Australian Women Writer's Challenge Completed

Once again I have loved being involved in the Australian Women Writer's Challenge in 2013. Setting my target a little higher than in 2012, I am happy to report that I have made (and exceeded slightly) my goal in a more timely fashion this year. (Last year I was reading until the 31st December). My goal was 55 books read and 40 reviews - I made it to 58 read and may get through another one before the end of the year. My review goal was right on at 40.

I have read a mixture of genres this year, although once again Contemporary Fiction has been my main category. My favourites in this group were The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (really loved it), House For All Season by Jenn. J McLeod, Paper Chains by Nicola Moriarty, Sisters of Mercy by Caroline Overington and Last Summer by Kylie Ladd.  In historical fiction I loved two of Kate Morton's books - The Secret Keeper and The Forgotten Garden as well as Amanda Curtin's Elemental. In the biography/memoir genre my top picks were Cliffy by Julietta Jameson and How To Do a Liver Transplant by Kellee Slater. In psychological thrillers Dark Horse by Honey Brown, The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald and Blood Secret by Jaye Ford held me captive as I frantically turned the pages. Melanie Casey's Hindsight introduced me to paranormal crime fiction and I look forward to reading more from her. In saying all that though, I have enjoyed all the books I have read for the challenge this year. There were none that I started and could not finish - those mentioned above stood out just a little above the others.If you read my Goodreads ratings, you will see that most of the books I read rated a solid 4, which to me is a satisfying, entertaining and very enjoyable book.

As I have mentioned several times before I am constantly amazed at the huge range of books out there written by Australian women. It is a field we should be very proud of and it is satisfying to know that the list keeps on growing as not only established authors continue to produce titles of a high calibre, but newcomers also make their mark. No matter what the future of publishing - be it mainly e-books, or paperbacks - it is comforting to know that readers are finding our women writers and supporting them in a fashion that was not possible before the advent of social media and the internet. As long as we as readers keep reading and buying, then women writers can keep on producing.

I am proud of my year of reading and look forward to continuing the tradition in 2014.

To see my list of titles read this year: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7584609?shelf=aww2013

All my reviews are posted here on the blog, just click on the book reviews link on the right.