sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

What I Read In June

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Another month has past, and time again to look at what I’ve read this month. Lots and lots. I knew I was reading a lot – but was surprised to realise I’d got through 22 books this month. My favourite?  Bren MacDibble’s How to Bee.

As always, I’ve linked to my reviews where I’ve reviewed them.

Younger Readers

Trouble and the New Kid, by Cate Whittle, illustrated by Stephen Michael King

How to Bee, by Bren MacDibble

Jinny & Cooper: My Teacher’s Big Bad Secret, by Tania Ingram

Jinny & Cooper: Revenge of the Stone Witch, by Tania Ingram

Tarin of the Mammoths, by Jo Sandhu

Mr Romanov’s Garden in the Sky, by Robert Newton

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio

Stinky Street Stories, by Alex Ratt

Young Adult

Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair, by Steven Herrick

A Place Like This, by Steven Herrick

This is My Song, by Richard Yaxley

Adult

Double Fault, by Lionel Shriver

Old Growth, by John Kinsella

The Mother’s Promise, by Sally Hepworth

Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly, by Adrian McKinty

Daughter of Mine, by Fiona Lowe

From the Wreck, by Jane Rawson

Finding Hannah, by Fiona McCallum

Non Fiction

In the Line of Fire, by Ian Townsend

Have a great July! Would love to hear what you think about any of these books.

January Reading

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This year I am hoping to keep track of my reading with a monthly round up of what I’ve read. I’m only to count picture books if it’s the first time I’ve read them, and I’ve reviewed them. As I read poetry every day, but tend to dip and out of books, I’ll only record collections/anthologies which I have read cover to cover.

Anyway, as January draws to a close, here’s what I’ve read, grouped by age range or format. Where I’ve reviewed the book, I am linking the title to the review, which means you’ll get a bit of a blurb direct from the review. .

 

Picture Books

Molly & Mae, by Danny Parker & Freya Blackwood

The Silent Owl, by Sam McPhillips (ill) & Clemency Pearce

 

Younger Readers

Lola’s Toy Box: Party at Cuddleton Castle, by Danny Parker

Freedom Swimmer, by Wai Chim

Skyfire, by Michael Adams

When the Lyrebird Calls, by Kim Kane

Star of Deltora: The Hungry Isle, by Emily Rodda

 

Young Adult

Paladero, by Steven Lochran

 

Within These Walls, by Robyn Bavati

Poetry

One Minute till Bedtime, Kenn Nesbitt (ed)

Adult Fiction

Wild Island, by Jennifer Livett

 

The Museum of Modern Love, by Heather Rose

The Fence, by Meredith Jaffe

The Safest Place in London, by Maggie Joel

The Love of a Bad Man, by Laura Elizabeth Woollett

That’s it for January – fifteen books. What have you been reading? I’d love to hear your recommendations.

Five Minute Promo: Day 19

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It’s Day 19 and time to get your book further afield. Today’s task aims to spread the word in a new space. Ready?

5 Minute Promo # 19

Spreading the word far and wide.

Spreading the word far and wide.

Email another blogger (ie a blogger another than yourself) and ask them to interview you or otherwise host you on their blog.  This can be confronting, but is a great way not just to spread the word about your book but also to make a friend, especially if you reciprocate by inviting them to visit your blog, either now or later.

Can’t find a blog to visit? I’m going to make it super easy-peasy for you. If you are Australian, visit my other website Aussiereviews.com and then email me through the site and ask if I can host you for the Meet My Book feature. Unless I am swamped by hundreds of requests, I will be happy to send you the questions and schedule your post very soon. How easy is that?

A word of warning: whether it’s my blog or someone else’s, always visit the site before you email, and show that you know your book is a good match for what they do. And be polite. Most bloggers are unpaid and do what they do in their spare time, so showing respect makes their task much more enjoyable.

The clock is ticking: five minutes is all it will take. Go!

 

February Reads

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Another month has passed, and so it’s time to have a look at what I read for February. Pleasing to see my balance being restored towards my chief love – books for children. This month I indulged my six year old self and tracked down old copies of AA Milne’s poetry from Ebay. I loved rediscovering them and have moved from there to lots of other verse and poetry, so look out for them in my March list and beyond.

I only read 12 books, and several of them were short, which is a reflection of how busy my life has been of late. I’m a so reading a lot of journal articles which don’t make it into this list.

Those I’ve reviewed I’ve linked to, as always.

In Falling Snow Mary-Rose MacColl Allen & Unwin Adult
Red Fox Sandy Fussell Walker Books Children’s
Lost Voices Christopher Koch Fourth Estate Adult
The Rosie Black Chronicles Lara Morgan Walker Books Young Adult
When We Were Very Young AA Milne Dean Children’s Poetry
The Girl From Snowy River Jackie French Harper Collins Young Adult
Now We Are Six AA Milne Dean Children’s Poetry
Stories for 7 Year Olds Linsay Knight (ed) Random House Children’s
Unreviewed Adult
Rocket Into Space Ragbir Bhathal and Johanna Davids National Library Children’s NF
Topsy-Turvy World Kirsty Murray National Library Children’s NF
Catch the Zolt Phillip Gwynne Allen & Unwin Young Adult

Busy Week

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I’m having a busy week (who am I kidding? Every week is a busy week) but just wanted to share a couple of exciting happenings.

Firstly, on Sunday the new-look Aussiereviews went live. I’ve been running the site for over ten years, focusing on reviewing Australian books, and the site was well overdue for an overhaul. My lovely daughter did the new design, and I spent quite a bit of time transferring over 2300 reviews from the old html individual files over to a much easier content management system. Check out the new look here and read a little more about the overhaul here.   
In other exciting news, Monday brought me that thin that makes every author’s heart sing – an advance copy of my newest book-baby.  Check out the beautiful cover! Sonia Kretschmar‘s illustrations are simply stunning.
Do Not Forget Australia will be released by Walker Books on March 1, but if you simply can’t wait, you can preorder your copy here.
Hope your week is just as funfilled and exciting as mine is proving to be!