"After Darkness" by Christine Piper

This is the first book I have read as part of the Aussie Author Challenge 2016. I chose to read it as it was given a 5 star recommendation on the Book Lover Book Reviews blog: http://bookloverbookreviews.com/2014/06/book-review-after-darkness-christine-piper.html

This book reminds me in style, quality and similar subject matter/themes to some of Bryce Courtenay's work (but a much shorter book than most of Courtenay's massive novels). I felt a real disappointment and loss when Bryce Courtenay died as the realisation that he wouldn't be writing any more awesome stories for me to read sunk in as I have thoroughly enjoyed and been caught up in many of his books. I'm feeling very impressed and feel a new hope after reading this book that this new Aussie author could potentially take over where Bryce Courtenay left off. I hope Christine Piper becomes as prolific and consistently awesome an author as Courtenay in the years ahead.

This book "After darkness" alternates between 3 locations and times: Early 1930s in Japan, late 1930s in Broome, Western Australia, and during the Second World War in the Loveday internment camp in South Australia. The main character Dr Ibaraki is a reserved, discreet Japanese medical doctor with a background in medical research. He moves to Broome to become head of a small hospital in the Pearl diving community in order to escape some events in his past which are slowly revealed as the novel progresses. He's then arrested and put in a prison camp in Australia during WW2 due to his Japanese background. I didn't know a lot about the prison camps in Australia during the Second World War, so it was a bit of an eye-opener for me to read a novel based on a bit of our history that isn't widely spoken about now. It also highlights the unfortunate timelessness of many of the issues of racial discrimination, conflict of ethics, and loyalty that are faced by many, even if the focus or details change with the decades.

Started reading: 6th February 2016.
Finished reading: 8th February 2016.
My score: 8/10
Aussie Author Challenge Stats: Female Author, New to me, WW2/historical fiction genre.

"The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver

This is the 3rd book by Barbara Kingsolver that I have read, and I have enjoyed them all. This one is a lot shorter than the others I have read so far. I really enjoyed the writing style, I felt I was there observing everything and hearing the characters voices and accents rather than just reading about them. The story follows Missy who buys a dodgy old car and sets out to drive until it breaks down then start a new life there, where ever that might be. It's like escaping from this small town in Kentucky is the only way to prevent becoming just another pregnant teenager with nothing much exciting to look forward to. She changes her name and becomes Taylor, and almost ironically given she's running away from the idea of becoming pregnant, she is given an Indian child at a roadhouse along the way. It seems a bit far fetched at this point but later it becomes apparent she is helping to rescue the child from an abusive environment. Her car ends up needing new tyres in Arizona which she can't afford, and while stopping to earn enough money to replace them she ends up starting a new life, with new friends and 'Turtle' her little Indian child. The second half of the book focuses on the relationships she forms with her new friends and neighbours, issues with bringing up Turtle without being her legal parent or guardian, and touches on illegal immigration issues, with one of her new friends sheltering a Mexican couple. While the writing is great and I kept turning the pages, things seemed a bit more superficial/cliched and predicable for the last part of the book. I read somewhere that the author also grew up in Kentucky and moved to Arizona, and the way she describes the country and the people probably draws on her own experiences as they are so realistic (particularly in the first half of the book I thought).

Started reading: 29th January 2016
 Finished: 4th February 2016
My score: 7.5/10

Aussie Author Challenge 2016 - Accepted :-)

2016 will be the 4th year I have taken part in the Aussie Author Challenge hosted by Jo from the Book Lovers Book Review blog. I really recommend it, as it exposes you to a lot of new Australian authors and books that you might not otherwise think to read, and often they are very well written, on diverse topics and thoroughly enjoyable. I have a lot planned for 2016, so at this stage I am going for the Wallaroo level of the challenge (Read and review 6 books by Aussie authors, at least 2 by male authors and 2 by female authors and from at least 2 different genres). Depending how the year pans out I may upgrade to the Kangaroo level (12 books, and more categories).

For more info and to join up too, see the Challenge info on Jo's Book Lovers Book Review blog.

"Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall

I found "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall to be a really interesting book. Mid/late last year I started to get into running. By 'get into' I mean go from not being able to run 500m without stopping and wondering why I was torturing myself, to happily running 10-12km at a time without stopping a few months later. I quickly became addicted to running, something I never thought would happen, even getting up early in winter to go for jogs before work. Then October to December I had to stop running due to an injury and I was surprised how much this really upset me. I'm only just getting back into jogging short distances again now, but hoping I'll be able to complete my first half marathon this year. 
Anyway, I digress. I found "Born to Run" to be quite fascinating since I am a newly addicted jogger. It might not have quite the same appeal for people who hate the idea of running. Christopher McDougall is a journalist, and his style is often a bit too hyped up in some places and  a bit matey-matey in other places like he's telling you his life story and the history of ultra marathons over a beer or 10, but despite this it was an easy, interesting and compelling book. While the main focus of the book is the isolated Tarahumara tribesmen of Mexico who are famously amazing ultra marathon runners, there are lots of side stories going into the history and evolution of running, different running styles, different sports doctors and ultra marathon runners anecdotes and achievements etc. The book really brought to life some places and running events in North and South America, taught me a bit about the Tarahumara tribes, and gave me lots to think about long distance running. It was also quite inspiring and wonderful to read a book written by someone expressing the simple joy that running brings, even to a newbie like me. 

