Aussie Readers discussion

RitaSkeeter wrote: "I haven't participated in one of these challenges before, so hopefully I've followed the guidelines properly. Fantastic idea for finally reading some of those that have been on my TBR for quite awh..."

Great list. Congratulations on entering your first challenge :)

I have The Rosie Effect on my list too. I think a few of us have :)

Elaine wrote: "Speaking of the "Wattle" challenge Heather, my husband thought it was so funny that I was struggling with the category that he sent me this: https://d.gr-assets.com/photos/140826.... I guess it is funny. :)..."

LOL! I have a wattle bookmark - is very pretty.

Jennifer wrote: "My list so far...

1.Spring clean TBR shelf
a.
b.

2. Aussie New release for Spring
a. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
b.

3. Read a rainbow
a. red

b. Orange
..."

Great start Jennifer! I have Colours of Gold myself and it could be used for orange or yellow, couldn't it!

Lesley wrote: "#1 tbr Gone Girl
#3 [bookcover..."

Nice picks Lesley :)

Sally906 wrote: "Elaine wrote: "Speaking of the "Wattle" challenge Heather, my husband thought it was so funny that I was struggling with the category that he sent me this: https://d.gr-assets.com/photos/140826......."

Make sure you use it for your Wattle book Sally;P

Thanks Brenda and Sally.

I want to join in but I haven't finalised my list yet. I haven't done a challenge before, so I have a question: can you reread a book (assuming it fits the criteria), or do all the books have to be ones you haven't read before?

Marina wrote: "I want to join in but I haven't finalised my list yet. I haven't done a challenge before, so I have a question: can you reread a book (assuming it fits the criteria), or do all the books have to be..."

No you can reread Marina (except for the New Release). That's not a problem. You can't however use the same book to cover various criteria, which I'm sure you'd realize anyway:)

Aw, but I wanted to use to cover Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple! :-P

Steve wrote: "Aw, but I wanted to use to cover Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple! :-P"

David Shannon writes such good books! My favourite is No, David!

Steve wrote: "Aw, but I wanted to use to cover Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple! :-P"

Hahaha!!! That's cute Steve:)

Brenda wrote: "Marina wrote: "I want to join in but I haven't finalised my list yet. I haven't done a challenge before, so I have a question: can you reread a book (assuming it fits the criteria), or do all the b..."

Excellent. Thanks, Brenda! That's purple covered then!

here is my list
1. Spring clean time! White Cat
2. Brisbane Writers' Festival -TBD
3.a Read a Rainbow Die for Me
3b. OrangeThe Girl Who Played with Fire
3c. YellowTwenties Girl
3d. GreenThe Kitchen God's Wife
3e. BlueThe Old Man and the Sea
3f.Splendor
4. Young Adult Beautiful Malice
5. National Wattle Day Black Wattle Creek
6. Labor Day, Hunted
7. Remembrance Day, The Wine of Solitude
8. Goodreads friend, The Appeal
9. favourite genre! (Historical Romance ) The
Autumn Bride
10. SPRING clean Hangman Blind

Arena wrote: "here is my list
1. Spring clean time! White Cat
2. Brisbane Writers' Festival -TBD
3.a Read a Rainbow Die for Me
3b. OrangeThe Girl Who Played with Fire..."

Nice list Arena:)

Arena wrote: "3b. Orange The Girl Who Played with Fire"

Huh, that's been on my internal TBR for a long while. Let me fix that so I trip over it for my next challenge. :-)

not sure where I can post this but thought as this challenge is soon to start it may help some people! A new WordPress blog has Asutralian Authors new Releases from June 2014. not sure when they update the site.
http://australianbookreleases.com/
Link was provided through my ALIA weekly update...

Nicola wrote: "not sure where I can post this but thought as this challenge is soon to start it may help some people! A new WordPress blog has Asutralian Authors new Releases from June 2014. not sure when they ..."

Nicola a great place as well would be our Aussie New Release thread if you don't mind:) Thanks for sharing!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Brenda wrote: "Nicola wrote: "not sure where I can post this but thought as this challenge is soon to start it may help some people! A new WordPress blog has Asutralian Authors new Releases from June 2014. not ..."

Couldn't find in the Groups lists but will put it there now!

I'm completely blind! Looked past it several times!

