Charlotte Calder.
I treated myself to: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. This is the Australian signed, hard cover edition available from Dymocks Books Australia.
As an extra special gift for my fellow Aussies, thanks to Dymocks, I'll be giving away an unsigned hard cover copy of The Fault In Our Stars closer to Christmas.
So look out for the giveaway running during December until I celebrate my first blog birthday in the new year.
What are you stacking your shelves with this week?
Written by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Science Fiction, Romance
Published November 20th 2013
374 Pages
Thank you to Allen and Unwin Australia
Add to Goodreads
★★★★★
It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets to the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.
Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.
Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other's arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder, would they be better off staying in this place forever?
Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won't be the same people who landed on it.
The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.
The Icarus is by far the most luxurious ship to come from the orbital dock. Boasting over fifty thousand people aboard, from the rich social heiress and media darling Lilac LaRoux, to the decorated war hero Major Tarver Merendsen, the general population of the ship taking the fastest route to their destination, to friends, family and the soldiers in the lower decks who are on their way to one of the colonies, to stop the latest rebellion. During a lavish party upon the ship, Tarver notices Lilac waiting for her traveling companions. A natural beauty that is as cruel as she is unobtainable. But Lilac can't be seen enjoying the company of a backwater boy, even if he is a decorated soldier. Being an only child of an overprotective father means Lilac's social interactions are limited. She's the heiress to LaRoux Industries and the wealthiest girl in the galaxy, but Major Merendsen doesn't seem to know who she is.
A strange shudder begins to roll throughout the decks, bouts of passengers being spacesick has never been seen before on a luxury ship. An announcement attempting to calm the passengers blares over he digital screens, the Icarus is having difficulty with the hyperspace engines and has suffered substantial damage as a result of the dimensional displacement. The ship is being torn out of hyperspace when Tarver catches a glimpse of an enormous metallic object through the ship windows, large enough to pull the Icarus from her flight path. The panicked passengers being to surge into a riotous sea, fleeing to the escape pods when Tarver hears a distinctive scream and rushes through the crowd to save Miss LaRoux. No one on board could have predicted what was to come.
For a moment the image before us is frozen. Our world, our lives, reduced to a handful broken stars half lost in uncharted space. Then it's gone, the view swallowed by the hyperspace winds streaming past, blue green auroras wiping the after images away.
Until all that's left is us.
The standard escape pod the unlikely pair have boarded is still firmly attached to the Icarus, and without Lilac's intimate knowledge of the ship the two would have perished. Rerouting the wires, the pod careers past the same reflective metallic object and tumbles towards an unknown planet. Lilac is battered and bruised, insisting they remain with the pod as their best chance of rescue, but Tarver is in his element. The planet has been terraformed, trees dotting the landscape with signs of plant life, and clean air. Still dressed in an evening gown and shoes that are impossible to navigate the rough terrain in, Lilac follows Tarver to explore the new world as pieces of flaming debris are falling from the sky. The Icarus is dying, her father's ship is in ruins, falling from the sky and heading towards her final resting place within the mountain range beyond the vast plains. Lilac worries what will happen to Major Meredsen when their rescue arrives, to be seen alone with the social darling could not only end his career, but his life. And for Lilac, it wouldn't be the first time.
They need to make it to the wreckage site of the Icarus if they want any chance to be rescued, they'll need to walk for what could possibly be days, if they don't stumble upon a colony first. Already on edge with one another, they set off for the mountain range. Lilac is determined not to become a liability, but with strange big cats roaming the forest, they both walk with a weary unease. It isn't until they camp for the night, when Lilac hears the first signs of human life, whispers beyond the forest and a woman quietly sobbing. But there is no sign of anyone there, there are no rescue crafts in the atmosphere, and no other signs of life... Except for the whispers that plague Lilac. The voices are nothing more than muffled whispers, causing Lilac to shake and sweat through what Tarver believes are hallucinations as he can't hear the gentle and softly spoken words.
Lilac knows the voices want to help them on their journey, guiding their way to safety. But as they approach the fallen ship, it becomes clear that there is something greater the voices are guiding them towards, but will they survive the new alien world until their rescue comes... If it comes at all.
