2011 Aussie Author Challenge – my own sign-up post!
Well, it’s New Year’s Eve so I thought it high time I write my own sign-up post for my 2011 Aussie Author Challenge!
So, of course I am doing the TRUE BLUE level.
TRUE BLUE – Read and review 12 books by Australian authors (at least 9 different authors)
Here’s what I plan on reading (lots are already on my TBR pile!):
UPDATED with review links
- Oscar and Lucinda
by Peter Carey : This one comes highly recommended to me by Nancy @ The Year In Books and will be my first outing with Carey in years.
- Avenue of Eternal Peace
by Nicholas Jose : Having travelled in China in the 90s , this pre-Tiananmen Square subject matter struck a chord with me.
- Three Dollars
by Elliot Perlman : I read his novel Seven Types of Ambiguity
years ago and found myself thoroughly engrossed and have always wanted to read more from this author.
- Dreams of Speaking by Gail Jones : This will be my first from Gail Jones, who has been short and long listed for many literary awards, including the Miles Franklin Award and the Orange Prize.
- After the Fire, A Still Small Voice by Evie Wyld : Quite a few people wrote favourable reviews for this one in last year’s Aussie Author Challenge, and with this quote from The Age, ‘The best Australian literary novel I’ve read this year’, I thought I must be missing out on something.
- The Big Ask
by Shane Maloney : I thoroughly enjoyed The Brush Off
, the second book in this Murray Whelan series (comic thrillers starring a political adviser based in Melbourne). This is the fourth title in the series so I’ll have missed #3 but at least I will be reading in the right order!
- The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak : This is one of those must-reads that I still have not got around to reading – I will in 2011!
- The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly : This novel is the third installment in the Jack West Jnr. Series and given the previous title The Six Sacred Stones finished with a cliff hanger, I am looking forward to seeing what happens to the much loved characters.
- Queen of the Flowers
by Kerry Greenwood : I’ve always been intrigued by this Phryne Fisher character being discussed on book blogs and on TV book review programs – she sounds like so much fun, can’t wait to make her acquaintance!
- Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood (audio) : Thought this mystery series might be fun to try in audio too.
- The Broken Shore by Peter Temple (audio) : I have read so many good things about Peter Temple’s novel, Truth (Miles Franklin Award 2010), and wanting to read that, felt that I should probably start with this one, to which Truth is the sequel.
- The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (audio) : This one was recommended to me by Booksploring and will be another from an Aussie Author that’s new to me.
Oops, I’m up to 12 already!
Other Aussie authors currently on my radar (i.e. Audible and Book Depository wishlists) are Craig Silvey, Shirley Hazzard, Tim Winton and something more from David Malouf. And when Tara Moss releases her next Makedde Vanderwall novel I will just have to read that too!
I also want to explore the Aussie Crime Writing scene in 2011 – other than Peter Temple, which titles/authors would you recommend most highly?
