Tag: Publishers

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

 

  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

  1. Royce Rolls by Margaret Stohl
  2. Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer
  3. Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin
  4. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
  5. Beauty in Thorns by Kate Forsyth
  6. The Lost Pages by Marija Peričić
  7. The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins
  8. Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott
  9. Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth
  10. The Dream Walker by Victoria Carless.
  11. My Lovely Frankie by Judith Clarke
  12. The Pacific Room by Michael Fitzgerald
  13. Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood
  14. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling (Ravenclaw 20th Anniversary Edition)
  15. Evie’s Ghost by Helen Peters
  16. Tell It to The Dog by Robert Power
  17. Leaving Ocean Road by Esther Campion
  18. The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club by Sophie Green
  19. Siren by Rachel Matthews.
  20. The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
  21.  J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World – The Dark Arts: A Movie Scrapbook
  22. A Reluctant Warrior by Kelly Brooke Nicholls
  23. Her by Garry Disher
  24. The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting
  25. Ava’s Big Move by Mary Van Reyk
  26. We That Are Left by Lisa Bigelow
  27. The Cursed First Term of Zelda Stitch by Nicki Greenberg
  28. The Children of Willesden Lane: A True Story of Hope and Survival During World War Two by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen
  29. The Crying Years: Australia’s Great War by Peter Stanley
  30. Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
  31. The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
  32. Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman
  33. Every Word Is A Bird We Teach To Sing by Daniel Tammet
  34. The Book of Secrets: The Ateban Cipher (Book 1) by A.L. Tait
  35. Secrets Between Friends by Fiona Palmer
  36. The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star by Vaseem Khan
  37. The Last Hours by Minette Walters
  38. The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
  39. The Secret Books by Marcel Theroux
  40. Barney Greatrex by Michael Veitch
  41. Soon by Lois Murphy
  42. A Dangerous Language by Sulari Gentill
  43. She Be Damned by MJ Tjia
  44. Gum-nut Babies by May Gibbs
  45. Tales from the Gum-Tree by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
  46. The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood
  47. Tales from the Billabong by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
  48. Tales from the Bush by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
  49. Tales from the Campfire by May Gibbs and Jane Massam
  50. Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs
  51. Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
  52. The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington
  53. Rose Raventhorpe Investigates: Black Cats and Butlers by Janine Beacham
  54. Sleep No More by PD James
  55. Five Go Down Under by Sophie Hamley (inspired by the original series by Enid Blyton
  56. Wolf Children by Paul Dowsell
  57. Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster
  58. The Book of Dust Volume One: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
  59. Rose Raventhorpe Investigates: Rubies and Runaways by Janine Beacham
  60. The Boy Made from Snow by Chloë Mayer
  61. Harry Potter: A History of Magic – British Library exhibition catalogue.
  62.  Into the World by Stephanie Parkyn
  1. Facing the Flame by Jackie French
  2. Murder on Christmas Eve by Cecily Gayford
  3. Mr Lear: A Life of Art and Nonsense by Jenny Uglow
  4. After I’m Gone by Linda Green
  5. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman
  6. The Sister’s Song by Louise Allan (2018 Release)
  7. Rain Fall by Ella West (2018 Release)
  8. Father Christmas’s Fake Beard by Terry Pratchett
  9. 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 2nd of January 2018, so the reviews will be live on the blog on that day.

Small Publisher Spotlight: Magabala Books

As part of the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2017, each month I will be writing a post highlighting a small publisher/press, and several of their books by women writers for challenge suggestions. Below is my first post on Magabala Books, a small, non-profit press that specialises in publishing fiction and non fiction by Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander authors. Next month I will be writing about Pantera Press.

Hi everyone. Over the next few months, I aim to write posts featuring a small press/publisher which highlight recent or upcoming books, or past titles yet to be reviewed for the challenge. My first post is on a press that focuses on Indigenous literature. ~ Apart from the large publishing houses – Penguin Random House, Hachette, Allen and…

via Small Publisher’s Spotlight: Magabala Books — Australian Women Writers Challenge Blog