Friday Recap: Week 7

Each Friday, I’ll be posting a recap of the week’s events in case you missed them and invite you to tell us what you’re reading. If you’d like a recommendation for new books to read, send a comment telling us what sorts of books you like and other readers may be able to give you some suggestions.

A short week at Reading for Australia, due to the Queen's Birthday public holiday on Monday. Still, lots of book action on site though!

On Tuesday, Justin Garrick compared e-books with paper books.  

Where do you sit on this? I know people who read from their Kindles all the time - but they still love their paper books.   One person in this household feel very strongly that the only book worth owning - or even reading - is a paper book.  It can be an emotional discussion.  If you have an opinion on this, please add your comment to the comments section of Justin's post.

On Wednesday, Marj Brown gave us a great overview of the Kids' Lit Quiz World Final in Durban, South Africa in July and introduced us to a number of South African authors who write children's and young adult fiction. 

I am always excited to discover new authors, especially if they write about a country that I know little about and so can also discover that country through their books. Literature so often gives us the opportunity to visit countries in our imaginations. The best learning often happens when it doesn't feel like learning at all!  

South African writers are not as well known in Australia as British and American writers so it is a huge treat to have a new genre to discover and explore.

It also looks like Marj and her team have put together a terrific program for the World Final.  A week of visiting the attractions of Durban and its surrounds with lots of opportunities to talk about our favourite books - what could be better?  What fun the teams will have at the World Final!  Thank you Marj and the Durban Committee.

Yesterday, Nicole Deans took us through the (short but glorious) history of the Kids' Lit Quiz competition in Australia - how far we've come in just two years!

I encourage anyone who'd like to find out more about the Kids' Lit Quiz to read Nicole's post.  For me, the best bit about the Quiz is that there's no cramming - no hard work.  To prepare, all you have to do is what you like to do anyway - read.  It helps to read widely but that is an end in itself as you discover new genres and writers along the way.  As Nicole says, more than anything else, the Quiz is such great fun!

If you're looking for new books to read, have a look at Marj's and Nicole's current reading lists in the biographies at the end of their posts - there are lots of interesting books there.

Today, we have two more book reviews by kids:  here and here.  You can also scroll down the left sidebar to see all the books reviewed by kids on the site.  If you would like to review a book for us, have a look at the "Kids' Contributions" tab under the header at the top of the page.

If you are new to this blog, once you've looked at this week's events, have a look at the previous Friday recaps, Week 6, Week 5,  Week 4, Week 3, Week 2 and Week 1 to see what else is going on here at Reading for Australia and feel free to add your comments to any of those discussions.

And, finally, if you can think of a new name for our blog, go here - it's your chance to win a book!

Have a great weekend, everyone!