Completed: Dymocks Reading Challenge 2023

This year, I took on the Dymocks Reading Challenge again. This time, we got our prompts season by season, which made it more challenging to plan what to read, but in the end, I managed to do it. The prompts were fairly flexible as well – there were ones anything could fit into and ones that needed a little bit of creativity, with a few that were specific. I was able to find books to fit into each one though, and pretty much all from the books I have in my room or that I was sent to review, which was part of my goal to complete this challenge. In the end, it all worked very well, and I was pleasantly surprised at how I was able to interpret some prompts to work for what I was reading – because whilst the prompts may have seemed specific in some cases, different books would have worked for different people for that prompt. Others, like the word seven in the title, needed a bit of research and a few fallback options had I not been able to use the one I ended up reading.

Others, like page to screen, had many options, and I wanted to go with something that not everyone would think of – A Little Princess. There were several I didn’t review, but most have reviews as they were often review books or ones that I was planning to write a review for anyway. And many books are children’s books and by Australian authors (with a few exceptions), so all right where I wanted to be at the end of this as well. I’m looking forward to seeing what is on offer in 2024!

Summer

Beach Read: The Bookseller’s Apprentice by Amelia Mellor

Tropical Setting: Crimson Lake by Candice Fox

Award Winner: Finders, Keepers by Emily Rodda

Guilty Pleasure: 100 Tales from Australia’s Most Haunted Places by Ben Pobjie

Motivational: Hope is the Thing by Johanna Bell

Water on the Cover: Blueback by Tim Winton

Love Story: Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

BookTok: The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

Autumn

Leaves on the Cover: Pearly and Pig and the Lost City of Mu Savan by Sue Whiting

Featuring your Favourite Country: The MudPuddlers by Pamela Rushby

Translated novel: Grimm Tales for Old and Young edited by Philip Pullman

‘Seven’ in the Title: Seven Wherewithal Way: Across the Ice and into the Jungle by Samantha-Ellen Bound

Debut Author: So That Happened, But Maybe You Already Knew That by Tami Sussman

Australian Author: Saltwater Boy by Bradley Christmas

A Book older than you: Gumnut Land Adventures by May Gibbs

LGBTQIA Read: Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans

Winter

Clouds on the Cover: The Girls Who Changed the World: Ming and Hilde Lead a Revolution by Jackie French

Set in the Cold: Cosima Unfortunate Steals a Star by Laura Noakes

Australian Noir: Traced by Catherine Jinks

Foil on the Cover: Kensy and Max: Time’s Up by Jacqueline Harvey

Cosy Read: The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart by Samera Kamaleddine

Page to Screen: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

First Nations Author: The Voice to Parliament Handbook: All the Detail You Need to Know by Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien

Recommended by a friend: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

Spring

Nature on Cover: Ella Diaries: Winter Wonders (Super Special #1) by Meredith Costain and Danielle MacDonald (snow)

Read in One Day: Coco and the Christmas Beetle by Laura Bunting and Nicky Johnston

Dymocks Top 101: The Happiest Man in the World by Eddie Jaku

Overdue Read: The Ultimate Book of Brilliant Bedtime Stories by R.A. Spratt

Something Spooky: The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright by Reece Carter

Books about Books: Temora and the Dreamers by Kate Gordon

Inspiring Growth: Always, Never, Always by Meg McKinlay and Leila Rudge

Own Prompt – Historical Fiction: The Rebels of Mount Buffalo by Helen Edwards