#BookBingo – Prize Winner

I missed Book Bingo in June. With the stress of assignments and exams I was otherwise occupied, but today I am checking off the Prizewinner square with Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce (1920-2006). First published in 1958, it won the Carnegie Medal and is still credited as "one of the best-loved children's books ever …

#BookBingo – About the Environment

I have just finished reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson which fits perfectly with the Environment theme on the Book Bingo card. First published in 1962, it is still just as timely as it was then. Carson exposed the devastating effect that the wide scale use of chemicals such as DDT was having on the …

#Gaia Reading Challenge 2020 – Unlikely Friendships

  The current Corona Virus pandemic has dominated the headlines recently, as it should, so the spotlight on climate change and the environment has dimmed somewhat. The rush for a vaccine or at least, viable treatment options, highlights the importance of scientific research in understanding the relationships that exist between our natural environment and us. …

#Book Bingo -Friendship, Family and Love

This year I am continuing to participate in Book Bingo hosted by Theresa, Ashleigh and Amanda. For the month of April I am checking off the Friendship, Family and Love box with When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald. Published just this year, the book stars a loyal and brave heroine, Zelda, who loves Vikings …

#BookSnapSunday & Gaia 2020 – The Birdman’s Wife

Melissa Ashley’s book The Birdman’s Wife has been on my mind for quite a while as a candidate for both Book Snap Sunday and the Gaia Reading challenge. The novel is a fictionalised account of the life of Elizabeth Gould, the wife of taxidermist and naturalist John Gould. While John garnered most of the attention …

#BookBingo – Set in a Time of War

This year I am continuing to participate in Book Bingo hosted by Theresa, Ashleigh and Amanda. Some changes have been made to the Bingo Card, less boxes and a thematic approach, giving readers quite a bit of flexibility. This month I am marking off Set in a Time of War with Regeneration by Pat Barker. …

#BookSnapSunday – A Thousand Splendid Suns

I am currently rereading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, which is set in Afghanistan and centres on the lives and relationship between two women, Mariam and Laila. Afghanistan is a country I knew little about, apart from war and the Taliban, until I read Hosseini. I have enjoyed several of his books because he gives …

Australia Day

Today is January 26. Australia Day. According to the Australia Day website, “Australia Day, 26 January, is the day to reflect on what it means to be Australian, to celebrate contemporary Australia and acknowledge our history.” This National Day is also controversial. It marks the day, Jan 26, 1788, when the British arrived to colonise …

#BookSnapSunday – Watership Down

This year I am continuing to join in with #Book Snap Sunday, hosted by Sharon at Gum Trees and Galaxies. Watership Down by Richard Adams was first published in 1972 and is described as …  a remarkable tale of exile and survival, of heroism and leadership, the epic novel of a group of adventurers who …

#BookBingo2020 – A Classic I’ve Never Read

This year I am joining in once again with the Book Bingo Reading Challenge hosted by Theresa, Mrs B and Ashleigh (The Book Muse). It’s been simplified this year with just 12 squares, one for each month of the year, and a range of themes which could be easily applied to both fiction and non-fiction. …