Saturday 16 January 2021

Winner of the eBook copies of Prince of Typgar announced

 Once again I would like to thank everyone who entered my giveaway for a copy of The Prince of Typgar books 1 & 2.  The giveaway closed on the 11th January and the winner was randomly selected (using Random org) from all correct entries. 


Congratulations to........   Karen S


The winner has been notified and has seven days to respond.
 
Please see my Giveaway tab for more chances to win great books. 



Monday 11 January 2021

Mailbox Monday & Life This Week - January 11th

 




Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

Life This Week is a meme created by Denyse Whelan Blogs where bloggers share snaps of what is currently happening in their lives.

Happy Monday!

Christmas has come and gone since my last post. New Year came with a new Covid outbreak in Sydney and compulsory mask wearing was declared for all indoor areas. We are fortunate that any outbreaks are jumped on quickly and the source identified.

I'm currently on an "at home" holiday and have managed to get out and about on a few walks and visiting outdoor cafes.


 

Taken very late on Christmas Eve




School holiday fun at the park



I won tickets to The Dry - Highly recommended!

I spotted this albino fish in the lake.

My daughter needed to buy clothes for work and the shops are deserted


Books I've received recently


Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen

The Women and the Girls by Laura Bloom

The Devils You Know by Ben Sanders

My Best Friends Murder by Polly Phillips




I would love to hear what books you received in the mail recently!

Saturday 9 January 2021

Book Review: The Last Truehart by Darry Fraser

The Last Truehart
by
Darry Fraser

 

Publisher: Harper Collins 
Imprint: Mira-AU
Publication date: 2nd December 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 416
RRP: $29.99AUD 
Format read: Paperback
Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Beauty & Lace book club 
 
About the book
 
1898, Geelong, Victoria. Stella Truehart is all alone in the world. Her good-for-nothing husband has died violently at the hands of an unknown assailant. Her mother is dead, her father deserted them before she was born, and now her kindly Truehart grandparents are also in their graves.

Private detective Bendigo Barrett has been tasked with finding Stella. He believes his client's intentions are good, but it is evident that someone with darker motives is also seeking her. For her own part Stella is fiercely independent, but as danger mounts she agrees to work with Bendigo and before long they travel together to Sydney to meet his mysterious client where they discover more questions than answers.

What role do a stolen precious jewel and a long-ago US Civil War ship play in Stella's story? Will sudden bloodshed prevent the resolution of the mystery and stand in the way of her feelings for Bendigo? It is time, at last, for the truth to be revealed...
 
My review
 
This was my first book by Australian author Darry Fraser and I was drawn into Alice and Stella's story from page one. Darry Fraser's writing is descriptive and powerfully evocative.
I love reading Historical Fiction set in Australia and The Last Truehart did not disappoint.
 
Stella is alone after the recent death of her beloved grandparents. Her mother had died years earlier and she had never known  her father. She did have her dear close friends Constance and Isabella Leonard. These young women were great characters, women before their time, confident and full of life, declaring they didn't need a man to complete them.
 
PI Bendigo Barrett is hired by his Sydney client to find Stella. Bendigo finds himself enamored by the outspoken Stella but he can see a vulnerability behind her tough exterior. however after an abusive marriage Stella is reluctant to open her heart to any man.
 
Their journey to uncover the mystery of her father is fraught with danger and by the time it is all uncovered more than one life will be lost.
I enjoyed the contrast between the way of life in country Bendigo and Ballarat with that of the characters living in Sydney. 
 
Darry Fraser effortlessly weaves historical events throughout including lively debates around women's votes and talk of the coming federation of Australia.
The Last Truehart is filled with treachery, murder, family secrets, hidden riches, a dying man's confession and a touch of romance making it a must read for historical fiction fans. 
 
4.5/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½ 
 
Meet the author
 
Darry Fraser's first novel, Daughter of the Murray, is set on her beloved River Murray where she spent part of her childhood. Where the River Runs, her second novel, is set in Bendigo in the 1890s, and her third novel The Widow of Ballarat, takes place on the Ballarat goldfields in the 1850s. In The Good Woman of Renmark, she takes us to the rural riverland of South Australia, while Elsa Goody, Bushranger, journeys from South Australia into Victoria. Darry currently lives, works and writes on Kangaroo Island, an awe-inspiring place off the coast of South Australia.

 
 
Challenges entered:
Aussie Author Challenge  #AussieAuthor21
Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2021 
Historical Fiction challenge #HistFicReadingChallenge 

Monday 4 January 2021

My 2021 Reading Challenges


 

 I will again be joining the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge

The objective of this reading challenge is to showcase the quality and diversity of the books being produced by Australian authors.

This year I will be signing up for the EMU level

Read and review 24 titles written by Australian Authors of which at least 10 of those authors are female, at least 10 of those authors are male, and at least 10 of those authors are new to you; Fiction or non-fiction, at least 4 different genre.

 


 To see the full details and to sign up please visit 
 https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/reading-challenges/aussie-author-challenge-2021-australian-writers-book-reviews
#AussieAuthor21 

📘📘📘📘📘 📘📘📘📘📘
 
Another favourite of mine is the Australian Women Writers challenge which I will be participating in again in 2021. 
I chose to nominate my own goal to read and review 30 books. 



You can find the full details and sign up links here 
https://australianwomenwriters.com/sign-up/
#AWW2021
 
📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘
 
I enjoyed my first year with the Nonfiction Reader Challenge in 2020 hosted by Book'd Out so I will be joining again in 2021.
 

 
There are three challenges levels and as I am not a huge Nonfiction reader I will be joining Nipper level.

