Tomorrow, when the war began movie

I've just found out recently that the book Tomorrow, When the War Began
by John Marsden is to be made into a movie! Filming hasn't started yet, as the movie has just been anounced but apparently Caitlin Stasey (Rachel from Neighbours) is to play Ellie, and Lincoln Lewis (Geoff from Home and Away) are set to play Ellie and Kevin.

You can find the IMDB entry here where they have a little bit of info about the movie and also a forum for questions/comments and news. You can also see some of the cast listed here although most of them aren't listed on IMDB yet so I'm not sure if it's the final list.

For those who don't know Tomorrow, When the War Began follows the journey of Ellie and a group of seven others who band together to fight when Australia is invaded by an unknown enemy. Renowned screenwriter Stuart Beattie, whose credits include Australia and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, will write and direct.

A Reading Meme

I found this meme at Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff a Historical Fiction blog that I read and thought I'd give it a go. It's part of the 2009 Book Blogger Appreciation Week. Give it a go if you like.

We encourage you to be creative with this!
Please choose one or two questions to answer or try to answer all the questions in five words or less.
Or choose a picture to answer a question!
Brevity is the goal of today!

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Sometimes. I like picking at things so rice crackers etc.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
No I hate marking books. I won't even write my name in it. I just feel like it ruins them and will niggle at me everytime I read it.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?Laying the book flat open?
I'm terrible with this, I dog ear my books and occassionally leave it lying flat open. I've tried to use bookmarks in the past but I just lose them or forget to use them.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Both, but mostly fiction.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
I prefer hard copies, but I've taken up walking and have tried a couple of audio books which I've found quite good.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
I can put the book down at any point, I have to read to the top of the next page though.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
No

What are you currently reading?
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

What is the last book you bought?
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
I only read one at a time.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
I love curling up in bed at night and reading before I go to sleep, but I can and do read in other places and at other times.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
I don't mind, either is fine.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
My newest and favourite books go on the top shelf and then I work down from there.

The Ruby Ring review

The Ruby Ring
Diane Haeger
2005
Rating: Good

The Ruby Ring begins in 1520 Rome, a city in mourning for their beloved Raphael Sanzio. Raphael, a mastro painter was well loved in Rome and now lays in state in the Pantheon. Meanwhile a young woman, Margherita Luti seeks refuge in a nearby convent. She, who was born a bakers daughter in a humble neighbourhood on the Tiber, is now an outcast with many powerful enemies. Margherita was Raphael's beloved, his mistress and his model for many of his Madonna paintings. Theirs was a true and lasting love, but now that Raphael is gone the convent is Margherita's only hope for a safe and peaceful life. The Mother Superior finally agrees to allow Margherita to stay, despite her reputation, but with one catch. She must give up the ruby ring she wears, which was given to her by Raphael and the ring that she wore in Raphael's scandalous 'wedding portrait'. As Margherita makes her choice she thinks back over the years she spent with Raphael, and their love.

Despite the slow start, The Ruby Ring is a beautiful love story about two people, from vastly different backgrounds, who were truly and deeply in love. I loved reading about Raphael's passion and the sumptuous era which included characters like Leonardo DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Pope Leo X and more! As I mentioned earlier though, the book did start off slowly and felt like it took a while to read, in comparison to other books. The writing got a little dull in places and the couple a bit over the top in their romance, but it was interesting and enjoyable to read about Rome at that time and the powerful figures who surrounded them.

New to my 'to read pile'

Ah, third time lucky for this post! I've seen quite a few posts around called In my Mailbox where people blog about what books they've received in the mail. I wanted to do a similar thing, but because most of my books don't come in the mail I'm going to post about which books are on my to read pile. These are books that I've either bought or borrowed from my public library.

Bought:
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
The first in a stunning new series, The Cousins War, is set amid the tumult and intrigue of The War of the Roses. Internationally bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings this family drama to colourful life through its women, beginning with the story of Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen The White Queen tells the story of a common woman who ascends to royalty by virtue of her beauty, a woman who rises to the demands of her position and fights tenaciously for the success of her family, a woman whose two sons become the central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the Princes in the Tower whose fate remains unknown to this day. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores the most famous unsolved mystery, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills.

Borrowed:
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.

Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson
Spring, 1922 Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess - who's given up her duties to follow her heart, working for nothing backstage at the Viennese opera. No one there knows who she really is, or that a fairytale castle is missing its princess, and Tessa is determined to keep it that way. But secret lives can be complicated. When a wealthy, handsome Englishman discovers this bewitching urchin backstage,Tessa's two lives collide - and in escaping her inheritance, she finds her destiny...

River Secrets by Shannon Hale
Razo has never been anything but ordinary. He's not very fast, or tall, or strong, so when he's invited to join an elite mission escorting the ambassador into Tira, Bayern's great enemy, he's sure it's only out of pity. But when they arrive in the strange southern country, it is Razo who finds the first dead body. As they try to learn more from the Tirans about the ever increasing murders, Razo is the only Bayern soldier able to befriend both the high and low born, including the beautiful Lady Dasha. And as Razo finds allies among the Tirans, he realizes that it may be up to him to get the Bayern army safely home again.

The Star of Kazan by Eba Ibbotson
In this award-winning novel, set in pre-World War I Vienna, a young servant girl learns that she is actually an aristocrat whose true home is an ancient castle. There, Annika discovers that all is not as it seems in the lives of her newfound family.

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
In this fable-like novel Veronika decides to kill herself when faced with all that is wrong with the world and how powerless she feels to change anything. Although she survives her initial suicide attempt, she is committed to a mental hospital where she begins to wrestle with the meaning of mental illness and whether forced drugging should be inflicted on patients who don't fit into the narrow definition of "normal." The strength and tragedy of Veronika's fictional story was instrumental in passing new government regulations in Brazil that have made it more difficult to have a person involuntarily committed. Like any great storyteller, Coelho has used the realm of fiction to magically infiltrate and alter the realm of reality.

Wish List

I'm constantly finding new release books that I would love to read. I've been in a young adult mood so most of the books I've chosen to show here are in that category. The following are a few that I've found recently.

Cleopatra's Daughter
Michelle Moran
September 15, 2009











Her Fearful Symmetry
Audrey Niffenegger
September 29, 2009











The Queen's Mistake: In the Court of Henry VIII
Diane Haeger
October 6, 2009











Once a Witch
Carolyn MacCullough
August 26, 2009











The Cupcake Queen
Heather Hepler
September 17, 2009











Sphinx's Princess
Esther Friesner
September 22, 2009











The Tear Collector
Patrick Jones
September 01, 2009

Enna Burning review

Enna Burning
Shannon Hale
2004
Rating: Good

I didn't realise that Enna Burning was part of a series, nor have I read the book before it, The Goose Girl but this didn't really matter. The books have the same group of characters, with some new ones thrown in, but the stories are quite separate.
Enna Burning is about 16 year old Enna, friend of the Princess Isi from the previous The Goose Girl book. She had returned to her home in the Forest to care for her sick mother, who at the start of this book has died. Enna lives with her brother who finds a piece of vellum which teaches him to light a fire without spark or flint. Enna becomes worried about her brother when the warm energy of the fire becomes destructive and Leifer becomes controlled by his desire to burn. When Bayern goes to war, Leifer helps Bayern's army win by burning their enemies, however in the process he is killed by the fire. Enna finds the parchment and decides that she has to use it in order to save her friends and Bayern. She sneaks into enemy camps, burning small things, at first but later in a big battle lets the fire take control of her and nearly gets killed in the process. Her friend, Isi, has similar abilities with wind, which she is losing control of so the two girls set off to a kingdom in the south to find the fire-worshipers who can hopefully help them.
Enna Burning is a unique story and fairy tale aimed for teenagers. There's lots of very graphic and gory moments throughout the book with many people being burnt alive. It was very difficult to like Enna during these parts as it's hard to understand the control that the fire has over her, but she redeems herself in the end. Enna Burning has elements of romance, fantasy, drama and adventure, and is a book that I'd recommend.

