Each month I highlight some of the reviews shared for the challenge in the linky
Don’t forget to link each book you read as you read during the year!
I encourage you to support all participants who have shared what they are reading for the challenge. Give them a like, leave them a comment, share their posts on your social media channels using #ReadNonFicChal
IN JANUARY…
[HISTORY]
“[I] found Graham’s quick-paced book and entertaining and enlightening….For espionage aficionados and World War II buffs alike Book and Dagger is a fun read. Don’t be surprised come December if it makes my list of Favorite Nonfiction.”
“When I thought this book was fiction I skimmed everything in between the tweets and gave it 1 star. As soon as I realized it was a real-life memoir, I found the entire book fascinating. 5 stars!”
“I have read a great number of Bill Bryson’s works over the past twenty years or so and have always appreciate his humor as he guides us through some subject that thought we knew about but really did not….As one of the sub-titular occupants of a body, I found the book endlessly fascinating and compelling.”
“The book is described as a memoir, and it certainly is that, but it’s impossible for a memoir from a forensic anthropologist not to include a lot of anatomical science. That’s what makes Written in Bone so interesting.”
”First They Killed My Father is not a story, it is a record of an innocent life marred by hardship and horror. It is a personal account of genocide masked by statistics, politics, and sanitised news reports. It is a must read”
2026/Nonfiction Reader Challenge Monthly Spotlight for January #readnonficchal #readingchallenge #nonfiction #bookblogger #books #read #join See what people have been reading at Book’d Out
When I signed up for The Great Canadian Reading Challenge the first Canadian author that came to mind was Marina Endicott as I had previously read and enjoyed Good to a Fault and The Little Shadows. The Observer is the author’s most recent novel, a fictionalised account of the time she spent in rural Alberta with her husband, a RCMP officer.
In the Observer, Julia Carey accompanies her partner, Hardy, to the tiny town of Medway as he begins a new career as a RCMP officer. Julia, a dramaturge and playwright, is prepared to make what she can of their new life in support of Hardy, but she’s an outsider, and struggles with her new surroundings.
A position, at first temporary and then permanent, as the editor of Medway’s local weekly newspaper, The Observer, provides Julia insight into her new community, and Hardy’s role in it. But as Julia slowly finds her feet, widening her social circle, Hardy begins to stumble, increasingly weighed down by the endless demands and tragedy of his work.
In between Julia’s mundane reportage of daily domestic life, and her observations of the community joys, sorrows, and secrets, Endicott explores the impact of police work on not only the serving member, but their families and relationships. It’s a story delivered with compassion despite the somewhat flat affect, with themes such as commitment, sacrifice, trauma and, belonging, prominent.
This is a slow paced book, but there is an undercurrent of tension that sustains it. The prose is spare but not simplistic.
As I was unaware of the connection between this book and the tragic deaths of four RCMP Constables in Mayerthorpe, AB in 2005 it perhaps didn’t have the impact for me that it might for others, but overall The Observer is a lovely, quiet novel.
Review: The Observer by Marina Endicott #read #book #review #bookreview #fiction #literary #2026GreatCanadianReadingChallenge #readingchallenge #TheObserver
I adored The Martian when I read it back in 2015 and Project Hail Mary has been on my TBR since it was published. The impending release of the movie adaptation, and the Speccy Fiction challenge, finally gave me the impetus to pick it up.
Project Hail Mary begins with Ryland Grace waking with no idea who, or where, he is. Exploring his surroundings, he quickly discovers that he is alone, except for two mummified bodies, hurtling through deep space. Slowly Ryland remembers he is an elementary science teacher tasked with a ‘hail Mary’ mission to save Earth.
Ryland is a compelling, richly drawn character. In some ways he is quite similar to The Martian’s Watney, with his dry sense of humour and ability to MacGyver his way through almost any situation. But Ryland isn’t an astronaut, he is a scientist, not just a teacher, and as is revealed in a series flashbacks, not really a traditional hero.
As you would expect the premise of the novel supports plenty of action and tension as Ryland faces the enormity of the task before him. Several complications arise, not the least of which is contact with an alien life form which introduces us to Rocky.
Accepting any elements that stretch the boundary of belief undoubtedly makes the reading experience more satisfying. I have no idea if the science in the story is accurate in practice or theory, but Weir is convincing. Strangely, though there are a lot of math and physics concepts that are beyond me, they somehow just made sense.
Witty, clever, and exciting, with a surprisingly bittersweet conclusion, Project Hail Mary is a fabulously entertaining and engrossing read that I recommend without hesitation.
Review: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir @PenguinBooksAus #read #book #review #bookreview #fiction #ScienceFiction #speculative #SpeccyFicChal #readingchallenge #AndyWeir
Loung Ung recounts her experience under the rule of the genocidal dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime in this harrowing memoir.
