Welcome to Blackwood by Khaiah Thomson

A chance encounter at the hairdresser brought this book to my attention and I’m very glad it happened. So thank you to my hairdresser for fitting me in and introducing me to the author in the basin next to me.

Welcome to Blackwood is Khaiah Thomson’s debut novel and she has smashed it out of the park with an engaging, well written story.

It is set in the lush, secretive town of Blackwood. The descriptions are fantastic and I want to live there. Not even for all the supernatural shenanigans, but for the absolutely beautiful setting. It has the forest, beach and small town vibes. It sounds like heaven.

Australian authors I have loved.

I originally posted this in 2018 and I wanted to update it a little to add some other Australian authors that I have since discovered and thoroughly enjoyed. It’s going to make it a chonky post so I hope you make it all the way through.

John Marsden – born in Victoria in 1950, he had an interest in writing from a young age. He was a teacher and has written many books, he is successful internationally as well as at home.

The Tomorrow when the War Began series was my favourite series as a young teen. A group of kids go camping for a weekend and when they get back they discover that their area/country has been invaded. Their loved ones are held captive, so they do the only thing they can do – Guerrilla warfare. Ellie and her friends are a diverse bunch with many skills, they use these country kid skills to cause mayhem for the invading forces. I absolutely loved the idea of kids kicking arse and taking it to the bad guys. The relationships between the kids were complex and well written. John Marsden didn’t skim over the details, he handled the mental challenges the kids faced really well, the fallout for them. It’s not all sunshine and lollipops, these kids go through hell and their mental health reflects this. I still reread this series every couple of years. I cannot wait for my daughter to read this series. There are seven books in the series and I just discovered a follow-up series called the Ellie Chronicles that I have yet to read.

(2021 update – My daughter was not a fan of this and didn’t even make it through the first book… Does this mean I failed as a mum? lol)

---

Goodreads  –  Amazon

---

The Law of Inertia by S. Gonzales

“See, the thing is that happiness is a whore. I’ve never met a more disloyal emotion in my life. Nothing like misery, which proposes to you on the first date. Yet, like a mistress I swear off every time, all happiness has to do is peek it’s head around the corner, contrite and apologetic, and I give myself over to it completely. It’s transient and fleeting, and I know it won’t still be in my bed the next morning, but while I have it, it’s everything.”

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where we get to feed that part of our soul that loves lists, coming up with 10 things related to a certain topic.  Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by  The Broke and Bookish and is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here.  This week’s topic is:

Top 10 books on my Fall Spring TBR

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where we get to feed that part of our soul that loves lists, by coming up with 10 things related to a certain topic.  Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by  The Broke and Bookish and is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found HERE.  This week’s topic is:

The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke

“They called us Mercies, or sometimes the Boneless Mercies. They said we were shadows, ghost, and if you touched our skin, we dissolved into smoke. We made people uneasy, for we were women with weapons. And yet the Mercies were needed. Men would not do our sad, dark work.”

June

As someone who normally reads 8-15 books per month, the last couple of months have sucked reading wise. Not the quality, but the quantity has been low, recently I only got through one book in the entire month. I have had stuff on, I know that your reading pace can change, life changes and you change. Mine was very much a case of I lost my mojo. In June, due to some rereads, I feel some sense of satisfaction with the amount that I have read. The joy that I have gotten from it. I’ve been inconsistent with blogging and such, I always will be, I think its part of my personality. But I had fun with it all.

The Taste of Blue Light by Lydia Ruffles

Mental Health is a deeply personal issue, it is unique to each of us. 100 people might have depression and they probably share 90% of the same symptoms, but they each feel its effects differently. We see it through our own eyes, it shades our vision in a unique way. So writing a book about any form of mental health issues must be a daunting task, you can only write one story at a time and hope it touches the right people, hope it gets people talking, hope it opens up someone’s eyes to another’s path.

Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

I had been eyeing this book for a while, but was a little dubious because lets face it… Jason Segel, the man is hilarious, but can he write a book. Upon looking in the book I discovered that he was already an author, he writes middle grade with Kirsten Miller, this is their first YA.

Guess who went to a book event???

IT WAS MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Yes, at very old, I finally made my way to a book event. It was for LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff. We got to hear him chat, ask him questions and he signed our books for us. Best night. I’m so glad I finally put my general dislike of the world to the side and ventured out. Such a great night. He seems like a really nice guy and a total booknerd like the rest of us.