Indulgence Insider is our version of Stacking the Shelves, Bought, Borrowed & Bagged and the Sunday Post, bringing you this week’s haul, bookish news and discussion posts from around the blogosphere!
So it’s been a very busy weekend, running around with social engagements. My friend is visiting from London so we’ve been catching up over brunch, went out to dinner with a few friends to celebrate the new job, a friend’s child’s birthday and also caught up with dad over breakfast. There’s definitely been a lot of eating lately! The bad news is that my sister is back in hospital after being released prematurely. She’ll be there for a while during her recovery this time, and I’ve been visiting her making sure she’s okay. The good news is that I’ve got one more week until I finish up at my current job, and I’ll be starting the new one next week. I’m really looking forward to the fresh start!
Next month I’m going to Teencon 2016 in Sydney, which will be great to catch up with Sydney bloggers and publishers and of course, visit the awesome bookstore Kinokinuya. I’ll finally be able to meet Jenna and we’ll be sure to send pictures! It’d be an extremely short weekend away though, I’m flying in the Saturday morning and then leaving on Sunday night. I’ll be going to the morning Teencon session, so I hope to meet as many of you guys as possible there! I’ll definitely do an event recap afterwards.
The next OzYay sessions on ABC Radio are listed below! Tune in to listen to us chatting about Aussie YA titles on the first Sunday of every month! They’re also put up on Soundcloud here if you can’t tune in live.
Our previous session on Yellow & You’re the Kind of Girl I Write Songs About can be listened to here.
Book Haul
It’s not a recap without a massive book haul, and here’s what I’ve gotten over the past few weeks.
Review copies
Most of these review copies are surprise copies – thanks to the generous publishers!
Whisper to Me by Nick Lake
Underwater by Marisa Reichardt
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood
When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah – Will be covering this in an upcoming OZYAY! radio segment
This is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang
The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson – This will be for an upcoming blog tour
Desolation by Derek Landy
Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige
The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead
Thank you to Penguin Random House, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia, Text Publishing and Simon and Schuster Australia for sending me these books for review.
Purchased
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – I’m seeing Paula Hawkins next month and excited to get this book signed!
Challenger Deep by Neal Schusterman – I absolutely LOVED this book as one of the most accurate representations of schizophernia I’ve found, so had to pick it up at the bargain bookstore. You can check out my review here.
Reading Update
- I started reading The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson after getting invited to the blog tour which will be held on the 26th.
- Hidden Bodies wasn’t as good as You, but it was fascinating hearing from our favourite psycho-stalker in LA. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, I gave it 4 stars.
- The Girl From Everywhere had it’s good points with the beautiful Hawaiian setting, but I also felt like there was too many elements in there. I gave it 3 stars and will review it shortly.
Bookstagram
I was absolutely stoked to reach 2000 followers on Instagram! Was so excited about this, it’s definitely one of my favourite social media platforms. The bookstagram community is the best for meeting new like-minded bookish people and getting so many recommendations! I also find it a lot more drama free and relaxing than other social media channels.
Follow @happyindulgence on instagram for more photos!
Bookish News
- Aussie YA author of Frankie, Shivaun Plozza will be hosting the return of #PTAChat on April 20 at 7pm AEST! Check out the hashtag on Twitter!
- I’m totally digging the pages of the Throne of Glass colouring book!
- The Aussie YA Bloggers & Readers Group will be hosting another Instagram challenge in May. Hosted by Kelly and Sass, check it out! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest Aussie & NZ bookish news and events.
We’re back baby! Join the May #AusYAChallenge with @supergirl_sass and I. Go hard or go home people. Game on. pic.twitter.com/WZv7bpDUBl
— ⚡ Diva Kelly (@divabooknerd) April 14, 2016
- The trailer for A Monster Calls looks suitably epic! I need to pick up this book before it comes out.
- I got all sorts of Harry Potter feels while watching the teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!
Discussion Posts
- Check out my Top 10 list of Aussie YA released in 2016 here!
- Aila @ One Way or Another goes through her watercolour procedure for the Star Touched Queen!
- Josie @ Josie’s Bookworm talks about what defines a hero.
- Are you headed to BEA? Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight offers tips along the way!
- Struggling for some inspiration on bookstagram? Josephine @ Word Revel lists 28 bookstagram post ideas.
- Inge @ Bookshelf Reflections talked about why you should join the addictive Bookish Games here!
You May Have Missed…
- Find out why Jenna loved the representation of mental health in When We Collided .
- Morning Star gave me a book hangover and it was an awesome conclusion to the series.
- Giveaway – 5 copies of Ruined by Amy Tintera (Aussies only!). Ends 1 May 2016.
- My March video wrap up features a rave about the Chaos Walking trilogy.
How was your bookish week?
