[Book Talk] The Upsides of a Book Budget



If you've been here before, you may know that I have been trying to stick to a book-buying ban of sort. I set myself a book budget of $100 for the year. I was literally the only one who was optimistic about this goal; even my mother didn't think I'd be able to do it! Unfortunately for my wallet, she was right, but not by too much! My spending on books for 2016, so far, stands at $200. Not bad for someone who can easily spend triple that amount.

Apart from skepticism, the general reaction from other book lovers when I say 'I'm on a book buying ban' is incredulity. Why would anyone deny themselves books?! It is bad for your health. In a way, this is true. The amount of times I wandered into a bookshop only to browse longingly and exit empty-handed is depressing. I would love to have unlimited money and buy all the books. Alas, I do not.

A couple of good things have come out of holding myself to a budget though!

[Match Made in the Pages] Neville Takes Prim On A Date


Hey there! I hope you're all having a good start to your week, and welcome back to Match Made in the Pages. This feature is the collaborative effort of Team Periwinkle as part of #BBCP2016. In Part 1, I asked Neville Longbottom some questions in an effort to set up his online dating profile and left it up to you guys to pick his date!

The suggestions were really fantastic, and one in particular sparked my imagination. So, what would it be like if Neville Longbottom and Primrose Everdeen went on a date? I think it would go something like this:

[Review] Yellow by Megan Jacobson

Title: Yellow
Author: Megan Jacobson
Publisher: Penguin Teen Australia
Source: Bought
Synopsis: If fourteen-year-old Kirra is having a mid-life crisis now, then it doesn't bode well for her life expectancy. Her so-called friends bully her, whatever semblance of a mother she had has been drowned at the bottom of a gin bottle ever since her dad left them for another woman, and now a teenage ghost is speaking to her through a broken phone booth. Kirra and the ghost make a pact. She'll prove who murdered him almost twenty years ago if he does three things for her. He makes her popular, he gets her parents back together, and he doesn't haunt her. Things aren't so simple however, and Kirra realises that people can be haunted in more ways than one.

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Review: 
"Because you don't get to choose your parents, and at some point you realise that maybe your parents just aren't able to parent very well, but we exist, and the only choice we've got in the whole situation is whether we're gonna love them anyway. It's as simple and messy and complicated as that."
Yellow is one of the four books I bought at the YA Squad event in Melbourne, and it was the one I was looking forward to the most. It's not because of the cover (though it is gorgeous) or the premise (though phone calls from a ghost sounds pretty cool). It's because of what Megan Jacobson said about the main character being a quiet girl.

[Match Made in the Pages] Set Neville Longbottom Up on A Blind Date!


Welcome to the first installment to BBCP Team Periwinkle's project: Match Made in the Pages! Over the next two weeks, we want to send some of our favourite characters on a blind date. It's a blind date for two reasons: we'd like you to set them up, with a character from a universe other than theirs! Have a read of their dating profiles, leave a comment with your thought on who they should go on a date with, then come back next week to see how we imagine that date would go!

Let's kick things off with the boy who saved Hogwarts - Neville Longbottom. Here is how I think he'd go if he had to answer questions for a brief online dating profile as an 18 year old (let's pretend he has access the internet somehow):

[Rewind] July 2016



July was busy, as always. My attention drifted further away from this blog as I focused on other things. For once, it wasn't all about school! 

I spent some time working on my writing in July. I reached my goal of 12,000 words for Camp NaNo. While I'm sure my draft needs a lot of editing, I'm further into this story than I have ever been, and I'm excited about it! I also got a piece published at The Regal Fox - read it here and read the other fantastic pieces as well while you're there. I'm hoping I can keep this up, and one day I'll actually complete a manuscript.

For now, let's focus on the books that are actually published!

[#PotterheadJuly] In Defense of Cho Chang



Cho Chang, best known as the first girl who caught Harry Potter's eyes or one half of Harry Potter's first (disastrous) romantic relationship. Most of the Potter fans I've talked to either don't care much about her, or find her annoying - an obstacle in the way of Harry's true soulmate. The fact that she had chosen Cedric first and couldn't seem to forget him probably didn't help. I have always had a soft spot for Cho, however, and I believe she has more depth than what we've gotten to see.

[Review] Frankie by Shivaun Plozza

Title: Frankie
Author: Shivaun Plozza
Publisher: Penguin
Source: Bought
Synopsis: Frankie Vega is angry.

Just ask the guy whose nose she broke. Or the cop investigating the burglary she witnessed, or her cheating ex-boyfriend or her aunt who's tired of giving second chances...When a kid shows up claiming to be Frankie's half brother, it opens the door to a past she doesn't want to remember. And when that kid goes missing, the only person willing to help is a boy with stupidly blue eyes … and secrets of his own. Frankie's search for the truth might change her life, or cost her everything.


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Review:

 A couple of months ago, I went to #YASquad2016, whose line-up included Shivaun Plozza. Writerly advice and discussions were had, but there was one thing Shivaun said that stuck out to me. I'm paraphrasing here, but she mentioned that she had to get the voice of the character right before she could write. Not surprisingly, Frankie's voice is the strongest thing about Frankie.
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