Books, book events, articles about books, podcasts about books, tv shows based on books. Just a lot of books all round.
And some non-book things too, if you can believe it.
This week I have been reading a lot. I know that’s the title of this newsletter, but I am giving it my all at the moment. And enjoying it! What have I been reading? Books, yes. Young adult and middle grade that I can’t wait to share. Both from Text Publishing, and I know I’m biased as one of their authors, but gosh they do good stuff for kids. I’ve been reading some adult novels, too. I know that my main focus here is children’s literature, but I like to include some of my grown-up reading because I believe the best thing we can do to encourage young people to pick up a book is to be readers ourselves. And that doesn’t necessarily mean only reading kids’ books, of course! Hopefully some of my non-children’s book recommendations also appeal to you and encourage you to read more.
Aside from actual books, I’ve also come across or been sent some great articles and resources about reading and young people. Some really juicy stuff. And as much as I have been trying to stay offline lately, these kinds of wholesome things keep pulling me back. Plus, do podcasts count as reading? I feel like they should especially if they’re about books? I’ve included the full list below.
I also spoke at the Dymocks First Tuesday Book Club, alongside fellow children’s author Caz Goodwin, and Kimberley Starr and Jodi McAlister. Sadly, Sinead Stubbins had to cancel, but I am looking forward to seeing her on this panel at The Wheeler Centre in a few months. I haven’t read her new book yet, but can’t wait! It looks like it will really appeal to my love of the strange and surreal, and my millennial sensibilities.
At the book club, Caz Goodwin spoke about the unexpected autobiographical elements in her new picture book, Wombat Dreaming, and read the whole thing to a delighted adult audience. You’re never too old to enjoy being read aloud to, are you? Kimberley Starr reflected on her publishing experiences, including the shocking revelation that she’d written a crime novel (at first she could not find it in bookshops because she was looking in the wrong section!). She also gave a very tense reading from a suspenseful section of the book to entice us all. Jodi McAlister was irreverently funny as she talked about her work in academia and how it inspired her latest romance novel in a surprising way, after her editor knocked back all her other ideas for a new book. She also gave us a little taster from an early chapter in the book.
It was such a nice mixed bag of genres and author experiences, and I really enjoyed sharing the stage with these ladies. Afterwards, it was great to chat with attendees and sign books. At the end, everyone got a free ARC to take home and I managed to snag a copy of one I’ve had my eye on, The Pull of the Moon by Pip Smith. Stay tuned for a review in coming weeks.
Right as I left the venue after the event, I bumped into a former student who I hadn’t seen since 2015 when she was in my book club at a nearby school. She is now 22 and studying engineering, and still a reader. Most importantly, of Australian young adult fiction. It made my heart sing! We talked about what she was currently reading and I suggested a few she should try in the same genre. (Including Amy Doak’s Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer series.) Once a book club member, always a book club member! It was a nice coincidence to run into her right after I waxed lyrical to a room full of strangers about my love of working with young readers in school libraries for so many years, and how those kids have inspired my own writing. A full circle moment.
And now a little plug now for an upcoming event at Readings Emporium that I am thrilled to take part in! Jennie Orchard has a new book coming out, The Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation, and I cannot believe my luck in being asked to join her in conversation alongside Alice Pung, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Matt Ottley. How is that lineup!? Tickets are free but you need to book. Please come along! I think it’s going to be a wonderfully uplifting chat about children’s books and lifelong reading.
Remember the books that shaped your childhood, sparked your imagination, and ignited a lifelong love of reading? In The Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation, some of the world's most beloved authors share their own transformative reading experiences - the books and stories that set them on the path of becoming the readers and writers they are today.
What I’ve been reading (and listening to) (and watching) this week
Books first!
