Top Ten Authors On My Auto-Buy List

 
1. Melina Marchetta. I was going to make a joke about being so willing to buy anything she writes, I'd purchase her shopping list, but then I realised that sounded totally stalkery and so I won't mention it at all. Ahem.

2. Markus Zusak. I loved The Book Thief and am eagerly anticipating Zusak's next novel, Bridge of Clay. In the meantime I should really get around to reading his earlier stuff.

3. Caroline Overington. Overington's stories cover so many important issues, but at the centre of them all are very authentic characters and realistic emotions. I've loved everything of hers that I've read.

4. Shirley Marr. I love Marr's writing style and the unique stories she writes. Cookie cutter they ain't.

5. Gayle Foreman. Foreman's If I Stay and Where She Went shattered my heart into a million teeny tiny pieces. I admire a writer who can do that.

6. Stephanie Perkins. On the other end of the spectrum, Perkins' Anna and the French Kiss made my heart all light and happy. It's literary fairy floss at its finest.

7. Craig Silvey. I have a bit of a literary crush on Mr Silvey. I devoured Jasper Jones and adored The Amber Amulet, and have Rhubarb on my husband's Kindle waiting for me to steal it away. I can't wait to see what Silvey does next.

8. J. K. Rowling. C'mon. It's the Queen.

9. Charles Dickens. I know, he's dead, but he managed to release a helluva lot of books in his lifetime that I'm slowly making my way through. I've loved what I've read so much I don't hesitate to buy his work, especially when I come across a really cool edition. I totally judge books by their covers.

10. Charlotte Bronte. Same deal as Dickens, except I've actually only read one of her books, that I happened to absolutely love. So I really want to get the rest of Bronte's work.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Review: I Came To Say Goodbye By Caroline Overington

When I grow up, I want to be Caroline Overington (or something very like her).

She's an Aussie journalist/author/mother who speaks with such poise and intelligence in interviews, and who uses the same poise and intelligence in her writing. In I Came To Say Goodbye, her second novel, she tells the story of Med Atley, whose wife rides the second wave of feminism right out of their small country town in the '70s, leaving him to raise three kids (including one toddler) on his own. It's the fate of the abandoned toddler, in particular, that the book deals with, revealing how mental illness and grief can tear a family apart.

The story is told primarily from Med's perspective, as he writes a letter to a judge explaining his youngest child's background, in an attempt to persuade him about a matter concerning his family (exactly what, we don't know for a long time). Initially I found this narrative style a bit contrived, doubting whether people actually write letters to judges, let alone one of this length. But that doubt was easy to push aside as I got caught up in Med's voice and Med's story. He's the kind of bloke we all know; an old-school Aussie, rough around the edges, with his beer belly and Ned Kelly beard belying the soft soul and heart of gold dwelling within. He feels very real, and I was completely swept along with all of his emotions... especially his heartbreak. I might not have much in common with an old guy like Med, but oh, how I felt for him. He always tried his best, tried oh-so-hard, and wanted nothing more than to see the kids he loved so dearly, happy. To witness his disappointment time and again was like a punch in the gut.

I completely fell in love with Med's voice, but a smaller section of the book is told from the perspective of one of Med's daughters, Kat, and it's strange that her voice is far less authentic, considering Overington herself would seem to have more in common with a 30-something professional woman than a battler like Med. The main problem for me was Kat's seeming lack of awareness of certain legal proceedings, considering that she's supposed to be a high-powered lawyer. But, like the letter format, this is only a small gripe, far outshone by the suspenseful, emotional and compelling plot, and the beautiful, simple language. Overall, I Came To Say Goodbye is a wonderful Australian story that explores important issues, and breaks your heart at the same time it reveals the strength and power of parental love.

Rating: 4/5

My "Cast"

Alf Stewart Ray Meagher as Med

Saskia Burmeister as Med's favourite child, Donna-Faye (a.k.a. Fat)

Eric Bana, circa his Chopper scumbag look, as Fat's deadshit boyfriend, Paul Haines

Cate Blanchett as Med's eldest daughter, Kat

Michael Sheen as Kat's caring British husband, David

Fine Print
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Published: 2010
Publisher: Random House Australia
Get It: Booktopia

Related
Here's an interesting video of Overington discussing some of the issues raised in the book.

Mini Reviews: Ghost Child, Dash and Lily and Jade Green

I only managed to finish two books while I was away (in my downtime in the hotel, I tended to be totally distracted by the trashtasticness that is TLC). I also finished one right before I left for the USA and didn't have time to review it. But because I finished them all couple of weeks ago (I've been slowly reading The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens since then) and I’m still kinda in holiday mode (well, my brain is, at least), I’ve decided not to do full reviews on these ones. Here are some general thoughts, instead!

