Aussie Readers discussion

Murray wrote: "Brenda wrote: "I have finished my 12 books (TRUE BLUE LEVEL)....see message #2....I have a few more listed which I will probably read..at least some of them anyway, seeing as we have a few months o..."

I'll definitely keep reading the aussie authors Murray:)

Carmel wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Thanks Carmel...I am constantly amazed about the fact that I read so many Aussie authors...a lot of them I don't realize they're Aussie, so maybe I've read more;)"

I should make s..."

OK Carmel, here's just the first one I looked up, who's not there...Markus Zusak...I'll keep checking the ones I've read...

OK here's the ones I found of just my authors for this challenge..
Sara Foster..she is a GR author
Kristin Weidenbach
Tim Winton
Donna Meehan
Jaye Ford
Peter Yeldham
John Birmingham (he was born in the UK, but grew up in Ipswich, Queensland, so don't know if you want to count him)
Charlotte Wood
John Marsden

I'm sure there must be a lot more!

Carmel wrote: "Laura wrote: "Carmel wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Thanks Carmel...I am constantly amazed about the fact that I read so many Aussie authors...a lot of them I don't realize they're Aussie, so maybe I've re..."

Carmel,
Are you sure you want to do that? The list might get really HUGE! I thought the purpose of the list was to give a bit of a boost to those of us who are members and authors both - sort of some free publicity for group members.

Anyway, if you want to add all Aussie authors, none from my list are on the list you gave in your link so, in addition to Peter Carey you'd need to add:

David Malouf
L.A. Larkin
David Hicks
Richard Flanagan
A.P. Riemer

Oh, and as far as I know, Peter Carey now lives in the US which makes this whole thing even more complicated. Either lives now in Aus or was born here or wrote here or...... blech

I think Laura might be right Carmel, and yes, the list would be massive...

I've finished my 4th book of the challenge , and I've pre-ordered by fellow WA author Michelle Diener. I'm getting through the challenge...slowly.

Shona wrote: "I've finished my 4th book of the challenge , and I've pre-ordered by fellow WA author [author..."

Well done Shona...hope you are enjoying your reading:)

Finished two more books by Aussie books Violent Exposure by Katherine Howell and Brumby Plains by Joanne van Os which makes 5 books and 4 authors :)

Well done Sally!!

1. The Tree - Judy Pascoe
2. Gilgamesh - Joan London
3. Eucalyptus - Murray Bail
4. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
5. Smart Permaculture Design - Jenny Allen
6. The Genesis Flaw - L.A. Larkin

Just reached Matilda level today, now for True Blue...

Doing well Deb:)

I've recently read a couple of Aussie Author books without knowing that the author was Australian. I still have a stack of books sitting here that I'm looking forward to. So many great books, so little time! Plus, I went off on a Bill Bryson tangent after reading In a Sunburned Country. Now it's back to my Aussie list. Here are my reviews so far.

People of the Book
The Book Thief
True History of the Kelly Gang
Tomorrow, When the War Began
I Am the Messenger
The Thorn Birds
Breath
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Jellicoe Road
Mary Poppins
Eucalyptus
The Magic Pudding
A Town Like Alice
On the Beach
Saving Francesca
The Piper's Son
The Arrival
The Haunted Playground
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Still to read:
Caleb's Crossing
Schindler's List
Searching for Schindler
Oscar and Lucinda
Cloudstreet
Shantaram

Just read Rascal Bumps His Head: A Rascal Story . I love these books, great pictures and a fun story for kids, often involving poo, farts or something equally child-luring. Only takes about 5 minutes to read, so I think this really is just 1/4 of a read (if that), but thought I would include it anyhow and it was not part of my original list.

1 Something Fishy; READ
2. Odd One Out; READ
3 The Book Thief; READ
4. Neap Tide; READ
5. When Horse Became Saw; READ
5 and 1/4. Rascal Bumps His Head; READ

6. The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi; currently reading

7 Cocaine Blues;
8 The Seventh Tower;
9 Foundling;
10 The Unknown Terrorist: A Novel ;
11 Indelible Ink;
12. The Dressmaker

Going great guns Patricia and Dee-Ann!! :D

Another quick read which I think will give me another 1/4 of a read, in that I read The Arrival yesterday over a period of about an hour. A quick read but very insightful and beautiful. Still mulling over it.

