Category: history

Book Industry, Books, check in post, historical fiction, history, literary fiction, Publishers, Reading, Reviews

Cape Fever by Nadia Davids

Ashleigh

Title: Cape Fever Author: Nadia Davids Genre: Gothic, Historical Fiction Publisher: Simon and Schuster/Scribner UK Published: 30th December 2025 Format: Paperback Pages: 240 Price: $29.99 Synopsis: An exhilarating tale of twisted desire and the unexpected shape of revenge, for readers of The Safekeep‘I come highly recommended to Mrs Hattingh through sentences I tell her I cannot… Continue reading Cape Fever by Nadia Davids

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My Favourite Books of 2025

Ashleigh

I haven’t done this for a while, because whenever I see posts about people’s top ten reads of the year, I never know what to put on mine. Somehow, I always end up with more than ten, or not quite ten, or I’ll have read a series during the year, and have enjoyed all of… Continue reading My Favourite Books of 2025

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Readings Book Bingo Completed-ish

Ashleigh

 One final challenge I took part in this year was the Readings book bingo. I managed to tick every prompt apart from the cookbook prompt off, which probably had more to do with time than anything else. 2024 Prize Winner:  A Gift from the Birds by Caroline Stills (Text Prize 2024) A debut author: Earth… Continue reading Readings Book Bingo Completed-ish

Awards, Book Industry, Books, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, history, literary fiction, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, Young Adult

The Binding Spell by Marisa Linton

Ashleigh

Title: The Binding Spell Author: Marisa Linton Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Scholastic Australia Published: 1st December 2025 Format: Paperback Pages: 464 Price: $22.99 Synopsis:  A debut atmospheric fantasy, think dark academia meets Mexican Gothic. Morgan hopes her nightmares are behind her. Meeting Joe Harper helps. His secrets seem as tangled as hers and their time together is… Continue reading The Binding Spell by Marisa Linton

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November 2025 Reading Round Up

Ashleigh

I didn’t read as many books in November. It was a quieter month in terms of review books, so I took the chance to catch up with some of my other reading that I’ve had on my shelves for a long time. I had two review books, but reviewed three out of the 11 books… Continue reading November 2025 Reading Round Up

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The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe by Karen Foxlee

Ashleigh

Title: The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe Author: Karen Foxlee Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Allen and Unwin Published: 18th November 2025 Format: Hardback Pages: 400 Price: $24.99 Synopsis: An inventive and playful fantasy-adventure about an abandoned girl, a friendly ogress and a terrible curse from the multi-award-winning and bestselling author of Dragon Skin and Lenny's Book of Everything. 'A… Continue reading The Wondrous Tale of Lavender Wolfe by Karen Foxlee

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Book Bingo found on LinkedIn

Ashleigh

In July, I found another book bingo, and downloaded the card. It was shared by Rebecca Fung from Giulia Ralton, a library and literacy teacher. She explains the purpose behind a book bingo challenge here. Fingers crossed all these links work, and apologies if they don’t.  I’m always interested to see what reading challenges do,… Continue reading Book Bingo found on LinkedIn

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Dymocks Reading Challenge 2025 Completed

Ashleigh

And just like that, another year of the Dymocks Reading Challenge is over. I managed to fill in each prompt for this one, and may have ummed and ahhed about the Gothic Ruins prompt, because I read a couple of books that seemed to fit it well. I did focus on Australian books and authors… Continue reading Dymocks Reading Challenge 2025 Completed

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Dymocks Volume 3 2025 Completed

Ashleigh

And that’s the third volume completed! I found the prompts in this one easy to fill. They had a good balance of being open and specific, and I had a few options for some whilst others I took a good guess at where they would fit. I chose a translated book for the Branching Out… Continue reading Dymocks Volume 3 2025 Completed

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October 2025 Reading Round Up

Ashleigh

In October I read 18 books, covering picture books to young adult, with some poetry, mystery and time travel thrown in. It was an eclectic bunch of books this month, and most of them were Australian authors. I managed to review most, and have also been keeping on top of my review books as much… Continue reading October 2025 Reading Round Up