In April, we found ourselves amidst a pandemic – and I found myself with an influx of review books, some quite long, and some not so long. As I usually do, I aim to read ahead in my review stack, to get things cleared, and posted or scheduled to save time. I’m still a bit behind, reading some books that should be on this list on the day of writing and posting. However, this is the case due to the fact that the books may have arrived after or a day before publication date due to the current overload of deliveries due to the COVID-19 crisis we’re facing.
I’ve also been doing an Isolation Publicity series with Australian authors – which by the looks of things will take me into mid – late August at this stage, a month short of the planned lockdown. Some of these interviews are really exciting and make me wish I could share them now, but the schedule means everyone gets a special day for their interview. Many authors have had launches cancelled, festivals and appearance cancelled or moved online – which has meant a loss of income and has been detrimental to the arts sector. These authors need the love and publicity the book blogging community can give them so their work can get into the hands of readers.
I read 19 books this month, and all except The Austen Girls and The Unadoptables have a live review at this stage. The Austen Girls will be appearing around the 19th of May with several other reviews and posts. The latter is appearing in June. I also ticked off a few challenge categories – not as many as I had hoped, however, I am getting there and should hopefully have filled them all in by the end of the year.
April – 19
| Book | Author | Challenge |
| The Deceptions | Suzanne Leal | AWW2020, Reading Challenge |
| Puppy Diary: The Great Toy Rescue | Yvette Poshoglian | AWW2020, Reading Challenge, Dymocks Reading Challenge |
| The Octopus and I | Erin Hortle | AWW2020, Reading Challenge |
| Friday Barnes: Big Trouble | R.A. Spratt | AWW2020, Reading Challenge, The Modern Mrs Darcy |
| The Strangeworlds Travel Agency
|
L.D. Lapinski | Reading Challenge, Books and Bites Bingo |
| Inheritance of Secrets | Sonya Bates | Reading Challenge, AWW2020 |
| Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire | Nat Amoore | Reading Challenge, AWW2020 |
| Jane in Love | Rachel Givney | Reading Challenge, AWW2020, Dymocks Reading Challenge, The Nerd Daily |
| Persuasion | Jane Austen | Reading Challenge, Books and Bites Bingo |
| The Austen Girls | Lucy Worsley | Reading Challenge |
| The Unadoptables | Hana Tooke | Reading Challenge |
| Friday Barnes: No Rules | R.A. Spratt | Reading Challenge, AWW2020 |
| Anzac Girl: The War Diaries of Alice Ross-King | Kate Simpson and Hess Racklyeft | Reading Challenge, AWW2020 |
| Sherlock Bones and the Natural History Mystery | Renée Treml | Reading Challenge, AWW2020, The Modern Mrs Darcy (Nominated for the 2020 Readings Children’s Prize) Shortlisted Readings Children’s Book Prize 2020 AU; Shortlisted Speech Pathology Award, Eight to Ten Years 2019 AU |
| Nim’s Island | Wendy Orr | AWW2020, Reading Challenge, STFU Reading Challenge |
| Ribbit Rabbit Robot | Victoria MacKinlay and Sofya Karmazina | AWW2020, Reading Challenge |
| Nim at Sea | Wendy Orr | AWW2020, Reading Challenge |
| Rescue on Nim’s Island | Wendy Orr | AWW2020, Reading Challenge |
| The Complete Adventures on Nim’s Island | Wendy Orr | AWW2020, Reading Challenge, STFU Reading Challenge |
The Book Muse 
I just started listening to Jane In Love today to and from work, I’ really enjoying it, though I am so glad I don’t have a mother like Jane’s. I have The Octopus and I to read and I’m looking forward to that one. I want to read the deceptions and The Inheritence of Secrets, but we shall see.
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