Wrap Up #2: My Year in Reading 2017.

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.

la belle sauvage

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

49, Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood

Facing the Flame by Jackie French
Murder on Christmas Eve by Cecily Gayford
Mr Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense by Jenny Uglow
After I’m Gone by Linda Green
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman
The Sister’s Song by Louise Allan (2018 Release)
Rain Fall by Ella West (2018 Release)
Father Christmas’s Fake Beard by Terry Pratchett
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.

Wrap up #4: Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2017: Challenge Completed

Wrap up #4: Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2017: Challenge Completed

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.

Three of my favourite authors – Kate Forsyth, Lynette Noni and Sulari Gentill released new books this year, all read and reviewed. I was lucky enough to participate in a series of reviews to celebrate the 100^th anniversary in 2018 of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, and discovered a new favourite author, Jessica Townsend, author of Nevermoor. Book two will hopefully be out in 2018 and it is one I am eager to read when it does come out.

nevermoor

I pledged to read six and review at least four books – Miles level. However, as is evident by the list below, I far exceeded that, reading and reviewing fifty-five books in total. I have no plans to purposely surpass this next year, though if I do, it will be a lovely surprise and an accomplishment for me. I have linked each review in this post as well so clicking on a title will take you to that review.

Bring on 2018 and many more reads!

Wrap Up #1: 2017 Reading Challenge

2017 Reading Challenge

Children who know adults who read

As well as the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge, I embarked on this year, in which I read about fifty-five books, I also did another reading challenge in another group. Since last year, we have gathered on Facebook, with a list of at least twenty categories, sometimes more, to fill with at least one book per category. Our rules are fairly relaxed – we can use the same book for multiple categories or read multiple books for one category. Below is this year’s challenge and the books I read, mostly review books, and I challenged myself to read a different book for each category, which I achieved. I managed to read three books for the award winner’s category – a category the group decided was open to any book award. The books I read covered multiple awards in Australia and America.

One book that I scraped into the category by a year was Gumnut Babies by May Gibbs – published in 1916, and many of the other books would have fit multiple categories. For a fantasy book and a book by a female author, I could have filled each of those five times at least, if not more. A banned book – I had many options to choose from. Some categories had to be stretched a little, or were fairly open so could be stretched, such as a book that takes place in a forest – The History of Wolves has parts that take place in a forest, so it seemed to fit that category. Others were more straightforward: a book based on a fairy tale – Frogkisser is based on multiple fairy tale tropes, and turns them on their heads. This felt like a good one for this category. Each year the challenge has been different and I haven’t been stumped by a category so badly I haven’t been able to fill it yet. It will always depend on the category and whether I can find a book, so let’s see what 2018’s challenge brings. As always I will aim to fill each category at least once, twice if I can.

Here’s to the next challenge!

Below is my list from the 2017 challenge with linked reviews so you can peruse them for your own reading challenges in 2018 and beyond.

2017 Reading Challenge

A collection of short stories: Singing My Sister Down by Margo Lanagan

singing my sister down

A Young Adult novel: The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles

edge-of-everything

A Book with a colour in the title: The Green Mill Murders by Kerry Greenwood, Black Cats and Butlers by Janine Beacham

A book that is more than 100 years old: Gum Nut Babies by May Gibbs

GB-CE

A Book you picked because of the cover: Frostblood by Elly Blake

frostblood

A book based on a fairy tale: Frogkisser! By Garth Nix

frogkisser

A book that takes place in a forest: The History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

history-of-wolves

A National Book Award Winner: Three read for this category

Award: National Book Award 2016 and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2017

Book: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Award #2: The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award 2017

Book: The Lost Pages by Marija Peričić

Awards #3 ABIA Book of the Year 2013, ABIA Literary Fiction of the Year 2013, Bookseller’s Choice Award, The Indie Book of the Year 2013

