What Are You Reading? Celebrating (And Wrapping Up) Book Week 2020

By Georgia FreeFriday 23 Oct 2020Hope BreakfastCultureReading Time: 7 minutes

Book Week reminds us of the magic of reading and, this year, Sam and Duncan had so much fun celebrating books with you! Here is the recap…

Interviews with children’s authors

Matt Cosgrove, Macca the Alpaca

Alpacas and Llamas in Lockdown: A Chat with Author-Illustrator Matt Cosgrove

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Jacqueline Harvey, Alice-Miranda series

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Laura Sieveking, Ella at Eden

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Nat Amoore, The Power of Positive Pranking

The Crazy Fun World of Positive Pranking with Children’s Author Nat Amoore

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Mike Barry, Action Tank

Sam & Duncan shared favourite books and played children’s book trivia

Hopeland reminisced

About the books you loved as kids

The Zoopie Zats by Helen Hughes. A lot of fun. –Catherine

Prince: What A Mess by Frank Muir. –anonymous

Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire and Come Over to My House by Dr Seuss. –Kim 

My favourite childhood books are Mr Men and Little Miss series. So many different characters, just love them. Good teaching for kids too. –Stella 

The Kangaroo from Woolloomooloo. –Dan 

I remember as a little kid absolutely loving the the Little Golden Books classics (with included tapes) like, The Little Engine that Could, Saggy Baggy Elephant, The Pokey Little Puppy, The Tawny, Scrawny Lion,  Scuffy the Tug Boat, Tootle and The Little Red Caboose. –Andrew 

I loved Flat Stanley as a child. I was able to purchase a copy recently to read to my kids. –Carol

Sneetches on Beaches. –Trevor

My favourite book when I was about 4 years old was The Tiger Who Came To Tea. –Jade 

My favourite book was Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne.  My father read it to me at bedtime and he had different voices for each character.  I’m now 54 and my father can still recite whole passages without even having the book!  I still love it because it was so simple and innocent. –Lyndal

A Fish out of Water & the Magic Faraway Tree series. Still love these as an adult! –Nicole 

My favourite book is Wombat Stew. It’s about a dingo who tries to create his perfect stew by finding all these different Australian animals and attempting to eat them. Another favourite childhood book for me was How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight. It’s about how all different dinosaurs go to bed at night. –anonymous

My favourite kids books are the Madeline series and Where The Wild Things Are. When I got older, I loved The Magic Faraway Tree, and its companions, plus May Gibbs’ Gumnut Babies books. –Sharlene

I loved all the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Narnia series too! –Leanne 

Any Biggles book by Capt W.E. Johns, Anne of Green Gables, Wings of Fire by Tui T Sutherland, Meg & Mog books. –Damien 

When I was little, Possum Magic by Mem Fox. When I was a bit older Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis. –Nicole 

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Murder mystery anyone? Your favourite crime fiction recommendations

I’m a big fan of Sherlock Holmes, but more recently I enjoyed the Grisham books. –anonymous

The best crime fiction is Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express or Death on the Nile. –Joel

My favourite author is Michael Robotham. Australian journalist now living in England and writes the best psychological thriller crime books. Makes you really care for the characters. Also Dervla McTiernan – an Irish crime writer now living in Australia. Brilliant stuff. –Stephen

Anything by Jasper Fforde! I think that would be a fun place to start –Leah

The Famous Five and The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton. –Lisa

The comic book, Detective Conan, is as far as I go! –Linda

Rowland Sinclair series by Australian author, Sulari Gentill is excellent. About 9 books in the series and set in 1930-1940s in Sydney! –Kirsty

Agatha Christie Books (classic crime fiction), The Enola Holmes Mysteries by Nancy Springer (for kids) and anything by Christian White (for modern crime fiction). –Nicole the Librarian

Louise Penny writes a series set in Quebec. Her Inspector Armand Gramach is a kind, moral man whose relationships with his family are beautifully written. The community in which he lives has wonderful characters. The books are about crime but are filled with light and hope. Begin with Still Life. –Nikky

