Aussie Readers discussion

For September we will have a Spell-It-Out with a difference! Choose your favourite genre and pick your books (of any genre) from each letter. The first letter of the title is to match (excluding "The", "A", "An" if necessary)



For example - CRIME

C - Coffin Road
R - Resurrection Bay
I - Ink and Bone
M - Maggie's Kitchen
E - Exile's Return

Rules:

#1. List (and LINK) all the books you plan to read for the challenge.
#2. Upon completion of a book, rate it and update your progress.
#3. Minimum of 125 pages per book - full guidelines HERE
#4. At least one Australian Author.

SEPTEMBER is the first month of



HAPPY READING!

Participants!

Andrea
Anna
Brenda
Carolyn
Dree
Glenn
Jane
Janine
Jennifer
Karen
Katrina
Kerri
Lucinda
MaryG2E
Michelle
MichelleG
Nicola
Phrynne
Roxanne
Sally906
Sandra
Sharon
Stef
Tien
Vickie
Zara

My favourite genre is HISTORICAL

10/10

H - The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner 4★s
I - In the Quiet by Eliza Henry-Jones 5★s
S - The Scent of Murder by Felicity Young 4.5★s AA
T - Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil by Melina Marchetta 5★s
O - Once Confronted by Lynne Stringer 5★s AA
R - The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong 3.5★s AA
I - Innocence Lost by Patty Jansen 4★s AA
C - Critical Condition by Nicki Edwards 5★s AA
A - The Art of Keeping Secrets by Rachael Johns 5★s AA
L - The Lying Planet by Carol Riggs 5★s

Just a quick question, Brenda. Do the books have to be from that genre as well? Or any genre?

Any genre Andrea :)

I'm doing terribly for August because I'm trying to finish off other quarterly challenges :/ but... of course, I'm in for September ;p

I'm going for FANTASY

COMPLETED

F - First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen by Charlie Lovett -Read 08/09
A - Aunty Lee’s Chilled Revenge (Singaporean Mystery #3) by Ovidia Yu -Read 28/09
N - The Next Always (Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy #1) by Nora Roberts -Read 12/09
T - Trial by Fire (The Worldwalker Trilogy #1) by Josephine Angelini -Read 06/09
A - At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror by H.P. Lovecraft -Read 30/09
S - Sight Unseen (Kendra Michaels #2) by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen -Read 04/09
Y - Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-Ha Kim -Read 30/09

Mine is Fantasy. Odd though that only one on the list is actually fantasy! Guess I really like crime too:)

F Friday on My Mind by Nicci French4 stars

A A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton 4 stars

N Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell3 stars

T Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer4 stars

A Altaica by Tracy M. Joyce AA3stars

S Shatter by Michael Robotham AA 5 stars

Y The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher J. Koch AA4 stars

I'm going to go for my generic favourite and chose Crime.

5/5 books completed - Challenge DONE

C Cold Grave by Kathryn Fox *** Australian Author
R Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic *** Australian Author (updated couldn't get into Rogue Lawyer
I Illegal Action by Stella Rimington
M Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner
E Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave 4.5 stars review to come

I thought about doing "dystopian" or "feminist", but it's highly unlikely that I would be able to read so many books in one month, so I'm settling for the more generic but not inaccurate "scifi", instead. :)

Click star rating to see each review once it is published.

Progress: 5/5

★★★☆☆ S: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (1922)
★★★☆☆ C: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)
★★★☆☆ I: The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter (1972)
★★★★☆ F: The Female Man by Joanna Russ (1975)
★★★☆☆ I: I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (2002) (Aussie author)



★☆ - star symbols for pickup

Michelle wrote: "I'm going to go for my generic favourite and chose Crime.


C Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
R Acts of Love by [author:Talulah Riley|1..."

Michelle, I'm sorry but this one is just titles for the letter, not including authors ...

Oh excluding "the" "A" and "an" I have been playing wrong!

Ok I will have a go...

