Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe



  • Silver Linings – Katrina Nannestad

    Harper Collins Australia I cannot begin to tell you how impatiently I have waited to post this review. When I was invited to write teaching notes for a new Katrina Nannestad book, I was absolutely thrilled. Then, when I read the manuscript for this beautiful, funny, poignant, life-affirming narrative, I realised how easy it would Read more

  • The Turtle and the Flood – Jackie French/Danny Snell

    Harper Collins Australia I could be mistaken, but I do think many of us would be familiar with these little darlings, at least by sight, even if not from personal experience. I think that kiddos would also know these guys from pictures and/or real life. There would be some as well, particularly (I think in Read more

  • Kimmi: Queen of the Dingoes – Favel Parrett.

    Hachette NOV 1, 2023 | 9780734422057 | RRP $19.99 Many readers fell in love with story of alpine dingo, Wandi, and his followers on SM are astonishing in numbers. Now comes the story of Kimmi, the tropical dingo, destined to be the Queen of her mob. A farmer in their Kimberley homeland has already killed Kimmi’s father, now her Read more

  • A feathered funny

    I thought this was quite amusing especially given the timing as it was shared just after my earlier review of Getting to Know the Birds in Your Neigbourhood. And yes, it’s a totally legit story, reported in several news forums here’s the BBC link. #whenbirdsgobad Read more

  • Getting to Know the Birds in your Neighbourhood – Darryl Jones

    UNSW Press/New South 9781742238050 / November 2023 / Paperback / 240pp / RRP $34.99 I’ve always loved ‘spotting’ birds and in many of the places I’ve lived, I’ve kept a kind of bird diary of those I’ve seen as often there were more unusual, or less often sighted, species such as the the few times I’ve seen spoonbills (Glasshouse Mountains and Hervey Bay), Read more

  • Magic Awry [Big Magic #2] – Sarah Armstrong

    Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing August 2023 ISBN: 9781760508449 Series: Big Magic RRP: $19.99 You know how sometimes, you’ve read an absolutely stonkingly good first book in a series, and when the sequel arrives you feel somewhat let down? Well, trust me, in this case, it is the very opposite. Big Magic was SO good, I Read more