Amy | Lost in a Good Book

Long Lost Review: Night Swimming by Steph Bowe

13 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Australian Women Writers, LGBTQIA, Long Lost Reviews, Young Adult Tags: #llr, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, loveozya, steph bowe, three stars, young adult

Long Lost Reviews is a monthly meme created by Ally over at Ally’s Appraisals which is posted on the second Thursday of every month. The aim is to start tackling your review backlog. Whether it’s an in-depth analysis of how it affected your life, one sentence stating that you only remember the ending, or that you have no recollection of reading the book at all.

Published: 03 April 2017
Publisher: Text Publishing
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Imagine being the only two seventeen-year-olds in a small town. That’s life for Kirby Arrow—named after the most dissenting judge in Australia’s history—and her best friend Clancy Lee, would-be musical star.

Clancy wants nothing more than to leave town and head for the big smoke, but Kirby is worried: her family has a history of leaving. She hasn’t heard from her father since he left when she was a baby. Shouldn’t she stay to help her mother with the goat’s-milk soap-making business, look after her grandfather who suffers from dementia, be an apprentice carpenter to old Mr Pool? And how could she leave her pet goat, Stanley, her dog Maude, and her cat Marianne?

But two things happen that change everything for Kirby. She finds an article in the newspaper about her father, and Iris arrives in town. Iris is beautiful, wears crazy clothes, plays the mandolin, and seems perfect, really, thinks Kirby. Clancy has his heart set on winning over Iris. Trouble is Kirby is also falling in love with Iris…

I read this book in 2017 and unfortunately I recall absolutely nothing of it. So much so that every time I see my draft review for it (which literally only contains the blurb, not even a single note or thought) I think I need to reread it because I can’t even summon up any recollection at all. This has obviously not improved as the years went on and I still recall nothing and the hope of suddenly remembering pieces of plot diminished further. I should reread it, but for now I am making it a Long Lost Review because if these are for anything it is for those book we read in 2017 and remember nothing of it whatsoever.

I also feel given the passing of Steph Bowe that I should reread. And I may. But for now I will say I read it, gave it 3 stars, and nothing in the blurb sounds even remotely familiar. At a stretch I could say it was one of the earliest F/F books I’d ever read. Maybe the first? Seems like a hard thing to pin point but I do recall that being a stand out reading the blurb.

Whose Poo? by Daisy Bird

07 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: children's picture book, daisy bird, marianna coppo, picture book

Published: 07 Apr 2022
Publisher: Andersen Press
Illustrator: Marianna Coppo
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

One day, Daddy Rat announces to his baby rats that he’ll be taking them to the zoo . . . but only if they’re good, which means no talking about poo! And yet, before the family can even leave the house, the two rascally siblings can’t help but wonder . . . what sort of poo would an astronaut do? Shiny, silver, space-age poo! Rocket-powered, weightless poo, and it spins round and round like a planet does, too!

Anyone who knows me knows I am an avid hater of picture books that fall into the lazy trap of farts, poop, and other bodily functions. I know the kids love them, but aside from being stupid, it’s also something celebrities easily get to publish and it feels like a storytelling cop out.

ANYWAY.

I know there can be good poop books, like the delightful The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business where our protagonist tries to find who pooped on his head. You wouldn’t think it adorable, but it is.

This is another one that balances a fine line. It is quite fun, our parent mouse is obviously sick of the kids always mentioning poo, and on their outing they have strict instructions to refrain from mentioning it.

I liked the work around the kids had, and I liked that their discussion of poo end up being fun imaginings of what it looks like from various people and animals they pass. I liked that tattooed people have tattooed poo, that balloon animal makers have balloon animal poo. I also liked the fun illustrations that match the poo to their shape.

In an easy to understand way, all the animals have the same kind of poo. This isn’t the place to learn about the different poos from butterflies and bats to snakes and people.

The story is told with a great rhyme. It’s a fun story that really plays into the taboo of poo and the sneaky ways the kids want to discuss it. The story isn’t all about jokes about poo. As the story goes on they discover what happens to the poo in the zoo and how it is used for growing plants and trees. It debunks the myth for the kids that’s there is anything special about poo, it’s the same for everyone, with a little bit of humour without taking it too far on the grotesque side.

Honestly, I can’t even believe I have typed and discussed poo so much in one review let alone at all, but here we are. Sometimes needs must.

If you’re like me and are sick and tired of the poo books, this one may be an ok compromise when the kids really want to laugh at the grubby side of things.

