Tag: challenges

Where the Dead Go by Sarah Bailey

Where the dead go.jpgTitle: Where the Dead Go

Author: Sarah Bailey

Genre: Crime/Mystery

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 5th August 2019

Format: Paperback

Pages: 464

Price:  $29.99

Synopsis: Four years after the events of Into the Night, DS Gemma Woodstock is on the trail of a missing girl in a small coastal town.

‘Every bit as addictive and suspenseful as The Dark Lake . . . Sarah Bailey’s writing is both keenly insightful and wholly engrossing, weaving intriguing and multi-layered plots combined with complicated and compelling characters.’ The Booktopian

A fifteen-year-old girl has gone missing after a party in the middle of the night. The following morning her boyfriend is found brutally murdered in his home. Was the girl responsible for the murder, or is she also a victim of the killer? But who would want two teenagers dead?

The aftermath of a personal tragedy finds police detective Gemma Woodstock in the coastal town of Fairhaven with her son Ben in tow. She has begged to be part of a murder investigation so she can bury herself in work rather than taking the time to grieve and figure out how to handle the next stage of her life – she now has serious family responsibilities she can no longer avoid. But Gemma also has ghosts she must lay to rest.

Gemma searches for answers, while navigating her son’s grief and trying to overcome the hostility of her new colleagues. As the mystery deepens and old tensions and secrets come to light, Gemma is increasingly haunted by a similar missing persons case she worked on not long before. A case that ended in tragedy and made her question her instincts as a cop. Can she trust herself again?

A riveting thriller by the author of the international bestseller The Dark Lake, winner of both the Ned Kelly Award and the Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for a debut crime novel.

~*~

2019 Badge

The third and final novel in the Gemma Woodstock trilogy goes off with a bang. First, a young girl goes missing. At the same time, Gemma’s ex-husband, Scott, dies, and she’s left to care for her nine-year-old son, despite people around her thinking she should leave him with his step-mother and baby sister. Instead, Gemma takes a job up the coast, near Byron Bay over the Easter holidays and takes Ben with her. She is called to investigate the disappearance of a local girl, Abbey, and the murder of her boyfriend. Everyone seems to think Abbey is dead as well – but is she really, and who in this town would want both of them dead?

The search for answers becomes complex as the story moves along, as suspects ebb and flow, and everyone starts suspecting everyone else. At the same time, whilst staying with the local police officer and his wife, Gemma starts to look into missing drugs from the hospital, and incorrect use of prescription drugs. With these two cases possibly linked, Gemma finds out there is much more to the murders and those on the suspect list than Gemma and her colleagues realises.

The final book wraps up many threads left over from the previous two books, whilst a murder and secondary storyline evolve over the novel to reveal a complex storyline on many levels – for the plot, the crime and the characters, especially Ben and Gemma as they deal with the death of their father and husband while Gemma investigates the crimes.

Referring back to previous cases, Gemma’s story and past is revealed more in this novel, and as she reconnects with her son, she finds herself wanting to be in his life more than she has previously.

Told in first person, everything is seen through Gemma’s eyes, and view of the world. She still feels like her family doubts her and thinks she should leave Ben’s care to Jodie, his stepmother, and try to convince her it would be better for both of them – this has been an ongoing thread throughout the trilogy. However, it feels like things will be resolved in the final book for Gemma and her family, and much like the crimes she investigates, things are not going to be simple or straightforward. But hopefully, she can work it all out.

What I’ve enjoyed about this trilogy has been the mysteries that Gemma has to solve and experiencing the world through her eyes. Intricate and deeply involved in every way and with every thread of the story. It’s an intense mystery that has the characters and reader on their toes – you never know what is coming, and even as various clues are dropped, they aren’t so obvious that I could work out who the real killer was, there was definitely a feeling that came from a couple of characters that made me instinctively not trust them and wonder if they had any involvement.

Overall, this was a really good way to end the trilogy, and I hope Gemma Woodstock fans will enjoy it.

July Reading Round-Up

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Seven months into the year, and in total, I have read 118 books. Of those 118, 58 have been by Australian Women, and the remaining 60 by authors across the board – male, female and international. I am still trying to make progress on my Jane Austen challenge and have one square left to tick off for book bingo – a book over 500 pages. Many of my reads this year have fallen short of this, so I am still looking and hoping something in my own collection will come up.

