AusReading Month 2020 Bingo

I had planned on squeezing in one more post for AusReading Month, but our Sunday in Sydney was the first super hot summer's day of the season, with temperatures going 40℃ + around NSW. After grabbing a quick early morning walk before the heat ramped up, I stayed inside with the air con, lazing around, reading. 

After lunch I summoned up enough energy to finish my Margaret Atwood post, but that was all the brain power I could manage!

Normally I'm a 1st of December Christmas tree decorator, but we will be out on Tuesday evening. So I decided to go early with the tree. At 5pm I made a Christmastini and tuned up the Christmas playlist on Spotify. I then spent a lovely hour remembering all the wonderful people in my life who have given me decorations over the years, the many holidays shared with Mr Books where we bought more decorations for the tree and the many childhood decorations belonging to the boys at various ages. 

When people ask me what my tree theme is (do people actually have tree themes?) I simply reply, 'love and memories'.

All that is to say, I woke up this morning, grateful for the cool change that blew in last night but regretful that I had no post for the last day of AusReading Month (the official wrap up post is scheduled for tomorrow).

Some of you may be wondering why I had a day left over. And some of you may have noticed that I did not post an Anticipation post. 

Blogger ate it!

The recent batch of Blogger updates has made editing posts on a touch screen laptop trickier. When I think that I am highlighting one word or a phrase to delete/cut, it will delete/cut the entire post! A quick hit of the 'undo' button would normally rectify this, but the new & improved Blogger has a 5 second autosave function (that cannot be turned off or adjusted). Before I had even realised what had happened, it had autosaved the blank page and the chance to 'undo' was gone. Forever!

The same thing happened with my Elizabeth and Her German Garden post. Thankfully I was in preview mode as part of the editing process. Although it was not possible to copy and paste the preview screen, Mr Books was able to save it as a PDF that I could then copy and paste back in. Without Mr Books' tech know-how, I wouldn't have had the heart to start that rather long post all over again. Which is how I felt about the all-but-completed Anticipation post. Gone forever. Leaving me with one empty slot for AusReading Month.

Hence the ramble/rant instead.

I can tell you that I have several Australian books almost finished. However, they will now have to count in next years stats!

• Ceridwen Dovey | Life After Truth 57% completed
• Richard Flanagan | The Living Sea of Waking Dreams 24% completed
• Richard Fidler | The Golden Maze 36% completed
• Ellen van Neerven | Throat 75% completed
• Julia Baird | Phosphoresce 23% completed

My BINGO card ended up being a hodgepodge of squares, with a plus formation through the middle. I guess that is officially two lines, which makes me a GREY NOMAD this year.

• Our Shadows | Gail Jones WA
• Stone Sky Gold Mountain | Mirandi Riwoe QLD
• The Spare Room | Helen Garner VIC
• Only Happiness Here | Gabrielle Carey NSW
• Josephine Rowe on Beverley Farmer TAS
• The Last Migration | Charlotte McConaghy FREE

In honour of AusReading Month I made my latest CC Spin list an all-Australian affair. My winning spin was Ernestine Hill's My Love Must Wait. It's a chunkster at 560 pgs, so I'm glad I have until the end of January 2021 to read it.

Hill also wrote a book called The Territory, about her time in the Northern Territory in the 1940's. Note to self - remember this for my 2021 BINGO card!

Note to self II - create a list of books and authors for Canberra and the ACT.

#AusReadingMonth2020

AusReadingMonth Wrap Up

Another AusReadingMonth has come and gone.

Another month of reading lots of fabulous Australian literature and sharing them all around the world.

Thank you one and all for your participation, for sharing your thoughts and for all your enthusiasm. The main reason I keep coming back to host AusReadingMonth year after year is you.

I love our chats and I love seeing Australian authors being celebrated all around the world.

What was your favourite Aussie read this year?

Did you finish your AusReadingMonth Bingo card?

My favourite Aussie read this year (so far) has been The Yield by Tara June Winch.

My favourite read during AusReadingMonth was Ceridwen Dovey's In the Garden of Fugitives.

