As per my post two weeks ago when I completed the first round, this is my second go at the bingo card, having completed it early, due to my filling in several squares at once in some posts. This time around. I’ll be trying to only do one book and square a fortnight, so I don’t finish early.
To begin, the text list of my categories is here, clean and empty for me to begin in my next post.
Challenge #4: Book Bingo Take 2
(Rows Across)
Row #1 – –
A book set more than 100 years ago:
A book written more than ten years ago:
A memoir:
A book more than 500 pages:
A Foreign translated novel:
Row #2 –
A book with a yellow cover:
A book by an author you’ve never read before:
A non-fiction book:
A collection of short stories:
A book with themes of culture:
Row #3: –
A book written by an Australian woman:
A book written by an Australian man:
A prize-winning book:
A book that scares you:
A book with a mystery:
Row #4
A forgotten classic:
A book with a one-word title:
A book with non-human characters:
A funny book:
A book with a number in the title:
Row #5
A book that became a movie:
A book based on a true story:
A book everyone is talking about:
A book written by someone under thirty:
A book written by someone over sixty:
Rows Down
Row #1 – –
A book set more than 100 years ago:
A book with a yellow cover:
A book written by an Australian woman:
A forgotten classic:
A book that became a movie:
Row #2
A book written more than ten years ago:
A book by an author you’ve never read before:
A book written by an Australian man:
A book with a one-word title:
A book based on a true story:
Row #3: –
A memoir:
A non-fiction book:
A prize-winning book:
A book with non-human characters:
A book everyone is talking about:
Row #4
A book more than 500 pages:
A collection of short stories:
A book that scares you:
A funny book:
A book written by someone under thirty:
Row #5
A Foreign Translated Novel:
A book with themes of culture:
A book with a mystery:
A book with a number in the title:
A book written by someone over sixty:
I have not started in this post, as I have not chosen where to start yet, but I have some ideas of the books I want to add this time. I will be aiming to read and include the latest Jackie French book in the Miss Lily series, and some others that I have not had a chance to get around to yet. The first post will either be up today, the second or next bingo week, the sixteenth. I have been enjoying this book bingo and will enjoy having another go at it using as many different books as I can.
In my fourth book bingo, I have three books to include and link back to. At this stage, I have almost completed the fifth column on the square, with the final square needing a foreign translated book – yet to be decided. The others are all a little bit spaced out randomly at this stage, but for the most part, shouldn’t be too hard to fill. Whilst I was aiming to fill all of the squares with Australian women authors, with the exception of the translated novel and a novel by an Australian man, I have decided to fill them with what fits with any book as I read them.
So, for this week, I have three to report on. There is one that I have known will fit since signing up to this challenge, so let’s start there – A book with more than 500 pages. There are a few that fit into this category, but I chose 
At the end of the second, is a book with themes of culture –
Finally, my third square for this week is the fifteenth square, a book with a mystery. For this one, I read 
Title: Miss Lily’s Lovely Ladies
Sophie Higgs lives in Australia at Thuringa, in 1913. Her father runs a corned beef empire, and Australian women have had the vote for eleven years, unlike the women in England, who are still fighting for suffrage. Sophie’s father sends her across the seas to Shillings, where, alongside women from the upper echelons of European society and royalty, Sophie will be taught by the mysterious Miss Lily about society, and how to behave at dinner, how to talk to men and captivate them, how to flatter them, and how to speak about topics that are said to be not right for a woman to know about. But Sophie is a bit of a challenge – the “colonial” who is outspoken and questions everything she is told. Miss Lily takes Sophie under her wing and sets about preparing her for a society life where she can fit in yet still be who she is. As 1914 inches towards war between Germany and England, Sophie must decide who she can trust. Emily, who has always been aloof and focussed? Or Hannelore, a German princess who is friendly but determined that Germany will win any war that breaks out on the continent. As war breaks out, and the Lovely Ladies head home or get married, Sophie is adrift, but determined to make a difference. With the Australians joining the call to duty and heading to Gallipoli, Sophie helps Alison turn her home into a hospital for injured soldiers. As soldiers die, and babies are born, Sophie is drawn further into the war, and across the seas to the battlefields of Ypres and Flanders, where she recounts her tale to a soldier out on the fields, before they head off the battlefields, where the war slowly wraps up, and Sophie finds herself looking to an uncertain future in the inter-war years.
A prize that works to highlight the voices of women writers in Australia is highly commendable. It serves the purpose of allowing women of Australia, regardless of age, ethnicity, race and so forth, to be represented and be heard in reviews, in writing and across all avenues of connection about Australian Women Writers. Reading has always been a passion of mine and I have always enjoyed Australian literature, and in particular, literature written by Australian Women Writers. In the last two years, I have started to pay more attention to Australian Women Writers that I read, out of curiosity to see what kind of authors populate my list more, whilst still realising that there are many other authors that do not necessarily fall into the category of Australian women writers that I will read and enjoy.
2017 was the first year I took part in the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge, and it was the sixth year it has been running. Keen to read more Australian Women Writers and raise the profile of our wonderfully talented female authors, I signed up in early January 2017, as a way to keep myself occupied whilst building my blog, and to read more local literature. To start, I initially made a list of books I wanted to read, including The Beast’s Garden (a re-read that I never got to), anything new from Lynette Noni and Sulari Gentill, a couple of books I had obtained over Christmas, and A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French. This list was my base, and from there, within the first month, I had completed my goal with the entirety of The Matilda Saga by Jackie French, and several review books that weren’t quite my style, but that I passed on to those who did enjoy them. From there, many of the books I read were review books from publishers, all genres, growing my list substantially, so I had more than doubled my initial goal by April of the year – perhaps even tripled it by then. So I kept reading, devouring fantasy, historical fiction and crime as my favourite genres for the year.
