Fictionella about woodcutting and ancient trees Some years back I heard about a project inspired by a found rock board with missing rocks. When I first heard of the project, I bought one of the books. Later, visiting the Melbourne Art Book Fair, I was thrilled to meet the A Published Event team behind the project and to add another book to my collection. Photo is of “Petrified Wood” by Therese Keogh. The paperback book is resting on the edge of a wizened, grey tree stump. The cover is white with an abstract red shape on it which is a silhouette of a piece of petrified wood. “Petrified Wood” by ..read more

Graphic novel adaptation of middle grade sci-fi series Animorphs The novelty of my favourite series as a ten year old being adapted into graphic novels has not yet worn off, and I eagerly ordered the next one for my Short Stack Reading Challenge. Photo is of “Animorphs the Graphic Novel: The Encounter” by K. A. Applegate and Michael Grant, and adapted by Chris Grine. The paperback book is standing in front of a gnarled tree trunk. Behind it is a small lake with trees and mountains reflected in the water. There is a white feather in the foreground. The cover is of a young blonde kid falling bac ..read more

Epic fantasy and science fiction graphic novel series After quite a long hiatus, this series is back! If you haven’t read it before, my review of Volume 1 is here. I was quite excited to read it for my Short Stack Reading Challenge and ordered myself a copy to arrive just in time. Photo is of “Saga Volume Ten” by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan. The paperback book is resting on a black cymbal among other parts of an electronic drum kit. The backdrop is a colourful artwork with digital elements. The cover is of a brown-skinned woman with blonde hair, a white man with koala ears and a bionic ..read more

Satirical novel about jealousy, plagiarism and Own Voices in the publishing industry I know this author from her fantasy series which I first read some years back. She has recently made a stir in the book world with her foray into literary fiction, and I picked this book as my next gardening audiobook to read. By sheer coincidence, my sister bought me a paperback edition for Christmas thinking it would be the kind of thing I would like. She was correct, and it meant that I was able to take a photo rather than just share the audiobook cover. Photo is of “Yellowface” by Rebecca F. Kuang. The pap ..read more

Collection of fantasy short stories and a novella This was a set book for my fantasy book club. I hadn’t heard of this author before so I was keen to dip my toes into her work. Image is of “The Tangleroot Palace & other stories” by Marjorie Liu. The eBook cover is of a gnarled tree and roots with no leaves save on only two small twigs against a midnight blue background. “The Tangleroot Palace & other stories” by Marjorie Liu is a collection of six speculative fiction short stories and a novella. Sympathy for the Bones examines the witch-apprentice dynamic and how much those who raise u ..read more

Second novel in the Italian historical fiction series the “Neapolitan Novels” I can’t believe it, but it has been over six years since I read the first book in this series. I remember being engaged but not enthralled, and even though I had the other books in the series on my shelf, I hadn’t gotten around to reading the next one. I recently saw that the very faithful TV adaptation was available to stream on SBS on Demand. Inspired, I decided to watch a few episodes of the first season, and pick up the second book which is the basis of the second season. Photo is of “The Story of a New Name” by ..read more

Celebrity autobiography about TV fame, drug addiction and mental health There have been a lot of celebrity biographies coming out recently, and I’ve listened to Jennette McCurdy‘s and Prince Harry‘s as audiobooks. When I saw that this one had been published, I was pretty interested. Just about everyone has watched the TV show “Friends” (enjoy the now retro Blu-ray trailer!), and the character Chandler was one of the most iconic of the series. When actor Matthew Perry died recently, almost a year after it was published, and it came up on my recommended list, I picked it as my next audiobook. Im ..read more

Children’s book about secrets, community and libraries I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. Image is of “The Lost Library” by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. The eBook cover is of a street library with open doors. Behind the doors is are shelves with a young boy and a ghostly building. Sitting on top of the library is a ginger cat and some mice. “The Lost Library” by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass is a children’s book about a young boy called Evan who discovers a street library that appears one day in his town with a large ginger cat watching over it. Intrigued by books that h ..read more

Queer Imperial Chinese fantasy and sequel to “She Who Became the Sun” I received a copy of this eBook courtesy of the publisher. Image is of “He Who Drowned the World” by Shelley Parker-Chan. The eBook cover is of sailing ships in yellow and blue sailing on a wavy yellow sea with a large blue moon at the top of the cover. “He Who Drowned the World” by Shelley Parker-Chan is the sequel to “She Who Became the Sun” and the final book in “The Radiant Emperor” duology. The book picks up shortly after the events of the first book with the newly renamed Zhu Yuanzhang exultant as the Radiant King. How ..read more

Dark academia fantasy novel about a secretive, deadly society This was the set book for my fantasy book club (we managed to squeeze in quite a few meetings in the second half of last year!). I didn’t get around to reading it in time for book club but did listen to the audiobook as a gardening book. Image is of “The Atlas Six” by Olivie Blake. The audiobook cover is black with a gold design on top of concentric circles, and small symbols including an eye, a plant, an atomic symbol and a biological hazard symbol. There is also a larger symbol of an eye with a sword through the pupil and the text ..read more