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Hanadi - BIPOC centric bibliophile

@booksweread

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Dharawal land
Reading is Political
Literary-Dark-Depressing
Horror-SFF-SpecFic-the weird
📖The Burn by Jessica Mansour-Nahra

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So good to converse with fellow Indonesian author Intan Paramaditha on feminism, horror, and the speculative in conjunction with our respective novels, But Won’t I Miss Me and Night of a Thousand Hells. Among the topics hit: monsters and doppelgangers, haunted houses and self-cannibalism, and ofc the violence necessary to keep the Machine (capitalism, the patriarchy, etc.) running smoothly and efficiently 🩸

Some attendees wore their vaginas 🫀 Thank you to @biscuiterie_sydney for the yummiest placenta and bloodtype themed cookies ever 🍪 And A Big Thank You to @writing_society_wsu for hosting this seminar and to Melinda Jewell and Anne Jamison for organising 💚

Photo 1 by @nenganniemenulis. Photos 2 and 3 courtesy of Melinda Jewell 📷

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And here’s my children’s book #kidlit version of #MidYearBookCelebrationTag 📚👧🏻👶🏿🧒🏼📚

THE WOUND by @emmaadbage is a stunning picture book for fans of SOMETHING GOOD👍 by @marcycampbellbooks & @corinnaluyken ~ taking a child’s eye view of a childhood incident seriously, yet humorously.

LONE WOLF ~ hurrah 🥳 For all the child introverts who want to be left alone to read their book!

It was close between THE SUNBIRD🐦 & CHILDREN OF THE STONE CITY, but I’ll do a separate post on that one (I already have one on 🐦).

Kellen & Nettle in THE UNRAVELLER: odd couple friends, fiery and gentle, both steadfast & loyal ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🩹

Jennifer A Nielsen is a bit of a cheat, since I read & recommended ICEBERG two years ago, but I’ve gone on a binge this year. I think she’s one of the most talented writers of historical fiction for children. 🤞she’s writing about the current Palestinian G-cide from the POV of the occupied!

Sometimes I find YA graphic novels to be lacking in plot. THE CURATOR has a cracking plot, early uni characters & a Melbourne setting that veers into a portal parallel world. Great to see new #GraphicNovel publisher @perentie_press taking a chance on #DebutAuthorIllustrator @wendytyrer

Maybe the cover & premise were too good. Maybe it’s because we read it straight after finishing Season 5 of Stranger Things, but my son & I were a bit disappointed🫥

Who thought I would like an ice-hockey romance? The bookseller at @qbdbooks Southport, who sneakily told me the FMC also preferred reading to
🏒⛸️🥅!

I wanna read anything by Rebecca Stead. This sci-fi about a nice kid from an alien family, who grows a tail, did not disappoint. WHEN YOU REACH ME is still my (absolute) favourite though!

Ordered this debut verse novel, ALL THAT CHANDNI KNOWS, about a girl dealing with a family secret & just need to stop hanging out here so I can read it!

Ditto for RUNNING WITH HORSES by @littlyellow 🐎 I LOVED his earlier WE WERE WOLVES, powerfully written & illustrated with haunting pen & ink illos.

The most beautiful📗I have acquired so far? What can I say?🤭🤷🏻‍♀️SAY HELLO LIKE AN ARMADILLO👋

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2024 & 2025 were write-offs for me in terms of reading and writing. Of course, I have & will post more on this, but I HAVE returned to reading. I’ve started many books this year and completed fewer (I will post all of these soon).

Fewest of all are the books that have fitted neatly in this #MidYearBookCelebrationTag template started by @ktlee.writes

Hanadi’s post on @booksweread came up on my feed — for once, I get to thank Insta’s algorithm. Check out her post!

About my choices:

THE NEW MRS CLIFTON was a suspenseful read about a side of post-WWII English life I had not seen. #MiddleBrowNovels relevant to our times.

“I saw something nasty in the woodshed.” 🤣 COLD COMFORT FARM🟰EMMA✖️WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Mabel Stark is a bit much, but the narrator, Betty Bobbitt, deservedly won the AudioFile Earphones Award🎙️It turns out she was an actress in “Prisoner”, which @nordacious tells me is quite the cult classic!

