Another Trip To the Library




Jack and I returned to the library today (well, yesterday really because I won't be posting this until morning).

We can access our neighborhood library's catalog from the Internet so last night I looked up Australian teen books.  It ends up our library has a lot of them.

This is sort of embarrassing, but I'll shame myself and tell it anyway.  In Spring 2007, I rewrote the novel I wrote in high school and tried to get it published. I had absolutely no luck.  When I go through things like that (yes, it has happened before), I get turned off by the whole publishing world. Since my novel was for teens, I especially had bad feelings towards teen fiction.  There was that feeling of WHY did they get published and my novel didn't. 

Jealousy in its worst form. Well, maybe not the worst.  I guess the worst would be if I took a gun and went out to shoot all other young adult authors.

Anyway......

I knew I'd get over it eventually and now here I am...totally over it. I'm ready and excited because it opens up a whole new avenue of Australian books to find.    

Anyway, here is what I got today.

Guitar Highway Rose by Brigid Lowry
Leaving Jetty Road by Rebecca Burton
Thursday's Child  and What the Birds See  by Sonya Hartnett
Kalpana's Dream by Judith Clarke
Does My Head Look Big in This?  by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier

The last one is the third in a series. I'm reading totally out of order. I thought of looking for the first book before reading the third,but figured what the heck.

I'm reading the John Marsden's books out of order.  I read the Night is For Hunting which is I think the 6th in the Tomorrow series. And then I read the first book in the Ellie Chronicles which is a continuation of the Tomorrow series.

I originally thought I'd rush and read the whole Marsden series, but I'm already a little tired of it. I do love the story and the characters.  I guess I might be a little tired of Ellie. The story is told through her eyes. I like the girl, but I'm ready for a change. I kind of think the books might be better if they switched narrators--have each book narrated by a different character. One book could be narrated by Ellie, another book narrated by Fi, another one by Lee, etc.   OR maybe the books ARE like that and I just ended up with the ones narrated by Ellie.

I might still read more books in the series.  I'm just not going to go out of my way to find them.  I don't think our library branch has any more. I might check out Half Price books the next time I go.   

Right now I'm reading Tim Winton's new book.  Breath.  I think I have read more of his books than any other Australian author.  It's not that I love his books the most. I think Fort Worth just happens to have a good supply of Winton books.   

I'm also working on learning about the Eora people of Manly and the South Coast.  

Oh, and I've been listening to my Aussie music playlist.  I think Jimmy Barnes is one of the sexist men out there. I'm also loving "Bridal Train" and "From Little Things Big Things Grow". On the way to the library, I had in my mind that line Vesty man roared and vesty man thundered. I don't know why. It was just stuck there.  

I really wonder how long this Australian obsession will continue.  Sometimes, I think it will end.  It fades at times and then it comes back ten times stronger. I feel less obsessed with moving there though, and more obsessed with learning everything about it. It's like this insatiable hunger.

   

What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there 
was life after death, and 
we could easily talk to our 
dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts 


8 comments:

  1. Just thought i would suggest a few more Australian books for you to read
    Looking for Alibrandi
    Taronga
    and my favourite Aussie Author is Bryce Courtney i would suggest Power of One or Jessica but they're all good and the Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia if you want to learn more about Australian Aboriginals

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  2. Matt,

    Thanks!!

    I'll keep a look out for those books. Actually, I'm going to look them up and see if they're published here at all.

    The Power of One....I just looked it up. Wasn't that a movie??

    Do you know if any of his books are about Australia?

    Looking for Alibrandi looks good!! I'll keep the author in mind.

    Taronga sounds fun!

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  3. I agree with Matt's great suggestions and would also like to add if I may, Isobel Carmody (fantasy writer), Elizabeth Honey, Morris Gleitzman, Margo Lanagan, Maureen McCarthy and so so many more. Enjoy your reading. I love young adult literature!

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  4. alright, you are not talking to yourself. only sometimes. just wanted to let you know that i was walking down oxford street one day with my bunch of kids and jimmy barnes walked past me and gave me a lovely big smile - a dad kind of smile. he has a big family which he is really close to. he has an autobiography out which chronicles his years of hideously destructive drug taking. you should check it out.
    ok, second thing. i am reading a fabulous aussie book right now called 'safety' by tegan ???? daylight (have to check that). she even writes about childbirth and breastfeeding plus the complications of marriage. i think you'd like her. i will be searching for all her other books now. she is fairly young so i think there are only 2 others.
    i am not obsessed with australia, i just live here, but i am going through a real australian fiction phase.
    love michelle

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  5. oh okay, now I get why you keep reading teen books!

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  6. Joh: Thanks for the suggestions!!!! I'm going to end up with a long list to take with me to the bookstore.

    Michelle: I'm so excited to see you on my blog!!! Am I crazy? I might be more excited to see you than Jimmy Barnes. I have to read that autobiography though. I'll look for it when I visit your little country. I'm sure I will love the Tegan whatever book. It sounds like it's totally my type of thing.

    mscherrylane: I'm glad you finally get it and you didn't have to go and totally stalk me to figure it out....well, I mean like I had to go and stalk you. I need to do more stalking of you eventually....you're fascinating.

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  7. Hi Dina,

    Yes, Power of One was adpted to a movie

    Jessica is about a women growing up in rural Austraia so you might like that one, there is also the Potato Factory, April Fools Day, and Matthew Flinders Cat and they are all set in Australia

    Hope you can find them and enjoy your reading

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  8. Matt,

    I'm sure I'd love all the ones set in Australia. The Matthew Flinders one sounds especially intriguing. I'll have to google it now!

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