adventure, Blog Tour, Book Industry, Books, challenges, Children's Literature, classics, Covers, Crime/Mystery, Enola Holmes, historical fiction, history, literary fiction, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, series, Young Adult

Enola Holmes Mystery: The Case of The Bizarre Bouquets (Enola Holmes #3) by Nancy Springer

Title: Enola Holmes Mystery: The Case of The Bizarre Bouquets (Enola Holmes #3) Author: Nancy Springer Genre: Historical Fiction/YA/Crime Publisher: Allen and Unwin Published: 4th February 2019 Format: Paperback Pages: 192 Price: $14.99 Synopsis: Enola Holmes might be the much younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, but she manages to outsmart him at every turn, solving… Continue reading Enola Holmes Mystery: The Case of The Bizarre Bouquets (Enola Holmes #3) by Nancy Springer

adventure, Australian literature, Book Industry, Books, challenges, Crime/Mystery, historical fiction, history, literary fiction, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Rowland Sinclair, series

All the Tears in China (Rowland Sinclair #9) by Sulari Gentill

Title: All the Tears in China Author: Sulari Gentill Genre: Historical Crime Publisher: Pantera Press Published: 21st January 2019 Format: Paperback Pages: 375 Price: $29.99 Synopsis: Shanghai in 1935 is a twentieth-century Babylon, an expatriate playground where fortunes are made and lost, where East and West collide, and the stakes include life itself. Into this,… Continue reading All the Tears in China (Rowland Sinclair #9) by Sulari Gentill

adventure, animals, Bella Donna, Books, challenges, Children's Literature, Fairytales, Fantasy, literary fiction, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, series

Bella Donna: Too Many Spells (Bella Donna #2) by Ruth Symes

Title: Bella Donna: Too Many Spells (Bella Donna #2) Author: Ruth Symes Genre: Children's Fiction Publisher: Piccadilly/Allen and Unwin Published: 7th January 2018 Format: Paperback Pages: 192 Price: $14.99 Synopsis: Be who you really are . . . whoever that may be! Half the time Bella Donna is a regular girl at a regular school with her… Continue reading Bella Donna: Too Many Spells (Bella Donna #2) by Ruth Symes

Bella Donna, Book Industry, Books, challenges, Children's Literature, Fairytales, Fantasy, literary fiction, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, series

Bella Donna: Coven Road by Ruth Symes (Bella Donna #1)

Title: Bella Donna: Coven Road Author:  Ruth Symes Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Allen and Unwin/Picadilly Published: 7th January 2019 Format: Paperback Pages: 180 Price: $14.99 Synopsis: A witch, a cat and a lot of magic! A witch, a cat and a lot of magic! Some girls dream of being a princess, but Bella Donna has always… Continue reading Bella Donna: Coven Road by Ruth Symes (Bella Donna #1)

#LoveOzYA, adventure, Alexander McCall-Smith, animals, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Belinda Murrell, Blog Tour, Book Industry, Books, Chain of Charms, challenges, Children's Literature, Christmas, classics, Clementine Rose, Covers, Crime/Mystery, Dr Pimms, Enola Holmes, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, Garth Nix, Harry Potter, Have Sword Will Travel, historical fiction, history, humour, Jackie French, Jaclyn Moriarty, Jacqueline Harvey, Kate Forsyth, Kate Morton, Kensy and Max, Kingdoms and Empires Series, literary fiction, LJM Owen, Lynette Noni, Matilda Saga, May Gibbs, Medoran Chronicles, Mitford Murders, Mma Ramotswe, Nevermoor, No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, non-fiction, parody, Phryne Fisher, Picture Books, plays, poetry, Publishers, quiz books, Reading, Reviews, Roald Dahl, Rose Raventhorpe, Rowland Sinclair, satire, Scholastic, Sci-Fi, series, short stories, spies, The Mitford Murders, translated works, Verse novels, Writing, Young Adult

2018 Reading Wrap Up Post

In 2018, I had the aim of reading 120 books throughout the year. This was my general reading goal from the first of January to the end of December, and included review books, books I had to read for work as a quiz writer with Scholastic Australia, and my other challenges - The Australian Women… Continue reading 2018 Reading Wrap Up Post

#LoveOzYA, adventure, animals, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Blog Tour, Book Industry, Books, challenges, Children's Literature, classics, Covers, Crime/Mystery, Dr Pimms, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, Jacqueline Harvey, Kate Morton, Kensy and Max, literary fiction, LJM Owen, Lynette Noni, Medoran Chronicles, Nevermoor, non-fiction, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, series, spies

The Books That Stayed with Me In 2018

Every year, I try to think about the books that have stuck with me - whether happy or sad, fun or informative, or any combination of these things and more that can and do make a book good. In past years, working this out has left me at the end of the year without a… Continue reading The Books That Stayed with Me In 2018

#LoveOzYA, adventure, animals, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Book Industry, Books, challenges, Children's Literature, Christmas, classics, Clementine Rose, Crime/Mystery, Fables, Fairytales, Fantasy, historical fiction, history, humour, Jaclyn Moriarty, Jacqueline Harvey, Kate Morton, Kensy and Max, Kingdoms and Empires Series, literary fiction, Lynette Noni, Medoran Chronicles, Nevermoor, non-fiction, Picture Books, poetry, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, Rowland Sinclair, series, spies, Young Adult

Check in #5: Australian Women #60 to #78

In what is likely my final Check in for 2018 for the Australian Women Writers Challenge, I'm making my list a little longer as it did not make sense to make another post for one or two books, given I did this in blocks of fifteen - and am debating whether to do monthly, or… Continue reading Check in #5: Australian Women #60 to #78

adventure, animals, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Book Industry, Books, challenges, Children's Literature, Clementine Rose, humour, Jacqueline Harvey, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, series

Clementine Rose and the Bake Off Dilemma (#14) by Jacqueline Harvey

Title: Clementine Rose and the Bake Off Dilemma (#14) Author: Jacqueline Harvey Genre: Children's Fiction Publisher: Penguin Random House Published: 3rd December 2018 Format: Paperback Pages: 145 Price: $14.99 Synopsis: Clementine Rose is bursting with plans for the school holidays! But with the announcement that a new cooking show will be filmed in the village,… Continue reading Clementine Rose and the Bake Off Dilemma (#14) by Jacqueline Harvey

#LoveOzYA, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Book Industry, Books, challenges, classics, Fantasy, literary fiction, Picture Books, Publishers, Reading, Reviews, series

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Title: Mary Poppins Author: P.L. Travers, illustrated by Lauren Childs Genre: Classics, Children's Literature Publisher: HarperCollins Published: 16th November 2018 (originally published 1934) Format: Hardcover Pages: 192 Price: $39.99 Synopsis: An exquisite flagship gift edition of an iconic classic, illustrated by the current Waterstones Children's Laureate, Lauren Child. When Mary Poppins arrives at their house… Continue reading Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

#LoveOzYA, adventure, animals, Australian literature, Australian women writers, Book Industry, Books, Chain of Charms, challenges, Children's Literature, Covers, Crime/Mystery, Fantasy, Garth Nix, Have Sword Will Travel, historical fiction, history, Kate Forsyth, Kensy and Max, literary fiction, Nevermoor, Publishers, Reading, series, spies, Writing

Gendered Reading: Why Do We Still Insist on Gendering Books?

Over the past few months and years, I have been following online discussions about the way people gender reading - not only the act of reading, as a pursuit that girls are said to prefer, but the books we give younger children and what we expect of them as they grow and how they develop… Continue reading Gendered Reading: Why Do We Still Insist on Gendering Books?