Ghost Child by Caroline Overington
The gist: Told from multiple perspectives, it follows the fallout of a young boy's death and the effect it has on all involved, from the police who investigated the crime and arrested the boy's mother and her boyfriend; to his siblings, who are rumoured to be less innocent than they seem; to the foster families that take them in after their family falls apart. 
My thoughts: I read this for Aussie Author Month but, as I mentioned, with all the craziness of preparing for my trip/a month off work, I didn't have time to review it. I DID, however, make time to read it, because I literally couldn't put it down (I'm talking book in one hand, trying to pack with the other). I was tempted a few times to read the last page, because I was dying to know what really went down that caused the boy to die, but I'm so glad I didn't. The twists and turns and the varying points of view of the same event - and it's after-effects - were completely compelling. Overington does a remarkable job of creating a unique voice for each character and crafting a suspenseful and intriguing plot. I'd definitely recommend it if you love a good mystery and a character-driven story. 4/5

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
The gist: Dash is spending Christmas in self-imposed solitude - until he finds a red notebook on the shelf of his favourite New York bookstore, The Strand, and dares to follow the instructions inside from a mysterious girl, Lily. To Lily's surprise, he leaves a dare of his own, and what ensues is a completely cute epistolary romance that leads both Dash and Lily to discover more about the amazing city of New York, each other, and, of course, themselves (aw)!
My thoughts: This was a really fun read, made doubly so by the fact that I read it during my trip to NYC and could picture, right down to the bookshelf, Dash and Lily on their travels. It totally made me wish I could have a book of dares with someone, though I don't know if I'd be game enough to follow through in real life. I loved Lily - loved that she was quirky but not in an off-putting way, loved that she loved to bake and read, loved that she loved her family, and loved that she LOVED Christmas. Dash took awhile for me to warm to - he was a tad snarky for my liking, and I like snark - but he came good in the end. It was refreshing to read a relatively angst-free, triangle-free teen romance! 4/5

Jade Green: A Ghost Story by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
The gist: Set in the 1800s (I think, it's never specific), the orphaned Judith is taken in by her uncle on the condition that she doesn't bring anything green into the house. Judith thinks one little green photo frame, with her mother's picture in it, won't do any harm... until she starts hearing and seeing spooky things. She begins to wonder if she's being haunted by her uncle's previous ward, Jade Green, who died by her own hand (or did she?! DUN DUN DUNNNN).
My thoughts: I picked this up randomly at a secondhand bookstore in NYC, because it looked like a quick, easy read and I haven't read a good ghost story in aaaaaaages. Well, it was a quick, easy read - perfect for a holiday - but unfortunately it wasn't very scary. Mainly because it was completely predictable, even if Judith was a bit slow on the uptake (wake up, girl!). Although the year is never explicitly stated, it's implied to be set in "ye olde times", so I found the language and some of the characters' actions to be a bit jarring and inauthentic; for instance, the way everyone addressed everybody else - even people they'd just met, and elders - by their first names just seemed off to me. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely wasn't great. 2/5

In My Mailbox: Ooh, Pretty!

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, highlighting cool books that bloggers have gotten each week by buying, borrowing or, er, being sent (I had to keep the alliteration going, sorry). I haven't participated before, but this morning I received such a pretty book that I just had to share. Seriously, I just keep looking at it. It's so pretty. And SHINY.

But I'll take my eyes off it for a minute to tell you more about it: It's The Beautiful and The Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald, as you can see by the dodgy picture above (that REALLY doesn't do justice to the prettiness). After loving The Great Gatsby, I wanted to read more of Fitzgerald's work, and when I saw this book from the Penguin Classics hardcover collection on AbeBooks, I knew I had to have it. Now I can look at it lovingly and stroke it as much as I want... oh, and read it too.

I also picked up The Woman in Black by Susan Hill from AbeBooks, because I've been interested in reading it since seeing the still of Daniel Radcliffe looking very periody and un-Pottery for the upcoming movie adaptation. Plus I received my copy of Caroline Overington's Ghost Child from Fishpond, which I'll be reading and reviewing in the next week or so as part of Aussie Author Month. Any other day, I would have been super excited to receive both of these books, but they had the misfortune of arriving on the same day as the shiniest book I've ever seen. I tend to get distracted by shiny things.

Now, excuse me while I go back to staring at my precious...