Started reading on my kindle: 6th January 2015
Finished: 17th January 2016.
My score: 7/10

2015 Reading Summary

I really didn't read (and review) as many books in 2015 as I have in previous recent years, and I didn't read as many books that I would describe as outstanding or must-read. I did spend more time listening to many inspiring TED Talks and online audios this year which might have contributed to the decrease in books read this year. I also did read a few other non-fiction books throughout the year but didn't include them in my book review blog. Hopefully in 2016 I will fit in more time for reading and beat 2015's effort of 19 books read and reviewed.

For the 3rd year in a row I took part in the Aussie Author Challenge hosted by Jo from the Booklover Book Reviews blog. This year I completed the "Wallaroo" level (read and review 6 books by Aussie Authors) whereas in the previous years I have completed the "Kangaroo" level (read and review 12 books by Aussie authors). It's such a fun challenge, a great way to discover and enjoy new Aussie authors and books that you might not have thought to read otherwise. I definitely recommend taking part, or at least check out some of the reviews posted by other participants if you would like to read a few more Aussie books in 2016. My favourite Aussie book I read as part of the challenge in 2015 was "Past the Shallows" by Favel Parrett.

Books read and reviewed for the Aussie Author Challenge 2015 (Wallaroo level):
"Past the Shallows" by Favel Parrett
"Three Dog Night" by Peter Goldsworthy
"Eucalyptus" by Murray Bail
"The Red Thread" by Nicholas Jose
"The Boat" by Nam Le
"The Lost Dog" by Michelle de Krester
"Mindfulness for life" by Stephen McKenzie & Craig Hassed

Other (non-Australian) books I really enjoyed in 2015 were "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver, "Running Like a Girl" by Alexandra Heminsley and "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery.

Non-Australian books read and reviewed in 2015:
"We are all completely beside ourselves" by Karen Joy Fowler (USA)
"The Twelve Tribes of Hattie" by Ayana Mathis (USA)
"Running Like a Girl" by Alexandra Heminsley (UK)
"The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver (USA)
"The sense of an ending" by Julian Barnes (UK)
"The virgin blue" by Tracy Chevalier (UK/USA)
"The elegance of the hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery (France)
"The second prison" by Ronan Bennett (UK)
"The tiny wife" by Andrew Kaufman (Canada)
"The catcher in the rye" by JD Salinger (USA)
"What I know for sure" by Oprah Winfrey (USA)
"The life-changing magic of tidying" by Marie Kondo (Japan)

Happy New Year everyone and I hope you all have a wonderful 2016 and get time to read lots of awesome, imaginative and exciting books! :-)

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Started reading on my kindle: 13th December 2015.
Finished: 28th January 2016
My score: 6.5/10

I really liked some of the ideas behind this book and thought it was really imaginative, but I also found it quite dark and a bit depressing.

"The catcher in the rye" by J.D. Salinger

I started reading this book on my kindle on a long haul flight from Sydney - Dallas, USA. I chose to read it 1) because it is set in New York and I was going to be lucky enough to spend a few days in New York later that month and wanted to read a novel set in that beautiful city, and 2) because it's a classic. Even though this book is a "classic" and is often studied at school, in my personal opinion it is poorly written and boring. The main character is unlikable, the plot goes nowhere really, the language used is repetitive...when I posted on Facebook that I was reading this book, all the comments my friends made were about how much they had disliked this book too, so I definitely would not recommend anyone waste time reading it.

However, if you are also looking to read a good book set in New York, I did stop off at one of my favourite shops in New York: The Housing Works Bookstore Cafe,  and asked the staff for some recommendations. They were very helpful and friendly as always and suggested the following authors and books:

- O.Henry
- Joseph Mitchell
- Edith Wharton 'New York Stories'
- Colm Toibin "Brooklyn"

I found a copy of Colm Toibin's "Brooklyn" and bought that, but haven't read it yet. The staff told me it was coming out as a film soon too. Does anyone else have any recommendations of good novels set in New York that they would like to share?



"The catcher in the rye" by J.D. Salinger
Started: 3rd December 2015
Finished: 13th December 2015
My score: 1/10