Aussie Readers discussion

Here's my list in no particular order:

1 - Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes - utterly disturbing
2 - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante & book 2
3 - The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane
4 - Carol by Patricia Highsmith & saw the movie which was brilliant
5 - The Engagement by Chloe Hooper

Michael wrote: "Glad to see you liked Into The Darkest Corner as much as you did Mish. I don't think I have read a book apart from You that was as spine-chillingly disturbing."

I agree!! It was the most disturbing book I've ever read since You and I didn't think I would find anyone as twisted and evil like Joe either....but he certainly found his match in Lee.

Mish wrote: "It was the most disturbing book I've ever read since You..."

Definitely adding that one to my TBR, then!

My mid-year top 5 are:
Songs At the River's Edge: Stories From a Bangladeshi Village (not yet reviewed - still enjoying the warm fuzzies)
Nine Days
A Little Life
A Fine Balance
Eleven

Honourable mentions for:
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, Why You Are Australian: A Letter to My Children and A Golden Age

Looking back, I think I am having a much better reading year in 2016.

I unfortunately haven't read that many books so far this year but my top 5 would probably be..

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

I can definitely say for certain that A Court of Mist and Fury will stay number 1 by the end of the year no matter what I read, I guarantee it!

Some popular titles there Lucy - some great ones on everyone's lists!

Lucy wrote: "I unfortunately haven't read that many books so far this year but my top 5 would probably be..

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Red Queen by Victoria Aveya..."

Lucy, I saw one of the mum's from my daughter school reading Sarah J. Maas's 2nd book in the car yesterday. She said she is loving it!

I've added it to my TBR....definitely going to give it a go :)

Andrea wrote: "Mish wrote: "It was the most disturbing book I've ever read since You..."

Definitely adding that one to my TBR, then!

My mid-year top 5 are:"

Good on you Andrea :) If you liked You...Yes I would definitely recommend it.

How in the world did we get to half way through the year already?!?!?!? :)

My Top 5 would be

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
The Sisters by Claire Douglas
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton

special mention for The Outsiders which was a re-read from High School that I loved again & also for The Sunne in Splendour which I am currently reading and at this stage think it will definitely make the list but not sure I will finish by the end of June. Its Huuuuge!!!

Have not read many books so far this year but
my top ones so far are...

1. The Martian by Andy Weir
2 The Rosie Project by Don Tillman
3. The Cove by Ron Rash
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

I've only had two 5★ reads this year and two 4.5★ reads, but I've had over twenty 4★ reads, which makes narrowing those 20+ reads down to one very tricky!!

My 5 and 4.5★ reads were:
1. Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (sequel to Code Name Verity)
2. A Dublin Student Doctor by Patrick Taylor (6th in the Irish Country series)
3. The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
4. Dominion by C.J. Sansom

And my 5th spot is a tie between:
The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes,
any of The Yada Yada Prayer Group books, and
Blood Witness by Alex Hammond

Good thread!

Firstly I'd better just add a disclaimer - I'm a very stingy reviewer! A book has to be really special for me to shell out 5 stars. ☺

Having said that, I have read some really good ones this year - here they are in order of most to least favourite.

Crawlspace by Herbert Lieberman 4.5 ★
Clockers by Richard Price 4★
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier 4★
True Grit by Charles Portis 4★
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton 3.5★

I have my top 5 (hopefully none will equal or rise above the standard in a week!) All 5 star reads by me :)

Fear Is the Rider by Kenneth Cook AA
Daughter of Australia by Harmony Verna
VOID by David M. Staniforth
The Fireman by Joe Hill
The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer AA

Honourable mentions go to:

Darkest Place by Jaye Ford AA
Castle of Dreams by Elise McCune AA
The Game You Played by Anni Taylor AA
Out of the Ice by Ann Turner AA
The Wife's Tale by Christine Wells AA

Here are mine.

An easy first place to:
1. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes


2. The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

3. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

4. A Time of Torment by John Connolly

5. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Really good choices there, Brenda! I like that The Fireman is on there. Out of the Ice is another one I'm going to be reading next based on what others have been saying about it.

I'm sure you'll really alike that one Elias :) Thanks!