#Dymocks52Challenge

Most of the books have been reviewed, with a few exceptions for books read for work or Squirrel Girl and Captain Marvel. Some reviewed books have not been released yet, so the links will be included in later wrap ups or maybe added to this one when they go live. I read 25 books in July, and have managed to stay on top of a lot of my reading as well.

Until next month, and more reviews and posts!

General

  1. The Silver Well by Kate Forsyth and Kim Wilkins
  2. Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood (Phryne Fisher #6)
  3. The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
  4. The Secret Dragon by Ed Clarke
  5. Aladdin and the Arabian Nights
  6. Deltora Quest: The Maze of the Beast by Emily Rodda
  7. Deltora Quest: The Valley of the Lost by Emily Rodda
  8. Deltora Quest: Return to Del by Emily Rodda
  9. Deltora Quest #1 by Emily Rodda
  10. Somewhere Around the Corner by Jackie French
  11. Alexander Altmann A10567 by Suzy Zail
  12. The Binder of Doom: Brute Cake by Troy Cummings
  13. Beatrix the Bold and the Curse of the Wobblers by Simon Mockler
  14. Where the Dead Go by Sarah Bailey
  15. Firewatcher #1: Brimstone by Kelly Gardiner
  16. Purrmaids #1: The Scaredy Cat by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
  17. The Dragon in the Library by Louie Stowell
  18. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition by JK Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay
  19. The Burnt Country by Joy Rhoades
  20. The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Klaus
  21. Pages and Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James
  22. Top Marks for Murder by Robin Stevens (A Murder Most Unladylike #8)
  23. Bentley by Ellen Miles
  24. Fast Forward to the Future (Time Jumpers #3) by Wendy Mass
  25. Is it Night or Day? by Fern Schumer Chapman

Pop Sugar Challenge

  1. A book becoming a movie in 2019:
  2. A book that makes you nostalgic: The Lost Magician by Piers Torday
  3. A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction): Best Foot Forward by Adam Hills
  4. A book you think should be turned into a movie: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
  5. A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads:Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling – 20th Anniversary House Editions
  6. A book with a plant in the title or on the cover: Bella Donna: Coven Road by Ruth Symes, Eliza Rose by Lucy Worsley
  7. A reread of a favourite book: Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth
  8. A book about a hobby: The Bad Mother’s Book Club by Keris Stanton
  9. A book you meant to read in 2018: Eliza Rose by Lucy Worsley
  10. A book with POP, SUGAR, or CHALLENGE in the title: Poppy Field by Michael Morpurgo, Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
  11. A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover: 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne, The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer
  12. A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore:Mermaid Holidays: The Magic Pearl by Delphine Davis and Adele K Thomas
  13. A book published posthumously: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
  14. A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie:
  15. A retelling of a classic: Enola Holmes: The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets (Enola Holmes #3) by Nancy Springer
  16. A book with a question in the title: Is It Night or Day? by Fern Schumer Chapman
  17. A book set on college or university campus: Marvel Rising: Squirrel Girl and Ms Marvel by Devin Grayson, Ryan North and Willow Wilson
  18. A book about someone with a superpower: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume One: Squirrel Power by Ryan North
  19. A book told from multiple POVs: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte
  20. A book set in space: Captain Marvel: Higher, Faster, Further by Kelly Sue DeConnick
  21. A book by two female authors: The Silver Well by Kate Forsyth and Kim Wilkins
  22. A book with SALTY, SWEET, BITTER, or SPICY in the title: Australia’s Sweetheart by Michael Adams
  23. A book set in Scandinavia: The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt och Dag
  24. A book that takes place in a single day: Archibald, The Naughtiest Elf in the World Causes Trouble with the Easter Bunny by Skye Davidson
  25. A debut novel: What Lies Beneath Us by Kirsty Ferguson
  26. A book that’s published in 2019: Vardaesia by Lynette Noni
  27. A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature: Dragon Masters: Treasure of the Gold Dragon by Tracey West
  28. A book recommended by a celebrity you admire: Split edited by Lee Kofman – recommended by Myf Warhurst
  29. A book with LOVE in the title:
  30. A book featuring an amateur detective: All the Tears in China by Sulari Gentill
  31. A book about a family: The House of Second Chances by Esther Campion
  32. A book by an author from Asia, Africa, or South America: Children of the Dragon: Race for the Red Dragon by Rebecca Lim
  33. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in title:The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
  34. A book that includes a wedding: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, A Dream of Italy by Nicky Pellegrino
  35. A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter:Mermaid Holidays: The Talent Show by Delphine Davis and Adele K. Thomas, The True Story of Maddie Bright by Mary-Rose MacColl, Explorer’s Academy: Nebula Secret by Trudi Trueit
  36. A ghost story: The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
  37. A book with a two-word title: Saving You by Charlotte Nash
  38. A novel based on a true story: The Familiars by Stacey Halls – The Pendle Witches
  39. A book revolving around a puzzle or game: Deltora Quest #1 by Emily Rodda
  40. Your favourite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading challenge:

2016 – A book based on a fairy tale: The Blue Rose by Kate Forsyth – based on Chinese fairy tale, The Blue Rose

2017 – A steampunk book:

Advanced

  1. A “cli-fi” (climate fiction) book: The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble, Daughter of Bad Times by Rohan Wilson
  2. A “choose-your-own-adventure” book: Choose Your Own Adventure #2: Journey Under the Sea by R.A. Montgomery
  3. An “own voices” book: Children of the Dragon: Race for the Red Dragon by Rebecca Lim
  4. Read a book during the season it is set in: Archibald, The Naughtiest Elf in the World Causes Trouble with the Easter Bunny by Skye Davidson (Easter Season),The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green (parts are set during Autumn)
  5. A LitRPG book:
  6. A book with no chapters / unusual chapter headings / unconventionally numbered chapters: Kensy and Max: Undercover by Jacqueline Harvey (Ciphers used to give the chapter headings)
  7. Two books that share the same title: Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence by Emily Rodda
  8. Two books that share the same title: Deltora Quest: The Lake of Tears by Emily Rodda
  9. A book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom: Aladdin and the Arabian Nights – Open Sesame
  10. A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

AWW2019

2019 Badge

  1. The Silver Well by Kate Forsyth and Kim Wilkins – Reviewed
  2. Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood (Phryne Fisher #6) – Reviewed
  3. Deltora Quest: The Maze of the Beast by Emily Rodda – Reviewed
  4. Deltora Quest: The Valley of the Lost by Emily Rodda – Reviewed
  5. Deltora Quest: Return to Del by Emily Rodda – Reviewed
  6. Deltora Quest #1 by Emily Rodda – Reviewed
  7. Somewhere Around the Corner by Jackie French – Reviewed
  8. Alexander Altmann A10567 by Suzy Zail – Reviewed

55.Where the Dead Go by Sarah Bailey – Reviewed

  1. Firewatcher #1: Brimstone by Kelly Gardiner – Reviewed
  2. The Burnt Country by Joy Rhoades – Reviewed
  3. The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Klaus – Reviewed

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Book Bingo

Rows Across:

Row One:

A book with a red cover: Children of the Dragon: Race for the Red Dragon by Rebecca Lim – #AWW2019

Beloved Classic: Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner – AWW2018

A novel that has more than 500 pages:

A novella no more than 150 pages:Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence by Emily Rodda – #AWW2019

Prize winning book: Somewhere Around the Corner by Jackie French – #AWW2019, Alexander Altmann A10567 by Suzy Zail – #AWW2019

Row Two: BINGO

BINGO!

A book by an author with the same initials as you: The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Klaus – #AWW2019*

Non-Fiction book about an event: The Suicide Bride by Tanya Bretherton – #AWW2019

Fictional biography about a woman from history: Fled by Meg Keneally – #AWW2019

Memoir about a non-famous person:Australia’s Sweetheart by Michael Adams

Book written by an Australian woman more than 10 years ago: Deltora Quest: The Lake of Tears by Emily Rodda – #AWW2019 (2001)

Row Three: BINGO

BINGO!

Themes of Science Fiction: Daughter of Bad Times by Rohan Wilson

Themes of Culture:The Lost Magician by Piers Torday

Themes of Justice: What Lies Beneath Us by Kirsty Ferguson – AWW2019

Themes of Inequality: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer – AWW2019

Themes of Fantasy: Vardaesia by Lynette Noni – AWW2019

 

Row Four: – BINGO

BINGO!

Book with a place in the title: The French Photographer by Natasha Lester -AWW2019

Book set in the Australian Outback: The Last Dingo Summer by Jackie French (Matilda Saga #8) – #AWW2019

Book set on the Australian Coast:The House of Second Chances by Esther Campion – AWW2019

Book set in the Australian Mountains: The Orchardist’s Daughter by Karen Viggers – AWW2019

Book set in an exotic location: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte – #AWW2019

 

Row Five: BINGO

BINGO!

