The Wizard of Ooze: Goosebumps HorrorLand #17 (R.L. Stine)

The Wizard of Ooze: Goosebumps HorrorLand #17

R.L. Stine

Blurb: Marco is a diehard fan of The Ooze, a comic book villain with the power to sludge his enemies. When when he finds a super-rare edition of one of The Ooze's comics at the Chiller House gift shop, Marco is sure he has found something special for his collection.

Outside of HorrorLand there are a few other people interested in the comic book. The kinds of people you don't want to mess with. Like a muscular monster of a man dressed as The Ooze. But if he's only wearing a costume, why does he leave an oily mess everywhere he goes? And why is he following Marco?

ISBN: 9780545161985 (Paperback)

Year: 2010

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 142 (Fiction)

Links

1. Scholastic page for the book

2. Buy at Amazon

3. Wiki for the series

4. Good reads page for the book

5. Google books page for the book

December: Conspiracy 365 (Gabrielle Lord)

December: Conspiracy 365

Gabrielle Lord

Blurb: It's December, the final month the the deadly 365-day countdown. Cal desperately needs to get to Ireland - where he's counting on all the clues falling into place - but with airport security at an all time high, escaping the country seems impossible.

Wil Cal find out what really happened to his dad? Will he reach the Ormond Singularity before the stroke of midnight? Only time will tell... One thing's for sure, people will lose their lives in the fight to the end... and Cal's hoping he won't be one of them...

The clock is ticking. Any second could be his last.

ISBN: 9781741693249 (Paperback)

Year: 2010

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 239 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy at Amazon

2. Google books page

3. Review of the book

4. Facebook page for the series

5. Official Series Page

10 Short Stories You Must Read in 2010 (Various)

10 Short Stories You Must Read in 2010

Various

Blurb: Savour these more-ish morsels by ten of Australia's best writers.

For Julia, a vintage clothes shop is like an open book...Steve answers to Jeremy when he buys coffee from the Merlo girls...Izzy Berger plans a 'shedding' at the First Presbyterian in Cleveland Street...Liam 'The Masked Avenger' McKenzie saves a Citizen from herself...

Whether you like comedy, thrillers, great storytelling or just something a little different, you'll find plenty to enjoy in this all-new collection.

ISBN: 9781864711592 (Paperback)

Year: 2010

Publisher: Griffen Press

Pages: 285 (Fiction)

Links

1. Good reads page for the book

2. Official page for the initiative

3. Review of the collection

4. Another review

5. Australian Government page for the initiative

Tangled: Book of the Film (Irene Trimble)

Tangled: Book of the Film

Irene Trimble

Blurb: Get ready for a wild ride when charming thief Flynn Rider meets Rapunzel, the isolated princess with long, golden hair. Rapunzel is no damsel i distress, and she soon makes a deal with Flynn that means she can finally explore the outside world.

The book of the film retells the magical story of the latest swashbuckling comedy from Disney, and features eight pages of full colour scenes from the film.

Expect adventure, heart, humour and hair - lots of hair!

ISBN: 9781445414027 (Paperback)

Year: 2010

Publisher: Parragon

Pages: 128 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy from Amazon

2. Good reads page

3. IMDB page for the film

4. Wikipedia page for the film

5. Review of the film

Clinton: The Starr Report (Kenneth Starr)

Clinton: The Starr Report

Kenneth Starr

Blurb: The truth behind the lies.

The Starr Report is the uncensored, unexpurgated story of the most sensational political store since Watergate. It is the full account of President Clinton's fall from grace.

Every detail of Clinton's alleged perjury.

Every detail of his obstruction of justice.

Every detail of his witness tampering.

Every detail of his abuse of power.

AND

Every detail of Bill Clinton's sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

Not since the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974 has an American President been so close to impeachment.

This is the report that is changing history.

ISBN: 0752825011 (Paperback)

Year: 1998

Publisher: Orion Books

Pages: 322 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Full text of the report online

2. Wikipedia page for the Starr Report

3. Wikipedia page on the Monica Lewinsky scandal

4. PBS Online Focus on the scandal

5. Starr's Wikipedia page

The Nest (Paul Jennings)

The Nest

Paul Jennings

Blurb: I suddenly feel apprehensive as my words turn to smoke and curl up the chimney. Does my story hold the answer? A dingo knows without being aware that it knows. Can a person know something without knowing it?

Robin's life is spiralling out of control. His father's a tyrant, his mother's disappeared and the wrong girl's luring him into her web...

Intolerable images keep flashing through his head. What does Robin really know about his past? Are there clues in his own writing? And what secrets lie within the frozen forest?

Paul Jennings' first novel fro older readers is a stunning and original network of crossing trails which combine to tell the dark, tense and ultimately uplifting story about a boy who dares to stare into the spider holes of his own mind.

