2022-01-10 05:12
Sign ups for the 2022 reading challenges have been open for weeks now, but I like to sign up when I've finished wrapping up the previous years' challenges and reviews. In 2022, I'm aiming to… Read More
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This is an Australian book blog containing book reviews, giveaways and author interviews.
2022-01-09 03:50
The last book for 2021 helped me achieve my reading goals, given that I needed one more book by an Australian male author in order to complete my Aussie Author reading challenge. (See what e… Read More
2022-01-07 04:40
British author Bill Bryson's enthusiasm for history is contagious and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to At Home - A Short History of Private Life. In this offering, Bryson looks at the… Read More
2022-01-05 03:36
It was close, but I successfully completed all of my reading challenges during 2021 and read 75 books in total. You can see my wrap up of the Australian Women Writer's Challenge here an… Read More
2022-01-04 03:45
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Disgraced athlete Elise Glyk finds more than she bargains for when trying to locate her missing bother Callum by posing as a private investigator in Jac… Read More
2022-01-01 05:32
It's time to reflect on my year of reading in 2021 and select the best 5 books from a total of 75 titles read this year. Last year my Top 5 list contained only review titles, and this year I… Read More
2021-12-30 04:18
Celebrating my life in books was so much fun last year I decided to do it again in 2021 thanks to Shelleyrae from Book'd Out.The idea is to complete each of the prompts below by selecting a… Read More
2021-12-27 06:15
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *A book set in an independent bookshop in Minneapolis, with a ghost? Sign me up!! Louise Erdrich is a native American author and Pulitzer Prize winner a… Read More
2021-12-20 05:21
* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan *Carpe Librum readers will know I'm a fan of Ken Follett's historical fiction Kingsbridge series which began with The Pillars of the Earth, but the author ha… Read More
2021-12-19 05:14
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *IntroIt happens to the best of us.... we pick up a book with the hope of being transported, yet it completely fails to take off. We're coming to the… Read More
2021-12-15 06:02
I've been participating in the Australian Women Writer's Challenge since 2014, however this year it was announced that the challenge is wrapping up permanently. From 2022 onwards, the focus… Read More
2021-12-14 04:27
Does it make sense to follow the review of a recipe book with a memoir about body image and being overweight? Maybe it does, or maybe it doesn't, but I can promise it was a sheer coincidence… Read More
2021-12-08 05:48
I love my slow cooker, and when looking for some inspiring new recipes, discovered Modern Slow Cooker - 85 Vegetarian & Vegan Recipes to Make Your Life Easy by Australian bestselling aut… Read More
2021-12-06 04:44
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Jake is a creative writing teacher suffering from self doubt and writer's block following the enormous success of his debut novel. When one of his stude… Read More
2021-11-29 04:42
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is my fourth outing with David Sedaris this year, and like the others, I listened to the audiobook of this collection of autobiographical essays. Publ… Read More
2021-11-24 04:38
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *IntroGuest reviewer Neil Béchervaise is back to share his review of Echoes of War by Australian author Tania Blanchard.Neil's ReviewHaving foc… Read More
2021-11-19 05:10
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Successful Australian crime writer Sarah Bailey is back with a standalone thriller, The Housemate. Olive Groves is a journalist in Melbourne and worked… Read More
2021-11-17 04:48
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *I'm a self-taught PowerPoint user and have been using it for years to create presentations for everything from a new client pitch, product launch, life… Read More
2021-11-14 05:12
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris is a witty collection of essays, primarily focusing on the author's time in France. I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the content focus on speec… Read More
2021-11-10 04:39
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *I'm a night owl by nature, and I couldn't resist a picture book for children about those who work the night shift while most people are asleep. All Thro… Read More
2021-11-08 04:32
* Copy courtesy of Scribe Publications *After enjoying the photographs in Northside by Melbourne photographer Warren Kirk, I was excited to see a new collection coming out in November this y… Read More
2021-11-05 04:23
* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia *Devotion by Australian author Hannah Kent tells the story of a Lutheran family in Prussia who flee religious persecution in the early 1800s and se… Read More
2021-10-27 04:50
* Copy courtesy of Scribe Publications *Old Vintage Melbourne by Chris Macheras is a stunning collection of historical photographs of Melbourne, spanning from the very earliest photographs f… Read More
2021-10-24 04:41
Fresh on the heels of listening to Calypso by David Sedaris, I went back in time to a collection of his essays published in 1997 entitled Naked. This is a very short audiobook coming in… Read More
2021-10-22 06:14