Wings review

Wings
Aprilynne Pike
2009
Rating: Very Good

Laurel's family has just moved to a new town so her father can open a bookstore. This means that Laurel, who has been homeschooled all of her life will have to start going to high school. She quickly becomes friends with David, despite feeling closed in at school. But then Laurel finds a bump on her back, which keeps getting bigger and bigger. At first she ignores it and hides it from her family and friends, but eventually she has to tell David when she wakes up to find a wing-like blossom has grown from the bump.
David and Laurel set about trying to figure out what's going on with her body. David, the science wizz, concludes after looking at Laurel's cells through a microscope that she is more plant than human. But it takes a trip back to the woods behind her old house and an encounter with the handsome Timani for Laurel to realise that she's a faerie! She also learns that it's up to her to save her old home from the evil that is trying to take it away from her, her parents and the faeries that live there.
Wings was a really enjoyable story to read. It had a unique twist, was funny at times and overall a very entertaining story. Laurel was a very likeable character, although I felt that David was a little boring at times. But both them, and the other surrounding characters grow through the novel and you really get to know them.
Another blogger mentioned something about the possibility of there being a sequel which would be interesting, especially with the growing love triangle between Laurel, David and Timani.

Exchanging Lives review

Exchanging Lives
Kathy Buchanan
April, 2009 (Australia)
Rating: Good

Exchanging Lives is a very light and fun novel about two young girls from Sydney, Australia. Charlie and Annie used to be friends, but once they hit high school, Annie joined the popular group and pushed Charlie away. Now both girls have been chosen for an exchange student program where they will spend 3 months in America with a host family. Annie is supposed to be going to New York where she's excited about checking out the latest fashions, and Charlie is supposed to go to a small town in Ohio, where she's excited about finding out what living on a real farm will be like. But their parents, who are also friends, decide to pull the ultimate switcheroo and send Charlie to New York and Annie to Ohio with interesting results.
Exchanging Lives was a nice story about what real friendship is about, and making the most of what life throws your way. Both girls learn a lot about themselves and each other in their 3 months away, and also to look beyond their first impressions of places and the people they live with.

Second Star to the Right review

Second Star to the Right
Deborah Hautzig

2008 (first published 1981)

Rating: Very Good

Second Star to the Right is an incredibly moving story about 14 year old Leslie Hiller. Leslie is a perfectionist and constantly worries about disappointing her mother. To take control, and she believes, to make herself happy she decides to go on a diet. But things get out of control, when Leslie can't stop dieting. She starts eating less and less, believing that she'll know when she's thin enough. But she's never thin enough. Soon Leslie is throwing up whatever she eats, throwing food out her bedroom window and is too exhausted to even go to school. Leslie is aware that she's slowly killing herself and that she needs help, but finds it impossible to bring herself to eat.

Leslie is soon admitted to hospital, where the treatments and reactions to anorexia seem very dated. It frustrated me so much whenever someone asked Leslie 'couldn't you just eat a little so you put on weight?', not realising there was more to her problem than that.

There is no proper outcome at the end of the novel, which left me wanting to know what happened to Leslie. But overall Second Star to the Right was a very good, and often sad, read. I found it very interesting to see anorexia through the mind of someone suffering from it.

The Year my Sister got Lucky review

The Year My Sister Got Lucky
Aimee Friedman
June 2009
Rating: Very Good

Katie and her sister Michaela are extremely close, more like best friends. They have lived in New York all their lives, both attend a prestigious ballet school and both love their lives in New York. Or so it seems.
Katie is devestated when she finds out that she has to move with her family to a small town, called Fir Lake, in upstate New York. It's nothing like her beloved New York City. The people are overly friendly, her new ballet school is, to put it bluntly, a joke and they actually live near real cows! Katie immediately sticks out like a sore thumb, with her 'New York' sense of style and attitude. But to her surprise and horror, Michaela fits in straight away.

As Michaela settles into her new country life, making friends, gaining a footballer boyfriend, joining the yearbook team and attending homecoming, she and Katie grow apart. Katie finally does start making friends and trying new things, but she does this reluctantly. And then she finds out that Michaela has been hiding things from her, important things that she would usually tell Katie. Can these sisters also be best friends?

I had added The Year my Sister got Lucky to my wish list on Amazon, only to have it bought by my Library the next day. What a coincidence! And I'm glad I got to read it too, as it was a wonderful and entertaining book, with a great message about how your attitude effects your situation. Both Katie and Michaela were likeable, in their own way. Neither of them were perfect and made plenty of mistakes through the book, but this was part of what made them so likeable and real. The Year my Sister got Lucky is a great story about sisterhood, change and growing up that I'd definitely recommend.

