Flames by Robbie Arnott

It's a long weekend in Australia, and for the first time in over a year, we've enjoyed a lazy, nothing-to-do-but-flop-around-the-house kind of weekend. It has been blissful. Even with the ghastly high temps and even higher humidity, or maybe because of, it has been the perfect time for reading, snoozing and listening to music as we sporadically clean and tidy the house.

Typing up reviews has been the furthest thing from my mind.

Lots of changes (the good, positive, life-going-forward kind of changes, but changes nonetheless) are coming our way this year - starting next week when B18 goes away to Uni.

The teenage years are not easy for anyone to live through, which is maybe Nature's way of making it easy for both teens and their parents to let go. But as tough as the last few years have been (and there were times when I thought my sanity would not survive intact), I wouldn't now swap them for anything.

Which brings me to Flames by Robbie Arnott. Like a teenager in full flight, it's a hard novel to define or pin down. Like a teenager, it's a debut with flights of fancy, bravado and wild schemes. It's on the verge of greatness, oozing potential and grand ideas. But unlike living with teenagers, I loved every minute of it and can't wait to see what Arnott does next!

The Tasmanian environment is one of the prominent characters throughout this genre-defying story which Arnott uses to stress the interconnectedness between us all. Fire, water, trees and the gods play their parts too.

Flames has a fablesque quality and is mythological in tone with different writing styles to suit each characters story. Arnott plays around with magic realism, an epistolary chapter, report writing and the fabulous chapter with the female private eye that reads like a Tasmanian Philip Marlowe, just to name a few. It should have felt disjointed and all over the place, but just like a teen, it somehow made sense and seemed like just the right thing to do at that time.

Through his various characters, Arnott explores the wild, raw nature of grief, mourning and love. We watch them come to terms with letting go of what they thought they knew as they learn to embrace the unknowable future and whatever it might bring. No matter how far apart you may seem to be, you are still family, you are still connected, and it will ultimately keep you afloat, if you let it.

Arnott is a young Tasmanian copywriter. Flames has been shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction, the Indie Book Awards for Debut Fiction, and the Queensland Literary Awards: University of Queensland Fiction Book Award 2018.

Facts:

• Longlisted | 2020 International Dublin Literary Award.
• Winner | Margaret Scott Prize | Tasmanian Premier's Literary Awards 2019
• Shortlisted | Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction 2019
• Longlisted | Indie Book Awards for Debut Fiction 2019
• Shortlisted | UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing | NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2019
• Shortlisted | Queensland Literary Awards Fiction Book Award 2018
• Shortlisted | Kathleen Mitchell Award 2019
• Longlisted | ALS Gold Medal 2019
• Longlisted | Miles Franklin Literary Award 2019
• Longlisted | Voss Literary Prize 2019
• Shortlisted | Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize UK 2019

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

I suspect I'm going to be the lone dissenting voice when it comes to Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.

This is a debut Australian novel garnering a HUGE amount of attention and rave reviews. In the lead up to our Christmas rush at work last year, this is the book many, many locals were asking for. Customers were returning to tell us how much they ADORED the book and every second book club, including mine, seemed to pick it for their summer holiday read.

I was thrilled that I was going to have a good excuse to make time for this book and I couldn't wait to get stuck into it.

To start with what I loved:

• The cover - just gorgeous, vibrant and psychedelic. The blue wren makes sense once you start reading. For an in depth look into how cover designers settle on the finished design read this fascinating piece from the Australian Book Design Association. They interviewed Darren Holt and Claire Ward, the Australian and UK designers for Boy Swallows Universe (as well as other designers for other books).
• The writing - Dalton took my breath away. I was completely and utterly WOWED.
• The protagonist, Eli Bell is a wonderful narrator. His voice is believable, charming and unique.
• The introduction of ex-con Slim Halliday as Eli's babysitter added a quirky touch.
• I loved the themes - a young boy looking for a 'good man' to love and model his life on, brotherly love, redemption and protection, a young boys fierce need for mother love.
• Early on I also began to suspect that this book was also heavily embedded in real life events.
• Slim Halliday was a real criminal who did his time in Boggo Road Gaol.
• How much else was real?

