I did it!

40 books by Australian Women Writers, and 80 books in total!

Goodreads.com is having a bit of an NYE fit at the moment, but I've finished 80 books, even if I did have picture books as the last two. *cough*cheating*cough*

I've got to come back and finish various reviews, and write a wrap-up and stats list but that might happen tomorrow or next weekend.  (Sadly, on Wednesday I go back to work, leaving less time for these things).

Review: The Tomorrow Book

The Tomorrow Book by Jackie French

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I read this the week before Sue DeGennaro came to visit the library. She illustrated this book for Jackie French, one of Australia's best known and most prolific writers of practically everything. (She does picture books, books about gardening and raising chicken, the Australian version of the Horrible Histories.) With this one, she's written a beautiful book about knowledge, the love of reading, and the possibilities in tomorrow.

And the illustrations - oh! The illustrations! Beautiful, delicate paper collage, pen and ink drawings, and the words layered over it in typescript.

The story is beautiful, about a prince who is convinced by the children of his community that something - many things - need to be done about our environment. There's a note at the end to say that all the illustrations have been made from recycled materials, and only paper found within the confines of her house.

I have to admit that the authors and illustrators notes feel a bit preachy. But it's a gorgeous book anyway.



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Review: Today We Have No Plans

Today We Have No Plans by Jane Godwin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I'm rapidly becoming an eager fan of Jane Godwin and Anna Walker. Author and Illustrator of "All Through the Year" have teamed up again for this gorgeous journey through an ordinary (but busy) week, and celebrating the days where there are no plans.

Although it's all very true to life, I'll admit to a jolt when it is Sunday that "has no plans". My Sunday mornings, at least, have plans just as regularly as the rest of the week.

But those precious days without plans are wonderful, and Godwin and Walker have absolutely captured that woundrous quality.

This book is not yet quite as much a favourite as "All Through the Year", but I definitely enjoyed it.



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Review: All Through The Year

All Through The Year by Jane Godwin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I opened this book to the spread on July and almost didn't notice it at first. July was about winter, about sledding and about snow.

And then I got it.

It was July, and it was winter. And I needed to own this book.

There are very few books that take us through the Southern Hemisphere months and seasons instead of the Northern Hemisphere - and here's where my American self begins to have issues. But I live here and children here need to have books that reflect their surroundings, just like they need to see representations of themselves.

On top of that, the illustrations are stunningly beautiful. And I love the family that is created in this book: reminds me of Alison Lester's "Are We There Yet?"

This is totally, absolutely, unmoveably on the "want to own" list.



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Review: Mercy

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The back of the book tells us that Mercy is a fallen angel, and there are hints here and there within the text, especially if you know your angelology (yes, it's a word, I had cause to look it up some years ago when I found myself reluctantly dragged into a discussion on the TV show "Supernatural", which I don't watch). But by the end of the book, I don't believe it's been said outright that we're dealing with angels here. And I wonder how many people would realise that we were if the blurb didn't tell us so. It's not a criticism, mind you. Just a note.

I really enjoyed this book. Although I'd seen it in the stores I probably wouldn't have thought to pay much attention to it if Rebecca Lim (the author) hadn't been a speaker at a seminar on Public library services to YA that I went to. I was so impressed by her, and by what she said about this series, that I started buying the books soon thereafter. It took until January to find a copy of the first in the series (Mercy) and then until now to get to picking it up and reading it. But it was well worth the wait, and now I know that I'm going to want to stay on top of this series in the future. In addition, can you imagine how gleeful I am that I have three more books in the series to read *right now*?

In an interview I found, Lim described Mercy as "a YA mystery/crime novel – but with angels and Latin, choral music, school bullies and a whisper of romance thrown in." Which is basically exactly what it is. (And yay for YA books where choral music - albeit Mahler - is part of the plot.)