ISBN: 9780143008002 (Paperback)

Year: 2009

Publisher: Penguin Books

Pages: 248 (Fiction)

Links

1. Author's Official Page on the book

2. Order the book

3. Courier Mail Article on the book

4. Author's Wikipedia page

5. Blog on the book

Captain America: The First Avenger (Elizabeth Rudnick)

Captain America: The First Avenger

Elizabeth Rudnick

Blurb: All Steve Rogers ever wanted to do was join the U.S. Army and fight for his country. But he was too sick and frail to pass the required physical. His patriotic dreams were shattered... until a secret branch of the military offered him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: Steve would be the test subject in an experiment that would transform him from a weak, unhealthy civilian into a mighty Super-Soldier!

Now known as Captain America, Steve is thrown onto the battlefields of Europe, where he must embark on a dangerous mission to stop the evil Red Skull - and his diabolical HYDRA organisation - from destroying the entire world!

ISBN: 9781742830780 (Paperback)

Year: 2011

Publisher: Scholastic

Pages: 138 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy at Amazon

2. Official site for the film

3. Wikipedia page for the film

4. IMDB page for the film

5. Trailer for the film

Glee - The Beginning (An Original Novel) (Sophia Lowell)

Glee - The Beginning (An Original Novel)

Sophia Lowell

Blurb: All great performances deserve a warm-up!

Enroll early at McKinley High to discover what when on before New Directions was even a glimmer in Mr Schuester's eye. When did Rachel first decide Finn was more than just a jock? When did Puck and Quinn start their secret romance? And how did the fledging Glee Club function without a fearless leader? Hint: It wasn't exactly a perfect melody.

Break out the gold stars and refill the slushies: it's time to find out what happened to all your favourite characters before the show-mance began.

ISBN: 9780755377374 (Paperback)

Year: 2010

Publisher: Headline

Pages: 218 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy at Amazon

2. Blog review of the book

3. Good reads page for the book

4. Review of the book

5. Another review

For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming + James Bond (Ben Macintyre)

For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming + James Bond

Ben Macintyre

Blurb: One morning in February 1952, a journalist called Ian Fleming sat down at his desk and set about creating a fictional secret agent. James Bond was born and would go on to become one of the most successful, enduring and lucrative creations in literature. But Bond's world of glamour and romance, gadgets and cocktails, espionage and villainy wasn't entirely drawn from imagination: Fleming's background and his experiences as an intelligence officer during the Second World War were all formative parts in the creation of the world's most famous spy.

Packed with astonishing detail and written in Macintyre's inimitable style, For Your Eyes Only is the most enlightening biography of Ian Fleming and James Bond, the spy who not only lived twice, but proved to be immortal.

ISBN: 9780747598664 (Paperback)

Year: 2008

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 236(Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Buy at Amazon

2. Good reads page for the book

3. Author's page on the book

4. James Bond Exhibition page

5. Bond Movies page

The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries Vol. 2 Bloodlust (L.J. Smith)

The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries Vol. 2 Bloodlust

L. J. Smith

Blurb: A new beginning...

When Stefan Salvatore's first love turned him into a vampire, his world - and his soul - were destroyed. Now he and his brother, Damon, must flee their hometown, where they risk being discovered...and killed.

The brothers head to New Orleans, looking for safe haven. But the city is more dangerous than they ever imagined, full of other vampires - and vampire hunters. Will Stefan's eternal life be forever damned?

Based on the popular TV show inspired by the bestselling novels, Stefan's Diaries reveals the truth about what really happened between Stefan, Damon, and Katherine - and how the Vampire Diaries love triangle began.

ISBN: 9780062003942 (Paperback)

Year: 2011

Publisher: Harper Teen

Pages: 225 (Fiction)

Links

1. Read a sample of the book

2. Review of the book

3. Harper Collins Page for the book

4. Buy at Amazon

5. Buy the ebook

The American / A Very Private Gentleman (Martin Booth)

The American (A Very Private Gentleman)

Martin Booth

Blurb: The locals in the Italian village where he lives call him Signor Farfalla - Mr Butterfly. He is a discreet gentleman who spends his time studying rare butterflies.

But Farafalla's real profession is deadly. He considers himself an artisan, not for the butterflies he paints but for the guns he creates for assassins.

Farafalla has resolved to make his next job his last. Then, perhaps, he can settle down comfortably in the Italian village he has grown to love and enjoy the remainder of his life without constantly looking over his shoulder.

But a treacherous circle is closing in on him...