Written by an Australian Man: The Honeyman and the Hunter by Neil Grant

Written by an Australian Woman:Zelda Stitch Term Two: Too Much Witch by Nicki Greenberg – AWW2019

Written by an author under the age of 35: Archibald, The Naughtiest Elf in the World Causes Trouble with the Easter Bunny by Skye Davidson – #AWW2019

Written by an author over the age of 65: Miss Franklin: How Miles Franklin’s Brilliant Career began by Libby Hathorn – #AWW2019

Written by an author you’ve never read: The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble – #AWW2019

Row Six: BINGO

BINGO!

Literary: Zebra and Other Stories by Debra Adelaide – AWW2019

Crime: All the Tears in China by Sulari Gentill – AWW2019

Historical: The Familiars by Stacey Halls

Romance: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Comedy: Best Foot Forward by Adam Hills

Rows Down:

Row One:  – BINGO

BINGO!

A book with a red cover: Children of the Dragon: Race for the Red Dragon by Rebecca Lim – #AWW2019

Book by an author with the same initials as you: The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Klaus – #AWW2019*

Themes of science fiction: Daughter of Bad Times by Rohan Wilson

Book with a place in the title: The French Photographer by Natasha Lester -AWW2019

Written by an Australian man: The Honeyman and the Hunter by Neil Grant

Literary: Zebra and Other Stories by Debra Adelaide – AWW2019

Row Two: BINGO

BINGO!

Beloved Classic: Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner – AWW2018      

Non-Fiction book about an event: The Suicide Bride by Tanya Bretherton – #AWW2019

Themes of culture: The Lost Magician by Piers Torday

Book set in the Australian outback: The Last Dingo Summer by Jackie French (Matilda Saga #8) – #AWW2019

Written by an Australian woman: Zelda Stitch Term Two: Too Much Witch by Nicki Greenberg – AWW2019

Crime: All the Tears in China by Sulari Gentill – AWW2019

Row three:

Novel that has 500 pages or more:

Fictional biography about a woman from history: Fled by Meg Keneally – #AWW2019

Themes of justice: What Lies Beneath Us by Kirsty Ferguson – AWW2019

Book set on the Australian coast:The House of Second Chances by Esther Campion – AWW2019

Written by an author under the age of 35: Archibald, The Naughtiest Elf in the World Causes Trouble with the Easter Bunny by Skye Davidson – #AWW2019

Historical: The Familiars by Stacey Halls

Row Four: – BINGO

BINGO!

Novella no more than 150 pages: Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence by Emily Rodda – #AWW2019

Memoir about a non-famous person:Australia’s Sweetheart by Michael Adams

Themes of inequality: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer – AWW2019

Book set in the Australian mountains: The Orchardist’s Daughter by Karen Viggers – AWW2019

Written by an author over the age of 65: Miss Franklin: How Miles Franklin’s Brilliant Career began by Libby Hathorn – #AWW2019

Romance: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Row Five: BINGO

BINGO!

Prize winning book: Somewhere Around the Corner by Jackie French – #AWW2019, Alexander Altmann A10567 by Suzy Zail – #AWW2019

Book written by an Australian woman more than ten years ago: Deltora Quest: The Lake of Tears by Emily Rodda – #AWW2019 (2001)

Themes of fantasy: Vardaesia by Lynette Noni – AWW2019

Book set in an exotic location: Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte – #AWW2019

Written by an author you’ve never read: The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble – #AWW2019

Comedy: Best Foot Forward by Adam Hills

July Round Up – 25

 

