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Review: Everyone this Christmas has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson
Benjamin Stevenson’s mystery novels about amateur sleuth and lover of Golden Age murder mysteries Ernest Cunningham have been super popular but I just hadn’t managed to pick one up yet. When I spotted Benjamin on the schedule for the ANU’s ‘Meet the Author’ event series – in conversation with lovely local author Jack Heath no less (if you ever get the chance to see Jack speak at an event please go – he’s wonderful and funny and engaging in front of adults and kids alike) – it was the perfect excuse to finally read one. The subject of the discussion was the newest release in the series, Everyone this Christmas…
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Review: Mary Christmas by Mary-Anne O’Connor
I do love historical fiction focussed on women and by Aussie authors, so Mary-Anne O’Connor’s Mary Christmas caught my eye right away when I spotted it in a publicity catalogue a little while ago (also how could it not with that cover!). Check out the blurb from the publishers website and then my thoughts on the book below. What is Mary-Anne O’Connor’s Mary Christmas about? It’s 1909 and Mary Richards has worked hard to gain an education and become a teacher in her close-knit, picturesque village in the Cotswolds, but not everyone approves of her modern ways. When her sister Emily becomes engaged to David Christmas, it seems fate will intervene in…
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Kidlit recommendation: The Completely Chaotic Christmas of Lottie Brooks
I thought I’d share a few book recommendations over the next few days in case you’re still shopping – books have your back right up until the last minute! This is a bit specific, but my daughter is almost 11 and is reading all kinds of stuff (from Dogman to Worst Week Ever to Babysitters Club to the Divergent series) but her absolute favourite this year has been Katie Kirby’s Lottie Brooks series. She devoured them in quick succession while we were in England in May and has reread them all a few times since. And she’s not alone – I’m yet to meet a 9 or 10 or 11 year…
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Bookish Advent Calendar: Our Picks for 4 of the Best Festive Kids’ Books This Year
Last week I talked about some festive bookish traditions I love and at the top of the list was counting down to Christmas with a Bookish Advent Calendar. Our Bookish Advent Calendar is made up of four books, one for each Sunday of Advent. Today I’m sharing the books that caught my eye and have been included this year. The Biggest Christmas Secret Ever by L.D. Lapinski This book also got a shout-out in my Christmas traditions post last week as a perfect family read-aloud. There are 25 chapters so you can read it like an advent countdown all the way up to Christmas day. The Biggest Christmas Secret Ever…
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3 Festive Book Traditions to Start This Year
Everyone celebrates the holidays in their own way, but if you ask most people what matters most, tradition is likely to top the list. One of my favourite things to do over the past few years has been to start some new Christmas traditions with my friends and family, with a bookish twist of course! You might have heard of the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóðið (Christmas book flood), but today I’m sharing three more festive bookish traditions I love and that you might like to try too! Bookish Advent A Book Advent Calendar is a wonderful way to count down to Christmas with a bookish twist and has been a…
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5 festive books on my must-read list this Christmas season
I’m so delighted to be joining in with another top 5 Tuesday post (albeit a little late). Top 5 Tuesday is a meme hosted by lovely Meeghan at Meeghan Reads – you can see lists of prompts for the rest of the year here – one of my bloggy resolutions next year is going to be to post these more regularly! This week’s theme was a freebie and since I’ve been organising my shelves and pulling together my tbr of festive reads I thought that would be a good one to share.*** Everyone this Christmas has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan…
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Books to look out for… A Country Farm Christmas
Every year I look forward to seeing HQ Fiction’s collection of rural Christmas romance stories hit the shelves – it feels like the real start of the festive reading season. I wrote a little bit in this post a few years ago about how important it is to me to see our summer Christmas reflected in books, as well as why I think these collections of short stories and novellas are perfect for getting a bit of reading in during December. And as well as having new Christmassy stories to enjoy I know there’s a good chance I’ll discover a new favourite author with a great backlist to explore over…
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Review: I’ll be Home for Mischief by Jacqueline Frost
Yes it’s only August, but my tbr is filling up with fab new festive books coming out between now and Christmas so I thought I’d get a bit of a head start on sharing some reviews. Today I’m talking about the newest novel in Jacqueline Frost’s Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series, I’ll be Home for Mischief, which was one of the books I featured in my Christmas preview last month. Check out the synopsis from the publisher, and then read on for my thoughts! What is Jacqueline Frost’s I’ll be Home for Mischief about? It’s Christmastime in Mistletoe, Maine, and the Historical Society has launched a widespread campaign to celebrate…
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Three new books to look forward to this Christmas in July
I don’t really celebrate Christmas in July (I kind of think if we’re going to do a winter Christmassy celebration here in Australia it should probably be in June, around the solstice, no?) BUT I do love a chance to talk about all things festive, ESPECIALLY Christmas books. I think it’s great to have an eye on these a bit early, because if you wait until December I can guarantee you that your opportunity to get through a few merry reads will pass you by. Today I’m sharing three upcoming Christmas books that will be hitting shelves in October or November this year that I’m particularly looking forward to reading.…
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Review: Stalking Around the Christmas Tree by Jacqueline Frost
What is Jacqueline Frost’s Stalking Around the Christmas Tree about? For inn keeper Holly White, Christmas time in Mistletoe, Maine, is the ultimate holiday gift. Business at the Reindeer Games Inn is booming, her wedding to Sheriff Evan Gray is nearly here, and the annual parade is about to begin. The town is lucky to have another gift this year with the state’s ballet company staying for several performances of The Nutcracker. But disaster strikes when Tiffany, the lead ballerina, shows up dead on a float during the parade, the Rat King’s mask nearby. Holly will have to spruce up her sleuthing skills if she wants to catch the killer before…
