Queensland Reviewers Collective Reading

Just by chance one afternoon I came across a wonderful website which I can recommend.
The readers review many book genres from Australia and overseas on Queensland Reviewers Collective.

They also list current awards, the Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Ned Kelly Awards and more. They offer reviews for various categories from crime to historical and literary as well as children’s books. Plus there is a Readers Choice which was a landslide win for Emily Maguire – ‘Rapture’ (Allen & Unwin)

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2025

Writing Australia announced the winners of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Two of the winning titles, chosen by an independent panel of judges from shortlists announced in August are:

Fiction – ‘Theory & Practice’ (Michelle de Kretser, Text)

Nonfiction – ‘Mean Streak’ (Rick Morton, Harper Collins Australia)

The awards were presented at a special event, which was live streamed, at the National Library of Australia in Canberra on Monday, 29 September 2025. More information is available on the Creative Australia website.

Ned Kelly Awards 2025

The Australian Crime Writers Association has announced the 2025 Ned Kelly Award winners. The winning works in each category, chosen from shortlists announced in August are:

Best crime fiction – ‘The Creeper’ (Margaret Hickey, Penguin)

Best true crime writing – ‘A Thousand Miles from Care’ (Steve Johnson, HarperCollins)

Best debut crime fiction – ‘All You Took from Me’ (Lisa Kenway, Transit Lounge)

Best international crime fiction – ‘A Case of Matricide’ (Graeme Macrae Burnet, Text)

The winners were announced via a live-streamed video on the Australian Crime Writers Association website on Thursday, 26 September 2025. More information about the Ned Kelly Award Winners is available on the Australian Crime Writers Association website.

Great ideas for Aussie book club reads and also visit Sisters In Crime Australia. Now all I need to do is track down copies of each book then read and review on (whisper) Goodreads.
Whatever you read, enjoy your reading!

📚 With thanks to QRC 💗 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

What happened to the knitter? Created by Michelle Hutton of Beenleigh Quilters, Brisbane Craft & Quilt Fair Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 2024 © photo Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2024

Publishing House Seeks Volunteer Reader

Volunteer proof-reader vacancy

Do you have a sharp eye for detail and a love of great stories? Hawkeye Publishing is looking for a volunteer proof-reader to join their team.

You would be helping the Hawkeye Publishing team put the final polish on their newest books, proof-reading manuscripts that have already been line edited and typeset, across a wide range of genres. Typically Hawkeye need one manuscript proof-read every 1-2 months.

Perks of the job: Here’s what they say…

A. Receive a complimentary copy of any book you proof and fall in love with — their gift to you to add to your collection.

B. Invited to the occasional training session and social event, connecting with director Carolyn Martinez and the Hawkeye team.

C. Professional references from a trade publisher.

An eye for detail makes
all the difference!

To be considered: Please send Hawkeye an email with your details:

Your CV and cover letter, with evidence of your proof-reading ability and experience.
With an eye for detail, this is an opportunity to help bring quality Australian stories into the world.
Be part of a friendly, passionate publishing team.
For Hawkeye Publishing I proof-read and reviewed author Jack Roney’s superlative ‘The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon’ (see below) such an exciting and inventive adventure story.
Jack also writes adult thrillers.
Have a look at Hawkeye’s book box gift packs: https://hawkeyebooks.com.au/collections/gifts
From gripping thrillers to heartwarming romances and thought provoking non-fiction, Hawkeye Publishing has a lot to offer readers.
You could be the first to read!

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

‘The Ghost Train and The Scarlet Moon’ Review

The Bright Sword for Restless Readers

**“The Bright Sword”** (Not a child’s book) By Lev Grossman Published Penguin Random House UK 2024

In case you don’t believe me, or dislike the book on principle, please try to read at least a bit of it to gauge the true essence of Lev Grossman’s blockbusting novel “The Bright Sword”.

It is a bit daunting to praise a book which has already received glowing recommendations from Rebecca Yarros and George R.R. Martin. Also the first mentions of King Arthur go back to ancient Welsh poetry from the sixth to the tenth centuries.

But I will plough onward lest there is a reader out there at a place called Wits End with a teenager who does not read. Worry not, this is the book for them. Or any jaded reader really. Sure it’s often a bit gruesome and a large tome but you can get it in different formats – the sheer readability, the accessibility of this tale cannot be underestimated. Parents and Medieval cognoscenti, move out from under estimated and go forth into early Britain badlands as never been scribed before.
(Please note the castle and items photographed with the book are NOT part of the package).

