Aussie Readers discussion

Having far surpassed my previous personal best in terms of books read in 2020, I'm planning to take it a little slower in 2021. I've set my Goodreads challenge at 100 books, within which I'm aiming to read 30 books by Australian women authors as part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2021.
Along the way, I'm hoping to keep up with my Netgalley commitments, and reach that elusive 80% mark before too long (at the moment, I'm hovering in the mid-60's, as I keep adding new titles!).
The elephant in the room/challenge is my TBR, currently standing at 1760, and seemingly growing at at least double the pace I'm reading books from it! I've decided not to even think about this anymore - all it signifies are just how many great books there are out there - of course, I'll never have the time to read them all, but my TBR provides good accessible fodder for challenge prompts etc.
In addition to Aussie Readers' Annual, Seasonal and Monthly Challenges, I'm also intending to complete the Aussie Lovers of Crime /Mystery / Thriller / Suspense Annual and Seasonal challenges and have a bash at the following Annual Prompt Challenges:
- The Popsugar 2021 Reading Challenge
- The Booklist Queen 2021 Reading Challenge
- Around the Year in 52 Books 2021 Reading Challenge
- Dymocks' 2021 Reading Challenge
That said, I won't be busting a gut to complete all of them, as I did (just!) in 2020, but they have led me to discover many great books I wouldn't otherwise have read, so I do enjoy trying to meet the majority of prompts.
Wish me luck!

Annual Challenges:
Aussie Readers' Annual A-Z Titles Challenge 2021 ✔
Aussie Readers' Annual "Read Around Australia" Challenge 2020 ✖
Aussie Readers' Annual A-Z Locations Challenge 2020 ✔
Annual Crime Group Challenge 2020 - A-Z Characters ✔
Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense A-Z Authors Challenge ✔
Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense A-Z with a difference! ✔
Australian Women Writer's Challenge 2021 ✔
Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge; See prompts here ✔
Booklist Queen 2021 Reading Challenge five books to go!
Dymocks 2021 Reading Challenge ✔
Pick Your Poison Challenge (Goin' for the Burn (78 book) level) ✔
Popsugar Annual Reading Challenge two books to go!

Seasonal Challenges:
Aussie Readers' We have Wanderlust! Challenge - 1st October 2020 - 31 March 2021 Part 1 ✔ Part 2 ✔
Aussie Readers' Summer Challenge 1/12/20 - 28/2/21 ✔
Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Summer Challenge 2020-21 - Booktown Christmas Fayre ✔
Aussie Readers' Autumn Challenge 1/3/21 - 31/5/21 ✔
Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Autumn Challenge 2021 ✔
Aussie Readers' Winter Challenge 1/6/21 - 31/8/21 ✔
Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Winter Challenge 2021 ✔
Aussie Readers' Spring Challenge 1/9/21 - 30/11/22 ✔
Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Spring Challenge 2021 ✔
Aussie Readers' Summer Challenge 1/12/21 - 28/2/22 currently completing
Aussie Lovers of Crime/Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Summer Challenge 2021-22 currently completing

Monthly Challenges:
Aussie Readers' January Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' February Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' March Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' April Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' May Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' June Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' July Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' August Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' September Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' October Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' November Challenge ✔
Aussie Readers' December Challenge ✔

Readathons
Aussie Readers' Quarterly Readathon - March 2021 ✔
Aussie Readers' Quarterly Readathon - June 2021 ✔
Aussie Readers' Quarterly Readathon - September 2021 ✔
Aussie Readers' Quarterly Readathon - December 2021 ✔

LOTS-A-SPELL Challenges
December Word of the Month - HOLLY / JOLLY ✔
Swamp Meadow Covered Bridge ✔
Rod Laver Footbridge currently completing

Good luck, Sarah !

Janelle wrote: "Good luck, Sarah !"

Thanks Janelle - you too!

I love how organised you are! I’ve cut down on my challenges this year mainly because I’m so disorganised.

Good luck Sarah!

