The Girl From Moscow Book Tour

Here we go again! Hundred Acre of Books is on tour with Pantera Press to celebrate Julia Levitina’s debut novel The Girl From Moscow. 

About The Girl From Moscow…

“Ella dreams of escaping the USSR but what is the price of freedom?”

Moscow, 1983. Twenty-one-year-old Ella dreams of playing Natasha Rostova in War and Peace at the Moscow Theatre Academy. But when she meets her good friend Vlad at a city square, Ella finds herself in the middle of a protest and attracts the glare of the KGB.

Labelled a traitor, she must withdraw from the academy and she soon yearns to escape the cruel and oppressive Soviet regime. However, her hopes of leaving the country are smashed when her husband, Roman, is sentenced to two years’ labour camp.

As she looks for another way out, Ella is drawn into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a KGB general, who has the power to secure her freedom. Will she risk everything and leave behind those she loves to pursue a life in the West?

Julia Levitina grew up in Moscow with her Ukrainian Jewish mother and grandmother, who were both Holocaust survivors. She studied design and worked as a theatre designer before immigrating to Australia in 1991 with her family.

To read the full Synopsis and for purchase details head over to https://www.panterapress.com.au/product/the-girl-from-moscow/

Stop by https://www.instagram.com/hundredacreofbooks/?hl=en to get the latest updates on the book tour which concludes on 1/4/24.

Autumn survival kit reel...

Escape the Autumn breezes with a coffee and good book.

watch the reel via instagram 

The Girl From Moscow by Julia Levitina, RPP $32.99, Pantera Press, available 27th February 2024. 

The Girl From Moscow Review...

We are loving our time on this tour for The Girl from Moscow by Julia Levitina. Read the Review. 

The Girl From Moscow by Julia Levitina, RPP $32.99, Pantera Press, available 27th February 2024. 

 

Hundred Acre of Books Inaugural Bookstagram/ Blog Tour: Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green

We’re thrilled be joining our first Bookstagram/Blog Tour  with Hachette Australia and author Sophie Green,  If you’ve been following my blog for awhile you know how much I love Sophie Green books. Spring is a long 29 days away here in Australia making it the perfect time for a Winter Warmer read you’ll  love!  Review to come.

Blossoming friendships, and new beginnings 

About Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green..

Noosa Heads, 1987: Newly divorced Cynthia has returned to her home town from Los Angeles to reconnect with her 19-year-old daughter, who is pregnant and determined not to listen to her mother’s advice. Cynthia’s former best friend, Lorraine, has been stuck mowing lawns as part of a business she shares with her husband – his dream, not hers. When Cynthia convinces Lorraine to join the local Sunshine Gardening Society, they meet young widow Elizabeth, and rootless, heartbroken Kathy.

The four women soon discover the society is much more than an opportunity to chat about flowers. Rather, it offers them the chance to lend a helping hand to people whose lives need a bit of care and attention right along with their gardens.

Between pulling up weeds and planting natives, the women learn from each other that some roots go deep, and others shallow; that seeds can lie dormant for a long time before they spring to life, and that careful tending is the key to lives and friendships that reach their full potential.

With continued thanks to Author Sophie Green, Benson Publicity for inviting me on this Blog and Social Media Tour and Hachette Australia for sending a gifted copy of this book to read and review in exchange for my honest option.

Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green, RRP $32.99, Hachette AU, available 26th July 2023.

Follow the tour via hundredacreofbooks  Social Media pages. 

 

Outside in The Garden...

We are loving our time on this tour for Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green. Read the review.

Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green, RRP $32.99, Hachette AU, available 26th July 2023.

 

A winter Warmer Reel!!

Unlike the cover and title of this book there was absolutely no sunshine on this day this instagram reel was filmed.

watch it below via instagram!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvJacaJsfx3/?hl=en

Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green- A Chapter Sampler: Chapter One

This is an edited extract from Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green, RRP $32.99, Hachette AU, available now!!!

Previously on Hundred Acre of Books...

Gift Giving Guide-Stocking Stuffers 2022! With Harper by Design- HarperCollins Australia.