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *It's an absolute pleasure to review a Noni the Pony book here on Carpe Librum. Author Alison Lester lives in South Gippsland in regional Victoria and he… Read More
2021-10-21 05:11
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *I have a background in HR and still offer interview coaching services, so when I saw Bloomsbury were publishing a book about interview questions, I r… Read More
2021-10-17 03:54
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *Having thoroughly enjoyed Never Have I Ever last year, I thought I'd give Joshilyn Jackson's newest domestic thriller Mother May I a try. When the no… Read More
2021-10-11 04:52
I'm new to David Sedaris and despite being well aware of his many books and essay collections, this is the first time I've dipped a toe into his literary ouevre, and let me tell you, this gu… Read More
2021-10-06 04:41
I loved reading The Au Pair by Emma Rous in 2019, and I was really excited to read The Perfect Guests this year, hoping for more buried family secrets, plot twists and flawed characters.In 2… Read More
2021-09-28 05:37
* Copy courtesy of Ventura Press *In As Swallows Fly by L.P. McMahon, Kate is a plastic surgeon living in Melbourne and Malika is an orphan from a remote village in Pakistan. Their lives une… Read More
2021-09-23 07:36
I loved this book! Adeline LaRue is born in France in 1691, and at the age of 23, her family have decided to marry her off to a widower with three children. Adeline refuses to be 'gifted lik… Read More
2021-09-18 06:36
I managed to leave the frustrations of Melbourne lockdown behind me while visiting Renaissance Britain with one of my favourite historians Ruth Goodman this month. In How to Behave Badly in… Read More
2021-09-15 06:09
* Copy courtesy of Atlas Productions *Genevieve and her husband Peter are recovering from a family trauma and have decided to go on a cruise in an effort to heal the rift between them. Genev… Read More
2021-09-13 05:45
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *It's time for another book from the Object Lessons series by Bloomsbury Academic and this time it's Silence by John Biguenet. By far, the most enjoya… Read More
2021-09-06 05:49
The Lost Girls by Australian author Jennifer Spence is a family mystery with a time slip at its core. Stella gets on a bus in Sydney in 2017, however when she steps off, it's 1997. Without k… Read More
2021-09-03 04:58
Guest reviewer James Harris, aged 9* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *IntroIt's a pleasure to welcome James Harris back to Carpe Librum with his review from The Super Adventures of Ollie… Read More
2021-09-01 05:38
Medieval Bodies: Life, Death and Art in the Middle Ages by Jack Hartnell was a great follow up after reading Life in a Medieval Castle by Joseph Gies and Frances Gies in July.Medieval Bodies… Read More
2021-08-26 04:59
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *IntroIt's time for another instalment in my series of book reviews from the Object Lessons series by Bloomsbury Academic. This time, Neil B&eacu&hell…Read More
2021-08-23 05:28
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *In The Ex-Husband by Karen Hamilton, married couple Charlotte and Sam work together on cruise ships to befriend rich guests and con them out of their m… Read More
2021-08-18 05:58
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *Stephen King is at the top of his game and Billy Summers is an unforgettable character, as well as the title of his latest book. A war veteran and one… Read More
2021-08-12 05:49
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy a science fiction novel about an Artificial Friend, but I did! Klara is an Artificial Friend (AF) with extraordina… Read More
2021-08-06 07:44
Australian Hugh Mackay is a psychologist, social researcher and bestselling author, and is known for studying attitudes and behaviour. In 2015, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Au… Read More
2021-08-04 06:19
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *The premise of this book completely hooked me in. Ev has an ability to feel the emotions attached to objects. She uses this gift - or is it a curse?… Read More
2021-08-02 03:07
Thanks to the readers who entered my giveaway last week to win one of two signed copies of Blood Trail by Tony Park. Everyone correctly answered that the book is set in a South African game… Read More
2021-07-30 02:48
Today I'm participating in the Penguin Random House Australia blog tour for The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, who signed more than 6,500 tip-in sheets (title pages) while in lockdown… Read More
2021-07-27 04:44
IntroAustralian author Tony Park is an Army veteran who has also worked as a reporter, PR consultant and press secretary. Tony has written 6 non fiction books and 18 novels set in Africa and… Read More
2021-07-23 04:52
I can't tell you how much I adored this book. Reading The Emporium of Imagination was like sending nourishing warm hot chocolate straight to the soul. The Emporium of the title is a shop, an… Read More
2021-07-20 05:31
* Copy courtesy of Walker Books Australia *I love children's books about libraries, and this offering written and illustrated in Taiwan was a real treat. Leilong the Library Bus is written b… Read More
2021-07-18 06:27
Life in a Medieval Castle was originally published in 1974 and reissued in 2015, and was used by the author George R. R. Martin as a primary resource when writing his A Song of Ice and… Read More
2021-07-12 05:02
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *Don't you love it when a book takes you completely by surprise? Usually when I see a cover design for a book with a butterfly and flowers on the fron… Read More
