If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times – read these books

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I’m as tight as all-get-out when it comes to handing out five stars. Do I even have enough (after four and a half years of blogging) to put together a list of ten? Just.

It’s Top Ten Tuesday and the topic is ‘Ten of My Most Recent Five Star Reads’ (there’s no legitimate reason for the gratuitous Paul Newman pic, I just felt like it).

So, in case you missed me banging on about these books the first time, here are my most recent winners – Continue reading

The Top 22 from the Best Books of 2014 – A List of Lists

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So before someone yells at me “Enough with the lists!”, I took that list of Best Books of 2014 – A List of Lists and I made another list – the books that appear most frequently on all of those lists.

Trawl through all the lists or save time by simply adding the 2014 Commonly-Agreed-by-the-People-Who-Publish-Best-of-2014-Book-Lists-in-November top 22 books to your To-Be-Read stack. Continue reading

Six Degrees of Separation – from We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves to The Crucible

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I’m late to the #6DEGREES party this month and it took all my willpower to keep studying last weekend and not start thinking about links between books. But exams are finished (hoorah!) and now I can blog, blog, blog (Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman created the #6DEGREES mem, for bloggers to share links between books in six moves. Check out the rules if you want to play along).

This month, #6DEGREES begins with Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, a book that I loved for so many reasons (in fact, here are 11 of them). Continue reading

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

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Not so many Bookish Thoughts (hosted by Christine) this week, just things I’m loving (because I’m hating exam pressure).

1. An Aussie Man Booker winner. Hoorah Richard Flanagan! (Ashamed to say I haven’t yet read The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The year an Aussie wins and all that…bugger) Continue reading

Six Degrees of Separation – from All the Birds, Singing to The Last Banquet

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It’s time again for my favourite meme. Based on the concept of six degrees of separation, Emma Chapman and Annabel Smith have created #6DEGREES, where bloggers share links between books in six moves. Check out the rules if you want to play along.

We begin with Evie Wyld’s All the Birds, Singing,  this year’s winner of Australia’s most prestigious literary prize, the Miles Franklin. I haven’t read it. Yet. I know, I always read the Miles Franklin winner… Anyway, it doesn’t stop me from participating and my first link is to Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany. Obviously there are birds in both titles, but both books are also Australian prize-winners (Tiffany won the inaugural Stella Prize for Mateship). Continue reading

Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts

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1. Christine, the lovely host of this meme, mentioned some books she was planning on buying for her baby. On that list was a book by Oliver Jeffers. Have I mentioned my thing for Oliver Jeffers before? No? Honestly, it’s got nothing to do with the devastating piercing blue eyes/dark hair combination. With an Irish accent. It’s all about the fact that he is a brilliant artist, who writes funny yet meaningful books for kids. Truly.
Continue reading