Things I loved: the way Mercy talked about Carmen: the sometimes disconnected/sometimes fluid connection between the two selves. I hope that if Ryan continues to appear through the series (I really want him to: I much prefer him to Luc. Although of course he may *be* Luc, which I don't like so much. After all, my angelology tells me who Luc really is... :-) ) that we find out what happened with Carmen; I'll be disappointed to leave her story here, as much as I really love Mercy.

Things I found interesting: the fact that I spent most of the book trying to work out whether it was set in the USA or Australia (the author is Chinese-Singaporean-Australian). I still can't tell. I was fifty pages from the end when I found one Australianism (mention of an Anglican church) which was followed on the next page by an Americanism ("First Presbyterian Church" - the few Continuing Presbyterian churches in Australia do not number themselves.) The issue is exacerbated by the fact that the town in the book has the exact same name as the town in the TV show "Bunheads", which is in California.



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Review: The FitzOsbornes At War

The FitzOsbornes At War by Michelle Cooper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



When I finished this book, I hugged it because I couldn't hug the characters themselves. And then five days later, when the news came through that the Australian Girl Guides were changing the wording of the promise, I wondered what Henry would think of it.

Dear, dear Henry. And Sophie! And Veronica! And Julia!

This whole series has been brilliant.

I mean, okay. This book is totally in my area of love, and the characters are so brilliant, and I have to say, if they'd just sent Henry to the Chalet School as they should have done, she'd still be alive because they'd never have allowed her to join the WRENS at that point. I almost want to try that out, in fact. (But that'd be admitting to writing fic, wouldn't it?)


I gave my mother "A Brief History of Montmary" a week ago, and she's now demanding the next two books. Which is at it ought to be.

I adored "FitzOsbournes at War", I mean, I really adored it. Part of it is that when I look at the list of references I've read most of them, and other parts of it is that I know this era quite well. And yet it's also that Cooper brought us along, even thought I knew someone was going to die, but made me cry when it was Harry. Made me get to the end of the book and hug the book, because I couldn't hug the characters. Made me adore these people, made me want them to get back their fictitious island, made me hate the Nazi use of Spain even more than I already did, made me want victory for Montmaray while knowing that it didn't even exist.

It was awesome. It needs to be read. I will re-read, over and over again. And I will probably even write fic. No finer accolade exists. Michelle Cooper, you are awesome.



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Review: A Decline in Prophets, by Sulari Gentill

A Decline in Prophets by Sulari Gentill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What can I say?

I ADORED THIS. (And the ALLCAPS are entirely legitimate.)

Disclaimer: I hosted Sulari Gentill at the library where I work in the week before I started reading this. I was blown away by Sulari, and I think she is awesome. I think her book is awesome, I think her characters are awesome.

Between the on-board mystery, the two-stage on-boardness, by the way..., the lashings of history, the increasing fabulousness of Wilfred (and I know you're probably reading this, Sulari, but yes, I'm appreciating Wilfred more every time he shows up). I love Kate *more*, and Ernie, and oh Edna

But the inclusion of historical figures in this series is stunning. It's so seamless, in that if I didn't know people were real, I'd neither know nor care. They just ARE. And I am so very looking forward to books three and four in this series.

And Sulari, if we can convince you to come back for another visit to our library, we'd love love love to see you again! Book launch, perhaps?

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Review: Frantic

Frantic by Katherine Howell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Number two (after Kathryn Fox) in the Random Aussie Crime fiction I didn't know existed and have been missing.

You don't realise, at first, that the new detective introduced by KAtherine Howell is in fact Ella Marconi. You'd think it was, in fact, the paramedic, Sophie. But the continuing character is Marconi, and having reached the end of this book, I'm really, really looking forward to reading more about Ella.

