Wow, the past four weeks have flown by. I've been teaching in a grade 2 classroom as part of my university studies. When I found out what year level I would be teaching in, I was a little nervous as I prefer grade 4/5. But I came to love my mentor teacher and my class, and it would definitely be a year level I'd consider teaching once I graduate (which, with any luck, will be November 2011).

Now that I don't have hours of lesson planning, marking and resource making to do, I can hopefully get back to reading and updating my blog. Yay!!

Thanks to those of you who stuck with me while I was gone, and I hope to meet more book readers and bloggers now that I'm back. Thanks again!

Hello to my followers, and welcome to new blog visitors.

You may have noticed, but the number of posts I published during April was pretty low (a total of 2 to be exact). I'd like to apologise for that, and offer a little insight into why, and hopefully make things a little more positive for May.

My life has been pretty crazy the last several weeks, and the next four to six weeks are gonna be pretty busy too. I'm in my last year of studying Education at University (finally) and the amount of assessment is fairly high this semester. During April, I had 3 assessment pieces due, and 4 days before they were due, I lost my USB. So the 15 page assignment, as well as the 2500 essay, and 6 weekly reflections were gone. So I spent the next week getting them done and handed in with the limited extensions I had received. I was glad when that was over.

Now, during May, I am embarking on my final Practicum for my teaching course. This involves 4 weeks of teaching practise, and along with that comes the joys of planning and marking student learning activities, as well as reflecting on those.

So, I know it's been a while since I actually posted a review, but that's because I've been too busy reading textbooks and journal articles for uni, to actually sit down and enjoy a good novel. I've been keeping up with the simple meme posts, and hope to continue to do so while I'm on Prac, but that’s not all I want to do here on the blog.

Thanks in advance, and when all this craziness settles down, I'll be reading my little heart out to try and make it up to you all.


p.s
As previously mentioned, I’m from Australia, so my schooling is on a different timetable than some countries in the northern hemisphere. So enjoy your Summer breaks (those of you that have them), and I’ll try and enjoy the studying and Winter here; although it only gets to about 15°C (approx 59°F) where I live, so I’m lucky.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading. It gives bloggers the opportunity to share a “teaser” of their current read, being careful not to divulge any spoilers, in the hopes that other readers might add the book to their TBR list if they liked the teaser and want to know more.

And even though I can think of a million good and valid reasons why we absolutely should not ditch, why the weekend should wait until three o’clock just like any other Friday, when he gazes at me, his eyes are so deep and inviting, I don’t think twice, and dive right in.

~ page176, Evermore by Alyson Noël

I'd be interested to read your teasers, so feel free to leave your links below :).

Cover Crazy was created by Tawni @ The Book Worms. It allows bloggers to share which cover(s) that they are going crazy over.
This week, my “Cover Crazy” post is going to be more of a “Cover Comparison” post. I do like these covers, but I’m not sure which I like best, and would like to know what message the cover artist was trying to convey. It’s probably fairly obvious to most novel enthusiasts, but it is common for some books to have a different cover, depending on which part of the world (ie. country), the book was purchased. I recently posted in my last In My Mailbox (IMM 2) that I purchased If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I received a few comments about the cover being nice, but different. I live in Australia, and I’ve noticed most of the Book Blog community I’ve interacted with so far seems to be from the United States area. We [Australia] seem to source our books form the United Kingdom, so we share their covers as well as their strange way of spelling some words :).

Here is a comparison of the different covers of If I Stay.

(click image for larger view)

These four different covers, and I know there are more from other countries also, evoke four different emotions and responses from me. I haven’t read the book (although it will probably be in the next 1 or 2 that I read), and only have the blurb to go by for content (GoodReads).

I think I prefer the USA – Hardcover, but am unsure which best fits the story itself.

Have you read If I Stay by Gayle Forman? If so, which cover portrays the story best? Also, which cover do you like best?



p.s – Just on a side note, I liked the UK/Australian covers for the Harry Potter series better (Deathly Hallows covers) :P

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren.

I've been a bit slack with my reading the past few weeks, as assignments start to catch up with me; I have 4 due this week. But, while having a study break, I went out to my local shopping centre, and the first thing that grabbed my attention was "ALL BOOKS $5 EACH" (AUD). How could I not stop and take a look. I did behave though, I only bought 2 books. I was a bit disappointed that they only had some books from a series, other wise I would have purchased more (I didn't quite feel like having book 3, if I haven't read book 1+2 yet). Anyway, the two books that I did purchase were:

Spells by Aprilynne Pike

Summary (Goodreads): Six months have passed since Laurel saved the gateway to the faerie realm of Avalon. Now she must spend her summer there, honing her skills as a Fall faerie. But her human family and friends are still in mortal danger--and the gateway to Avalon is more compromised than ever.

When it comes time to protect those she loves, will she depend on David, her human boyfriend, for help? Or will she turn to Tamani, the electrifying faerie with whom her connection is undeniable?

I haven't read Wings yet, but this book sounded really interesting, and I liked the cover! I plan to go back sometime this week and see if they have put Wings on sale.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Summary (Goodreads): In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

Another series. What am I getting myself into? (more reading, but I love it, so that's ok) Sounds good though.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

I think I've hit a bit of a reading 'brick wall' with the book I am currently reading. It's partially my fault, for reading the book after seeing the movie, and for also buying so many interesting books before finishing my current one. Actually, I guess it’s wholly my fault :P. I'm currently reading the Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid. The movie was fairly good, and it’s been on my ‘to read’ list ever since. But it seems to be taking me a long time to read it, and I’m not sure why. I don’t like to not finish a book, but I’ve started Evermore by Alyson Noel, and have put the Secret Life of Bees back on the shelf for the time being. It seems a shame, as I’m only about 60 pages from the end.

Has this ever happened to you? Is there anything that helps you get through it?

Anyway, on a brighter note, I’d like to introduce you to a product that I got for Christmas. You may or may not have seen them before, but it was a fairly new thing for me, and I’ve been using it ever since I got it! I usually read at night, and my fingers often get numb from holding my book for long periods of time. So, for Christmas, I convinced my parents to get me a.... *drum roll*... Book Seat!!


It’s an Australian invention, and it is exactly as the name suggests; it’s a Seat for your Book. Mine is rose coloured, and takes pride of place on my bedside table, along with my current novel. During winter, it allows me to keep my hands warm under a blanket or inside a jacket, and during summer it allows me to sip a nice refreshing beverage while reading. Quite possibly the best present I have ever received! I’m not sure if they are available for purchase outside Australia, but I hope so, cause I love mine and think everyone should have one.


Have you seen these before? Now having seen them, would you want one? Let me know. Also, I'm still on the hunt for the perfect bookshelf, but hopefully that will all be sorted in a week or two.