Well my little package has arrived. Either that or some random person from interstate has sent me mail. My Secret Santa has not identified themselves in the ‘sender‘ section. But my spidy senses tell me it is my #AussieSecretSanta gift, which will now go under the tree to be stared at until Christmas Eve 🤗📚🎁. (Random pic of me and my husband at his work Xmas party on the weekend). Thank you in anticipation 🙏.

I‘ve seen this book around for a while. Last week some school psychology colleagues recommended it, specifically for neurodivergent kids experiencing anxiety, so I decided to add it to my collection.
I‘m big on psychoeducation. If we understand how our brains and bodies work, we become empowered. This is a great book for older primary (elementary) school kids. It‘s great for all kids, not just neurodivergent ones.

I must be one of the very few Australians who did not closely follow this story as it unfolded and proceeded through the criminal justice system. I am however a big fan of these three Australian authors, who I look forward to hearing from at the Adelaide Writers festival in March 2026 (I have my ticket already 🎟️ 🤗). 👏

This is the third book from Radio National Australia‘s best books of the 21st century, as voted by listeners, that I had on my #tbr shelf and decided prioritise. This one made it to number 16. I‘ve read two other books by Winman, both of which I liked.
I enjoyed this saga which felt a bit Kate Atkinson, with its British characters and wartime stories. Could‘ve done with a bit of an edit though IMO.

Ok, my parcel for #aussiesecretsanta has been dispatched, and is making its way to the lucky recipient 😁🎄❤️. Thanks @thegirlwiththelibrarybag for organising us once again 🙏.
Now I can sit back and enjoy all your posts and await my package with eager antici….pation. 🤗📚

Had to grab me a copy of this satirical picture book for adults by Perth/Boorloo born Narelda Jacobs and her wife Karina Natt. I made the whole family read it and then we had a little book club discussion. Funny and clever. 🌈👶🏳️‍🌈

Up until a few months ago I had not read a single Toni Jordan & now I‘ve read 2. She‘s an Australian author who has been on my radar for a while. Tenderfoot is her latest novel & was chosen for my book club. It reminded me a little of Trent Dalton (not a fan), but I quite liked it 😆. Bildungsroman, grey hounds and challenging 70‘s childhoods. The 1st person narration swapping back & forth in time was not as polished as it could‘ve been. ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Had to grab this when I spotted it at my local bookstore, being a huge Frankenfurter fan. But given his health condition (trying not to do a spoiler), I wonder if this was a little less wild than I expected. If you‘re keen to hear about his love life, this ain‘t it. Still love him and need to find an outdoor screening of Rocky Horror to go to this summer. We just missed a couple of 50th anniversary screenings apparently.

A couple of weekends ago here in Australia, we had a ‘top 100 books of the 21st century‘ countdown, as voted by our national broadcaster, Radio National, listeners. Almost 300,000 Aussies voted. I‘d read 83 and decided to prioritise reading the (potentially 17) remaining books I had waiting patiently on my #tbr shelves. This is one of them. A fascinating account of the Stasi that I have had recommended to me more times than I can count.

Interweaving memoir, science, history and fiction, Richard Flanagan sure can write. This book was striking and affecting. Talk about stopping you in your tracks and making you think. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“If you are sharing space, but not sharing power, it‘s tokenism”. Ooph 💯
This is a powerful memoir and Tracy Westerman is an incredible human. It seems beyond frustrating that Tracy‘s knowledge and skills are not being leveraged by government. ‘Know better do better‘ is not being applied 🤯. I need to go away and think on this some more…#buildanarmy.

I did not know that Tracy was a year ahead of me, completing almost the same undergraduate degree, at the same university. Unlike me, she has gone on to do AMAZING things in the profession.

Edit: just figured out that we were in THE SAME year. 🤯

Have been meaning to read this memoir by Western Australian Nyamal psychologist Tracy Westerman since it came out last year. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to see Tracy give the Curtin University annual human rights lecture, which pushed me to get on and read it.
It still stuns me that Australian Aboriginal people were required to apply for citizenship if they wanted to be treated like everyone else, as recently as the 1960‘s 🤯.

