Indigo Blue by Jessica Watson

Indigo Blue by Jessica Watson
Published January 2018 by Hachette Australia

Blurb:

Alex feels like a fish out of water in her new hometown - the sleepy little lakeside village of Boreen Point where she is reluctantly sent to live with her slightly eccentric aunt for her final year of high school. None of Alex's classmates could care less about the new girl, so Alex couldn't care less about them . . . or so she tries to tell herself. As a distraction from what is quickly shaping up to be a very lonely year, Alex spends her savings on a rundown little yacht and throws herself into restoring it. An offer to help a shy classmate with a history assignment leads to a curious discovery and the beginnings of a friendship, but it's Sam - the sailmaker's apprentice - and his mysterious ways that really capture Alex's attention . . .

I have to start this review by saying that I REALLY want to tell you what happens in this story.  I won't...because I don't do that, but this book really isn't what I was expecting at all.  The blurb, doesn't lie, it is about a girl called Alex fininshing her last year of High School in a small Queensland country town.  She does have trouble fittng in, she does buy a boat, and she does meet a boy...and then....a whole storyline I can't mention.

The descriptive language in this book was great.  I could see the landscapes, and the 'action' scenes when Alex was sailing were great too.  It was the 'voice' of Alex that was off for me, she seemed very young, and it makes me question who this book is written for? The main character Alex, is in her last year of High School, and for me that would normally mean the book is aimed at readers 14+, but his book seems to be written for a much younger audience, I would be OK with an 11-12 year old reading this book.  There is some boy/girl love interest in the story, but it's very innocent (I think the characters kiss twice) 

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either...I think I just felt a bit tricked because I thought I was reading one thing and then it turned into a completely different book...for me anyway.

I would be very interested to see what other readers have to say.

Supersaurs Book 1: Raptor of Paradise by Jay Jay Burridge

Supersaurs Book 1: Raptors of Paradise by Jay Jay Burridge

Published October 2017 by Supersaurs (imprint of Bonnier Zaffre)

Blurb:

A thrilling new adventure series: what would the world look like if dinosaurs had never died out?

Imagine a world where dinosaurs have survived and evolved as ... SUPERSAURS. This is the world that Bea Kingsley lives in, a world where humans live side by side with supersaurs, sometimes in peace but often in conflict.

Bea is the daughter of explorer parents who went missing when she was just a baby. So when her grandmother suddenly takes her on a trip to the remote Indonesian islands of Aru, Bea starts asking some big questions. But the more questions Bea asks, the more trouble she and her grandmother find themselves in. Was the journey to the islands a big mistake?

The adventure starts here...

Picking this book up from the shelf is a prime example of me judging a book by its cover.  I was drawn to the retro Indian Jones image on the cover, and interested to see how the Supersaus App worked with this book.

Firstly let me say that I went straight to the app, and it is very cool.  When you open the app and place your phone or iPad over the illustrations, they come to life and literally jump out of the pages!  (see below for some images of what this augmented reality looks like) This is an impressive and clever feature that will definitely encourage non readers to pick up a book, but I hope they don’t stop there because the book is a great read.

I would say the book is set in the 1930s, but it’s an alternate version of the 1930s, where dinosaurs are still alive.  While adventurers in the 1930s travelled the world to catch sight of exotic animals like elephants, lions and tigers, the intrepid travellers in the Supersaurs novel are hoping to spot the elusive Raptors of Paradise.

Book 2 is out now...there is a new app that can be downloaded for this book, but it only works with the cover.

Hello, I'm back...

If you didn't look too closely at the dates on this blog you may think it's only been 6 months between posts...not more than 2 and a half years...but what's 30 months between friends??

It's safe to say that in the last 2 and a half years I have read a few books...and it's also safe to say that I am not going to review them all now.  If you want to see some of what I have read, you can click on the covers to the right, under the heading, Rebecca's bookshelf: read.

I have decided that 2018 is going to be my year to make a comeback to the blogging world...and it has only taken me until March 12 to do anything about it...but I am here now, and with any luck, this is the first of many posts for 2018.
Watch this space.

Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers

Here We Are: Note for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers
Published November 2017 by Harper Collins

Blurb:

The exquisite and thought-provoking new book from the multi award-winning, internationally best-selling picture book creator of Lost and Found, Oliver Jeffers. 

Well, hello.And welcome to this Planet.We call it Earth.Our world can be a bewildering place, especially if you've only just got here. Your head will be filled with questions, so let's explore what makes our planet and how we live on it. From land and sky, to people and time, these notes can be your guide and start you on your journey. And you'll figure lots of things out for yourself. Just remember to leave notes for everyone else… Some things about our planet are pretty complicated, but things can be simple, too: you've just got to be kind.Here We Are is the utterly heartfelt new book from Oliver Jeffers. We're glad you found it.

So here's one from last year, that I am sure everybody knows about...but I love it so much I thought I would write this post anyway, because I want to make sure everyone knows about this book.

I have no words for this book really, I simply loved it.  It feels like Oliver Jeffers has let us into his lounge room where he is talking to his new son about the world...and that's pretty much what it is.  Oliver Jeffers wrote this for his son, and we are so fortunate that he turned it into a book and shared it with the world because it is beautiful.

I have already given it as a Christening gift, it's must for new parents, and I think it could (should) be a valuable resource in the classroom too.

It is a look at the world we live in, but more than that, it's about the kind of person we should strive to be in this world...  

There are quotes in the back of the book, one of which is from Oliver Jeffers' Dad:
"There are only three words you need to live by, son: respect, consideration and tolerance'"   - Truer words have never been spoken.

Piranha's Don't Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey

This is hands down my favourite picture book at the moment.

In the last few weeks I have read it to large groups of students from Year 2 to Year 6 and even the older kids can't help but laugh out loud...it may have something to do with the bums in the book!

I also love this photo (modest), I took it for my Instagram account but had to use it here, and I think I will use my own photos from now on. Who doesn't love a random pineapple in book photos.  But I am sure piranha's don't eat pineapples either...it's just that pineapple doesn't rhyme with piranha.

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

I read this amazing books a few weeks ago, and if you read my last post you will already know I am a terrible blogger who can't keep up with the amount of books I read...but I LOVED this book.

I made a comment on Instagram about reading the right book at the right time, and that's what happened with this one.  I have just binge watched the first two seasons of Nashville (This is relevant due to the Dolly connection...) and then there's Friday Night Lights which is one of my all time favourite TV series, so I am a little bit in love with these parts of the world, namely Tennessee in the case of Nashville and Texas in the case of Friday Night Lights and the wonderful Dumplin'.

Here's what the blurb has to say:

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed "Dumplin'" by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin.

Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. 

With her all-American-beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy's, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn't surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she'll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin' is guaranteed to steal your heart.

If watching Nashville made me go and download the soundtracks and play on repeat, this book made me download Dolly Parton's Jolene, play it loud and sing it at the top of my voice.  It's a book that makes you want to stand up and cheer for Willowdean.

One of the good things about Willowdean as a character is that while she is at home in her body (something we should all strive to be no matter what size we are) she is still human. While she may not have body issues, she still has to deal with universal issues including boys, friends and family, generally surviving being a teenage girl.

I will admit now that I did not read Julie Murphy's first book Side Effects May Vary, but it now at the top of my TBR pile.

Where I confess to being a bad blogger...but an enthusiastic instagramm-er

I really am a terrible blogger. 

The trouble with blogging about books is that you have to read them...and that takes time...and as a reader, when you have finished one book, you start the next one, it truly doesn't end, and that's not a bad thing, it just turns out I would rather be reading the books rather than writing about them.

I started an Instagram account with the plan that I would write a blog post for every picture I posted. Well that didn't happen, so a new plan is in order.  I will endeavour to post here about books that I LOVE or I feel need a little help to get them out into the hands of readers.  I will post on Instagram more often, so you can follow me there at whats_rebecca_reading or click on the link to the right.  

I love Instagram and the 'bookstagram-ers' I follow give me a insight into what's popular out in the world, and I have been encouraged to read books that I would never have picked up.  Plus so many authors and publishers have really cool accounts, so if you haven't joined the Instagram bandwagon, I highly recommend you think about it.