Snippets from my Goodreads review to further tempt non-readers:
Gretchen Bernet-Ward said: “A heavy book (weight-wise) but a highly enjoyable read ✨ Ten stars for this one!” Review posted Goodreads September 2025.

REVIEW: I received a brand new copy of this enthralling tale, or dare I say voluminous tome? “The Bright Sword”, written by author Lev Grossman over a ten year period. It could have been a series but this paperback is 5cm (2 inches) thick with 670 pages not counting the historical note. Think James A. Michener’s blockbusters but don’t despair. It is already a winner! I was keen to get started because it was guaranteed that it would be a while before I could write my review. This is a contemporary take on a very old story and is shaped into something akin to medieval social commentary or something like army bros on reconnoitre. Non-reader teenagers and adults will enjoy it. I have always been a fan of King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Morgan le Fay, wizard Merlin and those who live in Camelot so I guess it was inevitable I would give notice of intent to read and plough on regardless.

LATER: Well, I had to concede tiredness and take off my reading glasses for awhile. An absorbing tome, male-centric (followed by the age of Guinevere) with a layer of topical subjects like social justice, war, rights, royal privilege, rich and poor, chunks of fantasy, dreams, visions, an angel fight, modern language (not too hip) and general non-glorification of what the middle ages were like to live in way back when dragons breathed fire. See chapter eleven “The Tale Of Sir Palomides” for a satirical ye-olde take on medieval Britain; or Knights in convo “Lancelot is the last of the great ones,” Constantine said gravely, “he’s not like us, he’s a hero.”

FAVES: My aunties said Mary Stewart’s Merlin Trilogy rules (I’m a Heath Ledger fan of “A Knight’s Tale“) but this twisty-turny meeting with sorcerer Merlin is well done, creepy, prophetic and offers touches of universal Monty Python humour in a live-or-die situation. Nimue, The Boss, does some nifty moves on sly Merlin, and has some good words to impart. Of course there is also sad and gruesome stuff involving battles and pitting of wits. My favourite chapter is Fourteen “The Well of Ink” a master class in creating an easily imagined scene even though it is nothing like I have ever experienced. Likeable lads, the knights Bedivere and country boy Collum are in Cornwall, one of the unconquered lands which has not fallen to the Romans so what hope have these guys got? Just the same there is some beautiful/scary written imagery as the scenes dissolve like CGI special effects.

MUST-READ: All in all, perhaps this will become my favourite King Arthur version. Galahad is mentioned and Guinevere plays it cool “Welcome to Avalon,” then comes the Saxon refugees. Later in the land of Pict, a sardonic Dinadan quote “Great, you can give us a tour of the finer coastal haystacks.” Stay with it, I really enjoyed the story and think a variety of readers will love it. If I was so inclined I would say this tale leans toward a universal awareness. A portrayal of semi-factual lifestyles, ancient battles and ongoing things readers may loosely compare to present day. The physical book is impressive but an e-book or author-read audio book is available. Read it before the movie!

💗 Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

Prisoner of the State by Lily Arthur

My thoughts have become passionate words on my blog and also on Goodreads. No frills with this post. The book ‘Prisoner of the State’ was loaned to me and I am grateful for the chance to read it. Written by Australian Lily Arthur, every chapter is shattering and true.

HERE are my own personal thoughts, observations and book review comments on a serious, shocking and quite tragic topic.

FORCED adoption, such a brutal and inhuman thing to do to young mothers. I only had to read the first chapters of this biography to be enraged. Such lies and deceit, such an underhanded and basically illegal activity in the name of social propriety and Church teachings. What were the parents of these girls thinking? Perhaps their 1960s puritanical fear of being socially marked was worse than what happened to their vulnerable young daughters.

SURELY not all hospital staff involved were corrupt and morally wrong? Why didn’t someone speak out? Do they regret not alerting the proper authorities? Everyone turned away, didn’t want to get involved, ‘Not my problem; I can’t change the system; what will the neighbours think?’ Three wrong responses! For badly treated and bereft young women their situation became much worse once their babies were taken from them. Mentally and physically they were broken, drugged, lied to and later doomed to wonder at the cruelty of the Australian city they called home.

IT doesn’t matter your status, all that matters is that you are a mother and your baby is the most precious being on the planet and no person or organisation has any right to lie and take such a living breathing joyous gift away from you. In this 1960s case, steps were taken many years later and a mother, Lily Arthur, sprung into action to find out the truth of what happened to her stolen son all those years ago. Not only for her own piece of mind but for hundreds of other young unmarried mothers who were coerced, deceived and told their baby had died.

