Category: Reading

My Four Favourite Books of 2023

Since 2018, I’ve posted an annual review of books I’ve read. 2023 was a busy year for me: writing and podcasting, helping my son fit out his van, and supporting the Indigenous Voice to Parliament campaign. I don’t know how many books I read, listened to, or started and set aside on my to-be-read pile.

Read More

My Bookcase Blurbs

An ASTOUNDING, THRILLING and AMAZING episode of ABC Radio National’s The Book Show from 2019 popped up in my Facebook timeline memories in January (2023), with host Claire Nichols in conversation with Dr Alan Levinovitz from James Madison University (Virginia) about the history of book blurbs.

Read More

My List of Books for 2022

Inspired by the lists and favourites posted on the ABC Book Club Facebook group, I checked my bookshelf, Kindle and Audible library for the titles I’ve read and listened to in 2022. The results were interesting: I read six paper-based books and seven ebooks last year and listened to thirty-one audiobooks.

Read More

I Like Reading Because

In May 2022, a post by Penguin Books Australia popped up in my Facebook timeline memories from 2017, challenging readers to finish this sentence: “I like reading because …” A keen reader since childhood, I’d responded, “Because it opens my eyes and mind to other places and possibilities.”

Read More

What I’m Reading (July 2022)

Instead of a to-be-read pile, I have a bookcase of books beckoning me. I’m currently whittling down the “pile” by reading three books in three different formats — two of these won’t help clear my bookcase. And all are nonfiction, which is unusual because I enjoy reading (and writing!) fiction.

Read More

My Top Six Books for 2021

It’s that time of the year when we reflect on our “top things” for the past twelve months. Unsurprisingly, three months of COVID lockdown is not on my list. But when ABC Book Clubbers started posting their six favourite books for 2021, I joined in with my top six paper-based, e- and audiobooks.

Read More

Read Like A Writer

The ABC RN Bookshelf podcast episode looked interesting: “What does it mean to read like a writer? Twenty-five Australian writers give their thoughts.” And then I recognised two of the contributors, Belinda Castles and Nicholas Jose, whose books I’d read and reviewed for Writing NSW. So I clicked play.

Read More

The Longest Book Read

A question posted by Penguin Books Australia in 2017 popped up in my Facebook timeline memories: What’s the longest book you’ve ever read? Back then, I’d responded Gone with the Wind. But after sharing the old post on the ABC Book Club, I realised there are longer books, and I’d read one of them.

Read More

Favourite Books of 2020

The downside of bedtime reading is dozing off midway through a chapter, paragraph or sentence. And when combined with my habit of juggling several books at once, it takes me a long time to read a book. But I love reading. And although it wasn’t a favourite year, I thought I’d share my favourite books of 2020.

Read More

To Kindle, or not to Kindle?

Amazon discounted Kindles during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales. I have several ebook apps on my tablets and phones, including the Kindle app, and I have a small library of ebooks from Amazon and elsewhere. But I’ve never read an ebook from cover to cover. So could a Kindle help me enjoy ebooks?

Read More

Bedside Books (June 2020)

Ever since childhood, I’ve loved reading at bedtime. Even in my teens (unlike my son, sadly), I read most nights, and in my career-driven twenty-somethings, I kept up the reading habit with short stories. Now middle-aged, I still love reading, though rather than one book, I have a pile of beside books!

Read More

A Warm Afternoon with Isabel Allende

Walking my dog one warm afternoon in January, I heard The Book Show podcast interview with Isabel Allende. The next day I saw her latest novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, in my local library. It seemed serendipity. More so as published in 2020, it would be my first book of the new year and decade.

Read More
Loading

Published November 2023

By definition, brevity is the key to good microfiction. There is no time for plot and character development, so every word must count. ~ Robert Fairhead

Tall And True Microfiction by Robert Fairhead
Read more ...

Published September 2022

I hope readers enjoy the short story journeys in Twelve More Furious Months and make it home in time for dinner. ~ Robert Fairhead

Twelve More Furious Months by Robert Fairhead
Read more ...

Published April 2021

I look forward to the Writer's Centre's monthly Furious Fiction competitions because I've become addicted to the escapism of writing short stories! ~ Robert Fairhead

Twelve Furious Months by Robert Fairhead
Read more ...

Published March 2020

This slim book is hard to put down. And the only regret we may feel after reading it is that we reached the end too quickly! ~ Denise O'Hagan

Both Sides of the Story by Robert Fairhead
Read more ...

Share Your Writing

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. ~ Maya Angelou

Share your untold story — fiction, nonfiction and reviews — on Tall And True, an online showcase and forum for writers, readers and publishers.

TallAndTrue.com