Author Guest Posts, Must Reads

2020 Book Resolutions Challenge

Archive

2020 Book Resolutions Challenge

It’s time to get brutally honest, people. It’s time to get real. New year resolutions are all well and good for the month beforehand, when you gird your loins and say, ‘Next year will be different! I’m going to give up drinking! I’m going to give up smoking! I’m going to lose those five kilos that are the only thing stopping me from looking like (insert name of sex god or goddess of choice). No, even better than that. Hell, I’m going to be a NICE person!’

We nurture these baby resolutions. We smugly feed them and worship them all the way through December’s Christmas parties. Oh, we are going to be so damned good come January, so damned different! So sweet and sexy and nice to pets and children and all around adorable.

And then comes January first and the hangover and, with it, the cold dank realisation that this is it, baby. This is when new year resolutions and good intentions become a millstone around your neck, weighing you down, setting you up for failure.

So here’s one way of setting new year resolutions that won’t trip you up and will make achieving them a whole lot more fun!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to follow our monthly guide to reading pleasure…

via GIPHY


January

It’s the southern hemisphere and holiday season, so the perfect time for a beach read. Oh hey, so maybe check out my Lord Howe Island book, One Summer Between Friends! (Sorry, shameless self-promotion, I know)

One Summer Between Friends

by Trish Morey

Australian author Trish Morey returns with a compelling and moving story about broken friendships and the rocky road of forgiveness.

Coming home was never going to be easy …

Find it here

 

February

Still summer and now hot and blistering and you’re looking for an escape while you chill by the pool? Have you checked out any Australian historical reads lately? ‘Oztoricals’ are booming and for good reason – at long last, oodles of great historical stories set in Australia’s backyard. Check out authors Cheryl Adnams, Alison Stuart and Darry Fraser for a start.

Rebel Daughters

by Cheryl AdnamsDarry Fraser

A collection of compelling historical adventures from two bestselling Australian authors.

Find it here

March

Summer still has the country in a chokehold – will it ever let up? Time for something light and fun. I’ve never met a Tom Sharpe novel that didn’t make me laugh out loud. Pour yourself something cold and read for the pure unadulterated joy of it.

420966

Wilt

‘Tom Sharpe was arguably the most accomplished British humourist since PG Wodehouse and Wilt is possibly his best loved book.’ – Goodreads review 

April

Now we’re well into autumn, my favourite season. Time for something seasonal. Why not try Ali Smith’s Autumn on for size?

28446947. sy475

Autumn

Daniel is a century old. Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. The United Kingdom is in pieces, divided by a historic once-in-a-generation summer.

Love is won, love is lost. Hope is hand in hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever . . .

May

Here’s where you get to feel superior. Read any Booker Prize winner and see if you can make sense of why it not only reached the finals, but won (when there are so many other amazing books out there that are actually readable).

42975172

The Testaments

In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.

Find it here 

June

Your reward for that hard slog? It’s winter Down Under and time to snuggle up with a good book. So, go back and re-read one of your all-time favourites whether it’s Pride and Prejudice or your favourite Nora Roberts or John Grisham. And remember why you fell in love with reading all over again.

A MacGregor Christmas

A MacGregor Christmas

by Nora Roberts

Return to the past in these two classic winter romances!

Find it here 

July

Baby, it’s cold out there! Hunker down under the doona with a big thick book that reminds you of summer. If only I could think of a book with summer in the title

The Summer of Sunshine and Margot

by Susan Mallery

The Baxter sisters have only ever had one another – until one fateful summer when Sunshine and Margot turn disastrous luck into destiny…

Find it here 

August

Time for some non-fiction! Pick up a biography or two and put yourself in someone else’s shoes. But this is non-fiction right, so you probably want to give any political memoirs a wide berth…

Cover image - Miles Franklin: A Short Biography

Miles Franklin: A Short Biography

by Jill Roe

A classic, accessible award-winning biography of Australia’s most iconic author, leading feminist and humanitarian

Find it here 

September

We’re nudging into spring! And with spring comes rebirth and blossoms and weather that jigs and jags all over the place. What to read when the weather turns sour again? Heck, try something out of your usual range, whether it’s science fiction, YA, crime, fantasy or whatever. You might fall in love with a whole new genre, and then, before you know it, it will be…

Beckoning Blood

by Daniel De Lorne

A gripping,  blood–drenched saga about twin brothers, the men they love, and the enduring truth that true love never dies  – no matter how many times you kill it.

Find it here 

October

Remember your teacher telling you comics were a waste of time? Your teacher was wrong. Find yourself a manga comic and reconnect with your (misspent) youth. They’re fun, quick to read and your teacher would be surprised just how good they are.

Manga Classics: Pride & Prejudice

Manga Classics: Pride & Prejudice (Manga Classics)

by Stacy King (Goodreads Author) (Story Adaptation), Po Tse (Art by), Jane Austen (Original Story)
Beloved by millions the world over, Pride & Prejudice is delightfully transformed in this bold new manga adaptation. All of the joy, heartache, and romance of Jane Austen’s original, perfectly illuminated by the sumptuous art of manga-ka Po Tse, and faithfully adapted by Stacy E. King.

November

Time to start planning a festive feast or two! Pick up a copy of Taste Top 100 SUMMER FRESH for some fabulous holiday feasting ideas.

Cover image - Taste Top 100 SUMMER FRESH

Taste Top 100 SUMMER FRESH

by taste.com.au

The best of the best recipes from Australia’s No 1 food site.

FESTIVE FARE, EASY DINNERS, EPIC SALADS, DESSERTS AND MORE

Find it here 

December

We don’t do sleighbells Down Under, but we do great Christmas stories, nonetheless. Find a book with Christmas in the title and get yourself in the mood for the festive season. And enjoy!

The Christmas Witch

by Carla Caruso

Misfiring spells. A gorgeous new boss. Looks like this Christmas will be magic…

Find it here 

via GIPHY

** Getting excited about all the books I get to read this year **


Trish Morey

Trish always fancied herself a writer, but she dutifully picked gherkins and washed dishes in a Chinese restaurant on her way to earning herself an economics degree and a qualification as a chartered accountant instead. Work took her to Canberra where she promptly fell in love with a tall, dark and handsome hero who cut computer code, and marriage and four daughters followed, which gave Trish the chance to step back from her career and think about what she’d really like to do.

Writing romantic fiction was at the top of the list, so Trish made a choice and followed her heart. It was the right choice. Since then, she’s sold more than thirty titles to Harlequin with sales in excess of seven million globally, with her books printed in more than thirty languages in forty countries worldwide.

Four times nominated and two times winner of Romance Writers of Australia’s RuBY Award for Romantic Book of the Year, Trish was also a 2012 RITA finalist in the US.

You can find out more about Trish and her upcoming books at www.trishmorey.com and you can email her at trish@trishmorey.com. Trish loves to hear from her readers.

One Summer Between Friends

One Summer Between Friends by Trish Morey will be available in-store and online from the 16th of December 2019

Must reads