Australian Women Writers Challenge discussion

Using that linky tool is challenging for me and my tech gremlin, but I think I managed it. Thought I'd pop over here and share the review link.

First review for 2012 is Tahlia Newland's short story A Hole in the Pavement. Loved it.

http://authorjennyschwartz.com/2012/0...

Second review...still learning the ropes...Kay Saunders' Notorious Australian Women

http://authorjennyschwartz.com/2012/0...

interesting thoughts on bio vs autobio Jenny - I am the opposite of you in preference but agree with you on the differences

Shelleyrae said the same as you ... now I'm feeling an odd duck :) Still think I'll stick with autobiographies though ... hmm may add one to my AWW12 challenge!

it's horses for courses Jenny - the world would be boring if we all liked the same things

Absolutely. I'm all for diversity of taste -- except for candied lemon peel in fruit cake ... no one could like that, surely?

I take it so far as to not like fruit cake at all :)

LOL

Jenny wrote: "Absolutely. I'm all for diversity of taste -- except for candied lemon peel in fruit cake ... no one could like that, surely?"


OOOOHHH YUM - love that candied lemon peel - I do a cake which just has that in it :)

Aaarrgh! I mean, that sounds *cough* delicious ...

I don't know that I've ever read a Western distopian fantasy before ... though some steampunk maybe blurs into it?

Anyways, I loved Shona Husk's Dark Vow. My review is on my blog or on Goodreads.

[I'm really curious to see if my html code for links worked...tech doofus here!]

It worked!

Happy Australia Day! I'm writing this from Perth, been up since 5.30am. Even with air conditioning, hot days are ... well ... hot *wry grin* They're different anyway. Do we get to make a wish on Australia Day? If so, I wish this heatwave would break early, say midday today, rather than 6, 7 who knows how many days down the track!

I don't envy you your heat at the moment Jenny. It was hot enough when I was over there last week! My son is still there but luckily where he is staying they have a pool etc so I think he is still having a fabulous time!

A pool sounds lovely :) although I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly. Being flooded out would be infinitely worse. Poor east coasters going through that, you have my sympathy.

I'm with you about the heat, Jenny. It's awful, isn't it? I'm 100km inland, so it's even hotter here. But I still wouldn't swap it for flooding. Let's hope it doesn't get as bad as last year.

Oh help! 100km in ... I hope there's no fires near you ... and I really hope we never get flooding anywhere in Oz as bad as last year. Poor souls.

A short review this week, but only because the book's so good I want you to stop reading everything else and read Me, Antman & Fleabag. I truly loved this collection of short stories by Gayle Kennedy. I laughed, cried and most of all, the stories stayed with me -- a sign of a great storyteller. What a gift!

Jenny wrote: "A short review this week, but only because the book's so good I want you to stop reading everything else and read Me, Antman & Fleabag. I truly loved this collection of short storie..."

Jenny,

Mini reviews are great - we can't do substantial reviews for every book and it's great to give others a taste. I think I'll follow your lead! (And maybe at a later date I can write them up in full.)

The National Year of Reading theme for February is "Laugh" and I know a lot of librarians will be following the #nyr12 hashtag on Twitter looking for recommendations (ditto for their websites). It would be great for AWW books that fit that subject, like this collection from Gayle Kennedy, get some promotion.

Jenny wrote: "A pool sounds lovely :) although I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly. Being flooded out would be infinitely worse. Poor east coasters going through that, you have my sympathy."

This has been the most amazing non-summer in Katoomba. Last September we had a heatwave and fires - our street was evacuated - and I feared a long summer of smelling the air, watching for smoke and listening for sirens and helicopters. We had one more day like that in October when several more homes were threatened, then... Rain, rain, rain. There are slugs everywhere when I get up in the morning, but I won't complain!

Hope the heat has subsided for you.

Ugh, slugs :(

I can spare some sympathy for you, Elizabeth, because ... last night was actually cool! My pity party has ended! Well, until next time. Summer seems an eternity some years. I wish some of your rain would make it west. Haven't the clouds heard the old advice, "Go West!"? ;)

Thx so much for the hashtag. I've scribbled a note to be sure to join in the conversation to recommend Gayle Kennedy's writing. Me, Antman and Fleabag was wonderful.

Conclusion after finishing Savage or Civilised?: Manners in Colonial Australia by Penny Russell? I don't read enough Australian social history. This was good. You can find my review here on Goodreads or at my website.

Last week I got a little off track on my blog with my reviewing, but this week I'm baa-aack! :) I was sidetracked from AWW12 by The Griffith Review - great issue on theme of surviving.

So for this week, I read Tara Moss's The Blood Countess. It was a light, fun paranormal romance. Here's hoping my review is equally snappy! It's on my blog or here on Goodreads

Hi Jenny, It's interesting to see Tara tackling a different genre. I wonder if she'll still be writing crime?

I've yet to read one of Tara's crime books (I know, slack!) but her voice seems a natural fit for paranormal rom. A joy to read

Jenny wrote: "I've yet to read one of Tara's crime books (I know, slack!) but her voice seems a natural fit for paranormal rom. A joy to read"

Her crime books are great!!