Golden is a warm-hearted optimistic story about friends and friendship and art and beauty—and the power of letting yourself be loved…
I’ve been wanting to read this one since I first heard about it, so I was very lucky that my lovely publicist at Text Publishing sent a copy ahead of its release date. Golden is exactly what we need in Australian young adult fiction right now— it is authentic, readable, relatable and dark without being depressing. I know so many teens that would love this story. It’s all about finding happiness and hope after the worst thing has happened, and about giving yourself permission to feel joy even if you don’t always believe you deserve it. I especially liked the way it handled complex sibling relationships, misunderstandings about your own inner turmoil and emotions, and the mundanity of being a teenager. The diversity of the characters doesn’t feel crowbarred in, and Eddie’s relationship with Viv was pitch-perfect. It all just felt very real.
Edie Tells a Lie by Ingrid Laguna
Edie Tells a Lie is a heartfelt story about friendship and family, loneliness, and the consequences of making a mistake.
I’m cheating a bit by putting this one here, because I actually read it months and months ago so I could provide a cover quote. Look, here it is!
I wanted to share it today because my copy arrived this week, and I’ve been flicking through it again. It’s also now officially out in the world! Here is my full quote:
A tender heartfelt story about making mistakes and facing up to the consequences—filled with humour, hope and authenticity.
Realistic middle grade books about mistakes, secrets and lies just happen to be my favourites (I even recently wrote one!) because it is such a key time in a young person’s life for developing a sense of morality, and learning how to make amends for bad decisions. (Which we all do sometimes.) When done right, these ideas can be explored in a nuanced way that isn’t preachy or didactic, but relatable and reassuring. Ingrid Laguna has nailed that brief. I hope this book finds its way into the hands of young readers who really need it.
This week I also read an adult book, Rytual by Chloe Elisabeth Wilson, that was totally bonkers. If you’re interested in the beauty industry and how cultish it can be (the author used to work at Aesop), but also a fan of totally unhinged thrillers, then this might be for you. I liked it but the ending didn’t quite land for me.
I have just started reading The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong. I am a big fan of her writing and looking forward to this messy family drama that unfolds in the aftermath of the death of their matriarch, with four adult siblings struggling to keep their heads above water. Honestly this exact description, or near to it, could be used for a great deal of my most cherished books of all time. There’s something about stories of tumultuous kin that just pulls me in every time.
And then, onto some great articles and resources. Thank you to my various friends and colleagues (and strangers on the internet) who have sent me links to some of these. I am always happy to see a new email or message with the subject, “For your Substack?”.
The brilliant Emily Gale sent out an edition of her Voracious newsletter this week, with five articles from her archive about the mistakes she has made as a writer. Her words are soul-bearing in the best way, with the intention to make sure fellow and future writers (especially children’s authors) don’t make the same errors she did. I really resonated with the one on giving work away for free, something I have done for years, and hope to be able to stop. For me, this doesn’t just include writing, but also consultancy, reading lists, and other services and resources that I now believe have a monetary value. It even encompasses this newsletter! What you’re reading right now is my free weekend edition, of course, but I am starting to wonder how much longer I can sustain it without any remuneration. I enjoy doing it, but I also think it has professional worth. Lots to think about. Back to Emily’s series, I also loved I wrote the book they wanted. It’s a good reminder not to write something that doesn’t feel like yours.
Since that rejection, I’ve always written the book that felt true, not the book that ticks someone else’s boxes. It has not been smooth-sailing to do this. But I’ve never, touch wood, had to file away another manuscript.
After my newsletter piece about fiction and empathy last week, a thoughtful reader sent me this resource. I’d love to see an Australian version!
The library is founded on the belief that empathy can transform both our own lives and the societies we live in. As the novelist Ian McEwan put it, 'Imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion, and it is the beginning of morality.' There is now plenty of research showing that books and films are a great way to help us make the imaginative leap of empathy.
I’m happy to see Books + Publishing starting a junior book club that highlights great new local children’s releases. The June list is a good mix of exciting new things to look out for, including Golden and The Pull of the Moon, both mentioned earlier in this newsletter.