2021-07-09 04:15
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Dr Jess French is a vet, zoologist, naturalist and entomologist and has drawn on her experience and love of animals to produce this children's picture b… Read More
2021-07-05 04:31
Thanks to the readers who entered my giveaway last week to win one of two copies of Nancy Business by R.W.R. McDonald. Everyone answered correctly in that Nancy Business is the gripping, hea… Read More
2021-07-04 05:44
* Copy courtesy of Transit Lounge *A Voice in the Night by Sarah Hawthorn has a premise that immediately hooked me in. In 2001, Lucie was an intern at a New York law firm having an affair wi… Read More
2021-06-30 05:40
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *The Family Doctor by Debra Oswald is a domestic noir novel centred around Paula, a GP in suburban Sydney. She has been friends with Anita and Stacey sin… Read More
2021-06-24 15:36
IntroIt's a real pleasure to be participating in the Nancy Business Blog Tour with some of my favourite book bloggers in Australia this month. Today, I'm giving away 2 print copies of Nancy… Read More
2021-06-24 05:07
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *Dream Big, Little Mole by Tom Percival is a delightful children's book illustrated by Christine Pym.In the beginning of the book, Mole tries to find… Read More
2021-06-22 05:38
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *Dust by Michael Marder is the fifth title in my series of book reviews drawn from the Object Lessons series by Bloomsbury Academic. The series aims t… Read More
2021-06-20 07:03
Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway last week to win one of two signed copies of Widow's Island by Australian author L.A. Larkin. The giveaway closed at midnight on Friday night, and… Read More
2021-06-17 04:31
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *The Six Tudor Queens series by Alison Weir has finally come to an end with the release of Katharine Parr - The Sixth Wife. I've been following this his… Read More
2021-06-14 04:49
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *INTROIn a continuation of my series of reviews from Bloomsbury Academic's Object Lessons is a guest review by Neil Béchervaise of Email b… Read More
2021-06-11 03:30
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *I enjoy an historical fiction novel that follows a house through time and I've reviewed quite a few of them favourably here on Carpe Librum over the… Read More
2021-06-09 03:53
Australian author L.A. Larkin is back with a crime thriller to chill you to the bone this winter. Check out the blurb and enter below for your chance to win one of two signed print copies of… Read More
2021-06-04 10:18
Jacqueline BublitzCredit: The Virtue Before You Knew My Name is the 'it' book of the moment, setting aside the perpetrator-led style of narrative in favour of a crime novel that gives agency… Read More
2021-06-03 05:12
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Mrs England by Stacey Halls is one of my most highly anticipated releases for 2021 and I was thrilled when it delivered on all of my hopes and expectati… Read More
2021-05-30 06:42
* Copy courtesy of Atlas Productions *Cemeteries are beautiful and haunting places, a reminder of our collective grief, the passage of time and of course our own mortality. Several years ago… Read More
2021-05-26 04:20
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Literary horror anyone? Until this month, I was unfamiliar with the literary horror genre, but it's fair to say The Last House on Needless Street by Cat… Read More
2021-05-24 05:06
IntroLong before I became a book reviewer, I served in the Royal Australian Navy. I've reviewed several military memoirs at Carpe Librum over the years, but today I wanted to shine a spotlig… Read More
2021-05-21 05:45
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *INTROPost Mortem is the second in the series by Gary Bell featuring Barrister Elliot Rook QC, a character with a secret criminal past. Guest reviewer Neil B&ea&hell…Read More
2021-05-18 06:00
Hair and hairstyles are endlessly fascinating. The cultural differences, the meaning behind particular styles, the changing fashion trends over time, and the assumptions we make about people… Read More
2021-05-14 05:07
Today I'm celebrating my biggest Carpe Librum milestone yet! (Drum roll)I've just reached 1.5 Million Page Views!Starting in 2005, I've achieved some great milestones along the way, and the… Read More
2021-05-11 05:38
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *This is the story of a person who discovers a female victim of crime. If you watch the news, listen to true crime podcasts, watch true crime documentari… Read More
2021-05-10 06:12
Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway last week to win a copy of The Hope Flower by Australian author Joy Dettman. Entrants correctly identified that Lori had eleven brothers and one sh… Read More
2021-05-05 06:35
The Pun Also Rises - How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More than Some Antics by John Pollack kicks off with a bang! Recalling his attendance at t… Read More
2021-05-03 06:05
Erika Engelhaupt is a science journalist and in Gory Details: Adventures from the Dark Side of Science, she shines a light on the gross, the bizarre, the taboo and morbidly fascinating eleme… Read More
2021-04-29 22:35
* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan *The Hope Flower by Australian author Joy Dettman is a story of love and survival. Check out the blurb and enter below for your chance to win a copy of The H… Read More
2021-04-28 05:38
