List of the most popular hashtags for theme #AUSTRALIANFICTION

Due in November

ad | The sun shines relentlessly, the heat makes you wish for you own private infinity pool and you want nothing more than a refreshing watermelon cocktail with lots of ice? If your answer is yes, don’t forget to take The Nowhere to the pool. It’s a gay New Adult book by Australian writer @chrisgillbooks. Two boys on two neighbouring farms with nothing else to do but fall for each other. I’m more than halfway through and I can’t wait to find out where the story is going. I have an inkling or two but I really hope I’m wrong. I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of devastation. And to answer your question: no, I cannot recommend wearing wool sweaters in the middle of June. Please don’t try this at home.

Currently Reading There's nothing like diving into an addictive read over a long weekend. I read The Dry early last year and while it was completely different to books I usually pick up and enjoy I absolutely devoured and loved it. It's looking as though The Lost Man will be no different. I have already been sucked into the desolate country landscape and the lives of the three brothers, I can't wait to see what happens in this story. Have you read this one or anything else by Jane Harper? Thanks also to @halfdesertedstreets and @sydwritersfest for running great competitions and for this one

“This book deals with many subjects – friendships, family relationships, sexuality, death, and that feeling, longing and hoping for something more. I felt Seb's frustrations for not being satisfied with where he was in his life, and the guilt he also felt for even just wanting more than he had. I really enjoyed the format of the skipping between timeframes, sometimes in books it doesn't work and it feels too much but with this story it worked really well and was seamless. Throughout the story the repeated thought of Seb’s is 'You can't keep it secret forever, the truth always comes out eventually', and as the tension grows and the story develops I was so intrigued to know what the secret was going to be, what had happened and how did it affect him/anyone else. WELL, let me tell you I was not expecting the answers to that question, cue heartbreak and open-shocked mouth. Just brilliant – the end section of the book: just wow. Loved it! Congratulations to Chris Gill, you should be very proud of this!” – Sara via @goodreads #thenowherenovel

Woot! Look who is in this month’s New Idea magazine! 7 cosy New Reads for Winter. And my book is in great company with @tesswoods_author @maya.linnell.writes @catherineisaacauthor and others! . @penguinbooksaus @tnpaynewriter

Foreign Soil is unlike any collection I've read before, giving a voice to those that are often silenced. Spanning from London to Footscray, Jamaica to Uganda, the collection involves a diverse range of settings, cultures and struggles, yet all bind together to share the unique experiences of unspoken minorities. The title story, Foreign Soil, sees a young Australian hairdresser follow her boyfriend to his home country of Uganda. The Stilt Fisherman of Kathaluwa tells the story of a Sri Lankan child soldier's escape to what he hopes will be freedom and safety, only to be indefinitely held captive in a Sydney detention centre. Clarke closes the collection with The Sukiyaki Book Club, a clever, reflective piece which allows us an insight into her own life as a mother and writer. . Foreign Soil left me in awe of Clarke's talent as a writer, with each story containing so much depth and development, in both its plot and characters. I was particularly drawn to the way she often voiced characters accent through dialogue, which I found added to their authenticity and brought them to life. The story Big Islan, which tells the story of a Jamaican man learning to read English, is completely written in his own voice and accent. Other reviews I've read have described this writing as jarring, difficult and disconnecting, and I believe that is what makes it so powerful, as Clarke allows an insight into not only the difficulty of learning a second language, but the disconnection of being surrounded by voices and languages that are not your own. . Foreign Soil was the perfect read to wrap up my #aussieapril. An absolute must-read and memorable short story collection.

Just finished...... Recent events meant that I really required a fly-along-the-pages, can't-wait-to-find-out-what-happens-next kind of read - and this certainly delivered! Amazing atmosphere (incredibly vivid, humid, croc-infested Top End atmosphere), fantastic characters, really intense suspense and lots of police procedural detail. I'm forever thankful to Jo @booksta_jojo for insisting that I try Ms. Fox.... ✨✨ #thrillerthursday - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - #bookstagram #bibliophile #bookishlove #booksgalore #candicefox #crimefiction #redemption #bookaddict #allthebooks #tedconkaffey #bücherliebe #libri #ozlit #australianfiction#thriller #coffeeandbooks #krimi #bookflatlay #booklife #flowersandbooks

To celebrate #PrideMonth and the release of The Nowhere, I caught up with @booksforqueersuk about the book and my own coming out journey. Link in bio to give it a read!

. ~ Flower Power ~ . ‘We plant, we nurture, we grow and we give, different flowers for different moments in time, but all for the same purpose: to say that which cannot be said, and to say it all with beauty and with grace.’ . ~ The Language of Flowers: A Miscellany by Mandy Kirby ~ . In the foreword to Mandy Kirby’s beautifully illustrated miscellany of the language of flowers, the author Vanessa Diffenbaugh reminds us that ‘In every culture and throughout time, flowers have been central to the human experience.’ My great friend @jbcalligraphy has just been to stay with us for the weekend and brought a beautiful bouquet of summer flowers to say ‘thank you.’ We recently held my mother’s funeral service and chose her favourite flowers, freesias, to say our final ‘farewell’ to her.Flowers do indeed help us to express our thoughts and feelings. . In Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s best selling novel, also called The Language of Flowers, she tells the story of a young girl who finds it hard to talk about her emotions as she has grown up in foster care, moving from family to family. She learns about the Victorian language of flowers and finally finds a way to express the emotions that had built within her: grief, anger, mistrust.At 18, she leaves the care system behind and finds work at a florist where she discovers her gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. . In Holly Ringland’s recent debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, a nine year old girl goes to live with her grandmother when tragedy strikes. She, too, learns the language of flowers to say the things that are too hard to speak. . I am looking forward to reading both of these novels that focus on the Victorian tradition of every flower having a meaning and wonder if you have a favourite flower?