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
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