However around the 50 page mark, the underbelly criminal stuff started to take centre stage. Drugs, drug running and drug lords took over the story. Because I now suspected that this was based on a true story (I hadn't googled at this point) I made myself keep reading even though, every single extra sordid drug reference and act turned me off more and more and more. 

I've always believed that if someone actually had to LIVE through something ghastly, the very least I can do from my safe, white, middle class home, is read about it with understanding and compassion and a huge dose of gratefulness for my very ordinary upbringing.

True crime is not my usual genre, but I have been known to be fascinated by the occasional story. We watched the second season of Underbelly that starred Matthew Newton which was centred around the murder of Donald Mackay in Griffith in 1977, but I haven't been able to watch any of the other seasons. I also haven't got into Breaking Bad, The Sopranos or Orange is the New Black.

However, with Boy Swallows Universe, I got to a point, about 100 pages in, where the amazing writing and the affection I felt for the two brothers, wasn't enough to sustain me through the relentless criminal activity. 

I admire Dalton for finding such an incredible way to process the trauma from his childhood. There is so much love for this story 'out there', that I'm sure it will pop up in most of the Australian book awards this year. It deserves it too. The praise being heaped on it, is valid, but the content is just not my thing. There are so many books, about topics that I have way more interest in, waiting for me to read them, that I don't want to give too much time to one of those that just fails to fit the bill...for me.

Boy Swallows Universe has just been shortlisted for the Indie Debut Fiction Book Awards.

I've labelled this with the Did Not Finish tag, but it was more a case of skim reading the last three quarters of the book before slowing down to read the last chapter properly.

March update: I gave this to Mr Books to read because I suspected that he would love it. He did.
He felt the criminal activity was within context and didn't dominate the story. For him, the story of the boys, the search for goodness and what makes a person 'good' and the power of redemption were powerful, moving themes.
He was surprised I couldn't finish it, even though he has had years of watching me hide behind pillows and my hands in violent movies! (We're rewatching Game of Thrones in preparation for the final season. Because I know what's coming, I'm spending even more time behind the pillows than I did with the first viewing, when many of the violent/cruel scenes caught me by surprise. I also know to leave the room whenever Bolton walks on screen).

Facts:

• Longlisted for the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award.
• Winner 2019 ABIA Book of the Year Award | Literary Fiction Book of the Year
• Winner 2019 Indie Book Award
• Winner 2019 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing | NSW Premier's Literary Awards
• Winner 2019 People's Choice Award | NSW Premier's Literary Awards
• Winner 2019 ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
• Longlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award
• Shortlisted for the 2019 Colin Roderick Award

Native: Art & Design With Australian Plants

Native: Art and Design With Australian Plants by Kate Herd and Jela Ivankovic-Waters is one of those gorgeous coffee table books that deserves to be thumbed over and referenced on a regular basis.

Actually it's much more than a mere coffee table book. It's full of delicious, inspiring Australian landscapes and gardens that left me drooling with possibility and anticipation. It has practical advice, plant tips and loads of creative design. It's also a love letter to the Australian environment as Kate and Jela,

'realised the possibilities for using Australian plants has moved beyond the traditional 'bush garden' aesthetic so often associated with natives.'

They believe that the best solution is to use plants indigenous to your local area, but they are not always easy to source or readily available to the average gardener. The next best option then is to focus on Australian natives in general. They require little water and fertiliser, they attract native birds & animals and are often more resilient. Using non-indigenous species to your area may have the added advantage of ensuring a species survival if conditions change in their own native region.

We have presented the information so as to encourage an adventurous approach to our native flora, and celebrate the versatility and creative potential of Australian plants.

They consider design, shape, foliage, shade, colour and texture. They explore different varieties and provide lots of beautiful images of individual plants as well as much larger gardens.

The benefits of pruning are discussed (yippee! I love pruning, but many people believe you shouldn't prune natives).

Sculptor, Tracey Deep is featured as are some of her stunning floral & plant sculptures. One day I hope to have enough time to explore this more creative side of native gardening even more.