ISBN: 9780553825725 (Paperback)

Year: 2004

Publisher: Bantam Books

Pages: 384 (Fiction)

Links

1. Author's page at Wikipedia

2. Buy at Amazon

3. Author's page at Macmillan

4. Summary of the book

5. Blog on the film and book

$#*! my dad says (Justin Halpern)

$#*! my dad says

Justin Halpern

Blurb: After being dumped by his girlfriend, 28-year-old comedy writer Justin Halpern found himself living at home with his 73-year-old father - and began to record the sometimes outrageous, often profound, always funny things his dad said to him. More than a million people now follow Mr Halpern Senior's philosophical gems every day on Twitter, and this book weaves a brilliantly funny, surprisingly touching coming-of-age memoir around the best of his quotes. From the pitfalls of family weddings to confronting burglars naked with a shotgun, what emerges is a chaotic, hilarious, true portrait of a father-and-son relationship from a major new comic voice.

$#*! Justin's dad has said:

- 'Your brother brought his baby over this morning. He told me it could stand. It couldn't stand for sh*t. Just sat there. Big let down.'

- 'The worst thing you can be is a liar...Okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be is a Nazi, but then, number two is a liar. Nazi 1, liar 2.'

- 'You know sometimes it's nice having you around. But now ain't one of those times. Now gimme the remote, we're not watching this bullsh*t.'

ISBN: 9781447200819 (Paperback)

Year: 2010

Publisher: Pan Books

Pages: 185 (Non-fiction)

Links

1. The Twitter page which started it all

2. Wikipedia page

3. Goodreads page

4. Buy the book at Amazon

5. Pan Macmillan Australia page

Forsaken: The Demon Trappers (Jana Oliver)

Forsaken: The Demon Trappers

Jana Oliver

Blurb: Riley Blackthorne. Kicking hell's ass one demon at a time...

Riley has always wanted to be a Demon Trapper like her father, and she's already following in his footsteps as one of the best. But it's tough being the only girl in an all-guy world, especially when three of those guys start making her life more complicated:

Simon, the angelic apprentice who has heaven on his side; Beck, the tough trapper who thinks he's God's gift, and Ori, the strikingly sexy stranger who keeps turning up to save her life.

One thing's for sure - if she doesn't keep her wits about her there'll be hell to pay...

ISBN: 9780330519472 (Paperback)

Year: 2011

Publisher: Macmillan

Pages: 423 (Fiction)

Links

1. Official site

2. Goodreads page

3. Extracts of the book

4. Buy from Amazon

5. Author's site

Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories (Ian Fleming)

Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories

Ian Fleming

Blurb: Bringing together all of the James Bond short stories in one volume for the first time, this is the ultimate celebration of suave and deadly secret agent 007. Whether he is making an unexpected discovery in the Bahamas, hunting down a Cuban hit-man in wild country, smashing an international drugs ring in Rome, on the trail of a murderous secret in the Caribbean, or foiling a surprisingly alluring assassin in Berlin's sniper's alley, dangerous missions and beautiful women come with the job for James Bong. And this agent is always a consummate professional.

Contains;

-From a View to a Kill

-For Your Eyes Only

-Quantum of Solace

-Risico

-The Hildebrand Rarity

-Octopussy

-The Property of a Lady

-The Living Daylights

-007 in New York

ISBN: 9780141189628 (Paperback)

Year: 2006

Publisher: Penguin Books

Pages: 293 (Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia Page for the book

2. How to order the book

3. Google books page

4. Buy at Amazon

5. Penguin Australia Page for the book

The Ruins (Scott Smith)

The Ruins

Scott Smith

Blurb: What happens when one simple innocent decision becomes a catastrophic mistake...

Craving an adventure to wake them from their lethargic Mexican holiday before they return home, a group of four friends impulsively set off in search of one of their own who has travelled to the interior to investigate an archaeological dig in the Mayan ruins.

After a long journey into the heart of the jungle, the group come across a trail. A hillside covered in bright red flowers lures them closer. A Mayan horseman approaches behind them. But this is no friendly welcome: he has a gun and orders them away fiercely. In the midst of the confrontation, one of the group steps inadvertently backwards, into the flowering vine. And at that moment their world changes forever...

ISBN: 9780552152709 (Paperback)

Year: 2006

Publisher: Corgi Books

Pages: 524 (Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia page for the book

2. Random House Page for the book

3. Buy from Amazon

4. New York Times Review of the book

5. Author's Wikipedia page

Perfect - Pretty Little Liars #3 (Sara Shepard)

Perfect - Pretty Little Liars # 3

Sara Shepard

Blurb: In Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four perfect-looking girls aren't nearly as perfect as they seem.

Aria can't resist her forbidden ex. Hanna is on the verge of losing her BFF. Emily is freaking out over a simple kiss. And Spencer can't keep her hands off anything that belongs to her sister.

Lucky me. I know these pretty little liars better than they know themselves. But it's hard keeping all of their secrets to myself. They better do as I say... or else!

