Another month has ended – and one begun – so time to look at what I read in March. I read 8 books, with my usual eclectic mix. Here’s what they were:

Books for Children

1. The Only Branch on the Family Tree , by Sherryl Clark (UQP, 2025).  I love verse novels, and I especially love the work of Sherryl Clark, so it was a delight to read this one. I loved seeing connections between this story and my own prose novel, Looking Up – in that they both deal with family estrangement, and a protagonist who discovers that a grandparent is not dead, in spite of what they’ve been told.
2. Owl Know How , by Isobel Knowles and Cat Rabbit (Thames and Hudson, 2012). Not sure how I hadn’t come across this delightful little picture book before.
3. The Worm Who Knew Karate, by Jill Lever & Terry Denton (Penguin, 2019). Delightfully silly!

Poetry Books

1.  100 Great Poems selected by Victoria Parker.I bought thisa whilea go in a second hand shop and finally picked it off the shelf and read it over a few weeks. Many familiar poems, plus perhaps an equal number unfamiliar, either at all, or that I knew of but not well. I enjoyed the poems, but also the little contextual note for each and the illustrations, from a range of illustrators.

Books for Adults

1. The Ghost of Gracie Flynn, by Joanna Morrison (Fremantle Press, 2022). Been on my shelf for a while. Narrated by a ghost, talking to a baby as she shares the story leading to her own death, and, much later, tot he death of the baby’s father. Cleverly woven.
2. A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet and Disease, by Shilpa Ravella (Penguin, 2023). I have been on a quest to reduce inflammation in my own body and this led to me this book. It took a lot of reading – it isn’t light reading and was not quite what I was expecting (it isn’t a how to reduce inflammation type book) but I found the journey through the story of inflammation and scientific understanding of it really interesting, and the writing was superb.
3. Everything is Figureoutable, by Marie Forleo (Penguin, 2021). I heard the author on a podcast episode, which led me to the audiobook of this. Some really sound guidance on self belief, following dreams, solving problems and more. I enjoyed it.
4.  Past the Shallows, by Favel Parett (Hachette, 2011). This one was in my to read pile for a very long time – picked up from a giveaway pile while I was doing my phd.  I am glad I finally read it – heart-wrenching, beautiful and stunning writing. This will stay with me for a very long time.

That brings my total for the year to date to 19. Hoping to get through a few more in April – I have the extra long weekend marked for catching up on some quality reading time, including more of the CBCA Shortlisted titles, which were announced earlier this week.

What have you been reading?