"The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf" by Ambelin Kwaymullina

 

I'll add a short review once I finish reading this book.

Started reading: Sometime in May? 2019
Finished:
My score:
Aussie Author Challenge Stats: Female author, Indigenous author, Young Adult Fiction and Fantasy genre.

"The Tiny Wife" by Andrew Kaufman

"The Tiny Wife" is more of a short story than a novel as it is only about 80 pages long, so it only took me about one hour to read it. From the opening paragraph I knew it would be an interesting and unique story:

"The robbery was not without consequences. The consequences were the point of the robbery. It was never about money. The thief didn't even ask for any."  

Basically a mysterious thief demands items of emotional and personal significance from each of the people he is holding up, rather than something of financial value. These items appear to function as their souls, and the rest of the book involves the different characters dealing with strange consequences relating to the loss of their significant item/soul and attempts to repair their lives. Some survive and some don't, and it's quite a bizarre story in many ways. I'm sure there's meant to be a hidden meaning or moral, as the story does read like a fable...perhaps it's just reminding us to cherish and be grateful for what we have in life and not take things for granted in case they are taken away or destroyed. or maybe I'm reading too much into it and it's just a crazy fairytale :-)

The book is written in an almost dream-like/nightmare-like fashion where the most crazy unexpected things can happen and somehow appear normal and be described in a matter-of-fact way at the same time. This dream-like style of fairytale writing reminded me a bit of "The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making"  by Catherynne M. Valente that I read a couple of years ago.

It's a very short book, and although quite strange, I found it interesting reading just to experience the uniqueness of it. 

Started reading on my kindle: 1st January 2015
Finished the same day.
My score: 6.5/10 

"A Feast for Crows" by George R. R. Martin

I've got a pile of books I want to read, including some more for the Aussie Author Challenge, but the 4th series of Game of Thrones has arrived on Foxtel and I'm worried about hearing spoilers on facebook or at work. I really prefer to read the book first and let my imagination develop the characters, then enjoy the film version after...rather than watch the film version and let that impact on my imagination as I play catch-up on the book. So I've started the 4th book of Game of Thrones on my kindle tonight.

It's a big book. My review will appear here once I've finished the book. Could be a few weeks...

Started reading on my kindle: 5th June 2014
Finished: 16th July 2014
My score: 9/10

Another awesome and addictive book in the Game of Thrones series. I wont give much of a review as this is one of those series you either absolutely love, or absolutely are not interested in...if you are interested in complex, gripping fantasy worlds then you will love Game of Thrones, and really need to start at Book 1 and work your way through the series, while trying to avoid spoilers from friends/media/the tv series etc. My only frustrations with book 4 was the number of new characters that were introduced in the beginning of the book when I just wanted to connect back with my favourite characters to see what was happening to them....and then to find out the author had decided to just follow the story of half the main characters in book 4, and the other half will be followed in book 5. But really it's the sort of happy frustration caused by being immersed in a world so complex and realistic and full of characters that there just isn't enough room for them all in one book...now I'm torn as I want to leap straight into book 5...but since book 4 took me over a month to read, I should probably take a break and read something that contributes to the Aussie Author Challenge.

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman

Reading this book is not part of the Aussie Author Challenge, Neil Gaiman is an author from the UK. This is the first book I have read by this author, although I'm aware he has written quite a few, and across different genres. I love the cover art of this book, even though I actually read it in kindle format which didn't have images. To me, this book is a mix of fantasy, fairytale, darkness. It's told from a child's perspective, and is childlike and simple in many ways, but it's not a book for young children. It is dark and magical and disturbing. Some aspects are very simple "bad vs good", others are more complex. It reminds me of the film "The Dark Crystal"...not in the storyline, but in the emotions I felt when I read it, or like a dark version of Enid Blyton's Far Away Tree. It's not a long book and I'm not going to go  into the details of it, I'm sure there's plenty of synopsis reviews available online. I can't say the book was totally enjoyable, but it did keep me turning the pages, and I didn't know what to expect, it felt like watching a dream sequence, I was aware on more than one occasion of experiencing that feeling you get when you wake up suddenly in the middle of a dream and struggle to figure out whether something that occurred was real or part of a dream/nightmare. 

Started reading on my kindle: 23rd March 2014
Finished: 1st April 2014
My score: 7/10

"The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea" by Eric Linklater

This is a children's book written in 1949. I remember my Dad reading it to me and my brother when we were about 10 years old, from an old hardbound book he had been given when he was a child. It is such an immaginative and wonderful adventure story, and I find myself with the urge to re-read this book every 5-10 years. I recently discovered it is now available in Kindle format for approximately $5, and although it doesn't have the lovely illustrations that the print version had, it is still an awesome book that I would recommend anyone looking for a good kids adventure story consider. I reckon this book could be made into a spectacular movie, especially with all the special effects and ability to bring fantasy creatures to life that modern movies like The Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean have done so well.