C Cover Her Face
R Research Methods in Educational Leadership and Management
I I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban or I Can't Think Straight
M Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales
E The Education Of Girls: Policy, Research And The Question Of Gender AA or Eon: Dragoneye Reborn AA or perhaps The Eye of the Sheep AA

Stef, you don't have to exclude those - only if you wish to! For example, if you look at mine (post #3) I have used The once and missed it for the second word in another :)

Stef do you have an Aussie author there? You need minimum of one :)

I'm going for FICTION:

F - The Final Minute by Simon Kernick
I - If I Tell You... I'll Have to Kill You by Michael Robotham *
C - Crimson Shore by Gillian Hamer
T - Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty *
I - In the Dark by Mark Billingham
O - Obsession by Jonathan Kellerman
N - No Second Chance by Harlan Coben



* Aussie autors

I think I have to go with CRIME:

C Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb 5★
R Ruins by Rajith Savanadasa* 4★
I In the Morning I'll be Gone by Adrian McKinty* 5★
M The Master by Claire North 5★
E The Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn*

*Aussie Author

My favourite is CRIME

C - Castle of Dreams by Elise McCune (AA) 4*
R - Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight 3*
I - Ironbark by Johanna Nicholls (AA) 4*
M - Mercy Street by Tess Evans (AA) 3*
E - Emma's Secret by Steena Holmes 2*

I've spent all afternoon trying to decide between TRAVEL and MEMOIR. I've decided to go with TRAVEL because I really want to read the Anne Tyler book.

T - The White Tiger 3★
R - River of Ink
A - A Field Guide to Happiness: What I Learned in Bhutan about Living, Loving, and Waking Up 4★
V - Vinegar Girl 3★
E - Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River 3.5★
L - Lost & Found 3★

Brenda wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I'm going to go for my generic favourite and chose Crime.
."

Sorry about that, I have fixed it up now

Michelle wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I'm going to go for my generic favourite and chose Crime.
."

Sorry about that, I have fixed it up now"

No worries :) Thanks Michelle!

Not sure I have an outright favourite so I'm going for Contemporary, 12 books. I think I'll be looking for lots of audios, but I'm on a mission to reduce my TBR shelf as much as I can.
12/12

C Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
O The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
N No One Knows by J.T. Ellison
T Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
E Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
M The Making of Us by Lisa Jewell
P Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult
O Outside the Lines by Amy Hatvany
R Redeployment by Phil Klay
A After Anna by Alex Lake
R Runaway by Peter May
Y You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

I'm curious - how do you all go about choosing the books?

Anna wrote: "I'm curious - how do you all go about choosing the books?"

Mine are all from my TBR shelf which I sort alphabetically by title for spell it out challenges. Then it's whatever sounds interesting at the time.

Ah... so it's a case of making use of the TBR. Thank you.

Kerri wrote: "Not sure I have an outright favourite so I'm going for Contemporary, 12 books. I think I'll be looking for lots of audios, but I'm on a mission to reduce my TBR shelf as much as I can.
0/12

C[book..."

Fantastic list Kerri!

Anna wrote: "Ah... so it's a case of making use of the TBR. Thank you."

I do the same thing Anna :)

Thanks Brenda, hope I can get through them all.

Kerri wrote: "Thanks Brenda, hope I can get through them all."

Just do your best - and enjoy!

Hi everyone,

This might be a case of biting off way more than I can chew, but I'm going to go for it anyway.

Favourite Genre Spell-It-Out Challenge: Magical Realism - Completed: 0 / 12

M - The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
A - Avery by Charlotte McConaghy (AA)
G - Good News, Bad News by Maggie Groff (AA)
I - The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
C - Clariel by Garth Nix (AA)
A - The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher
L - The Last Star by Rick Yancey

R - Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes
E - Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman (AA)
A - After You by Jojo Moyes
L - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
I - The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
S - Spectyr by Philippa Ballantine (AA)
M - Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop

Anna wrote: "I'm curious - how do you all go about choosing the books?"

Hi Anna, I go through my to be read list on goodreads. You can sort it every which way which makes it very handy when choosing books for challenges... I do try and pick books I already have, but that isn't always the deciding factor

Wow! Good for you Michelle :)

Thanks Brenda... It'll be an interesting month lol :/

Such good books too Michelle!!!

Thanks Phrynne, I've been wanting to read a few of these for a while now.

But there are always too many good books and not enough time :)

MichelleG wrote: "Thanks Phrynne, I've been wanting to read a few of these for a while now.

