Aussie Author Challenge 2014 Accepted!

I had so much fun and discovered so many great Australian authors and books this year through participating in the Aussie Author Challenge advertised on the Booklovers book review blog, so I have decided to sign up for the Challenge again in 2014!! :-)

I have chosen to attempt the hardest level of the Challenge - "Kangaroo" which involves:
 - Read and review 12 titles written by Australian Authors of which at least 4 of those authors are female, at least 4 of those authors are male, and at least 4 of those authors are new to you;
- At least 6 fiction and at least 2 non-fiction, and at least 3 titles first published in 2013 or 2014.

I can't wait to see what new Australian authors and books I will discover in 2014!!! :-)

"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

Aussie Author Challenge 2013 Summary

Yay, I have done it! Completed the Aussie Author Challenge for 2013! In fact I have exceeded the number of Aussie books required by the Challenge and there's still one month to go for 2013 :-) I am really glad I chose to take part in this Challenge, it has encouraged me to read more widely and to choose some books to read that I otherwise might not have even thought of reading, and in doing so I have discovered some wonderful authors and books!

Here's the summary of the books I read as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2013:

By Male authors (4 required, 5 books read):
Tim Winton "Dirt Music" (Fiction; Drama)
Peter Goldsworthy "Wish" (Fiction; Science)
Markus Zusak "The Book Thief" (Fiction; Historical fiction)
David Gillespie "Sweet Poison" (Non-Fiction; Nutrition/Science)
Graeme Simsion "The Rosie Project" (Fiction; Comedy/Humour)

By Female authors (4 required, 7 books read):
Caroline Overington "Ghost Child" and "Sisters of Mercy" (Fiction; Crime)
Geraldine Brooks "People of the Book" (Fiction; Historical fiction)
Krissy Nicholson "Tsunami and the single girl" (Non-Fiction; memoir/autobiography)
Hannah Kent "Burial Rites" (Fiction; Historical fiction)
M.L. Stedman "Light between oceans" (Fiction; Historical fiction)
Kate Forsythe "Bitter Greens" (Fiction; Fantasy)

By authors who were new to me (4 required, 9 books read):
Markus Zusak
David Gillespie
Krissy Nicholson
Hannah Kent
Caroline Overington x 2
M.L. Stedman
Graeme Simsion
Kate Forsythe

Ensure at least 2 Non-Fiction books:
"Sweet Poison" by David Gillespie
"Tsunami and the single girl" by Krissy Nicholson

Ensure at least 4 fiction genres are included in your 12 books:
Fiction genre 1 (Crime): 
Caroline Overington "Ghost Child" and "Sisters of Mercy" 

Fiction genre 2 (Historical fiction):
Hannah Kent "Burial Rites"
M.L. Stedman "Light between oceans"
Geraldine Brooks "People of the Book"
Markus Zusak "The Book Thief"

Fiction genre 3 (Comedy/Humour):
Graeme Simsion "The Rosie Project" 

Fiction genre 4 (Drama):
Tim Winton "Dirt Music"

Fiction genre 5 (Science):
Peter Goldsworthy "Wish"

Fiction genre 6 (Fantasy):
Kate Forsythe "Bitter Greens"

Plus some other books by Aussie Authors that I have read this year so far which exceeds the requirements of the Challenge:

Peter Goldsworthy "Everything I knew" (Fiction; Drama)
Sarah Turnbull "All good things" (Non-fiction; memoir/autobiography)

 

"Burial Rites" by Hannah Kent

 

Written by an Australian, the Goodreads website describes this book as "A brilliant literary debut, inspired by a true story: the final days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in 1829". This is the final book that I chose to read as part of the Aussie Author Challenge.

Started reading on my kindle: 3rd November 2013
Finished: 10th November 2013
My score: 8.5/10

This book is bleak in many ways; set in Iceland in the 1800s; dealing with a woman convicted of murdering 2 men; the last woman in Iceland to be executed; and this book is a fictional account (based on a lot of historical knowledge) of this convicted woman's last few months 'imprisoned' on a remote farm. However, I found this to be a great book, almost poetic in some of the descriptions, despite the austere characters and landscape. You end up really feeling for the 'criminal' Agnus, and the book develops into a bit of an inevitable tragedy, reminding me of reading King Lear or Antigone. Very impressive book for such a young and new South Australian author. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

"Tsunami and the single girl" by Krissy Nicholson

I read this book as part of the Aussie Author Challenge. It's basically a memoir written by an Australian woman in her 30s about her life as an international aid worker for Oxfam combined with her search for "Mr. Right". In many ways I found it to be a book of contrasts, which is probably reflective of the authors life, one minute dealing with humanitarian emergency situations and the next some fairly shallow relationship or party situation. While at times the search for romance and social distractions were a bit annoying and seemed to be at odds with the more serious topics covered in the book, other times it did provide comic relief. It also perhaps makes this book appeal to a wider audience who might not otherwise choose to read a book about humanitarian disasters in Africa or Asia, and gives an insight into the cultures, differences, challenges of these different countries and communities and what is actually involved in aid work in these emergency situations. I had mixed opinions about this book, some aspects I really enjoyed and as I didnt really know much about how all these sorts of aid programs are run and what it must be like to be an aid worker I found this really interesting. However some of the more shallow, immature, selfish side stories often jarred with the professional, hard-working, aid worker stories. While in some ways this made the book more honest and 'real' it also detracted a bit from the overall enjoyment of the book for me personally. I score this book 6/10. That said, the book still inspired me to want to do more, especially for women, who don't have all the wonderful opportunities that we take for granted living in Australian cities, so if this book has a similar effect on other readers then that is a great achievement by the author.

Started reading on my kindle: 26th October 2013
Finished: 3rd November 2013
My score: 6/10