Loung Ung was just five years old when she and her family of 9 were forced to flee Phnom Penh to evade the rebel soldiers of the Khmer Rouge. Taking on new identities in order to protect themselves from the regime, the family first sought refuge with relatives in the countryside, before being compelled to move between ‘re-education’ camps every few months.
Loung is bewildered by the changes in her life, too young to understand why Pol Pot’s vision for Cambodia, or New Kampuchea as he has christened it, requires them to perform backbreaking work in exchange for meagre rations that edge them close to starvation.
And when her father is taken away, never to return, what remains of Loung’s fractured family is forced to separate, with little expectation of reunion and only the slimmest hope of surviving Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
I knew the bare facts of the events in Cambodia going into this book, of the 1975 civil war victory by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge intent on a vision of a self-sufficient country, free from the ‘corruption’ of the west. A seemingly laudable goal but one which was interpreted to require the torture and execution of professionals, intellectuals, dissenters and their families as well as the aged, the ill and disabled, resulting in the deaths of some two million Cambodians, out of a population of just seven million. Meanwhile Pol Pot amassed the power and riches he publicly condemned, as millions of Cambodian’s suffered unimaginable deprivation.
As a survivor, Ung’s narrative provides insight into the horrors of the Killing Fields, blending the immediacy of her childhood perspective with the knowledge of an adult. The trauma has been imprinted on her, as our worst memories so often are, and there is an undeniable authenticity to this unique account of her experience. It’s a heartbreaking tale of loss and brutality, resilience and courage that had me gasping in shock and sorrow for all Loung, and innocent Cambodian’s like her, endured.
Loung survives, reunited briefly with her surviving siblings before escaping to America after a dangerous journey via Vietnam and Thailand. Today Loung is an activist who among other things dedicates herself to helping Cambodia and its people recover from the traumas of war. Further books, Lucky Child and Lulu in the Sky, share elements of her life following her arrival in America. First They Killed My Father has also been adapted into a movie and a graphic novel is forthcoming. I haven’t had the fortitude as yet to watch the former.
First They Killed My Father is not a story, it is a record of an innocent life marred by hardship and horror. It is a personal account of genocide masked by statistics, politics, and sanitised news reports. It is a must read.
Review: First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung #read #book #review #bookreview #Nonfiction #nonfictionreads #ReadNonFicChal #SOUTHEASTASIA #memoir #history #readingchallenge #FirstTheyKilledMyFather
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I was a bit stuck when it came to this week’s topic, but I found some inspiration in the prompt by giving it a tweak, so here are…
My Top 10 Book Blogging Resources
My iPad
For the last four or five years I’ve been using my iPad exclusively for everything from drafting reviews and posts in the Notes app, to reading ARC’s and ebooks (primarily using the Kindle and iBook apps). If required I can use my iPhone for most tasks as well by syncing apps between the two devices, but it’s not something I need to do too often.
Blog Platform – WordPress
I started Book’d Out in August of 2010 here on WordPress because I already had a blog on the platform that I had transferred from Blogger several years before (from my former life in digital scrapbook design). I’ve never felt the need to switch to a paid account, though to be honest I’ve never had the budget either. For the most part I find WordPress to be stable and can generally make it work for me.
Graphics Program – Canva
The main resource I use for creating my post headers and other images is the Canva app on my iPad. I used to work with Adobe Photoshop so it took me a little while to work out how to use the stripped down features of Canva since I unfortunately can’t afford a subscription to the program, but I’m fairly comfortable with it now. Canva is free and available via desktop and app. I also use an app called PicCollage exclusively for creating collages.
Reading Communities – Goodreads, LibraryThing and StoryGraph
I joined Goodreads in 2008, and despite its flaws it remains my primary method for recording my read, and to-read lists. I’ve been a Goodreads librarian for about ten years, mainly because it lets me add Australian titles. I also have a lifetime membership with LibraryThing (though it’s completely free now), which I joined in 2010, and I joined StoryGraph about two years ago, but I primarily just use them to post my reviews. I’ve tried several other platforms and apps over the years, the latest being Margins, but I find I don’t need the features they offer.
Book Catalogue Software – CLZ Books
I probably tried close to, if not more than, a dozen book catalogue software/app options in my first few years as a book blogger. I finally stumbled upon CLZ Books, one of a suite of cataloguing apps developed in The Netherlands. They had just released a companion app for their desktop software and I decided it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. I’ve used it for over ten years now. I no longer use the desktop software, and the programs are now subscription based and offered separately, but I was grandfathered in so I still benefit from regular updates for the app. I can easily sync the catalogue between by iPad and iPhone, so I always have access to it, online or off. It’s simple to populate the catalogue initially, I just used the cvs file exported from Goodreads, and it’s convenient to add books either manually by inputting the isbn or title/author name or by using your phone’s camera to scan the ISBN. If it’s in their database a bunch of fields are automatically populated like the publishing date, blurb, cover but there are also a ton of customisable fields so you can record things like the books genres, source, any special features, etc and search among all those fields too. You’ll never buy a duplicate book again. I highly recommend it and you can test it with a free trial.