In concert with beginning the stories of Anya Crichton through the books of Kathryn Fox, I feel like I've suddenly delved into the fabulousness of two Australian crime writers. I'm certainly looking forward to reading more of Katherine Howell's books (I've looked for "Panic" already and it's apparently not available on eBook, which annoys me, even though it means I'll keep on discovering new authors instead of getting stuck immediately into books by Fox and Howell, which was the exact same danger I saw when I was introduced to Stephanie Laurens (the complete overtaking of my reading by a single author. I've worked hard so far to keep from letting Laurens take over.)

I still haven't said much at this point about "Frantic", the book. Certainly, as I reached the end of the book, the title was entirely accurate. I was reading in a cafe and couldn't leave until I'd finished the book. There were some stunning, heart-grabbing moments that just made me feel ill. In a good way. In a "this is an awesome book" kind of way.

Howell is totally on my "must follow up" list.



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Review: Butterfly Song

Butterfly Song by Terri Janke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Stunning. The descriptive passages are deft and evocative of a part of Australia that few of us know much about.

The setting is provoking (law school before Mabo - as a post Mabo law student, I find the setting marvellous) and the themes brilliant. This is totally going on my 101 list, because what is in this book - from the examples of how Indigenous people are treated over and over (such as her experience in the court room) to the pre-Mabo experience, which is so very important for a post Mabo generation (I was in year 8 when Mabo was decided. Because I'm not Indigenous, the pre-Mabo reality never really impacted on me, but this book managed to make me immerse myself in that reality, and that is an experience that I needed.

The depth and specificity of the TSI culture through this book sang through, to what I know of that culture through TV and the odd actual accquaintance. The stupidity of Australian society rang true. The whole book speaks of utter and complete truth. I will be recommending this book to absolutely everyone, because they need to read it. They need to live Tarena's life, if only for the time while they are reading the book. I needed to know this. And so does the rest of this country.



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Review: Puberty Blues

Puberty Blues by Kathy Lette

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Deservedly or otherwise, Puberty Blues is a classic of Australian writing. In some cases it's known because it's notorious - for its portrayal of sex, of gender relationships in a particular place and time, for lifting the lid on gender inequalities and gendered behaviours in the southern beachside suburbs of Sydney in the 1970s.

It's the sort of book that many of my peers read in high school, much closer to the age of the protagonists Debbie and Sue than I am. However, I'm really glad that I didn't read it when I was a teenager, as it would probably have scared me even more about high school, peer pressure, and the travails of adolescence than I already was. Reading it now, I'm still horrified by everything the girls go through; horrified by their acceptance of what the boys put them through, horrified by the boys actions and opinions. Thankful that it bears no resemblance to my own adolescence whatsoever.

I did find myself confused by the point of view at times. I found Debbie and Sue difficult to distinguish, and there were certain switches from first person to third and back again that confounded me.

A further point in relation to the particular edition I read. It's the first British edition, so I don't actually know how I got it at the Pan Macmillan firesale (where I got it for 50c). It has two forewords written by Germaine Greer and Kylie Minogue, who are basically chosen for being fellow Aussies who are well known in Britain (as is one of the co-authors, Kathy Lette).



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Review: Without Consent

Without Consent by Kathryn Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I was introduced to Kathryn Fox by a library user who wanted to find out about the newest book but couldn't remember Fox's name. Once we'd solved that puzzle, I took a look at the books, and realised that there was a significant similarity between Fox's story and an ABC miniseries from many years ago. I'm not even certain what to look for if I wanted to find the miniseries.

But Fox is a ridiculously popular author, and I couldn't get at "Malicious Intent", the first book in the series. And after a few intense books in a row, I wanted something more genre and straight forward, and in trying out Kathryn Fox, I think I've found a new favourite. I've loved Fairstein and Reichs and O'Connell in my time, and Fox is entirely in their vein.

In reading "Without Consent" I've really loved Anya Crichton - she's a great character. I'm looking forward to more of her stories as I can read more books by Fox.