FYI for those who have chosen Black Wattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin for their #5 Nat. Wattle Day choice, this book is #2 of 3 in the Charlie Berlin series.

#1 is The Diggers Rest Hotel and I am assured by my mm that it is a very good read and probably necessary to the 2nd book. So maybe worth sourcing to read beforehand. I am lucky that he already has it so I can start that now ahead of my challenge.

☼♄Jülie wrote: "FYI for those who have chosen Black Wattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin for their #5 Nat. Wattle Day choice, this book is #2 of 3 in the Charlie Berlin series.

#1 i..."

Thanks for that Julie!

☼♄Jülie wrote: "FYI for those who have chosen Black Wattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin for their #5 Nat. Wattle Day choice, this book is #2 of 3 in the Charlie Berlin series.

#1 i..."

Thanks for the warning Julie. Probably would be a good idea to read the first book before Black Wattle Creek.

Carolyn wrote: "☼♄Jülie wrote: "FYI for those who have chosen Black Wattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin for their #5 Nat. Wattle Day choice, this book is #2 of 3 in the Charlie Berl..."

I have actually read #3 and it was my first...

Carolyn wrote: "☼♄Jülie wrote: "FYI for those who have chosen Black Wattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin for their #5 Nat. Wattle Day choice, this book is #2 of 3 in the Charlie Berl..."

Yeah my other half seems to think it would be best for the sake of continuity, he says it's quite a quick read though ;)

Some people are very strict about reading books in order - I am not one of them :)

Sally906 wrote: "Some people are very strict about reading books in order - I am not one of them :)"

Generally I'm not either, but since it's only one book in this case I thought it worth a mention in case others want the chance to read it before the challenge.

No! No I wasn't knocking the warning - I think it is great - I hadn't actually thought to check and by warning us all you may possibly have saved some angst :)

Sally906 wrote: "No! No I wasn't knocking the warning - I think it is great - I hadn't actually thought to check and by warning us all you may possibly have saved some angst :)"

Lol, it's all good.
I've actually started reading the first one and it seems to be that it is building a profile for future stories in the series, but I'm sure they would easily stand alone also as most books start with a bit of a rundown on the characters anyway don't they?

To me it reads a bit like the old fashioned cop stories and so far it's pretty good :)

Looking for to the challenge, here's my list:

1) Spring clean - Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
2) Brisbane writers festival - TBA
3)
4) YA - Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
5) Wattle - Black Wattle Creek by Geoffrey McGeachin
6) Labour Day - The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin
7) Remembrance Day - The Absolutist by John Boyne
8) Goodreads friend (Ben) - The Pearl by John Steinbeck
9) Favourite genre (detective) - Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan
10) TBR - As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

Nice list Trevor!

Finally got my list together -- nearly all books from the teetering tower of terror (aka the TBR pile), so that's good! Am looking forward to starting.

1) Spring clean: The Long Earth
2) Brisbane writers' festival: Hello From the Gillespies
3) Rainbow:

4) Aussie YA: Finnikin of the Rock
5) Wattle: One Of The Wattle Birds
6) Labor Day (policeman): Broken Homes
7) Remembrance Day: Catch-22
8) GoodReads friend (Liam): An Abundance of Katherines
9) Favourite genre (fantasy): The Lascar's Dagger
10) TBR: Steelheart

Great list Marina!

Marina wrote: "Finally got my list together -- nearly all books from the teetering tower of terror (aka the TBR pile), so that's good! Am looking forward to starting.

I'm going to be reading The Girl with All the Gifts too. It sounds really good.

Phrynne wrote: "Marina wrote: "Finally got my list together -- nearly all books from the teetering tower of terror (aka the TBR pile), so that's good! Am looking forward to starting.

I'm going to be reading [book..."

I've got it as a yellow for me as well!!

Trevor wrote: "Looking for to the challenge, here's my list:

1) Spring clean - Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
2) Brisbane writers festival - TBA
3) [bookcover:Bran's Story|7802..."

Interesting list there - The Pearl is my favourite Steinbeck story :)

Marina wrote: "Finally got my list together -- nearly all books from the teetering tower of terror (aka the TBR pile), so that's good! Am looking forward to starting.

1) Spring clean: [book:The Long Earth|131472..."

I like your list too :)

Look what I just found!

