Happy New Year

My 2024 Year of Reading

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Happy New Year to you all! I hope you saw in the new year in the way you had planned. Loud and raucous or quiet and calm.

In 2024, I had a much better reading year than the previous years even though I read fewer books. I was gifted a Kobo for my birthday in September, yet I totally slowed down my reading from October onwards so I haven’t really taken advantage of it yet. But I have a month free from uni teaching so I hope to start my reading year as soon as I finish this blog post. As for 2024, if I had to pick only one book I read it would be Roger Deakin’s Waterlog. But thankfully, I get to choose a lot of books. So here are my stats:

The following book covers: We could be something Faking Christmas How the Italian Claimed her Watching New York When Grumpy Met Sunshine Happiness for Beginners Miranda in Retrograde The Bodyguard I Must Be Dreaming The Rom-Commers The Plus One Wavewalker

61 books

Fiction: 32 – Romance fiction: 30

Audiobooks: 3

Picture Books and Junior fiction: 12

Non-Fiction: 17.  Memoirs, histories, narrative non-fiction 10, Design and travel 3, Academic 6

Graphic Novel  – 1

Australian authors – 10

YA – 1

DNFd but counted: 2

The following book covers: The Intimate City Faking a Fairy Tale The Love Contract The ATtraction Distraction Some Kind of Wonderful The Other Side of Disappearing Not Here to Make Friends Foster Mystic Ridge Cruising the Library Hello Stranger Courting Ready or Not Waterlog Wifedom Orwell's Roses Black Skin, White Masks Sit Stay Love

My 5 star books for 2023

I had 21 five star books. Here is a selection of the one’s which stood out for me:

Best of the Fiction books:

Overnight Inheritance by Rachel Bailey

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday (Reading Note 75)

Marry Me, Juliet trilogy (yep – all 3 books were 5 stars) by Jodi McAlister (Reading Note 74 for Here for the Right Reasons)

Ready or Not by Cara Bastone (Reading Note 82)

Some Kind of Wonderful by Sarah Morgan (Reading Note 79)

The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center

Best of the Non-Fiction books:

Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law by Alecia Simmonds

Waterlog: A Swimmer’s Journey Through Britain by Roger Deakin

Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit

Walking with Sam: A Father, A Son and 500 miles across Spain by Andrew McCarthy

All About Love by bell hooks

Best of the Picture Books

Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I Just Ate My Friend by Heidi McKinnon

The following book covers: Can I steal you for a second Here for the right reasons What Pete Ate A-Z Canadian Boyfriend Brat The Christmas Orphans Club On Browsing Emergency Contact Why We Swim Walking with Sam I just ate my friend Overnight inheritance

The Best of non-book reading

As an advocate for reading being understood beyond the traditional published book, it would be remiss of me to not discuss some of my favourite non-book reading. I have favourite investigative journalists, organisations, academics and other writers who I follow across several platforms. 

Rebecca Solnit – on Facebook and Bluesky

Ronni Salt – has moved to Bluesky so I can finally ditch my X

Shannon Mattern – on Bluesky (and various websites)

The Australia Institute with all its various writers and commentators

The Daily Aus – my favourite new service on Instagram

Inner West Plant People – a gardening site on Facebook focused on the Inner West of Sydney. Urban gardening tips with occasional humour. The most wholesome of community FB.

Academic Reading

The AI Atlas by Kate Crawford – an ethnographic examination on the impacts of AI. I am only 3 chapters into this book. It is gripping and interesting. A must read.

ChatGPT is bullshit by Michael Townsend Hicks, James Humphries and Joe Slater (open access link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5)

“Greek Melbourne” Calling! New Cartographies of Diasporic Belonging by Yiorgos Anagnostou https://ergon.scienzine.com/article/blog/greek-melbourne

The Best of non-reading

I continue to be delighted by TikTok creators. I completely avoid Booktok but I adore so many different subcultures (like chihuahua tok). My current favourites are:

The Happy Urbanist and Strong Towns

Bimbo University

Elena Charalampoudi (who has given me so many laughs – Greek female comedian)

Caleb Simpson (whose book was great but falls short of the beauty of his Tiktoks)

Chef Reactions

Wil Stracke – Australian unionist extraordinaire!

Other great creators:

Alexei Toliopoulos – film reviewer with the Betoota, on Tiktok, on websites and other places

Apartment Therapy – I’d also like to tip my metaphorical cap to Apartment Therapy whose website I followed many decades ago, whose books I bought, whose digital feeds I follow as they continue to delight with their home interiors coverage, crossing over to visual based platforms such as instagram and tiktok and youtube so well. So reflexive which is what all great creator collectives have to be in our current digital broadcast and publishing environment.