Veronica ⭐️ wrote: "I love how organised you are! I’ve cut down on my challenges this year mainly because I’m so disorganised."

I've found I have too many challenges on the go (especially at the beginning of the year with all the Annuals) - so being organised is the only way I can keep track of them... I wouldn't even remember signing up except for my trusty note book!

Veronica ⭐️ wrote: "I love how organised you are! I’ve cut down on my challenges this year mainly because I’m so disorganised."

Hi Veronica, thanks for your message, which I've only just seen - I'm not quite as organised as you think - I obviously haven't visited this page for a while! I keep track of the challenges mainly via Excel workbooks, a separate one for each GR group, broken into separate worksheets for each challenge. As Brenda says, I wouldn't have a hope of keeping track of all the annual, seasonal and monthly challenges otherwise!

Brenda wrote: "Good luck Sarah!"

Thanks Brenda! I've overburdened myself with NetGalley reads for February and March, and am struggling to keep up, but once we get to April things should get a little easier! Good luck to you, too.

Sarah wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Good luck Sarah!"

Thanks Brenda! I've overburdened myself with NetGalley reads for February and March, and am struggling to keep up, but once we get to April things should get a lit..."

Don't you believe it Sarah!! I don't anymore - lol!! And thanks :)

Books 1-10
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin AA (3/1) 5*
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (4/1) 5*
My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman (9/1) 3*
A Pale Horse by Charles Todd (11/1) 4*
The Crossing by B. Michael Radburn AA (14/1) 4*
Genealogy Basics In 30 Minutes: The quick guide to creating a family tree, building connections with relatives, and discovering the stories of your ancestors by Shannon Combs-Bennett (15/1) 5*
Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent (16/1) 4*
Rebel Girls Lead: 25 Tales of Powerful Women by Rebel Girls (21/1) 4*
The Falls by B. Michael Radburn AA (21/1) 4*
Shiver by Allie Reynolds AA (22/1) 5*

Books 11-20
In Cold Blood by Jane Bettany (24/1) 5*
Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood AA (24/1) 4.5*
The Paris Affair by Pip Drysdale AA (28/1) 4*
Rome Reframed by Amy Bearce (30/1) 4.5*
The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (30/1) 5*
The Reach by B. Michael Radburn AA (2/2) 4*
Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood AA (4/2) 5*
Sargasso by Kathy George AA (5/2) 4*
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell (6/2) 4*
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (7/2) 5*

Books 21-30
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix (9/2) 4*
Her Perfect Bones by Ellery A. Kane (11/2) 4*
Fortune by Lenny Bartulin AA (14/2) 5*
Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger (17/2) 4*
Death Awaits in Durham by Helen Cox (22/2) 4*
The Gorge by Matt Brolly (24/2) 5*
The Performance by Claire Thomas AA (27/2) 5*
Murder With Strings Attached by Mark Reutlinger (9/3) 4*
The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths (12/3) (second reading) 5*
Wine Time: 70+ Recipes for Simple Bites That Pair Perfectly with Wine by Barbara Scott-Goodman (16/3) 5*

Books 31-40
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak AA (20/3) 5*
The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron (22/3) 3.5*
Those Who Disappeared by Kevin Wignall (26/3) 4*
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey AA (28/3) 5*
A Home Like Ours by Fiona Lowe AA (6/4) 4*
Elizabeth & Elizabeth by Sue Williams AA (8/4) 4*
The Shadows (a.k.a. The Shadow Friend) by Alex North (11/4) 4*
What You Never Knew by Jessica Hamilton (15/4) 5*
The Whispers by Heidi Perks (18/4) 4*
Blood Runs Thicker by Sarah Hawkswood (25/4) 5*