Advance Reader Copies – Netgalley and Edelweiss+
Netgalley (and Netgalley UK) and Edelweiss+ are my primary resources for access to e-ARCs. I’ve been a member of Netgalley since 2010 and in that time I’ve read and reviewed 847 titles (my current ratio is 96%- I currently have about 12 reviews outstanding and about 20 future ARCs). I joined Edelweiss in 2011 and have read and reviewed 58 titles. Geo-restrictions are still a thing so access on both platforms to publishers is somewhat limited for me, which is frustrating sometimes. I’m also on most of the Australian publisher’s reviewers lists but I request very few print books these days, mostly because I’ve run out of room for them.
RSS Feed – Feedly
A feed reader is the easiest way to keep up with the book blogging community, especially as it’s not subject to the whims of social media algorithms. I’ve gone through several feed readers, and I’m not a fan of the WordPress reader, so I was glad to find Feedly several years ago. I just use the free account, which is easy to navigate. You can add any source that has an RSS feed, sort the blogs into folders, select your preferred view, and there aren’t any limits to the number of blogs you can add.
Linkys
I decided to bite the bullet and pay for a ‘Linky’ service when I started hosting challenges. I ended up going with LinkyTools primarily because it is the cheapest on offer (the conversion rate from USD to AUD can be brutal). It’s a practical choice and what’s on offer really hasn’t changed much in all the years I’ve been using it.
Social Media – Instagram, Twitter etc
I have several social media accounts for the blog which I repost to. You can follow Book’d Out on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, Twitter (still not calling it X), BlueSky, and Pintrest. I personally would never make any of them a primary account, or invest in them too heavily, between the owners ability to close your account without recourse, the whim of the algorithms, and the risk of the account being stolen, it just doesn’t make sense to me. However, I do follow other bookish accounts on those platforms, plus TikTok and YouTube.
My air conditioner is fixed! I found a small business who was able to send out a technician sooner than the other. Luckily he could repair it immediately as it was simply a rusted power switch that was shorting that needed replacing. The bill was a little ridiculous – 20 mins work and a $20 part for a $240 bill! Still as the temperatures are creeping up again, it was 35°C today, and the forecast for tomorrow is the same I guess it was worth it.
Today is a public holiday, a long weekend to celebrate Australia Day, but we don’t have any plans. I’m proud to be Australian and I’m glad to live here, but I support the movement to change the date so I opt to let it pass unremarked.
It’s the last Monday of the month (already!!!), so here are my challenge updates:
Agnes Aubert is very fond of making lists. These lists kept her afloat when she lost her husband two years ago. And now, as the founder of a cat rescue charity, her meticulous organization skills feel like the only thing standing between her beloved cats – His Majesty, Banshee and sweet elderly Thoreau, to name a few – and utter disaster. But when Agnes is forced to move the charity, she soon discovers that her new shop is being used as a front; right under her feet is the lair of the decidedly disorganised – not to mention self-absorbed and infuriatingly handsome – Havelock Renard. Havelock is everything Agnes doesn’t want in her life: chaos, mischief, and a little too much adventure. But as she gets to know him, she discovers he’s more than the dark magician of legend, and that she may be ready for a little intrigue, perhaps even romance. After all, second chances aren’t just for rescue cats. . .
For Review
Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures. Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives…inside their favorite books. The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?
For the Nonfiction Reader Challenge
SCRABBLE may be truly called America’s game. But for every group of “living-room players” there is someone who is “at one with the board.” In Word Freak, Stefan Fatsis introduces readers to those few, exploring the underground world of colorful characters for which the Scrabble game is life — playing competitively in tournaments across the country. It is also the story of how the Scrabble game was invented by an unemployed architect during the Great Depression and how it has grown into the hugely successful, challenging, and beloved game it is today. Along the way, Fatsis chronicles his own obsession with the game and his development as a player from novice to expert. More than a book about hardcore Scrabble players, Word Freak is also an examination of notions of brilliance, memory, language, competition, and the mind that celebrates the uncanny creative powers in us all.
Thanks for stopping by!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR #SundayPost #SundaySalon I’ll be reading upcoming releases #AgnesAubertsMysticalCatShelter and#TheAstralLibrary plus some nonfiction with #WordFreak Learn more at Book’d Out
Welcome to the inaugural Speccy Fiction Challenge!