With a new native garden of my very own to design and plant out, this book has been a timely and useful inspiration. I definitely want to get more banksias, dianellas. grevilleas, grass trees, granite claw flowers, woolly bush (I have a thing for silvery leaves), kangaroo grass and waratahs into my garden. I love a splash of colour in amongst all that lovely green.

Watch this space!

Native was the winner of the 2018 Indie Book Illustrated Non-Fiction Award.

Nevermoor #1 The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

I've been a bit slack about reading kid's books for work this year. I'm really enjoying all the classics I've been getting into instead. But this weekend I was feeling a bit angsty and in need of something light and easy. I also spotted during the week that Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend had won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Younger Readers. She's up for a slew of Australian book awards as well so I thought it was high time to check it out.

Quite simply, it's a ripper of a story.

But it does run the risk of being compared to other well-known books in this genre - the 'cursed' child, on the outside, ignored, rejected by her unsympathetic family. A strong sense of injustice and loneliness.. A rite-of-passage birthday. Portents and signs. A special school. A letter. A stranger to the rescue. Unknown dangers. The promise and excitement of a new, hidden world where Morrigan gets a chance to belong. An evil presence, banished but threatening to return. Quests and challenges to find the best of the best. Hidden talents. The power of friendship and kindness.

Sound familiar?

There's nothing wrong with using all the tropes available to you, but I did find them rather obvious at times.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, Nevermoor fitted like a glove. Tropes not only help the writer, but the reader also, to feel comfortable and at home with a genre. Townsend has created a richly imagined world and a slightly goth-like protagonist. The opening sentence is dramatic and instantly engaging - 'The journalists arrived before the coffin did.’

The main characters will hopefully be fleshed out and given more nuance and backstory as the series develops. At the moment everyone seems to be there simply to engage with Morrigan.

Townsend 's creation of the umbrella underground was interesting and helped to explain the Australian cover. She also included lots of action, snappy dialogue and left me wanting more.

I'm always fascinated by cover choice.
I really liked the proof cover jacket - mine was even simpler than this one. It only had the one word - Nevermoor - blazened in shiny gold with shiny gold sparkles all around it.

The official Australian cover gave the story a Mary Poppins feel. Personally, not my favourite choice. It has put off many male readers.

The UK cover makes the book look like it's for a much younger reader than the 10+ I'd recommend.

The US cover went for a lighter version of the Mary Poppins cover. I spotted the cat in the window for the first time in this cover though.

The hardcover edition - a nice mix of my favourite proof cover with the UK one.

The Scandinavian cover makes Jupiter North look like Willy Wonka and suggests that the umbrella's could also be weapons, not just a mode of transport.

The German cover has a Philip Pullman feel. I rather like the elegant blue frame.

The Serbian cover has gone very Goth and makes Morrigan look very unwell.

And finally - the promise of book 2 in October!

Nevermoor has also been shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards (winners TBA March 26)
CBCA Notable book (shortlist March 27)

Longlisted for the ABIA Awards (shortlist TBA April 19)
Shortlisted for the Readings Children's Book Prize (winner TBR late April)

Circle by Jeannie Baker

Circle is one of those amazing, gorgeous picture books that I love and adore...right up until the very last page.

But that last page does my head in every single time I read it. Before I go into the final page, let me tell you all the reasons why I love and adore the rest of the book.

Firstly, I had the very great privilege of attending the book launch and exhibition opening for Circle at the Australian Maritime Museum in Sydney last year. Being able to see Baker's collages up close and personal is a real treat that I would move heaven and earth to be a part of (I also attended the opening of her exhibition for Mirror six years ago).

The collages were hung between child and adult height for everyone to enjoy. They're not huge pieces, which makes the precision details in each one even more impressive. The colours, the textures, the perspectives are an aesthetic delight.

Secondly, Circle is the story of the bar-tailed godwit, a migratory bird that I knew nothing about until the launch/opening night. This incredible little bird takes a six day flight from Australia/New Zealand via the Yellow Sea to Alaska each year.

Thirdly, this is a story about our environment and our climate and what we have been doing to it and how it affects the smallest members of our planet. It's a story about our global ecosystem and how everything is connected. Circle is the ultimate tale of belonging.