I almost completed my Bingo card.
It was only in the dying days of the challenge I realised I had forgotten the ACT. I may still try to squeeze one in over the next few days! The link for reviews will stay open for a few more days to capture any of your late reviews as well.

My Bingo Card looks a little like this:

Caring For Country | Billy Griffiths (NT) (Essay)
The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted | Robert Hillman (VIC) (Novel)
Griffith Review 63: Writing the Country (NSW, QLD, VIC, TAS, WA plus Lord Howe Island, Heron Island & PNG) (Essays, Poems & Short Stories)
In the Garden of Fugitives | Ceridwen Dovey (FREE) (Novel)
Trace Fossils | Alice Gorman (SA) (Essay)
Till Apples Grow on an Orange Tree | Cassandra Pybus (TAS) (Memoir)
The Water of Life | Mary-Rose MacColl (QLD) (Novella)
99 Interpretations of the Drove'rs Wives | Ryan O'Neill (NSW) (Oulipian)
The Wonder Child | Ethel Turner (NSW) (Novel)

Sadly, while we reading all about Australia during November, large areas of the country were ablaze with bushfires. NSW, Queensland, parts of Victoria and South Australia have been covered in smoke haze day and night, preparing for the worst, hoping for the best, as fires rage out of control. And it's not even summer yet!

Six lives, hundreds of thousands of hectares of farm land and forest and dozens of homes have been lost to the fires. But it is the wildlife that have really suffered this time. The koala habitats along the eastern seaboard have been devastated and many are now saying that the koala population of Australia is functionally extinct, which apparently, is not entirely true. The images have been confronting and upsetting, but this National Geographic article gives the less sensational and more accurate lowdown on what is happening to our koalas. Their situation is desperate, but not yet at a point of no return.

In the weeks to come, I will post a list of my (current) Australian reading list to inspire you for next year's AusReadingMonth.

However, November is not the only month of the year that you can get excited about reading Australian authors.

The next Aussie reading event to get excited about is Bill @The Australian Legend's Gen III reading week in the middle of Jan 2020. This is the month to read books written by Eleanor Dark, Christina Stead, Eve Langley, Jessica Anderson, Thea Astley, Elizabeth Harrower, Katharine Susannah Prichard, Dymphna Cusak, Mena Calthorpe, Kylie Tennant, Ruth Park, Nettie Palmer, Joan Lindsay, Ernestine Hill and Charmaine Clift just to name a few. For a full list visit Bill's blog.

In Feb 2020 the Stella Prize longlist will be announced. Many bloggers & tweeters aim to read the entire list before the winner is announced in April.

For an extensive list of Australian women writers and their books reviewed by bloggers, visit the Australian Women Writer's Challenge.

Early in July 2020, also watch out for Lisa @ANZ Lit Lover's Indigenous Literature Reading Week.

I will continue to read and review Australian books throughout the year, but until November 2020, that's all for AusReadingMonth 2019.

Welcome to AusReadingMonth

Given the number of blogging events now in November, you may well ask why is AusReadingMonth in November? 

It's simple really. 

November is the month that Triple J hosts AusMusicMonth. Back in 2013 it seemed like a logical choice to combine these two events. 

Even though I have outgrown Triple J in recent times, it was the radio station that kept me sane and connected during my twenties and thirties whilst living & working in rural NSW. It will always have a special place in my heart.

I love Non-Fiction November (born in the same year as AusReadingMonth) and have usually managed to combine the two quite successfully, if not a little stressfully! But now, I've also discovered German Literature Month (created by Caroline & Lizzy back in 2011)  and Novellas in November.

And just to make life really interesting this year, Naomi & Marcie are hosting Margaret Atwood Reading Month to celebrate Atwood's 80th birthday on the 18th. 

Obviously it's not possible to do all of these at once, so if you have wandered over to join in AusReadingMonth, I congratulate you on your wise choice and welcome you with open arms!

I heartily encourage you to combine, merge or integrate your reading plans anyway you can - Aussie novellas, Aussie non-fiction, perhaps German nationals who have moved to Australia or Aussies with German heritage (Mark Baker, Lily Brett, Raimond Gaita, Eva Hornung, Anna Funder, Mireille Juchau, Rose Zwi, Ramona Koval, Susan Varga, Arnold Zable, Marcus Zusak)?

