This post is going to be updated throughout 2018 with what I’ve read, whether it be books or magazines … I’ve never kept this list before so I’m really interested to see exactly how many I finish in a year! Here we go:
Book 1: ‘The Midnight Line’ by Lee Child (1/1/18 – 3/1/18) … Can’t lose with Lee Child, he sucks you right in every time.
B2: ‘ The Cull’ by Tony Park (4/1/18 – 7/1/18) … Love Park‘s books. He’s Aussie and awesome and writes about Africa. Can’t go wrong.
B3: ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara (10/1/18 – 15/1/18) … Yeah. Look at the size of it! I didn’t do much else for these days! So. Many. Feels. Yanagihara has succeeded on so many levels.
Magazine 1: ‘CoreLife’ Sept/Oct 2017 edition (17/1/18 – 19/1/18) … I needed an easy read after finishing Yanagihara’s novel, and found this over in the worker’s donga. It’s a free magazine for the Mackay/Whitsundays/Bowen Basin/Central Highlands areas and hadn’t heard of it before. I’ll keep an eye out for the newest edition.
M2: ‘MiNDFOOD’ Jan/Feb 2018 edition (17/1/18 – 21/1/18) … Another I hadn’t heard of and asked my newsagent get into their shop. I discovered it though the short course on feature writing that I completed last year and am very pleasantly surprised by it. There is such a variety of well-written articles in MiNDFOOD – I’ll be a return reader for certain!
B4: ‘Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (22/1/18 – 1/2/18) … While first published in 2013, and even though I’ve heard a lot about Hannah, I’ve only just managed to read her debut novel now. And I very much enjoyed it! It will be interesting to see the movie, with Jennifer Lawrence playing the Icelandic woman accused of murder. I’m keen to read ‘The Good People’ now! Oh gawd, my ‘To Read’ list is getting longer…
M3: ‘Graziher’ Summer 2018 edition (28/1/18 –
M4: MiNDFOOD March 2018 edition (8/2/18 – 11/2/18) … Again, impressed by this magazine. Proper articles about worthwhile things. I reckon I’ll subscribe to this one as I don’t want to miss any.
B5: ‘Still Me’ by JoJo Moyes (12/2/18 – 14/2/18) … Oh, JoJo, you suck me into Lou’s world every. single. time. If you haven’t read the series, get onto it: ‘Me Before You, ‘After You’ & ‘Still Me’
B6: ‘The Sisters’ Song’ by Louise Allan (20/2/18 – 23/2/18) … A beautiful debut novel by an Aussie author about family, love, relationships, hopes and dreams … and music. I wish Louise all the best with her writing career!
B7: ‘The Game’ by Tom Wood (start of March) … This is the book I picked that was wrapped in plain brown paper and it was a surprise as to what it was until I opened it up – as part of Library Lovers Month in February. It was okay and I was happy to keep reading to find out the ending but unfortunately I won’t be rushing out to get another of Wood’s books.
B8: ‘Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan’ by Ruth Gilligan (sometime in March) … This was a book club pick. I found it a melancholy read and while I was happy to keep picking the book up to read it and find out what happened next, I wasn’t feeling the need to stay up late and devour it. The ending made me feel sad, but at the same time, I can see why Gilligan chose to end it the way she did, so kudos to her.
M5: ‘MiNDFOOD’ April 2018 edition (sometime in March) … Again, a great read. I ended up subscribing for this one! It was their ten year anniversary edition, and it was interesting to read about some of the articles that have been printed in the past.
M6: ‘The Australian Women’s Weekly’ March 2018 edition (sometime in here) … A staple in many Aussie homes, I pick and choose when to read this mag, depending on the cover stories.
B9: ‘The Lace Weaver’ by Lauren Chater (5/4/18 – 8/4/18) … I picked this up at Brisbane airport as I was on my way to Mount Isa to see my brother, SIL and new nephew out at Cloncurry. It is a beautiful story of love, lace weaving and family, all in the face of war in Estonia and Russia in 1941 – and one that I stayed up until midnight finishing! Lauren attended a Fiona McIntosh Commercial Fiction Masterclass in 2014 and so it is absolutely fabulous to hear of yet another Aussie writer to become published after learning from Fiona.
B10: ‘Beauty in Thorns’ by Kate Forsyth (sometime in April) … Don’t let the size of this book put you off. Following the seasons from Winter 1852 to Summer 1898 and a group of artists and poets and their partners and lovers, it’s a remarkable (true) retelling of their lives as Pre-Raphaelites. Kate’s mammoth effort towards this story should be commended!
M7: MiNDFOOD May 2018 edition (sometime in April) … Death doulas (who knew?!), Reese Witherspoon, and the Holocaust couple behind the story of ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz (an upcoming book club read).
B11: ‘Paradise Valley’ by C.J. Box (sometime in April) … In my house, we are fans of any Box books and this one is the third in a series following Cassie Dewell in her hunt for the Lizard King. His crime novels will hook you right in.
M8: CoreLife March/April 2018 edition (sometime in April) … I had to come back and add the CoreLife mags in to this list as I didn’t have them at home and so forgot! I read these while waiting at the chiropractor 🙂 The story that interested me the most in this edition was about a lady called Jody Euler who began the creative agency redhotblue in Mackay and was entrusted by the Italian restaurant Sorbello’s for their marketing. Sorbello’s is where we eat in Macaky every single time we go to town – the menu is huge, the food is fab, it comes out quick and is very reasonably priced. Love it!