The inaugural Mystery Writers of America Award in 1953 was won by an Aussie, Geraldine Halls. Anything by her is brilliant, especially The Yellow Turban. –Mandy 

Crime fiction I’ve enjoyed recently is Dervla McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly series. The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn. The above must be read with an appropriate Irish accent. –Mandy

All books by Karen Slaughter are great. –Kylie

The Couple Next Door and The Silent Patient are great. –Chanelle

The series that I have enjoyed over the last 18 months is The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. The first one was written 22 years ago. There are now 20 books in the series with the latest one being released last year. A wonderful series set in Botswana. A few years ago there was a TV series made of the books which got me into them. Not grisly or thrillers but enjoyable detective stories. The books aren’t too long and each story is contained in one book so you don’t need to read the whole series. -Sarah 

Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens. A series most suitable for 10 – 16 years. –Kayla 

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And finally, your current reads

I have been into a few series. A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy. Geronimo Stilton. Warriors by Erin Hunter and the Percy Jackson series. –anonymous

I’m currently reading The Secret Garden on account of the movie coming out. I’m also reading the The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. –Nicole 

I’m reading Hunger Games: Mockingjay for the millionth time. Also reading The Blood of Olympus – the final book from The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. It’s based on Greek mythology and it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. Also reading TRANSFER by Joel Cutter! An amazing way to understand what it’s like in the USA right now. –anonymous

I’m reading The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda with my mum at bedtime. She’s enjoying it as much as me! –anonymous

I’m listening to Desperation by Stephen King. –anonymous

My husband is reading The Three Secret Cities by Matthew Riley. –Michelle

I’m reading The Adventures of Enola Holmes by Nancy Springer. It’s about Sherlock Holmes’ sister. –Josh

Just Don’t Fall by Josh Sunquist. My husband said it’s an amazing book about a boy’s struggle and triumph with cancer, his journey with his family and friends, and also becoming an amputee and a Paralympian. –Michelle

Currently reading Strange Fire by John Macarthur. –June 

I’m listening to Rich Dad Poor Dad on audiobook. It’s really interesting and about changing your mindset on how to manage money smarter. –Letitia 

Just finished The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.Highly recommend it! –Alana

I’m currently reading, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with my 5/6 class. We love it! –Shelley

I am currently reading Astrophysics for Young People In a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson. –anonymous

My 8-year-old boy Logan has 3 books on the go this week: The Famous Five: Five Fall into Adventure, The Bermuda  Triangle, and Animal Rescue Friends. –Marney

Book 2 of the Daevabad trilogy and Book 3 of the Nevermoor series. –Sharlene 

Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sacher is phenomenal! –anonymous

Currently reading Petronella McGovern’s new book The Good Teacher. She’s a Sydney author and this one is based in a suburb near the Northern Beaches. It’s an absolute page turner, every evening I can’t wait to hear to bed early and read a few more chapters. –Lyndon

I am reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Best book ever! –anonymous

Devouring The Godmothers by Monica McInerney & the Toffle Towers series by Tim Harris. –anonymous

Just about to finish reading/listening to John Bevere’s Driven by Eternity. And just started reading Pray Big Things by Julia Jeffress Sadler. –Miki 

Am reading an old book which I never read and has been sitting on my shelf for years, Paul Erdman’s The Panic of ’89. It’s a gripping story of stock and foreign exchange markets, international relations and terrorism. So relevant to today. An amazing read! –Michael 

Currently reading Overcomer. Very encouraging –anonymous

In preparation for the movie release next year, I’m rereading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. I’ve also got the new Nicolas Sparks novel, The Return, to read next. –Tracy

We hope you’ve had a fantastic Book Week (and that these recommendations increase your to-be-read book pile beside your bed). Happy reading! 

If you’re looking for more reading inspiration, check out the Hope Book Club podcast.