My plan is keep your blogging commitments to a minimum. 

• One start up post with Q&A 
• Plus a live linky for the entire month where you can return to add any Aussie books read & reviewed during November.
• One final post at the end of the month to wrap things up.

However, if you do feel up for a bigger Aussie reading challenge, then check out my AusReadingMonth Bingo card. You can sign up for a Flyby Night, Backpacker, Grey Nomad or the Whole Hog experience!

You can use the Bingo card to guide your reading choices throughout November, or you can apply the card retrospectively to your year of Australian reading a là Bill @The Australian Legend or Lisa @AnzLit Lovers. Whatever works best for you.

So let's get this show on the road!

At your leisure, please complete the Q&A below and when you have time, visit our other participants to see what they're reading, explode your wish-lists and cheer each other on.

Aussie Q&A

1. Who are you? Where in the world are you? What are your impressions of the reading & writing scene in Australia?

2. Tell us about the Australian books you've read so far this year.
What were your favourites?

3. Have you ever visited Australia? Or thought about it? 

What are the pro's and con's about travelling to/in Australia for you?

Where would/did you visit?
What are/were your impressions? 

4. Do you have a favourite Australian author or book?

Tell us about him/her/it.

5. What are you reading goals for AusReadingMonth 2019?

Bonus Question: Can you name our current Prime Minister (plus four more from memory)? 

No googling allowed!

AusReadingMonth Bingo

It's that time of year again.
Time to start thinking about how many Australian books we can read before the end of November.

Given how many of my favourite reading events now seem to be congregating around this time of year, I will make joining in AusReadingMonth as easy as possible.

So let's pack our bags and travel this big, beautiful land by book.

Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, travel guides, short stories, audio and children's book can transport us to every state, city and major town in Australia.

Our AusReadingMonth BINGO card will help us plan our journey around Australia. You can use the card throughout November or apply it retrospectively to your reading year. Whatever works best for you.

Flyby Night

If time is of the essence, one book from the BINGO card may be the prefect option for you.

A quick getaway is better than none!

Backpacker

With their compact swags, backpackers need to travel light.

If this is you, simply select one line (horizontal, vertical of even diagonal) on the BINGO card and read three books about our country.

Grey Nomad

If you have more time up your sleeve join the grey nomads in their self-contained campervans as you travel around this big, brown land of ours. 

With every crossroad on the map, there's a choice to be made; you cannot do it all, so select two lines on the BINGO card to be eligible for Grey Nomad status.

The Whole Hog

If you're feeling a little touched by the sun, then the Whole Hog may be for you.

Read NINE books this November from all of the 8 states and territories plus one freebie.

The FREEBIE can be any book by an Australian author or a book written by an overseas author but set entirely in Australia.

Uluru, Nov 2010

Time is of the essence for most of us, yet how many times do we find ourselves combining multiple reading events! If this is you, perhaps the following AusReadingMonth reading suggestions will help.

Many of the books below are essay collections or memoirs, perfect for your Non-Fiction November or Novellas in November lists.

Short Story Collections 

• Ellen Van Neerven (Heat and Light) Indigenous author
• Robert Dessaix (Twilight of Love, (and so forth), As I Was Saying) has some fabulous short stories collections featuring fiction, essays and articles. He has also studied and taught Russian Studies throughout his career. Some of his work could help you complete AusReadingMonth, Non Fiction November and Russian Lit Month.
• Helen Garner (Stories: The Collected Short Fiction, Everywhere I Look, True Stories: The Collected Short Non-Fiction)
• Robert Drewe (The Bodysurfers, The Bay of Contented Men, The Rip, The True Colour of the Sea)
• Cate Kennedy (Like A House on Fire)
• Tim Winton (Island Home, The Boy Behind the Curtain)
• Henry Lawson
• Lily Brett
• David Malouf
• Tara June Winch (After the Carnage)
• Bruce Pascoe (Salt: Selected Stories and Essays)
• The Best Australian Science Writing 2019
• Quarterly Essay
• Griffith Review
• Meanjin
• Overland
• The Monthly

Poetry

• Omar Sakr
• Alison Whitaker
• Les Murray
• Judith Wright
• John Kinsella
• Dorothy Porter
• David Malouf
• Oodgeroo Noonuccal (aka as Kath Walker)
• Clive James
• Kate Lilley
• Omar Musa
• Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann & Robert Gray
• Australian Poetry Review
• Australian Poetry Journal

There are OODLES more to chose from, but I've focused on the authors and/or journals I've read, for now. For my fellow Aussie bloggers - can you recommend any other collections of essays, short stories or poets for our overseas friends?

