Good Reading - July Birthday giveaways

[culturebird]

DAY 11: The Neighbours

COMPETITION STARTS: 11 JUL 2025
COMPETITION ENDS: 12 JUL 2025

You’re almost certain your daughter didn’t kill the neighbour. But what if she did?
Richard Wellington is one of the country’s most recognised doctors. A morning TV regular, surgeon to the elite, and scandal-proof despite a malpractice case that should have ruined him.
But when his body is found sprawled in a harborside park on a sweltering Sydney morning, the facade shatters. His murder dominates the headlines, and the normally quiet cul-de-sac he called home becomes a media circus, seething with speculation and unease.
For Liv Elliot, none of that matters – except for one detail: her daughter, Gracie, was at the park that morning. As the investigation heats up and dark secrets about Richard begin to surface, Liv takes steps to shield her daughter from the storm – steps that could destroy them both if the truth comes out.

What is the name of Liv's daughter in this book? ANSWER: Gracie

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-11-the-neighbours/

Terms And Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 11 July 2025 to 12 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 12 – Notes on Infinity

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-12-notes-on-infinity/


COMPETITION STARTS: 12 JUL 2025
COMPETITION ENDS: 13 JUL 2025
ONE ENTRY PER PERSON.

Normal People meets The Dropout with a dash of Tomorrow x3 in this epic love story of two young Harvard students with a shared dream who are drawn into the vortex of American start-up culture.
When Zoe and Jack meet in a chemistry classroom in Harvard, they couldn’t be more different: she’s the daughter of a renowned MIT professor, he’s escaping an upbringing steeped in poverty – but they are immediately drawn to one another.
Neither knows it yet, but in two years’ time, they will have dropped out of college and become business partners in a billion-dollar company that promises longer life. But as they become wrapped up in a maelstrom of insatiable ambition, greed and ultimately deceit, their love for each other will be tested to its very limit…
 
Which US college do Zoe and Jack attend? ANSWER: Harvard

Terms & Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 12 July 2025 to 13 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 13: June in the Garden

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-13-june-in-the-garden/

June can name every flower species. She finds it much harder to cultivate an understanding of people.

After her mother’s unexpected death, June sets out to find her father, whom she knows only from an old photograph. When she arrives at his door, he panics and turns her away. With nowhere to go, she secretly moves into his yellow garden shed. But when her father’s twelve-year-old son discovers her, June must decide whether to stay or run.
This joyful and humorous debut novel is also a thoughtful celebration of difference. Readers will fall in love with June, as she searches for the two things she is missing—a family and a garden. June in the Garden lets us see things afresh.
 
To enter, tell us what two things June is missing. ANSWER: A family & a garden

Terms And Conditions:
1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 13 July 2025 to 14 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 14 – Aftertaste

A food story to binge. A ghost story to devour. A love story to savour.
When dead-end dishwasher Kostya discovers the ability to summon spirits through the food he cooks, he embarks on a journey to open a New York City restaurant that serves closure – something he’s craved for as long as he can remember.
There are just three problems:
1. Kostya has some ghosts of his own.
2. His advancing menu of spirit cuisine is threatening the stability of the Afterlife itself.
3. He’s falling in love with Maura, a party psychic with her own secret connection to the Afterlife – who also happens to be the one person who knows he must be stopped.

A bittersweet cocktail of humour and heart, Aftertaste is an imaginative odyssey through food and love, life and death: the things that sustain us, connect us, transport us, and remind us who we are.

To enter, tell us where this book is set? Answer: New York

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-14-aftertaste/

Terms And Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 14 July 2025 to 15 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 15 – Fulvia

In the  dying days of the Roman republic, a remarkable woman steps out of the shadows and beyond the boundaries imposed on her sex, driven by an unstoppable ambition. Kaarina Parker’s stunning debut novel, told in the compelling voice of this brilliant woman from history, brings Fulvia and the society in which she lived vividly to life.
Born into a wealthy but unimportant family, Fulvia is raised in the peace of the Etruscan countryside but longs for a life of excitement and influence. When her father dies and her inheritance is threatened, she makes her way to the city of Rome to secure her future.
Motivated by both passion and opportunism, Fulvia marries Clodius, a hedonistic young senator. They are perfect partners – risk takers, scornful of convention and eager for change. Although Clodius is heir to a leading aristocratic family, he has spent his life criticising the rules of his class and championing the common people. As a wife and mother, Fulvia fulfils her role in a society that denies women any influence outside the home – but she is also a ruthless political strategist, intent on seeing her husband rise through the ranks of Rome’s governing body, the senate. And, through him, wielding her own authority.
But Rome is a dangerous place, and power can become notoriety overnight. Fulvia soon learns just how high the stakes really are, and that her ambitions may come at a terrible cost.

