Aussie Author Challenge 2014 Showing 1,101-1,146 of 1,146

[Kathryn]

☼♄Jülie wrote: "Phrynne wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "Well done to Julie and Carolyn!! Great effort and looks like there have been some much enjoyed reads by Aussie authors throughout the year!

I've got..."

OK - I finished Hello From the Gillespies (so now just 2 more to go for my Aussie Author Challenge) and it was definitely an interesting and easy read. I have some reservations about some of the characters - which I see is a common issue with some of the reviews that I've glanced over - so I felt it wasn't as good a read overall as The House of Memories, which I read a few months ago, but it was still enjoyable and I think I'll probably give it 3.5 stars. Review to follow.

[Odette]

I have completed the bronze level of this challenge.

2x Female Authors
Tears of the Moon by Di Morrissey
Red Dust by Fleur McDonald

2x Male Authors
Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

1x Debut Novel
Frantic by Katherine Howell

1x Classic
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

1x Fantasy
Treespeaker by Katie W. Stewart

2x Favourite Genre (Historical Fiction)
White Gardenia by Belinda Alexandra
Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough

1x Historical Fiction
The Lavender Keeper by Fiona McIntosh

2x 2014 New Releases
The Tea Chest by Josephine Moon
Lane's End by Jill Paterson

I enjoyed reading these books and doing the challenge throughout the year. Now I have started the summer challenge.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Congratulations Odette! Well done! A few days yet before summer begins;)

[Odette]

Thanks. Yes a few days to go till summer but sadly not enough time left to complete the silver level of the 2014 Aussie Authors.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

That's OK you did well!

[Deb]

Completed this fantastic challenge - Bronze.

New Release . Tracking North 3*. Safe Harbour 2*. Evergreen Falls 3*

Female Authors . Black Ice 4*. The Old School 4*

Male Authors. The Book Thief 2* A Town Like Alice 3*

Début Novel The House at Riverton 4*

Classic My Brilliant Career 3*

Fantasy The Year of Ancient Ghosts 4*

Historical Fiction Burial Rites 3*

Favourite Genre historical fiction Ember Island 4* Ronan's Echo 5*

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Congratulations Deb!

[Jülie ☼♄ ]

Deb wrote: "Completed this fantastic challenge - Bronze.

New Release . Tracking North 3*. Safe Harbour 2*..."

Well done Deb, you have some good books there too:)

[Kathryn]

I've had one or two books left on this challenge for what seems like quite a while - I currently have 2 books left, because I added another Kerry Greenwood a couple of weeks ago!

I just finished In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl and found it to be a good story which I got caught up in (apart from halfway through when I took a break to read one of my Christmas books!). It reminded me a little of the recent ABC series The ANZAC Girls as it is set in France with the main character an Australian nurse working in a hospital not too far from the front treating soldiers. A 4-star read.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Kathryn wrote: "I've had one or two books left on this challenge for what seems like quite a while - I currently have 2 books left, because I added another Kerry Greenwood a couple of weeks ago!

I..."

You'll do it Kathryn:)

[Sharon]

Will we be having this challenge next year?

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

We'll be having an Aussie author challenge Sharon, yes - it will be released in about a week;)

[Sharon]

Oh goodie. Thanks Brenda :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

:)

[Jülie ☼♄ ]

Brenda wrote: "We'll be having an Aussie author challenge Sharon, yes - it will be released in about a week;)"

Oh goodie :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

:)

[Kathryn]

Brenda wrote: "You'll do it Kathryn:)..."

Not if I can't stop adding to my list, I won't!! I'd better stop reading Aussie authors after I finish these last 2!!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Haha! NO!!! Don't do that...

[Kathryn]

Just for the next 3 weeks, I mean!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Kathryn wrote: "Just for the next 3 weeks, I mean!!"

Ahhh that's ok then;)

[Belinda]

Hello, been off the grid for a while. Joined a book club in my home town and got sidetracked. Just finished I Am the Messenger so I only have one to go from my favourite genre to complete bronze level.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Well done Belinda! You'll make it:)

[Dale]

Go Belinda!