And now the ending.

The very first illustration in the book shows us a boy in bed with a wheelchair beside him. We have no explanation for this. The assumption I made was that the boy had a permanent disability. There was nothing in the image to suggest to me that he was only injured for a period of time (i.e. wearing a cast for a broken leg, get well cards on the bedside table etc). Instead he is reading a book about birds and day dreaming about flying.

Baker refers to an injury in the teacher's notes provided on the night. If this had been obvious to me, I could have accepted this very same boy at the end of the book on crutches, rushing to save the godwit on the beach, dropping his crutches and suddenly walking/running. If I'd known he was recovering from a protracted injury, I could have applauded his hard work and apparent recovery.

The teacher's note conclude with 'thus, the bird's year long migration is given a human perspective'.

However it looked to me, like a child with a permanent disability who suddenly walked. It didn't make sense. I certainly didn't experience the human journey within the bird's journey that the notes indicated. It felt like it was something added on as an afterthought.

Part of judging whether a picture book for children has been successful or not is if the illustrations and the stories work alongside each other. According to the CBCA judging criteria for early childhood books, there needs to be a 'unity of purpose' where the issues in the text and the pictures revolve and resolve together.

Perhaps this is why Circle has been longlisted for the Picture Book of the Year award (which focuses on the illustrations) and the Eve Pownall Book of the Year (which focus on the information/non-fiction elements within the story) and not the Early Childhood Book Award.

+ Winner of the 2017 Australian Indie Book Children's Award.

Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar

One of my good friends has been raving about Salt Creek for nearly a year now. I knew I would love it - it has all the things I usually look for in a good book.

Strong, interesting female protagonist, fascinating setting (Younghusband Peninsula in South Australia), a lovely cover design and historical fiction based loosely on real stories.

Hester is the eldest daughter in a large family fallen on hard times thanks to their father's dubious business investment ideas.

After the failure of his sheep run and the sudden death of two baby siblings, the grieving family is forced to sell up and move to the Coorong region.

Treloar's writing is beautiful, even lyrical at times, but the story that is told is tragic.

The earth still turned and we had almost reached the sun.

There was nothing there but a strong feeling of absence.

A person might appear to be complete and be invisibly crumbling, or might appear to be falling apart and yet persist despite all expectations. 

Poverty, hard work, more loss, death and business failures dog the family throughout their time at the Coorong.

However, it is Hester's strong will and hopeful nature that keeps them together, or at least moving forward as best they can.

They befriend a young man from one of the local tribes, Tull.

For me this is one of the highlights of the story. The disconnect between the two worlds is so vividly and perceptively drawn. Both parties tried so hard to get to know each other, to learn from each other, but you just know it will end badly. This imbues the story with sadness and frustration.
You know what's coming; we just don't know the details of how Treloar is going to bring it about.

Treloar's indigenous perspective is definitely coloured by Bill Gammage's The Biggest Estate on Earth, which she acknowledged in her afterword. For me this is historical revisionism at its best.

If you loved Kate Grenville's The Secret River or The Lieutenant, I think you will love this too.
Salt Creek is heart-achingly good and deserves to be widely read.

And I'm not the only one to think so. Treloar won the 2016 Dobbie Literary Award and the Debut Fiction section of the 2016 Indie Book Awards. Salt Creek was also shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin Award.

Whether we will ever make something complete I cannot know. It is a fractured thing, life; it is in its nature...and broken people can survive and find each other and become whole.

This review is part of my Australian Women Writer's challenge.

And the Winner Is....

It's that time of year again when the book world goes crazy with longlists, shortlists and highly commended's! 

No matter what you think about the various awards, their merits & selection criteria's, it's very difficult not to get caught up in the buzz.

In Australia, the Indie Book Award has come and gone... 

and the Stella longlist has been whittled down to a 6 book shortlist.

The Miles Franklin Award began it's 2015 journey with an impressive longlist. 

The shortlist is due on the 18th May, with the winner announced on the 23rd June.

 In the UK, the Folio Prize celebrated it's second year by awarding it's Prize to Family Life a couple of weeks ago.

