This year was my first year participating in the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge. I really enjoyed being pushed a bit out of my comfort zone as I explored the books on offer.]
My goal for this year was to read 12 books by Australian women, including two by indigneous authors and two by LGBTI* authors. I read 15 books, and two by indigenous authors. I didn’t meet my third goal, onlyl reading one book by an LGBTI* author (that I know of). This is because I left it right until the end to get to those two authors, and the second, Letters to the End of Love by Yvette Walker, was just not for me, and I ended up not finishing it.
I will do a better job on the diversity front next year!
Even though I didn’t quite reach my goals, here’s a list of the books I did read and review. The links go to my GoodReads reviews, which then link back to this blog. You can read them in either place.
Lucid Dreaming by Cassandra Page – 4 stars, fantasy
The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville – 5 stars, historical fiction
Mirrorfall (Require: Cookie #1) by Grace McDermott – 2.5 stars, sci-fi/fantasy
Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil – 3.5 stars, contemporary YA
Captive Prince (Captive Prince #1) by C. S. Pacat – 2 stars, m/m romance/fantasy
Viral by Helen Fitzgerald – 3 stars, thriller
The Fictional Woman by Tara Moss – 3 stars, memoir/social commentary
Isla’s Inheritance (Isla’s Inheritance #1) by Cassandra Page – 3 stars, YA urban fantasy
Paper Daisies by Kim Kelly – 3 stars, historical fiction
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (The Tribe #1) by Ambelin Kwaymullin – 3.5 stars, YA dystopian
Am I Black Enough For You? by Anita Heiss – 4 stars, memoir
Tallow (Curse of the Bond Riders #1) by Karen Brooks – 3.5 stars, YA historical fantasy
Votive (Curse of the Bond Riders #2) by Karen Brooks – 3 stars, YA historical fantasy
The Birdman’s Wife by Melissa Ashley – 3.5 stars, historical fiction
Heat and Light by Elle van Neerven – 3.5 stars, literary fiction
As you can see, there was a lot I enjoyed, though maybe not much that completely blew me away. Next year, I plan to set the same goals and hoepfully I’ll find some real favourites!
A Keyboard and an Open Mind 
Thanks for contributing to the challenge, Emily. I notice you loved Kate Grenville’s work of historical fiction. Have you checked out the historical fiction roundups on the AWW blog? Or our database of books reviewed where you can filter for Historical fiction as well as Literary and Classics? You might find some good recommendations. (And if you haven’t already come across Amanda Curtin’s Elemental, I’d start with that!)
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Thank you for the recommendation! I am still fairly new to historical fiction and find it can be a bit hit or miss for me. eg. I loved The Lieutenant but couldn’t finish The Secret River! I would like to read more though, so I should trawl through the round-ups and add a few to my list.
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I agree that the AWW gets you out of your comfort zone – and I have discovered many great authors I otherwise would have missed. Think I will follow your lead and try for more diversity in the 2017 AWW challenge.
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