AS a mother myself I feel sadness for the other women, the adopters who thought those young mothers willingly gave away their supposedly unwanted babies.

WHO needs a document to say they can birth their baby? Who needs a document to say they can keep their baby? In the past a document, a law, a church or organisation of any kind should not have had the power to decree outcomes which sever a healthy fundamental mother/baby bond. Would a mother give up her new born child if she was given clear options? Back then new mothers should have been given clear, concise information, counselling, legal assistance, childcare support and every accessible help for their future. Instead they got human rights abuse and social stigma. Indeed treated like a criminal when in fact a victim of crime.

CAN a male feel and experience the fundamental changes wrought by pregnancy and childbirth? No. The male attitude Lily Arthur has faced while researching, and in courts of law, has been pompous and disparaging. Quote ‘I felt as if I had been victimised all over again.’ Similar treatment by nurses and those convent nuns mentioned in the book, ruled by priests and made barren by repetition, religious teachings and ancient doctrine. If you or anyone you know is going through pregnancy and facing adoption, forced or otherwise, this is the book you should read for both sides of the story.

LILY Arthur had a long road to travel. She kept going. She is still going and has reached milestones in law courts and certainly shines a strong light on the appalling secrets of white and indigenous baby birth exploitation in Australia. No doubt this appropriation happens around the world but it’s not a case of buying a puppy. Later, of course, disclosing a birth mother is a minefield of emotions for both parties. It worked for my cousin, she found her other family and happiness. Many do not, but in both cases I believe the truth should always be told.

‘Author Lily Arthur still seeks both truth and closure.’
Visit blog https://www.lilyarthur.com/about-author
Published 2025 by Big Sky Publishing Pty Ltd.

💗 © Review compiled by Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

Kate Shackleton Mysteries on Goodreads

Book Number 6 of Kate Shackleton Mystery series written by Frances Brody.
Favourite bookcover artwork © photo Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025.

For readers interested in this series and my reading record. “Gretchen is reading the Kate Shackleton Mystery Series by UK author Frances Brody for the Goodreads “Annual Crime Series Challenge 2025″ Read a Series, twelve crime novels, one a month for a year. Info: Join Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense. One crime novel a month in a crime/mystery/thriller/suspense series.”
Admin by Goodreads Moderator Phrynne, Mystery lover!
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22983939-annual-challenge-2025—read-a-series

MY GOODREADS CRIME SERIES CHALLENGE 2025
The dates indicate the publication edition
Mystery Series Kate Shackleton by Frances Brody

JANUARY 1. Dying in the Wool (2009) Owned/Reviewed

FEBRUARY 2. A Medal For Murder (2010) Owned/Reviewed

MARCH 3. Murder in the Afternoon (2011) Owned/Reviewed

APRIL 4. A Woman Unknown (2012) Owned/Reviewed

MAY 5. Murder on a Summer Day (2013) Owned/Reviewed

JUNE 6. Death of an Avid Reader (2014) Owned/Reviewed

JULY 7. A Death in the Dales (2015) Owned/Reviewed

AUGUST 8. Death at the Seaside (2016) Owned/Reviewed

SEPTEMBER 9. Death in the Stars (2017) Owned/Reviewed

OCTOBER 10. A Snapshot of Murder (2018) Owned/Reviewed

NOVEMBER 11. The Body on the Train (2019) Owned/Reading

DECEMBER 12. Death and the Brewery Queen (2020) Owned
+ Last book to be reviewed.

My Goodreads Book Reviews here: https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward
Note: I order books from Booktopia Australia.
There is a 13th book which I will read at a later date: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59732421-a-mansion-for-murder
Frances Brody Goodreads Author: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3102629.Frances_Brody
Author update: Friday 25th July 2025 “A few of her books were only £2.99 on Kindle but ‘Death at the Seaside’ has been selected for a Kindle Monthly Deal in August”. I have just finished reading this book in paperback (in wintertime) and currently pay between AU$21 to AU$38 per book depending on the UK availability plus postage and handling. Also pricing changes between hardcover and paperback copies. I wanted the actual books so this is the Australian price we pay for new/real books from the other side of the world. 🥂 Cheers to mystery reading!

