March book haul:

Here's my (very belated) book haul for March! This month, along with some books I bought as gifts (not shown), I purchased:

Reboot by Amy Tintera. This was a completely spontaneous purchase, bought when I wandered into my local bookstore one Saturday looking for something fresh to read. I got chatting to the salespeople, two university-aged girls whose passion for young adult fiction is as zealous as my own. We flailed for probably half an hour about all kinds of books (sorry, other customers who were a little bit ignored) and one of the girls insisted I read this one. It's a zombie apocalypse story, but not the one you'd be expecting, nope, not at all. A bit too much romance for my tastes but I loved the fast pace and I loved/hated the unresolved ending. I want the second book immediately.

Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah. I read Does My Head Look Big in This? a while back and really enjoyed its take on life for an Australian teenage girl growing up Muslim. This was on sale at a discount warehouse and I was shopping with my cousin and... into my little hands it went. I haven't read it yet, so stay tuned.

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. I've started this new little tradition lately: whenever I sell a piece of writing, I'll buy a new book and inscribe it with the title of the story that made its purchase possible. My children's short, Remember, bought this book for me, and don't think I didn't notice that the author and I have a little something in common. I've heard a lot of hype surrounding this book, so I'm keen to see what it's like.

Panic by Lauren Oliver. This is Lauren Oliver's newest and, after reading it, I have to say it's her best. The writing is phenomenal, reading more like literary fiction (think an Americanised version of Tim Winton's broken beachside lives) than the genre YA fiction I'd normally associate Lauren Oliver with. I hope to have a full review up sometime in the next whenever.

The Story of the Treasure Seekers by Edith Nesbit. This, just because a) I loved it so much as a child, b) the cover is delightful, and c) it was on a great sale. If you haven't read this story, you absolutely have to. The Railway Children is Nesbit's more popular work, but the Bastable family in Treasure Seekers are pure gold.

Hawkeye #s 17 and 18. Hawkeye is the only comic I buy regularly, and I pick it up whenever a new copy appears -- pick it up digitally, I mean, since physical comics in Australia are ridculously expensive and hard to find. Hawkeye is all about what happens when Clint Barton isn't working for the Avengers and most of the action centres around his grimy apartment block. The artwork is supreme and the storyline is so much fun -- an excellent blend of really poignant and really funny. If you're even remotely into comics, you should check it out.

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Conversations:

• Megschmegs -- YES! That happily-ever-after is the best part of all. *hearts*