Book Title Challenge
The Silver Well Kate Forsyth and Kim Wilkins General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019, Popsugar
Blood and Circuses (Phryne Fisher #6)  Kerry Greenwood General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay General, #Dymocks52Challenge, PopSugar
The Secret Dragon Ed Clarke General, #Dymocks52Challenge – released 6th August.
Aladdin and the Arabian Nights Anonymous General, #Dymocks52Challenge, PopSugar
Deltora Quest: The Maze of the Beast Emily Rodda General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
Deltora Quest: The Valley of the Lost Emily Rodda General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
Deltora Quest: Return to Del Emily Rodda General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
Deltora Quest #1 Omnibus Emily Rodda General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019, PopSugar
Somewhere Around the Corner Jackie French General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019, Book bingo
Alexander Altmann A10567 Suzy Zail General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019, Book bingo
The Binder of Doom: Brute Cake Troy Cummings General, #Dymocks52Challenge
Beatrix the Bold and the Curse of the Wobblers Simon Mockler General, #Dymocks52Challenge
Where the Dead Go Sarah Bailey General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
Firewatcher #1: Brimstone Kelly Gardiner General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
Purrmaids #1: The Scaredy Cat Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen General, #Dymocks52Challenge
The Dragon in the Library Louie Stowell General, #Dymocks52Challenge
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Illustrated Edition JK Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay General, #Dymocks52Challenge
The Burnt Country Joy Rhoades General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
The Book Ninja Ali Berg and Michelle Klaus General, #Dymocks52Challenge, #AWW2019
Pages and Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers  Anna James General, #Dymocks52Challenge
Top Marks for Murder (A Murder Most Unladylike #8) Robin Stevens General, #Dymocks52Challenge
Bentley Ellen Miles General, #Dymocks52Challenge
Fast Forward to the Future (Time Jumpers #3) Wendy Mass General, #Dymocks52Challenge
Is it Night or Day? Fern Schumer Chapman General, #Dymocks52Challenge

Alexander Altmann A10567 by Suzy Zail

Alexabder altmann A10567Title: Alexander Altmann A10567

Author: Suzy Zail

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Black Dog Books

Published: 1st May 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 290

Price: $18.99

Synopsis: The story of a young Jewish boy who must learn to trust others to survive. Based on a true story.

Fourteen-year-old Alexander Altmann doesn’t need to look at the number tattooed on his arm. A10567: he knows it by heart. He also knows that to survive Auschwitz, he has to toughen up. When he is given the job of breaking in the commander’s new horse, their survival becomes intertwined. Alexander knows the animal is scared and damaged, but he must win its trust. If he fails, they will both be killed.

  • Notable Book, Older Readers, Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards, 2015
  • “A confronting but gripping novel … a powerful story of hope, adversity and redemption.” Junior Books+Publishing
  • Suzy’s first book for young people, The Wrong Boy, was short-listed for the 2013 CBCA Book of the Year awards and the 2013 Adelaide Festival Award for Literature.

~*~

In the years towards the end of the war, more and more prisoners – Jews, homosexuals, the clergy and many other groups the Nazis wanted to imprison and get rid of were sent to the many concentration camps the Germans set up across Europe and the Third Reich throughout the war. In this story, though, a Jewish boy at Auschwitz-Birkenau has his story told.

Alexander Altmann has been at Auschwitz for several weeks towards the end of the war. During roll call one day, he volunteers to join the Horse Command, where he is recruited to train the commandant’s new horse, Midnight. But Midnight is a troubled horse, and Alexander knows it will take time to gain his trust – much more than the kapo and Commandant have given him. Yet he also knows that to survive, he must train Midnight to the standard the commandant wishes.

2019 BadgeAlexander sees much brutality at the camp and survives it all with the help of his friend, Isidor, and training Midnight. But as the camp starts to disintegrate as the war pulls to a close, Alexander faces a new fight for survival.

Based on a true story Suzy heard at the Holocaust Centre in Melbourne, Alexander Altmann A10567 takes a topic that is dark, and depressing, and tells a story that younger readers can access, and understand though the eyes of a child. It takes the backdrop of war, and shows what people had to do to survive in those conditions, and how they were so conditioned into not knowing their names, that an act of kindness from someone in the group responsible for their fate meant the world to them. It also shows that small things like a horse, could bring some semblance of humanity back for them.

The Holocaust and World War Two is a touch subject and time in history to read about. Suzy Zail has managed to capture the horrors in a way that is both dark and realistic, and shows that is was truly traumatic, but at the same time, there is a sense of humanity in the characters and this ensures that the voices of the young are heard. There are true horrors in this book. Yet it is written in a way that these horrors are deftly communicated to younger readers to introduce them to the Holocaust, or complement learning about it and give it context and a human face to those who suffered. Kike Morris Gleitzman and Jackie French, she shows the realism of history through the eyes of a child, who still has hope and holds onto that hope through dark times.

Deltora Quest Omnibus #1 by Emily Rodda – Deltora Quest wrap up

Deltora Quest 1.jpgTitle: Deltora Quest Omnibus #1

Author: Emily Rodda

Genre: Fantasy Adventure

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1st October 2008

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 774

Price: $29.99

Synopsis: Here, for the first time, the eight books of the international best-selling fantasy series Deltora Quest are brought together in one superb volume.