The bush was grey a week to-day
(Olive-green and brown and grey);
But now the spring has come this way,
With blossoms for the wattle.

- Veronica Mason, from ‘A Wattle Poem’, 1912

Brenda wrote: "Nice list Trevor!"

Thanks Brenda, I'm looking forward to starting in a few days :-)

Trevor wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Nice list Trevor!"

Thanks Brenda, I'm looking forward to starting in a few days :-)"

Not long now!!!

Brenda wrote: "Look what I just found!

The bush was grey a week to-day
(Olive-green and brown and grey);
But now the spring has come this way,
With blossoms for the wattle.

- Veronica Mason, from ‘A Wattle Poem..."

We used to recite that in school Brenda! For Wattle Day.....not in 1912 mind you ;)

I don't recall it Julie - not from school days (or 1912 either!) I thought it was appropriate for our Wattle section:)

Lol...I don't recall 1912 either, although our teacher must have had some connections! We used to recite it in primary school and get all the words mixed up!
The version I recall went like this:

The bush was grey a week today
Red and yellow blue and grey,
And now the Spring has come to stay...
Behold the golden wattle.

Maybe it's another verse, or maybe it's just that darn long ago I can't remember it right! ....we were very little ;)

☼♄Jülie wrote: "Lol...I don't recall 1912 either, although our teacher must have had some connections! We used to recite it in primary school and get all the words mixed up!
The version I recall went like this:

..."

That sounds more familiar Julie:) Maybe it's a different verse!

We used to also celebrate Arbor Day, but don't hear of that anymore, where we would plant a tree every year. Is that what is now called National Tree Day?

☼♄Jülie wrote: "We used to also celebrate Arbor Day, but don't hear of that anymore, where we would plant a tree every year. Is that what is now called National Tree Day?"

I remember Arbor Day!! Wow...yes I guess it could be National Tree Day, cos school kids still get to plant a tree:)

Googled wattle poem and came up with this by Dora Wilcox - called the Wattle Tree

Winter is not yet gone - but now
The birds are carolling from the bough.
And the mist has rolled away
Leaving more beautiful the day.
The sun is out - O come with me
To look upon the wattle tree!


Let misers hoard and hide their gold;
Here there is treasure-trove untold,
In yellow blossom, mass on mass
Spread out for wayfarers who pass
With hearts to feel, and eyes to see
How lovely is the wattle tree.


O strange, O magical! to forget
For a moment care and fret,
Whilst the next spirit, like a cup
Drained of delight, again fills up
And overflows with ecstasy
Before the miracle of the tree.


And rich and poor, who pause to bless
The shining tree in thankfulness,
Are bound in fellowship indeed.
What matter politics or creed,
Or class or colour? surely he
Loves mankind who loves a Tree!


Towards illimitable skies
From the earth the trees arise:
Givers of Joy, their gold and green
Against the blue of Heaven is seen.
A symbol of man's destiny
Is the blossoming the wattle tree.


Winter is not yet gone - but now
The birds are carolling from the bough.
And the mist has rolled away
Leaving more beautiful the day.
The sun is out - O come with me
To look upon the wattle tree!
Dora Wilcox

I'm having such fun googling - here is an educational page with teacher resources for wattle day:

http://www.wattleday.asn.au/what-you-...

There are songs and poems!

Sally906 wrote: "Googled wattle poem and came up with this by Dora Wilcox - called the Wattle Tree

Winter is not yet gone - but now
The birds are carolling from the bough.
And the mist has rolled away
Leaving m..."

Sally906 wrote: "Googled wattle poem and came up with this by Dora Wilcox - called the Wattle Tree

Winter is not yet gone - but now
The birds are carolling from the bough.
And the mist has rolled away
Leaving m..."

Sally that's just beautiful! Such is the magic of wattle! :)

Sally906 wrote: "I'm having such fun googling - here is an educational page with teacher resources for wattle day:

http://www.wattleday.asn.au/what-you-...

There are songs and poems!"

Terrific site Sally, thanks for sharing, see that's how I remember Wattle day..it was a big deal for us kids, and to this day the heady perfume still has the power to instantly transport me back to those wonderful, barefoot and carefree days.

My pleasure :)

I know it's off topic but....has anyone ever tried Macadamia and Wattleseed biscuits? They are like Anzac biscuits only better ;) YUM!