 And the Baileys Women's Prize released it's (dare I say) ridiculous large longlist.

 

Which they quickly shortlisted to the books below.

The winner will be announced on the 3rd June.

This week the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award also released their shortlist with the winner announced on the 17th June.

I'm pleased to see Nora Webster on a couple of lists.
I hope to read A Spool of Blue Thread & Harvest soon (they're both on my TBR pile).
How to be Both and Paying Guests intrigue and repel me at the same time.

I think I'm the only Australian who hasn't read Burial Rites - purely because the hype got to me!

I've just finished Heat and Light & feel very kindly about its chances for taking out the Stella, although The Golden Age will probably give it a good run for the money (so I believe - another book for my ever expanding wishlist!)

Do you have any favourite's in the running this year?
Do you care?
Is there an award where you try to read the entire shortlist prior to the winning announcement?

Longlists and Shortlists.

It's that time of year again when our favourite books are categorised, judged and pitted against each other for first place.

In Australia we have...

The Stella Longlist

• Letter to George Clooney - Debra Adelaide

• Moving Among Strangers - Gabrielle Carey

• Burial Rites - Hannah Kent *

• Night Games - Anna Krien *

• Mullumbimby - Melissa Lucashenko *

• The Night Guest - Fiona McFarlane *

• Boy, Lost - Kristina Olsson *

• The Misogyny Factor - Anne Summers

• Madeleine - Helen Trinca

• The Swan Book - Alexis Wright *

• The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka - Clare Wright * WINNER!!

• All the Birds, Singing - Evie Wyld


The Stella has now been whittled down to 6 (those highlighted in red with an *) with the winner to be announced on the 29th April.

The Miles Franklin Longlist was announced this week with some familiar names....

The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt - Tracy Farr

The Narrow Road to the Deep North - Richard Flanagan

The Railwayman’s Wife - Ashley Hay

Mullumbimby - Melissa Lucashenko

The Night Guest - Fiona McFarlane

Belomor - Nicolas Rothwell

Game - Trevor Shearston

My Beautiful Enemy - Cory Taylor

Eyrie - Tim Winton

The Swan Book - Alexis Wright

All the Birds, Singing - Evie Wyld

The shortlist will be announced on the 15th May and the overall winner on the 26th June.

The NSW Premier's Shortlist was also published.

It's a HUGE list and covers lots of different categories like poetry, non-fiction, new writing, scriptwriting, playwriting and multicultural writing. Today I will simply share the fiction and children's shortlists and if you would like to see the rest, please click here.

CHRISTINA STEAD PRIZE FOR FICTION

The Secret Lives of Men, Georgia Blain

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan

The Railwayman's Wife, Ashley Hay

Questions of Travel, Michelle de Kretser

Game, Trevor Shearston

The Swan Book, Alexis Wright

PATRICIA WRIGHTSON PRIZE FOR CHILREN'S LITERATURE

A Very Unusual Pursuit, Catherine Jinks

Refuge, Jackie French

Stay Well Soon, Penny Tangey

The Girl Who Brought Mischief, Katrina Nannestad

The Big Dry, Tony Davis

Jandamarra, Mark Greenwood and Terry Denton

ETHEL TURNER PRIZE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE

Wildlife, Fiona Wood

My Life as an Alphabet, Barry Jonsberg

Sultan's Eyes, Kelly Gardiner

The Incredible Here and Now, Felicity Castagna

Black Spring, Alison Croggon

Zac and Mia, AJ Betts

For this year's winners click here.


And in the UK, the formerly known as Orange but now known as Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction have published their long and shortlists with the winner to be announced on 4th June.

