August 2024 Roundup

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August 2024 Roundup

Welcome to the August 2024 roundup!

I’m dropping this post a little early because I’m off on a writing retreat this weekend. Most of this month has been finishing up projects and book reads so I could be focused for the 3 days I’ll be away with some members of the #6amAusWriters, tapping away at our keyboards over cups of tea, cheeseboards, and chocolate lasagna. As for what else I got up to in August, read on…

What I’ve Been…Writing

The Writing Checklist Project. My first non-fiction book is shaping up nicely. I’ve worked out a format for the checklists, made the graphics, and have spellchecked all the content. Now, I’m just reading through a printout ahead of formatting the entire book and handing it over to my beta readers for a final check.

Watching

Jackpot

Jackpot is set in a future dystopian world where a monthly lottery winner is announced and they have until sundown to survive and claim the cash. During this time window, anyone else can kill them by any means except a gun, and claim the money for themselves. Surprisingly, with this premise, it’s not a dark movie, but a comedy. Starring Awkwafina as Katie, the winner of the largest jackpot in history who has only just arrived in LA in the hopes of reviving her acting career and wasn’t aware of the game, the stakes, or that she’s won. Enter John Cena as Noel, who offers his services to help protect her in exchange for a portion of her winnings. Katie not being aware of her win or what it means makes for some fun scenes when she can’t work out why everyone is suddenly trying to kill her. There’s some witty lines about social commentary, Simu Liu as the head of a rival protection agency, and some genuinely moving moments between Katie and Noel as their true selves are revealed the longer they survive and become friends.

The Umbrella Academy (Final Season)

While the first season remains the best, the fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy wrapped up in 6 episodes, and that that was all it needed to finish this story of super powered children who became messed-up adults that both caused and prevented numerous apocalypses. After the events of season 3, The Umbrella Academy are living new lives in an alternative timeline, but there are others (excellent cameos from Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally as Dr. Gene and Dr. Jean) who have memories of the original timeline who want to set back to it by bringing about The Cleanse. More time-hopping, family dynamics, and finally an answer to how Ben died, round out the season, which does the final storyline justice.

Reading

The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series by Jessica Radloff

This is a big book, but so fascinating. The interview style made it an easy read, and the behind the scene stories, anecdotes, and interesting facts about the show, the casting process, which actors were originally cast in the show, and some that were almost cast, and the real life relationships of the actors were a real highlight. Also interesting was learning the actors and producers thoughts on how the show got started after the initial pilot failed, when it became the #1 show in the world, and the decision to end it while it was still on top. An insert of photos, most taken by Kaley Cuoco, makes this a book worth picking up if you’re even just a casual fan of the show.

I’m Not Done with You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto

I’m Not Done With You Yet grabs you from the first sentence as you’re plunged into the first person POV of Jane. She’s a mid-list author stuck in a boring marriage, and struggling to write her third book after her first two failed upon release. She had such promise when she attended an Oxford writing program 9 years beforehand and met Thalia. After an incident, which is flash-backed to as the story goes on, Thalia has dropped off the radar. But then Jane sees a publishing announcement with Thalia’s name on it and schemes her way to putting herself back in Thalia’s life. Jane wrote better when she knew her, and as the truth of their history and the motivations of both Jane and Thalia are revealed, the book layers some very interesting twists. Highly recommended for fans of suspenseful thrillers, especially ones involving writers and the writing world who will understand both Jane and Thalia wanting to be their best author-selves— even if it costs them their humanity.

The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow

When 18-year-old Ying is sent to await her wedding to the crown prince, Zhang, she’s horrified to find that not only is the prince cold, but he locks her away in a room where she starts to see strange movements in her mirror. On the night of the wedding, Ying discovers a world beyond the mirror. It’s a place where her own reflection needs help, and the reflection of the prince is a much kinder man who promises her the love she craves. If Ying can help break a seal, and right the wrongs of a past blood-soaked war, she may just get everything she wants—or she may be walking into a trap. This debut from Keshe Chow is full of prophecy, mythical beasts, adventure, and a big dose of Insta-love that is perfect for YA fans who love such tropes.

Under The Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey

Having watched the TV adaption, I wanted to see how the book faired. While the TV series focused on the real-life victim, Reena, her family, the life of the writer of the book, and a fictional police officer investigating the case, the book is focused on the perpetrators of the crime—which was the shocking beating and murder of a 14-year-old-girl. Mixing real interviews in with a narrative that reads part fiction and part magazine article, this was a hard book to put down. Almost every chapter switches to a different person’s perspective on the lead up the murder, the rumors that surrounded the case when Reena was just a missing person, the arrests, and then the trials, some of which dragged on for 7 years. It’s a book that stays with you after touching on bullying, trying to fit in, social standing, prejudice, small-town denial, justice, and injustices, and I highly recommend it to readers of true-crime.

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your books/recommendations! You can also find and follow my reviews and book recommendations on Amazon and BookBub.

If you’d like to add the Blackbirch books to your Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and/or check out the reviews, click the following links:

Blackbirch: The Beginning Blackbirch: The Dark Half Blackbirch: The Ritual Blackbirch: The Collector

Taking Photos Of

Book Launches and Fake Spring. This month, I attended the book launch for The Girl With No Reflection and met the very lovely author, Keshe Chow. We’ve also hit Fake Spring in Melbourne, which is what happens when the last few weeks of Winter turn into warm weather and flower blooms before Winter chills and usually heavy rains hit again before the start of Real Spring in September.

Blackbirch Teaser Of The Month

This month’s teaser is for the second Blackbirch book, The Dark Half. This and the final book tie for my fave in the series. I feel like the second book is where the story really takes off, and it contains the scene that kick-started the whole idea of the series, so it will always have a special place in my writer-heart.