Audiobook Listens July 2017

It's the audiobooks that have kept me sane the last couple of weeks!

The Barefoot Summer by Carolyn Brown

This one is hard to comment on, because I really liked some aspects of it. I loved the premise - a woman finds out at her husband's funeral that he has two other wives, one daughter, and another kid on the way. The three women go to a cabin owned by their dead husband, intent on waiting each other out and claiming the place. I thought the book was going to be a bit more of a mystery who-dun-it, and I guess it was, but the southern / Texas romance aspect kind of took over, and whilst there's nothing wrong with that, it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Depends What You Mean By Extremist by John Safran

I'm a huge John Safran fan. I've watched all his shows (and re-watch John Safran vs God on a yearly basis), loved his podcast, and really enjoyed his last book. I bought a paperback copy of Depends What You Mean By Extremist, but as soon as I saw he read the audiobook, I knew that I needed to listen to it. I mean, when I read the last one, I heard his voice reading it in my head, so same same, but this time I could be driving / walking / doing other crap while I listened.

This didn't disappoint. John looks at what an 'extremist' actually is, and his journey into the world of right-wing Australia was frightening and eye opening.

Scary Story Sizzling Starts

Creative Writing with Year 8. Eeep!

Now that school is back, my reading time has completely shrunk. However, I had fun this afternoon during the little man's nap time putting together a lesson on how to start a scary story, and compiled 17 story starters to 'inspire' year 8. (Any teachers out there will understand that 'inspire' and 'year 8' don't generally go well together in a sentence.)

Anyway, I came across some awesome ones, and wanted to share some of the opening lines that made the cut...

The Party by Robyn Harding

Yesterday I dropped the toddler off at daycare, and took myself off to the local shopping centre to treat myself to brunch - the bacon craving was real! I ran into Kmart on my way to the cafe (as you do), and impulse bought The Party by Robyn Harding (book 44 of #50booksin2017).

I was totally sucked in by the cover, and the shiny 'Love it or your money back' publisher sticker on the front. Read about it and see an author interview at the publisher's website.

Yellow by Megan Jacobson

Paperback library copy. I think I need one!

From the publisher:

Kirra and the ghost make a pact. She'll prove who murdered him almost twenty years ago if he makes her popular, gets her parents back together, and promises not to haunt her. But things aren't so simple, and Kirra realises that people can be haunted in more ways than one.

There's a reason this book has been shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Award.