For centuries, the evil Shadow Lord has been plotting to invade Deltora and enslave its people. All that stands against him is the magic Belt of Deltora with its seven gems of great and mysterious power.

When the gems are stolen and scattered throughout the kingdom, the Enemy triumphs, and Deltora is lost. Abandoned by their king, suffering under the Shadow Lord’s cruel tyranny, the people live in ignorance, terror and despair.

But while most have abandoned hope, three unlikely companions have not.

The great gems have been hidden in fearsome places throughout the kingdom and are protected by terrible guardians. But Lief, Barda and Jasmine believe that they can be found. They cling to their faith that if the magic Belt can be restored, the Shadow Lord will be banished from their land. With only a sketchy map to guide them, the companions set out into the unknown.

So begins the perilous quest which has captured the imagination of millions throughout the world.

~*~

The Deltora Quest series, consisting of eight books, is the story of Lief, Barda and Jasmine seeking to restore the magical Belt of Del and defeat the Shadow Lord who has invaded their homeland. To start with, I have linked each individual review here in this post, listed below.

The Forests of Silence

Deltora Quest 1

The Lake of Tears

lake of tears

City of the Rats

city of rats

The Shifting Sands

the shifting san ds

Dread Mountain

Dread Mountain

The Maze of the Beast

The Maze of the Beast

The Valley of the Lost

valley of the lost

Return to Del

return to del

I read each book and this omnibus as part of the 2019 Australian Women Writer’s Challenge and for a few other challenges, fulfilling several categories, some which I managed to do by bending and reimagining the parameters given in the challenge. Currently, I have this one slated to fulfil my novel of 500 pages or more, as so far, I have not read one yet in all my reading this year so far, but am keeping this open in case something does come across my desk for review or general reading purposes.

Being able to read all eight books in this omnibus version was a very good thing, as I was able to flick backwards and forwards, putting the clues together from each book as I read it over the past few months in between my work as a quiz writer, editor and book reviewer. So, I finally finished it, and really enjoyed it. Throughout, each novel built on the previous ones, whilst still being individual stories. Yet their interconnection means that it is best to read them in order, so everything makes sense and fits in together like a puzzle or game while you read.

2019 Badge

In wrapping up this series, I have not been as expansive as other posts, as I have included each individual review. Astute readers will piece the clues together as they read, and each clue is cleverly included throughout, culminating in the final books to reveal the secrets that need to be uncovered.

Overall, it was a very engaging and action packed series, with the right amount of adventure, humour, darkness and light for readers of all ages to enjoy and engage with.

Blood and Circuses (Phryne Fisher #6) by Kerry Greenwood

blood and circuses.jpgTitle: Blood and Circuses (Phryne Fisher #6)

Author: Kerry Greenwood

Genre: Crime/Historical Fiction

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 1st February 2005

Format: Paperback

Pages: 300

Price: $22.95

Synopsis:Phryne Fisher goes to the circus for her sixth mystery. Stripped of her identity and wealth, it’s only Phryne’s keen wit and sharp thinking that will help her now.

Astute, suave and divine, Phryne Fisher moves at flashing pace through this thrilling sixth adventure.

The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher is feeling dull. But is she bored enough to leave her identity, her home and family behind and join Farrell’s Circus and Wild Beast Show? There have been strange things happening at the circus. And when Phryne is asked by her friends Samson the Strong Man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman to help them, curiosity gets the better of her.

Peeling off her wealth and privilege, Phryne takes a job as a trick horse-rider, wearing hand-me-down clothes and a new name. Someone seems determined to see the circus fail and Phryne must find out who that might be and why they want it badly enough to resort to poison, assault and murder.

Diving into the dangerous underworld of 1920s Melbourne and the wild, eccentric life under the big top, Phryne proves her courage and ingenuity yet again, aided only by her quick intelligence, an oddly attractive clown, and a stout and helpful bear.

~*~

In late 1928, The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher finds herself bored with her life and the many luxuries she has. Her days seem the same, and so she makes the daring decision to leave behind her identity and luxuries and join the circus for a while. She has friends in the circus who come to her for help first, to find out what is behind the strange goings on and recent murder at their circus. Under her new name, Fern, and much to Detective Inspector Jack Robinson’s worry, she heads into an unknown world where she soon finds herself in danger, and the circus under threat from someone within.