Book: The Light Between Oceans by ML Steadman

light between oceans

A romance that takes place during travel: New York Nights by C.J. Duggan

new-york-nights

A book under 200 pages: Billy Sing: A Novel by Ouyang Yu

Billy-Sing-front-cover-for-publicity

A book over 400 pages: A Waltz for Matilda by Jackie French

A banned book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling

A non-fiction book about nature: The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony with Grahame Spence

elephant whisperer

A fantasy novel: Draekora by Lynette Noni

draekora

A book by a person of colour: Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo

stay with me

A book by a female writer: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

caraval

A book of poetry: We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan

we come apart

A book set in Asia: The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star by Vaseem Khan

baby ganesh 3

A book about immigrants: Under the Same Sky by Mojgan Shamsalipoor, and Milad Jafari with James Knight

under the same sky

A book about an historical event: The Blue Cat by Ursula Dubosarsky (World War Two), The Last Hours by Minette Walters (The Black Death)

A book with a child narrator: The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan

the-bombs-that-brought-us-together

A book translated from another language: Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada

memoirs of a polar bear

A book that has been adapted into a film (Bonus: watch the film and compare): The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman

light between oceans

One of two challenges completed for 2017. I also completed the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge, which will be covered in a separate post, as will an overall wrap of my reading, and a post that will hopefully combine both challenges, sans the book lists.

Buy the books I read in this challenge here:

The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie: Including Little Ragged Blossom and Little Obelia by May Gibbs

Title: The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie: Including Little Ragged Blossom and Little Obelia

Author: May Gibbs

Genre: Children’s Literature

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2017 (Originally published in 1918)

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 272

Price: $39.99

Synopsis: The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie combines in one edition May Gibbs’ much-loved classics, the Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (first published in 1918) and its two sequels, Little Ragged Blossom (1920) and Little Obelia (1921).

Quintessentially Australian, these delightful tales have never been out of print; indeed the fantasy world of May Gibbs has been a source of continual fascination for generations of children. May’s is a world filled with fears and excitement and adventures both extraordinary and everyday. A world peopled with small creatures, where the real mixes tantalisingly with the imaginary and provides a window to the magic we all believe exists in the bush.

In this new edition, all of May’s original artwork has been sourced and re-scanned and the illustrations look as exquisite as the day May put down her paintbrush all those years ago. A fresh new design in full colour that is true to the original editions of these three stories makes this new edition a delight to rediscover – or read for the very first time.

~*~

In 1918, a post-war generation of Australian children were introduced to the magical bush world of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Whether this was done on purpose, or coincidentally, the timing of the conclusion of World War One (The Great War) and the publication of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie presented an ideal world to escape to, as many children’s books do. Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are two Gumnut brothers, whose curiosity and sense of adventure got them into many a scrape that their friends Mr Lizard, Mr Kookaburra, and Mrs Possum help them out of, in an idealised bush community, bordered by the Big Bad City, where all manner of evil can befall the young Nuts. Together, they venture into the city, obtain clothes, and find a new friend, Little Ragged Blossom. They attend a picture theatre and are always running from The Big Bad Banksia Men and Mrs Snake, devious characters whose desire to harm Snugglepot and Cuddlepie drives the tension, but these characters will always come to a sticky end, with the Nuts managing to escape and save their friends.

These bush fairy tales are unique to Australia, and May Gibbs, as a contemporary of Beatrix Potter, and au author within the same vein of using nature to inspire, and her own words and drawings to tell a story – I think is the Australian Beatrix Potter, as both worked in conservation to preserve the native wildlife and nature they adored and lived amongst. They were amongst the first Australian stories I was exposed to, and some of the first children’s stories that most Australian children have been exposed to for the past one hundred years. In these stories, May Gibbs takes the Gum Nut and bush flower babies introduced in 1916’s Gumnut Babies, and create stories using them as characters that introduce children to the Australian bush, in a world where technology competes for their attention. These beautifully written and illustrated stories establish a love for the Australian bush, and are one of many books by Australian authors published in the history of Australian publishing that establishes what it is to be Australian. Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are a part of the Australian psyche and culture, accessible to anyone, and full of fun and whimsy.

