Top Ten Books Featuring Travel

1. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. The best roadtrip book I've read. It will make you laugh, cry and swoooon.

2. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta. I could put the whole of The Lumatere Chronicles, but Finnikin is the one with the most travel. They're all wonderful.

3. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. The magical, gorgeous tale of one unicorn's quest to find others like her.

4. The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams. A roadtrip book with a very unique twist. Not for everyone, but I loved it.

5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Trip to the Peak District, anyone? Namely Derbyshire.

6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. What better way to travel than through time? Though it doesn't exactly work out well for Henry. This book gives me All The Feels.

7. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. Four friends use a magical pair of jeans to stay in touch when they're separated over the summer. It's nowhere near as lame as I thought it would be before I read it.

8. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. Second star to the right and straight on till morning!

9. The Princess Bride by William Goldman. One of my favourite books of all time, I wouldn't mind a trip with Fezzik and Inigo - and Westley, of course. Buttercup can stay at home.

10. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. While it's mostly set in Paris, the kids do travel there to start with (and to America and back again over the holidays). Anna may whinge about it at first, but I wouldn't have minded going to school in such a gorgeous city!

Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2012

1. Craig Silvey. I read Jasper Jones in one day on my honeymoon and it instantly became one of my favourite books. I totally have an author crush on Mr Silvey, thanks in no small part to meeting him at an event for his novella, The Amber Amulet. I totally fangirled.

2. Kat Zhang. As I mentioned in my review, I had a lot of problems with What’s Left of Me, Zhang’s debut novel, but I still loved it nonetheless. There’s something special about her storytelling ability, so I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in the future.

3. Shirley Marr. I was first introduced to Ms Marr when I won a competition to have a cameo in her book, Preloved. I was beyond excited – even more so when I became friends with her on Goodreads (her author profile is sadly no longer active) and quickly discovered how witty, funny and lovely she is. I finally got around to reading both Fury and Preloved towards the end of the year, and adored them both!

4. Lauren Oliver. I’ve had Oliver’s Delirium on my bookshelf for awhile and still haven’t read it, but I did manage to fly through Liesl and Po earlier in the year and thought it was absolutely beautiful. I really need to read more of Oliver’s books now!

5. Sarah Beth Durst. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Drink, Slay, Love; especially how funny it was. Considering how over all things vampire I am, I was very impressed that Durst delivered a fresh and fun take on the genre.

6. Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I finally read The Language of Flowers this year and it was every bit as emotional and beautiful as I expected it to be.

7. Alexander Masters. I don’t often read non-fiction, but Masters’ biography of Stuart Shorter blew me away. It was clever, funny and incredibly raw (in a good way).

8. Kate Forsyth. Bitter Greens was a complex, gorgeous historical retelling of the Rapunzel story, which made me eager to try out some more of this talented Aussie author’s work.

9. Gabrielle Williams. I wasn’t really expecting to like The Reluctant Hallelujah, but it completely drew me in – and broke my heart. The writing was powerful and I loved the characters. I must check out more of Williams’ writing.

10. Katja Millay. The Sea of Tranquility has been getting a lot of buzz in the blogosphere, and for good reason – it’s a moving story about two broken people who are slowly helping each other to heal. It reminded me a lot of The Language of Flowers.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Review: The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams

It's three days till Dodie finishes school forever, and her life is in chaos. Not because of school, but because her parents have gone missing and she's discovered that they've been hiding something in their basement. Something that millions of people would love to get their hands on - including some very Bad Guys. Now Dodie must transport The Thing from Melbourne to Sydney with her little sister, an acquaintance and two strangers in tow... and the Bad Guys on their tail.

I'll be honest: I didn't think I was going to like The Reluctant Hallelujah. A couple of reviews from Goodreads friends suggested it really wasn't my cup of tea, especially after I found out what The Thing is. It sounded bizarre and like the book was about shock value more than anything else. But I already had the book on my shelf, and so when I was looking to clear space on there, I decided to read it so I could get rid of it. I would have just gotten rid of it, except I was mildly curious about how The Thing would pan out, and it's a pretty small book so it was only a small investment in terms of time.

Boy, am I glad I didn't just throw it in the donation bag. Perhaps because I already knew what The Thing was, it didn't blindside or shock me as it did with others, and I think this helped me to enjoy the book more. I already knew the weirdness I was heading towards, so I was happy to go along for the ride. And really, when you think about it, The Thing isn't any less realistic than say, vampires and werewolves falling in love with teenagers. I mean no offence by that if you know what The Thing is; it's just the way I was able to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the book.

While The Thing was the driving force behind the road trip (ahem), and faith was a central theme of the novel, the most interesting part to me was Dodie's own personal journey, and her relationships with the other characters. I loved Dodie's voice; it was distinct and smart, but still very real. All of the characters felt authentic to me; they weren't perfect, but that was part of their appeal. There was one little part that irked me: when Dodie comments she's glad to have a guy with her, because he can be strong and read maps. Generalising, much? But that was a really minor disappointment in an otherwise gorgeous book.

The Reluctant Hallelujah has a bit of everything: family drama, mystery, road trip fun, suspense, romance, humour, whimsy and oh, so much heartbreak. It's been awhile since a book affected me so much and made me ugly cry, and I think it's because I felt so connected to the characters. That, and Gabrielle Williams' beautiful writing. The symbolism in the end, and the way the story connected back to The Thing, made it all the more powerful. Despite the fact I'm generally a fan of happy endings, I appreciated the way Dodie was still kind of struggling towards the end, and grappling with issues of faith, love and identity. It was nice to see that she was on her way to healing, but it was even better that everything wasn't neatly tied up in a cheesy package. It felt real, which is something, considering the very surreal plot. Although The Thing isn't usually my thing, I'm so glad I gave The Reluctant Hallelujah a chance -  it's an absolutely beautiful book.

Rating: 4/5

Fine Print
Published: February 2012, Penguin
Get It: Bookworld