But first, some graphs! If I’d bothered to publish my graphs last year I think this would be year eight of ‘books unnecessarily graphed’. I’ve cut back over the past couple of years on the things I record in my reading spreadsheet, which means you get only the best graphs. Enjoy the colours… And now […]

I’ve just been reading about how daft end-of-year lists are and yep, that’s fair, but here it is anyway: the books I enjoyed reading (and listening to) the most in 2020.

Image: ‘Lost’ by Catherine Nelson https://michaelreid.com.au/art/lost/, which is the cover illustration for Elizabeth Knox’s novel, ‘The Absolute Book’. For the past year or so, the question I’ve been hoping to answer in my own mind (both for my current writing project and for my life) is something along the lines of ‘what are humans for?’. […]

Let’s take a look at the spreadsheet as we hit the halfway mark in another exciting year. Has moving to the country made me read more? Better? Quicker? Do I just spend all my time looking out the window at birds? (Not today – today it’s so windy all the birds are in their homes, […]

I had a really good reading year, according to my reading spreadsheet. The vast majority of books I read fell into the ‘really liked it’ category. This list of the ‘best’ ones could have easily been four times as long. But ten is a standard number, so ten it is. As always, and where possible, […]

Nothing says festive season like graphs. Welcome to ‘my year in reading, unnecessarily graphed’. This year I started 104 books. I gave up on seven of them; two of them I’ve been reading for months, but I still intend to finish them. Ten of them were required reading: five were manuscripts from other writers, and […]

How exciting is the end of financial year? So exciting I forgot it had even happened. Sixteen days later I remembered I usually (OK, once) do a quick countdown of how my reading has gone in the first six months of the year. Last time I might have done the whole financial year. Who knows. […]

… and lacking even my usual minor attempts at layout and panache, this is my list of the best feminist books I’ve read since last International Women’s Day. Links are to reviews that go some way to talking about why I’ve chosen the books I’ve chosen. Sorry about the rushed post! Kingfishers catch fire by […]

  ‘Get a hobby.’ The ‘will finish’ books are I contain multitudes by Ed Yong, about bacteria (it’s FASCINATING) and Secondhand time by Svetlana Alexievich, an oral history of the breakdown of the Soviet Union which is, huh, I don’t have a word for it. It’s extraordinary. They’re both very long and they’re both non-fiction […]

I’ve read about 100 books this year and these were the ones I liked best. Links are, where possible, to libraries where you can borrow the book (because library books are free to you but the authors still get paid). Books in bold were published this year. This list is way too long and for […]

EOFY. What a ridiculous acronym. I reckon I saw it around for at least two years before I figured out what it actually stood for. Anyway, happy new year financial planners and accountants: let’s tell the story of my reading so far this year IN NUMBERS! Books started: 55 Books finished: 47 Books given up […]

Happy International Women’s Day! As part of a (one-year-old) tradition, I’m listing my favourite feminist books since last International Women’s Day. Since March 8 last year I’ve read about 90 books, and around 55 of those were by women. Below are eight of my faves (in line with it being March 8), with links to […]

This year I started 90 books (this fact is untrue. For example, last night I started two books and stopped them within three chapters. I didn’t add them to this count. And I bet I read a couple more books before the end of the year) and finished 84 of them. Here is a picture […]

I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I’ve stopped using Goodreads to review books. I thought I might read in private for a while and see how that went. So far, pretty well. Still, you have to tell people your favourite books at the end of the year, right? So, in no particular order, these […]

Australian writers are being assailed on all fronts at the moment. The government is keen to change the rules about whether bookshops can buy their books from an overseas publisher, rather than having to go to an Australian publisher. This has the Australian Society of Authors and many others super-riled. Proposed changes to copyright are […]

  A quick post for International Women’s Day. Since March 8 last year I’ve read, oh, I dunno, about 100 books. Lots (most even) of those were by women. But these are my most favourite, most feminist reads of the last year. Links are to essays or interviews or other stories that focus on the […]

Hello! Here’s an interview I did with Booktopia a while back, and which they’ve just published. They asked good questions. In writing news, I think I’ve just finished the first draft of something new. You’re probably not supposed to say that; I’ve doubtless cursed myself now. Anyway, I’m excited about doing draft two. In reading […]

Image by Magic Madzik/Flickr This is a long one so you might want to get a glass of wine before you start… Some books you could read The books I enjoyed most this year (not necessarily the best books I read, but the ones that meant the most to me) were: East of Eden, by John […]

It’s not the end of July, but I’m calling a halt to my sponsored reading and taking a look at what I’ve learned. You may already know that a few months ago I set up a readathon – JustRead – to raise money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Reading and sponsoring happens during June and […]

You might’ve noticed I started up a readathon, Just Read, to raise money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (because it irks me there are people in Australia who don’t get the chance to read). You can sign up to read or sponsor an existing reader. You might also know I’ve pursued a few different tactics […]