Lost in a Good Book

Book Bingo 2025

16 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in Book Bingo Tags: book bingo, book bingo 2025, book bingo 25

Looking back, I think the idea of my Aussie YA Challenge took hold right when I was supposed to be making my book bingo and the fear and uncertainty about trying something new was what I focused on and forgot to create my card. But now we’re a year on, and the regular New Year chaos of January has arrived I can return to our regular programming with posts about goals, my blogiversary, trying to catch up on the backlog of reviews, and of course bingo!

I really like my choices this year. I do think I copped out a little avoiding things I didn’t really want to read. I could have added fantasy but then I’d have to read one and I don’t want to be forced to, especially when I have a record of hit or miss when it comes to that. I’ve also done this enough that I have a few dozen options to cycle through that give me a variety of reading options. Classics, space operas, and mythology will all cycle round again no doubt. I might have fun with creative covers next time too.

The other thing I avoided was a trope box. I’ve never been good with finding a book based solely on tropes. Until recently, when the trope is usually the only thing listed on a blurb instead of a plot, how were you supposed to even know something was enemies to loves or fake dating until you read it? I’ll happily discover these things later, but I don’t need to seek them out.

Maybe I’ll be brave next year and go wild on tropes, fantasy, and covers, but for now I’ve got this lot to tackle.

Download Bingo Card

Peep! by Meg McLaren

10 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: children's picture book, five stars, meg mclaren, picture book

Published: 23nd June 2022
Publisher: Anderson Press
Illustrator: Meg McLaren
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Dot isn’t like the other dogs: she doesn’t like going out for walks, and she doesn’t like going to the park. Her favorite thing is staying at home with her favorite toy and best friend, Peep. But when Peep goes missing under the garden fence, Dot might have to venture out into the world…

First things first, the illustrations are beyond adorable. I was caught immediately by the front cover, not only for the title but the image which is such an apt depiction of my own puppy with her “peep” (known as Little Friend) I couldn’t resist.

For most of the book it explores the lovely life Peep and Dot have together: strolls in the garden, enjoying snuggles inside and braving bath time. But when Peep goes on an unexpected adventure Dot braves beyond the garden to rescue him.

I liked that Dot discovers the world isn’t so bad after all, and that other dogs can be fun once they are no longer scary and new. But I also liked that despite that knowledge, despite that adventure, Dot and peep still enjoy being together inside their safe place. Dot didn’t need to change once she’s had this experience, but with new knowledge she can choose to have a new interaction if she wants to, but is also content to resume life as it was.

I cannot stress how adorable these illustrations are. Dot’s little pom pom hat is divine, Peep is so cute, and the depictions of their daily routine is incredibly sweet. It reminds me so much of my own dog and her adventures with her little friend it really made this book something extra, and it was already pretty amazing.

You can purchase Peep! via the following

QBD | Blackwell’s

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Time of My Life by Mary Frame

09 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Fiction Tags: Audiobook, mary frame, rachanee lumayno, three stars, time loop

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: 04 January 2021 (print)/10 August 2021 (audio)
Publisher: Self Published/Self Published
Pages: 270/6 hours, 32 minutes
Narrator: Rachanee Lumayno
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3.5 Stars

Today is the worst day of Jane Stewart’s life. And she’s reliving it over and over (and over and over) again.

She’s late to the same make-or-break meeting.

She’s fired from the same soul-crushing job.

And—the cherry on top—she’s dumped by the same lying, selfish dirtbag.

But no matter how many times she relives the same disasters and no matter what she tries to change them, it all ends in the same abysmal mess. Because, apparently, being stuck in a time loop on the worst day of her life hasn’t cured her crippling social anxiety. Go figure.

The one bright spot? Her long-time crush wants to be more than friends…if only she can get them past their first date. And so her happily ever is doomed before it can even begin unless she can find a way to save her job, her heart, and, oh yeah, the space-time continuum.

I love a time loop story, and I like too one that plays with form, though there is something to be said for the classics too. This story dives into a bit of both.

Frame skips over multiple loops almost instantly which was interesting. Part of the fun of time loops is seeing the multiple early loops play out, but after a few the story skips and a lot of it is telling of what Jane has done instead.