Kelly's Thoughts
These Broken Stars was phenomenal. Rarely does a book lure me in so quickly, but it was simply perfection. Told in dual points of view, the illustrious Lilac, wealthy socialite and oppressed teen. She's the only daughter of a single parent, her over protective and controlling father having lost Lilac's mother years ago. He's wealthy, powerful and influential which is the reason why Lilac keeps acquaintances at an arm's length, including Tarver. Tarver is a simple boy that has returned from war as a hero. His new found status has thrust him into a vain and materialistic world. Two worlds collide when the Icarus hits trouble and the soldier and heiress learn to enable one another to survive.
It's clear the annoyance with one another is fused with an attraction that neither of them cares to admit, but slowly a romance blossoms, a deep respect and mutual admiration forms between the two. I absolutely loved the fusion between science fiction, romance, fantasy and survival. It was intriguing, the storyline was unpredictable and kept me on the edge of my seat. Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have created a completely seamless partnership, a beautiful yet dangerous world, a multitude of secrets and phenomenons and a romance that defies boundaries. These girls are utterly brilliant, I'd read their shopping list if they stuck a cover on it.
Written By Ambelin Kwaymullina
Dystopian, Science Fiction
Published July 2012
397 Pages
Thank you to Walker Books Australia
Add to Goodreads
★★★★☆
★★★★☆
The Reckoning destroyed civilisation. Rising from the ashes, some people have developed unique abilities, and society is scared of them. Guided by the ancient spirits of the land, Ashala Wolf will do anything to keep them safe. When Ashala is captured, she realises she has been betrayed by someone she trusted. When her interrogator starts digging in her memories for information, she doubts she can protect her people forever. Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?
Ashala lives in a world where those with unique abilities, are forced from society into detention. History tells us the story of The Reckoning, where the world was left with nothing when devastation wiped through societies and damaged our environment. Now three hundred years into the future, the earth still continues to heal and an authoritarian society has taken the place of freedom and justice for it's citizens. Ash is the leader of an illegal Tribe, where a group of children with abilities are able to live freely within the Firstwood forest, without adult intervention. Each child possesses an unnatural ability in which the new society sees as an abomination, with those not registered with the council, are captured and tortured.
Ash is with one in The Firstwood, the site where nature is said to have fought against The Reckoning and emerging with new growth and brimming with new life. The forest is alive, breathing and speaking to the Tribe. In exchange for a home to call their own, the youngsters care for the mighty Tuart trees by laying down their lives to protect the forest from the atrocities that man brought upon them centuries ago. The Saurs that roam the grasslands abide by a treaty established by the Tribe, with the giant lizards and kids sharing Firstwood peacefully.
But now Ash now finds herself at the Detention Center, where she's been brought in By Justin Connor. Once part of her life, Connor was sent to infiltrate the Tribe to gather information to detain members, children who have the abilities that society seems to live in fear of. A Skychanger that once destroyed modern society through the ability to call on torrential rain, wiping out cities in her wake has left the government with no choice, bring them in and protect the planet. Ashala Ambrose, now known as Ashala Wolf, is sixteen and a Sleepwalker. At only eight years old, Ash realised that her dreams were more than just that, they allowed her to explore and experience the world. Ash ran away at twelve years old, Fleeing Gull City in the hopes to avoid the Citizenship Assessment at fourteen, as do most illegals. Those with abilities are put in detention or branded with a tattoo, and Ash wanted neither one. Neville Rose is the chef administrator at the detention center, who's reputation proceeds him. Neville expects Ash to give up the secrets of the only family she now has, after an accident had taken the lives of her parents and little sister Cassie. But Ash is a fighter, and her strength of character sees her being strapped into The Machine, designed to extract the information they want from her by force by delving into her memories.
