Andrea’s Comments (group member since Sep 13, 2012)

Andrea’s comments from the Aussie Readers group.

Michael wrote: "The first trailer for the movie adaption of The Light Between Oceans is out, starring Michael Fassbender as Tom and Alicia Vikander as Isabel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk7yw..."

Oh wow, it looks fantastic; I can barely wait! I have actor-crushes on both of them, and it was filmed around where I grew up.

Laura wrote: "Our Dicksmith workers were nothing but the name of the store minus the smith! terrible service everytime so i stopped going there. online service was pretty shocking too."

Hahaha Laura - I have to agree for the most part. Also, the prices were rarely competitive, so this whole thing comes as no surprise to me.

Ernest wrote: "Sorry if this is old news to some, but it looks like The Book Club is moving to a 13 week series starting in May: http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2016/02/t... I'm..."

Oh, that is really disappointing. I hope I'm wrong, but I wonder if this is a transition to being axed in the near-ish future?

I may not get through all of these, but should manage at least 3:

1). Harmony Day: Tiddas by Anita Heiss
2). Old Stuff Day: The Tusk That Did the Damage by Tania James (01/03/2015)
3). International Earth Day: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)
4). Panic Day: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (size of book/unsettling topic)
5). Reader’s Choice: Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey

I changed my mind - I will give it a go. But I've had to pick a couple of alternatives for some categories, depending on whether I'm at home or away at the time. They could even become my 11-13 if I'm doing well.

#1 Labour Day - A Little Life (lawyer/architect) 5★
#2 Reduce - Only the Animals 2★
#3 Recycle - Tiddas 2★
#4 Int. Women's Day - A Golden Age 4★
#5 St. Patrick's Day - Fire On The Mountain 4★
#6 Easter - Siddhartha (alternative religion) OR The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris OR The Chocolate Promise 3★
#7 ANZAC Day - The Daughters of Mars 4★
#8 Mother's Day - Why You Are Australian: A Letter to My Children 4.5★
#9 Capt Cook Festival - A Woman Transported
#10 Colours of Autumn - The Shadow Lines OR The Year of the Runaways

I can just imagine you all reaching for the same little gem, and steam coming out of Marianne's ears as she silently wishes she'd never agreed to reveal the whereabouts of her treasure-trove charity shops!

Tracey Allen wrote: "hope you enjoy Missing as much as I did :-) ..."

It might take a while, as I really need to get stuck in and read books #1 and #2 first. She's writing them faster than I can read them.

I also have Hope Farm on my Kindle waiting to be read. The other one that really interests me is A Guide to Berlin.

I brought home a nice little pile of books from the Melbourne lunch today:

The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge from Elaine
Golden Boys from Mish
No Free Man from Tracey, and
Missing also from Tracey

Thanks ladies!

That's me done! I think this is the first seasonal challenge I've actually completed.

B The Bell Jar
E Eleven
L The Little Paris Bookshop
C A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
A Alex
N Nest
T The Two Hotel Francforts
O Orhan's Inheritance

I haven't been into the Salvos for a while, but today I popped in and picked up Nine Days by Toni Jordan, Reluctantly Charmed by Ellie O'Neill and a nice hardcover edition of The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

Daniel wrote: "Which Australian books would make the best musicals? Which would translate best to both stage and sound?..."

The book that popped into my head immediately was The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane. Most of the action takes place in Ruth's house, which would make it ideal for the stage, and a lot of the drama is in Ruth's head, which is where I think the songs would fit in. Of course there are also a few fantasy sequences concerning the tiger, so that would be perfect. It would require a very fit older lady to carry this production!!

Michael wrote: " I guess the only rule that makes sense is never pay more for the ebook than its paper equivalent, after all they haven't actually printed it! ..."

I'd have to agree with that as a good rule of thumb.

I buy all my ebooks on Amazon and I seem to have developed a few rough groundrules for myself; >US$10 only for very special/desirable acquisitions, between $US5-10 for new releases and anything less than US$5 is fair game and I allow myself to purchase at will. I know this doesn't really add up in practice!!

But in the back of my mind, I am always thinking about the fact that it is not a book that I am buying, anyway - it is a highly restricted and restrictive licence to read. The book does not belong to me. I can't lend it to anyone and I can't even be 100% certain that it will remain on my bookshelf. I'm referring here to what may or may not be an urban myth of people losing their entire collections when they move into a different Amazon 'jurisdiction'.

Ace wrote: "Amazon are having an 80% off Australia Day Sale http://www.amazon.com.au..."

And it looks like prices might be matched at amazon.com as well. I just bought Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia for the equivalent AU sale price.

Unusually for me, I have read all 5 for January! Ah, summer holidays...

1). Author: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George ★★★
2). Debut: Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian ★★★★
3). New Release: Kissed By A Deer by Margi Gibb (Oct 2015) ★★★
4). New Year, New Series!: Saving Wishes by G.J. Walker-Smith ★★
5). Reader’s Choice: Nest by Inga Simpson ★★★★

A mixed bag.

Time to select my first chunky read for the year. I have all but one of these in eBook format, so I thought I might knock off the paperback - A Fine Balance - but when I flipped it open and saw how tiny the writing is I quickly put it back on the bookshelf!!

I might go for Shantaram instead, as I also have that in the Aussie Author challenge.

And I might need to keep an eye out for a cheap e-copy of A Fine Balance ;-)

Mish wrote: "Hi everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I think it’s time we get things moving on this thread and set a date and location for our get together. I thought we might meet u..."

Hi Mish, I'm pretty sure I will be around, so please add me as a definite. Looking forward to it. Now to select a book to take...

Ryan wrote: "I'm reading Crime and Punishment, my first ever Russian."

How are you finding it, Ryan? I'm stalled on my first ever Russian, at the moment. Hadji Murad by Tolstoy. It's barely more than a novella, so I really have no excuse to not finish it :-(

Here is my latest update - not far to go now:


B The Bell Jar
E Eleven
L The Little Paris Bookshop

C A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
A Alex
N Nest
T The Two Hotel Francforts
O Orhan's Inheritance

Just one more to go now:

1). Author: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George ★★★
2). Debut: Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian ★★★★
3). New Release: Kissed By A Deer by Margi Gibb (Oct 2015) ★★★
4). New Year, New Series!: Saving Wishes by G.J. Walker-Smith - Currently Reading
5). Reader’s Choice: Nest by Inga Simpson ★★★★