Books 41-50
Shatter The Bones by Stuart MacBride (28/4) 5*
The Collectors by Alice Feagan (29/4) 5*
Lie Beside Me by Gytha Lodge (2/5) 5*
The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney (4/5) 5*
The Ripping Tree by Nikki Gemmell AA (6/5) 4*
You Need to Know by Nicola Moriarty AA (10/5) 4*
Blood in the Water: A True Story of Revenge in the Maritimes by Silver Donald Cameron (12/5) 4*
Shakespeare's Gardens by Jackie Bennett (12/5) 5*
The Lake House: A completely gripping psychological thriller (since retitled as Her Best Friend's Lie) by Laura Wolfe (15/5) 4*
Jane Austen Investigates: The Abbey Mystery by Julia Golding (16/5) 5*

Books 51-60
Malala Yousafzai by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara (16/5) 5*
And Then There Were 9 by C.A. Larmer AA (18/5) 4*
The Impossible Resurrection of Grief by Octavia Cade (20/5) 4*
The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey AA (22/5) 5*
Still by Matt Nable AA (27/5) 4*
Revenge, Murder in Three Parts by S.L. Lim AA (30/5) 4*
Digging Up Dirt by Pamela Hart AA (1/6) 5*
Death in Daylesford by Kerry Greenwood (US edition) AA (3/6) 5*
The Heights by Louise Candlish (4/6) 4*
Block Print for Beginners: Learn to make lino blocks and create unique relief prints by Elise Young (5/6) 5*

Books 61-70
Snow by John Banville (7/6) 4*
Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke AA (9/6) 4* (HMH hardcover edition) 4* (Pushkin Vertigo paperback edition)
The Codebreakers by Alli Sinclair AA (11/6) 4*
The Whitby Murders by J.R. Ellis (11/6) 4*
The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son by Tracie White & Ronald W. Davis (12/6) 5*
Resistance: A Graphic Novel by Val McDermid (12/6) 4*
The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen (13/6) 5*
One Child Alive by Ellery A. Kane (14/6) 4.5*
Troy: The Greek Myths Reimagined by Stephen Fry (17/6) 5*

Books 71-80
The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt US edition) (29/7) 5*
Five Strangers by E.V. Adamson (29/6) 3*
The Husbands by Chandler Baker (7/7) 5*
Catch Us The Foxes by Nicola West AA (12/7) 3*
The Appeal by Janice Hallett (13/7) 5*
The Crooked Shore by Martin Edwards (21/7) 5*
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (22/7) 5*
The Last Guests by J.P. Pomare (26/7) 5*
The Perfect Family by Robyn Harding (30/7) 4*
Cause of Death by Jeffery Deaver (novella) (31/1) 4*

Sarah wrote: "Books 71-80
The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt US edition) (29/7) 5*"

Doin' well, Sarah

Alex wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Books 71-80
The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt US edition) (29/7) 5*"

Doin' well, Sarah"

Thanks Alex! Hope your reading is going well, too!

Books 81-90
The Perfect Life by Nuala Ellwood (5/8) 4*
The Family Across the Street (formerly Home Sweet Home) by Nicole Trope AA (6/8) 4.5*
When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain (10/8) 4*
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker (13/8) 5*
Scared to Death by Rachel Amphlett (15/8) 4*
Wolf at the Door by Sarah Hawkswood (21/8) 5*
Missing Words by Loree Westron (23/8) 4*
Vale of Tears by Sarah Hawkswood (24/8) 5*
Dark Water by Robert Bryndza (25/8) 5*
Write With Me to Keep What Matters in Mind by Vanita Oelschalger (27/8) 4*

Books 91-100
Don't Dangle Your Participle by Vanita Oelschlager (26/8) 5*
Silent Voices by Ann Cleeves (29/8) 4.5*
Nancy Business by R.W.R. Mcdonald AA (2/9) 4.5*
When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham (3/9) 5*
Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark by Julia Baird AA (5/9) 5*
The Second Son by Loraine Peck AA (6/9) 5*
How to Fake Being Tidy: And other things my mother never taught me by Fenella Souter AA (7/9) 4*
The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears (9/9) 5*
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty AA (12/9) 4*
The Secret History by Donna Tartt (12/9) 5*

