To celebrate and recognise the impact of writing by Australian women, The Stella Prize want to hear about the books that have inspired you this past year – your Stella Sparks.

 
A Stella Spark is a book by an Australian woman that has struck a spark for you: what have you read in the past year that has kept you up at night, brought you comfort, challenged you, changed your perspective, or opened up new worlds?

 
Readers are invited to share a photo of their Stella Spark, along with the story of why they chose it across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #StellaSpark.

 
Celebrating the many Australian women shaping Australian literature is something I do daily with my Australian Women Writers Challenge focus, so I am more than happy to partake in the #StellaSpark movement. Picking only one book – not so easy! I read more than 70 books last year written by Australian women, so I have lots of sparks.

 
When I think about the books I read last year that were also published last year (which narrows it down some), a book that offered me a lot of comfort and enjoyment is:

A Hundred Small Lessons by Ashley Hay

 
A Hundred Small Lessons is the type of novel you can give as a gift with confidence that the recipient will enjoy it. The glorious cover alone promises delight upon opening. I highly recommend this beautiful novel, to everyone who reads. To all of you who are or ever have been a parent. To everyone who has ever been a child at some point in your lives (which is of course every human being). There is much to be gained from reading this novel.

 
Read my full review here.

Find out more about #StellaSpark here.