[Belinda]

Hooray! Almost 12 months in the making, but I achieved Bronze status! Finished The Rosie Project last night. Very very funny and very enjoyable. I'm going to read The Rosie Effect as part of the 2015 Aussie Author Challenge!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Congratulations Belinda! Fantastic effort:)

[Dale]

Well done Belinda!

[Nicola]

Ok, so it's taken me 6 weeks to get to my last book but only 3 hours to read it!
But challenge now finished with 37 books read (lost control sometime during the year!)
Female Authors
Circle of Death / Keri Arthur
Circle of Desire / Keri Arthur
Cybele's Secret / Juliet Marillier
The Censor's Library: Uncovering the Lost History of Australia's Banned Books / Nicole Moore
The Girl in the Hard Hat / Loretta Hill
Burial Rites / Hannah Kent
Darkness Devours / Keri Arthur
Male Authors
Tobruk / Peter FitzSimons
Dr. Nikola / Guy Boothby
Bad Debts / Peter Temple 3 stars, very enjoyable and close to the TV show!
Jack Maggs / Peter Carey
The Bitter Pill / A. Bertram Chandler
Winter / Simon Brown
Debut Novels
The Maiden and the Unicorn / Isolde Martyn
The Stranding / Karen Viggers
That Summer / Sarah Dessen
New Release
Fireborn / Keri Arthur
The Girl in the Yellow Vest / Loretta Hill
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy / Karen Foxlee
Lost & Found / Brooke Davis
Family Secrets / Liz Byrski
Lethal Sky / Greg Barron
Classic
Picnic At Hanging Rock / Picnic At Hanging Rock
They're a Weird Mob / Nino Culotta
The Magic Pudding / Norman Lindsay
Fantasy
The Hall of Lost Footsteps / Sara Douglass
Darkness Hunts / Keri Arthur
Kiss of the Goblin Prince / Shona Husk
Historical Fiction
The Secret River / Kate Grenville adaptation for the stage by Andrew Bovell
The Barrakee Mystery / Arthur W. Upfield
An Irish Nurse in Africa / Brian Ross
Favourite Genre - Crime (Fantasy is already covered)
Watching You / Michael Robotham
The Mystery Of A Hansom Cab: Text Classics / Fergus Hume
Falling Glass / Adrian McKinty
The Barrakee Mystery / Arthur W. Upfield
The Sands of Windee / Arthur W. Upfield
Worse Than Death / Jean Bedford
What a great year! Looking forward to the 2015 challenge....

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Congratulations Nicola!! Awesome result!!

[Nicola]

Thank you! Was so worth the effort! Looking forward to catching up on lots of reading during my extended Christmas break as well...

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

So glad you enjoyed it! It's great to find all the Aussie authors out there, isn't it:) Enjoy your Christmas break!

[Belinda]

#16 and my third female author

The Book of Emmett

[Kathryn]

I just realised I didn't update to say that I (finally) finished this challenge - when I stopped adding books to it!! I originally started at bronze level, but in the end I read enough for gold + bronze (48 books).

Here is my final list and ratings:

Female authors
The Secret River by Kate Grenville - 4 stars
Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville - 3.5 stars
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty - 4.5 stars
Streets on a Map: Journey Through Changes by Dale Harcombe - 3.5 stars
The Shadow Year by Hannah Richell - 4 stars
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman - 5 stars
No Ordinary View by Naomi Reed 4.5 stars
Other People's Country- A woman's journey from suburbia to life as a remote area nurse by Maureen Helen - 3.5 stars
Mary Poppins, She Wrote: The Life of P.L. Travers by Valerie Lawson - 2.5 stars
The House of Memories by Monica McInerney - 4.5 stars

Male authors
The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman - 4.5 stars
The Suspect by Michael Robotham - 4 stars
The Barrakee Mystery by Arthur W. Upfield - 3.5 stars
Whatever You Do, Don't Run: My Adventures As A Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison - 5 stars
I Know Who Killed Betty Shanks by Ted Duhs - 3 stars
JFK: The Smoking Gun by Colin McLaren - 3 stars