Thanks, Brenda - it's lovely to have a new (to me) author to add to my Read list :)

Jenny wrote: "Thanks, Brenda - it's lovely to have a new (to me) author to add to my Read list :)"

It sure is...GR has given me the opportunity to explore lots more authors, including a lot more Aussie authors!!

I reviewed three romance ebooks set in Australia this week. All three are by Romance Writers of Australia members and I'm a member of the group, too, so I thought I ought to disclose that -- and like, Rach and Coleen, I'm published with Carina Press. All of that said, I just plain love romance stories and these were powerful -- and yes, I know #AWW12 is about reading outside your familiar genres...I'm a rebel :)

The three-in-one review is at my blog.

I picked up Diary of a Weekend Farmer by Elizabeth Jolley at my local library. It is a collection of short excerpts from her journal from the 1970s when she and her family bought a weekend property in the hills east of Perth. I'm not sure how to review something like this, but I gave it a try at my blog, http://bit.ly/w5DJtB

I enjoyed your review, Jenny. How amazing to read something evocative from your childhood. I remember hearing Elizabeth Jolley talk about her garden and experience of WA landscape (maybe in a documentary?) years ago, and thought she handled the setting in The Well in a fascinating way.

By the way, even though your blog is WordPress it doesn't appear that I can "follow" it. Is that right? It also appears to have attracted a spam comment. I don't know why!

Elizabeth, it was lovely reading about a place I knew -- one of the delights of reading Australian fiction :)

As for spam comments *grrrr* I don't why I'm currently suffering. I delete daily, but will have to look into something more high tech...I hope it wasn't unpleasant spam...I'll go remove it.

I'm not (as you've probably gathered) very clever on tech stuff. I'm not sure if you can "follow" in the same way Blogger lets you (or did let you, blast Google), but I do have an RSS feed button in the top right of my homepage ... and I think that if I copy the web addy into Google Reader (which is how I try to keep up with blogs) it should grab the feed.

I had to have a giggle. I went to delete the spam from my blog ... and found Justin Bieber. That boy's everywhere! :)

Thanks, Jenny. My Wordpress site allows followers, so I wonder why yours doesn't? I don't seem to keep up with RSS feeds. I seem to respond better to things via email. Maybe if I start spending more time on Google Reader I'll get the hange of it.

Hmm, followers in WP. Well, if it's possible, I'd better sort it out :) Thanks, Elizabeth!

I reviewed Kylie Griffin's Vengeance Born this week. I enjoy a romantic fantasy quest and Vengeance Born didn't disappoint. But next week I think I'll have to venture a bit out of my happy reading zone (love its snuggly comfort). Still, there was no way I was going to miss reading Kylie's debut book :) You can read my review here on Goodreads or at my blog.

Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine is a fantastic book. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that popular science is riddled with error, but the impact of people believing the biological determinism of gender difference is a bit scary as Cordelia lays out the history and current practice.

The review is here on Goodreads or on my blog.

The Fine Colour of Rust by Paddy O'Reilly was a fabulous read, transporting me to the country with effortless ease. Another gift from #AWW12.

The review is here on Goodreads or on my blog.

Thanks, Jenny. This is on my e-reader. Great to see it being so well received.

and the lovely part is being able to chat about a loved-it-to-bits book with other people -- thanks for organising AWW12, Elizabeth :)

A few weeks back, I wandered into a local bookstore and asked for a book by an Australian woman theologian. I walked out with Stepping Out with the Sacred: Human Attempts to Engage the Divine by Val Webb. It talks about a lot of different religions and that was interesting. It was a challenge to review without a background in theology.

My review is here on Goodreads or at my blog.

I also enjoyed a fun steampunk novella by Annie Seaton, Winter of the Passion Flower. What an exuberant imagination! My review is here.

A short review this week, but an enjoyable read -- the book, not my review!

The Girl in Steel Capped Boots by Loretta Hill reviewed on my blog or here on Goodreads.

Dystopian YA was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone, but Black Glass by Meg Mundell was intriguing.

Review here on Goodreads or at my blog.

Have finally got around to posting a few of my Australian Women Writers reviews on Goodreads. Fall GirlA Most Immoral WomanThe Freudian SlipWill post more soon!

Fabulous! Off to check them out :)

I think I'm a bit of a gumby with this goodreads discussion thing... Not sure what I'm doing really, but what the hell!

Lisa -- aren't we all? :)

This week I reviewed a collection of short stories. A Taste of Life and Love in Australia by Margaret Lynette Sharp was like sitting down to a quiet cuppa with friends: warm, funny and wise.

You can read my review here on Goodreads or on my blog.

Thanks Jenny, will do! Sounds nice.

There are so many great books out there that I wouldn't have found without #AWW2012.

Although...I should have made it clearer ... I combined two posts in one just above ... I wasn't shouting "Lisa, read this book!" (How rude would that be?) Saying hi to you was separate to reporting in my review for the week.

So, to get it right this time ... Hi, Lisa :)

Jenny wrote: "This week I reviewed a collection of short stories. A Taste of Life and Love in Australia by Margaret Lynette Sharp was like sitting down to a quiet cuppa with friends: w..."

Thanks for your great review Jenny, I've added it to my TBR list, I think I might do that with all of hers:)