What will you be reading during this year's AusReading Month?

AusReadingMonth is Here!

Welcome one and all to the fifth year of #AusReadingMonth.

Each year I promise to be more organised, but each year November sneaks up on me and I'm suddenly scrambling to get posts written.

One of the changes this year will be a weekly challenge (to be posted every Wednesday).

Week 1 starts with the Q&A below plus some brief getting to know you stuff.
If Q&A's are not your thing, but you'd like to flag your intentions to join in #AusReadingMonth, then please add your URL link below to whatever 'joining in' post you'd prefer to write.

Who are you? And where in the world are you?

My name is Bronwyn and I've been blogging for 8 years.
In 2015 I joined the editorial team at the Australian Women Writers Challenge. My first role was to edit the History, Memoir, Biography page, but I recently became the editor for the General Non-Fiction page.

I live in an inner city suburb of Sydney, but have lived most of life in country NSW.

To keep life even more interesting, I'm also preparing for my very first photographic exhibition this month.
If things suddenly go quiet here in the middle of November, you'll know why!

I love reading books set in my own country & hope to infect the rest of the world with this love.
My blog is full of Australian book suggestions and reviews (as is the AWWC blog linked above) - please feel free to explore both 'til your heart's content.

What are your reading goals for this year's #AusReadingMonth?

I'm starting with The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough.

It will be a reread for me that began when I spotted a readalong with Naomi & Sarah last month for The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery.
I can't read one without the other.
My desire to compare and contrast and ponder the controversy once again was simply too strong.
I declared my intentions and found that a few others were also keen to readalong.

The Ladies of Missalonghi is set in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, thereby ticking off the NSW square on my BINGO card.

My next read will be The Commandant by Jessica Anderson, an historical fiction set in the convict settlement of Moreton Bay, QLD.

After that I will have to search out a book set in the ACT/Canberra area (or written by a Canberra based author - Marion Halligan or Cold Light by Frank Moorhouse perhaps?) to complete my first row on the BINGO card below.

Read one square, one row or two, or go the whole hog and read nine Aussie books this month.
For more details about the BINGO card challenge see my earlier post here.

Aussie Q&A

1. Tell us about the Australian books you've loved and read so far.

2. When you think of Australia, what are the first five things that pop into your mind?

3. Have you ever visited Australia? Or thought about it? 

What are the pro's and con's about travelling to/in Australia for you?

What are/were your impressions? 

4. If you have been or plan to visit, where will you be heading first?

If you already live in this big, beautiful land, tell us a little about where you are, what you love (or not) about it and where you like to holiday (or would like to visit) in Australia.

5. Do you have a favourite Australian author/s or book/s?

Tell us about him/her/it.

6. Which Aussie books are on your TBR pile/wishlist?

7. Which book/s do you hope to read for #AusReadingMonth?

8. It came to my attention recently (when I posted a snake photo on Instagram) that our overseas friends view Australia as a land full of big, bad, deadly animals.

Can you name five of them?

What about five of our cuter more unique creatures?

(For the locals, which five animals from each category have you had an up close and personal with)?

9. Can you name our current Prime Minister (plus four more from memory)? 

No googling allowed!

10. Did you know that Australians have a weird thing for BIG statues of bizarre animals and things?

Can you name five of them?

#AusReadingMonth - Q&A

It's time to let everyone know that #AusReadingMonth is fast approaching.

Many of you may have Aussie authors and Aussie books on your TBR piles, but some of you may need to visit the library, bookshop or plan your Netgalley reading to include a book from Australia in your November reading plans.