Connor isn't the only one who has betrayed Ash, as one of her own from the Tribe has been working with Neville in exchange for her freedom. Ash fears she'll never return to Firstwood, where no doubt her friends Georgie and Ember must know she's been captured and that Connor has betrayed them. But as the interrogation reveals Ash's meeting with the elusive Serpent, there are memories that dance around Ash's mind that seem just out of reach. Of Connor, who Ash seems to share a connection with. Georgie who can manipulate the mind. Ember, who can infiltrate Ash's memories as the machine seeks to find her secrets and why Neville Rose wants to destroy her.
The Interrogation Of Ashala Wolf can be described in one word, awesome. This is not your average dystopian, a blend of Indigenous Dreamtime and a post apocalyptic world in which man destroyed our environment. Ashala is a tough and feisty heroine, she possesses an inner strength rarely seen in most young adult protagonists. She's socially aware and an environmental warrior, sharing a connection with both fauna and flora alike. She's given a sense of peace, stability and a home within the spiritual Firstwood forest for children like herself, who have gained abilities through evolution, possibly to aid in survival while the earth was reborn. The government see them as an abomination, the Sleepwalkers such as Ash, Rumblers who can cause earthquakes, Firestarters, Skychangers who can alter the weather and Menders, natural doctors who can heal.Kelly's Thoughts
I loved how the storyline was set within the detention center, as the machine pulls memories from Ash's mind. Her relationships, friendships and hardships, as she leads her Tribe against what is essentially the government who believe they upset the balance in society, while protecting the fragile earth. Each character is unique and share a bond with the animals they share Firstwood with. Friend Georgie has a strange connection with spiders and can manipulate to either attack or aid, just as Ash has a bond with wolves.
The spiritual aspects were beautiful and readers will appreciate the uniqueness that is Dreamtime. I didn't love The Interrogation Of Ashala Wolf, I adored it.The Final Verdict
Written By Melina Marchetta
Contemporary
Published March 31st 2003
252 Pages
Add to Goodreads
★★★★
Francesca battles her mother, Mia, constantly over what's best for her. All Francesca wants is her old friends and her old school, but instead Mia sends her to St. Sebastian's, an all boys' school that has just opened its doors to girls. Now Francesca's surrounded by hundreds of boys, with only a few other girls for company. All of them weirdos, or worse.
Then one day, Mia is too depressed to get out of bed. One day turns into months, and as her family begins to fall apart, Francesca realizes that without her mother's high spirits, she hardly knows who she is. But she doesn't yet realize that she's more like Mia than she thinks. With a little unlikely help from St. Sebastian's, she just might be able to save her family, her friends, and, especially, herself
Being one of only thirty girls at Saint Sebastian's with over seven hundred boys isn't ideal, but Francesca Spinelli hasn't any other choice. Frankie's previous all girls school only held classes until the girls reached year ten, with most of her friends moving onto another secondary collage, one in which Francesca's mother refused to send her to. Her mother is a feisty woman, always pushing Francesca to be more, to want more and never settle for less. She's dramatic, argumentative and expects Frankie to push the limits, to question everything and to liberate the remanding twenty nine girls who are attending Saint Sebastian's. When Mia fails to play her random motivational song before school, Frankie realises that something is wrong. Her mother refuses to rest when she's been ill, so why isn't she now getting out of bed?
Francesca's father is a simple man, but it's clear that he lives for Mia and his children are a close second. Not only is Mia an educated career woman, but also the main caregiver, the pillar of strength and the domestic motivator, so now it's up to Francesca to care for younger brother Luca. At school, a revolution is brewing. Tara Finke is gathering a group of girls, who aren't afraid to fight for the injustices against the small female population at Saint Sebastian's. It's not that Francesca is interested in joining the cause, she just doesn't have anything better to do. But somehow she's become the voice of the female student body, and is nominated to discuss their concerns with their representative, the serious William Trombal. Will doesn't like being put in his place, and he certainly doesn't appreciate sharing his school with the female variety, but strangely, Francesca seems to make him nervous.
