This year got off to a slow start reading wise but I certainly made up for that in February. I managed to get myself out of a long blogging slump, catch up on most of my outstanding book reviews from last year, and I have read some fabulous books.
On a personal level, the start of this year was a little bit insane. The bush fires affected almost all of us here in Australia in some way or another, and although the worst fires have mostly been contained now, there is a long road to recovery ahead and issues to overcome.
I have also finally knuckled down and am writing a terrible first draft of the novel that has been knocking around inside my head for a good while now. I’m off to a good start so far and have come up with a good writing routine that is working for me, so fingers crossed it turns into a final draft some day!
Books I read in January
I only managed to read one book in January, but it was a corker! Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton is already an Aussie classic, and rightfully so. It’s a bit of tricky book to classify genre-wise, but just trust me, you need to read this one!
Books I read in February
My next review, and first February, review was Love and Other Battles by Australian romance powerhouse Tess Woods. Love and Other Battles is a multi-generational family saga that moves between the Australian suburbs, the Vietnam Wars, and the bright lights of Nashville.
The Van Apfel Girls are Gone by Felicity McLean is another great Aussie novel: a bit a a Gothic mystery set in the 90s.
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe was my first non-fiction read of the year and I recommend this book, or its children’s counterpart Dark Emu, to everyone in Australia. Dark Emu challenges the idea that Aboriginal Australians were only hunter-gatherers before colonisation and provides compelling evidence for this argument. A must read!
The Accusation by Wendy James is a gripping Aussie thriller that had me guessing until the very end.
I ran a giveaway for the hilarious So Lucky by Dawn O’Porter. I loved hearing about everybody’s favourite love stories and hope Melanie, the randomly chosen winner, enjoys her new book!
Postscript by Cecelia Ahern is the long awaited sequel to PS I Love You. I thought it was a lovely sequel to such a well-loved book and movie, not an easy task to accomplish, but it was very well done.
My final book review for February was The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan. This is the third book of the Irish Detective Cormac Reilly series and I think it might be the best one yet. This series if perfect for you if you love character driven crime fiction and gritty Irish detectives whose accent you can hear while reading.
What’s Coming up in March?
I am planning to keep up my reading and writing routines, so look out for some fabulous new book reviews over the next month.
I don’t want to tie myself down too much, but if you take a look at the bookshelf in my main photo you might be able to spy some of the books I will be reading soon in the background.
I’m currently reading and loving The Mothers by Genevieve Gannon, so you should be seeing a review for that very soon!
Scatterbooker 