Books are a part of a culture, and the Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books are amongst the most popular in Australia, and perhaps some of the most significant books that have shaped the nation – there are many others that have done so over the years, and in doing so, have contributed to a valuable literary culture that thrives to this day, which is where the Tales from…. series published by Scholastic and that I have also reviewed on my blog come in – introducing Snugglepot and Cuddlepie to a new generation.

The Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books and characters are delightful to read and are aimed at older children, aged eight and older who can read on their own. However, they are also appropriate to be read to children of any age, if they are interested. The world of May Gibbs is a treasured one in Australia, and one that I hope generations continue to adore, and that will continue to stay in print for the next hundred years – as it has never been out of print since the initial 1918 publication.

Buy Snugglepot and Cuddlepie here:

https://www.maygibbs.org

Tales from the Camp Fire by May Gibbs and Jane Massam

tales from the campfire Title: Tales from the Camp fire

Author: May Gibbs and Jane Massam

Genre: Children’s Fiction/Picture Book

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st November, 2017

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 24 (32 Self-ended)

Price: $19.99

Synopsis: Join Snugglepot and Cuddlepie round the camp fire for stories of friendship and adventure in the Australian bush. Around the camp fire, they will encounter a human, go to a picture show, and discover a cave! Gather around the campfire and get ready for stories of friendship and adventure with May Gibbs’ classic characters.

~*~

In the fourth book in the Tales from series written by Jane Massam, using May Gibbs’ characters, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie are ready to gather around the camp fire and share their new adventures with you. First, they awaken by a camp fire, and set out on an adventure to find out what a Human is like. Will the Human be kind or mean? Their next adventure takes them to the Lilly Pilly Picture Show, after meeting actress Lilly Pilly, and have an interesting encounter with her pet Bull-Ant. These two stories are reminiscent of stories in the original 1918 Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, and are still charming, as they use the original artwork from Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, especially with Lilly Pilly, and I think this adds a certain charm to the new and old stories. The final story takes place on a ship, and a Banksia Man – who isn’t bad in this book, but takes them on a journey that leads them to a mysterious cave, with Snugglepot and Cuddlepie as trainee sailors.

These stories, written for younger children, and a modern audience, are, as with the first three in the series, a great way to introduce a new generation to Snugglepot, Cuddlepie and the Gumnut Babies, and the Australian Bush, full of mystery and magic, a landscape that May Gibbs adored and sought to conserve as new developments moved in on it. These four books make excellent companion volumes to the original early twentieth century tales.

Pre-order this book at one of these websites:

https://www.maygibbs.org

Tales from the Bush by May Gibbs and Jane Massam

TALES-BUSH Title: Tales from the Bush
Author: May Gibbs and Jane Massam
Genre: Children’s Fiction/Picture Book
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Published: 6th February 2017
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 24
Price: $19.99
Synopsis: Available now from Scholastic Australia, Tales from the Bush is the next book available in the ‘Tales from’ series of stories inspired by May Gibbs lovable Australian bush characters, celebrating 100 years of Gumnut Babies.
Join Snugglepot and Cuddlepie for some wonderful adventures in the Australian bush. Fall in love with May Gibbs’ classic characters as they go camping in search of treasure, garden with Little Ragged Blossom and deal with mischievous Mrs Snake!
This beautifully illustrated storybook is perfect for shared reading before bedtime and introduces children to the beauty and diversity of the Australian bush.
All royalties from the sale of May Gibbs products support the work of The Northcott Society and Cerebral Palsy Alliance in providing services to Australian children living with disability and their families.