@sularigentill is a bit of a cheat because I’d read THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY a few years ago, but I read her other 3 meta crime novels this year. Rowland Sinclair is up next.

Frida, the perinatal anxiety-suffering amateur detective, could also be a new favourite character (and I’m hoping there’s a series!) but @pennytangey is also a debut author for adults (although a veteran author for children). Her books for both are wryly funny.

Disappointed only because I enjoyed the prosecutor character & structure of WILDE LAKE so much, and this was an earlier, less sophisticated 📕

MANUSCRIPT 4 MURDER was a rip-roaring read, but even at the beginning I was surprised by how the author perfectly captured Jessica Fletcher’s voice. And how comforting that was. #NostalgicReads

I never knew I was waiting for @jacquelinewilson_hq ‘s adult book until I saw it! I cried reading ILLUSTRATED MUM at age 34, & I needed to see if 🐬 had turned out OK

Disillusioned by the silence of DEI advocates this past 2.5y

Listened to @josephscalice ‘s lectures on Stalinism’s counterrevolutionary impact in 🇵🇭 Keen to read his #MarxistHistoricalAnalysis

@chrishaughton ‘s book is beautifully illustrated & very informative.

Stay tuned 4 children’s 📚

#bookstagram

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In Sydney, Christmas comes early every May thanks to @sydwritersfest 🥰

The week of the Sydney Writers’ Festival is iconic and a permanent highlight of any given year. I was very lucky this year and got to attend so many sessions with local and international authors that covered from politics and freedom of speech to creativity and inspiration. To say that I go home every single day after a festival day full of brilliant, bursting ideas is an understatement.

Gathering so many talented and brilliant writers and thinkers is arduous work, and I’m always in awe of every single person that makes this festival possible: the sponsors, the curators, the catering people, the sound technicians, the volunteers, the @gleebooks guys who run the bookshop, and every single reader that attends. Not even in my wildest dreams would I have thought I could experience such a wonderful festival every single year. My profound gratitude, from the bottom of my heart, to every person who makes the magic possible.

This festival was extra special because I got to meet some wonderful women, all the way from Melbourne, whom I’ve known for years but never had the chance to meet in person. The festival is extra amazing when you get to enjoy it with your smart, beautiful friends who are as crazy as you about stories that live on the page.

One last shout-out to my strong, efficient suitcase (best investment ever) that comes with me every year and is now a fixture of the festival (some people ask me about the suitcase before they even greet me, and I’m here for it).

Lots of love and long live the Sydney Writers’ Festival!
Camila xx

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🇫🇷 THE MAD WOMEN’S BALL 🇫🇷
By Victoria Mas
BOOK 29 in 2026
Translated from the French

It was our inaugural #ReadingTranslated book club read.

Based on an actual hospital, the book is set in 1885 in Paris. During a time when women were institutionalised into Salpêtrière asylum for reasons that are unfathomable. It was a way to control women to conform, manage women who were inconvenient or to contain women who suffered “hysteria”. The book focuses on the lead up to the annual ball which is the event of the year when the women were allowed to mingle with the elite.

The reader follows the story of two main female characters. One is Genevieve who is a head nurse at the hospital. The other is Eugenie, a young woman, who is able to see spirits. What a transformative experience it becomes for both women - seeing what the reality holds for them.

Reading about the injustices of societal control of women ignited such deep infuriation that I had to pause every now and then. The book isn’t thick, hovering around 200 pages, it was slow at times but I felt that accentuated the feeling of oppressiveness and confinement. What an atmospheric read.

Our next read is Apple and Knife , translated from Indonesian. If you are interested in joining, please let me know.

If you had to go to a ball, what is your outfit and which famous person (dead or alive) would be your date?