It's now been over two weeks since Mia has confined herself to her bedroom, with relatives now saying that Frankie's mum has had a breakdown. The household duties are now relegated to their father, who only seems to know how to cook eggs and refuses to tell them why Mia has isolated herself. Instead, Frankie and Luca are separated, one sent to live with Nonna and the other with Aunt Teresa. Life with her grandparents is a bevy of game shows in which they don't understand, seemingly excited by money and coloured lights. The only way Frankie can see Luca is at school, and mixing with the younger students is forbidden, landing Francesca in detention along with Jimmy Hailler. Jimmy is a self confessed pot smoking, foul mouthed lout. But he's honest and seems as lonely as Frankie is, the two striking up a strange friendship of sorts. The bus ride home is where a small group of teens, some misguided, some disliked or just lost, come together and begin to rely upon one another. No one knows that Frankie's mother is ill, but rather she decides to confide in a former friend from her previous school.
But as Mia seems to deteriorate,Frankie is unknowingly building a small group of friends. Justine who rides the bus each day, the quiet achiever who plays the accordion, Justine is waiting for the boy with the tuba at the bus stop to notice her. Tara is fanatically the equal opportunist, she enjoys being argumentative and protesting against the injustice of the Saint Sebastian's of the world. Once a former friend Siobhan, now enjoys the company of boys who are intent on hurting her. Frankie was once her partner in crime, but was led astray by a group of girls who insisted on rescuing her, and her social status. It's only now that Frankie is beginning to find her feet without them. While school seems to become far more interesting, at home, things couldn't be worse. No one will talk to Francesca about about her mother, her relationship with her father is now reduced to accusations and raised voices, and she realises that she may be falling in love with a boy she can't have.
Her only release comes in the form of a boy who dances badly, the girl who shares her bus ride, the snarky girl who fights the system and reconciling a long lost friendship, while her life seems to fall apart. Francesca can't save her own family, until she saves herself first.
Kelly's Thoughts
Saving Francesca is a deep, compassionate coming of age story, told from the perspective of a girl who is struggling to find her place in the world without her mother. Francesca's mother has depression, the vivacious and educated woman had shut herself off from the world, her family and her children, and Francesca can't cope without her. Her mother has always told her who to be, what to do and has involved herself in every aspect of Frankie's life, so when Frankie needs to stand on her own two feet, she doesn't know how.
Melina Marchetta crafted a realistic world that would remind most adults of those awkward high school days, but touches on the very serious diagnosis of depression. That even the strong can be struck down, and most of us are unaware of the early signs. Frankie's character is your average teen, she struggles to fit into any particular social group, and finds herself avoiding others that could be seen as committing social suicide. But she learns to march to the beat of her own drum, and it isn't until she lets go of what others think of her and her choices, that she finds she has a support network of amassed friends that she didn't expect. I didn't particularly like Will, Francesca's love interest, he was pompous, boring and under any other circumstances, Frankie probably wouldn't have given him a second thought. Like most young adult contemporaries, Saving Francesca doesn't have a definite ending, but her novel The Piper's Son continues the story somewhat from another point of view.
Written By A.J Betts
Published July 24th 2013
272 Pages
Thank you to Text Publishing
Add to Goodreads
★★★★☆
The last person Zac expects in the room next door is a girl like Mia, angry and feisty with questionable taste in music. In the real world, he wouldn’t, couldn’t, be friends with her. In hospital different rules apply, and what begins as a knock on the wall leads to a note, then a friendship neither of them sees coming.You need courage to be in hospital; different courage to be back in the real world. In one of these worlds Zac needs Mia. And in the other Mia needs Zac. Or maybe they both need each other, always.
It's been ten months since Zac's life changed. Always feeling tired and unwell, he was admitted into Perth's oncology ward and since, his life has been a flurry of tests, precautions and animal hair clips, courtesy of nurse Nina. Zac has been in confinement since his bone marrow transplant, his mother never leaving his bedside. His mother is the unofficial welcoming committee on the ward, if something is going on, she'll know all about it. Need a shoulder to cry on? She'll come baring scones and tea. But a new resident? Surely she would have been told. The walls adjoining Zac's room one and room two are paper thin, the raised voice of a young female penetrates the wall, followed by the thumping beat of Lady Gaga. Dealing with having cancer is traumatic enough, but it's still no excuse for a bad taste in music. But Zac's been there and knows exactly how the new resident is feeling. It's a world he needed to navigate when diagnosed with leukemia, the chemotherapy hadn't worked, so now he finds himself in isolation, with German marrow in his bones, wondering if he'll morph into a buxom beer wench before the five weeks is over.