I am using the broadest definition of speculative fiction for this challenge. It allows you to choose from the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, (though the focus is skewed towards the first two), and their myriad of subgenres.
HOW IT WORKS
Choose a goal and you can select, read and review a book from any of the categories offered during the year; OR select, read and review any speculative fiction book.
For more details about the challenge and to sign up CLICK HERE
CATEGORIES:
Published in 2026 *A speculative novella (less than 250pgs) *A translated speculative novel *The first book in a speculative fiction duology/trilogy/series *Romantic speculative fiction *Speculative fiction that features a creature (animal/monster) *A cozy fantasy novel *Dark Fantasy *A fantasy based on myth, legend or folklore *A scifi that takes place on a spaceship or space station *Dystopian *A scifi featuring conscious technology
Click the covers to learn more about each title at Goodreads
A COZY FANTASY
A DARK FANTASY
A FANTASY BASED ON MYTH/LEGEND/FOLKLORE
A SCI FI THAT TAKES PLACE ON A STARSHIP OR SPACE STATION
A SCI FI DYSTOPIAN
SCI-FI THAT FEATURES CONSCIOUS TECHNOLOGY
Use your best judgement as to whether a book fits a particular category or not, this is supposed to be a challenge, not a chore, and you only really need suit yourself. These titles are intended as a springboard not a prescription. Please feel free to comment with your own recommendations or suggestions.
Don’t forget to share your latest read/review in the Linky
Welcome to the inaugural Speccy Fiction Challenge!
I am using the broadest definition of speculative fiction for this challenge. It allows you to choose from the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, (though the focus is skewed towards the first two), and their myriad of subgenres.
HOW IT WORKS
Choose a goal and you can select, read and review a book from any of the categories offered during the year; OR select, read and review any speculative fiction book.
For more details about the challenge and to sign up CLICK HERE
CATEGORIES:
Published in 2026 *A speculative novella (less than 250pgs) *A translated speculative novel *The first book in a speculative fiction duology/trilogy/series *Romantic speculative fiction *Speculative fiction that features a creature (animal/monster) *A cozy fantasy novel *Dark Fantasy *A fantasy based on myth, legend or folklore *A scifi that takes place on a spaceship or space station *Dystopian *A scifi featuring conscious technology
Click the covers to learn more about each title at Goodreads
PUBLISHED IN 2026
A SPECULATIVE NOVELLA (under 250 pages)
TRANSLATED SPECULATIVE
THE FIRST INSTALMENT IN A SPECULATIVE DUOLOGY/TRILOGY/SERIES
ROMANTIC SPECULATIVE
A SPECULATIVE THAT FEATURES A CREATURE (animal/monster)
Use your best judgement as to whether a book fits a particular category or not, this is supposed to be a challenge, not a chore, and you only really need suit yourself. These titles are intended as a springboard not a prescription. Please feel free to comment with your own recommendations or suggestions.
Don’t forget to share your latest read/review in the Linky
“The right book in the hands of the right person at exactly the right moment can change their life forever.”
When book editor Matilda ‘Tilly’ Nightingale receives a phone call from Book Lane advising her they are holding a birthday gift for her from her husband, she is sure they have made a mistake. Joe has been dead for almost six months.
Proprietor Alfie Lane carefully explains that before his death Joe arranged for Tilly to receive one book a month for the next twelve months, each including a handwritten note encouraging Tilly to move past her grief and embrace this new chapter in her life.
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page was exactly what I expected from reading the premise – sentimental, poignant, yet uplifting.
It’s a challenging journey for Tilly who does her best to honour Joe’s wishes expressed through each book and , while still in mourning. Page writes with compassion for her character’s journey through grief, anger, and guilt to acceptance and hope for the future.
Alfie is a sweetheart. Though struggling with issues of his own, including a threat to his bookstore, he sympathises with Tilly and becomes someone she can turn to. He falls first, but he is respectful of her grief and the slow course of their friendship and their romance is delightful.
Booklovers will delight in the many references to published books. Aside from the twelve titles Tilly receives from Joe, every section, divided by month begins with ‘Book Lane Recommends’ and lists four books that then speak to the months theme. The books vary widely in genre from children’s fiction to romance to nonfiction. Several high profile bookstores are also mentioned as Tilly travels, including Shakespeare & Co in Paris to The Ripped Bodice in New York.
The predictability of the plot is offset by the emotion the story inspires. This Book Made Me Think of You is written for the reader who understands the power of books to comfort, guide, heal, and encourage, and desires a happy ending.
Review: This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page @PenguinUKBooks #read #book #review #bookreview #fiction #contemporary #romance #readingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #ThisBookMadeMeThinkofYou
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