Lynne’s Comments (group member since Oct 16, 2014)

Lynne’s comments from the Aussie Readers group.

My review of Betwixt by Kimberly Dunham, a YA fantasy/paranormal.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I am currently reading Betwixt by Kimberly Dunham. We'll see how it goes.

The Count of Monte Cristo miniseries starring Sam Claflin was fabulous and got me to read a book I'd been avoiding for years. I enjoyed the book too!

Here's my review for The Count of Monte Cristo, which I enjoyed. It was a lot funnier than I was expecting.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Yes, that's what made me read it. I read The Three Musketeers many years ago and it wasn't quite my vibe so I was a bit trepidatious about reading the book after loving that series with Sam Claflin. It is a little bit indulgent (not unusual for a book that was originally serialised) but it's been quite entertaining. I'm nearly done.

Heard a kookaburra laughing -yes. Heck, I saw about seven of them together on a TV aerial the other day.
Slept under the stars in a swag - no. Only in a tent.
Seen a koala in the wild - yes
Had a barbeque in the backyard - yes
Watched a summer thunderstorm - yes
Worn a pair of thongs (flip flops) - yes
Visited Cape York - no
Held a snake - yes
Sang along with Khe Sanh - no
Drank XXXX beer - no
Have seen a shark (not in captivity) - no
Have used Aussie slang naturally in a conversation - yes
Eaten hot chips from a paper bag at the beach - yes
Walked/climbed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge - yes
Used an outside dunny, and checked under the seat before sitting down - yes
Rode camels on a beach/across sand dunes - in a pen at a festival. Will that do?
Slept on an overnight train or bus. - no
Been to Sydney’s Mardi Gras. - no
Have gone bush-bashing/4WD off-road - no
Taken a sickie - no
Been to see a game of Aussie Rules football - no
Ridden in a tram in Melbourne - yes
Been at an ANZAC day Dawn Service - yes
Watched a sunrise or sunset - yes
Held a wombat. No. Are you allowed to?
Been on a roadtrip of 800km or more - no
Seen the Great Australian Bight in person - no
Had a really bad sunburn - yes, unfortunately
Visited an Aboriginal community - no
Seen a redback spider - yes
Visited the Sydney Opera House - yes
Eaten Vegemite - yes
Thrown a boomerang - yes
Seen the Kimberleys - no
Have seen wild camels - no
Been to Perth - no
Drank and enjoyed a Lemon, Lime and Bitters - yes
Tried playing a didgeridoo - yes
Seen dinosaur footprints (huge tourism destination in Winton QLD to see the dinosaur prints - as well as Broome, WA) - no
Eaten Tim Tams - YES!!!!!!
Been to Darwin - no
Touched a kangaroo - yes
Visited the Great Barrier Reef - yes
Sung the Australian national anthem - yes
Killed a Cane Toad - yes
Gone to a drive-in theatre - yes
Have read and own books by Australian authors - yes
Visited Adelaide - no
Been camping - yes
Visited Brisbane - yes
Been in an outback pub - no
Gone whale watching - yes
Listened to Slim Dusty - yes
Sang along to Down Under by Men at Work. - yes
Have stopped specifically to look at an historic marker by the side of the road - no
Eaten a 4′n’20 pie - yes
Surfed at Bondi - no
Watched the cricket on Boxing Day - yes, but only under duress.
Watched the start of the Sydney to Hobart on Boxing Day - yes, see above.
Watched the Bathurst 1000 - yes, see above.
Visited Hobart - no
Eaten kangaroo - yes
Seen a quokka - probably.
Visited Canberra - yes, briefly. I am going in June as well.
Visited the rainforests - yes
Used a Victa lawnmower - yes
Travelled on a tram in Adelaide - no
Used a Hills hoist - yes
Visited Uluru - no
Used native Australian plants in cooking - yes
Visited the snow - not in Australia
Been to a 'Big Day Out' concert in summer - yes
Chosen a side in Holden VS Ford - yes
Been water skiing - yes. Not very successfully.
Visited Parliament House. (Old or New) - no, but I will in a few months.
Gone spotlighting or pig-shooting - no
Crossed the Nullarbor (Flying over it in a plane doesn’t count) - no
Avoided swimming in areas because of crocodiles - no
Listened to AC/DC - yes
Called someone a dag - yes
Voted in a Federal Election - yes
Have been swimming and stayed between the flags - yes
Recited the first verse of 'The Man From Snowy River' in public - yes
Had a possum in your roof - yes
Visited the outback - no
Travelled over corrugated roads - yes
Hit a kangaroo while driving - I wasn't driving, but I was in the car when we hit one.
Been well outside any mobile phone coverage - yes
Seen an emu - yes
Have woken to the smell of bushfires - yes
Patted a pure-bred dingo - no
Seen the Midnight Oil live - no
Talked about the weather for more than 15 minutes straight and been really interested in the conversation - yes
Ever seen a Queensland cane fire - no
Driven through a flock of wild birds at dusk - yes
Discovered convicts in your family tree - no
Been to a bush wedding - no
Owned a HR Holden - no
Cooked damper on a camp fire - yes
Ever seen the Dog on the Tucker-box at Gundagai - no
Ever seen/been in a cyclone - yes
Watched the movie Red Dog - yes
Watched Crocodile Dundee at least once - yes
Seen more than one "BIG" item - Big Banana, Big Pineapple, Big Salmon - yes. It's hard not to in Queensland.
Eaten a Wendy's ice cream - yes
Met at least one Australian author -yes
Stopped at a roadhouse - no
Watched a Hugh Jackman film - yes

Count of Monte Cristo.

I am reading Count of Monte Cristo at the moment and it's taking a little while. I have another book after that. Mostly YA sci-fi, fantasy, historical, romance, etc.

It's been a while since I've been here. I'm trying to get back into both reading and reviewing. Life gets so busy sometimes.

I tried it but gave up. I thought it was a bit slow.

Merry Christmas!

Hi, I'm Lynne Stringer and I write YA science fiction.

My latest book, Keeper of the Archives, is out now! It’s the story of 17-year-old Eden Fittell, who lives in Sendirian City, which was rebuilt after a climate catastrophe. She struggles to help her family survive and keep her alcoholic father away.

When she gets a job in the government’s Archives, she thinks it will be the answer to everything, but it could put her in even more danger because the city is being targeted by crime boss Kore Luddan, who uses a freak called Izrod to kidnap locals so that Kore can experiment on them. Sometimes they turn up later in a frenzy, crazed and uncontrollable. They usually die not long after. And Kore has a preference for targeting government employees.

Is Eden safe? What is Kore planning. Will it be the end of Sendirian City?

Click here to buy on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Keeper-Archive...

Adele Jones released this book this year, and although I always love her books, I loved the cover from the moment I saw it:

Merry Christmas everyone, and all the best for a brilliant 2024!

Cool. We have get togethers every so often in the city. We post about them here. We'll probably organise another one fairly soon, so watch out for details. :-)

There are a number of us here who are from Queensland. Are you in Brisbane or further afield?

I have just finished The Real James Herriot

and I am now reading The Princess and the Scoundrel.

Merry Christmas everyone. :-)

Yes, it was, but we had a nice chat. :-)

I'm happy to do that. :-)