I've only just seen this thread. Had to think hard about this and in no order my picks would be
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
The Doctor Calling by Meredith Appleyard
Darkest Place by Jaye Ford
Out of the Ice by Ann Turner
The Ties That Bind by Lexi Landsman

My top five:
.

The Butterfly Enigma by Lorraine Campbell AA

Crucifixion Creek by Barry Maitland AA

Winter Journey by Diane Armstrong AA

The Soldier's Curse by Meg Keneally AA

Cambodia Noir by Nicholas Seeley AA

Honorable mentions:

A Time to Run: Constable Sammi Willis #1 by J.M. Peace AA

Tom Houghton by Todd Alexander AA

Jools Barry Maitland is Aussie - he lives less than half an hour from me :)

So congratulations - every one of your top books are by Aussie authors!

Brenda wrote: "Jools Barry Maitland is Aussie - he lives less than half an hour from me :)

So congratulations - every one of your top books are by Aussie authors!"

Oh great! His profile doesn't mention anything about that...oops ah yes it does, right down the bottom! I have amended my post ;)
Thanks Brenda, I'd better head over and check if I added him to my AA challenges.

Here's the last line of his profile Jools - He now writes fiction full time, and lives in the Hunter Valley, Australia.


lol!

I didn't realise until I had to look at my books for this thread that I've read quite a few good books this year but here are my top 5:

1. Me Before You

2. The Dry

3. Daughter Of Australia

4. Wonder

And I'm going to cheat a bit here but I just couldn't choose one over the other so had to have an equal fifth.

5. Mr. Mercedes and A Man Called Ove

Some great books there Elaine!

Here are my top 5 for this year so far and in no particular order:

1. The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau
2. When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman
3. The Embroiderer by Kathryn Gauci
4. Ronan's Echo by Joanne van Os
5. All That is Lost Between Us by Sara Foster

Mid way through last year I was scratching for 5★ books to list this year I seem to have heaps to choose from, so here goes:

1. The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer
2. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
3. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
4. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
5. The House of Frozen Dreams by Seré Prince Halverson

Honorable mentions: When the Sky Fell Apart and Out of the Ice

The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian is certainly polling well :)

My 5 would be....
A Savage Hunger
Poppet
Rain Dogs
The Bones Beneath
Darkness on the Edge of Town

I love that The Midnight Watch is so highly recommended, I have it here to read too.

I loved it Melanie! Lots of us have...such a great read :)

Ive only read 20 books so far this year but I loved (and would recommend):

1. Yoko's Diary by Paul Ham - I will admit I was a little horrified when my 9 year old daughter bought this home from school, I thought it would be too much for her to handle (and thankfully she said she wasn't ready and wanted to leave it for later.)

It is heartbreaking to read of the bombing and the effects it had on family and friends but it is also a book that needs to be read.

2. The True Story of Ned Kelly's Last Stand by Paul Terry - combining my love for history and archaeology, loved this book and loved that it had a scanner to link to YouTube videos about the archaeological dig.

3. The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery That Will Change History Forever by Simcha Jacobovici- again history and archeology at its best. While it is like a text book read, it contains lots of information on Jewish burial traditions and DNA processing.

4. Katharine, the Virgin Widow by Jean Plaidy - I love reading about the royal families of England however until now I haven't really read much about Katherine of Aragon. That poor woman endured so, so, so much in the royal court.

5. Don't Let Her See Me Cry: a Mother's Story by Helen Barnacle - Ive been wanting to read this book for around 10 years now and recently picked it up from a used book stand. I think what I found interesting was the slow spiral downfall from experimenting with drugs to being a full-blown addict. Such an interesting read and a brave women to tell her story.

I thought about the books I read and what I took away from them when naming my favourites. Some I didn't rate 5 stars but all I felt taught me something.

Its funny that 2 are memoirs, 2 are non-fictions and 1 is a historical fiction.

Great list Melanie! It's good you got so much out of them :)

Hmmmm my top five...Well it's the year for reading women of colour which is lucky for me because three of my top five are books I probably wouldn't have read otherwise (shame on me for that)!

