Happy Days

So today I am super excited for two reasons...

Firstly, I've just submitted my final assignment, signalling the end of my degree!

*happy dance*

It's been 3.5 years and I am so glad it's finally over. Not only do I get to walk away with major in Professional Writing and Publishing, I can now devote my free time to catching up on all the amazing books I have missed. And I have missed a lot. Can you believe I've only done one post in 3 months?! Oh the horror! But I am dedicated to getting my little corner of the web back to normal which brings me to my second piece of exciting news...

I am currently at the airport about to fly to Melbourne for the biennial Reading Matters Conference hosted by the Centre for Youth Literature. 

Huzzah! Excitement to the MAX. 

For those of you who have been with me and the blog for a while, you may remember I attended 2 years ago and had an absolute blast! Here's the link if you want to remind yourself of all the awesome...

I'm going to *try* and keep you updated via Twitter and Facebook but I wasn't very good at it last time. So if I fail, or even just to get extra massive doses of awesome, follow along with the hashtag #YAMatters because lots of wonderful people will be contributing.

Reading Matters guest speakers include:

Laurie Halse Anderson

Clare Atkins

Sara Farizan

Sally Gardner

Erin Gough

Kyle Hughes-Odgers

Amie Kaufman

Will Kostakis

Priya Kuriyan

Jaclyn Moriarty

Abe Nouk

Tom Taylor

Jared Thomas

Sean Williams

Clare Wright

It's good to be back, guys.

Talk soon xx

Mycroft, the Merrick Brothers, Nona and Me

So I started writing this as a status update over on the Facebook page but it got a bit too long so now it becomes a blog post!

Sorry I've been a bit absent the last couple of weeks. What have I been up to? I'm not really sure. I have no idea where the days have gone. I'm back at uni part-time for my final semester and I'm also doing some freelance website design work on top of my part-time job. But none of that usually keeps me this quiet on the reading/blogging front. Other than that stuff, time has just disappeared :/

Maybe it's just that I haven't really felt like writing reviews. Sometimes I just have to be in the right head space. You know? But I have read a few things...

I read Ellie Marney's final book in her 'Every' series, Every Move, which of course I loved. It was bittersweet really, getting to the final book but also the sadness that I won't get any more Rachel and Mycroft. Gosh I love them. Thanks Ellie! I do have things I want to say so I'll try write a review soon. 

I also read the first two books in Brigid Kemmerer's 'Elementals' series. Again, I Ioved these, not wanting to finish. After Storm, I was so disappointed I wouldn't get to read any more stories about Chris. But then I started reading Gabriel's story and I was good with getting to know another Merrick brother. I am however a bit slow at getting hold of book three as it focuses on Hunter who I am really not a fan of. Give me a Merrick brother and I'll be happy! I want to read book four but I just can't bring myself to skip a book. So I'm in limbo at the moment. Can anyone promise me that I will grow to like Hunter?

Last night I started reading Nona & Me by Clare Atkins. I went to bed with only 20 pages until the end. I got the book a few months ago but then just wasn't in the reading mood to pick it up. I've been feeling guilty but I knew that if I tried and wasn't in the mood, then it would end up back on the shelf, forgotten. Does this happen to anyone else? Anyway, last night it just jumped off my shelf and screamed "READ ME!". I couldn't put it down. It's a captivating and important story and I hope I can find the right words when it comes to reviewing it. I'm saving the last 20 pages as a reward for when I finish my assignment (hopefully tomorrow night!). It's a good motivator.

I hope every one is doing well and reading lots of lovely things. I'm a bit behind on reading everyone's posts but I hope to catch up soon.

Love xx

I Know I Say the Same Thing Every Semester But...

Hello!

I know it's been a while but I promise I haven't forgotten you all. Where have I been you ask? Well, the simplest answer is I have been buried under piles and piles of textbooks and journal articles. This semester has been hectic at uni and I know I say this every time, so you would've thought I would time manage more efficiently but it just never seems to work out, no matter how organised I am.