Letterboxd – I love the website, I love the tiktoks. The Goodreads equivalent for watching (not reading). I love the Letterboxd tiktok stream where they interview various stars on the red carpet or at interview/promos asking them for their favourite 4 films. I am so taken by responses and how so many people name childhood favourites. We so often dismiss the impact of children’s content, yet the films and TV shows we watch growing up shape us as much as books do. I have been so engaged by Letterboxd content that I finally got my own account (Shallowreader of course). I tried to add as many movies as I could possibly remember watching and it is telling that there are less than 1000 movies for me. I am much more likely to read a book for entertainment.

2025 planning like a fool….

My plan for 2025 is to continue to read whatever comes my way and hopefully I will be motivated enough to blog more than a handful of times a year. I will again attempt to take part in SuperWendy’s TBR Challenge. I will continue to watch all the reruns of shows that give me comfort. Maybe along the way, I will start posting more on BlueSky which at this point is like a re-creation of ye olde Twitter except this time around, I don’t have the energy to write or connect much. Yet. Maybe that will change. If not, I am still happy.

I feel that the second quadrant of the century is starting at a low point so I really hope that we are in the gutter looking up to the stars and that our trajectory is upwards and uplifting. Wishing you all a safe and calm 2025 with lots of love, food and entertainment.

Bigger Than Me With Love, from Cold World Duck! Rabbit! Creaing Identity The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination Happy Place Leo Grumpy Fake Boyfriend Pet the Cat Our Stop Aaron Slater Illustrator People We Meet on Vacation
The book covers: All About Love Valensteins Sparkella The Only Purple House in Town Our Pool Wallflower at the Orgy

My 2023 Year of Reading

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A decorated green Christmas tree (fake not real). Decorated with predominately baubles of various colours, pink flowers and glittery birds

Happy New Year to you all! I hope these first few weeks have brought you all lots of calm, quiet and happiness. And if you love a party, I hope you have also had lots of loud, musical connections.

In what seems to have become my signature style, I stopped blogging in August of 2023.  Mostly it was because I only read 2 books from August through to December whereas I read 93 books in the first half of the year, many of which I have already written about. During my August – December months, I was overwhelmed with three contract jobs and I found myself unable to read or write (here or on any social media). Even my viewing was limited to reruns of old favourites and TikTok favourites. Now let me go back to my books for 2023. This is purely a list and it is devoid of extra commentary. I may not have written anything further about my fave books but I have hyperlinked them back to my original posts.

95 books

Fiction: 40  – Romance fiction: 34

Audiobooks: 16

Picture Books and Junior fiction: 9

Non-Fiction: 55.  Memoirs, histories, narrative non-fiction, poetry 44 Design and travel 1, Academic 10

Graphic Novel  – 3

Australian authors – 8

YA – 2

DNFd but counted: 8

My 5 star books for 2023

I’m not going to list all 25 books here as quite a few were the set readings for the subjects I teach (yes – I am that special level of nerdy). Instead, I have chosen my best of the best list.

Best of the Fiction books:

Book covers for Kate Clayborn’s Georgie, All Along (Bright yellow cartoon cover of a woman reading a book), Emily Henry’s Booklovers (Bright blue cartoon cover of two people reading books with their backs turned to each other), Sangu Mandanna’s The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (cartoon cover - darker tone of dusty blue with a gothic house on a hill, a witch on a broom, a yellow car) , Rachel Bailey’s The Lost Heir (a couple in a romantic stance, the woman in a light pink dress, the man in a business suit holding onto her shoulders), Madeleine Miller’s Galatea (on the cover is a navy blue sky with gold sparkling stars).

Kate Clayborn’s Georgie, All Along (Reading Note 61)

Emily Henry’s Booklovers (Reading Note 58)

Sangu Mandanna’s The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (Reading Note 66)

Rachel Bailey’s The Lost Heir (Reading Note 67)

Madeleine Miller’s Galatea

Best of the Non-Fiction books:

Book covers for Amandea Montell's Cultish (a beige cover with multicoloured twirls and swirls on the top left and bottom right corners and a UFO in the middle), Jeremiah Moss's Feral City (a bight pink cover with a NY building and the road in front of it), Mark Mazower's Salonica (an old street map on the bottom of the cover, a depiction of people on the street on the top and a peach band with the book title in the middle), Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died (cover is light yellow with a pink photograph of jennette holding a pink urn smiling into the distance) and Andrew Petegree with Arthur der Weduwen's The Library (cover is a black and white photograph of a library wall with the title in yellow).