~*~

In the third book of the series, Tales from the Bush, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie search for treasure, left behind by a Banksia man (who are big in this book, but the ones they encounter are not bad), on the riverbank, following footprints to find the gold of years past, and instead, find a much more valuable treasure that they will always have. Then, they plant a garden with Little Ragged Blossom, their new friend, from a necklace of what they thought had been berries, and create a world of beauty for her.
When the Bush Dance is about to be held, they encounter Mrs Snake, whose mischievous ways have caused everyone to abandon her, and Mr Lizard to revoke her invitation to the Bush Dance. These charming stories are full of friendship, and the undying kindness and curiosity of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie that generations of Australian children have come to adore. They are a delightful bedtime read, and great tool to help children learn to read and gain confidence whilst learning about the Australian bush, and its flora and fauna. The fantastical elements that these stories and the originals have brought to the wildlife and wild flowers of Australia, in a world that many have written about over the years, and a world that is as much a part of the Australian identity as other parts of our history and literature.
I enjoyed reading this book – for me it was a quick read and I think it is an ideal book for children learning to read. This series captures the original magic of May Gibbs for a new audience and readership with text by Jane Massam in a new century where technological toys compete with books for our attention.

Buy the books here:

https://www.maygibbs.org/

or here:

Tales from the Gum Tree by May Gibbs and Jane Massam

Title: Tales from the Gum Tree

Author: May Gibbs and Jane Massam

Genre: Children’s Fiction/Picture Book

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: January 2016

Format: Paperback

Pages: 24

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: Oh my!‘ cried Snugglepot. ‘I’m flying, I’m really flying!‘ He couldn’t believe he was up in the big blue sky, and it was simply glorious.

Join Snugglepot and Cuddlepie on their enchanting adventures through the Australian bush. With amazing butterfly rides, boating escapades and a surprise moonlight pageant, prepare to fall in love with May Gibbs’ classic characters. A new story based on May Gibbs’ enchanting Gumnut Babies characters.

Perfect for ages 3 to 6.

~*~

The Tales From series uses May Gibbs characters and illustrations with text by Jane Massam.

The first in the Tales from…series, (the second Tales from The Billabong, was reviewed prior to this one), Tales from the Gum-Tree reunites readers with Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, in a story aimed at early readers, and introduces new readers to a world that has never been out of print since it was first revealed to Australians at the height of the First World War.

The new series of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie stories use the same charm and style of the originals, for new and old readers alike. Where the originals can be read by confident readers of any age or to younger readers, this series can be read to children and to help teach them to read through the simple language used to tell the mesmerising tales of the bush that May Gibbs loved.

In these tales, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie embark on a variety of escapades, where they watch dragonfly races, where brave bush racers ride dragonflies in an epic race, much to the delight of Snugglepot, who wishes to join in, and the horror of Cuddlepie, whose desire to stay in the safety of the boughs of the gum tree loses against his curiosity. A boat ride across the creek sees them in need of warming themselves by a comforting fire, and lost during the night, after a feast with the possums, they stumble across a moonlight pageant in their search for the perfect birthday present for Mrs Kookaburra. These three short tales are perfect to read to young children, or as a tool to help them learn to read when they are ready, and they will learn to identify native Australian animals as they read.

Buy the book here:

https://www.maygibbs.org

or at Booktopia:

or through Angus and Robertson Bookworld:

The Book Muse

Books, reading and writing

Category: May Gibbs

Wrap Up #2: My Year in Reading 2017.

2017 reading log

Wrap up #4: Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2017: Challenge Completed

Wrap Up #1: 2017 Reading Challenge

2017 Reading Challenge

2017 Reading Challenge

The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie: Including Little Ragged Blossom and Little Obelia by May Gibbs

Tales from the Camp Fire by May Gibbs and Jane Massam

Tales from the Bush by May Gibbs and Jane Massam

Tales from the Gum Tree by May Gibbs and Jane Massam

Books, reading and writing

2017 reading log

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2017 Reading Challenge

2017 Reading Challenge

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