💗 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

SERIES SYNOPSIS
From a hard-boiled crime reader’s point-of-view the private investigator
Kate Shackleton book series could be classified under the ‘cosy crime’ banner
but these stories contain a clear-eyed and faithful look at the 1920s.

Set in a bygone era where much has changed, our intrinsic human nature is
still the same: people committing Crime, Misdemeanour and Murder.
Kate is the individual who perseveres to solve these transgressions.
Kate’s two companions Mrs Sugden and ex-policeman Jim Sykes
add their own opinions and insights into every investigation.
The Yorkshire countryside settings feature strongly.
Also I am a fan of the retro-style bookcovers.
Kate Shackleton’s life progresses through the books as she solves
murderous crimes with her clever mind and astute manner.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/70508-kate-shackleton
https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward
https://www.hachette.com.au/frances-brody/books
This author has written other books

Four of 12 books in the Kate Shackleton Mystery series by author Frances Brody.
Photo © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

Save the World’s Oldest Children’s Bookshop

https://www.littlebookroom.com.au/

The Little Bookroom is at a turning point. You can help to give it a new home, a new chapter, and a future that honours its extraordinary past.

Melbourne’s beloved The Little Bookroom was founded by Albert Ullin OAM in 1960. The Little Bookroom was Australia’s very first bookstore dedicated solely to children’s literature.

Over time, it has become something even rarer — a living legacy to the power of books, imagination, and community. In fact, it is now the oldest children’s bookshop in the world!

For more than six decades, it has been a haven for readers young and old, a meeting place for authors and illustrators, and a cultural treasure for Australia, and the global children’s book community.

Michael Earp writes – “I’ve dedicated my life to children’s and young adult literature. I was The Little Bookroom manager from 2018–2022, and in 2021 I was awarded the Bookseller of the Year by Book People (the Australian Booksellers Association). I believe this beautiful bookshop deserves to celebrate its 65th birthday — and many more to come.”

Quote
This children’s bookstore has weathered many moves
and challenges over the years.
Most recently, the pandemic and personal circumstances.
The incredible Lambert family
who cared for The Little Bookroom for 17 years
made the decision to step away.
—Michael Earp—

You can step in, says Michael! The doors at St Georges Road have closed but this doesn’t have to be the end.

To make a bright book future happen, you and GoFundMe can help:
Link https://gofund.me/98a13b4f
Info: https://www.theurbanlist.com/melbourne/directory/little-bookroom-degraves

Secure a new home for The Little Bookroom (location to be announced soon!)
Fit out the new space with shelving, technology, and event essentials.
Ensure accessibility so all families and readers feel welcome.
Reopen with strong, diverse book stock from day one.
Host the storytimes, launches, book clubs, and school services that make The Little Bookroom a vital part of the community.

Share in the joy of knowing you’ve helped save a piece of children’s literary history! I can see children sitting reading, totally absorbed in their books.

Michael Earp continues: “As a non-binary writer and bookseller living in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia, with over 23 years experience in bookselling and publishing as a Children’s Book specialist. I’ve worked with publishers like Walker Books and Affirm Press, and bookstores including Kinokuniya, Borders, The Younger Sun, and (of course) The Little Bookroom.“

Also, Michael hold a Masters in Children’s Literature and a Bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education, and is currently Chair of the Board for Q-Lit, Victoria’s Queer Literature Festival. Also the editor and contributor to Everything Under the Moon: Fairy tales in a queerer light; Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories; and Avast! Pirate Stories by Transgender Authors, co-edited by Alison Evans.

Michael passionately believes in creating spaces where every child can see themselves in the stories they read, and adds “I’m not asking for help with ongoing costs. I’m asking for a launchpad — a chance to give The Little Bookroom the future it deserves.”

If every person who has fond memories of the St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North bookstore, who believes in the importance of children’s literature or who wants to see this cultural landmark continue — if every one of you gives even a little — it can live on!

Let’s write the next chapter together.
Donate. Share. Spread the word. https://gofund.me/98a13b4f

All donations will be received by Michael Earp and used to cover costs involved with the moving and set up of The Little Bookroom in a new location so that the shop has the best chance of a long future.
I have donated. The more raised by this GoFundMe the more it will reduce the amount of money needed to borrow. Therefore, the new shop can open on a solid foundation and focus on thriving into a wonderful reading future.

Books Rule! 📚💗 Edited by Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025

*So Many Books!* Artwork illustrator Tomislav Tomic https://tomislavtomic.com/

Note: No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.
Link: https://gofund.me/98a13b4f

Do You Know This Author?

