Phil’s Comments (group member since Dec 29, 2021)

Phil’s comments from the Aussie Readers group.

I'd like to do Medium Level:-
SEPTEMBER - ANEW
A- Aoife Clifford - When We Fall AA Read 20/9 3*
N - Nikki Gemmell - The Ripping Tree AA Read 23/9 3*
E - Emily Maguire - An Isolated Incident AA Read 27/9 3*
W - Wayétu Moore - She Would Be
King Read 30/9 4*

OCTOBER - FRESH
F - Favel Parrett - Past the Shallows AA Read 4/10 4*
R - Rajia Hassib - A Pure Heart Read 8/10 4*
E - Evan King -Alice To Nowhere AA Read 12/10 4*
S - Stephen Daisley - Coming Rain Read 17/10 4*
H - Helen Fitzgerald - Ash Mountain AA Read 23/10 4*

NOVEMBER - FLORAL
F - Felicity McLean - Red AA Read 4/11 4*
L - Leah Swann - Sheerwater AA Read 7/11 3*
O - Ocean Vuong - On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous Read 11/11 3*
R - Rachel Leary - Bridget Crack AA Read 16/11 3*
A- Anthony Hill - The Last Convict AA Read 18/11 4*
L - Lenny Bartulin - Infamy AA Read 22/11 3*

Thanks Brenda. I enjoyed reading the stories of the authors & there was a lot of inter-connectedness in their books. Music also tells stories similar to a book, so I have matched the books with songs from Australian artists, most of whom I've seen perform :-
The Swan Book: Spirit Bird by Xavier Rudd;
Earth: Eulogy For A Black Man by Kev Carmody;
Terra Nullius: Treaty by Yothu Yindi;
Mazin' Grace: Amazing Grace by Jessica Mauboy & Gurrumul:
Heat And Light: Better In Blak by Thelma Plum;
No More Boats: Lost At Sea by Midnight Oil;
The Boy from The Mish: Down In The Kitchen by Mission Songs
Project;
Timeless Land: The Drover's Wife by Luke O'Shea;
The Red Chief: Pumulwuy by Russell Morris;
Crocodile Hotel: Dead Heart by Diesel N'Dub/Emma Donovan;
That Deadman Dance: A Black Man's Crying by Frank Yamma;
Home; Going Home by The Stiff Gins;
Too Much Lip: Back On Country by Troy Cassar-Daley;
They're A Weird Mob: Shaddap You Face by Joe Dolce;
Billy Sing: Gallipoli Rosemary by Mick Thomas;
A Long Way From Home: Blackfella/Whitefella by Warumpi Band;
Quentin:Not All Superheroes Wear Capes: Teach Me How To Fly
by Jeff St.John;
Gurrumul: Gurrumul History by Saltwater Band;
My Place: Tap Sticks by Emily Wurramara;
White Girl: Took The Children Away by Archie Roach;
Balga Boy Jackson: Big City, Mean Streets by Buddy Knox;
Black And Blue: I Can't Breathe by Dobby &Barkaa;
Warrigal's Way: Move by Baker Boy;
Seven Emus: Get Back Up Again by Kutcha Edwards;
The House Of Youssef: Assimilate by Omar Musa:
Joe's Fruit Shop & Milk Bar: Sorrento Moon by Tina Arena.

I haven't included any links to these songs but they are all avaialble for view on Youtube