Debut novel
Far Horizon by Tony Park - 4 stars
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - 5 stars
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent - 4 stars
Thornwood House by Anna Romer - 4 stars
My Brother-But-One by T.M. Clark - 3.5 stars

New releases
Unforgivable by Sharon Robards - 3.5 stars
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - 4.5 stars
Hello from the Gillespies by Monica McInerney - 3.5 stars
Cicada by Moira McKinnon - 2.5 stars
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion - 3.5 stars

Classic
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough - 4 stars
Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner - 3 stars
The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John - 3.5 stars

Fantasy
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth - 3.5 stars
Out of Time by Lesley Dimmock - 3 stars
The Spirit of Imagination by S.A. Tawks - 3 stars

Historical fiction
It Takes A Village by Christine Stinson - 4 stars
A Woman Transported by Sharon Robards - 3 stars
Bereft by Chris Womersley - 2 stars
Ellenvale Gold by Amanda Deed - 3 stars
Mr Chen's Emporium by Deborah O'Brien - 4 stars
The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough - 4 stars
All That I Am by Anna Funder - 3 stars
March by Geraldine Brooks - 3.5 stars
In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl - 4 stars

Favourite genre - mystery
Poet's Cottage by Josephine Pennicott - 3 stars
The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood - 3 stars
Urn Burial by Kerry Greenwood - 3 stars
Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood - 3 stars
Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood - 3 stars
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton - 3.5 stars
House for all Seasons by Jenn J. McLeod - 3.5 stars

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Congratulations Kathryn! Brilliant result:)

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

Very impressive Kathryn!!!

[Kathryn]

Thanks Brenda and Phrynne! It was about double the number of Aussie authors that I read the year before!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Isn't it amazing how easily it seems to happen:)

[Kathryn]

It certainly is!!

[Sally]

I actually finished my bronze challenge on 31 December - nothing like leaving things to the last minute, is there? LOL! My final book was the Fantasy category, City of Masks: by AR's very own Ashley Capes! It was an impressive debut novel and exciting start to a trilogy - 3.5★s.

My books for the challenge were:

2 x FEMALE AUTHORS
March by Geraldine Brooks - 4★s
The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead - 5★s

2 x MALE AUTHORS
Eyrie by Tim Winton - 4★s
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak - 4★s

1 x DEBUT NOVEL
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent - 5★s

2 x 2014 NEW RELEASES
Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey - 5★s
Deeper Water by Jessie Cole - 4★s

1 x CLASSIC
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay - 4★s

1 x FANTASY
City of Masks: by Ashley Capes - 3.5★s

1 x HISTORICAL FICTION
Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally - 4★s

2 x FAVOURITE GENRE (Literary Fiction)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan - 5★s
The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey - 3★s

Thanks for a great challenge, it really did help me find some gems I never would have on my own!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Congratulations and well done Sally!

[Ashley]

Thanks, Sally! :D

What was Picnic at Hanging Rock like? I might add it to my 2015 challenge

[Sally]

It was certainly something different and well worth reading, for me. The writing style is lovely and the story is certainly intriguing, although I found the ending a bit lacking.

[Kathryn]

I finished my first read for this challenge last night - Ronan's Echo by Joanne van Os. It was very enjoyable and I certainly hope to read more works of Joanne van Os in the future.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Kathryn this is the 2014 challenge thread..think you want the 2015 thread ;)

[Kathryn]

Brenda wrote: "Kathryn this is the 2014 challenge thread..think you want the 2015 thread ;)"

Oh, whoops! Not sure how I managed that! Thanks, Brenda!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

LOL!

[Ashley]

Sally wrote: "It was certainly something different and well worth reading, for me. The writing style is lovely and the story is certainly intriguing, although I found the ending a bit lacking."

Excellent, have added it to my list - looking forward to it now, thanks :)