Nonfiction Nipper : Read 3 books, from any category
Nonfiction Nibbler : Read 6 books, from any category
Nonfiction Know-It-All : Read 12 books, one for each category

To get more information or join please visit Book'd Out
https://bookdout.wordpress.com/2021-nonfiction-reader-challenge/ 
 #2021ReadNonFic
 
 ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜ðŸ“˜
 
Another new to me in 2020 was the Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by Passages to the Past and I will be joining this again in 2021. The challenge is now hosted by Marg @The Intrepid Reader
 

 There are 6 different reading levels and I will be attempting
Renaissance Reader - 10 books.
You can find out the full details at The Intrepid Reader
 http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2020/12/historical-fiction-reading-challenge.html 
 #HistFicReadingChallenge
 
📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘
 
 
I couldn't resist adding in one new challenge this year. I love reading crime/ thriller/mystery books so The Cloak and Dagger Challenge was calling to me. This challenge is hosted by Carol's Notebook
 

 
There are 5 levels and I will be signing up for the lowest which is: 5-15 books – Amateur sleuth.
To find out the full details and sign up visit Carol's Notebook
http://carolsnotebook.com/2020/12/01/2021-cloak-and-dagger-reading-challenge-sign-up/ 
 
📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘📘
 
 
 
 

Friday 1 January 2021

Happy New Year

 Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2021

May your year be filled with family, friends and five star reads.



Thursday 31 December 2020

Goodreads: Year in Books Meme 2020


 
This is my journey in books for 2020!
 
 
 
I read 32,440 pages over 114 books 

________________________________________________________


Longest book
813
pages
Colombiano by Rusty Young 
Shortest Book
28
pages
The Lazy Rabbit by Wilkie J. Martin


________________________________________
 
Average book length in 2020 was 284 pages 
 
_____________________________________
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 
 
 Most Popular
 3,443,844
 people also shelved                                                                     
 
 
                                                                             

 
 
 
Broker Brother Fireworks by Mick Murray
 
Least Popular
0 people
also shelved
 ________________________________________________________________
 
 
My average rating for 2020 was
4.3⭐⭐⭐⭐
 
____________________________________
 
My favourite book of 2020 was
 
  
   _______________________________________________
 
The year in books meme is hosted by Bite Into Books so head over and see her post. Why not join in and post a link to your year in books.   
 
==============================================
I think 2020 was a difficult year for all of us and if I had to think of a bright side it would be that I managed to get extra reading time whilst we were all in lockdown.
I'm looking forward to more great books, reviews, giveaways, memes and bookish tags during 2021.
I big thanks to everyone who supported my blog, my subscribers, readers, those that left a comment and the wonderful publishers and authors who supply the books for reviews and giveaways.
 
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 

     

Wednesday 30 December 2020

Wrap up of my 2020 challenges - let's see how I went!

 It's that time of year when we look back over our challenge pledges and see how we went.

You can read my 2020 sign up post HERE
 
My first one was the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge 
 
 
 
 
I signed up for Kangaroo level:
4 x female authors, 4 x Male authors, 4 x New to me authors, 3 x genres.
But I really had my eye on attaining the Emu level:
10 x female authors, 10 x Male authors, 10 x New to me authors, 4 x genres.
 
My completed challenge was:
49 x Female authors, 16 x Male authors, 38 x New to me authors, 8 x Genres. With a total of 65 books read.
I was keen to increase my male Aussie authors this year and I managed to increase my total from 5 in 2019 to 16 in 2020.
 
You can see the full list of books HERE  
 
 ________________________________________________________
 
Next up was the Australian Women Writers Challenge.  
 
 
 
I nominated to read and review 30 books for this challenge.
My completed challenge was 49 books read and reviewed.

You can see the full list of books HERE
 
 ________________________________________________________
 
This was my second year of the Book Bingo challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse.
2020 saw us with a smaller card relieving the pressure of completing a book each fortnight.
  
You can see the books I chose for this challenge HERE
______________________________________________________
 
 A new challenge for me was the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Book'd Out
 
 
Not being a big NonFiction reader a joined the challenge at Nipper level.
Read 3 books from any of the 12 categories.
 
I ended up reading 11 books which covered 8 of the categories. I am sure this challenge helped me to read more from the NonFiction genre. So a big thanks to Shellyrae.
 
You can see the books and categories I read HERE 
 
______________________________________________________
 
Another new challenge for me in 2020 was the Historical Fiction challenge hosted by Passages to the Past.
 
   
 
 
There were 6 levels and I joined Victorian Reader level

20th Century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books
 
I managed to attain Renaissance reader level by reading 14 books.
 
You can see the full list of books HERE 
 
_______________________________________________
 
My last official challenge is another bingo challenge with Facebook group Books and Bites with Monique Mulligan
 
 
 This bingo challenge was quite hard and had very specific categories. I managed to read 18 of the 25 squares.
 
You can see the full list of books HERE 
 
_______________________________________________
 
A few other challenges I entered were:
Dymocks Reading Challenge 2020 in which I completed 23 of the 25 categories.
 
The Aussie Readers group on Goodreads had an A - Z character challenge which I completed all 26 letters. 

Life of a Book Addict group on Goodreads had a Motley Reading challenge with 26 categories I managed to complete 23 of the 26. 


Well that's a wrap for 2020. Some challenges I will be sticking with in 2021 and some I will be dropping but I am sure I will pick up a couple more.
Look out for my 2021 challenge sign up post coming soon!
 
#AussieAuthor2020   #AWW2020  #HistFic2020 #2020ReadNonFic #BookBingo2020