2019 BadgeOnce in the circus, Phryne must find a way to fit in, whilst her friends, Samson, Alan and Doreen, try to keep her identity safe from everyone else so they don’t suspect she’s trying to ruin them. During her stay, Phryne makes friends, enemies and learns a few tricks as a horse rider while she investigates murder, poisoning and assault, and tries to get information to Jack surreptitiously, without the circus people finding out.

Set in the dying years of the 1920s, as the world is about to plunge into the Great Depression and many years of hardship, the Phryne Fisher series shows the differences between the various classes, genders and other aspects of society that in the 1920s, were a lot more restrictive in their expectations than they are today, and where someone like Phryne would also have had certain assumptions and expectations about what she should or should not do.  But in true Phryne style, like many of her friends, she ignores these demands and does her own thing, which is what makes her such a fun and invigorating character to read.

In her sixth outing, Phryne Fisher does nit disappoint. True to form, she uses all her assets to solve the crime – and pulls Jack into the case too. Throughout the novel, it goes back and forth between Phryne at the circus, and her training, and Jack at the police station, looking into the murder that triggered Phryne’s change of lifestyle, however temporary it is.

This series evokes a sense of the 1920s society in Melbourne, Australia, and the issues of class, wealth and gender of the time. Dot and Mr and Mrs Butler play a background role in this story, and appear towards the start and end, bookending the two lives Phryne lives in this book. With each novel, moving through the late 1920s, and the interwar period, there is a sense of comfort but also, a sense of discomfort captured in the lives of those living on the fringes or who might face discrimination. Knowing what is to come as a reader in the next decade of Phryne’s world as a reader, whilst the other characters have no notion or inkling of what is to come from Europe and what it will lead to. It is interesting to read this in hindsight, knowing what we know and where it might lead the characters in years to come.

This is a very good series, that highlights various aspects of society at the time, and is thoroughly enjoyable, and they are quick reads as well. I have fourteen more books to go in the series, and hope to get through them soon.

The Last Dingo Summer (Matilda Saga #8) by Jackie French

Last Dingo SummerTitle: The Last Dingo Summer (Matilda Saga #8)

Author: Jackie French

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 16th November 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Price: $29.99

Synopsis: A body has been found in the burned-out wreckage of the church at Gibber’s Creek – with older skeletons lying beneath it.

The corpse is identified as that of Ignatius Mervyn, the man who attempted to kill Jed Kelly and her unborn child.

Newcomer Fish Johnstone is drawn into the murder investigation, convinced that the local police are on the wrong track with their enquiries. But as she digs beneath the warm and welcoming surface of the Gibber’s Creek community, more secrets emerge.

And Fish must also face her own mystery – the sudden appearance and then disappearance of her father, a Vietnamese refugee she never knew.

Set during the Indigenous rights and ‘boat people’ controversies of the late 1970s, this haunting story shows how love and kindness can create the courage to face the past.

~*~

Picking up soon after the events of Facing the Flame, The Last Dingo Summeris the second last novel in the Matilda Saga. The final one – Clancy of the Overflow – will be out later this year. The novel starts with tragedy – Sam McAlpine, Jed’s husband and Mattie’s father – is injured in a farming accident. Soon after his accident, Fish arrives in Gibber’s Creek, and several skeletons, including the skeleton of Ignatius Mervyn, who, a year earlier, tried to kill Jed Kelly just before she gave birth to Mattie.

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Fish is drawn into the murder investigation – particularly the unidentified bodies lying below the church, but also wants to help prove who killed Merv while she stays with her grandmother and the Great aunts and uncles. As Fish digs below the surface, the secrets of Gibber’s Creek emerge, and Nancy starts to relive her years in an internment camp in Malaya during World War Two. Yet Fish has her own mystery – her missing father, someone she never knew.

At the same time, the residents of Gibber’s Creek are hearing about Indigenous rights, and the controversies of ‘boat people’ from Vietnam and Cambodia in the years after the wars in the Indochina region. Together, they will face the past and their differences, and come together to support each other when it seems like everything is going to fall apart.

I have been following the Matilda Saga for the past ten years, roughly since it first started, and have seen the characters move from the Sydney slums of 1894, to Federation, the suffragette movement, and into the First World War, the Depression, the Second World War and into the 1960s and 1970s – the years of hippies, another war, political change and the moon landing. Matilda, Flinty, Blue, Nancy, Jed and Fish and their families. It has been one of those series where each instalment builds on the previous ones, and highlights aspects of history once hidden, or not spoken about much in a fictional setting, and one where as I read, it simply swept me up in the story, taking me back to a well-known place, and familiar characters I always want to return to and know what they have been up to.