You can purchase Whose Poo? via the following

QBD | Blackwell’s

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Beneath the Sugar Sky (#3) by Seanan McGuire

04 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, Novella Tags: Audiobook, fantasy, fiction, four stars, michelle dockrey, novella, seanan mcguire, Wayward Children

Published: 9 January 2018 (print)/9 January 2018 (audio)
Publisher: tor.com/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 174/4 hrs and 11 mins
Narrator: Michelle Dockrey
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest – not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.) If she can’t find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to save: she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests…

A tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do. Warning: May contain nuts.

I love how we get introduced to characters in book one, and then as the series progresses we get their own individual stories, but scattered in between the original story arc keeps going as well. It is incredibly clever, and all the while revealing more about the rules of the worlds and the understanding of the system.

With the second book devoted to Jack and Jill’s story I was curious to see if the next book would pick another character we’d met and show their origins but I was delightfully surprised. We are back in the school as Rini literally lands at their door on a mission to save her mother, a character who died in book one.

This is why McGuire’s books are so fantastic, her rules on Logic and Nonsense, not to mention life and death are fascinating and primed for storytelling when put in the right hands. The nonsensical world works well with the nonsensical mission. Rini is as wild as her mother and the random nature of events only support the irregular world she’s come from.

I was delighted we got to revisit Nancy, especially in her own element, and it was great seeing characters deal with different land so unlike their own or their desired places. Given the world of Confection is a sugary light-hearted delight, there isn’t a lot of darkness or heavy themes, even with Rini’s possible demise. That isn’t to say there aren’t some wonderful things explored like understanding other people’s experiences and tolerance, but it is a much lighter story. Coming from Down Among the Sticks and Bones having something so sugary and nonsensical was probably the best call, and it is certainly a great reminder of the variety of doors and alignments people can be.

What makes these books so fantastic is they are relatively short reads but McGuire packs so much amazing story into so few pages. It’s truly a gift to be able have such real and complicated characters with such an involved plot and world while still keeping the page count short.

You can purchase Beneath the Sugar Sky via the following

Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

27 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, LGBTQIA, Wayward Children Tags: Audiobook, fantasy, five stars, lgbt, LGBTQIA, seanan mcguire, Wayward Children

Published: 24 March 2015 (print)/ 13 June 2017 (audio)
Publisher: Macmillan Australia/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 187/4 hrs and 4 mins
Narrator: Seanan McGuire
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you’ve got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

I adored Jack and Jill in book one so seeing them have their own origin book was delightful. This dark story is probably a smidge horror, a bit gothic. Elements of stories like Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein, and those from Poe are evident, the dark science and magic combination and testing the realm of possibility. I was surprised I loved it so much given the slight gross moments and how much I hate horror, but the writing is captivating and you’re drawn in by the moors and the politics of those who live there.

From the discovery of their door and their journey into the strange land I loved every second of this book. I adored the eerie feel this story envelops you in right away. The moors are dangerous and fascinating places and seeing the twins find their place among the monsters was wonderful. I loved the darkness and the way McGuire doesn’t make it a bad thing, it’s good to have morbidity in a story, especially with how she’s established the types of people and where their true selves lie in the first book.

The best part is we know where Jack and Jill end up, we know they leave their land. So between devouring their story and seeing them blossom on the moors, you’re also keen to see how they could possibly ever leave a land so perfectly suited to them. Seeing Jack become her true self was divine and I loved their escape from their parents and how they were being moulded into what each parent wanted.

Having the knowledge of book one behind you, it is a bittersweet read too knowing what happens and seeing signs and the strain it places on the sisters, especially given how long they got to be in their world. If it’s a bit too dark you probably could skip it, but it’s a beautiful exploration of the way the doors work and an example of the various worlds that I can’t imagine ever not experiencing it, even with the tiny horror factor. It’s also a gorgeous story of falling in love and what it means to be alive and discovering the beauty of the world.

You can purchase Down Among the Sticks and Bones via the following

Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Blogiversary Winner Announcement

24 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in Giveaway Tags: 12th blogiversary, blogiversary, giveaway, giveaway winners

The time has come to announce the winner of my blogiversary giveaway! As always, thank you to everyone who entered, I am amazed at the response every year. I’m glad that I can still reach so many of you year after year and I love to reward you all for it.

The winner was drawn via Rafflecopter and I’m very pleased to announce that the winner is