I always look forward to reading the #LoveOzYA newsletter and was interested to see something recently about the field of young adult fiction in academia, and how it does exist, but is a little tricky to pin down because of how widespread its focus and categorisation is, as well as the “lack of collaboration between different fields of YA scholarship”. Sometimes I feel this way about research in the field of school librarianship, too.
YA novels are a type of book that most people are going to read in their lives and which speaks to their experience at that point in their lives (as opposed to say, murder mysteries, which people may go their entire lives never reading, and – hopefully – never personally experiencing). YA novels are also the focus of most efforts to ban, censor, or curtail in some way. Surely these reasons make it worthy of study.
A post in The Hyphen about The Opposite of Loneliness was such a blast from the past for me this week. This book meant everything to me as a young reader and future writer, for very similar reasons that Emma Gannon writes about here. When it was released, I honestly felt like it had been written for me and that I was the only one who really got it. (I was in my early 20s, so please excuse the self-absorption. A healthy and normal thing to have at the time of life!) The tragic backstory of this collection, and the compelling writing about being young was so thrilling to me as someone starting a career in books and feeling uncertain about life in general.
I’m glad to read that the book hasn’t aged in the decade since it was released, and that I wasn’t the only one it resonated with, after all. I’m going to keep an eye out for the new edition which features an introduction by Yellowface author, Rebecca F. Kuang. It’s a book that I hope to give my daughter one day.
And speaking of my little one! My partner and I are still firmly anti-screen for our toddler, which honestly has been reasonably easy up until now, but I am constantly thinking about her as a teenager and how we are going to navigate our strong beliefs about steering clear of smartphones and social media for a good while. This article in The Guardian about young people’s skepticism of unfettered access to technology was somewhat affirming, but also quite sad. As a member of the generation who did have a childhood sans-internet, and an adolescence without Instagram, I feel sorry for Gen Z and how they’ve been the guinea pigs for this stuff.
One for the library and archives nerds out there! And again on the theme of our increasingly digital lives. I really liked this article in The Atlantic about archivists struggling to preserve digital ephemera like texts, Instagram stories and disappearing voice notes. How will we be able to describe this time in society to those who come after us if so much of what we document is fleeting?
The problem for historians is twofold: On the one hand, celebrities, artists, executives, and social-movement leaders are generating more personal records than ever, meaning a lucky researcher might have access to a public figure’s entire hard drive but struggle to interpret its contents. On the other hand, historians might lose access to the kind of intimate material that reveals the most—a possibility that has led some prognosticators to predict a coming “digital dark age.”
This is why I always encourage young people to keep (handwritten) journals!
As a side note, I recently became a paying subscriber to The Atlantic and so far have zero regrets. The writing they publish about modern life is timely, engaging, and enlightening. And hopefully archived in some very safe corner of the internet!
Finally, something that has nothing to do with books or children or children’s books. Or does it? I have mentioned my disillusion with the internet recently, but this series on creativity by The New York Times has brought me back. (Sort of.) I love the idea of following short artistic prompts every day to develop the ‘skill’ of creativity and prime your brain for divergent thinking.
Practicing creativity, or simply interacting with it, can also make you more empathetic and open-minded, said Dr. Elizabeth Gaufberg, an associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who co-directs an art fellowship for health professionals. “Engaging with art helps people tolerate ambiguity and listen to other perspectives,” she said. “It helps people stay curious.”
There is a whole week’s worth of prompts here, but I especially liked Take a Page from Dr Suess and Use the 10 Percent More Trick. I encourage you to try them yourself! Who knows, they may provide you with an idea for a new piece of creative writing or artwork.
And then, some podcasts.