To give you plenty of time to get ready (& get excited) I thought it might be fun to have a bit of a question and answer post to find out what your plans are for #AusReadingMonth and what you know about Australia?

If you're thinking of joining in, or even just hoping to join, post your Q&A responses between now and November.
Pop back here to add your post to the linky.
Then spread the Aussie spirit by tweeting, commenting and sharing as much as you can.

1. Tell us about the Australian books you've loved and read so far.

2. When you think of Australia, what are the first five things that pop into your mind?

3. Have you ever visited Australia? Or thought about it? 

What are the pro's and con's about travelling to/in Australia for you?

What are/were your impressions? 

4. If you have been or plan to visit, where will you be heading first?

If you already live in this big, beautiful land, tell us a little about where you are, what you love (or not) about it and where you like to holiday (or would like to visit) in Australia.

5. Do you have a favourite Australian author/s or book/s?

Tell us about him/her/it.

6. Which Aussie books are on your TBR pile/wishlist?

7. Which book/s do you hope to read for #AusReadingMonth?

8. It came to my attention recently (when I posted a snake photo on Instagram) that our overseas friends view Australia as a land full of big, bad, deadly animals.

Can you name five of them?

What about five of our cuter more unique creatures?

(For the locals, which five animals from each category have you had an up close and personal with)?

9. Can you name our current Prime Minister (plus four more from memory)? 

No googling allowed!

10. Did you know that Australians have a weird thing for BIG statues of bizarre animals and things?

Can you name five of them?

Flyby Night

If time is of the essence, one book from the BINGO card may be the prefect option for you.

A quick getaway is better than none!

Backpackers 

With their compact swags, backpackers need to travel light.

If this is you, simply select one line (horizontal, vertical of even diagonal) on the BINGO card and read three books about our country.

Grey Nomads 

If you have more time up your sleeve join the grey nomads in their self-contained campervans as you travel around this big, brown land of ours. 

With every crossroad on the map, there's a choice to be made; you cannot do it all, so select two lines on the BINGO card to be eligible for Grey Nomad status.

The Whole Hog

If you're feeling a little touched by the sun, then the Whole Hog may be for you.

Read NINE books this November from all of the 8 states and territories plus one freebie.

The FREEBIE can be any book by an Australian author or a book written by an overseas author but set entirely in Australia.

Photo source

Some of you might like to take advantage of next weekend's Dewey's 24hr Readathon to get a head start on your #AusReadingMonth books (I know I will be!)
The readathon is celebrating 10 fantabulous years this October while #AusReadingMonth is celebrating 5 amazing years of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

Also hitting the 5 year mark is my other favourite thing to do in November - Non-Fiction November.

Why not combine all 3 and read a fabulous non-fiction Australian title for the 24hr Readathon!

Getting Ready For AusReading Month 2017

It's that time of year again.

Time to start thinking about how many Australian books can we read in November.

This year it's time to get in touch with our country. 

Let's pack our bags and travel this big, beautiful land by book.

Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays, travel guides and children's book can transport us to every state, city and major town in Australia.

To make it more interesting and (hopefully) fun I've developed a BINGO card for this year's #AusReadingMonth to help our journey around Australia.

Flyby Night

If time is of the essence, one book from the BINGO card may be the prefect option for you.

A quick getaway is better than none!

Backpackers 

With their compact swags, backpackers need to travel light.

If this is you, simply select one line (horizontal, vertical of even diagonal) on the BINGO card and read three books about our country.

Grey Nomads 

If you have more time up your sleeve join the grey nomads in their self-contained campervans as you travel around this big, brown land of ours. 

With every crossroad on the map, there's a choice to be made; you cannot do it all, so select two lines on the BINGO card to be eligible for Grey Nomad status.

The Whole Hog

If you're feeling a little touched by the sun, then the Whole Hog may be for you.

Read NINE books this November from all of the 8 states and territories plus one freebie.

The FREEBIE can be any book by an Australian author or a book written by an overseas author but set entirely in Australia.

To help you with your selections you could try the 12 must read Australian books as decided by Australian Geographic 'representing a cross section of Australian literature, meditating on landscape, history and what makes us Australian.'