This is when I discovered my website wasn’t working and so I lost track of dates properly here …
B12: ‘The Choke’ by Sofie Laguna … I’ve been wanting to read one of Sofie’sbooks for a while now after the hype that was ‘The Eye of the Sheep’ and picked ‘The Choke’ up at the library. This novel will make you feel all of the feels; despair, hope, admiration, confusion, and more. Sofie has a unique voice and this book deserved the many accolades and awards that it received.
M9: MiNDFOOD June 2018 edition … witch-hunts, the Nocebo effect (“…occurs when a substance or treatment given to a patient results in harmful effects due to the patient’s negative expectations…” pg 44), and four women who have survived cancer and are now helping others as a result of this.
B13: ‘Spark’ by Tracy Brenton … Tracy is a member of my online writer’s group and is a huge fan of “kissing books”, which she also writes quite well herself! This is a sexy romance with a bit of steam rising from the pages as the heroine, Alex, falls for a hot mechanic who also happens to be a black belt martial artist – and don’t the sparks fly!
B14: ‘The Secrets We Keep’ by Shirley Patton … Another Masterclasser of Fiona McIntosh who had her first novel published in 2018. How awesome is this group?! I was excited to find Shirley’s book in my local library and be able to read it. Set in Kalgoorlie, 1986, it follows Aimee and her work at the welfare office … and how sometimes it is impossible to escape your past. A great read and I look forward to more from Shirley.
B15: ‘Feeling sorry for Celia’ by Jaclyn Moriarty’ … I found this at our local second-hand book shop. I’ve been following Jaclyn on social media for a while now and she is awesomely funny. Turns out Celia is her debut YA novel from 2000 and she now has 10 novels under her belt (I hope I’ve gotten this correct!) as well as some short stories. Celia is unique in that it is written completely in letters and notes between Elizabeth, a Complete and Utter Stranger, her mother, and in a bit of a twist, clubs and societies (that are actually Elizabeth’s own subconscious thoughts).
M10: MiNDFOOD July 2018 edition … Loneliness, relationship trust after an affair and a Food + Travel Special to make your mouth water and make you want to pull out your passport for a quick trip around the world.
M11: CoreLife July/August 2018 edition … Again, a read while at the chiro. A lovely story in this edition about a community garden at Cannonvale. We need more of these in our region!
B16: ‘Vicious Circle’ by C.J. Box … Number 17 in the Joe Pickett series that we love. The Wyoming game warden is on the hunt for a murderer – a crime he saw being committed from above as he flew in a Cessna on the lookout for a missing hunter. And to top it off, the man who assaulted his daughter is out of jail. A thrilling read as always.
B17: ‘The Wife Between Us’ by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen … I’ve been loving my library finds lately. This is a collaborative effort between Greer and Sarah and every line was written together. A new wife, a jealous ex-wife, the husband, his sister. A twisty tale where you won’t know who to believe or why they’re behaving as they are. It will get you!
B18: ‘The Clockmaker’s Daughter’ by Kate Morton … I’ve been reading Kate’s books from the start of her published career. Told in numerous voices, and across a time period of more than 150 years, it is an epic read and one well worth the time and effort to get through its length. Be prepared to become captivated by the plot and characters, and lyrical words that Kate weaves throughout.
And from hereon it is simply the names of the books because I’m halfway through January already and completely behind on this list. Have no doubt that they were all bloody good reads and just because I’m too lazy (busy!) to write a short description shouldn’t deter you from reading them! They also aren’t in any particular order because they’ve been piled here and there around the place … And assume that I’ve read all the MindFood mags, plus others that crop up here and there too 🙂
B19: ‘The Ruin’ by Dervla McTiernan
B20: ‘A Life Worth Living’ by Louise Guy (a member of my original writers’ group along with Tracy Brenton from above – go Louise!)
B21: ‘Begin, End, Begin: A #LoveOzYA Anthology’ edited by Danielle Binksand featuring Amie Kaufman, Melissa Keil, Will Kostakis, Ellie Marney, Jaclyn Moriarty, Michael Pryor, Alice Pung, Gabrielle Tozer, Lili Wilkinson, Danielle Binks
B22: ‘The Museum of Modern Love’ by Heather Rose
B23: ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris
B23: ‘Goose Girl’ by Joy Dettman
B24: ‘The Paris Seamstress’ by Natasha Lester
B25: ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’ by Gail Honeyman
B26: ‘The Pearl Thief’ by Fiona McIntosh
B27: ‘The Other Wife’ by Michael Robotham
B28: ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ by Liane Moriarty
B29: ‘Long Road to Mercy’ by David Baldacci
B30: ‘Sign’ by Colin Dray
So there you go. Thirty books in 2019 plus numerous assorted magazines. Not a bad effort, hey?!
I feel like there have possibly been another one or two from the library, but alas, I did not write them down. Perhaps for 2019 I will take a photo of every book that I read and use that as my memory tool.
How many of these have you read / are in your TBR pile? Let me know!
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