1 Something Fishy; READ
2. Odd One Out; READ
3 The Book Thief; READ
4. Neap Tide; READ
5. When Horse Became Saw; READ
5 and 1/4. Rascal Bumps His Head; READ
5 and 1/2. The Arrival; READ

6. The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi; currently reading

7 Cocaine Blues;
8 The Seventh Tower;
9 Foundling;
10 The Unknown Terrorist: A Novel ;
11 Indelible Ink;
12. The Dressmaker

I recently finished The Sound of One Hand Clapping which takes me to 14 books. I gave it 4 stars. Anyone else read this one?
Still listening to Cloudstreet.

Just finished my 12th book for this challenge, all by different Aussie authors. But as I have so many books on my TBR list I will keep reading the Aussie ones and see how many more I can complete.

Well done Maggie!!! I'm with you on continuing to read the Aussie authors :D

1. The Tree - Judy Pascoe
2. Gilgamesh - Joan London
3. Eucalyptus - Murray Bail
4. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
5. Smart Permaculture Design - Jenny Allen
6. The Genesis Flaw - L.A. Larkin
7. The Unknown Terrorist - Richard Flanagan

Another one added. This is the first book I've read of Richard Flanagan's. I picked it up because I had seen him on the First Tues Book Show and liked the things he said - I'm also interested in novels about terrorism and our reaction to it. Good book, I gave it 4 stars.

@ Lesley - I also have The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Flanagan on my TBR list and will try to get around to reading it soon. What did you think?

Brenda wrote: "Well done Maggie!!! I'm with you on continuing to read the Aussie authors :D"

I keep hearing about great new books by Aussie authors that I'd like to read - I don't think this challenge will ever end for me.

Maggie wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Well done Maggie!!! I'm with you on continuing to read the Aussie authors :D"

I keep hearing about great new books by Aussie authors that I'd like to read - I don't think this chall..."

We might have to continue it on next year....:D

Lesley wrote: "I recently finished The Sound of One Hand Clapping which takes me to 14 books. I gave it 4 stars. Anyone else read this one?
Still listening to Cloudstreet."

Yep - I'm a great fan of Flanagan's Death of a River Guide and also fond of Sound of One Hand Clapping a lot (less keen on later works) He writes beautifully in my opinion!

Just finished Winter by John Marsden

Deb & Cathy, I enjoyed The Sound of One Hand Clapping and gave it 4 stars. I hadn't read a Richard Flanagan before, and yes, I like his style too. I would love to have visited the Huon region of Tasmania in order to really feel the location.
I will keep a eye out for those two other works mentioned. Thanks.

Sorry guys haven't been on for a while but I have been reading trying to make a dent in this challenge and I have done it. I made Mathilda level so far this year I have managedGiants of the Frost
On the Jellicoe Road
Mercy and more recently
Saltwater Vampires
The Reformed Vampire Support Group
and after waiting for 68 other people to finish it I got The Happiest Refugee: A Memoirand finished it in 24 hours worth the wait. Six down who's next?

Well done Davina!!!

I forgot about this... Here's my progress:

1) The Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak (release in September)

2)Mice by Gordon Reece ★★★.5

3) Breath by Tim Winton ★★★★

4) Peeps by Scott Westerfeld ★★★★

5) Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

6) So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld ★★★

There are a few other Aussie books I have to read soonish, so if I read them before #1/#5 I'll just swap them round :)

★ Jess ★ wrote: "I forgot about this... Here's my progress:

1) The Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak (release in September)

2)Mice by Gordon Reece ★★★..."

Or you can just add them in Jess;D

Yes, but then I would have more books to do and could fail said challenge.

★ Jess ★ wrote: "Yes, but then I would have more books to do and could fail said challenge."

You'll never fail as long as you are enjoying what you're reading Jess:D

Well said :D

★ Jess ★ wrote: "Well said :D"

:)

I recently finished Mia Culpa and Jasper Jones and enjoyed both.

I love Jasper Jones Lesley. It's one of my favourites :)

I'm definitely checking out The Stellar Drake by debut aussie author John Nugent Jr. Scifi mystery!

