Australian Women Writers Challenge discussion

Given I've already noted some books I'd really like to read for this year's challenge I am aiming to manage at least 15 books read and reviewed. I'm concentrating again on speculative fiction, but there might be a few other things peppered throughout.

Good luck:)

Brenda wrote: "Good luck:)"

Thank you!

#1: Who's Afraid? by Maria Lewis: urban fantasy / paranormal romance. A definite case of 'liked it, but'. Lots to like, but a major issue around racial tropes that took away from my enjoyment. Full review at The Conversationalist.

Here's your review on Goodreads Ju, for anyone who would like to read and "like" it for you:)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ohhh another spec fix fan! Best of Luck. Let me know if you find anything amazing.

Sharon wrote: "Ohhh another spec fix fan! Best of Luck. Let me know if you find anything amazing."

Also definitely let me know - you can also see my shelves for past years for ideas if you wish :)

Brenda wrote: "Here's your review on Goodreads Ju, for anyone who would like to read and "like" it for you:)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Thanks Brenda! I'll include the goodreads link too next time.

No worries thanks Ju :)

#2: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman (and Jay Kristoff). Young adult, science fiction, thriller-esque and presented in such an interesting fashion! Loved this. Link to my review on Goodreads, and my full review on my blog The Conversationalist.

#3: Nightsiders by Sue Isle. Part of the collected author series of women writers by Twelfth Planet Press. This was a series of shorts/novellas and they were so great. I loved this collection. Post-apocalyptic, with hope, environmental disaster recovery, young adult and features a trans* character too. Highly recommend this - it's science fiction, but it's much softer if you want a taste of the genre without getting your feet too wet. Also by an indie press and well worth supporting.

Link to my review on Goodreads and my full review on my blog The Conversationalist.

Ju wrote: "#2: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman (and Jay Kristoff). Young adult, science fiction, thriller-esque and presented in such an interesting fashion! Loved this. Link to my review on Goodrea..."

I also love Illuminae! Such a great book, with fascinating formatting - which works!

Leonie wrote: "Ju wrote: "#2: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman (and Jay Kristoff). Young adult, science fiction, thriller-esque and presented in such an interesting fashion! Loved this. Link to my review..."

I really loved the style of it - although I read using my phone ereader and some of the arty ways they presented didn't scale very well to read which was a shame. That said, it didn't much affect my overall love of the book.

Ju wrote: "Leonie wrote: "Ju wrote: "#2: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman (and Jay Kristoff). Young adult, science fiction, thriller-esque and presented in such an interesting fashion! Loved this. Li..."

It worked OK on my Kindle, but I suspect it'll be better in a book.

Kindle or a tablet would be fine - but phone is less accessible and depending on how you are with hands/arthritis etc, the physical book and moving it around might be a problem too.

I can confirm that the book is enormous and heavy, and very difficult to handle with sore hands.

Lauredhel wrote: "I can confirm that the book is enormous and heavy, and very difficult to handle with sore hands."

Yeah I was thinking of you when I was turning my phone around and again when I looked at the physical copy in the book store. It's beautiful, I appreciate what it's doing but the text could have been bigger at *least* so maybe it wouldn't have been necessary to move around so much...

#4 - Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts. Part of the collected author series of women writers by Twelfth Planet Press. Four great stories - I loved this from start to finish.

My Goodreads review and my full review at The Conversationalist.

#5 - Innocence Lost by Patty Jansen. I wanted to enjoy this but really didn't and found that it squicked me for ableism. The premise of the story was interesting but it was never believable or realised, the whole experience was unsatisfying.

My Goodreads review.

#6 - Thief of Lives by Lucy Sussex. Part of the collected author series of women writers by Twelfth Planet Press. 'Alchemy' was my stand out favourite story in this collection and it's a good one that branches away from purely being speculative fiction. That said, not my favourite of the Twelve Planets so far.

My Goodreads review and my full review at The Conversationalist.