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Oh dear. I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. OMG. Those cupcakes & your book haul are actual #goals. I have Underwater, but with a different cover. I'm seriously obsessed with that one, too, though. I'm dying to read almost every book apart of your haul. hahah. I hear The Girl In The Train is becoming a movie, btw. (With Emily Blunt from The Devil Wears Prada!) Happy reading!
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Thanks Peach, I took a photo of the cupcakes but weren\’t able to eat them because of food intolerances. Yesss I watched the Girl On the Train trailer and it looks super epic!
What a beautiful haul, Jeann! I'm so excited for The Glittering Court and so many of the ones you've listed – they all sound so good. Cannot wait to hear your thoughts on them. And ahhh, I'm so jealous of TeenCon. I really wish that I could go but Sydney is a little bit too far for me ATM. Look forward to your recap.
And *flails* I'm so, so excited for Fantastic Beasts. It's going to be so good.
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I am so excited for the June OzYAY books, Jeann!! But reading the whole Colours of Madeleine series before then is definitely no small feat! It's so good though!!!!
I can hardly take my eyes off those cupcakes. THEY LOOK MAGICAL AND GLORIOUS. *sighsssss* Jeann, you are incredibly lucky to be eating such amazing cupcakes. I hope they were amazing! *laughs*
Oh no, I'm sorry about your sister! I hope she's okay, and I hope your hospital visits are making her feel a little better.
Happy last day of your work! I hope it all went really well today, and I hope your new job is really amazing, Jeann! It's exciting to be starting something new after a couple years in one job, and I really hope your experience is wonderful. xx
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Omg, now all I can think about is food. I had an early dinner, and now I'm hungry at almost 11pm. Those pictures are making me drool. lol. Anyway, enjoy your lovely new books!
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Lol #sorrynotsorry, I get the same effect when I look at food photos lol!
Ohmygosh I NEED to read Hidden Bodies soon! I have the audiobook but haven't had the time to listen to it yet! And I had absolutely no idea that A Monster Calls was going to be adapted! :O I have to read it soon!
Congrats on 2k, lovely! You deserve it. <3
P.S. I'm always jealous of your food pics on Instagram!
I love Hidden Bodies, I think the audiobook will be a lot of fun! Hearing joe's voice would be fascinating. Thank you so much lovely! I eat out a LOT lol.
All that food looks so yummy!
I'm sorry to hear about your sister, I hope this stay will help a little more!
Oh great books, I need to read The Girl on the Train. And the AUS cover of The Unexpected Everything is so cute! That's on my TBR too, haha.
Hope you have a ton of fun at Teencon!!
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Thanks Cyn, I'm hoping so as well. The Girl on the Train was fantastic for a suspenseful thriller. Hehe this is an ARC cover, I think the final cover will look pretty different. Can't wait for Teencon!
I felt pretty much the same about The Girl From Everywhere. I am still going to read the sequel though because it was a debut. Hopefully she will get on a more even keel with her writing. I should read Challenger Deep to use as a contrast story for when I do my rant post about another book that depicted Schizophrenia in a not so accurate way. You had a great book haul month! A lot of bloggers have been talking about The Glittering Court. Have a wonderful week. 🙂
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Yeah, I will definitely read the sequel too but it was a bit all over the place. I do think you should pick up CD, it was such a great story. Thank you, have a lovely week ahead as well!
Your food looks so delicious! I'm sorry to hear that your sister is in hospital, I wish her a speedy recovery.
I am going to have to participate in the Aussie YA challenge! Teencon sounds great, I live in Sydney and haven't heard of it 😉
A great book haul! happy reading.
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Thanks Sharon, I really appreciate it! You should look up Teencon if you get the chance, bookish events are so much fun. Glad you're going to participate in the challenge!
Sorry to hear about your sister! I hope she makes a speedy recovery ♥ Good luck with the new job, too!
Such a great haul! A bunch of these are on my TBR. I hope you enjoy them!
Teencon seems super fun!
And ooh, I'm definitely going to try and tune into the OzYay session.
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Thank you Lauren, I'm hoping she does too. I'm looking forward to Teencon, I can't wait!
Teencon looks so AWESOME, and I hope you have an amazing time, Jeannie! I really wish we had something like that up here. I mean, the YA section of the Brisbane Writers Festival is pretty good, but to have something dedicated to it would be FABULOUS.
You received so many books! That is incredible. I got quite a few as well, and I'm super excited to read them 😀 Especially the mystery/thriller titles because I am bingeing those at the moment, haha.
Congrats on the Instagram followers, lovely! You definitely deserve them <3
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Thank you Chiara, I'll definitely update everyone on the trip! We do have a pretty good YA section and I hope we continue to have more fun times! I know, it's pretty overwhelming actually, especially in the past few weeks. I'll be stalking your blog to see what other mystery/thrillers you read! (btw you might enjoy The Naturals as well!)
So many great things! I want to eat all those foods! Happy week, Jeann!
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Thank you Braine, lots of excitement happening!
