In My Mailbox - 31 May

READING MATTERS CONFERENCE HAUL
Bought
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet - Reif Larson
T.S. Spivet is a 12-year-old genius mapmaker who lives on a ranch in Montana. His father is a tight-lipped cowboy and his mother is a scientist who for the last twenty years has been looking for a mythical species of beetle. His brother has gone, his sister seems normal but might not be, and his dog – Verywell – is going mad.

It’s odd, but then families are. T.S. makes sense of it all by drawing beautiful, meticulous maps kept in innumerable colour-coded notebooks: maps of the countryside, maps of his family’s behaviour, maps of animal and plant life. He is brilliant, and the Smithsonian Institution agrees, though when they telephone with news that he has won a major scientific prize they don’t suspect for a minute that he is twelve years old.

So begins T.S.’s life-changing adventure, fleeing in the dead of night, riding freight trains two thousand miles across America to reach the awards dinner, the fame, the secret-society membership and the TV appearances that beckon. But is this what he wants? Do maps and lists explain the world? And why are adults so strange?

The lovely Zoe from Random House handed this to me at the conference so I know I am going to love it. Can't wait.

An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
When it comes to relationships, everyone has a type. Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. He has dated--and been dumped by--19 Katherines. In the wake of The K-19 Debacle, Colin--an anagram-obsessed washed-up child prodigy--heads out on a road trip with his overweight, Judge Judy-loving friend Hassan. With 10,000 dollars in his pocket and a feral hog on his trail, Colin is on a mission to prove a mathematical theorem he hopes will predict the future of any relationship (and conceivably win the girl).

John Green was one of the speakers at the conference and I was lucky enough to speak to him briefly and get him to sign this title. It's not available in Australia yet so I bought it straight away. Big thanks to Penguin for shipping some in especially for the conference! This is the last of the Green titles I haven't read. I have high expectations.

The Billionaire's Curse - Richard Newsome
Someone has stolen the world’s most valuable diamond and a constable lies unconscious in the British Museum, two sedative darts protruding from his backside.

Not something Gerald Wilkins knows or cares anything about.

Not until he finds himself on a private luxury jet heading for London to attend the funeral of a great aunt he has never met. Not until he inherits her estate, worth twenty billion pounds. Not until he opens a bundle of envelopes from his dead great aunt.

Was she murdered? Who stole the diamond? And what is the mysterious casket that everyone seems to be looking for?

With the help of the Valentine twins, the rat-fearing Sam and the gymnastic champ Ruby, Gerald’s got a mystery to solve. A mystery that will take them into secret passageways, a musty bookshop, an ancient crypt, a ruined tower and a colossal cavern where the secret of a priceless treasure lies protected by deadly booby traps.

Text Publishing had a table of free titles. I fended off elbows of vicious librarians to get this title. Have heard some great things about this Australian author.

Genesis - Bernard Beckett
It's the year 2075.

The island Republic has emerged from a ruined world. Its citizens are safe but not free. They live in complete isolation from the outside world. Approaching planes are gunned down, refugees shot on sight. Until a man named Adam Forde rescues a girl from the sea.

Anaximander, a young Academy student, is put through a gruelling exam. Her special subject: the life of Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. What secrets has she discovered and what is her own surprising link to Adam? She is forced to confront the horrifying truth about her totalitarian world.

Hearing Bernard speak about this novel made it a must buy. A friendship between a man and a robot? In a dark, depressing setting? I am totally there!

A Brief History of Montmaray - Michelle Cooper
Sophie FitzOsborne lives in a crumbling castle in the tiny island kingdom of Montmaray, along with her tomboy younger sister Henry, her beautiful, intellectual cousin Veronica, and Veronica's father, the completely mad King John.
When Sophie receives a leather-bound journal for her sixteenth birthday, she decides to write about her day-to-day life on the island. But it is 1936 and the world is in turmoil. Does the arrival of two strangers threaten everything that Sophie holds dear?

As you already know I already own and have reviewed this title. BUT I met Michelle this weekend and I ambushed her with some OTT praise. I hope I didn't scare her. Since she was at the event (and rocking at all of her panels), it was necessary that I buy this award winning book and get her to sign it. She's as lovely as she is talented. She's also brave as she spoke to me a few times despite my unintelligible ramblings of adoration.

For Review
Along for the Ride - Sarah Dessen
It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

I own a blog called The Sarah Dessen Diarist - I don't think I need to really comment about how much receiving this title meant to me.

Jatta - Jenny Hale
Jatta is a princess in the kingdom of Alteeda, but her life is no fairy tale. Her mother was slain by werewolves when Jatta was a baby, and the palace has been haunted by fear ever since. Then Jatta wakes one morning, bruised and battered, soaked in sweat,to see her bedroom smeared with bloody paw prints .

Cool looking, interesting sounding title.

Lamplighter - DM Cornish
The Half-Continent is becoming even more unsafe - monster attacks are on the rise, and every far-flung village or town is calling for help to fight them. Into this dangerous landscape the lamplighters must venture daily, keeping the roads safely lit for travellers. It is not a job for the faint-hearted, and every week there are reports of new theroscades. Foundling Rossamünd Bookchild, sworn into the Emperor's Service as a prentice lamplighter, is finding his training at Winstermill Fortress difficult and lonely. His life is further complicated by the arrival of a young wit, determined to spite her famous mother by becoming a lowly lantern-stick. As Rossamünd begins to make new friends in this sinister world, he also seems to make more enemies, finding himself pushed towards a terrible destiny, a fate beyond anything he could ever have imagined.

I guess I have to read number one now.