Category: short stories

#AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, A.L. Tait, adventure, Alice-Miranda, Anna James, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, biography, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, CBCA, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, Christmas, Chronicles of Whetherwhy, Cressida Cowell, Crime/Mystery, Dani Vee, Dervla McTiernan, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Ella at Eden, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, Friday Barnes, Futuristic Fiction, historical fiction, history, humour, Indigenous authors, Jackie French, Jacqueline Harvey, Junior Fiction, Kate Temple, Larrikin House, literary fiction, Matilda Saga, memoir, middle grade, Natasha Lester, Nevermoor, non-fiction, Pages and Co Series, Picture Books, plays, poetry, Publishers, R.A. Spratt, Reading, Reviews, satire, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, spies, The Girls Who Change the World, The Nerd Daily, Verse novels, Wherewithal Way, Young Adult

Total Women

Ashleigh

Each year, I try my best to read as many books by women as possible, and to read as diversely as possible. In 2025, I read 234, participated in judging an award, and of course, continued to do my reviewing. Reading across as many styles and genres as possible, based on what I had from… Continue reading Total Women

#AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, Alice-Miranda, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, Crime/Mystery, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Jacqueline Harvey, Junior Fiction, Kate Temple, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, mythology, Nevermoor, non-fiction, Picture Books, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, spies, The Nerd Daily

Australian Authors Read

Ashleigh

Every year, I aim to focus by reading on Australian authors, because I see authors from the UK and the US get widely promoted, and I feel that a lot of Australian authors, unless they’re super popular, get overlooked. Particularly the kids and young adult authors. So in 2025 I read 239 Australian authors in… Continue reading Australian Authors Read

#AussieAuthor2025, #AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, biography, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, CBCA, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, Crime/Mystery, Dani Vee, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Ella at Eden, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, Friday Barnes, historical fiction, history, Indigenous authors, Jackie French, Jacqueline Harvey, Junior Fiction, Kate Temple, Larrikin House, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, mythology, Nevermoor, non-fiction, Picture Books, poetry, Publishers, R.A. Spratt, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, The Girls Who Change the World, translated works, Verse novels, Wherewithal Way, Young Adult

Australian Women Read

Ashleigh

In 2025, I read 210 books by Australian women, and may not have read as diversely as I wanted based on a focus for judging reading. That said, I did manage to get in as many diverse books as possible, where I could see or knew that the author was disabled, Indigenous or LGBTQIA, or… Continue reading Australian Women Read

#AussieAuthors2025, adventure, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, classics, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Indigenous authors, Junior Fiction, Kate Temple, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, mythology, non-fiction, Picture Books, poetry, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, series, short stories, The Nerd Daily

Picture Books Read in 2025

Ashleigh

I read 57 picture books in 2025 for review purposes on my own blog, and for Good Reading Magazine. I covered lots of different stories, non-fiction books and many different themes that showcased emotions, different aspects of Australian history and culture, and celebrations of life in general. Every book had its own charms, which is… Continue reading Picture Books Read in 2025

#AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, adventure, animals, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Indigenous authors, Junior Fiction, Larrikin House, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, mythology, non-fiction, Picture Books, plays, poetry, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, Verse novels, Young Adult

Total Men

Ashleigh

So, in 2025, I read 44 books by men from around the world, with a focus on lesser-known Australian men. Yes, they get their own post because it’s much easier to split things up when you’ve read over 200 books, and make separate posts for things so people can find what they want in these… Continue reading Total Men

Anna James, biography, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, classics, Cressida Cowell, Crime/Mystery, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Junior Fiction, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, mythology, non-fiction, Picture Books, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, The Nerd Daily, Young Adult

Non-Australian Women read

Ashleigh

In 2025, I read 25 books by women who weren’t from Australia. These authors were, based on what I was able to get, what I was sent for review, or what I had on my shelves, European, British, and at least one from New Zealand, and a few from the USA. Some of these were… Continue reading Non-Australian Women read

#AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, adventure, animals, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, biography, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, classics, Crime/Mystery, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Indigenous authors, Jackie French, Jane Austen, Junior Fiction, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, non-fiction, Picture Books, poetry, Publishers, R.A. Spratt, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, spies, The Girls Who Change the World, The Nerd Daily, Young Adult

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

#AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, challenges, Children's Literature, Crime/Mystery, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Elston-Fright, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Indigenous authors, Jacqueline Harvey, Jane Austen, Junior Fiction, literary fiction, middle grade, Nevermoor, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, The Nerd Daily, Wherewithal Way, Young Adult

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

#AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, animals, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Awards, biography, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, CBCA, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, Christmas, classics, Crime/Mystery, DANZ, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Indigenous authors, Jackie French, Junior Fiction, literary fiction, memoir, middle grade, mythology, Nevermoor, Picture Books, poetry, Publishers, R.A. Spratt, Reading, Reviews, Scholastic, series, short stories, Speculative fiction, spies, The Girls Who Change the World, Young Adult

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

#AussieAuthors2025, #AussieYAChallenge, #LoveOZMG, #LoveOzYA, adventure, animals, Aussie authors, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Awards, Blog Tour, Book bingo, Book Industry, Books, CBCA, challenges, check in post, Children's Literature, Christmas, Crime/Mystery, Dymocks Reading Challenge, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Junior Fiction, literary fiction, middle grade, mythology, Picture Books, poetry, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, series, short stories, Young Adult

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