Wednesday 4 November 2020

AusReading Month - Celebration

 

AusReadingMonth has three ways to share your love of Australian literature - celebration, anticipation and promotion. You can combine all three in one post or spread them out over three separate posts. 

Celebration is all about what you've read this year. 

Simply list, collage and/or discuss the Australian books you've read since last AusReading Month.
  • Tell us who you are and where you are in the world.
  • What were your favourites Australian books or authors this past year?
  • Did you favour a certain genre or author this year?
  • Which ones do you recommend?
Firstly, for those of you new to Brona's Books, I am a Sydney-based blogger now into my 12th year of blogging. My favourite genres are historical fiction and the classics. I enjoy reading memoirs, nature books and history texts. Some of my all-time favourite Australian books include the Edith trilogy by Frank Moorhouse, The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson, Dirt Music by Tim Winton and The Ladies of Missalonghi by Colleen McCullough.

When I sat down to prepare this post about my Australian reads over the past 12 months, I was rather disappointed to say the least.

Only nine fiction books, seven non-fiction and a handful of kids' titles. That's it! 
Given I've read about 62 books this year (not counting the kids' books, which takes me to about 90) plus several short stories since the beginning of the year, I'm just not sure how on earth I only managed to read 16 Australian books?

The good news is I have four more Australian books waiting to be reviewed in November, and I'm halfway through four more.

Three of my fiction reads were classics, two were historical fiction, one was contemporary, one eco-dystopian and two were crime fiction. 

I really enjoyed all three classics, although The Dyehouse stands out from the crowd.
I loved The Rain Heron, although the ending didn't quite live up the beginning. The White Girl was also an engrossing story and created a great discussion with my book group.

The stand out non-fiction reads were Fathoms and Truganini.

If you would like to understand what it was like to live in Australia post WWII, then try The White Girl or The Dyehouse. 
To get a sense of our how colonialism has affected our Indigenous population, then Truganini is the book for you.
If you want to read the future of Australian literature then Robbie Arnott is your man with The Rain Heron (but also try his earlier book, Flames).
As for cosy crime, you cannot go past Sulari Gentill's series. You should start at the beginning though to enjoy each and every one in order.

#AusReadingMonth2020

8 comments:

  1. Books out of two series in your fiction. We've already discussed Miles Franklin writing as Brent of Bin Bin and I hope you go on to one of the others, especially Cockatoos. The Cardboard Crown is first in a four part series probably better characterised as fiction based on the Boyd family's history. I read in year 12, and loved, the second, A Difficult Young Man and am trying to make the time to read all four sequentially. Bill

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    1. I did enjoy The Cardboard Crown and thought I would like to read the other 3 at some point, but Cockatoos comes before that!

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  2. Well, after a long election night I am awaked, showered, dressed and we still don't know who won the election.I watched the first results during the night and managed to sleep between 0345-0515 hr. This uncertainty will go on for at least another 24 -36 hours. It is an historic time in USA politics and is worth following real-time. My only regret is the burning sensation in my very tired eyes. I was heartened to read you only read a few Australian books since #AusReadingMonth2019. I haven't read many Aussie books either. The selections you mentioned these are the ones I would like to read: The Dyehouse, The Rain Heron and The White Girl. Once I can gather my thoughts this morning....I will get a blogpost ready to celebrate Australian literature!

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    1. Our news cycle has been covering the US election almost non-stop today. Looks like the worst scenario is coming in to play, with days of counting and indecision and no clear winner. I hope you get a better sleep tonight.

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    2. TV still on but I’ve turned off the sound!
      I have a Aussie non-fiction on mynlpmnd have 6nmore chapters to read...but it is hard to focus.

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    3. ...and type :-D

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  3. What a great guide to some interesting looking books. Hope it's all going well. I aim to start my read this weekend, once I've finished a massive book I'm reviewing for Shiny New Books!

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    1. Look forward to hearing about the massive book and your AusReadingMonth read :-)

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