As for this book in particular: It seemed to me a difficult topic carefully covered. The final sequence was as dramatic as one could wish for, but not entirely unrealistic. In short, I really did enjoy it at least as much as the mid-high level Fairstein's and Reichs'. (No one yet has met Kate Wilhelm for pure awesomeness.)



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Review: One Small Island

One Small Island by Alison Lester

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



A gorgeous, gorgeous non-fiction picture book, all about Macquarie Island, south of Australia. Alison Lester is known for her stunning picture books, and this is yet another one. However there's something far more adult about this one than others. Not adult in a maturity sense, but the feeling that the book is written for a broader audience, with an attempt to bring adults into its environmental message as well as children.

I also have "Sophie Scott Goes South" to read - another book from Lester's trip to Antarctica as part of her Arts Fellowship - and that one is much more traditional Lester.

"One Small Island", however, has scattered through it maps, journal entries from early explorers and sealers, facsimile copies of pictures from various Macquarie Island Yearbooks, and other scrapbook-style minutiae. These pages alternate with beautiful double page spread paintings of the island and its habitat. The endpapers deserve special mention, because they, too, are vital to the information being shared in this book.

It's a lovely, lovely book, and it's on my "want to own" list, probably along with "Sophie Scott Goes South", but you'll find out about that once I've read and reviewed it.





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Review: Skin Painting

Skin Painting by Elizabeth Hodgson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I've borrowed this book a couple of times from the library, but this time I finished it. And I'm glad I did. I didn't realise until I'd gotten through the first few poems that it was a verse novel/memoir.

Hodgson's experience of Christianity made it a difficult read for me. It always is difficult and humbling and horrifying and appalling to me to be reminded how Godawful the so-called Christian treatment of indigenous peoples here or elsewhere. It was not unlike "Every Secret Thing" in that way; although the definite Catholicism there was a distancing factor in that book, in a way that the presumable Protestant-ness of Skink Painting just didn't have.

I loved the way Hodgson dealt with the lover of her guardian; the way it was concealed for the first poem and revealed in the second. I like these sorts of things.

The final poem was the best and is my favourite, the power behind the repeated "I will not", the certainty of her position in the world and her unwillingness to let anyone or anything threaten that... I wish I had that - and I would love to be able to get that from that poem.



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Review: Three Gates To Paradise: Articles & Reflections

Three Gates To Paradise: Articles & Reflections by Clare Boyd-Macrae

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Knowing the author's husband - considering him a friend - made this an exceedingly odd read. A good one, never doubt that, but an odd one, nonetheless.

It's a book of Boyd-Macrae's columns from The Age, many of which I remember reading at the time. If I don't remember reading them, I remember hearing about the events from other points of view.

The writing is beautiful. I thought I owned my own copy of this book, it seems that I don't and I'm kicking myself for it. I want to put this book beside Madeline L'Engle's The Rock That Is Higher: Story as Truth to use it in meditation and prayer, to quote bits of it in sermons that I'm yet to preach.

This is a book of beauty. Of calm, solemn faith; of family life, of the heat of India and the cool of a Melbourne winter. Of contemplation, of conviction, of certainty and doubt. Of the warmth of a hearth and the chill of a football ground.

I am so glad to have read this, and feel privileged. I feel bereft without my own copy to read and re-read: to contemplate and to soak into my soul. To listen, to argue with, and to ponder.

This is a book that makes the world better. This is a treasure.

Review: A Few Right Thinking Men

A Few Right Thinking Men by Sulari Gentill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



About six months ago, I saw this book on sale, and I almost bought it but didn't. That was a massive mistake. Because, having finally read it via the library... I *love* this book. I adore Rowley and Edna, and I'm so very glad to know that there are at least two more books to come.

As an historical novel, this was brilliant. I own a book about the New Guard and the times (it's called "Defending the National Tuckshop" - isn't that an awesome title?) and the only reason I'm not delving straight into that one right now is that it's written by someone who doesn't fit a challenge criteria (ie, straight white male)). My GF watched Underbelly: Razor last year, and loved it and got really into it. She'll love this book. I loved this book. Gentill is visiting my library later this year, and I'm so looking forward to it.

