Aussie Readers discussion

Whether you are a patriotic Aussie, an aspiring tourist or simply an international reader wanting to discover some talented new authors, the 2011 Aussie Author Challenge is for you! C’mon! Celebrate Australia Day by joining the challenge! It will run for 12 months until 31st December 2011 and there are three levels:

TOURIST Level - Read and review 3 books by 3 different Australian authors.
MATILDA Level - Read and review 6 books by at least 4 different Australian authors
TRUE BLUE Level - Read and review 12 books by at least 9 different Australian authors

You can find loads of great books in our group bookshelf or by reading some of the many discussion threads in the Aussie Readers group. If you have Aussie books languishing in your TBR (to be read) shelf, this challenge is a great opportunity to start reading them.

Once you’ve chosen your level and books post a message here. Update your status throughout the year in this thread.

The Aussie Author Challenge is a very popular challenge created by Joanne from Booklover Book Reviews. Loads of people sign up each year on her great blog. Check it out and see what other people have chosen to read. I’ve changed her challenge slightly to include a third level.

OK...here I go!

TRUE BLUE level-

1. Shattered Sky LEFT REVIEW
2. Cloudstreet LEFT REVIEW
3.The Children by Charlotte Wood LEFT REVIEW
4. Mailman of the Birdsville Track: The Story of Tom Kruse LEFT REVIEW!
5. I Am the Messenger LEFT REVIEW
6.The Riders
7.Fishing For The Stars
8. Beneath the Shadows LEFT REVIEW
9. Beyond Fear LEFT REVIEW
10.Jason McCartney: After Bali
11.Glory Girl - Peter Yeldham LEFT REVIEW!.
12.Land's Edge: A Coastal Memoir - Tim Winton (published 22/11/10)LEFT REVIEW

He Died with a Felafel in His Hand LEFT REVIEW
True History of the Kelly Gang
It Is No Secret: The Story Of A Stolen Child LEFT REVIEW
Rhymes for Times LEFT REVIEW
Sarah's Last Wish LEFT REVIEW
The Interrogator LEFT REVIEW
Fair Cop: Christine Nixon LEFT REVIEW
Sophie: Dog Overboard - The Incredible True Story of the Castaway Dog LEFT REVIEW
Arctic Floor LEFT REVIEW

Looks great Brenda!

I'm going to do the Matilda level. I'm doubling up on at least one book from my Summer Reading Challenge. Plus adding a few books from some of our group member authors.

1. Madigan Mine
2. The Accidental Wedding
3. DEAD ish
4. Drama Queens with Love Scenes
5. Shattered Sky
6. The Secret Of Talmor Manor

It sounds like a fun challenge but I don't know how many of my TBR are actually Aussie authors. So, once I look over 'em a little more I might be able to join in. I'll have to see :).

1) Rendezvous At Kamakura Inn - FINISHED 14/3/11.
2) Moonshadow: Eye of the Beast - FINISHED 26/3/11
3) Where Does Thursday Go? -FINISHED 30/3/11
4) Peeking Duck- FINISHED 31/3/11
5) Dragon Mode- 31/3/11
6) From High Heels to Handcuffs - FINISHED 06/06/111

I love the idea!
Im going with 'Matilda level'. Fingers crossed I can finish all the books :)

1) The Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak (release in September)

2) The Story of Danny Dunn by Bryce Courtenay

3) Breath by Tim Winton

4) Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

5) Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

6) The Dead Of Night by John Marsden

I'm going to add mine here as I finish them and see how many I end up with.

1. The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave

I'm aiming for true Blue status with a selection from the following books. Any books I read I will leave a review for.

The House at Salvation Creek 2 STARS
Monsoon READ 3 STARS OK
Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung : Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties READ 2 STARS
Curious Obsessions : In the History of Science and Spirituality READ 2 STARS
Wings of Fear (formerly published as Border Watch READ 3 STARS OK
Walking Naked READ 2 STARS DISAPPOINTING
Seventeen Seconds READ 3 STARS
Unbearable Lightness READ 5 STARS FASCINATING
The Distant Hours READ 3 STARS DISAPPOINTING
All That Happened At Number 26 2 STARS
Time to listen how it feels to be young and dying READ 4 STARS
Angel 1 STAR
The Needle in the Heart Murder: The Mysterious Death of Dr Yeates READ 3 STARS
Live A Longer Life - The Scientific Secrets Of Health and Wellbeing At Any Age 2 STARS

I'll be doing the True Blue level. Decided to focus just on Aussie 'classics', googled it and got my list from here http://sydney.edu.au/sup/projects_cal....

The Commandant
Charco Harbour
Oh, Lucky Country
The Glass Canoe
Trap
The retreat of radiance
Moondyne
Count your dead;: A novel of Vietnam
Quintus Servinton: A Tale Founded Upon Incidents of Real Occurence
The Little Company
The Smiling Buddha - Margaret Jones
Seven Emus

Might have to change if I can't find em all :), should be fun

I think I might just copy Ben and post the books as I read them. I hope I can at least make it to 6 books.