Question One: Has an Australian author won the Booker Prize?
Answer: Yes.

New York Review of Books described Richard Flanagan as “among the most versatile writers in the English language.” The Guardian wrote about ‘Question 7‘ “Blending memoir and history and auto-fiction, this brilliantly unique book by the Booker winner is a treatise on the immeasurability of life.”

Question Two: Do you know this author?
Answer: Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer who won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ (several reviews here) and the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for ‘Question 7’ which makes him the first writer in history to win both Britain’s major fiction and non-fiction prizes.

Question Three: Have you read one or many of Flanagan’s books?

Question Four: If you have read a Flanagan novel do you call yourself a good reader or a stalwart reader?

Question Five: Do you think you are missing out on a literary experience if you have not read these books?

Question Six: Of the three books (pictured above and below) are you likely to purchase at least one?

Question Seven (wink): Do you know how many other books this Aussie author has written? Not a quiz but, hey!

Richard Flanagan has written:
1994 – 2020 Eight novels
1985 – 2023 Nine non-fiction books
1998 – Film ‘The Sound of One Hand Clapping’ (director and screenwriter)
2008 – Film ‘Australia’ (co-writer)
2008 – ‘Wanting’ a complex 19th-century tale set in Tasmania and England involving an Aboriginal girl and novelist Charles Dickens.
2024 – Baillie Gifford Prize for ‘Question 7’

Current Awards and Honours:
Too extensive to list here so please click on the Wikipedia and Penguin Books link for full details and prepare to be amazed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Flanagan
Baillie Gifford Prize:
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/question-7-9781761343483

Inspired? Keen to read something different? Challenge yourself or your book club. My reviews are on the way but meanwhile you can read Aussie WordPress blogger ‘Whispering Gums’ excellent review here.

The above questions are rhetorical.

Penguin: https://www.penguin.com.au/articles/3908-a-introductory-guide-to-australian-author-richard-flanagan
Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Flanagan

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-living-sea-of-waking-dreams-9781761048159

https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/all/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north/

Author Richard Flanagan
(PRH Australia)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/09/11/richard-flanagan-question-7-review/

Help! Guidance for Crime and Mystery Book Group 2025

Book Number 6 of Kate Shackleton Mystery series written by Frances Brody. Bookcover chosen for the classic artwork © photo Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025.

The following twelve questions relate to the possibility of starting up a new crime and mystery readers book group here in Brisbane. I have attended many book clubs (reading a variety of genres) but never instigated one. Consequently my behind-the-scenes questions are numerous:

Venue
Time duration
Shared co-ordinator roles
Promoting new Book Group
Number of members – in person
Contacting/accepting members
How to choose crime and mystery books
Each reviewer/speaker timed length
Author talks
Guest speakers
Crime book swaps
Coffee afterwards…

More could be included and it all seems straight forward when written down. Members of the current U3A Brisbane book readers group are all very cordial and polite even when we disagree on the topic and/or the chosen book.

There is tonnes of information online but how to tailor one for the conditions, for example–
Book source/transport/accessibility?
Coffee shop/library/private home?
Drop me a line in my Contact.

Meanwhile these two websites offer guidelines:
https://www.thesenior.com.au/story/8519552/book-clubs-how-to-start-one-in-australia/

Book Clubs – How Do You Start One?

At this stage a new book group could possibly be under the auspices of U3A Brisbane or independently in a Brisbane City Council Library. As mentioned I am only tossing around ideas, nothing official yet, or as my old boss used to say ‘Nothing carved in stone’ so flexibility is the key. Research time!

Happy reading whatever your preferred genre, format or comfortable chair.

📚 © Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2025
My Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/gretchenbernetward

Four books in the 12-book Kate Shackelton Mystery series by author Frances Brody.

Reading Wales ‘Dewithon’ Seeking New Home

Interested in hosting a Welsh blog post, holding the Reading Wales dragon standard high? Consider compiling, coordinating and hosting an annual event started on WordPress by Book Jotter aka Paula Bardell Hedley. Then read ‘Time to Say Hwyl’…

Time to Say ‘Hwyl’

January 2025

Oh, Paula, such a bitter-sweet blog post but so very understandable! Life is full of changes and challenges and new things. Your Dewithon will live on in the hearts and minds of all who participated each year and the personal touch you gave to the literature of wonderful Wales.

Who will take up the mantle? 🐉

💖 Gretchen
(Australia)
ThoughtsBecomeWords