There is such a good build up of atmosphere; the characters are brilliant - and by the end, even Wilfred is approaching loveable. (Ernie and Kate were loveable from the beginning.)

For a book with a sense of place and sense of time, I don't think you can get past this one. I am so very much looking forward to the next in the Rowland Sinclair series.




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Review: Bitin' Back

Bitin' Back by Vivienne Cleven

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Vivienne Cleven is a triple threat for this years challenges. She's an indigenous Queer Australian woman, which means that I can count her book against three challenges. Plus, she's an awesome writer.

I did find "Bitin' Back" a bit difficult to get through. I raced through the first fifty pages, captured by the dialogue and the life and the in-your-face-ness, but then I got bogged down by the difference between Mavis' attitude towards Nevil's presumed homosexuality and my own attitude. It wasn't until I began reading Marie Munkara's Every Secret Thing that I found the way to read Mavis Dooley. I think it's because I personalise things so very much; I kept internalising Mavis' issues and placing her opinions on myself. There was something in Munkara's book that reminded me to read Mavis as her own person without imposing her ideas on me.

I needed that distance from Nevil and Trevor and Mavis in order to be able to read this. The language, the art of writing in this book is absolutely first class. The topic was too close and that's what caused the issues in reading it, but the book itself is amazingly awesome, and I'm so very, very glad that I found my way through.



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Review: Every Secret Thing

Every Secret Thing by Marie Munkara

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This wasn't the book I was expecting it to be, but that was because of my personal experience of North East Arnhem Land. And as I thought about it, perhaps all the love for Bapa Sheppy is like the "love" that the Bush Mob had for Fr Macredie in Every Secret Thing. (I don't think it was, but having read this book, I can't discount the possibility.)

Because it wasn't what I expected, I struggled a little initially with the book. But it's written in such an awesome way, this layer of humor covering (and yet revealing) the bitter hurt caused to the Bush mob by the Mission mob. The Mission mob are just so very *stupid*, and yet that's so completely believable. The dumb-ass things said and thought by the priests and the brothers and sisters, the ghastly awful attitude of the Bishop - I hate that it's realistic; I hate that people have behaved so very badly in the name of God; but they did and it is.

Marie Munkara's narrative style is just stunning. Her use of humor and bitterness and laughter and truthtelling grabbed me from the very beginning, and got me through every single moment of "I wish, I wish, I wish..."

I'm sure this was rec'd as a YA book, but I'm not certain that it actually is YA now that I've read it. In a lot of ways it's entirely suitable, and yet there's all that's implied in terms of abuse of the indigenous boys - and women - by the missionary Brothers. But if we're talking YA, then this is stuff kids know. And sure, they'll giggle if they read this at school, but reading about the truth of the Missions, the stupidity and outright horror of what white people did, what Christians did, the harm we caused and the utter nuttiness of whitefella pseudo-superiority in matters of faith and lifestyle...

This needs to be read. The words need to be heard and lived and accepted. And this book is a brilliant piece of that message.



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Review: The FitzOsbornes in Exile

The FitzOsbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'm a book behind with this series. My twitter feed has been full of people reviewing the third book (and loving it) so I know that I've got something good still to come.

I adored the first book (although my Goodreads review might not seem like it, I did give it five stars), and I equally adored the second book. I also got a laugh out of the fact that while reading it, I was wondering whether Cooper had used particular sources, and when I got to the end, yes, she had. :-) There is so much to love in this book: Henry, who is just plain awesome, Simon the mostly stalwart, Veronica the Magnificent, especially when speaking to the Foreign Secretary's Office, and later in her final big scene... I can't wait to see how Colonel Stanley-Ross' character develops in the next book, and I have to admit that if he wasn't already married and ridiculously too old for Sophie, I'd be shipping the two of them right now.

