It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon

Linking to: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at BookDate; Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer; and the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz

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Life…

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Apologies for my sudden absence, things just got away from me this past month.

I enjoyed my few weeks of full time work for the Australian Electoral Commission in October, but it was exhausting. Sadly the results of the Referendum were not what I personally hoped for, I wanted The Voice to become enshrined in the Constitution and I’m disappointed it wasn’t.

My week long cruise to Tasmania, a belated birthday gift, gave me a chance to unwind, though the friend who accompanied me was eager to experience everything on board so we participated in a lot of activities. We also had two shore days, one in Port Arthur, the site of a former convict penal colony, and the other in the Tasmanian capital, Hobart. Though I took five books with me, I read barely a few chapters of one. It was a wonderful trip though. (That’s me on the right)

Since I have returned home, things have been a little chaotic. While I was away my husband accidentally caused a leak that flooded my youngest daughter’s bedroom, so we’ve been dealing with that given she comes home from university next weekend. Additionally our dishwasher decided to stop working, and unfortunately we are going to have to replace it because the cost of repair is more than it’s worth. We did finally get the air conditioner repaired on Friday after a three month wait, but of course it’s rained every day since!

Last week was also one of many celebrations, my husband and I had our 28th wedding anniversary followed by my mother’s birthday. My youngest son also had his highschool graduation formal (pictured below with his girlfriend). His exams are all done, and now he has to make a decision about what he wants to do next. He did get a place at university, but he’s really not interested in going, so he is investigating apprenticeship opportunities, and playing a lot of the latest Call of Duty release. My eldest son is home now also, having successfully finished his first year of uni, his second academic year won’t start until late February next year.

I have more than a handful overdue reviews I need to write and publish, and a bunch of other blog related stuff to sort out, including working out the details for the 2024 Nonfiction Reader Challenge. Here’s hoping this week is uneventful!

 

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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

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The Seven by Chris Hammer

Undefendable by Sulari Gentill

Good as Gold by Justin Smith

Tonight I Burn by Katharine J Adams

Voices in the Dark by Fleur McDonald

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New Posts…

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Review: Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery

Review: The Golden Spoon by Jessica Maxwell

Review: You’d Look Better As a Ghost by Joanna Wallace

Review: The League of Lady Poisoners by Lisa Perrin

2023 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Monthly Spotlight #9

Bookshelf Bounty

2023 Nonfiction Reader Challenge Monthly Spotlight #10

Review: Voices in the Dark by Fleur McDonald

Nonfiction November 2023

Nonfiction November: Book Pairings

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What I’m Reading This Week…

(Click on the cover to add on Goodreads)

Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour. A drop of blood to bind its power.
1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg.
Fifteen years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their mother and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people recovering in the aftermath of a brutal war. Greta has a secret, the witch’s grimoire, secreted away and whispering in her ear, and the recipe inside that makes the most sinfully delicious – and addictive – gingerbread.  
As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat. But in a village full of superstition, Greta and her intoxicating gingerbread is a source of ever-growing suspicion and vicious gossip.  
And now, dark magic is returning to the woods and Greta’s own powers – magic she is still trying to understand – may be the only thing that can save her … If it doesn’t kill her first.
A stunning meld of love story, fairytale, magic and history, by an exciting debut Australian voice – perfect for fans of Naomi Novik, Bridget Collins and Kate Forsyth

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An essential guide for anyone with cause to communicate in written form (most of us), a passing interest in doing it better (some of us), and a disinterest in a book on said subject that is humourlessly preoccupied with rules (almost all of us).
 Author Joanne Anderson has expanded on the popular tips she shares weekly with writers at Nine mastheads so that readers everywhere can benefit from her entertaining and incisive observations.

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How hard can it be to resist temptation?

Adeline Walsh never thought she would give up her worldly possessions – her iPhone, her make-up and even her successful life as a dog breeder – to join a convent on the other side of the country. But after the discovery of a shocking family secret she feels called to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Life at the Smallton convent is nothing like Adeline expected. The other sisters quickly become like family and Adeline feels like she’s found her place in the world. Until she meets Holden Campbell, a man as tempting as the devil himself. Due to a devastating accident in his past, Holden is not interested in any relationship or even a friendship with Adeline, but when their dogs keep bringing them together, he reluctantly accepts her help to organise a charity event.
An accidental kiss tests both their resolves, but they are determined to fight the attraction raging between them. Holden doesn’t believe in love and Adeline isn’t going to risk everything she’s just found. Can they resist each other while continuing to work on a cause they both passionately believe in?

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The body of a local teenage boy is found on the beach of a sleepy northern New South Wales town. David went for an evening swim and got into trouble . . . at least, that’s what it looks like.

Three weeks before, Leila, a young backpacker, didn’t turn up for her shift at the local cafe. Benny, the owner, isn’t worried. It happens – backpackers are always on the move. There’ll be another one.
One of the locals, Adrian, has been a help to Benny. He’s found him a nice little sideline. Not exactly legal. Is that all Adrian is arranging on the coast? He once was a cop but has he gone bad?
And in the back-blocks outside town, a bikie gang is gearing up for a large consignment from South America.
Murder, drugs, liaisons and lies are stirring up this small coastal town.

With Bryan Brown’s characteristic laconic storytelling – humorous, tough and suspenseful – the secrets of this seemingly idyllic town slowly come to the surface.

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