This week I’ve been really getting into Read This. I listen to so many book and culture podcasts, and sometimes they all kind of merge into one another. Especially because the same authors are usually interviewed at the same time (around a new book release) and the interviewers often ask the same kinds of questions about the creative process and the path to publication. But! Michael Williams, host of Read This, asks more specific and left-of-field questions, and has clearly read each of the books he discusses very closely and thoughtfully. I have found his commentary and questions really engaging. They truly stand out from the barrage of author interviews available online.
I especially enjoyed his recent episode with Jessica Stanley, author of Consider Yourself Kissed:
When I was young, reading was such a huge part of my life. And I really clearly remember when we lived in Parkville, my parents would take me to the library all the time, but there was a night when the North Carlton Library stayed open late. And so I would go in my pajamas and dressing gown and get my books for the week.
And it was just an absolutely mandatory part of my life to escape into a book. It was almost like a life support system. And in my house, books were venerated and authors were as important as gods.
For me, reading was pure freedom. And so I would go into the library, get my 10 or 20 books, and I would deal with the words as they came into my body and became emotions and images. And even now, I tend to read in a way that is extremely agentic.
So I never feel as if there's a book I must read. I only read what I want. And when words are coming into me, I can let them wash over me.
It is just the area of my life where I feel totally on solid ground, totally able to experience what the book is giving. It's something I don't have anywhere else in my life, but it makes me feel strong and happy.
And then with Kevin Wilson, author of many books but most recently Run for the Hills:
I grew up in a very rural town in the United States and the deep south. It wasn't that I felt like I was completely alone, but I also knew that there was this larger world that I had no access to. This is before the Internet. It was just, I knew there were things that I wanted that I could not access, and one of the ways that I could was reading. And strangely, you'd think, oh, I'd read all these books about these mystical lands, but it wasn't.
Fantasy never pulled me in as much as books that were set in the world that I lived in, but were slightly beyond what I could touch. Just like anything, you read this book written by somebody so different from you and so far away, and yet there's a moment in the book where you recognize yourself in that scene, this sensation that you didn't know how to articulate. And when I was a kid, those moments sustained me where I said, I know that feeling. I have felt that too. And it really, I think about it all the time, it was almost like a signal from an antenna had gone out into the unknown and somehow had hit me. And I could hear it.
It was this thing that made me feel like, oh, something found me when I needed it. And those were books over and over.
I actually got all teary during both those episodes because I was so moved. I’m a sook, especially when it comes to the power of books to change a life.
All episodes of Read This are worth listening to, even if you haven’t read the books yet. Just this morning I finished the Torrey Peters one on Stag Dance, which I am now wildly anticipating and may have to buy, because I’m way too far down on my public library reserve queue.
Someone mentioned this podcast to me this week and then someone else sent me this Facebook post, both from the ABC and all about rethinking high school reading lists, citing research by Dr Hugh Gundlach, Lecturer at the University of Melbourne. If you know me at all, or have read this newsletter for a while, you’ll know that one of my biggest passions is getting better books onto school booklists and in English classrooms. So I am very glad to see this being discussed more widely and in the mainstream media!
We'd like to change what today's students think literature is and who can write it.
I am speaking about this exact topic at the upcoming AATE/ALEA conference in Hobart, as well as for an upcoming (unreleased as yet) event for VATE, and the SLAV annual conference, both with brilliant teacher Lauren Kyte. I think it’s really important that people understand why we should be teaching more diverse, contemporary and local literature in schools, but perhaps even more important to empower educators with practical strategies for how to make this happen. It’s one thing to believe in it, and another thing to get it past gatekeepers, leadership, and fellow teaching staff who are happy for their booklists to stay as they are forever and ever. (So depressing.) I’m hoping to offer some good ideas for how to implement change in these upcoming presentations.
And that’s all my reading for the week. But wait, one more thing!
During my lunch break one day I started watching the Forever television series on Netflix, based on the Judy Blume book that impacted me greatly, both in my life and my writing, and even made its way into my first book, All the Little Tricky Things. (My main character reads it when she’s a bit too young, just like all of us did.)