But there are always too many good books and not enough time :)"

LOL! Haven't we heard that before ;)

I've always wondered why people have more than a thousand books on their tbr, now I can see why! Thank you.

Mind you, I'm still agog at the 9,000+ I once saw.

Really pleased that this challenge helps me to reduce my stack of owned TBRs, sitting on the bookshelves looking at me accusatorially!

My favourite genre is CRIME, so my selections are:

C: Certain Admissions: A Beach, a Body and a Lifetime of Secrets by Gideon Haigh (AA)
R: The Raw Scent of Vanilla : A Memoir by Emilia Bresciani (AA)
I: Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell
M: The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer (AA)
E: Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Brenda wrote: "Stef do you have an Aussie author there? You need minimum of one :)"

ok I will look into it (sleep first) and change one

My favourite genre at the moment is HUMOUR

I need to find two books beginning with 'U'.

H Heaven 2.0
U Us
M
O Once Were Warriors
U The Unknown Terrorist
R

Zara wrote: "My favourite genre at the moment is HUMOUR
I need to find two books beginning with 'U'...."

Here are a few ideas Zara:

Unforgivable, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Unpolished Gem, Upside Down, Inside Out, Useful and my favourite Us

Andrea wrote: "Zara wrote: "My favourite genre at the moment is HUMOUR
I need to find two books beginning with 'U'...."

Here are a few ideas Zara:

Unforgivable, [book:The Unlikely Pilgrimage of..."

Thanks Andrea for these suggestions. I've added a couple to my tbr list and one is a good contender for being included in this spell out.

Good books Dree but is there an Aussie author there? You need to have at least one.

S - Silicon Man by William Massa
C - Contact Us by Al Macy
I - Inception by Andrew Beery
F - The Future Chronicles - Special Edition by Samuel Peralta
I - The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton *aussie

Zara wrote: "My favourite genre at the moment is HUMOUR

I need to find two books beginning with 'U'.

H Handle with Care 4*
U
M I, Mona Lisa (is this acceptable Brenda)
O [book..."

Zara, September hasn't started yet..you can't read your books until Sept 1st. So you'll need to replace the one you've read already :)

Zara wrote: "My favourite genre at the moment is HUMOUR

I need to find two books beginning with 'U'.

H Handle with Care 4*
U
M I, Mona Lisa (is this acceptable Brenda)
O [book..."

And no, sorry..."I" is the first letter not "M" :) Sorry

I'm in

C - Central Park Rendezvous by Ronie Kendig et al
O - Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman
S - Starstruck in Seattle by Juliet Madison (Aussie Author)
Y - The Young Country Doctor Book 1: Bilbury Chronicles by Vernon Coleman

Phrynne wrote: "Good books Dree but is there an Aussie author there? You need to have at least one."

Oh thanks Phrynne, for some reason I thought Mark Haddon was Aussie - don't know where I got that idea from! Will amend - watch this space!

Take two

C -Cold Comfort Farm
R - The Remains of the Day
I - I, Robot 3.5★
M - Mister Monday (AA)
E - The Executioner's Song 3.5★

AR September 2016 Challenge
Books subject to change

0/10 Completed

P The Purrfect Picture by Angela Castle (AA)
A The Accidental Human by Dakota Cassidy
R Raphael by D.B. Reynolds
A Accidental Abduction by Eve Langlais
N Numbers by Laurann Dohner
O Obsessions by Bryce Evans
R Real Vamps Don't Drink O-Neg by Tawny Taylor
M Marauder Cygnus by Aya Morningstar
A Abducted by Evangeline Anderson
L Logan & Jenna by R.E. Butler

Brenda wrote: "Zara wrote: "My favourite genre at the moment is HUMOUR

I need to find two books beginning with 'U'.

H Handle with Care 4*
U
M I, Mona Lisa (is this acceptable Bre..."

Good point Brenda. Sorry. The months are going so fast, and there has been so much illness here at home (flu etc.) time gets distorted. I'll fix that one straight away.

Brenda wrote: "Zara wrote: "My favourite genre at the moment is HUMOUR

I need to find two books beginning with 'U'.

H Handle with Care 4*
U
M I, Mona Lisa (is this acceptable Bre..."

Thanks again Brenda. I wasn't sure. I'll change it.