ISBN: 9781907410895 (Paperback)

Year: 2007

Publisher: Atom Books

Pages: 276 (Fiction)

Links

1. Buy at Amazon

2. Wikipedia page for the book

3. Harper Collins page for the book

4. Series official page

5. Author's Wikipedia page

Up From Slavery (Booker T. Washington)

Up From Slavery

Booker T. Washington

Blurb: Born in Virginian slave hut, Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) rose to become the most influential spokesman for African-Americans of his day. In this eloquently written book, he describes events in a remarkable life that began in bondage and culminated in worldwide recognition for his many accomplishments. In simply written yet stirring passages, he tells of his impoverished childhood and youth, the unrelenting struggle for an education, early teaching assignments, his selection in 1881 to head Tuskegee Institute, and more.

A firm believer in the value of education as the best route to advancement, Washington disapproved of civil-rights agitation and in so doing earned the opposition of many black intellectuals. Yet, he is today regarded as a major figure in the struggle for equal rights, one who founded a number of organisations to further the cause and who worked tirelessly to educate and unite African-Americans.

ISBN: 9780486287386 (Paperback)

Year: 1901

Publisher: Dover Publications

Pages: 166 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Online edition of the book

2. Wikipedia page on Booker T. Washington

3. Study guide for the book

4. Buy from Amazon

5. Google books page

Mum Had a Kingswood: Tales from the life and mind of Rosso (Tim Ross)

Mum Had a Kingswood: Tales from the life and mind of Rosso

Tim Ross

Blurb: 'This book reminds me of a lot of Rosso: funny, smart and delightful to hang out with even when you're sober.' - Judith Lucy

'It's a warped and witty, tunnel-vision glimpse of the world. (Certifiably warped.) Do funny things just happen to funny people? Or is it just because of the heavy drugs, testosterone and bat-induced rabies? Either way, Rosso makes me laugh a lot. We need madmen to keep us semi-sane. Onya, Tim.' - Ray Martin

It's a book. A funny book. A funny book by Tim 'Rosso' Ross.

But what's in this funny book I hear you ask?

Well, it's all manner of stories from the life and mind of Tim Ross. There are warm, fuzzy childhood stories of billycarts and milk bars. There are teenage stories of angst, girls, bad clothes and bad hair. There are student tales of share-house madness and misery. And there are adult tales of living out a rock 'n' roll dream, doing stand-up, being on the telly and entertaining the nation on the radio every day.

In between all these wonderful tales, there are rants and raves, ideas and fantastical stories. Just stuff really. Wonderful stuff from the mind of Tim 'Rosso' Ross. This is his book. It's part memoir, part brain dump. And he's written it just for you.

ISBN: 9781742375076 (Paperback)

Year: 2010

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Pages: 322 (Non-Fiction)

Links

1. Official page of the book

2. Allen & Unwin page for the book

3. Blog on the book

4. Buy the ebook from Readings

5. Another blog on the book

Pandora - New Tales of the Vampires (Anne Rice)

Pandora - New Tales of the Vampires

Anne Rice

Blurb: In a cafe in modern-day Paris, in the aftermath of a fresh kill, the fearless and beautiful Pandora begins to tell her tale of treachery, vengeance and love stretching across two millennia. As a young mortal in Imperial Rome in the time of Caesar Augustus, Pandora was first introduced to the blood-tainted cult of Isis. Later, in exile in Antioch, she was drawn even further into the dark, ancient rites. Now, looking back across the centuries, Pandora decides to return once more to New Orleans, to find the love of her early life, Marius, and to see once again the Vampire Lestat...

ISBN: 9780099271086 (Paperback)

Year: 1998

Publisher: Arrow Books

Pages: 406 (Fiction)

Links

1. Anne Rice's Official Page for the book

2. Youtube clip of Anne Rice speaking about the book

3. Buy at Amazon

4. Wikipedia page for the series

5. Google books page

Unbelievable - Pretty Little Liars #4 (Sara Shepard)

Unbelievable - Pretty Little Liars # 4

Sara Shepard

Blurb: Your pretty little liars' charmed lives have turned into living nightmares.

Emily's been shipped off to Iowa to live with her uber-conservative cousins. Aria's boyfriend is behind bars - because of her. Spencer's afraid she was involved in Ali's murder. But Hanna's fate is far worse: she's clinging to life in the hospital because she knew too much.

If these girls don't start listening to me, Hanna's going to look like the lucky one.

ISBN: 9781907410901 (Paperback)

Year: 2008

Publisher: Atom Books

Pages: 280 (Fiction)

Links

1. Wikipedia Page

2. Buy at Amazon

3. Blog about the book

4. Harper Teen Page on the book

5. Official Site of Pretty Little Liars