Amanda Montell’s Cultish: The Language of Fanatacism (Reading Note 56)

Jeremiah Moss’s Feral City: On Finding Liberation in Lockdown New York (Reading Note 52)

Mark Mazower’s Mark Mazower’s Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950 (Reading Note 53)

Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad my Mom Died (Reading Note 70)

Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen’s The Library: A Fragile History (Reading Note 70)

Unlike last year, I do not have a Best What-The-Fuck-Did-I-Just-Read book though I certainly had several worst What-The-Fuck-Did-I-Just-Read books (I am looking at you Jimenez’s The Friend Zone, and you’re not that far behind Bellefleur’s Hang The Moon) . However, I did have a best of What-The-Fuck-Did_I-Just-Watch movie. The Barbie movie captured me so deeply and profoundly that I went and watched it at the movies three times in as many weeks. I have tried crafting a blog post to describe the movie several times but I keep floundering. Perhaps that will be my next post.

Meanwhile, my plan for 2024 is to read whatever comes my way that captures my attention and hopefully I will be motivated enough to blog about. I will again attempt to take part in SuperWendy’s TBR Challenge. I will watch all the reruns of shows that give me comfort, I hope I stay riveted to TikTok creators who give me such joy – dance, cooking, urban design, cute critters and academic TikTok (very little booktok for me!). I have no plans on becoming a creator at this point but I am convinced that it is the most engaging of social media platforms in the current time, and I am there as Shallowreader despite their dodgy data mining.

Wishing you all a safe and calm 2024.

My 2022 Year of Reading

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A photo of myself next to a neon red love heart

A belated Happy New Year to you all. My plan had been to post this list early in January, but the weather was lovely and we were on summer holidays and frankly swimming and visiting came ahead of writing. And then, a week ago, after three years of hiding, lockdowns, isolations, vaccinations, masking up and going out, I was finally felled by the plague. Covid hit me early on Tuesday morning and it was painful and sudden, with all the expectant symptoms. Due to having been hospitalised in August of last year with RSV (ambulance dash to the  resuscitation unit at my local hospital and an ensuing protracted illness and recovery) meant I was on the high risk list and I received antivirals within a few hours of testing positive and I have been bed bound and isolating ever since. The meds have worked, I am still isolating so I have turned my time into writing for the blog, and gratefully I tested negative just yesterday. 

Up until late October of 2022, my reading continued to be fractured and interrupted by life and all its oddities, however, in late October, I felt like my pre-PhD, pre-uni reading mojo was back, having read 70 books from November onwards – over double for the rest of the year. And that reading mojo also had me giving 5 stars to 25 books – a quarter of all I read! I think it is a bit much to go into depth with all 25 books (though 11 of those were picture books), I will have a brief description of my absolute favourites and only list the rest.

102 Books

Fiction: 29 – Romance fiction: 25

Audiobooks: 20

Picture Books and Junior fiction: 27

Non-Fiction: 34 – Memoirs, histories, narrative non-fiction: 21, Design and travel 6, Academic 4

Graphic Novel – all memoirs – 11

Australian authors – 8

YA – 1

DNFd but counted: 2

The five star books for 2022

Fiction

Flirting with Forever – Cara Bastone

Can’t Help Falling – Cara Bastone

Love and Other Puzzles by Kimberley Allsop

Starfish by Lisa Fipps – made me cry

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

To Sir With Love – Lauren Lane

Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron

Best of the fiction best: 

Flirting with Forever by Cara Bastone.

This was such a deep, slow burn of a romance. A flirty, confident heroine, with an awkward foot-in-mouth nerdy hero (who doesn’t turn into a swan). I loved who thoughtfully the main protagonists in this story grew and developed throughout this story. The hero John Modesto-Whitford is a serious man not taken to having fun, serious about his public defender job, serious about not allowing his rich father contribute to his life. He presents as boring but still-waters-run-deep and this man… ““John was being active. Inside the walls of this crumbling but noble building, he was never passive. He was doing something about that complicated world. Each hour of concentration he lent to his cases he was making the world a more just, fair place.” ….this man is a fair man. Just swoon.

Love and Other Puzzles by Kimberley Allsopp.

What an absolute delightful book. I loved the way it was written, the protagonist’s cheeky, clear eyed voice, it was just fun. It was more chick-lit than romance, Rory is devoted to her rigid routines, judges life by the rom-com openings they reflect, and how well they reflect them, and doesn’t really cope when things are out of place. Until she decides that she needs to break her routine so she allows the clues in the New York Times crossword puzzles dictate her life decisions. In the space of a week, her life is changed. I loved it. 