The stories told in the Matilda Saga are the ones that are usually hidden from history. The stories of women, of the poor, and the disenfranchised, as well as those whose race is used against them in laws and legislation. It is these untold stories and the way they form the backbone to Jackie French’s Matilda Saga that make the series and the ongoing story powerful. It is a series where readers get to experience a different voice to what is usually represented in history, and also, get to see themselves and possibly some of the struggles they have gone through in their lives reflected through Matilda, Scarlett, Nancy, and all the other fabulous characters, whether this be race, gender, class or disability, through characters like Flinty and Scarlett. Each of these intersections shows how women like those who populate the Matilda Saga have often had their voices erased or ignored. The Matilda Saga brings them to life, and brings to life the environment they live in, and makes the land as much a character as the human ones.

Across the series, we have lost beloved characters to war and other tragedy, and sometimes just to natural deaths. Here, the shadow of some of these deaths haunts the characters throughout, delving into a mystery reaching back into previous books and plotlines as the book has moved through almost a century of cultural, social and legal change in Australia, and how it affects the small community of Gibber’s Creek. Starting to come together to finalise the series, Jed is writing Matilda’s story, to show the world what Matilda managed in a time when women were not allowed to vote, when Indigenous people had no rights. She built a diverse community to help her biological and adopted family, and these novels have reflected this. In The Last Dingo Summer, Matilda’s presence is still felt by all those who loved her and lived with her. It is filled with intrigue and mystery, and the coming together of a community in times of drought, personal tragedy and a mystery that has left many people feeling unsettled in the face of the unknown.

This is a series I want to read again in its entirety once they are all out and follow the journey of all the characters closely as they evolve and develop across the end of the nineteenth century, and the first seven decades of the twentieth century, exploring Australian history across almost an entire century. It is a love story to a nation, and to people who need to have their stories told. It is a saga that gives a voice to the forgotten, and that is why I love it, because the stories are untold, unknown and that makes them extremely interesting, and I am eager for the conclusion coming out later this year.

Book Bingo Twelve – A Novella no more than 150 pages

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Another fortnight, and that means round twelve of Book Bingo 2019 with Theresa and Amanda, and the first for June. Wow, that rolled around fast! This week, I am ticking off a novella no less than 150 pages – and being a little sneaky about it and using a kids book that is less than 150 pages, as I have been struggling to find a novella – everything seems to end up being too long for this one so far, hence my choice to go this way.

I chose the first book of the Deltora Quest series, The Forest of Silence by Emily Rodda for this one. A very popular series in the early 2000s and even now, it was one of those series that was always out at the library, so when I stumbled across the hardcover omnibus version, I grabbed it and have been working my way through it, reviewing each book individually with a plan to do a whole series review at the end as well.

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Lief has lived his entire life in a world where the Shadow Lord reigns, and where the Belt of Deltora has been lost, as have its magical gems. His parents, Anna and Jarred, send him on a quest to find each of the gems to restore power to the rightful heir and throne, and to bring peace back to the land of Del for all.

In the Lake of Tears, Lief will meet Jasmine as he seeks the Topaz with his companion, Barda, and from there, the trio will journey on towards other locations across the kingdom. In this fantasy series aimed at kids aged nine and older, there is something for everyone and it fits in perfectly as a novella.

Row One:

A book with a red cover: Children of the Dragon: Race for the Red Dragon by Rebecca Lim – #AWW2019*

Beloved Classic: Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner – AWW2018

A novel that has more than 500 pages:

A novella no more than 150 pages: Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence by Emily Rodda – #AWW2019

Prize winning book:

BINGO!

I have read a book for each category in Row Four Down – a couple of these posts are yet to go live but this post and the bingo week posts for these books will reflect gaining a bingo. Row Four: – BINGO

Novella no more than 150 pages: Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence by Emily Rodda – #AWW2019

Memoir about a non-famous person: Australia’s Sweetheart by Michael Adams

Themes of inequality: The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer – AWW2019

Book set in the Australian mountains: The Orchardist’s Daughter by Karen Viggers – AWW2019          

Written by an author over the age of 65: Miss Franklin: How Miles Franklin’s Brilliant Career began by Libby Hathorn – #AWW2019*

Romance: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Well, that brings me to the end of another book bingo fortnight and post, I’ll be back with more in two weeks.