Should be able to nail this one now - probably at matilda level. My work reading challenge is to read 10 Australian books (set) in 6-8 weeks. Collected the first 3 books yesterday which are:
Indelible Ink
Snake
and Bereft

Cathy wrote: "Should be able to nail this one now - probably at matilda level. My work reading challenge is to read 10 Australian books (set) in 6-8 weeks. Collected the first 3 books yesterday which are:
[book..."

They look good Cathy:)

Hi Cathy. Good luck with the challenge. Bereft looks like an interesting book (it's on my 'to read' list). It is shortlisted for the Ned Kelly 2011 Best Fiction award. I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts :)

Btw I am doing the challenge also. I started a bit late, but am 8/12ths of the way there. My blog about the challenge with links to my reviews can be found here... http://tasbooklover.blogspot.com/2011...

David wrote: "Btw I am doing the challenge also. I started a bit late, but am 8/12ths of the way there. My blog about the challenge with links to my reviews can be found here... http://tasbooklover.blogspot.com/..."

That's great David. Do you think you could list the books you've read/are reading here in this thread as well? It's great for everyone to see what everyone else is reading. Thanks:)

Hi Brenda. List as follows:
1. Torn Apart (Peter Corris)
  2. The Fallout (Garry Disher)
  3. Chain of Evidence (Garry Disher)
  4. Death Mask (Kathryn Fox)
  5. Violent Exposure (Katherine Howell)
  6. No Weather For A Burial (David Owen)
  7. The Diggers Rest Hotel (Geoffrey McGeachin)
  8. Shatter (Michael Robotham)
  9. Gunshot Road (Adrian Hyland)
10. The Tesla Legacy (Robert G. Barrett)
11. Cold Justice (Katherine Howell)
12. The Second Hand (David Owen)

Thanks David....that's a great list too by the way:) I've read a couple of them.....

Sounds like you really enjoy Peter Corris too..I hadn't heard of him until recently.

Hi Brenda. I've really enjoyed the Corris books (Cliff Hardy series). Actually if you read his books, I'll have about 90% book overlap with you. It's over 50% now :)

David wrote: "Hi Brenda. I've really enjoyed the Corris books (Cliff Hardy series). Actually if you read his books, I'll have about 90% book overlap with you. It's over 50% now :)"

Really? Wow!! I've got lots of my own to read, which I'm starting to wade through, but I might put Peter Corris on my list for later...which one should I start with, if they're a series?

The Cliff Hardy character develops throughout the series, so its probably best to start as early as you can. Having said that, there are 35-40 books in the series now, and some the early ones are getting quite hard to find. Ultimately, it probably doesn't matter. Some of the background helps, but is not essential. I've found them all to be an enjoyable :) They are generally 200 pages or so, fairly uncomplicated, and easy to read in a night.

Thanks David, I'll check out my library:)

I've just looked him up, and got a list of his books in order of publication http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/p...

A couple of years ago I saw Peter Corris on The First Tuesday Book Club and liked what I saw. I also was intrigued that Jason described Corris' books as something like "tight" or "lean" (and said he enjoyed them). One of my problems (and I have quite a few of them) with crime thrillers is they do tend to drone on and on about scenery and draperies and footwear and... (snore). So I thought I'd give Corris a go. And I thoroughly enjoyed the couple I read. That's been a while ago now, it's high time I picked up another one. Thanks David for the reminder.

Laura, if you like lean crime stories, you should read Peter Temple (if you haven't already!). He's a fantastic, gritty, Australian writer with a gift for dialogue. Truth is his latest, and possibly his best, although the Jack Irish series is very good too.

Laura wrote: "A couple of years ago I saw Peter Corris on The First Tuesday Book Club and liked what I saw. I also was intrigued that Jason described Corris' books as something like "tight" or "lean" (and said h..."

Hi Laura. I really like the description tight and lean. The Corris books aren't padded are they? Generally they are a good solid 1 or 2 night read and you move on :) I enjoy them! Glad you do as well :)

Paula wrote: "Laura, if you like lean crime stories, you should read Peter Temple (if you haven't already!). He's a fantastic, gritty, Australian writer with a gift for dialogue. Truth is his latest, and possibl..."

Temple is good also :) In between the Corris books LOL.