*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Americanah

Margaret Atwood - MaddAddam

Suzanne Berne – The Dogs of Littlefield

Fatima Bhutto - The Shadow of the Crescent Moon

Claire Cameron – The Bear

Lea Carpenter - Eleven Days

M.J. Carter - The Strangler Vine

Eleanor Catton - The Luminaries

Deborah Kay Davies - Reasons She Goes to the Woods

Elizabeth Gilbert - The Signature of All Things

*Hannah Kent - Burial Rites

Rachel Kushner - The Flamethrowers

*Jhumpa Lahiri - The Lowland

*Audrey Magee - The Undertaking

*Eimear McBride - A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing

Charlotte Mendelson - Almost English

Anna Quindlen - Still Life with Bread Crumbs

Elizabeth Strout - The Burgess Boys

*Donna Tartt - The Goldfinch

Evie Wyld - All The Birds, Singing

I'm beginning to think I'm the only person in Australia who hasn't got around to reading Burial Rites yet. I've flicked through it and it looks promising, but it's hard to get excited about a book that already has so much excitement surrounding it!

Richard Flanagan's Narrow Road to the Long North has already won the Australian Indie Book Award this year.

The International Dublin Literary Awards (IDLA) also have a big shortlist this year with the winner

announced on the 12th June...
The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker, (Dutch) translated by David Colmer.
Questions of Travel by Michelle De Kretser (Sri Lankan / Australian)
Absolution by Patrick Flanery (American) (First novel)
A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard (Norwegian) Translated by Don Bartlett.
Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye (French) Translated by John Fletcher.
Traveller of the Century by Andrés Neuman (Argentinian) Translated from the original Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia.
The Light of Amsterdam by David Park (Northern Irish)
The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan (Irish) (First novel)
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (Malaysian)
The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Colombian) Translated from the original Spanish by Anne McLean.


The Australian/Vogel shortlist also comes out this weekend with the winner to be announced on the 22nd April.

Books highlighted in purple/green are linked back to my reviews on this blog.

Which ones have you already read and loved (or not, as the case may be)?

More Australian Book Awards

November is AusReading Month.

A month long love-in for all things Aussie, true-blue and fair dinkum!

In the lead up to November I am posting oodles of info about local literary prizes, top 50 Australian reading lists and random Australiana facts.

You can join in the by linking to the master post above or on twitter & instagram using #ausreadingmonth #bronasbooks @brona68

Today's post is focusing on some of the lesser known book awards for Australian books & authors.

The Stella Prize "is a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing.

The prize is named after one of Australia’s iconic female authors, Stella Maria ‘Miles’ Franklin, and was awarded for the first time in 2013. Both non-fiction and fiction books by Australian women are eligible for entry."

The 2013 winner was Carrie Tiffany for Mateship With Birds.

The Indie Book awards are awarded by the Independent Booksellers of Australia. There are over 200 Independent bookshops within Australia (and I'm proud to say that I work in one of them.)


Each year there are 16 shortlisted books across 4 areas - Fiction, Non-Fiction, Debut Fiction & Children's. The books are judged and voted on by Independent booksellers and their reading public. The 4 winners then vie for the Book of the Year award.

Previous Book of the year winners were Breath by Tim Winton (2008 inaugural winner), Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (2009), The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do (2011) and All That I Am by Anna Funder (2012). Goodreads has a list of previous winners with their reviews here.

The 2013 book of the year award went to M. L. Stedman for The Light Between Oceans.

The Aurealis Awards started in 1995. They're awarded by the publishers of Aurealis magazine to
"recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers.

The Aurealis Awards are intended to complement the Annual Australian National Science Fiction Convention’s Ditmar Awards and the Australian Children’s Book Council Awards."

The award has four separate categories - science fiction, fantasy, horror and young adult. A fifth category, children's fiction, was added in 2001.

The 2012 winners were Daniel O'Malley for The Rook, Margo Lanagan for Sea Hearts, Kirstyn McDermott for Perfections and joint winners for the YA section - Margo Lanagan for Sea Hearts and Kaz Delaney for Dead, Actually. The children's winners were John Flanagan for Brotherband: The Hunters & Graeme Base for Little Elephants.

Previous winners can be found here.

The Australian Book Industry Awards are run by the Australian Publishers Association (whose "role is to protect and promote the interests of Australian publishers").

The ABIA's recognise best debut novel, best general fiction, best general non-fiction, biography of the year best younger readers fiction, best older readers fiction & best illustrated book. Awards are also given to Publisher of the Year and Bookseller of the Year.