1, The Color Purple by Alice Walker

2. Unna You Fullas by Glenyse Ward

3. My Forbidden Face by Latifa

4. My Own Story: Inspiration for the major motion picture Suffragette by Emmeline Pankhurst

5. Orientalism by Edward W. Said



And then I do have some honorable mentions:

And a whole lot of others that are in the spectrum of really liking to not hating too. Seems like it has been a pretty good year for reading so far for all that there have also been the inevitable awfuls!

My top five not in order
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Salt to the Sea
I Let You Go
I Am Pilgrim

Three of these are from my Aussie Authors' Challenge:

Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
Being Jade by Kate Belle
Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale

Interesting to see Palace of Tears in your top 5 Kim. I haven't read it, but have tossed up whether to or not. It has some varied reviews :) Glad you loved it!

Brenda wrote: "Interesting to see Palace of Tears in your top 5 Kim. I haven't read it, but have tossed up whether to or not. It has some varied reviews :) Glad you loved it!"

Palace of Tears received a four star rating from me (as did four others in my Top 5) so I probably wouldn't say I "loved" it but I couldn't resist the setting for a start.....my own Blue Mountains and the magnificent Hydro Majestic, but it was also some of the historical information regarding the treatment of Australians of German background during war time that had me intrigued. I do think you would find it interesting Brenda :)

Oooh, such fun deciding which titles are my fave five star reads so far this year...:)) I realised as I compiled this short list that they are all Australian authors. While I have not deliberately set out in 2016 to prioritise Aussie authors in my book selections, I have been particularly enjoying our home-grown writers.
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
Nightingale by Fiona McIntosh
Life or Death by Michael Robotham
Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar
March by Geraldine Brooks

Kim Marie wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Interesting to see Palace of Tears in your top 5 Kim. I haven't read it, but have tossed up whether to or not. It has some varied reviews :) Glad you loved it!"

[boo..."

Thanks Kim :) Yes the setting sounds divine and it's always good to be able to "see" it while you're reading :)

MaryG2E wrote: "Oooh, such fun deciding which titles are my fave five star reads so far this year...:)) I realised as I compiled this short list that they are all Australian authors. While I have not deliberately ..."

Some excellent titles there Mary :)

At this stage I've only got three books I've really loved this year:
The Return of the Native
Anna Karenina
Strangers on a Train
Hopefully the second half of the year will improve!

Kim Marie wrote: "Three of these are from my Aussie Authors' Challenge:

Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
book..."

Palace of Tears was my top read last year!

I’ve split my list into top 5 Australian Authors – and top 5 Authors who are not Australia (aka ‘Other’)

Then there are honourable mentions for both as well


Aussie – top 5:
Spirits of the Ghan by Judy Nunn
Sleight Malice by Vicki Tyley
The Beekeeper's Secret by Josephine Moon
Skin by Ilka Tampke
Darkening Skies by Bronwyn Parry

Aussie - Honourable mentions:
Once by Morris Gleitzman
Hold On To Me by Victoria Purman
Dastardly Deeds by Ilsa Evans
Outback Sisters by Rachael Johns

Other - Top 5:
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
A Ghoul's Guide to Love and Murder by Victoria Laurie
Invaded by Melissa Landers
Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs

Other - Honourable mentions:
All my honourable mentions are by Kristen Painter - if you like light fluffy paranormal romances and mysteries then the 'Nocturn Falls' series are for you!
Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case : A Nocturne Falls Mystery
The Gargoyle Gets His Girl
The Professor Woos The Witch
The Shifter Romances The Writer

Sally906 wrote: "Kim Marie wrote: "Three of these are from my Aussie Authors' Challenge:

Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins
Career of Evil by [author:Robert Galbr..."

Sally, it's great to hear that you enjoyed Palace of Tears too and I loved the cover, very pretty.

What a great thread!

Mine are:
1. Daisy in Chains
2. The Wise Man's Fear
3. Dawn of Wonder
4. The First Lie
5. Zero World

I really enjoyed The Tsar of Love and Techno and Water for Elephants and The Persimmon Tree.

More aussie authors to be read in the coming months

I know it's October but finally adding my mid year top 5.

1. The Lake House
2. Hartley's Grange
3. Target Tobruk: Yeoman in the Western Desert
4. The Landing
5. Waterloo, Waterloo