I have been checking in every now and then and posting on the Facebook page any little bits of news or things I think you might find of interest but I haven't actually found the time to write a review of anything. However, in the middle of semester I took two weeks off to go to Europe for my friend's wedding in Belgium and the ridiculously long plane rides gave me some much needed non-uni related reading time. This means that when uni finishes in less than two weeks, I will have reviews of Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith and Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl. I'm also super excited to be part of Ellie Marney's Every Word blog tour and will be featuring a review of the follow up to Every Breath on 11th June.

Other bits of news in the book world?

Amanda (AJ) Betts won the Ethel Turner Prize at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her wonderful novel Zac & Mia.

The trailer for the movie adaptation of If I Stay is doing the rounds. I am seriously excited about this one!

 

Gayle Forman has released Just One Night, a companion novella, to Just One Day and Just One Year.

Katie McGarry has announced she is writing a sequel to Pushing the Limits, one of my favourite novels, to be released 30th December 2014.

Breaking the Rules

For new high school graduate Echo Emerson, a summer road trip out west with her boyfriend means getting away and forgetting what makes her so . . . different. It means seeing cool sights while selling her art at galleries along the way. And most of all, it means almost three months alone with Noah Hutchins, the hot, smart, soul-battered guy who’s never judged her. Echo and Noah share everything—except the one thing Echo’s just not ready for.

But when the source of Echo’s constant nightmares comes back into her life, she has to make some tough decisions about what she really wants—even as foster kid Noah’s search for his last remaining relatives forces them both to confront some serious truths about life, love, and themselves.

Now, with one week left before college orientation, jobs and real life, Echo must decide if Noah's more than the bad-boy fling everyone warned her he'd be. And the last leg of an amazing road trip will turn . . . seriously epic.

And finally, if you live in Perth, Penguin Teen Australia has finally announced they are holding their first PTA Live event in Perth! It is a completely free event and a great opportunity to meet other like-minded YA fans and get the scoop on up-coming releases. Check out the details here. 

And with that I will leave you with a couple of selfies from my time in Europe :)

In Anticipation Of The End

As you have probably noticed, I've been a little absent from the blogosphere for the last 6 months. I've had a really full workload at uni this year and I've had barely any time to read anything that wasn't course related. I've been really upset about the neglect I've shown The Tales Compendium this year but I don't want to be another blogger who shuts down their blog.

The good news? Semester is over in 3 weeks! I am so super excited that I will have a whole 4 months(!) to devote to the blog and get it back to where it used to be (wherever that was). The end is so close, guys!

In anticipation, I'm sharing the top 10 books I can't wait to bury my nose in once my final assignment is submitted. Woo! Bring it on!

Top 10 Books I Can't Wait To Read

Wild Awake by Hilary T. Smith
Just One Year by Gayle Forman
Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
Dare You To by Katie McGarry
Steal My Sunshine by Emily Gale
Every Breath by Ellie Marney
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider
The Diviners by Libba Bray
The Fall of Five by Pittacus Lore
Me Since You by Laura Wiess

 

 

What about you guys? What's been happening? Is there anything you're hanging out to read?

Mini Break

Hello lovely book people!

Just wanted to let you know that the blog has been a bit quiet because I am currently gallivanting around Europe. I'll be back in a couple of weeks but until then, here are some photos to make you jealous!

 At Zonienwoud Forest in Belgium

Can you spot me at Efteling Fairytale Theme Park in The Netherlands?

At Fisherman's Bastion in the Castle District of Budapest

October Housekeeping

So...

You may have noticed I've been a bit absent the last few weeks. Fear not, I'm back! I've just handed in my last uni assignments for the year and I now have five glorious months off to spend however I want.

First off, I'm still yet to email the winners of my Melina Marchetta Giveaway which finished two weeks ago. I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU. You are on my list of things to do today so keep an eye on your inbox (and junk too).

 

Meanwhile, Aussie authors Ursula Dubosarsky, Jackie French, Morris Gleitzman and Melina Marchetta have been nominated for the 2013 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which is the world’s largest prize for children’s and young adult literature. They are four of 207 candidates from 67 countries around the world who have been nominated for this prestigious award. The winner will be announced 26 March 2013.

Coming up on The Tales Compendium...

I will be reviewing a heap of really cool books which have been my motivation to get my assignments finished. Having all these books staring down at you is a great reminder to hurry up!

