Wrap Up post #2 – My Year in Reading 2017.  

2017 was a busy reading year for me. It was the year my blog picked up a little bit more, and I managed to read more review books. Overall, I read 121 books. Fifty-five of those were by Australian women writers, although I didn’t manage to read all six books I initially hoped to read for the challenge, I did read most of them, as well as many others that came across my path. There are at least two of the three I initially hoped to include that I did not get to, nor did I get to some of the books I have read but wanted to read again. I did achieve my goal to read books by Lynette Noni, Kate Forsyth and Sulari Gentill, though, as well as many others including the entire Matilda Saga by Jackie French, including the latest book, Facing the Flame.

Of the overall count, ninety-two were women writers, with more than half being Australian Women Writers. Eighteen were male authors or the exhibition catalogues for the Harry Potter exhibit at the British Library. A quick glance over my list, and my most read genres appear to be fantasy and historical fiction.

Of these books, it is hard to pick a favourite, and that will have to be another post, as there are a few that need to be included. As 2017 ends and 2018 begins, I am thinking about my next challenges. I will again sign up for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge, and read as many books as I can by Australian Women Writers. I will continue writing reviews from publishers with the goal of keep on top of each lot of books as they come in, and endeavour to get the reviews up by release date if they come before, or as soon as I can if they arrive after the book has been released – a system I have always used that has helped me prioritise books.

I am also hoping to stick to reading what I like, and not waste time on things I struggle with. I always let the publisher know if this happens, and so far, it hasn’t been an issue. I don’t have specific goals to focus on certain authors or genres, other than to try and read more Australian authors and more Australian female authors, and to continue supporting them.

Below is my completed list of reading for 2017. It includes all the challenge reads, and the individual lists can be seen in the wrap up posts for those challenges. I hope these lists and reviews have helped you find something new to read.

2017 reading log

1. Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay by Jill Mansell
2. A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French
3. The Stolen Child by Lisa Carey
4. The Girl from Snowy River by Jackie French
5. Frostblood by Elly Blake
6. The Road to Gundagai by Jackie French
7. The History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
8. New York Nights by C.J. Duggan
9. To Love a Sunburnt Country by Jackie French
10. Country Roads by Nicole Hurley-Moore
11. Love, Lies, and Linguine by Hilary Spiers
12. The Bombs that Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan
13. The Ghost by the Billabong by Jackie French
14. Caraval by Stephanie Garber
15. This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
16. If Blood Should Stain the Wattle by Jackie French
17. King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard
18. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.
19. The Last McAdam by Holly Ford
20. The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles
21. Stasi Wolf by David Young
22. Carnivalesque by Neil Jordan
23. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
24. Frogkisser by Garth Nix
25. From the Wreck by Jane Rawson
26. Ariadnis by Josh Martin
27. Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
28. A Letter from Italy by Pamela Hart
29. We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan
30. Tattletale by Sarah J Naughton
31. Billy Sing by Ouyang Yu
32. Draekora by Lynette Noni
33. Stay with Me by Ayóbámi Adèbáyò
34. The Mysterious Mr Jacob: Diamond Merchant, Magician and Spy by John Zubrzycki
35. London Bound by CJ Duggan
36. Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada, translated by Susan Bernofsky
37. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by JK Rowling (Newt Scamander)
38. Looking for Rose Paterson: How Family Bush Life Nurtured Banjo the Poet by Jennifer Gall
39. See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
40. Flying Too High by Kerry Greenwood
41. The Blue Cat by Ursula Dubosarsky
42. A Game of Ghosts by John Connolly
43. Singing my Sister Down by Margo Lanagan
44. Under the Same Sky by Mojgan Shamsalipoor, and Milad Jafari with James Knight
45. Stars Across the Ocean by Kimberley Freeman
46. Disappearing off the Face of the Earth by David Cohen
47. Beyond the Wild River by Sarah Maine
48. Girl in Between by Anna Daniels

49, Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood

50. Royce Rolls by Margaret Stohl
51. Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
52. Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin
53. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
54. Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth
55. The Lost Pages by Marija Peričić
56. The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins
57. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott
58. Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth
59. The Dream Walker by Victoria Carless.
60. My Lovely Frankie by Judith Clarke
61. The Pacific Room by Michael Fitzgerald
62. Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood
63. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling (Ravenclaw 20^th Anniversary Edition)
64. Evie’s Ghost by Helen Peters
65. Tell It to The Dog by Robert Power
66. Leaving Ocean Road by Esther Campion
67. The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club by Sophie Green
68. Siren by Rachel Matthews.
69. The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
70.  J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World – The Dark Arts: A Movie Scrapbook
71. A Reluctant Warrior by Kelly Brooke Nicholls
72. Her by Garry Disher
73. The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting
74. Ava’s Big Move by Mary Van Reyk
75. We That Are Left by Lisa Bigelow
76. The Cursed First Term of Zelda Stitch by Nicki Greenberg
77. The Children of Willesden Lane: A True Story of Hope and Survival During World War Two by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
78. The Crying Years: Australia’s Great War by Peter Stanley
79. Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
80. The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
81. Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman
82. Every Word Is A Bird We Teach To Sing by Daniel Tammet
83. The Book of Secrets: The Ateban Cipher (Book 1) by A.L. Tait
84. Secrets Between Friends by Fiona Palmer
85. The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star by Vaseem Khan
86. The Last Hours by Minette Walters
87. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
88. The Secret Books by Marcel Theroux
89. Barney Greatrex by Michael Veitch
90. Soon by Lois Murphy
91. A Dangerous Language by Sulari Gentill
92. She Be Damned by MJ Tjia
93. Gum-nut Babies by May Gibbs
94. Tales from the Gum-Tree by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
95. The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood
96. Tales from the Billabong by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
97. Tales from the Bush by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
98. Tales from the Campfire by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
99. Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs
100. Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
101. The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington
102. Rose Raventhorpe Investigates: Black Cats and Butlers by Janine Beacham
103. Sleep No More by PD James
104. Five Go Down Under by Sophie Hamley (inspired by the original series by Enid Blyton
105. Wolf Children by Paul Dowsell
106. Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster
107. The Book of Dust Volume One: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
108. Rose Raventhorpe Investigates: Rubies and Runaways by Janine Beacham
109. The Boy Made from Snow by Chloë Mayer
110. Harry Potter: A History of Magic – British Library exhibition catalogue.
111.  Into the World by Stephanie Parkyn

112. Facing the Flame by Jackie French
113. Murder on Christmas Eve by Cecily Gayford
114. Mr Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense by Jenny Uglow
115. After I’m Gone by Linda Green
116. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman
117. The Sister’s Song by Louise Allan (2018 Release)
118. Rain Fall by Ella West (2018 Release)
119. Father Christmas’s Fake Beard by Terry Pratchett
120. The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony with Grahame Spence

121. Vasilisa the Wise and Other Tales of Brave Young Women by Kate Forsyth and Lorena Carrington

Books 117 and 118 are to be released on the 2^nd of January 2018, so the reviews will be live on the blog on that day.