September has flown past, but I did manage some reading – 11 books in total. I read some beauties, mostly the children’s books, but also some really grim reads for adults which left me wondering about the terrible things people are capable of. Not a great way to start my reading update, but rest assured that grimness does not mean bad writing.
Anyway, here’s what I read.
Books for Children
Little Tales of Hedgehog and Goat, by Paula Green, illustrated by Kimberly Andrews (Puffin, 2022). This was just a delightful way to start my reading for the month. Look at the cover and you will get a feel for just what a whimsical, happy book this is.
All Four Quarters of the Moon, by Shirley Marr (Puffin Books, 2022). I loved this gorgeous tale of change, family and friendship. Peijing and her family move to Australia from Singapore – and it seems everything is different. Possibly the most different thing of all is that her beloved Ah Ma seems to be forgetting who she is. Even though there are some difficult topics explored – including a subplot involving childhood neglect – they are handled deftly.
3. 
How to Be a Wonder Hunter, by Josh Langley (Big Sky, 2022). Josh is a friend and a wonderful person, so I was delighted to pop in and see him and buy a copy of this little book at a recent local event. It’s a gorgeous book about being curious and creative, and open to discovering wonders.
4. 
The Travelling Bookshop: Mim and the Woeful Wedding, by Katrina Nannestad. Oh how enchanting! I already loved Katrina Nannestad’s work, but hadn’t read her junior fiction – but lucky me got to meet Katrina at the recent Scribblers Festival and then celebrated by buying this book. Mim, her brother and father and assorted animals travel the world in a magical bookshop which decides where it is needed. In this instalment they arrive at a Greek island where a wedding is about to take place – but Mim is sure that the bride and groom are not going to be happy.
5.
The Last Bear, by Hannah Gold (Harper Collins, 2021). The cover is divine and the book is too. The story of a lonely child who finds herself living with only her mother on a remote island in the Arctic, where she befriends a lost polar bear. It’s beautiful.
6. The Good Bye Year, by Emily Gale (Text, 2022). This is the story of Harper, who finds that her final, year of primary school is not at all what she imagined it might be. There are just too many changes: her friends become school leaders and seem to busy for her, her parents head off overseas for work, leaving her with a grandmother she barely knows, and a pandemic hits. But worst of all – Harper is being haunted by a mysterious ghost.
Books for Young Adults
All the Best Liars, by Amelia Kahaney (Walker, 2022). I really enjoyed this psychological thriller – which I must confess I didn’t expect. Cleverly woven so that you get to know the three teens who grew up close but are no longer so, before you start to discover what went wrong, and the terrible consequences.
Books for Adults
The Brink, by Holden Sheppard (Text Publishing, 2022). Wow! What a ride this book took me on. A group of school leavers head off on their leavers week – but have to change plans and end up on a remote island, where things unravel. A really compelling read, with a thought-provoking insight into masculinity, sexuality, and peer dynamics.
2. 
Batavia, by Peter Fitzsimons (Random House, 2012). I think a mistake reading this one. I knew a bit about the history of the Batavia, shipwrecked off the coast of Geraldton in the 1600s, so after I visited Geraldton I decided to read the story. My mistake was forgetting what a grim, blood curdling horrid piece of history it is. The book is well written, but the details of what happened after the ship was wrecked are just horrible. This is not fiction, so every death, at the hands of other survivors, the treatment of the women and children, and more, based on the truth, is just terrible. Maybe I read it at the wrong time. I do believe we need to know about bad history so that we can work to change it – I guess my upset was that I am not sure humanity has moved on far enough.
3. 
Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence, by Doris Pilkington Garimara and Nugi Garimara (UQP, 2002). After reading Batavia, I decided my next book would be happier. And this one was, in places. This is the book which inspired the film of the same name – and is the true story of three girls stolen from their family and taken south to be educated at Moore river. They famously escaped and walked all the way home by following the rabbit proof fence. What a wonderful story of courage, family, and determination. Sadly, it is also a reminder of the terrible treatment of the stolen generation, and a reminder of the impacts white Australians have had on the traditional owners of this country. So, while I am glad I read this I was left again saddened by what happened – and how little has changed really.
4. 
The Hitchhiker, by Gabriel Bergmoser (Audible Australia, 2022). In my quest to stop reading things that made me so sad about humanity I opened a free audiobook from Audible. Oops. This was a psychological thriller which featured a lot of horrible acts committed by a psychopath. Cleverly told, but I finished my month determined to read more happier books in October.
That brings my total for the year to 128 books for the year and, as I said, also brings me a determination to do more uplifting reading in October. Not sure how I’ll go – but, spoiler alert, I have started October with a romance novel.