The Lovely Bones

I know I said this blog would be mainly about reading, but who doesn't love it when they're favourite books are turned into movies? I always get excited, even though I know most of the time the movie won't measure up to the book. I saw the movie trailer for The Lovely Bones the other day, and it looks good! So I thought I'd share it. The movie is due for release on December 11 in the US and December 26 in Australia. Of course you can see the release dates for other countries here

Pink review

Pink

Lili Wilkinson

2009

Rating: Excellent

Blurb: "The pink jumper was practically glowing in my grey bedroom. It was like a tiny bit of Dorothy's Oz in boring old black-and-white Kansas. Pink was for girls. Ava Simpson is trying on a whole new image. Stripping the black dye from her hair, she heads off to the Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence, leaving her uber-cool girlfriend, Chloe, behind. Ava is quickly taken under the wing of perky, popular Alexis who insists that: a) she's a perfect match for handsome Ethan; and b) she absolutely must audition for the school musical. But while she's busy trying to fit in - with Chloe, with Alexis and her Pastel friends, even with the misfits in the stage crew - Ava fails to notice that her shiny reinvented life is far more fragile than she imagined."

I've often seen Lili Wilkinson's books around but have never had the chance to read any. When I saw Pink though I knew I had to read it, especially since one of my favourite colours is pink.

I can honestly say I really enjoyed reading Pink. Ava's story and her struggle with her identity and sexuality were very real, honest and something I think most people can relate with. Pink shows that it's okay to be unsure of who you are and who you want to be, but that in the end it's important to just be yourself and not be ashamed of any aspect of yourself. All of the characters were easy to identify with, many of them hiding parts of their lives as well.

Pink was very well written, with quick snappy and funny dialogue, and conversations and stories seemingly straight out of a schoolyard. I loved the fact that a lot of the places frequented in the book are places I visit a lot too, Melbourne being my local city. I will definitely be hunting down more of Wilkinson's books in the future.

Castile for Isabella review

Castile for Isabella

Jean Plaidy

2008

Historical Fiction

Rating: Very Good

Blurb: "Fifteenth-century Spain is rent with intrigue and threatened by civil war. Here, the young Isabella becomes the pawn of her half-crazed mother and a virtual prisoner at the licentious court of her half-brother Henry IV.

At just sixteen years old, is she already fated to be the victim of the Queen's revenge, the Archbishop's ambition and the lust of the lecherous Don Pedro Giron? Numbed by grief and fear, Isabella remains steadfast in her determination to marry Ferdinand, the handsome young Prince of Aragon, her only true betrothed."

I usually always enjoy Jean Plaidy's books, mainly because I can read about historical figures who aren't necessarily as well known (although she still does write about the more well known figures in history). This book was no exception. It was interesting to find out more about Isabella of Castile, who was the mother of Katharine of Aragon. The book covered her earlier years, from being a child through to becoming Queen of Castile. You see that her journey wasn't easy, with the people around her either trying to throw her off course or pushing her to take the throne early. It was nice to see that despite all of this, Isabella stayed true to her beliefs and her goal of marrying Ferdinand.

Overall this was another well written book by Jean Plaidy. The only problem that I had was that some of it seemed a little disjointed, but this could have been the way I read it. The other thing was that 4 year old Isabella seemed almost too mature for her age, with a rather large vocabulary. But it was an entertaining read and very interesting to find out more about a figure in history that I didn't know much about.

Knickles & Dimes: New release

Knickles and Dimes
Jillian Hewitt
2009

I've just found out about a great sounding novel called 'Knickles & Dimes' by first time author Jillian Hewitt. Knickles & Dimes is about 20-something year old Keira Knickle who seems to have a great life. She has a good job, a decent apartment and is very attractive, but this isn't enough for Keira. She's looking for a change in her life. That change comes when she meets a man who seems perfect. He can offer her everything she's ever dreamed of. But her friends and family warn Keira not to get in over her head. Before she knows it though, it seems Keira has gone over the edge!

You can find out more information about Knickles & Dimes and it's author here and it is currently available for purchase.

I think Knickles & Dimes looks like a great light hearted read and I'm definitely adding it to my wish list.

New Releases late 2009

Here are a few books which are due for release from now to the end of the year, which I'm particularly excited about!