I made a choice not to read this when it was getting all the hype, then had to read it for book club this month. It was an ok read for me, that somewhat hooked me by the end. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was in the mood for some Garner, having been lucky enough to see her speak followed by Tim Winton speaking about her at a conference to honour her and her work a couple of months ago.
This 1992 novel is one of only a few of her books left for me to read. It‘s really three separate but interlinked stories.
As always her writing is exquisite. Although she is an Australian national treasure, she is only now being read more globally. #ozfiction

So I‘m in my hometown of Melbourne, Victoria for a few days. One of our first stops was an incredible basement second hand bookstore that @CarolynM introduced me to a couple of years ago. And look at these treasures I rescued! #tbr

Thank you @Jeg for reminding me about this book. I heard snippets of an interview with the author a while ago and then saw Joy‘s review. I went straight out and bought it yesterday, and then I devoured it.
Wow. Read it.🔥😞

Eye-opening, devastating, and sickening. Three words to describe my response to the essays in this book.
Amy McQuire is a Darumbal South Sea Island Aboriginal journalist. She writes about the violent deaths of a number of Aboriginal Australians and the extreme injustice in their reporting and investigation. I‘m reminded of Chelsey Watego‘s book, Another Day in the Colony 😡😔.
The systemic racism in this country is real and it persists.

I‘ve been aware of Australian novelist Toni Jordan since she came to a Perth writers festival many years ago, but have only now read one of her books.
Think I can once again blame @Rissreadswithcats for seeing this second hand copy and telling me I should buy it 😄. I enjoyed it. I was able to suspend judgement about some of the unlikely plot points and roll with it. More great #ozfiction, this time set in 1980s Brisbane.

Loved this #ozfiction about two half-sisters Matilda & Lara. Matilda works in a groovy Sydney restaurant. Lara is a successful model. Their lives are very different, but they share a traumatic history.
Matilda, the narrator, is 10-years older than Lara & has ‘looked after‘ her whilst not really looking after herself.
Matilda‘s compartmentalised life gets disrupted when Lara comes to visit & her absent father re-enters their lives. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finished reading this palate cleanser loaned to me by a friend. I have heard about Jock Serong as an Australian author, but not read one of his books before now. Decent #ozfiction with two intertwined timelines and some magical realism thrown in.

Proud of myself for getting this book read waaayy before my book club deadline for a change. I‘m glad to have read my first Kristin Hannah. It might also be my last though. A soft pick, it was readable and not too badly written, but overall not really my jam.
Anyone care to try to convince me otherwise? Any books from her considerable cannon that fans think I should give a go at?

This book was chosen for my book club last month and as usual I waited too late to start it and spent the weekend madly trying to get it read. Luckily it was very easy to dedicate myself to it because it sucked me in and propelled me through to the very last page. Our book club‘s analysis revealed its many flaws, but overall, a great #ozfiction read 👏📖❤️.

Subversive, thought-provoking and moving. Glad I picked this up. Need to read more of his work.

This was excellent. A debut #ozfiction novel that I picked up at a second hand bookstore last week. Engrossing, well-written and informative. A story of the Vietnamese immigrant experience of Australia, centered around a horrific crime that the main character Ky, the sister of the victim, is attempting to solve. Struggled to put it down. Bravo 👏.

I am not sure how to review this book that I finished reading a few days ago. The first half for me was meandering and a bit irritating. Then once I realised what was happening, I became more engaged and was propelled forward. Then it ended. I‘m not sure I “buy” the relationship. An unnerving, clever and different read.

Well that sure didn‘t dampen my desire to visit Iceland in July next year. Many of you may know of Hannah from her debut novel, Burial Rights. This, her fourth book, tells the back story to her writing Burial Rights including her year as an exchange student in Iceland. It helped me understand why, whilst good, her second and third novels didn‘t quite match up to the power of the first. Hannah is a #mustread author for me.

The perks of having a lurgy = reading this in a day. So much packed into this tiny book. Feel like I need to pick it straight back up and read it again. 😟❤️🥺

Book‘n‘breakfast. I loooved this breakfast. The book, not so much. It‘s our book club read this month and I feel like I‘ve been reading it FOR EVER.
My menopausal, feminist self just can‘t be F*ed with stories about sexist old white men. I didn‘t much care about Mountstuart. Of his time he may be, and I am of mine 💪🤷🏻‍♀️🖕.
Let‘s see how the book club discussion goes on Monday, but on the weekend, I can read what I want 🙌🤓📖.

And another work purchase. This one on neurodiversity for kids. ❤️🧠🌎

Just purchased these books to share with incoming Kindy parents at an orientation session next term. Love my job (most of the time 😉) 🥰.

