Another year of the Book-A-Week challenge has passed, and I read 90+ books – 52 of them by Australian authors, and one of them 1200 pages long! There were so many beautiful, touching, empowering, inspiring, thought-provoking stories, proving just how magical books are. They teach us, encourage us, inspire us, entertain us, transport us to other places, other lives, other times. They help us discover who and what we want to be, inspire us to dream bigger, be braver, do more, understand others, and ourselves, better, and can help us heal and move forward, and love ourselves and others bigger and better and bolder.

Thank you to everyone who wrote to tell me that my books had helped them or moved them or inspired them this year – it really turns a tough day around – and thank you to all the incredible authors who touched my heart.

I found some new favourite writers – Elle McNicoll, Shankari Chandran and Heather Webber – and adored books by many long-time favourites – Juliet Marillier, Larissa Behrendt, Kate Forsyth, Selina Fenech, Anita Heiss, Paula Brackston and more.

I tried to narrow it down to the 18 I loved the most…

Home – Larissa Behrendt

The Middle of Hickory Lane – Heather Webber

The White Girl – Tony Birch

A Song of Flight – Juliet Marillier

Show Us Who You Are – Elle McNicoll

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens – Shankari Chandran

Devotion – Hannah Kent

Mullumbimby – Melissa Lucashenko

The Beasts Garden – Kate Forsyth

The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding – Holly Ringland

Legacy – Larissa Behrendt

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe – Heather Webber

Terra Nullius – Claire G Coleman

A Kind of Spark – Elle McNicoll

Everdark Cursed – Selina Fenech

Sixty-Seven Days – Yvonne Weldon

Song of the Sun God – Shankari Chandran

City of Time and Magic – Paula Brackston

But I also loved:

Like A Charm – Elle McNicoll

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches – Sangu Mandanna

The Book Witch – Melanie Karsak

The Vine Witch – Luanne G. Smith

Eternal Light Descendant – Kastie Pavlik

Am I Black Enough for You? – Anita Heiss

The Witching Hour – Anne Rice (re-read)

Beneath the Waves of the Neversea – K. A. Last

With Love from Wish & Co – Minnie Darke

Teashop of Lost and Found – Trisha Ashley

Dear Greta – Yvette Poshoglian

Mem – Bethany C Morrow