 

12 days of Christmas

The lead up to Christmas is always a highlight for me, especially if you think about what books might be under the tree, I recommend Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green.  My friends over at: 

Affirm Press 
Bloomsbury Publishing 
Big Sky Publishing
HarperCollins Publishers 
Pan Macmillan Australia 

recommend these titles, all titles were gifted to read and review,  in exchange for my honest opinion.

Affirm Press 
The Naturalist of Amsterdam by Melissa Ashley.

Bloomsbury Publishing 
Unfinished Woman by Robyn Davidson.
Tom Lake by Tom Lake.
The Bone Season by Samatha Shannon. 
Impossible creatures by Katherine Randell.
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Lou Translated by Ken Liu. 
Foxlight by Katya Balen    

Big Sky Publishing 

Space kids by Aleesah Darlison + Nancy Bevington 
Toodle the Cavoodle by Richard Tulloch + Heidi Cooper Smith 
Ted Watts’ Diary by Steve Matthews.
Resistance and Revenge by Catherine McCullagh.
Cloaked in Bravery by Tony Matthews.
Suffering Redemption and Triumph: The first Wave of Postwar Australian Immigrants by Peter Brune.
Shattered Lives: A brutal murder a cop on the edge. 
Murder at the Fort by Bob Marinon. 

Pan Macmillan Australia
When one of us Hurts by Monica Vuu. 
Light at Lavelle by Paulina Simons.

HarperCollins Publishers 
The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose
At the foot of the cherry tree by Alli Parker.

Hachette Australia 
Weekends with Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green.

 

 

 

Ted Watts' by Steve Matthews- A chapter Sampler: Chapters One and Two

This is an edited extract from Ted Watts’ Diary by Steve Matthews, RPP $29.99, Big Sky Publishing, available now. 

Interview with Steve Matthews.

To celebrate the release of Australian author Steve Matthews, latest release in October 2023.  Ted Watts’ Diary  we reached out to  Steve  via email with some questions. Read Steve’s answers below.

Ted Watts’ Diary by Steve Matthews, RPP $29.99, Big Sky Publishing, Available now.

Hello there,

Hope this finds you safe and well?

 Well here we are; May is well under way and thanks to covid19  I feel as if we’ve all been in what feels like a hibernation of sorts waiting for the new year to arrive.

I personally noticed not much has changed from before the pandemic arrived so keeping busy comes quite easily to me, I’m not saying I don’t go about my days without a care in the world, I’m prone to bouts of strong  anxiety so keeping that in check seems to take more of a focused effort at the minute, pleased to report only a few times I’ve felt it pulling me along.

Once this is over I hope people start respecting that the internet and technology does have a space in the world, and no it doesn’t need all the space but obviously needs some room.

Here’s some of what’s been keeping me occupied

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

 Welcome to a deserted island!

There is something very soothing about fishing, bug catching, fossil collecting (with tools that break) for an owl. Shopping and paying off a mortgage to a raccoon, watering my tulips and waiting on visitors to the island on a daily basis. I find that it can take up hours of my day if I’d let it. If you have A Nintendo Switch or looking for a great time passer let me suggest Animal Crossing New Horizons. I take no responsibility for any addictions. 

 

Book Club goes digital

In May of 2019, I joined my first in real life book club this was such a personal achievement for me as I’m quite introverted and struggle to embrace change where others are concerned, I have found my space within the group and I now look forward to the monthly meetings so much so that when Covid19 arrived I was worried about this change and what it means for my monthly meeting. As I expected this did change we have since gone digital I was so worried before the first meeting that the technology wasn’t going to work or worse I’d miss the meeting pleased to say I arrived on time to discover the book for May was The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams read the review here

Out and About

I’ve come to enjoy walks along the foreshore and find it a great way of organising my thoughts which during this time can feel stagnant many a blog idea and it’s future or breaking the beginning of a reading slump happens on these walks. I also find these walks are great reminders that not everything has been disturbed by Covid19 gives me hope we’ll find our way into some form of post Covid19 space soon, even if we all have to find a way  to live with this virus among us.

Please Note since writing this article some restrictions have been lifted, we at Hundred Acre of Books are maintaining social distancing practices.