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *IntroThe second instalment in my series of reviews from the Object Lessons series of books by Bloomsbury Academic is Exit by Laura Waddell. I'll leav… Read More
2021-04-26 03:44
Thanks to everyone who entered last week's giveaway to win a copy of One of Us Buried by Australian author Johanna Craven. Every entrant correctly identified that in One of Us Buried, Eleano… Read More
2021-04-25 06:09
* Copy courtesy of Transit Lounge *Other than being French, I didn't know anything about the life of Madame Tussaud prior to reading this book other than the legacy of her wax museums. Austr… Read More
2021-04-20 05:53
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *Harper Brown is an arts and culture journalist for The Paris Observer who dreams of advancing to become an investigative journalist so that she can w… Read More
2021-04-18 15:12
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia *High Heel by Summer Brennan is the first book in the Object Lessons series by Bloomsbury Academic that I've chosen to review here on Carpe Librum.I'v… Read More
2021-04-16 05:17
* Copy courtesy of the author *One of Us Buried by Australian author Johanna Craven is an historical fiction novel set in 1806 when Eleanor Marling finds herself leaving London on a prison s… Read More
2021-04-12 04:18
LaunchWelcome to a new series of reviews here on Carpe Librum. I've recently become interested in the non-fiction series by Bloomsbury Academic called Object Lessons which aims to take avera… Read More
2021-04-05 04:52
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *INTROWhile I was reading The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn set in the 1940s, guest reviewer Neil Béchervaise stepped back in time to colonial Austra… Read More
2021-03-31 06:31
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn is the story of a group of women who volunteered to serve in the Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma) or WAS(B) in 194… Read More
2021-03-26 06:08
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Catherine Ryan Howard was inspired to write The Nothing Man after reading the bestselling true crime book entitled I'll Be Gone In the Dark by the late… Read More
2021-03-22 04:05
I've always been interested in the origin of colours and pigments and I'm still fascinated by the topic, nine years after reading and reviewing Color - A Natural History of the Palette … Read More
2021-03-18 04:45
* Copy courtesy of Harper Collins *IntroI love it when a book surprises you, and that was the case when guest reviewer Neil Béchervaise offered to read and review A Home Like Ours by… Read More
2021-03-16 04:37
* Copy courtesy of Allen & Unwin *Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden is a literary feat exploring the grave topic of death. Mrs Death is portrayed as an old poor black woman overloo… Read More
2021-03-12 05:35
* Copy courtesy of Harper Collins *Elsewhere by Dean Koontz is a father and daughter novel starring Jeffrey Coltrane and his daughter Amity. A homeless man by the name of Ed gives Amity's Da… Read More
2021-03-10 03:44
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *Readers of Carpe Librum will know that I love reading - and watching documentaries - about hoarders. There's something uniquely fascinating to me about… Read More
2021-03-08 05:45
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *IntroToday the media is abuzz with news of Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey and the royal scandal of Megxit continues. It's not the firs… Read More
2021-03-07 06:09
Do you like peanut butter? I enjoyed peanut butter well enough as a kid, but my love for peanut butter started to grow around the time salted caramel became a 'thing'. All of a sudden, there… Read More
2021-03-04 04:24
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *Lucy Jago is a new-to-me author, and A Net for Small Fishes begins in London in January 1609 during the reign of King James I, taking us through unti… Read More
2021-03-01 05:43
Breath - The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor starts off really well. I listened to the audiobook and early on in the introduction, the author states:"The missing pillar in health i… Read More
2021-02-26 04:22
IntroToday it's my great pleasure to introduce a new guest reviewer to Carpe Librum readers. Silje Kinkead lives in France and loves to read, and I'm sure you'll enjoy her review of The War… Read More
2021-02-25 04:30
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *Beautifully presented in an orange clothbound hardback edition, Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble is a collection of magical poems by Paul Cookson and is a delight to… Read More
2021-02-22 04:14
* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *In my years spent enjoying books, tv shows and movies set in the Victorian era (1837-1901) I can't believe I've never come across the art of shadow portraits a… Read More
2021-02-18 04:34
* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *INTROA regular feature here on Carpe Librum this year, Neil Béchervaise has recently read Lana's War by Australian born author Anita Abriel an… Read More
2021-02-16 00:28
* Copy courtesy of Hachette Australia *Have you ever looked at the title of a book and decided for yourself what it's going to be about? This happened to me when I saw Life With the Afterlif… Read More
2021-02-15 04:06
Thanks to everyone who entered last week's giveaway to win a copy of The Moroccan Daughter by Deborah Rodriguez. The giveaway closed at midnight last night, and the winner was drawn today. C… Read More
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