To be upfront, I only watched one episode, and so maybe I am not fully equipped to comment, but I found it quite strange that the show claims to be based on the book at all? While Judy Blume’s 1975 novel was set in white, affluent New Jersey, the television adaptation moved to Los Angeles in 2018, featuring Black teens from very different backgrounds. That’s great! And way more diverse and inclusive! But it also just completely changes the story beyond recognition. The first episode was good in its own right, but to me, it wasn’t Forever. It wasn’t better or worse, either. It was just a different (more modern) story about the intensity, wonder, disappointment and anxiety of early sexual experiences.
This article in Vulture discusses whether the story of Forever really fits into a contemporary context. (But ultimately argues that it does and doesn’t in different ways.)
The mystique of Judy Blume’s 1975 novel Forever … lies in its frankness. Her depiction of two teens who fall in love and go on a ski trip and slowly, gradually work their way from kissing to hand jobs and intercourse and orgasms hits at a precise, paradoxical point of what’s most shocking about teenage life: It is full of taboos, yet all those taboos are being broken all the time. A 2025 adaptation of Forever … must juggle several questions at once: How can anything made in the era of Sex Education and Euphoria have the same boundary-crossing juice of a novel about teen sexuality in the ’70s? Should it, even? Have algorithmic pressures shifted what feels frightening and meaningful for high-schoolers now? Are teens in 2025 … the same?
Reviews online say the show is a slow burn, so maybe I just need to give it time for the connection to the book to become more clear. Or just watch it without Judy Blume in mind at all, and see how it lands.
Has anyone else seen it? What do you think?
Celebrating heritage through stories and songs
This week my daughter and I attended a special Storytime Italiano at Rowville Library. I do not speak a lick of Italian, but my partner’s maternal family come from an area around Napoli, and it is really important to me that my daughter is able to understand, access and celebrate this part of her heritage. Her middle name comes from her Nonna, after all!
I was quite out of my depth at the storytime. All the other mum’s were clearly fluent (whether they were actually Italian or not) and there was not a word of English spoken throughout. And yet, we loved it! It felt genuinely very inclusive and festive. We danced around to the national anthem because this week was the Festa della Repubblica, and read a beautiful pop-up book with artistry that took our breath away. We will be back!
Our library also does regular storytimes in Chinese and Sinhalese. If you’re interested in going along to one, even if you don’t speak the language but have some kind of family connection to the culture, this is me encouraging you to see what your local libraries offer, and give it a go!
And finally, a mid-year break
I’m planning to take a little newsletter break from 30 June for a couple of weeks to recharge my batteries and focus on reading, and maybe get some other writing done, too. (My third book or lack thereof is in much need of some attention!)
I am attending the AATE/ALEA conference in early July and will give a full report on my return! The program is chockers, and I am presenting multiple sessions. It’s going to be a busy winter ‘break’!
On that note, thank you for your continued support of my writing, and for understanding when I need to step back for a couple of weeks. I work really hard on this newsletter and hope you find it interesting and valuable. I can only keep doing it while I enjoy it, and can find the time, but also while it provides me with a small amount of income. If you have a few spare dollars each month, I would be very grateful if you could help me keep this project going! A subscription is currently only $7 per month or $75 for the full year. Even if you subscribed for one month and then cancelled, it would be a small but appreciated boost.
While it feels a bit embarrassing to ask for help funding this thing, I’m also trying to take Emily Gale’s writing advice and stop giving so much away for free. And to those who already support my work financially, you are the best. Thank you.
Do you like what you read today? Then please recommend I Read A Lot to your colleagues and friends by clicking below!
Thank you for the Books+Publishing Book Club recommendation. I'm starting to think I will pay for a Books+Publishing subscription.
I love all of these recs so much! I'm also a huge fan of Read This, I reckon Michael is one of the best interviewers going around. Always a must listen 😍
(And your event looked so lovely! x)