I've read 8 and a bit out of the 12 while Voss, Carpentaria and Autumn Laing are all on my radar if not already on my TBR pile.

Check out The Guardian's Top 10 books about Australia bush here.

10 Australian Poets You Should Know are to be found here.

If picture books are easier for you to source try this list of 40 of the best Australian Picture Books.

Throughout October I will post more suggestions for books set in each State and Territory to help you with your selections.

If you have an Aussie book lurking on your TBR pile and you're not quite sure which state or area it's set in, let us know about it in the comments below. Our community of readers may be able to help.

Are you in?

#AusReadingMonth2017

Reading Bingo 2015

All the end of year wrap-up posts are beginning to appear, but when I checked my reading plans for this year I discovered that I had failed miserably to complete any of them *sigh*

Except, of course, I have actually read and reviewed this year, too many books to count right now (thanks to a befuddled, this-is-not-a-hangover foggy brain)!

So when I spotted Cleo's Reading Bingo post which allows us to retrospectively play the game, I felt that this was one challenge I could successfully complete!

My personal challenge is to fill our the Bingo card below with women writers only in honour of my Women Classic Literary Challenge and Australian Women Writers Challenge.

A 500+ page book:

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

I surprised myself by how many chunksters by women writers I read this year.

A few more of them will make an appearance below!

A forgotten classic:

Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido.

How on earth did I miss this when it first came out in 1982?

If you haven't already read this modern day classic, you really should prioritise it for....well, now!

Book to movie:

One of the many chunksters I got through this year was Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.
Although the movie misses out on a lot of the details of the book and changes others, it is still a masterful interpretation.

Published this year:

The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader is my favourite new release for 2015.

A book with a number in the title:

One Life: My Mother's Story by Kate Grenville

A book written by someone under 30:

I read Heat and Light by Ellen Van Neervan earlier in the year.
Her stories have stayed with me and I continue to gain pleasure from their memory.

A book with non-human characters:

Van Neervan's book could have applied in parts to this section, but in the end I chose a story about a toy rabbit The Incredible Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo.

A funny book:

Is it it possible to make a funny informative book about menopause?
Yes, when you can when you are Australian comedian Jean Kittson with You're Still Hot to Me.

Female author:

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson, who is actually the Australian author Ethel Florence Richardson. Another female author who felt she had to publish under a pseudonym. And another chunkster.

Mystery:

The Monkey's Mask by Dorothy Porter - a sexy, mystery set in Sydney, written in verse.

A book with a one word title:

Ru by Kim Thuy

Short stories:

Only the Animals by Ceridwen Covey - short stories told from the point of view of an animal about to die!

A book set in a different continent:

Set in Brazil this incredible, unusual story is hard to categorise - The Head of the Saint by Socorro Acioli.

Non-fiction:

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain was one of my bests of 2015 and possibly even one of my best of all time.

First book by a favourite author:

Rereading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone this year reminded me just how much I loved this series. 

I really should try her Robert Galbraith books.

A book I heard about online:

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Best-seller:

I'm gradually working my way through Moriarty's best-selling backlist - The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

A book based on a true story:

Euphoria by Lily King - although I'm still upset by the cover choice for the Australian edition!

A book retrieved from the bottom of my TBR pile:

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

A book my friend loves:

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

A book that scares me:

Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything. 

I'm still only a third of the way through this frightening view of climate change, big business and the global economy.

A book that is more than 10 years old:

Another successful Classics Club spin choice - A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark

Second book in a series:

A Decline in Prophets by Sulari Gentill is book two in the Rowland Sinclair series set in 1930's Sydney - my latest cosy crime go-to book.

Book with a blue cover:

Stand Up and Cheer by Loretta Re - one of my favourite children's books of the year.
Set in Mr Books home town and based on real events - fabulous historical fiction for kids.

Free choice:

Mademoiselle Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History by Rhonda Garelick because I can't get enough of Chanel's story!

Have you read any of these?
How did your reading year pan out?
A part of me is now tempted to fill out a bingo card with all male writers...but my head is actually a teeny-weeny hungover and it's screaming at me to get off this screen!