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Thursday, May 31, 2012

In My Letterbox

Last night I came home from work to find a parcel of books, sent to me by Sisters In Crime for reviewing on their web site( I will, of course, put something up here as well.). Naturally I requested the YA books on the list. Here's what I got: The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky,which is on this year's CBCA Short List, as is The Truth About Verity Sparks - I thought I might as well request those as I have to read them anyway - and a Sophie Masson title, The Understudy's Revenge, which I requested because I just like Sophie Masson's writing, and one book I had read but suddenly realised I hadn't actually reviewed, which is Rebecca Lim's Mercy. I've started the Dubosarsky novel and the Masson one.

I'm also reading The Dragon's Tooth by N.D.Wilson. It's a fantasy adventure with chosen ones, but starts with a blatant reference to the beginning of Treasure Island! Stand by. I've downloaded Michelle Cooper's The Fitzosbornes At War, the new book in the Montmaray series, which I have been loving, but haven't yet, alas, persuaded our students to read.

I have also downloaded some titles from Project Gutenberg, including Polidori's The Vampyre, which was started on the same night as Frankenstein. Interesting, I think, that when the two poets and two non-writers went for the challenge to write a scary story it was the non-writers who actually produced something - this one which was, I believe, the original glam vamp story, and of course, Frankenstein, which, as far as I'm concerned, can be described as science fiction as easily as horror. It used the science of the day and extrapolated. It asked, "What if ...?"

More of this anon!

4 comments:

Lan said...

A great haul this week. I haven't read any of those books bar Mercy be Rebecca Lim. They sound interesting though. Will wait for your review to see if you enjoy them before I go there.

Satima Flavell said...

I didn't know you were interested in crime writing, Sue. I'll look forward to your reviews. Crime is not my scene, but I'd like to study it to help learn how to sustain tension.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Actually, I joined Sisters In Crime because I like to READ crime fiction. :-) That said, I have written one book of crime non-fiction for children, Crime Time: Australians behaving badly , published by Ford Street( sample chapter on this site), plus a couple of short stories, also for children.

I finished The Golden Day in bed this morning, very literary, very Picnic At Hanging Rock.

Anonymous said...

I'm just starting to read YA novels with crime and mystery. Although I started with some me'h books, I really love the tension in the genre.