The description of None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney on the publisher’s website goes like this (follow this link and you can also read an excerpt): “It’s 1982, and the innovative FBI Behavioral Science section is breaking new ground. Emma Lewis and Travis Bell, two teenagers with valuable skills, are recruited to interview convicted juvenile killers for…
With the exception of Underland, the books listed below were all first released at some stage during the height(s) of the pandemic crisis in 2020, amid lockdowns and other challenges. I know of some authors who had the chance to defer releasing their titles while others without that option did their best to promote their…
A Non-Exhaustive List of Non-Bookish Things I’ve Been Reading That Are In No Particular Order (but you will see a theme) The Victorian Department of Health Twitter feed of a morning to find out the number of newly reported COVID cases. Instructions on how to save tomato seeds. APA 7th Referencing guides. Advice on how…
Some people cooked their way through 2020 lockdowns, putting their energy into sourdough and cake and so on. Looking back – and it’s astonishing to me that some parts of the year are already a blur – I can say with fair confidence that I did not do the same thing. The nightly question of what to…
Life / February 22nd, 2021
As I sit down to compose this post, cockatoos are screeching out conversations amongst themselves as they sit atop trees in the neighbouring yards. Soon they will take flight and cast large shadows over the roof of our deck before dispersing. Their appearance often comes after the regular – though not daily, sadly – visitation…
Read / November 13th, 2020
Welcome to my Christmas book recommendations series. If you missed them, here are the links to my picture book and junior fiction posts. Again I’d like to mention that out of all these lists, I think the most potential crossovers happen between junior and middle-grade titles, so I will post the reading age recommendations publishers…
Read / November 9th, 2020
Welcome to post two of the Christmas 2020 book recommendations series! We began with picture books and will now roll on to junior fiction. As there can be a crossover of sorts sometimes between junior fiction and middle-grade fiction, I will post the age suggestions that the publishers/sellers provide (where available). Plus some of my…
Read / October 28th, 2020
Hello! It’s time for my annual Christmas book recommendation series! Wait – stop. I can guess what you’re thinking. It’s still two months until Christmas. Well, yes. So why start early? Well, as I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, things are somewhat different in 2020. I’m moving the series forward – not by much, I’ll add –…
Read / October 19th, 2020
I’m sitting down to write this on the morning our lockdown restrictions in Melbourne have considerably eased, such as an increased movement radius and many others. I was jubilant during the press conference yesterday; I punched the air when it was announced that hairdressers would reopen. But I’ve woken up tired this morning, as most of…