What a story🥹. What writing 😍.
Imagine if you grew up knowing you were adopted and were told a fiction about the circumstances of your birth.
In your late 40s you get hold of your original birth certificate, and read your biological mother‘s name…famous Australian writer Charmian Clift.
This book was re-released after the author‘s daughter Gina Chick wrote her memoir, We Are The Stars, a book I read and loved in 2024.
Wonderful 🥰🙏👏

Well, I did it! Managed to get this finished before our book club met last night. Seems it was liked by all. It was a low pick for me. I like that historical fiction is being written about barely known women of substance and that‘s why it‘s a pick. But I found this a little dry and lacking in depth. Pretty cover though. Sort of #ozfiction (Scottish-born, now living in Australia).

And once again I leave myself 48 hours to read the book club book I‘ve known about for a month. #currentlyspeedreading #kathdaynightstyle

I adore Rose Tremain‘s novels. I can‘t recall how I first learned about her, but I have been reading her for many years. This one is set in the 1980s in a small French village. A cast of excellently drawn characters navigate their way through life. Perfection 👏😍🙏

#currentlyreading #favouriteauthor

Leni is reminding me of another grumpy old woman character that I am fond of. 😂
Any other fans of Rose Tremain out there?
#currentlyreading

@Rissreadswithcats and I went to see Hannah talk about her latest book last night. Hannah is Australian and her first novel, Burial Rights, achieved international acclaim. This book is her fourth and is a memoir, which in part tells the story of the inspiration and writing of Burial Rights. I can‘t wait to read it 🤓.
Thanks for organising for us to go Nerissa 🙏.

I read this book while I was away on an annual trip with three friends, one of whom has ongoing cancer treatment. She‘s doing well currently 😊.
I didn‘t want to put it down and managed to get a big chunk read sitting on the beach in the photo. 😎🙏

This book caught my eye when I was book shopping with @Rissreadswithcats & when I read the blurb I decided to buy it. A French epistolary novel that starts with a derogatory social media post. Addiction and recovery, #metoo and the pandemic feature in this guns-blazing, disturbing read.

Ahh, that‘s better. (Sighs with the relief of having taken quiet refuge in a delightful, absorbing reading experience).

Marriage, or any long term romantic relationship, is hard. This cleverly written and uniquely structured short novel explores one such relationship.

A most excellent read.

Yeah, nah. #ozfiction I was compelled to read for book club.

Fantasy/magical realism are some of my least favourite genres. Having said that, I made an effort to go along for the ride. I enjoyed the world that Clarke built, the characters and the twisted tale.
Thanks once again goes to @Rissreadswithcats for being my book-pusher, and literally putting this in my hand 🙏. Pushing me right out of my 📖 comfort zone 😆.

Book two from the 2025 Stella Prize long list finished. Can‘t recall how this came to be on my radar, but when I saw it recently announced on the longlist I bumped it up.
I really liked it. The first half felt a little bit clunky to me but then it hit its stride and I didn‘t want to put it down. Excellent #queerfic #ozfiction #bildungsroman

So proud of my eldest son who is working on the Little Fella Yarns project with the Western Australian State Library. A part of the Better Beginnings early literacy program, these book packs are given out to parents of Aboriginal babies in regional WA. The packs are being rejuvenated & my son is the project officer. I‘ve been asking him to bring me home a pack, and today he finally did! This is one of the awesome books in it ❤️🖤💛👶🏽📚👏.

This beautiful debut micro-memoir was loaned to me by a friend. I devoured it and returned it to her tonight. It doesn‘t exist in the Litsy database. The writer is a young Western Australian Aboriginal woman. I loved it. I hope it‘s just the beginning of Mabel Gibson‘s writing career.

Stunning. Chose this #ozfiction for my book club to read this month. It was announced as a Stella Prize longlisted book this week. A very special, quiet exploration of grief.

This book has sat patiently on my #tbr shelves, gifted to me in an Aussie book swap years ago. The cover is so beautiful, just like this beach (background) I was at yesterday.
The cover belies the contents of this dark read. I found it confusing yet engrossing. Multiple narrators over multiple timelines. Disturbing.

My mum has advanced dementia and this novel feels very real and how I imagine things have been for my mum. So many parallels. I have often pondered how utterly discombobulating it must be. This book captured the unmooring nature of dementia so well. Beautiful 🥺

In this novella, Nabila is 80 and lives in present day Australia. In 1948 she and her family were expelled from their village in Palestine. This modern parable is beautifully written and very accessible at only 102 pages. I hope it is read widely.