Which brings me to Sophie. The wonderful, strategic, clever, and far too good for the fluffiness of débutante society Sophie. The line I quoted in a status update about feeling like a one-person League of Nations is marvellous, and I can just imagine her, in Geneva, meeting Edith Campbell Berry and the two of them getting along like a house on fire.

I hope I find a reasonably priced copy of FitzOsbournes at War sooner rather than later, because it's a while until the British edition is released, and I don't like the cover of that one nearly as much as the Australian version.



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Queer Australian Women Writers

As readers can see from my sidebar, I have a few different challenges that I've set myself this year.  One is to read books by Australian Women, another by queer (LGBT) writers, and a third for books by writers who are not white.  If I read a book by a queer Australian woman who isn't white, I get to count it for all three challenges.

So, I'm trying to compile a list of authors who tick the AWW box and at least one other.  I'd love to hear more suggestions, as well as corrections if I've mis-identified anyone.

Queer Australian other-than-white women writers
1.  Vivien Cleven

Queer white Australian women writers

1. Lindy Cameron
2. Rachel Cook
3. Sophie Cunningham
4. Portia de Rossi
5. Kelly Gardiner
6. Fiona McGregor
7. Clare McNab
8. Sue-Ann Post
9. Sarah Walker

(So far I haven't managed to find any Lindy Cameron or Clare McNab available from local libraries.  Must keep working on that.)

So, intrepid readers of this blog: any additions?

Review: A Woman's War: The Exceptional Life Of Wilma Oram Young, AM

A Woman's War: The Exceptional Life Of Wilma Oram Young, AM by Barbara Angell

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I accidentally left "Bad Faith" at work for the three-day weekend, and so hot on the heels of that review comes this one.

This review is probably the more scathing one. Sorry 'bout that.

This book is about a woman who is awesome. Who achieved an amazing amount in her life, and possibly the most amazing thing was that she survived the Japanese Prisoner of War camps along with her fellow army nurses. I don't want this review to take away from that at all.

This book is about a remarkable old biddy. However. She would hate me, and I doubt I'd be all that enamoured of her as a result. So there's that from the beginning. She's just far too much like my grandmother. (Odd that Keating's 1993 election win is mentioned negatively, and yet no mention is made of Howard's 1996/7 win. Suspect bias on the part of the author, but have not yet determined in which direction this suspected bias lies.)

Anyway. The first two sections of the book are fine. The first describes Wilma Orem (Young)'s childhood and training as a nurse; the second her time as an Army nurse and then as a prisoner of war; the third her life following her return to Australia after the war.

The second section is the most impressive and thought-provoking; in particular the gruesome yet matter of fact descriptions of war, violence and torture.

However the whole is negatively impacted by Angell's unimpressive writing; while the drama of the second section carries the reader along, in the first and third, the pedestrian nature of the writing makes the reading experience drag. The third section is particularly tedious: every ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day, every reunion with her fellow-prisoners is described as 'particularly special'. I would have expected more from a writer with Angell's apparent credentials as a screenwriter and teacher of writing, but there was just so little energy once the prisoner-of-war section was over.

In sum: the story is important, and I value it. The presentation lets the story down, as does the confusion relating to the politicisation of Orem Young's later years (ie, why the mention of the Labor win but not the Liberal? Was that because the author wanted to emphasise or minimise the difference (or lack thereof) of Veterans policy between the governments of the two parties. As I said, I'm unsure.)

This past January I went to the Australian War Memorial's special exhibition on nurses in war. I also saw (briefly) some of the work done by the nurses in the PoW camps. What these women survived was amazing. I only wish that the book I just read had been more worthy of what they themselves went through.

(Betty Jeffrey's "White Coolies" is going on my To-Read shelf despite my automatic flinch at its title.)





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