Managing Death ~ Trent Jamieson (Read and Reviewed)
The Kings Bastard ~ Rowena Cory Daniells (read)
The Uncrowned King ~ Rowena Cory Daniells
The Usurper ~ Rowena Cory Daniells
Dark Space ~ Marianne de Pierres
Chaos Space ~ Marianne de Pierres
Mirror Space ~ Marianne de Pierres
Transformation Space ~ Marianne de Pierres
Heaven to Wudan ~ Kylie Chan
Burn Bright ~ Marianne de Pierres (Read and Reviewed)
The Business of Death ~ Trent Jamieson
How to Ditch your Fairy ~ Justine Larbalestier (read)
Dangerously Placed ~ Nansi Kunze (read)

I'm going to have to copy Ben, too. My library did finally fulfill my request for The Outback Stars - That'll count, right?

Matilda Level
1. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
2. The Farseekers – Isobelle Carmody
3. The Turning - Tim Winton
4. Stolen – Lucy Christopher
5. The Potato Factory – Bryce Courtenay
6. Somebody’s Crying – Maureen McCarthy

Hiya
I will go for the matilda level with:

1.The Happiest Refugee - Anh Do
2.Truth - Peter Temple
3.How it feels - Brendan Cowell
4.True history of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey
5.The world from down under - George Negus
6.

I have one spot left...will keep open to see what inspires me

I just added 2 more to the bottom of my list, which I borrowed from my son today...:)

Here's my first review. Just finished reading Yesterday's Girl by Anna Jacobs.

Set during and after WW1 in the UK, Yesterday's Girl tells the story of soldiers and their families' struggle to make a life for themselves with little help from the British Government of the day. Life in England was bleak. Joss Bentley, recently demobbed, has no home or job. His wife died in childbirth. Joss has two young children and a six month baby to care for.

Anna Jacobs is a West Australian writer. She grew up in Lancashire and migrated to Australia.

Sounds OK Laurel...you didn't say how many stars you gave it...:)

This is a great way to find new Aussie authors. Nice one Mandy..

I'm going to go for the Matilda level and just add them here as I read them.

First one just read is The Tree by Judy Pascoe. It's also available in another edition called Our Father Who Art in a Tree: A Novel.

Great little book. Judy Pascoe used to be with Circus Oz. I'll add my review to the icon page.

Brenda
I would give Yesterday's Girl by Anna Jacobs about three and a half stars for the story and four for the research. I know Sherry Ann Jacobs [Anna Jacobs] does a lot of research for her historical books.

Ok thanks Laurel, sounds good! :)

I'm going to have to keep this challenge in mind. I love to read Aussie authors but I'm discovering that I'm not so good at making lists and sticking to them. I'm easily distracted and likely to forget the list should something new and shiny come along.

As some of you will be aware, I'm reading Cloudstreet at the moment and it doesn't get much more "Aussie" than that. The more I read, the more I enjoy it. This will be a book I will be sad to finish. Glad I own this one as I'm sure I'll want to re-read it which is almost unheard of from me.

Cloudstreet sure is an awesome book, Dot!! I love his others too....:)

Yes I think I'll be chasing more Tim Winton books up after this one. I didn't realise he wrote the Lockie Leonard series. That TV show makes me cry with laughter. Lockie is *so* my son. LOL!

Dot wrote: "Yes I think I'll be chasing more Tim Winton books up after this one. I didn't realise he wrote the Lockie Leonard series. That TV show makes me cry with laughter. Lockie is *so* my s..."

There's a new one out Dot, which Carmel put me onto..'Land's Edge: A Coastal Memoir'. It was released at the end of 2010. I have found it on Booktopia, but I haven't done anything about purchasing it yet.....:)

Oh my gosh, Carmel, haven't your books arrived yet?? That's rotten luck!! :(

:D

Thanks Carmel..... coz we all need more books don't we. Ha ha!

I have found that I've enjoyed Cloudstreet right from the start but for me it keeps getting better the more you read. ;o) On the other hand, my DH (acronyms just for you Carmel) could not get into Cloudstreet at all. He rarely stops reading when at home but reads the same 'fantasy' type books all the time. It can be hard to get him to consider anything else. On the other hand, I'll read almost any genre and love discovering new treasures. I admit I can't get into his books. We are SO different. LOL

PS: spent a lovely afternoon with my SIL yesterday. (grin)

I can think of a few different meanings for DH (a couple which aren't nice!) but it's good you had a nice arvo with your SIL..LOL

Oh I only ever use the *nice* version/s of DH Brenda. ;op

Oh, of course Dot!!! :D

Hahahaha!!

Mandy wrote: "Whether you are a patriotic Aussie, an aspiring tourist or simply an international reader wanting to discover some talented new authors, the 2011 Aussie Author Challenge is for you! C’mon! Celebrat..."

What a great idea! I'd love to do it too but don't dare commit to reading a dozen books - have to get my current work in progress finished...

But if anyone needs another Aussie author to read, is it presumptuous of me to offer one of my books? "Outback Heart" - sadly has only had one lukewarm review (from the US) on Goodreads, but it's sold over 20,000 copies here and has been really well received. Published in 2005 by Random House, and available at most bookstores (or they'll order it).