The 2013 winners were M.L Stedman for Light Between Oceans, Kate Morton for The Secret Keeper, Richard de Crespigny for QF32, Jim Stynes for My Journey, Nick Bland for The Very Itchy Bear, Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton for 26-Storey Treehouse and Best Illustrated was shared by The Lost Diggers by Ross Coulthart and Lake Eyre by Paul Lockyer.

Previous winners can be found here (by scrolling down to the bottom of the webpage).

The Ned Kelly Awards began in 1995.

I think the title of the award pretty tells you all you need to know!

The winners for 2013 were Geoffrey McGeachin for Blackwattle Creek (best crime fiction), Jane Lovitt for The Midnight Promise (best first crime fiction) and Robin de Crespigny for The People Smuggler (best true crime).

Tasmanian Literary Prizes have been around in one form or another since 2001.

"The prizes celebrate the richness of the Tasmanian literary sector and acknowledge the particular influence that Tasmania has on written work."

The 2013 winners were:

The Tasmania Book Prize – for best book with Tasmanian content in any genre

1835: The Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia by James Boyce

The Margaret Scott Prize – for best book by a Tasmanian writer

The Roving Party by Rohan Wilson 

The University of Tasmania Prize – For the best new unpublished literary work by an emerging Tasmanian writer

Kubla, Katherine Johnson

The shortlist for the Reading & Enjoying Australian Literature (REAL) Awards, acts as a shortlist for children’s choice book awards in the Australian Capital Territory (COOL Awards), New South Wales (KOALAs), the Northern Territory (KROC Awards) and Victoria (YABBAs).

Children in the Victoria, NSW, ACT, and NT vote for their favourite books in each category in October. The winners of the YABBA, KOALA, COOL, & KROC awards are then announced in November.

Young Australian's Best Book Awards (YABBA) is a part of the Victorian books awards. It's a children's choice award that has been around since 1986.

The 2012 winners were The Phoenix Files: Arrival by Chris Morphew (fiction years 7-9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Alice-Miranda At School by Jacqueline Harvey (younger readers) & Fearless in Love by Colin Thompson & Sarah Davis (picture book).

Previous winners can be found here.

NSW also has their own literary award as judged by younger readers called The Koala Awards. They have been awarded since 2006.

The 2012 winners were The Phoenix Files: Arrival by Chris Morphew (fiction years 7-9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Tashi and the Golem by Anna Fienberg & Kim Gamble (younger readers) & Fearless in Love by Colin Thompson & Sarah Davis (picture book).

The COOL Awards (Canberra's Own Outstanding List) have been awarded since 1991.

The 2012 winners were The Phoenix Files: Arrival by Chris Morphew (fiction years 7-9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Tashi and the Golem by Anna Fienberg & Kim Gamble (younger readers) & The Terrible Plop by Ursula Dubosarsky & Andrew Joyner (picture book).

The KROC Awards have been around since 1991 although I was unable to find any reference to previous winners.

The 2012 winners were Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (fiction years 7 -9), The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (older readers), Billie B Brown: The Birthday Mixup by Sally Rippin (younger readers) & Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland (picture book).

Children's Book Council Shortlist 2012

Well, here we again folks...nomination time.

The Pulitzer came and went with no winner for fiction. The Costa Book Award was won by Andrew Miller for his book 'Pure'. The Indie Book Award went to Anna Funder for 'All That I Am'.
The shortlist is out there for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and the Miles Franklin long list is waiting to be whittled down. And in Australia, we have the Prime Minister's Literary Awards plus various State Premier's Literary awards waiting for their big moment too.

Naturally there is also a site that will keep you informed on all these awards and many more called Literary Awards.

But today we focus on the Australian Children's Book Council Awards.

