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Ah, Christmas! I love this time of year — presents, tree decorating, food (especially Christmas Pudding), parties, family, friends and BOOKS!

One of my favourite things about Christmas is getting to just lie around and catch up on some reading. I thought that Christmas reading plans would make an interesting topic for a blog post. So I emailed three other authors and asked them to share their Christmas reading plans with us.

First up we have Meredith Costain. She lives in inner-city Melbourne with a menagerie of pets. Her books range from picture books through to novels and narrative non-fiction, and include A Year in Girl Hell, novelisations of the TV series Dance Academy, Bed Tails, Dog Squad and CBCA Honour Book Doodledum Dancing (illustrated by Pamela Allen). What’s she planning on reading this Christmas?

I’m looking forward to reading The Convent, by Maureen McCarthy. I went to the launch of the book, held in the Nuns’ Salon at the Abbotsford Convent, where the book is set. These days the gothic buildings and beautiful grounds are home to lots of creative ventures – writers, artists, cafes, craft markets, a classical music radio station – so it’s hard to imagine the misery many of the inhabitants (unmarried mothers banished to gruelling work in the convent’s commercial laundries) endured. Maureen is a wonderful storyteller, and has drawn extensively on her own family background for this book.

Having watched the movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on the weekend (twice – it’s incredibly complex!) I’m also planning to read John Le Carré’s novel the movie was based on. I want to find out more background information on the characters and the workings of the ‘Circus’. I’ve written a couple of non-fiction books for kids about spies so this is of particular interest to me.

There’s also lots of fabulous YA fiction I’m hoping to catch up on – including books by Isobelle Carmody, John Green and Maggie Stiefvater. Roll on summer!

Next up we have YA author Lili Wilkinson. A popular speaker on the school circuit, Lili’s books include Scatterheart, Pink, Angelfish and A Pocketful of Eyes. Her latest book, Love-shy, is a rom-com about a high school journalist and a love-shy boy. Take it away, Lili…

Some of my favourite ever memories are curling up on the couch on Christmas Day after lunch with a pile of new books. This year, I’m planning to read Julia Lawrinson’s Losing It, because I’ve loved Julia’s previous books and this one promises to be no exception! I’m also looking forward to Kate Forsyth’s Bitter Greens, because everyone on Twitter is raving about it. I’m super excited about getting into Brian K Vaughn’s new graphic novel series, Saga, and am hoping I’ll find a copy of that under the tree on the 25th. And finally, I was planning to dive into Maureen McCarthy’s The Convent, but I just couldn’t wait, and have devoured the whole thing over the last few days!

Last, but by no means least, we have Dimity Powell. Dimity has just had her first book published — P.S. Who Stole Santa’s Mail?. Being a Christmas themed story, it’s the perfect book for Christmas-time reading. And a great stocking filler. But what is Dimity planning on reading?

What’s on my Christmas reading list? Perhaps a shorter answer would be what’s not on my Christmas reading list? Reading this holiday will include a whole swag of new and previously loved picture books (we always have a stack of them to read each day, usually after breakfast), including Alison Reynolds’s recent release, A Year With Marmalade, because my Miss 7 is infatuated with all things feline. I’d really like to get through the 8 or so books weighing my bedside table down too including; Hazel Edwards’ House Working – a guide to supposedly enable me to learn how to share the load of ‘everything’ with my family better. Ironically, I’m too busy ‘not sharing’ to have time to read it…

I love a good love laugh so; Michael Gerard Bauer’s Eric Vale Epic Fail will be high on the list, along with Benjamin Law’s The Family Law, which I’ve been saving. I dichotomously look forward to a potentially good read, but like to hoard it for a while; a bit like eating roast spuds last, because they’re my favourites. And just for balance; I intend to finish Never Say Die by Chris O’Brien and Alison Goodman’s saucy little thriller, A New Kind of Death. I’m also looking for a copy of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; a book club read that I can’t wait to start. That should keep me going for a while, at least till next year.

Now, what about me? Well, to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure how much spare reading time I’m going to have this Christmas as I’m trying to finish off my new novel, Gamers’ Rebellion (the third book in the Gamers series). But if I do end up getting some time… I’ve been saving Eona by Alison Goodman. I read Eon a little while ago and LOVED it (I will get around to posting about it soon… promise). So I am very much looking forward to reading the sequel. I’ve also got a couple of Doctor Who books I want to read — Doctor Who: The Wheel of Ice by Stephen Baxter and The Diary of a Doctor Who Addict by Paul Magrs.

I hope you all have some great Christmas reading ahead.