Books 101-110
The Tribute by John Byron AA (20/9) 5*
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (21/9) 5*
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz (22/9) 4*
Little Bones by Patricia Gibney (26/9) 4*
Welcome Back: How to Reboot Your Physical and Mental Well-Being for a Post-Pandemic World by Elaine Chin (29/9) 4*
The Story of the Country House: A History of Places and People by Clive Aslet (29/9) 5*
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss AA (30/9) 5*
Signposts on the Road to Wellville by Vanita Oelschlager (30/9) 4*
The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace (2/10) 4*
Flower Crowns and Fearsome Things by Amanda Lovelace (5/10) 5*

Books 111-120
April in Spain by John Banville (aka Benjamin Black) (6/10) 4*
Book Club Kit: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (7/10) 5*
1979 by Val McDermid (9/10) 5*
1979 by Val McDermid (Audiobook) (9/10) 4.5*
Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun (9/10) 4*
Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun (Audiobook) (9/10) 4*
Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova (9/10) 5*
The Mother's Fault by Nicole Trope AA (12/10) 4*
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot: Perfect for fans of uplifting book club fiction by Marianne Cronin (13/10) 4.5*
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (15/10) 5*

Books 121-130
The Wych Elm by Tana French (15/10) 5*
In Darkness Visible by Tony Jones AA (18/10) 5*
The Burglar's Ball by Julia Golding (19/10) 5*
Wild Place by Christian White AA (22/10) 4*
Love Your Body by Jessica Sanders AA (23/10) 5*
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (24/10) 4*
The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper AA (26/10) 4*
Without a Trace (D.I. Isabel Blood #2) by Jane Bettany (27/10) 4*
Emotional Female by Yumiko Kadota AA (31/10) 5*
The Way it is Now by Garry Disher AA (2/11) 4.5*

Books 131-140
Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz AA (6/11) 4.5*
Snowflakes by Ruth Ware (6/11) 3*
Clobbered by Camembert by Avery Aames (6/11) 3*
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson (9/11) 4*
Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic AA (11/11) 4*
Shadow of the Knife by Richard Ayre (12/11) 4*
The One Who Got Away by Caroline Overington AA (14/11) 3.5*
A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (15/11) 4*
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama (15/11) 5*
Root and Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self by Becca Piastrelli (17/11) 4*

Books 141-150
Witness by Louise Milligan AA (19/11) 5*
Walking Toward Peace: The True Story of a Brave Woman Called Peace Pilgrim by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Annie Bowler (20/11) 5*
The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family by Ibtihaj Muhammad (20/11) 5*
The Mark (D.I. Louise Blackwell #4) by Matt Brolly (23/11) 4*
Fromage by Sally Scott AA (29/11) 4*
A Little Bird by Wendy James AA (29/11) 4*
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (30/11) 4*
CSI Told You Lies by Meshel Laurie AA (2/12) 4*
Unforgiven by Sarah Barrie AA (3/12) 5*
The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths (6/12) 5*

Books 151-160
Darkness Falls by Robert Bryndza (8/12) 4*
The Missing Girl by Jenny Quintana (11/12) 4*
Tank Water by Michael Burge AA (12/12) 4*
The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do AA (12/12) 5*
Zambezi by Tony Park AA (15/12) 4*
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (12/12) 4*
The Dead of Jericho by Colin Dexter (17/12) 4*
A Cornish Christmas Murder by Fiona Leitch (18/12) 4*
Twelve Days of Winter: Crime at Christmas by Stuart MacBride (18/12) 4*
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (21/12) 4*

Books 161-170
Dead Letters by Michael Brissenden AA (22/12) 4*
The School: The ups and downs of one year in the classroom by Brendan James Murray AA (28/12) 5*
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (29/12) 5*
Kill Shot by Garry Disher AA (30/12) 5*
Persuasion by Jane Austen (31/12) 5*