Jess - Franklin - 2013

[Jess]

Although I techincially joined the challenged last year, this will be my first serious attempt at the Australian Women Writers Challenge and I'm planning on the Franklin level - read 10, review at least 6. I plan to read and review more than 10 though.

Some of the books I plan to read for it include:
A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty
Dead Heat by Bronwyn Parry
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Secrets of the Tides by Hannah Richell
The Great Deception by Joy Chambers
The Convent by Maureen McCarthy
Bridie's Choice by Karly Lane
Man Drought by Rachael Johns
Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing by Gabrielle Lord
A Changing Land by Nicole Alexander

[Brenda]

Well done Jess:)

[Jess]

Finished my first book for the challenge, Dead Heat by Bronwyn Parry and absoutely loved it :)

Although I had some trouble writing the review, I finally finished it and it can be found here http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Jess]

Finished my third book for this challenge Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing and just finished writing its review which can be found here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
There is so much going on in this book that I found it hard to write a review without giving away too much information about the plot but I tried my hardest. I was kind of amazed that there were not many other reviews on the book to be honest.

Prior to this I read Finnikin of the Rock and I'm in midst of writing its review.

[Jess]

I forgot to post my reviews here, but I have been keeping them updated on the actual AWW site.

So far to date I've read seven books for this challenge and am currently reading book number eight. I've written four reviews so far and am editing three more currently.

My review of Finnikin of the Rock can be found here : http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and on my blog here http://theneverendingbookshelf.blog.c...

My review of Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and on my blog here http://theneverendingbookshelf.blog.c...

My review of One Little White Lie can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and on my blog here http://theneverendingbookshelf.blog.c...

[Brenda]

Going very well Jess!

[Sue]

Hi Jess, well done to you and everyone else who have uploaded reviews. You said for your first one that you had some trouble writing it - in what way? I have finished two books so far but I am struggling to know where to start to review them - I'm surprised at how sorta scary it is :)

Cheers,
Sue

[Jess]

Hey Sue, I had trouble writing it partially because I hadn't done too many before. The whole process seemed a bit daunting and I didn't want to do anything wrong. I've since come to the conclusion that these reviews are my thoughts on the books - whether that be good or bad. That said, I've had trouble writing a few of them because I've either known what I wanted to say but had trouble expressing it or I've struggled to write a balanced review (I try to look for the good and the bad in everything I read and review, because I don't want to be seen as though I'm praising everything up and not giving any balanced feedback). I also find I often want to say more, but cut things out so that I'm not giving away any crucial plot points or spoilers - and sometimes that can be hard.

I think it all just comes with practise and I'm aiming to review everything I read this year (with a couple of exceptions) and I'm hoping that helps me out.

My advice to you writing your reviews is just start writing them with whatever comes to mind when you think of the book. You can edit it later before posting if needed and you'll cover more ground in what you wanted to say that way too. Good Luck with your reviews :)

[Jess]

My review for Just Breathe by Janette Paul can be found on my blog here: http://theneverendingbookshelf.blog.c...

and on goodreads here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I loved this one, and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good realistic romance story :)

[Brenda]

And it's funny too!! I'm reading it at the moment, and laughing out loud at Dee!!!

[Jess]

Dee is such a crack up of a character! I loved that she wasn't your typical romance heroine/protagonist.

[Brenda]

She sure is!

[Jess]

I recently read and reviewed Hope's Road by Margareta Osborn.

My review can be found here on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

and on my blog - The Never Ending Bookshelf - here:
http://theneverendingbookshelf.blog.c...

[Jess]

Ohh, just realised I've read ten books for this challenge already and have reviewed most of what I've read. I'm working on the ones I haven't so far.

Update list of what I've read so far:
Dead Heat
Finnikin of the Rock
Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing
Man Drought - REVIEW TO COME
Bridie's Choice- REVIEW TO COME
As Darkness Falls
One Little White Lie
Just Breathe
Hope's Road
Taming the Tycoon - REVIEW TO COME


I plan on reading a heap more books for this challenge so far, but I'm pretty happy to have gotten this far by the begining of March at any rate. The three books without reviews so far, are in various stages of editing and should be uploaded within the next week or so.

[Brenda]

Well done Jess!

[Jess]

Just posted my review of The Venetian Affair by Dana Mitchell.

My review can be found on my blog here: http://theneverendingbookshelf.blog.c...
or via Goodreads here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Jess]

I finished last week The French Promise by Fiona McIntosh and loved it. Technically Fiona McIntosh wasn't born in Australia, but she has lived here for over three decades now and calls Australia home, so I'm counting her as an Australian Author.

My review for this book can be found on my blog here:
http://theneverendingbookshelf.blog.c...

and on goodreads here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Make sure you check out my blog, because I'm running a giveaway for this book at the moment as well :)