Hello, and welcome to my first Substack for 2026. If you’re reading this, it means you made it through January. I think that’s something to be proud of, given that it felt like it was a decade long.
Memes and jokes aside, I know that for a lot of people, the start of a new year feels like a fresh start in life. It seems like most people I know are recommitting to the versions of themselves that they want to become and decluttering the heck out of their homes and spaces, which is something that I can relate to very much. You all know that I started planning my 2026 goals and resolutions in October, but there’s something about the things I have chosen to focus on for this year that feel a lot more achievable than I think my goals normally feel - I can actually visualise myself checking the little box next to each of these, and what’s more, I can see myself sticking to most of them.
New year, same me, new bookish goals
In 2026, I intend to:
stick to a kind of strict book buying program (did I talk about my TBR game last month?)
Get all the piles of books off my office floor (again)
Get my unread shelf number below a certain (admittedly still kind of large) number. No, I will not tell you what it is. I got close to admitting it to my mum the other day but I chickened out.
Finish the draft of my second novel (The Good Daughter) and begin serious work/ research on the third one (working title, Heart of Gold). You may or may not be aware, I attempted to start this book in late 2023. A catastrophic USB failure erased EVERYTHING so now I am starting from scratch.
Make progress on Project Backlist - wouldn’t it be nice to see these shelves cleared?
These are some of the things you will see me reflecting on in my Substack this year, so if that sounds interesting to you, feel free to stick around.
I thought that I would have finished revising my second novel by now, considering that I had ‘finished’ it once already late last year and only needed to polish it, but it seems that there was more to be done than I thought. A lot of my characters seem to suffer from a condition called Emotional Whiplash, which, while probably accurate to a lot of the people I know and to myself, makes for turgid and melodramatic reading. It’s very hard to stick to the maxim of show, don’t tell, when your characters are constantly locked in guilt spirals and overanalysing everything. This probably explains why every book I write gets to about 120 000 words too.
But, I’m hopeful that I’ll be at my targets by the end of January and ready to send this second novel out into the world, looking for a home. Yes, it’s another historical, no, it’s not about World War Two again.
In the meantime, I am expecting a delivery of secondhand research books so that’s a bit exciting… more later, I hope.
For most of my reading life, I have been a one book at a time kind of gal, but lately, my currently reading on Storygraph has often had at least two and sometimes up to six books on it at any one time. I have started to wonder if it’s boosting my reading productivity, and I’ll tell you why.
For starters, I am a mood reader, and I don’t tend to like to stick to a prescriptive TBR in the sense that anything new goes to the back of the queue. I’m a member of three book clubs at the moment, plus I review books for The AU Review, so there are things demanding to be read right away coming onto my radar all the time. The closest that I got to sticking to a ‘personal curriculum’ of sorts was the ‘Ten Before the End’ list that I made last November in my update— and of that list, I think there were only one or two books that I haven’t got to yet.
But the thing about reading multiple books at once is that you can have books on the go for any sort of mood that you might be in— and books for any sort of situation. I’m someone who likes to read in the bath as a treat, but I would never risk reading a library book or one that belonged to someone else in there. I’d show you what happened to my copy of Wild Dark Shore when I leaned it on a flannel that was wicking in the water except that I loaned it out, but the pages are extremely warped. Recently, I found myself in the middle of three fiction books because I was reading an 800 pages fantasy novel as a buddy read (couldn’t take that in the bath either, too heavy!) and a library book, so when I decided I needed to relax in the tub, I started The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. I worried I would get confused but wouldn’t you know, I enjoyed all three books and I found myself reaching for something to read more often because no matter what mood I’ve been in, there’s always been something at hand that I’m interested in. I’ve also got three non fiction texts on the go, but they’re a horse of a different colour entirely.
I guess the lesson to be learned there is, in reading, as in writing, you have to follow your interests, and not be too stubborn about finishing one book before you pick up another if the other alternative is picking up your phone instead.
Just one reader…
Remember last year when the ABC was reporting that Australians were reading less than ever, and worrying about what that meant going forward? Well, I’m pleased to say that in my life, the people around me seem to be reading more. While my mum has always been a bookworm, I have also started getting reading updates from two other family members, including my dad who has just retired. Perhaps this is the beginning of his bookworm era. On top of this, the other night, I came home to find my partner reorganising his TBR shelf, and coming up with a reading strategy of his own.
I don’t mean to take credit for changes the reading habits of the people around me, just to celebrate that in my own circles at least, people seem to be reading more, and this can only be a good thing. Reading builds empathy, and that’s something the world can never have too much of. Perhaps making reading more visible, and more of a priority, really is working.
If you’re interested in more ideas about how you can inspire others to become readers, why not check out Rachael Johns’ Reading Challenge with a Difference, where she challenges us to each get one person reading in 2026. I think we can manage, don’t you?
Recommended to me by colleagues when I first started working in libraries (so probably in 2018), I have finally found the time to read Elaine Dundy’s bestselling novel about a young American girl in Paris. The Dud Avocado was first published in 1958 by Elaine Dundy, who was also an actress. Her theatre critic husband encouraged her to write the novel in the first place, but then was so jealous of her success with it that she had to make sure no one ever complimented her on it when he was nearby. He apparently threatened to divorce her if she published another book, but you know what happens when people give the ultimatum ‘Books or me’, don’t you? They divorced in 1964. Good on you, Elaine.
As for the story itself, it doesn’t have a traditional plot, but the charming and quirky voice of the heroine is what will carry you through the read. To sum it up very briefly, it’s the story of Sally Jay Gorce, an American living in Paris who lives in fear of being mistaken for either a prostitute or a librarian, and having accidentally become the former, decides she might as well become the latter. The ‘fall from grace’ she doesn’t even realise is happening is the events of the book, but you really must discover them, and Sally Jay, for yourself. While the book is inspired by Dundy’s own time in Paris, she supposedly wrote herself out of plot holes by having her heroine do precisely the thing she herself never would, and I just love that.
Read Rachel Cooke’s introduction to the Virago edition I read here.
If you’re still not sick of me talking about Jane Austen (and I should hope not, as I plan to reread all six novels this year, you might be interested in this article by Rebecca Romney that accompanies her book, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf.
If you loved Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest book Atmosphere, I think you’d probably enjoy The Astronaut Wives Club, a tv series made out of Lily Koppel’s book about the wives of the seven men selected for Project Mercury - the first American men to be sent on manned space missions, including John Glenn, who gave Perth the nickname City of Light after the people here put all their lights on so it would be visible from space when he orbited the earth in 1962. It’s on Disney Plus if you have it.
Even though it’s summer and some days it’s been extremely hot, I’ve been crocheting a lot this month - it’s a great way to keep me off my phone because every time I go online I seem to find something else to feel anxious about. The two gnomes and the hat are my creations (the hat is using the Quick and Easy Granny Stitch Bucket Hat pattern by Knotting Hook Crochet on Youtube) and the cowl is my current WIP, based on this one here — I’ve used their image because mine is not done.
So that’s another month done. I know I said that it felt like a decade had passed since January 1, but it also went by in a blink, didn’t it? Still so many things on my to do list, and so many books to read.
Better get on with things.
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