The Build-up Season by Megan Jacobson

I don’t know about you, but I’m a total cover whore. I don’t need to read the blurb, if it’s bright, shiny and pretty, my inner 4 year old comes out and I have to have it. Admit it, we all do it.

That is how I found one of my top 2016 reads; Yellow by Megan Jacobson. It had some of the most authentic Australian teenage dialogue and I read it in one sitting. So when I stumbled across The Build-Up Season, I didn’t read the synopsis, I didn’t check reviews, I didn’t care about that stuff, Yellow was such a strong, engaging read that I will automatically buy her next 10 books.

December 2017 – Books, Music and Kittens.

This has not been much of a reading month. Life has been distracting me and I think along the way I lost my mojo. I haven’t really felt the need to pick up a book for most of the month. As someone who reads 3-5 hours most nights I found it a bit weird to start with, but then I decided to go with it. I watched tv, harassed my husband more, paid a bit more attention to the family and completely ignored this blog.

Missed the mark in 2017

I’ve told you my favourite reads for 2017, so now I’m giving you the disappointing reads of 2017. I don’t necessarily think they are terrible books, ok some are, but most just didn’t work for me.

Dishonourable mentions go to – Brooklyn by Colm Toibin and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn.

Now onto my top 5 My top 6 books that I didn’t love this year.

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli – I feel bad about this one, it was repetitive and nothing really happened. I dnf’d it almost halfway through, so I gave it a red-hot crack,  I tried to like it, I was waiting for it to get good, but it was repetitive. All of the side characters were flat, the mc was a terrible sister and dragon hunter. We were told everything, never shown and it was repetitive. I was extra bummed about this not working for me because DRAGONS!!! Not nearly enough books have dragons.

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

It’s human nature to judge and compare right? I know I shouldn’t but I always compare an authors work to their previous stuff. So picking up Red Sister was a little daunting. Prince of Thorns is one of my favourite books and Jorg is a ruthless, determined psychopath who I just happen to fucking adore. My love of Jorg sullied my Prince of Fools reading experience, while its a great book, Jalan is no Jorg and I was hoping for a bit of Jorg like action. Well it turns out I had no need to worry as Red Sister is a complete different world and story.  (Yes sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake.) Although I will probably talk about them both as we get into this.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

This was a cover buy. I’m easy like that. Although I did see a couple of authors recommending it on their Insta stories, so I didn’t go in completely blind. I was a little torn, it’s only a 290 page book.. would it just be a typical, tropey, shallow book. Not everyone can write a compelling story with such a small word count.

SYNOPSIS from Goodreads

Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity amongst the stars. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth – with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.

Their only communication with each other is via email – and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit across space. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.

But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?

Reading this was an absolute treat. It had a little bit of everything; sci-fi, mystery, some angst, love, a healthy dose of fan-fic and the most realistic portrayal of anxiety.

“The close call with the asteroid has kick-started my anxiety. I worry endlessly about things going wrong. On some days, its all i can think about. I’ll lay frozen in my bunk, overwhelmed by the responsibility resting on my shoulders. I can’t run this ship, not without Dad. Not on my own.”

So the answer to my above question is YES, Lauren James can and does write a compelling, intriguing story in only 290 pages.

I think The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is best read blind, as in don’t read reviews, don’t google, just sit down and immerse yourself in the story. It’s a very quick read, easily done in one sitting. You will come out the other end with a smile on your face, Romy is a sweet, endearing character who you will want to cheer for.

 

 

Top 5 reads from 2017

Narrowing down a list of my favourite reads to just 5 is tough.  I’ve done it, but I’ll probably cheat at the end and tack on a few others, cause its my post and I can…

5. Hello, Goodbye by Emily Brewin. This was a total surprise packet. I won it through Goodreads, and it’s my favourite win of this year. Its set in 1968 Victoria, where country girl Maya’s world is turned upside down when she finds out she’s pregnant to her boyfriend, who is awaiting draft orders. It is wonderful Australian historical fiction. You can get it from Amazon, Booktopia, Book Depository.

4. Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson. Containing a collection of not so short stories from his different planets in the Cosmere, it brings all his ideas, world building and hints together, to give you a greater understanding of what he has built with his other books. It is worth a read, just beware of possible spoilers. Even his novellas are epic. You can pick it up from Amazon, Book Depository, Booktopia

Gather the Daughters – Jennie Melamed

As this blog progresses, we will all see just how opinionated I am. I love rating a book on Goodreads, it’s an acceptable form of judging. So when I tell you that I can’t rate this book, please know, I have put a lot of thought into it, but i think this book is about more than how many stars i can give it.

I can’t even tell you if I liked the book or not, I mean the writing is gorgeous, but the story, it hurt my heart. I think the book overloaded my ability to be shocked and horrified and then broke my feelings valve.

Gather the Daughters is set on a remote island hidden from the ravages of mankind and what the community calls the Wasteland. Many generations have lived on the Island, occasionally the wanderers find new families and bring them in, but all in all the island is very remote, isolated. It’s steeped in tradition, ruled by the Church and Wanderer’s and nobody questions their existence or way of life.

One of those traditions is that every Summer, the girls are let loose, they run free and wild, they sleep on beaches, they explore, play and live. Girls from four can join in this Summer fun, but once a girl gets her period another tradition is waiting for her.

This year a girl, reluctant to head home as the frost hits the ground, sees something that she was never meant to witness, something that could make her question everything she has been told to believe.

We get a feel very early on in the story, that not all is right with the community. We get subtle hints here and there, of whats happening; then we get the big bombshells tucked away so neatly, that you have to go back and reread it, just to make sure you didn’t misread it. Chances are you didn’t. I initially questioned why a few things were so casually mentioned and then I had my light-bulb moment and realised that in this Community, it isn’t a big deal, it’s the way it’s always been, it’s very easy for people not to question tradition and social expectations. It takes a thinker, someone who questions, a rebel if you will, to wonder why life is that way, why can’t it be different. It takes someone who is willing to be labelled and judged, who not just sees the worth in the oppressed, but sees they are actually oppressed to start with.