There are a lot of deviations from the original day too, Jane changing up her routine almost instantly. Which is fine, but I was hoping for more exploration of the same day for a bit, it’s a core feature of the time loop I think to see characters adapt. This could easily be a time saving thing, and a chance to explore further down the line.

It isn’t all bad, I enjoyed the format in a few place where we see repeats of the same situation play out, but I still think it was an interesting choice to start skipping so soon. Jane comes to terms with it so quickly and it’s curious to see her shift in mindset.

The addition of magical realism – clearly proven early inclusion of magical realism – was also interesting. I like having a cause for these kind of situations. Mysteries are nice, but when something strange happens that has these kind of effects it’s fun.

I enjoyed the resolution to the loop. It was sweet but not over the top and it felt natural which is what you want with a story that has a little bit of magic in it.

Lumayno was a good narrator and it was an easy listening experience that let you fall into the story right away. It’s a relatively short story but one that tells a well-rounded narrative while still being light.

You can purchase Time of My Life via the following

Wordery | Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

#AussieYAChallenge 2025

07 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in Aussie YA Challenge, Young Adult Tags: #AussieYAChallenge, aussie books, Aussie YA Challenge, loveozya, young adult

The Aussie YA Challenge is a challenge created by Amy at Lost in a Good Book as an attempt to read more Australian young adult novels.

As part of my goals I am putting some determination (and public guilt and accountability) into my challenge and I am hoping to be a little better this year. Based on my previous challenges I expect each year I will be a bit better at planning and reading and organising so this year will be an improvement on my first I’m sure.

Despite the chaos of last year and scraping through my goal of a measly 12 books out of my 80+ read being Aussie YA, I am diving right back in and selecting the Nix level again. Whoo! 12 months 12 books.

I am hoping to hit the ground running because the usual dip mid to late year will get in the way, the other option is to try and stick to the one a month plan which could go either way in terms of success.

I am excited to explore more YA books, especially some of the older ones on my shelf I have gazed lovingly at for years and yet to pick up. Hopefully even find some new authors to fall in love with. One can only hope!

If you are interested in participating head to the #AussieYAChallenge page and join up.

Vale Kaz Delaney

06 Jan 2025 2 Comments

by Amy in Rambles Tags: kaz delaney

The news broke a few days ago that Australian author Kaz Delaney had passed away. It’s taken a while for me to gather my thoughts because while I knew it was coming, it was still a shock. Kaz was a powerhouse in the Australian writing scene, she was an enthusiastic supporter of writers and readers, and a friend.

I first met Kaz in the early years of the Newcastle Writer’s Festival. She quickly became a friend and has been a great supporter of mine for the past decade. She was a beautiful soul and an incredibly talented author and supporter of those in the book world. She was generous with her time to a young budding writer who loved reading and had just started out blogging about her love of books. She took me under her wing when I saw her at book events and introduced me to people, promoted my very new and shaky blog, and bragged about the professionalism of my reviews.

Over the years I saw Kaz at her own book events as she launched new releases or I sat in the audience as she shared her knowledge and experience on numerous panels at book festivals. Through Kaz I found new authors, met other writers, and got to participate in some incredible events I never would have dreamt of attending. I soon got invited to join her writing group and was able to share many more years of support and unofficial mentoring from a writer who had been cemented in the Newcastle and Australian writing world for decades.

Across her career Kaz wrote for children, adults, and teens. I remember her telling an audience once that while she felt she was born to write, she was also passionate about children and it showed in the books she penned for them.

I believe at last count she had about 80 books published under all her pen names which is an amazing legacy to leave behind. A vast majority were for children but that didn’t stop her from branching out into books for older audiences. She also wrote cosy mysteries, romance, and young adult stories, all filled with humour, fabulous characters, and compelling plots.

Always willing to share her knowledge and skills Kaz ran workshops for people, as well as going into schools to help kids with their writing. She was always generous with her time and her willingness to help other develop their own writing voice and style was part of the beautiful person she was. I am eternally grateful I was able to attend some of these sessions and got to learn from someone with such a varied and extensive career.

I am honoured to have met Kaz and got to know her over the years. The writing community has lost a great and talented writer and a wonderful woman. She will be missed immensely.