 

"Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

"Mockingjay" is the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy. Overall I found the trilogy to be gripping and easy to read, and found them hard to put down. Some aspects of the books I found to be really novel and exciting, other aspects I found a bit disturbing as they don't seem so far fetched in light of some of the obsession with reality TV shows or the technology that is already here, and definitely the greedy, manipulative, corruption that is seen in politics around the world. However I was disappointed with the ending, and also found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the main character Katniss as the trilogy unfolded. While this sounds like a bit of a negative review, I actually really recommend this trilogy, although the underlying vibe of the book is one of distopia for me. These books would be great to read on a series of long plane flights where you can get absorbed into the story and read them quickly one after the other.

Started reading on my kindle: 7th December 2013
Finished reading: 23rd December 2013 
My score: 8.5/10

"Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

"Catching Fire" is the second book in the popular Hunger Games trilogy.
I started reading it on my kindle: 1st Dec 2013 and finished it: 7th Dec 2013
My score: 8/10 (not as good as the first book in the series as it was very slow to get into it, and then ended mid-story). Still very addictive though and I will be going on to read book 3 next! Once I finished reading "Catching Fire" I went to see the film version of it which is currently screening in cinemas in Adelaide at the moment. I must say that the film of "Catching Fire" is one of those rare movies where the film is equal to or even better than the book! Definitely recommend seeing it on a big screen if possible :-)

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games is a very popular trilogy, and I am quite late in getting on the bandwagon. Lots of people have recommended these books to me as gripping, fast paced, easy/quick read. I must agree, I certainly found this first book in the series to be a great story, easy and fast to read, a mix of fantasy and dystopia and reality-tv-like scenarios...very addictive reading! I started reading it on my kindle: 27th Nov 2013 and finished: 1st December 2013. it's one of those books where you stay up way too late at night reading despite having work the next day as it's a page-turner. I'm going straight on to read the rest of the trilogy.
My score: 8.5/10

"Bitter Greens" by Kate Forsyth

I read this book as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2013.I like historical fiction in general, and also have a soft spot for fantasy and fairy tales, so after reading some online 5 star reviews of this book (e.g. this review on the Book'd out blog that I enjoy following) I thought I was on to a winner. However I was quite disappointed overall, and have given this book a score of 5/10. The book is basically told from 3 different women's points of view; Rapunzel (Margherita), the evil witch (La Strega) and a controversial French noble woman (Charlotte-Rose) from the Sun King's court. None of the characters really grabbed me, although the witch was the most interesting of the three and I would have liked to have heard more from this character, followed by Margarita, and I never really understood the point of Charlotte-Rose's character apart from to add a bit of a '50-shades-of-grey' tone to the book. Parts of the book were entertaining and interesting, and I did like the creative re-telling of the traditional Rapunzel story. However, the overall vibe for me was a teenage infatuation/romance story with a bit of historical fiction and fairy tale flavour thrown in. To me this was equal to the lower end of Jean Plaidy's spectrum.

Started reading on my Kindle: 24th August 2013
Finished:6th October 2013
My score: 5/10

"A Storm of Swords" by George R.R. Martin

I am currently reading the third book in the Game of Thrones series: "A Storm of Swords". I am thoroughly enjoying it, but as it has approx 1200 pages it will probably be another week or more before I complete it. I will update this post once I have finished reading this book, although you can probably already guess the score I will be giving it as it's awesome :-)

Reading on my kindle: 29th April -11th June 2013.
My score: 10/10. Really loving this Game of Thrones fantasy series!

"Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin

I don't intend to write much here about "Game of Thrones" since it has received a lot of attention lately due to being made into a TV series, and I'm sure most people already know quite a bit about it. Basically it is high fantasy, an epic story with many complex characters and plots woven through it. If you love Lord of the Rings or the Wheel of Time, chances are you will love Game of Thrones also. I have read the first two books in the series so far ('Game of Thrones' and "A Clash of Kings"), and thought they were both awesome. Initially it was a little hard to get to grips with who all the characters are and who they are related to etc, but if you get hold of a family tree it makes it a lot easier, and pretty soon you are so drawn into the story you have no trouble following. The chapters alternate between about 8 of the main characters (more are added in the 2nd book), which works really well. My favourite characters so far are Arya (the adventurous tom boy daughter of Ned Stark), Jon Snow (Ned Stark's bastard), Daenerys Targaryen (another strong female character) and Tyrion Lannister (the dwarf). I watched the DVDs of the TV version (series 1 and 2) after I read the books. The TV version is also excellently done and the first 2 series follow the first 2 books very closely, however, like most books turned into tv/film, the books are by far better and more complex and I'd recommend reading them first.

I read the first book in February, and the second in March 2013, both on my Kindle.

My scores:
Game of Thrones: 10/10 for Fantasy
A Clash of Kings: 9/10