Summary The Eureka Stockade: It’s one of Australia’s foundation legends – yet the story has always been told as if half the participants weren’t there. But what if the hot tempered, free spirited gold miners we learned about at school were actually husbands and fathers, brothers and sons? What if there were women and children […]

Who really killed the Hadler family? It hasn’t rained in Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the farming commmunity become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are discovered shot to death on their property. Everyone assumes Luke Hadler committed suicideafter slaughtering his wife and six year old son. Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk […]

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge  is for bloggers who wish to participate by publishing a blog post every day in April except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B and on it goes. By […]

I started to salivate immediately, on opening this beautifully presented book, which is packed with recipes for the most delectable sweets imaginable. The author has taken classic Australian icons such as the Pavlova and given them a modern and humorous twist, making them even more drool inducing. There are also international recipes featured, that have […]

Goodreads tells me that I’ve read 9 books in January. To many, that probably doesn’t sound like many books read in a whole month. but it’s about average for me. Working, writing reviews, blogging on three blogs, along with everything else in my life doesn’t leave a huge amount of time for reading. I dream […]

After his father’s death, young William is cast upon the charity of an unknown great-uncle, John McIvor. The old man was brought up, expecting to marry the heiress to Kuran Station—a grand estate in the Australian Outback—only to be disappointed by his rejection and the selling off of the land. He has devoted his life […]

I do love to read Christmas books in December. I particularly enjoy the Christmas Classics but I’ve noticed a few recently released Christmas books that look interesting So following are the Christmas books that I’d most like to read during December this year. I probably won’t have time to read all, but will definitely choose […]

This post is not a review post but merely a list of the non-fiction that I’ve been reading lately, with a short description taken from the back covers. I did enjoy reading each of these books, but don’t feel ready to review them just yet. They may appear as a book review in 2020, or […]

SUMMARY Luke Ellis is abducted from his bed in the middle of a night, and his parents are murdered. The super intelligent twelve year old with special powers is spirited away in a black SUV. When he wakes, Luke is in a room, at The Institute, hidden deep in the forest at Maine. The room […]

The following bookish events in Australia are listed in date order. Please contact me if you have an event in your local area that you would like me to add. I would like this database to cover all writing festivals in Australia, both large and small. Events will be added as dates are confirmed. Feb […]

Summary On a very hot night in the summer of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, age 13 is woken by knocking at his bedroom window.  He finds Jasper Jones there, trying to wake him. Jasper is an outcast in the town. He is a bit rebellious, a loner and of mixed race.  But when Jasper asks him […]

Summary On a very hot night in the summer of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, age 13 is woken by knocking at his bedroom window.  He finds Jasper Jones there, trying to wake him. Jasper is an outcast in the town. He is a bit rebellious, a loner and of mixed race.  But when Jasper asks him […]

Summary On a very hot night in the summer of 1965, Charlie Bucktin, age 13 is woken by knocking at his bedroom window.  He finds Jasper Jones there, trying to wake him. Jasper is an outcast in the town. He is a bit rebellious, a loner and of mixed race.  But when Jasper asks him […]

The true story of the plague ship Ticonderoga, one of the most calamitous voyages in Australian History. Title: Hell Ship Author:  Michael Veitch Publisher: Allen & Unwin Date of Publication: 2018 Genre:  Historical Number of Pages:  260 Summary This very well researched book tells the story of the dreadful voyage of the Ticonderoga, which left England […]