Pink cover for Love and Other Puzzles
Blue cover for Flirting with Forever

Non-fiction

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love – Dani Shapiro

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark by Julia Baird

Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick

A City is Not a Computer by Shannon Mattern

The Crane Wife: A Memoir in Essays by C.J. Hauser

Best of the Non-fiction Best: 

Deep blue with bioluminescence of sea creatures on the cover of Phosphorescence

Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark by Julia Baird. An Australian author, journalist exploring the world of phosphorescence and how to find our own internal light. This book worked for me but I think it did this because I was in an unusual headspace even for myself. I read it only a few weeks after my hospitalisation and it spoke to that darkest part of ourselves, especially as I had stopped breathing on two occasions and it was difficult to comprehend the severity of what I was experiencing. This book made me consider how I think about things that give me awe.

Some of quotes that I felt deeply included “Keep in mind that the most important quality in a person is goodness” and “Don’t make the mistake of dismissing decency as dullness” (p. 139) Especially that last one, oh the amount of women I have known who craved the “bad boy” for romance and mistreated the decent man as dull. It always angered me. 

“It might take you decades to speak up about things that matter to you, but, being able to speak your truth is a vital part of being human, of walking with certainty and openness on the earth, and refusing to be afraid. Once you have found your voice, you must resist every person who will tell you to bury or bottle it.” (p. 151). This quote stung me. I felt much more outspoken prior to my PhD and somehow, I find that 2 years later, I still haven’t got my voice back. I have stopped trying to get it back too. I hope with time it will come back.

Picture Books

Purple book, stars in the scar, sweet young girl. Cover of When Molly Ate The Stars

Stacey’s Remearkable books by Stacey Abrams

When Molly Ate the Stars Joyce Hesselberth

The Octopus Escapes by Maile Meloy

Blankie by Ben Clanton

Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

I love you like by Lisa Swerling

Moonlight by Stephen Savage

The Perfect Tree by Corinne Demas

If You Were A City by Kyo Maclear

It Had To Be You by Loryn Brantz

White cover of a narwhal holding a yellow blankie

Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack

Best of the Picture book Best: 

When Molly Ate The Stars by Joyce Hesselberth was slow, bright, starry, delightful and light. It had an ethereal sense to it that just made me happy. 

Blankie by Ben Clanton is a board book with rhythms and humour. It would just be delightful fun to read to a toddler.

Weirdest Book

Green and mottled cover for Upright Women Wanted

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Bat-shit-crazy

gunslinging

anti-fascist

lesbian librarians

in a futuristic dystopian American West.

Like, I really don’t think I need to describe it any further.

This is a must read.

Just for the cray-cray.

The Best What-the-fuck-did-I-just-read book of the year

A couple on the cover of Promoted to the Greek's Wife. She's in a pink flowing dress, he's in a tuxedo.

And just because I feel I need to make a comment…I did read a Lynne Graham novel this year and yes it made me happy and made me laugh.But I have comments!

Promoted to the Greek’s Wife: An Uplifting International Romance by Lynne Graham

Let’s start with the novel. It was the usual angsty Graham novel which engages in love, romance, rich entitled men and poor waifish women who get the hots with each other while they jetset around the world while navigating the difficulties of unconventional families. Heroine Cleo, billionaire hero Ari, work romance (though they call it before it gets unethical – Lynne’s gone woke!). Lots of tension. Lots of foster kids, lots of social issues and lots of love. This book was fun and I really enjoyed it.

However, there is a particularly large elephant in the room. That large elephant is the subtitle. 

An uplifting International Romance.

AN UPLIFTING INTERNATIONAL ROMANCE!

AN UPLIFTING INTERNATIONAL ROMANCE?????

SERIOUSLY!?

I had to check my book cover. Had I accidently picked up an Inspirational romance? Has Lynne Graham stopped writing Sexy’s?

What is happening? 

This is not my Mills & Boon and I really don’t like it.

Inspirational kiss my big fat Greek-Australian arse!

This book was many things but it was not uplifting and it certainly wasn’t inspirational.  But it definitely was fun.

End of ShallowreaderBingo for 2016….

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The wonderful Willaful won December Shallowreaderbingo! Yayyyy! Woooo!

Fireworks

Thank you for all who have read and followed my bingo game in 2016. I initially started it as a talking point for my radio stint but then, after 2 years reviewing books and libraries for the wonderful Linda Mottram who moved on to bigger and better things, the new host took different directions and my the stint didn’t eventuate. Instead I had the pleasure of tracking my reading in a way that made me laugh and from what I can tell made the players laugh too. My 2016 wrap up will come later in the week. I’m with my cousins from Greece and Europe having fun and much too busy to list my reads 🙂

To those of you who are playing and following along – Shallowreaderbingo will be back in 2017! Watch this space!

Meanwhile, I wish you all a safe and wonderful New Year. May the there be lots of love and warmth and strength for all of us to take hold of our literacy baton and run with it!

 

Coogee Beach 9pm fireworks

Coogee Beach 9pm fireworks