🎉 And a huge thank you to the following booksta pals who are members of the little book club: @the.anxious.bookaholic @booksweread @sarahsbookchat @gurlreadsatbarspubs @anotherbookstagrammer @literallytaynmina, @withherheadstuckinabook @bookreadingdaze @lizzies.little.library @fayescapes @bookish_discourse @pages_of_prose_by_hu

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blind box book recommendations round 2 boogaloo

bringing this back around for a cutesy low effort post so yall don’t forget about me. if you weren’t around for the first one, here’s how it works.
so basically choose whichever color sample you want (for a truly blind box experience, randomly point to one) and then head over to that slide.
let me know in the comments what you got!!

if i’m tagging you it’s bc i miss you and wanna hear from you but don’t feel pressured to comment 🖤

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Birthday stack 📚🎁 Beautiful books from the bookstagram fam! Thank you for the birthday love last week & thanks especially to the wonderful people in my life who gifted me this tower of books 💖

Look at all these fabulous reads I have ahead of me! 😍

#bookstagrammer #bookstack #birthdayhaul #aussiebookstagrammer #bookishfriends

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Six years ago [cuts the drama out of the story] through a lovely person I met on a 'send a parcel' exchange @christineturnsthepage thing I discovered a whole world of readers. Decided to try this thing I knew nothing about. I still don't know much about this bookstagram world. I mean, I do but can't be bothered nor do I have the time to try and meet the MAGA, I mean, Meta's rules, expectations, algorithms... you know me.

Anyway, I thought this was a great excuse to get a cake from my favourite place @kbake.au and took some photos.

Last slide is my first post (I still get the same amount of likes LOL)

Gonna try and tag some lovely people I met here.

#bookstaversary #books #booksandcake #bookstacks #bookshelf

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It’s a bonus day!

Today I wanted to do something in lieu of a gift for @booksweread who is one of my favourite bookstagrammers and people.

I hope you will join me in spreading some seasonal cheer with those who need it most.

The donation link is in my bio or head over to Hanadi’s link in bio and donate at one of the many links there.

#12daysofgiftingforgaza #bookstagram

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🌟 Book of The Month : Discipline 🌟
By @randaafattah
Publisher: @uqpbooks

I was over the moon to receive the September @betterreadbookshop book in their September subscription box.

I saw @booksweread attend the author event and added this book straight to my TBR. And now I have my own signed copy 😊

👉 What are you currently reading?

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Oh, what a night 😍

Last week when I was in Sydney, I was lucky enough to be the guest author at @bound.and.bloom’s dinner event

The night started with drinks, an author interview hosted by @shae.reads and a charcuterie board at @betterreadbookshop before heading to @vandal_sydney

Intimate, friendly, bookish and so much fun, I cannot recommend a Bound and Bloom event enough! A huge thank you to the team for having me and to everyone who braved the torrential rain to attend 💕

#bookevent #bookevents #booktalk #booktalks #thelifeexperiment #authortalk #authorinterview #booktour #ontour #supportlocal #newtown #romancewriter #romancebooks #romancebookstagram

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“They had once dug the earth for yams and planted seeds and prayed for rain. Now they dug for life and planted the dead and prayed for the end.”

If you’re a fan of Pachinko or Homegoing, look this way, I have an intergenerational family saga that’s going to be right up your alley. Song of the Sun God is an earlier novel from Shakari Chandran, winner of the Miles Franklin award for Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens. I really enjoyed Chai Time, but I think Sun God tops it.

We meet Nala and Rajan, beginning their married life in 1946, on the eve of Ceylon’s (Sri Lanka’s) independence from Britain. An arranged marriage, they learn to love each other while their county is in turmoil, and must make decisions to save their family as the country descends into civil war.

This book is the perfect balance of history and fiction, sharing the details of Sri Lanka’s past while following a family through their own history, from Sri Lanka to Australia. It’s so beautifully done, the characters jump off the page and straight into your heart, and I was sad when this one was over. Given the heaviness of much of the history, Chandran has done well to create warmth and love through the family, even in the toughest of situations. Daughters Priya and Dhara will stay with me for a while.

A big thanks to @booksweread for pushing me to finally pick this one up, I’m so glad I did!

Does this sound like a book you’d enjoy?

Image: a book called #SongOfTheSunGod is being held to the camera

#bookreviewer #readmore #bookreview #bookrecommendation #bookstagram #aussiereaders #bookish #booknerd #aussiebookstagram #coverlove #bibliophile #mustread #alwaysreading

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