Free YA Audiobooks

Have you tried audiobooks yet? With school and local libraries closed for a while, it might be a good time to trial one or two… for free. Here is one option… SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. Returning April 30th and continuing 13 weeks until July 29, it provides access to […]

Hear the classics – Free audiobooks

If you’ve always wanted to trial an audiobook, but hadn’t yet got around to it, then perhaps now is the time. I’ve just discovered a post 20 Popular High School Books Available as Free eBooks & Audio Books on Open Culture. Here, there are links to all sorts of classics like Huckleberry Finn, the Great Gatsby, […]

Audiobook: Chanda’s Secrets

I have recently been looking into audiobooks through some of the free options offered by the Sync community for Young Adults. Through this option, I have been able to trial both contemporary and classic novels suitable for teenagers. One of several books I have downloaded and enjoyed recently is ‘Chanda’s Secrets’, written by Allan Stratton. It […]

Always… (at last)

It seems it has been a long wait, but finally, we have the last book in Morris Gleitzman’s Once series. ‘Always’ completes the lifelong journey of Felix, the young boy introduced 16 years ago in ‘Once’. Felix is now in his eighties, living in aged care in Australia. When a young boy is brought to […]

the Ruin

Here is one for lovers of crime fiction – a more mature read for senior students and adults. ‘The Ruin’ is the first novel for Irish-born author Dervla McTiernan – the first of (now) several books centred on Garda Cormac Reilly. Set mainly in Galway (which was actually Dervla’s hometown), it links together a 20-year-old […]

There Was Still Love

This story oozes feelings and emotions; even in the little things. As you read, you can taste the meals Lucek has with his grandmother. They are deliciously described, even though they may be simple fare. You can also sense the atmosphere of their humble accommodation – a small apartment in Prague. Told from two main […]

‘Weeksy Reviews’, reviewed…

A change of look*, a change of thinking – and COVID-19. As COVID-19 has shut many things down, people have been seeking ways to maintain contact and connection. With local and school libraries closed to public access, the need for reading options increases (we have more time in shut-down, don’t we?). If you haven’t already […]

#COVID Reading Options

As COVID-19 now demands a greater degree of social distancing in Australia, it is likely that public libraries will be closed in most locations this week. Already practising the required hygiene demands of sanitiser and distancing, our local library faced a steady flow of residents getting book piles ready for home isolation recently, before closure. […]

Are You Watching?

Reality TV meets murder mystery. That’s what Vincent Ralph has created in this tale of mystery and suspense. In a contemporary English school/home setting, Jessica Simmons decides to apply for a social media program, the Eye, which is to be broadcast live on YouTube. However, her purpose is not for instant fame and fortune, but […]