Catch ya later,  George

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Working in the booth at conferences, we often get questions about the latest GLBTQ books.  I am thrilled to recommend PINK by Lili Wilkinson to them.  And the first thing I tell people in the booth is that I hesitate to attach the GLBTQ label to PINK because it’s a book about identity and figuring out who you are – not only as it relates to sexual orientation but also as it concerns coming-of-age.  It’s about exploration and experimentation in a safe home environment.  And it’s about friendship, belonging, and first love.  So throw out that GLBTQ label – this is a story for most teens.  (Can you tell I’m a fan?)

Lili Wilkinson is an Aussie writer who hasn’t quite broken out stateside yet but, I assure you, that’s going to change with PINK.  Get to know Lili better at her website, her blog, and her Twitter (@twitofalili).

Want to know what your fellow librarians and teachers are saying?  Here are some awesome reviews:

• Kirkus Reviews
• Reading Rants!
• Persnickety Snark
• Book Blather (LOVED getting this into Drea’s hands at Midwinter!)
• Queer YA

Check out the buzz, read PINK and let us know what you think!  On-sale now.

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Publisher: HarperTeen (February 8, 2011)
ARC: 310 Pages
Genre: YA Contemporary
Book from Publisher*

From Goodreads. Ava has a secret. She is tired of her ultracool attitude, ultra-radical politics, and ultrablack clothing. She's ready to try something new—she's even ready to be someone new. Someone who fits in, someone with a gorgeous boyfriend, someone who wears pink.

Transferring to Billy Hughes School for Academic Excellence is the perfect chance to try on a new identity. But just in case things don't work out, Ava is hiding her new interests from her parents, and especially from her old girlfriend.

Secrets have a way of being hard to keep, though, and Ava finds that changing herself is more complicated than changing her wardrobe. Even getting involved in the school musical raises issues she never imagined. As she faces surprising choices and unforeseen consequences, Ava wonders if she will ever figure out who she really wants to be.

Review by Kate
PINK, by Lili Wilkinson, is a journey of teenage proportions that explores the self-doubt of one girl who has yet to figure out where she belongs. Ava is a wicked intelligent girl who is not challenged enough academically at her school. One thing holding her back is her radical girlfriend who she absolutely adores. But being in that school and with Chloe doesn't feel right to Ava and she wants more of a stereotypical girly life with pink clothes and a boyfriend. Her balancing act with her old life and her new one gives her more insight to herself then she could have ever imagined.

The cover originally drew me to this book. I mean how awesome is it? But inside the book is where the awesomeness lies. Wilkinson created a cast of amazing characters. Each character had layers upon layers that kept me reading more. The stage crew kids were my favorite. As a theater geek, I was in heaven. The 'Screws' (as they called themselves) were a mish-mash of different kids with their love for being backstage. In a high school setting, I think this group is more accepting of unusual talents and intelligence that other groups can't handle.

Ava was extremely clueless to the world around her. She molded herself to fit into where others saw her. When she was around Chloe she was radical and sarcastic. When she was around Billy Hughes peers she was whatever they needed her to be. In the grand scheme of things, she actually belonged to the Screws even when she thought they were losers. These kids pulled the real Ava out from her hidden layers and made her think about her choices.

The relationship dynamics were intricate. Ava's relationship with Chloe was always on thin ice with Ava (I think) caring more for Chloe than she did for Ava. Ava and Ethan's relationship boggled my mind from the beginning. She was set up to 'get with' Ethan. Of course he was the popular, gorgeous guy, which made Ava want him even more. And then there was Sam, one of the Screws. He was not the typical hot, popular guy. But since I am a total fan of gingers, I was smitten. He was the most 'real' with her which made him even more likable.

Overall, this book has everything a young adult contemporary book should have. Drama, geeks, self-doubt, self-discovery, and an amazing three-dimentional cast of characters that will make you laugh and cry. I look forward to more from this amazingly talented author.

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November is National Novel Writing Month. I've never participated. Write 50,000 words in a month? It could be done, I guess, if you didn't read, talk to your spouse, play with your kids, cook, work, etc. At least from my point of view.

There's a project under submission right now, though. And if it sells, it may mean the equivalent of NaNoWriMo. 70,000 words to be written over the course of two months. That's cranking it.

When you are working under contract, it's always hard to know whether to be satisified, whether you've done enough. At one end, you know you need to have a book. But during the course of a single day, you know you can't write that whole book. You can only write a piece of it. So it's learning how to write enough each day that at the end, it all wraps up. Even when you account for sick days and bad days, holidays and crazy days, days when you spend your time polishing what you've written before and your word count actually goes down.

I've managed this before. But it's still daunting to think about.

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