When the Lady Gaga song begins again for the twentieth time on repeat, Zac knocks on the adjoining wall... The music stops and the tapping begins. Just knowing there is someone on the other side of the wall, knowing how they're feeling and only being separated by six centimeters of plaster, still feels like a world away. Since the night of tapping, there's been no sound from the other side of the wall, apart from the occasional raised voice between the girl and her mother, until Zac can feel he's being watched. Peering inside Zac's room is the girl, and Zac can't look away. The new girl is only seventeen, diagnosed with osteosarcoma localised in her lower leg. Zac deals in statistics, searching the internet for death rates, percentages and worse case scenarios, and the new girl is lucky in comparison.
Zac tries to communicate via notes with Mia next door, but when she passes a copy of her Lady Gaga disc under the door, is she assuming that Zac is gay? The nurse on duty relays valuable information, but sadly no return note. That Mia is moody, she won't eat, she's shut the outside world out and the way she speaks to her mother... She's fighting everyone around her and Zac is in no position to help. But Mia leaves and her room is occupied by another patient, Cam, who's in for another round of treatment. Zac wants to keep in contact with Cam, so passes along his mobile number and Facebook account, but when Cam moves into another room to make way for Mia's return, Zac finds himself with a new Facebook friend request. It's strangely comforting to have only six centimeters of wall between them, and as soon as he accepts Mia's friend request, the tapping begins. On further inspection of Mia's page, there is no mention of cancer or chemotherapy, her friends under the impression that Mia isn't sick. The two begin chatting on Facebook, finding a strange solace in one another in the early hours of the morning.
With only days before release, Zac finds himself with a virus that his body is struggling to fight, and all alone as he needs to be isolated, even from his mother. Armed with his iPad and thoughts of the girl on the other side of the wall, Mia decides to contact Zac by phone. The two nervous teens talk long into the night, Zac sharing his obsession with Google death statistics and aims to make Mia feel at ease. But Mia isn't coping, her hair is falling out with treatment and decides to take her frustration out on Zac, the only person that knows exactly what she's going through. But Mia's cancer isn't clear cut and treatment isn't working, the specialists are suggesting a limb salvage.
Now that Zac is back at home on the olive farm, he hasn't heard from Mia in months. On his last night in the ward, did he dream that Mia snuck into his room? He has no way of contacting her, she's removed her Facebook profile, and he regrets not learning more about her in the early morning hours. How can she just vanish from his life completely?But when Mia turns up at the olive farm, running from her mother, the ex boyfriend that no longer wanted her after recovering and friends that have long since given up on her, she has no where else to turn. Rather than steal her way interstate, she's given a room and a bed by Zac's sister and slowly starts to open up. Mia isn't just hiding, she's running for her life. She believes that she has nothing and cannot hold onto her sense of self. But Zac is a fighter and may just show her how to live life again.
While Mia has the chance at a full and happy life, Zac's potential at relapsing in the next five years isn't as positive. But what the Google statistics don't tell you, when you have someone in your corner to fight for you, there isn't anything you can't survive.
Kelly's Thoughts
The story of Zac and Mia was one of the biggest challenges I've ever had the privilege of reading. It was funny, heartbreaking and poignant. A coming of age novel where two teens from different worlds, find themselves both battling cancer. I had read a few reviews before beginning Zac and Mia and the similarities between this and John Green's The Fault In Our Stars, as both were written in the same time frame, but apart from both basing the storyline around two teens with cancer that's where the similarities end. Zac and Mia is based in Australia, written by an Australian author and I found I could relate far more to the characters. It's not just the highs of beating a disease or the lows of Mia being in denial, but it was a far more thoughtful and positive storyline. It touched upon not only how each teen coped, but their families, how life changes and whether others see you as a victim or a survivor.