  On  26th October I'll be guest posting over at Following the Reader for Amy's Halloween Spooktacular and on 30th October I'll be participating in Kate Evangelista's blog tour for Reaping Me Softly. 

Also, while I was busy studying, my page views surpassed 100 000 so a big thankyou to everyone who continues to visit The Tales Compendium.

Thanks for hanging around and I look forward to appearing in your news feeds once again :)

Done!

And......they're done!

You may have noticed my lack of posts recently. This has been due to a self-imposed ban of reading and reviewing as I finished my final assignments for my university units.

But it's now official. I handed in my last two assignments this morning so I now have six whole weeks of freedom and I plan on spending my time catching up on my massive TBR pile (see below) and finally giving The Tale Compendium a long awaited makeover!

Just some of the books I have to get through out of six TBR shelves!

I'm looking forward to once again immersing myself in the wonderful book blogosphere. Oh how I have missed thee!

Jess xx

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hello all,

Wishing all my lovely followers a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope everyone had a terrific time celebrating with family and friends and eating ridiculous amounts of scrumptious food. I started the morning at 6am with a champagne breakfast on the beach and then had the family over for lunch in the afternoon.

Much love, Jess xx

Thankyou

I just wanted to say a quick thankyou to everyone who has sent their well-wishes and virtual hugs to me over the last month. Please know that even if I haven't replied, I truly appreciate your comments. It has been a tough time but my family and I are coping and I'm at a point now where I'm not bursting into tears every day.
I've decided that keeping busy is the best thing for me now and I'm reading books left, right and centre so hopefully I can catch up on the books I've been staring at on my shelf for the last month or so.
Jess xo

Blog Hiatus

Just letting you know that the blog will be on hiatus for a while, aside from a couple of scheduled posts in the coming week.

Due to some tragic circumstances, I am not in the right frame of mind to read/write/blog at this time.

Thanks for sticking with me, I know I've been pretty quiet over the last couple of months. Hopefully that will change in the near future. xxx

The Tales Compendium in Sydney

As many of you know, I want to work for a publishing house, specifically children's books if possible. Unfortunately, there are not many publishing houses here in Perth where I live so about a month ago I flew over to Sydney to spend two weeks doing work experience at Walker Books. For those of you who don't know Walker, they specifically publish children and young adult titles, fiction and non-fiction.

Over my two weeks with Walker I spent the majority of my time working with the marketing team as this is the area I would like to go into. I also spent a small amount of time with sales and also editorial just so I could get an idea of what it is they get up to and to make sure marketing really was the area for me, which I found out that yes, marketing is definitely my area! I would like to say a big hello to the wonderful staff at Walker and an extra special thankyou to Michelle, Alida, Jenny and Leonie for making me feel so welcome and letting me inhabit part of their office space for two weeks.

Walker books that are new additions to my TBR pile!

Unfortunately I got a cold/flu halfway through my time in Sydney which wasn't much fun but I still managed to get out and play tourist on either side of being sick.

Sydney Harbour view from North Sydney

Chocolate Sundae Goodness from the Lindt store!

Bondi Beach on a rainy Sunday arvo

Me (on the left) visiting the Blue Mountains with my wonderful friends who let me stay at their place while in Sydney :)

An added bonus of my time in Sydney was that I was able to scheduled in time to meet some of the staff at Random House who were busy preparing for YA author Lauren Kate, who was going to be in Sydney for her Fallen tour at the end of July (I have since heard it was a wonderful night and am so upset I flew back to Perth before she arrived). Hello to Sarana, Zoe and Dot, it was lovely to meet you all!

New Random House titles on my TBR pile!

So that was my trip to Sydney. I'm sure I will be back soon since my chosen industry barely exists here in lil' old Perth!

Just So You Know...

I just wanted to let everyone know that tomorrow I am heading to Sydney (that's the other side of Australia from me here in Perth for those of you who don't know) for two and a half weeks. While I will still be posting, it won't be as often and I will be a bit behind on leaving comments.

Why you may ask? Because I am going to Sydney so that I can take part in some work experience at the wonderful Walker Books!


I have quite a few things scheduled for the coming weeks including another giveaway, an author interview and some new-release reviews.
Also,

stay tuned for news of my adventures in the publishing world!

Jess xoxo