To enter, tell us the name of Fulvia's husband in Rome. Answer: Clodius
 
https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-15-fulvia/

Terms And Conditions
1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 15 July 2025 to 16 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

Day 16: The Occupation

In the autumn of 1949, two women convene in the parlour of a Melbourne hotel. Tess is married and childless. Mary, unwed and pregnant. Surrendering to the unimaginable, Mary agrees to a life-altering pact: she will give her child to Tess.
One year earlier, Mary stands on the deck of an Australian naval ship, awaiting arrival in the ruined Japanese city of Kure. There, thousands of Australians have established an occupation of the Hiroshima prefecture.
As she settles into her new life, Mary finds carefree expats touring the countryside, hosting picnics and even throwing parties, all while the war-ravaged locals try to rebuild their lives.

When she meets Sully, an Australian journalist, Mary’s idealised notion of the occupation crumbles. Confronted by moral ambiguity on such a grand scale, she becomes reckless. Returning home may seem the answer, but even there, echoes of the occupation linger.

To enter, tell us the year this book is set? Answer: 1949

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-16-the-occupation/

Terms And Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 16 July 2025 to 17 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 17 – $50 QBD Gift Voucher

To enter, tell us the book you most want to buy with this voucher?

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-17-50-qbd-gift-voucher/

Terms And Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 17 July 2025 to 18 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 18 – The Favourite

A story of three grown sisters, whose father – in a moment of crisis – accidentally lets slip that he has a favourite, from the author of New York Times bestseller Amazing Grace Adams.

Alex, Eva and Nancy. Three grown-up sisters; each wonderful and messy in their own individual ways. And loved equally by their parents, Vivienne and Patrick.
Or so they thought . . . Until on their annual family holiday, Patrick accidentally lets slip that he has a favourite daughter – causing other long-buried secrets to come to light.
Set over a single week, but examining the highs and lows that define a family over the decades, The Favourite is a story about rivalries and long-held resentments, about loss and grief and blame – and, above all, about love.

To enter, name one of the sisters

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-18-the-favourite/

Terms And Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 18 July 2025 to 19 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 19 - The Empress Murders

A razor-sharp, mind-bendingly clever whodunnit from award-winning playwright and actor, Toby Schmitz.
Everyone is in peril. Everyone is a suspect.
It’s 1925 and the Empress of Australia is making her regular Atlantic crossing, New York-bound, with a full manifest of passengers.
When a dead body is uncovered onboard, it is up to Inspector Archie Daniels to find the killer. But solving one murder quickly turns into solving two, then three, and it becomes clear that Daniels must act fast to avoid an all-souls-lost-level calamity. No one, from the horrendously wealthy and entitled first-class passengers to what they would consider the dregs of empire below deck, is safe. And no one can get off.

The Empress Murders is a razor-sharp, mind-bendingly clever novel that is both a witty, bloodthirsty whodunnit and an excoriating look at the excesses of the British Empire, just as the sun begins to set on it.

To enter, tell us where the Empress of Australia is headed. ANSWER: New York

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-19-the-empress-murders/

Terms And Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 19 July 2025 to 20 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.

[culturebird]

DAY 20 - Whistle

Evil has a one track mind…

Celebrated children’s author and illustrator Annie Blunt has had a dreadful year. Her husband was killed in a tragic accident, then one of her children’s books ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her young son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.
But Annie’s year is about to get worse.
Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed in the grounds of their new house. While Annie is pleased to see Charlie happy, there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night – she’s sure she can hear a train in the middle of the night, although there isn’t an active line for miles. And then bizarre things start happening in the neighbourhood. But even stranger, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book…
Grief plays tricks on the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…

Question: To enter, tell us what toy Charlie finds in the shed. ANSWER: Train set

https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/competitions/july-birthday-comp-20-whistle/

Terms And Conditions:

1. Entry is open to all residents of Australia and New Zealand from 20 July 2025 to 21 July 2025. 2. Employees and the immediate families of the promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible. 3. The judge’s decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. 4. The first correct entries drawn from the competition in July 2025 will win the book. 5. The promoter accepts no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected mail. 6. The winners of the prize will be notified by email in July 2025.