A.J Betts beautifully crafted a positive storyline, that felt realistic. I loved Zac's character, his attitude and outlook was intelligent beyond his years. The banter between Zac and his mother was simply brilliant. Zac asks for a hat similar to that of Ryan Reynolds, mum purchases one as worn by Burt Reynolds. I would love to see where Zac and Mia are in a few years, and unlike The Fault In Our Stars, you won't be left a hysterical mess.
Free now on Amazon. Download the revolution.
In a changed world where the sky bleeds red, winter is hotter than hell and full of sandstorms, and summer's even hotter with raging fires that roam the desert-like country, the Heaters manage to survive, barely.
Due to toxic air, life expectancies are so low the only way the tribe can survive is by forcing women to procreate when they turn sixteen and every three years thereafter. It is their duty as Bearers.
Fifteen-year-old Siena is a Youngling, soon to be a Bearer, when she starts hearing rumors of another tribe of all women, called the Wild Ones. They are known to kidnap Youngling girls before the Call, the ceremony in which Bearers are given a husband with whom to bear children with.
As the desert sands run out on her life's hourglass, Siena must uncover the truth about the Wild Ones while untangling the web of lies and deceit her father has masterfully spun.
The Year Nick McGowan Came To Stay
Written By Rebecca Sparrow
Contemporary, Coming of Age
Published June 1st 2006
208 Pages
Add to Goodreads
★★★★☆
Written By Rebecca Sparrow
Contemporary, Coming of Age
Published June 1st 2006
208 Pages
Add to Goodreads
★★★★☆
Seventeen year old Rachel Hill is the girl most likely to succeed. And the girl most likely to have everything under control... That is, until her dad invites Nick McGowan, the cutest boy at school, to live with them. Rachel worries that this could only be a recipe for disaster, but her best friend Zoe thinks it’s the perfect opportunity for lurve. Sparks start to fly for all the wrong reasons. Nick finds Rachel spoiled and uptight and Rachel dismisses Nick as lazy and directionless. But a secret from Nick’s past draws them together and makes the year Nick McGowan came to stay one that Rachel will never forget.
It's 1989, and Rachel Hill is about to learn how to live, courtesy of Nick McGowan.
Rachel is in her final year of school, she's seventeen and a girl that any parent would be proud of. She works part time as a clown, hosting parties for children. She's an attentive student, a caring friend and a straight laced Prefect, awarding punishments to her fellow students where she sees fit. And she's just been told that Nick McGowan is coming to stay. Nick is going to move into Caitlin's room for the rest of the school year, vacated by Rachel's sister who is studying in France. Her parents offering their home to the wayward teen,while Rachel has be allowed to move into the downstairs spare bedroom. In what can be seen as a bribe, with her own privacy, air conditioning and bathroom, but still isn't compensation for her new housemate seeing her bed hair first thing in the morning, her Fido Dido pajamas or that she enjoys tomato sauce on toast for breakfast.
According to best friend Zoe, this will be the perfect opportunity for Rachel to have sex, much to Rachel's disgust, she's just hoping to make it through the rest of the year unscathed. While the two are in the library seeking information to bring Nick down, who should catch them, but Nick himself. In a moment of stupidity and surprise, Rachel announces she has a boyfriend. Nick of course doesn't believe her and Zoe is delightfully entertained at Nick's amusement of Rachel's love of Huey Lewis and the News. Clearly this isn't the impression she was hoping to create, so Rachel decides to inject some coolness into her life and skips school for Brisbane's coolest independent record store. This is the new, delinquent, truant Rachel, the one who now owns two new Ramones posters and a new cassette tape. The only problem? Rachel hates The Ramones, and stares lovingly at her Bangles and Eurythmics tapes.