SO MUCH FOOD. And omgggg, can't wait to meet you in May! *squeals* I should probably book my tickets…hmm. I hope your sister is okay as well xx
And ahh, so many books! I'm on the blog tour for The Unexpected Everything as well – I got it this morning and can't wait to start!
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I'm so excited Emily, finally after all of this time! I hope you have the 10am teencon session booked too! She's definitely in good times. Ohhh let's buddy read then, I'm on page 124 I think.
Oh my, what a delicious food photos. Looks like you had an eventful weekend, Jeann.
Sorry to hear about your sister, I hope she will be ok soon.
I’ve already told you, but I really hope you would still have time to blog when you start your new job. Looking forward to your thoughts about The Unexpected Everything.
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Hehe thanks Ksenia, even if I get too busy to blog I have lots of scheduled posts to go up! And I have my lovely co-bloggers to help out too which is good. Really enjoying The Unexpected Everything at the moment.
Awesome weekly update! I really need to check out these books!
Happy Reading! <a href="http://paulettespapers.com/?p=10551">Dani @ Paulette’s Papers
Thank you Dani!
I'm so sorry about your sister Jeann. At least she will be in good hands, especially with you visiting her! Also Teencon sounds like a lot of fun, and yay for meeting Jenna! I'm also looking forward to your review on The Girl From Everywhere!
Thanks Val, I felt a bit better last time because I know they're taking good care of her. I'm looking forward to Teencon too! Thank you Val 🙂
Sorry about your sister! Love the pics of the food. YUM! Awesome haul – Hop you enjoy them all. Have a great week!
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Thanks Grace, lots of delicious food as usual! Have a lovely week ahead, Grace.
Have fun at the con, those are always fun! And best of luck to your sister as well, hope all goes well.
Those food pics look pretty good. 🙂
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Thank you Greg, I'm looking forward to attending the con! She's in good hands now. The food was delicious.
Yay for finally meeting Jenna. Have a lovely time at the con. You have snagged some awesome books this week. I hope you enjoy catching up with friends and wow your food pics are making me hungry!
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Thanks Kimba, we're excited to meet each other hehe! So many books so little time! Thank you, it was a lot of fun and definitely lots of delicious food was had!
Awesome haul of books. I hope you love Teencon. It sounds like a lot of fun. Have a wonderful weekend.
Grace @Books of Love
Thank you Grace, I'm looking forward to attending it! Have a lovely weekend.
Sorry to hear about your sister Jeann! 🙁 I hope that her recovery goes okay. All the best with starting up at your next job omgggg. That's going to be so exciting! AND THOSE FOOD PICTURES THOUGH. Catching up with friends is a perfect excuse to eat beautiful food hehehehe. How are you finding The Unexpected Everything? I so need to get around to reading Morgan Matson! I've heard such amazing things about all her books. Congrats on 2000 followers btw!! 😀 That's amazing. Bookstagram is honestly one of the best bookish communities out there. AND YES. THE FANTASTIC BEASTS TRAILER. HOW MAGICAL WAS IT?!?! I'm so freaking pumped for the movie omgggg.
Thanks Alice, I'm hoping so too. Lots happening here, I can't wait to start the new job! I completely agree, there's been so much delicious food lately lol. I'm enjoying it but it's pretty slow going at the moment, it's a long book. I completely agree about bookstagram, it's just so fun, positive and so much fun! I felt all the Harry Potter feels at the trailer <3
So many exciting things happening for you, jeann. I'm looking forward to seeing your recap on Teencon (even though I have no clue what that is. Lol).
Happy reading, hun!
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Lol Teencon is pretty much a publisher YA session where they introduce all the books and talk about YA for an hour or so, basically a book blogging event. Lots of fun! You too <3
Oh, where are you seeing Paula Hawkins? I enjoyed TGOTT but not as much as most.
I was the same as you re Hidden Bodies… not as good as You!
And I hope your sister's recovery goes well!
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Paula Hawkins is having an author talk and signing in my city which is exciting! Thank you Deb.
WOW, you definitely have a lot going on these days, Jeann! You must be so excited to finally meet Jenna! I'm extremely excited about BEA myself, as I'll get to hang out with several of my favorite bloggers while I'm in Chicago.
I hope your last week at work will be nice and easy, so that you'll be all ready for starting your new job the week after.
Your new books all look fantastic! I hope you'll enjoy them all.
Have a wonderful week ahead and happy reading.
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I know, I always feel like my updates are MASSIVE because of it Lexxie! Sometimes I just like some peace and quiet you know? Oooh I know you'll have the best time at BEA! Thank you lovely, I'm already easing out of it which is good.
Sorry to hear about your sister, it is ever good when someone we care about is in hospital. Good luck with your new job, I hope everything goes well for you.
I am so excited that you are coming to Teencon! I'll be there so it will be great to catch up with you in person. It's always great to meet bloggers in real life.
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Thank you Rochelle, I'm excited to be coming too and about meeting you there! It's going to be awesome 😀