Happy New Year to everyone, too!

Hi Joanne, I have just added Outback Heart to my TBR list...I'll certainly give it a go later on (when I've got some library books read which need to be returned!LOL) It sounds good..:)

Brenda wrote: "Hi Joanne, I have just added Outback Heart to my TBR list...I'll certainly give it a go later on (when I've got some library books read which need to be returned!LOL) It sounds good..:)"

Thanks Brenda! I should have said - it's available at libraries too. !!

Well here I go! An Aussie in Toronto, Canada endeavouring to catch up on Oz literature through this challenge (some of the titles are also on my TBR shelf). I am hoping the TPL has most of these titles available, but if not I will buy them (if I like them, that is!) So, for the TRUE BLUE LEVEL here is my list:

1. Alexandra, B. White Gardenia Oct.
2. Astley, T. Drylands
3. Clendinnen, I. Dancing with Strangers: Europeans & Australians at First Contact (NF) May
4. Drewe, R. Ned Kelly
5. Flanagan, R. Gould's Book of Fish
6. Garner, H. Childrens Bach May
7. Le Nam. The Boat
8. Marchetta, M. On the Jellicoe Road
9. Miller, A. The Ancestor Game
10. Nix, G. The Fall May
11. Tan, S. The Arrival April
12. Winton, T. Breath
13. ________. Cloudstreet
14. Wright, A. Carpentaria May/Oct

Alternatives:in the event that I cannot locate some authors listed above; I'll add them after I get some feed-back (please ...) from Carmel or Mandy or some other faithful Aussie Readers :)))
A1. Scott, Kim. That Deadman Dance thanks, Gail

Okay, I am off to a flying start. I will add them as I go.

1.Markus Zusak - The Book Thief I have now posted my review.
2.Kim Scott - That Deadman Dance - Reading

Hey Carmel thanks. I'm just trying to catch up on all the activities while I've been away. :D

Yes, I second Carmel's comments Gail, welcome back..:)
Did you enjoy The Book Thief?

I loved it Brenda.

Oh that's good...it was such an awesome book!! :)

Oh Carmel..it's so good! I would probably not have read it, not for a long time anyway, except it was a read for our book club early in 2010. So of course, it has to be read! And I certainly am very glad I did!
Sarah's Key is another one I read for the book club, and absolutely loved it as well! Reading in a book club certainly broadens the horizons!!

I wouldn't have read it except a friend loaned it to me and I added it to the Summer reading challenge.

It's funny how you get to read some books, isn't it!! :)

The two stand-out books for me in 2010 were The Book Thief and Water for Elephants. I'm still working on my Summer Challenge but can double up with a couple of the books for the Author Challenge, so here goes for Matilda Level:

The Reef - Di Morrissey....Finished
The Last Rose Of Summer - Di Morrissey....Finished
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women - Geraldine Brooks....Finished
At Home With the Templetons - Monica McInerney....Finished
The Secret River - Kate Grenville....Finished
Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden....Finished

Kim Marie wrote: "The two stand-out books for me in 2010 were The Book Thief and Water for Elephants. I'm still working on my Summer Challenge but can double up with a couple of the books ..."

Kim Marie...I also chose The Book Thief as my fav (within our bookclub) for 2010, and we are reading Water for Elephants for our January read!! I have heard Water is very good, and I'll be starting it soon..:)

Carmel wrote: "Brenda, I brought The Book Thief early last year but was busy reading other books and have neglected reading it even though I knew how good it was!!

Sarah's Key has been made into a movie. I saw..."

I haven't seen the movie Carmel, not sure if I will...I'm always worried they will change everything dramatically!!

Kim Marie wrote: "The two stand-out books for me in 2010 were The Book Thief and Water for Elephants. I'm still working on my Summer Challenge but can double up with a couple of the books ..."

Thanks Kim Marie. You have reminded me that I have Geraldine Brooks novel sitting on my bedside table yet to read.People of the Book. I keep forgetting she's Australian as it was an American friend who recommended it to me.

I loved The Secret River. :)

Brenda, I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did. I'm a little disappointed that they've chosen Rob Pattinson for the lead role in the movie (although Reese Witherspoon should suit the female lead perfectly). Perhaps knowing who will play the roles will help while reading.....I know it did for me withThe Time Traveler's Wife.

Brenda wrote: "Oh my gosh, Carmel, haven't your books arrived yet?? That's rotten luck!! :("

Finally my Booktopia order arrived today. Now I have extra books looking at me waiting to be read.

Shoot, my booktopia books haven't arrived yet. I need them to soon so I can continue my Summer Reading Challenge. (My daughter is currently in possession of my kindle. I knew I shouldn't have loaned it to her.)

Maggie wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Oh my gosh, Carmel, haven't your books arrived yet?? That's rotten luck!! :("

Finally my Booktopia order arrived today. Now I have extra books looking at me waiting to be read."

Gosh, I must have been so lucky to get mine so quickly!!