Nominees for the Older Readers Shortlist are:

Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel by Michael Gerard Bauer
A Straight Line to my Heart by Bill Condon
The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky
The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner
Ship Kings: The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan
When We Were Two by Robert Newton

Younger Readers Shortlist:

Crow Country by Kate Constable
Brotherband: The Outcasts by John Flanagan
Nanberry: Black Brother White by Jackie French
The Truth About Verity Sparks by Susan Green
Bungawitta by Emily Rodda
The Golden Door by Emily Rodda

Early Childhood Shortlist:

The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland
Come Down, Cat! by Sonya Hartnett
That's Not A Daffodil by Elizabeth Honey
The Last Viking by Norman Jorgensen
No Bears by Meg McKinlay  (R)
Rudie Nudie by Emma Quay

Picture Book Shortlist:

Look, A Book ill. by Freya Blackwood
The Dream of the Thylacine ill. by Ron Brooks
For All Creatures ill. by Rebecca Cool
A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham  (R)
No Bears ill. by Leila Rudge  (R)
Flood ill. by Bruce Whatley  (R)

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Shortlist:

The Little Refugee by Anh & Suzanne Do  (R)
One Small Island by Alison Lester & Coral Tulloch
Surrealism for Kids by Queensland Art Gallery
Bilby Secrets by Edel Wignell  (R)
Frommelles by Carole Wilkinson
Playground by Nadia Wheatley

Each year I try to read as many of these nominees as possible. Happily I've already read and reviewed 6 of the nominees - only 24 to go!!

Watch this space.

(R) read but not reviewed

The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do

Anh Do's funny/sad autobiography won this years Indie Award for non-fiction.

The Happiest Refugee was very easy to read, full of self-deprecating humour and honesty. I grew up with tales of Vietnamese boat people on the news. During the 70's there was a lot of media backlash against the boat people and racism and fear about Asian gangs was rife.

It's not so different now except that the boat people are coming from different countries.

Australians are curious beings. Some of us can say the most obnoxious generalisations and racist comments at the drop of a hat.  But underneath, and at a personal level, we can be kind-hearted and generous. Any story that personalises and humanises this issue can only be a good thing. 

Anh Do is so likeable and easy-going that even the staunchest anti-immigrationist must be moved by his story.
Autobiographies can be a cathartic experience for the writer; but Anh Do's story can also help us to exorcise the ghosts of 1970's Australian history.

A Swag of Stories

This blog is mostly reviews for books for young children and teens, but I've been reading a lot of adult fiction this year, so I thought I'd do a quick catch-up.

At the moment, I'm half way through Bereft by Chris Womersley. It's a gripping, haunting tale of murder, grief and family. It's setting is the Central West of NSW (which explains why I felt so at home in the story from the start) and follows Quinn Walker as he returns home after WW1 to atone for the murder of his sister years earlier. The writing is dark and poignant...and I'm hooked. A worthy winner of the 2011 Indie Award for Fiction.

Flock by Lyn Hughes is set in the Blue Mountains - another place close to my heart.

Essentially it is the history of wallpaper in Australia - who could have guess how interesting and compelling this story would turn out to be!

Of course, the history of wallpaper is interwoven into a moving family saga of love, betrayal abd belonging.

Flock was evocative, gentle and mesmerising in it's detail.

Since reading this story I too have become fascinated in wallpaper! I now find myself gazing at unusual designs on cafe walls or running my fingers across a beautifully flocked wall with a far greater appreciation than before.

And now to the gorgeous Kate Morton and The Distant Hours. This was a pre-Christmas read. It was big, juicy and satisfying. Perfectly absorbing and easy to read in the rush and madness leading up to Christmas. I loved the Gothic eerieness, the mystery, the hint of sinister events. My only complaint was the ending, which wrapped everything up a little too tidily.

I enjoyed it so much that I hunted down one of her earlier works, the Forgotten Garden a couple of months later. This story was not as well developed as TDH but was still engrossing with it's hints of Rebecca a la Daphne du Maurier.

Finally we come to Geraldine Brooks and Caleb's Crossing. I am a fan of Geraldine's Brooks previous books, so I was expecting a lot...and I was not disappointed.

I devoured this book in a few days over Easter.

Brooks has the happy knack of completely immersing her readers into the time and place of her stories. You are in America - Boston and Martha's Vineyard in the 1600's. You walk beside Bethia and Caleb as they negotiate their way through these new worlds too.

This is Brooks at her best - historical fiction with heart, soul and intellect. Highly recommended and sure to turn up on a number of award shortlists over the coming year.