All Rachel needs to do is break up with pretend boyfriend Paul, ensure her parents stick to her list of not what to do in Nick's company and she should come out unscathed. But when it seems that Nick is too tall to squeeze into Caitlin's bed, he's given Rachel's new room. Her cool room with her new posters and air conditioning. But not to worry, Rachel's mum announces that she's already moved Rachel's things back upstairs, including her Kirk Cameron and Huey Lewis posters, to which now Nick hums Hip To Be Square and Rachel couldn't be more mortified.
But Nick's life isn't so great. After Rachel eavesdrops on a phone conversation, she makes it her business to help Nick find some direction in his life. The rumors around school have painted Nick as being suicidal, but Nick had a wake up call of the cruelest kind. He wants to live in the moment, something Rachel knows nothing about, but she's about to be taught that there is more to life than rules, regulations and taking advice from a psychic lettuce.
Kelly's Thoughts
Funniest. Book. Ever.
This book was one of the biggest surprises I've stumbled across so far. It was funny, heartwarming and funny. Yes, it was just that humorous I felt the need to mention it twice. I was nine years old in 1989 and the pop culture references throughout, helped me form a connection to the storyline and characters. Although some of Rachel's musical tastes are cringe worthy, back in the era, that's what the majority were listening to. Remembering Molly's death on A Country Practice, watching It's A Knockout, I absolutely loved reminiscing. Rachel's inner monologues are hilarious, but the real star is best friend Zoe. Some of the funniest lines in literature are courtesy of Rebecca Sparrow, and I'm an instant fan.
If you're an Aussie, thirty plus years old or remember the 1980's with a fondness, definitely add this one.
Written By Juliet Madison
Published September 1st 2013
42 Page Novella
Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia
Add to Goodreads
★★★★
Getting three wishes isn't all it's cracked up to be when an unfortunate spelling error in Mandy's high tech magic lamp changes her wish for a Greek God to a Geek God. His fashion IQ is in the negatives, he’s clingier than cling wrap, and he has a penchant for breaking into song at inappropriate moments.
Before Mandy can request a replacement wish, she has to put up with him for twenty four hours, and the timing couldn’t be worse, it's her friend’s wedding day, her ex will be there, and the God of Geeks insists on coming along for the ride!
Mandy is on the end of yet another failed relationship, she's thirty six, single and struggling to keep her business afloat. She has plenty to be grateful for, her friends, family but not falling over yet another box in her apartment that is inundated with art supplies. When she spots an unopened birthday present given to her by her parents eccentric neighbour Valarie, opening it may just prove to be far more entertaining than she had first thought.
The tacky pink Aladdin lamp with a touch screen, promises Many that her life is about to change, complete with magical jingles and three wishes shall be granted. But asking to drop two dress sizes and bigger breasts violates the novelty item's terms and conditions. So when Mandy's next three wishes are actually granted, she realises she should have rechecked what in fact, she was wishing for.
A beautiful, tidy house that will never need cleaning? Not only does Mandy have a beautifully furnished and clean apartment, but it now features her ideal studio space. Spills and stains vanish before taking hold, what more could a girl ask for?
How about an endless supply of credit that never needs to be paid off?
But when you wish for a Greek God, it's important to check the spelling before pressing submit. The result is Jonathan Fortran Schnecklmyer, her very own Geek God. Wearing high waisted shorts and suspenders, thick black glasses and sporting a charming pair of socks and sandals, he can set up a Wii, has a random fact to share for any occasion and according to the lamp instructions, is not to be left alone while Mandy's return is being processed. She only needs to endure the overly affectionate and doting geek for twenty four hours until her return request is processed... Sounds simple enough.
But Jonathan can't be left alone and Mandy has a wedding to attend. Serenading bus passengers with a preschool song, an underwear zip mishap, and not only stopping the wedding with a horrifying announcement, but serenading party goers at the reception... Perhaps Mandy's spelling mistake will be worth hanging onto.
Kelly's Thoughts
I absolutely loved I Dream Of Johnny. It was fun and laugh out loud funny. Author Juliet Madison has certainly found her calling with comedic writing, my only complaint is that I wanted it to be longer. I could have easily read a full length novel with the adorkable Jonathan Fortran Schnecklmyer. It'll be the best half hour of reading you're likely to have had all year.
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