This is my second round of A-Z Authors Challenge 2022, but this time I’ve decided to
select the authors/books based on specific themes. All the authors are Australian, living
in Australia & writing about Australia. The major themes that interested me were IDENTITY
& MARGINALISATION.
IDENTITY, as it relates to the indigenous, the invaders, the immigrants & the incapacitated.
Those terms are not meant to be offensive to anyone but are merely used similar to a media
headline. The issues of identity within those groups are underlying fundamentals of what is
part of Australia’s national fabric
MARGINALISATION as it relates to some of those groups who have been & who are still being
marginalised in Australian society. There are many other marginalised groups I could not include.
Being limited to 26 books within the confines of an alphabetic qualifier for the author means
that those books do not represent an extensive treatise of those themes but provided me with
some interesting reading choices.
I’ve selected books from 15 indigenous authors, 5 books from authors who are migrants or with
migrant backgrounds, a biography of an indigenous man, an autobiography from a disabled author,
& 4 books from authors of a white anglo saxon background of which 2 feature an indigenous person as a main character.
I’ve also selected authors based on their first name except for U. I found a few Australian authors
with first names beginning with U but they didn’t quite fit my criteria.
I won’t comment on any specific book but can say that the reading experience was enhanced by
the bond that these books shared in meeting my theme brief.
A Alexis Wright;The Swan Book; Read 15/3/22;3*
B Bruce Pascoe:Earth; Read 18/3/22; 4*
C Claire G Coleman;Terra Nullius;Read 21/3/22; 3*
D Dylan Coleman; Mazin Grace; Read 23/3/22; 4*
E Ellen Van Neerven; Heat and Light; Read 26/3/22; 2*
F Felicity Castagna; No More Boats; Read 29/3/22; 4*
G Gary Lonesborough; The Boy from the Mish; Read 31/3/22; 3*
H Henry Lawson; Henry Lawson Selected Stories; Read 3/4/22; 3*
I Ion Idriess; The Red Chief; Read5/4/22; 4*
J Julie Janson; The Crocodile Hotel: Novel About a Young Aboriginal Woman in 1970s Australia Northern Territory; Read 7/4/22; 4*
K Kim Scott; That Deadman Dance; Read10/4/22; 4*
L Larissa Behrendt; Home; Read12/4/22; 4*
M Melissa Lucashenko; Too Much Lip; Read 15/4/22; 3*
N Nino Culotta; They're a Weird Mob; Read17/4/22; 4*
O Ouyang Yu; Billy Sing;
Read 19/4/22; 4*
P Peter Carey; A Long Way from Home; Read22/4/22; 4*
Q Quentin Kenihan; Quentin, Not All Superheroes Wear Capes; Read 25/4/22; 3*
R Robert Hillman; Gurrumul; Read 28/4/22; 4*
S Sally Morgan; My Place; Read1/5/22; 4*
T Tony Birch; The White Girl: A Novel; Read 4/5/22; 4*
U Mudrooroo; Balga Boy Jackson; Read 8/5/22; 3*
V Veronica Gorrie; Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience; Read 11/5/22; 4*
W Warrigal Anderson; Warrigal's Way; Read 14/5/22; 3*
X Xavier Herbert; Seven Emus; Read 17/5/22; 2*
Y Yumna KassabThe House of Youssef; Read 21/5/22; 3*
Z Zoe Boccabella; Joe's Fruit Shop Milk Bar; Read10/6/22; 4*

Brenda wrote: "Congrats Phil! You have time to do another round :)"

Phrynne wrote: "📚📚📚 Well done Phil. That's amazing. 📚📚📚"
ok, another round it will be. This time I'll do A-Z first names instead of surnames. I'll also read only indigenous Australian authors & the rest will be authors from around the world not from mainstream english speaking/published countries

These are the books I've read to complete the challenge:-

A - Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger, Read 25/01/22, 4*
B - Murray Bail, EucalyptusAA Read 19/2/22, 3*
C - J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace, Read 31/1/22, 4*
D - Christina Dalcher, Femlandia, Read 16/1/22, 4*
E - Akwaeke Emezi, Freshwater, Read 24/1/22, 3*
F- Richard Flanagan, The Living Sea of Waking Dreams AA Read 7/2/22, 3*
G - Kate Grenville, A Room Made of Leaves AA Read 2/3/22, 4*
H - Jane Harper, Force of Nature AA Read 9/2/22, 3*
I - Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go Read28/1/22, 3*
J - Lloyd Jones, Mister Pip Read 18/2/22, 3*
K - Mary Robinette Kowal, The Fated Sky Read 15/2/22, 4*
L - Sofie Laguna, The Choke AA Read 17/2/22, 3*
M - Charlotte McConaghy, Migrations AA Read 2/2/22, 3*
N - Patrice Nganang, Mount Pleasant Read 3/2/22, 2*
O - Yōko Ogawa, The Memory Police Read 28/2/22, 3*
P - Orhan Pamuk, The Red-Haired Woman: A Novel Read 15/2/22, 4*
Q - Kwei Quartey, Death by His Grace Read 20/2/22, 4*
R - Marilynne Robinson, Gilead Read26/2/22, 3*
S - Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain Read 12/1/22, 5*
T - Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Read6/2/22, 3*
U - Loung Ung, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers Read 24/2/22, 4*
V - Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Slaughterhouse-Five Read 23/2/22, 5*
W - Tim Winton, The Shepherd's Hut AA Read 17/1/22, 4*
X - Xavier Herbert, Capricornia AA Read8/2/22, 3*
Y - Tiphanie Yanique, Land of Love and Drowning Read 4/2/22, 4*
Z - Émile Zola, The Belly of Paris Read 4/3/22, 4*

Brenda wrote: "Phil wrote: "I joined as a new member last December & didn't register to do
the challenge as I didn't know how. This is my first post. I have
finished the challenge & will post the details after I ..."
Thanks Brenda, I know how to add book/author details but not the book cover photos

I joined as a new member last December & didn't register to do
the challenge as I didn't know how. This is my first post. I have
finished the challenge & will post the details after I work out how to
do that