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Miss Penny Dreadful and the Mermaid’s Locks by Allison Rushby

Title: Miss Penny Dreadful and the Mermaid’s Locks Author: Allison Rushby Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction Publisher: Walker Books Published: 1st November 2023 Format: Paperback Pages: 160 Price: $15.99 Synopsis: The final exciting instalment in the Miss Penny Dreadful series from acclaimed author Allison Rushby.Searching for a new story idea for her aunt’s famous penny dreadfuls,… Continue reading Miss Penny Dreadful and the Mermaid’s Locks by Allison Rushby

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Ayla’s Christmas Wish by Pamela Jones and Lucia Masciullo

Title: Ayla’s Christmas Wish Author: Pamela Jones and Lucia Masciullo Genre: Christmas Publisher: NLA Publishing Published: 1st November 2023 Format: Hardcover Pages: 32 Price: $24.99 Synopsis: Christmas is coming, and Ayla wants a snowman just like in her book, but there is no snow to be found in her drought-stricken town, not even a drop of rain.… Continue reading Ayla’s Christmas Wish by Pamela Jones and Lucia Masciullo

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The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet (Kingdoms and Empires #5) by Jaclyn Moriarty

Title: The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet (Kingdoms and Empires #5) Author: Jaclyn Moriarty Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Allen and Unwin Published: 31st October 2023 Pages: 544 Price: $22.99 Synopsis: A magical book in the rich and whimsical world of the Kingdoms and Empires about a girl, a threat and a pickle jar filled with gold… Continue reading The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet (Kingdoms and Empires #5) by Jaclyn Moriarty

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Every Exquisite Thing by Laura Steven

Title: Every Exquisite Thing Author: Laura Steven Genre: Thriller/YA Publisher: Farshore Books/Electric Monkey/Harper Collins Australia Published: 4th October 2023 Format: Paperback Pages: 352 Price: $19.99 Synopsis: A feminist YA horror-thriller-romance retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray by the TikTok sensation and author of The Society for Soulless Girls…Penny Paxton is the daughter of an… Continue reading Every Exquisite Thing by Laura Steven

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Completion of QBD Reading Challenge 2023

I have completed the 2023 QBD Challenge. My last prompt was a funny memoir, which in some ways was hard to find, but I settled on Paul Jennings’ memoir, Untwisted, which was funny in parts, and I enjoyed the way he told the stories – with humour and empathy throughout. I reviewed twenty books for… Continue reading Completion of QBD Reading Challenge 2023

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The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale by Kate DiCamillo

Title: The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale Author: Kate DiCamillo Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Walker Books Published: 18th October 2023 Format: Hardcover Pages: 160 Price: $24.99 Synopsis: From master storyteller Kate DiCamillo comes an original fairy tale, enchantingly illustrated, in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning and high spirits.Once, there… Continue reading The Puppets of Spelhorst: A Norendy Tale by Kate DiCamillo

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Murder on a School Night by Kate Weston

Title: Murder on a School Night Author: Kate Weston Genre: Crime, Mystery Publisher: HarperCollins Australia/Electric Monkey Published: 6th July 2023 Format: Paperback Pages: 336 Price: $13.99 Synopsis: Sex Education meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in this darkly hilarious YA murder mystery by Comedy Women in Print Prize and Carnegie Medal nominated author, Kate Weston. ‘Fiercely funny,… Continue reading Murder on a School Night by Kate Weston

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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… Continue reading Completed: Dymocks Reading Challenge 2023

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Dymocks Spring Reading Challenge

The final set of prompts for this year’s Dymock’s Reading Challenge for Spring are completed now too – a couple of them took me a while but I got there. One of the things I have liked about this challenge is how open to interpretation some prompts were, because a prompt will always have a… Continue reading Dymocks Spring Reading Challenge

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Rarity of Reviews of Australian Children’s Books

I have ‘some more thoughts’ – this time, about the rarity of reviews of children’s books in mainstream media, magazines, and newspapers – the media that most people would consume or have access to. Whilst they may review books, it’s always adult books and often the very literary ones. And whilst any book coverage is… Continue reading Rarity of Reviews of Australian Children’s Books