 

CHRISTMAS 2020
Our Favourite Things

 CHRISTMAS SONGS TOP 5  

I love December! It’s always felt magical, even more so when you hear those musical notes. Here are my favourite songs:

  • The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You) – Nat King Cole
  • It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year -Andy Williams
  • Oh Holy Night – Celine Dion
  • Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Delta Goodrem
  • Sleigh Ride – Ella Fitzgerald

OUR TOP BOOKS OF 2020

These are my favourite books that I’ve read and reviewed this year:

BOOKS WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT HITTING  AUSTRALIAN SHELVES IN 2021

  • The Road Trip – Beth O’ Leary, Publication Date 27th April 2021 (Date Subject to change)
  • The Last Reunion – Kate Nunn, Publication Date 31st March 2021 (Date subject to change)
  • The Wattle Island Book Club – Sandie Docker, Publication Date 16th March 2021 (Date Subject to change)
  • The Emporium of Imagination – Tabitha Bird, Publication Date 30th March 2021 (Date Subject to change)

OUR FAVOURITE MOVIES TO HIT YOU IN THE CHRISMAS FEELS AUSTRALIAN  STREAMING  SERVICE  

Don’t pretend you don’t watch!

  • Love Actually – 2003
  • National Lampoons Christmas Vacation – 1989
  • Home Alone- 1990 (Disney +)
  • Pretty Woman – 1990
  • Home Alone – 1992 ( Disney +)
  • The Santa Clause – 1994 (Disney +)
  • Christmas with the Kranks -2004
  • The Polar Express – 2004 (Netflix)
  • A Christmas Prince – 2017 (Netflix)
  • A Christmas Prince The Royal Wedding 2018 (Netflix)
  • A Christmas prince The Royal Baby -2019 (Netflix)
  • Holidate – 2020 (Netflix)

 

 

Donating Books is a good thing

(Right) Donate Bag- The bag is large enough the pages nor the cover gets damaged.

I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember so when I come upon book blogging about three years ago, I was absolutely thrilled, little did I realise how quickly my collection would grow. This is a wonderful thing because it means I read more and discover more author works I never would’ve read or new genres which I find myself enjoying.

Having a bigger collection also means that once in awhile you’ll probably come across a book you didn’t love as much as you were hoping to, it even means you might start looking at every book on your shelf a little differently. Since I started reading full-time I know what I appreciate from a book and what I don’t, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with an author or the book, in fact I’ve come to see it as quite the opposite; I like it but something is missing or every so often I’ll come across a title I really don’t care for but I know just because I don’t care for it doesn’t mean someone else won’t.

A few reasons why a book may not be saved from the donate bag

  • Print or text size; the smaller the text the higher the chance
  • The size of the book also known as its format
But I hear you asking how can you know if you should donate it or not?  Here are some things I consider before I donate the books
  • Can I see myself reading other works from this Author?
  • Will I ever re-read this title in the future?
  • Would I recommend this title to a close friend?
  • Is this a stand-alone book or is it part of a past or upcoming series?

Believe me this is worth looking into I nearly donated a title once then discovered it was part of a series, I read the other books and donated the series in the end.

  • Am I still going to be able to find the book in the future If I change my mind?

This is one out of  the most important questions I ask myself before I donate; as I’m sure everyone knows by now books don’t always stick around, take physical books for example when they first release they are quite large also known as A- size format- my preferred format but after a while a book might become a little smaller also known as B-size Format I personally avoid this size but think they look cute on a shelf.

  • Is this book available electronically?

Believe it or not every title can be found on other platforms, this is something I will say personally disappoints me as a reader. I know electronic companies try their best, but this can be a problem for someone like me with poor eyesight.

Not everybody donates books and that’s OK I don’t donate every title that comes my way or finds it’s way into my shopping expeditions, reading is about escaping reality and I believe it would become a bore should you start to look at every title you have on your shelf as an opportunity to create space.

Read what brings you joy keep the titles that spark the magic and give wings to those someone else might love.

Do you donate books? let me know in comments.

A- size Format.
B-size Format luckily the print is manageable.