A Wonderful Year of Reading!

It was about this time last year that I stumbled across the Australian Women Writer's Challenge for 2012. As an Australian female author, I was so excited to find a challenge promoting me (among many others of course!!). And I will admit my first thought was more about how it could help gain publicity for my book than how it could improve my own reading habits. But that idea soon changed.

I have long been passionate about reading books written by Australian authors, but as many of us know they can be hard to find. While many libraries have the books, very few have a specific section for Australian fiction - let alone Australian female fiction. So the idea of creating a website that combined the knowledge of as many readers as possible was just brilliant. Truthfully when I first set myself a target of reading 50 books for the challenge, I was dubious if I could do it. Not the number of books, but if I could find that many books by Australian women writers. What a pleasant surprise to find that there was easily that many - plus dozens more I was excited about devouring.

I have LOVED reading the books for this challenge and am proud to have reached my goal of 50 books with reviews of 38. Furthermore I hope that some of my reviews have encouraged other participants to read more books by Australian women authors. 

A huge thank you to all the challenge organisers. It truly goes to show that one person can make a huge impact when they are passionate about changing something. Kudos to you! Thanks also to Shellyrae and her amazing Book Blog Book'd Out. It is through her that I have discovered many new authors and gotten myself onto the head of the library queue for upcoming releases. 

Book Review No 38: A Passionate Life by Ita Buttrose

This was my 50th book I read for the Australian Women Writer's Challenge and the final one I will review for the 2012 challenge (Review #38).

I got this book out of the library and ended up with the earlier edition (published in 1998), so I did not get the last decade or so of Ita's life story. However I will still do the review on this edition (and hopefully catch up on the later edition later).

Book Review No 37: Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

It took me a little while to warm to this story, but the more I read the more I became engrossed in it. I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but will be more open to it after reading Caleb's Crossing.

Bethia is a teenaged minister's daughter in 17th century Massachusetts, who yearns to break free of the chains her gender place on her in the tiny settlement of Great Rock. Meeting a young man named Caleb changes her life forever and their lives remain entwined as he sets forth on the journey of becoming the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College.

Book Review No 36: The Double Life Of Herman Rockefeller by Hilary Bonney

Horrible subject matter aside, this was quite an interesting book. I was intrigued by it mainly because I just didn't understand what had driven a man who seemed to have two such distinct sides to his personality. In that sense I was left a little disappointed - because while this book details the crime and the aftermath, it doesn't really explain Herman himself and the darkness within him.

I did get the sense that Herman was a man who obviously battled his dark side, but made no real attempt to defeat it. Rather he used his business interests (involving a lot of travel)to regularly submerge himself in the murky world of swinging. He had gotten away with it for years with no suspicion from his wife or family - but then one night it all fell apart in the worst possible way when he tangled with the wrong people.

Book Review No 35: Wildfire by Susan Geason

It is 1992 in Sydney and police psychologist Rachel Addison is the only woman on the homicide squad. Fear is at fever pitch following the brutal murder of popular young nurse Lisa Broderick (which is very similar to the real life case of murdered nurse Anita Cobby in the 1980s). Adding to this already tense atmosphere are the bushfires that are surrounding the city worsening, it seems, each day.

Right from the start you get a sense of Rachel and the baggage she is carrying from a troubled childhood. As she and the homicide squad make progress on the case, her own anxiety begins to increase as repressed feelings and memories begin to surface. The suspense really picks up when it becomes apparent that the killer is in fact stalking Rachel.

Amazon Price Freeze

One month ago I changed the price for the Kindle version of my book to $2.99 for one weekend as a special promotion (normal price is $7.99). It is easy to do and I had done it several times before without incident. When I went to change the price back, it didn't happen. It just froze in the processing mode. Knowing that there are sometimes glitches on the system I didn't think much of it and decided I would change it the next day. So the next day the same thing happened. I decided to Google it and see if anyone else was having the same problem. Apparently nobody else was. So I moved onto Amazon help. I outlined the problem and received a response a few hours later. They were puzzled but promised they would look into it. A few days later they were still puzzled. We tried various things but still the same result. The person handling the problem said he would check with somebody else but would get back to me in a few days. A few days later, they still couldn't explain it.

Next they decided they would change the price back up on my behalf. This seemed to work....initially. After the usual six to twelve hours it takes to flow through the system, the price is still "in review" and remains there after nine days. I am awaiting yet another response :-(

I think the main thing that amazes me is that for such a massive global company, this seems like a really tiny problem that could be fixed pretty fast. I'm not complaining about Amazon's help, they people on the case seem to be trying - I'm just amazed they haven't come up with a solution that's a bit more out of the box. I did have the idea to delete the file and upload it again - but now I can't access that function. Argh!!

So the good news for book buyers is that The Beach House is still $2.99. The not so good news for me is that my royalties for this month will be way, way down. Ah well, there is literally nothing I can do about it and who knows, maybe this is in fact an advantageous thing for me?? I'd like to think so anyway.

Book Review No 34: After The Darkness by Honey Brown

Trudy and Bruce Harrison seem to have it all – a happy marriage, three healthy children and a successful business. Then one afternoon as they are returning home from a trip away they make the fateful decision to stop at a Gallery on a lonely, country road. What happens there changes their comfortable life in an instant and sends them on a journey that will test everything they thought was safe in their world. 

Right from the beginning you get a sense of reality about this novel – that something like this could happen to an average couple who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I liked the way the author explored the different ways that people cope with the same event and how self-preservation is ultimately the most powerful driving force for most human beings when faced with adversity.

Book Review No 33: Matilda Is Missing by Caroline Overington

Softie and Garry are from two different worlds. She is an accomplished career woman from a middle class background and he grew up in foster care after a horrific childhood incident and takes life very much as he finds it. They were never really suited for one another, but Softie went against her better judgement and settled. Why? Because she was approaching 40 and desperately wanted a child. In hindsight she knows it was the wrong decision, yet at the time Garry was there and available. And like many women Softie believed that she just might be able to "fix" him.

This novel is told in quite an unusual way and as you start reading you wonder when you are actually going to come across what is described in the main blurb of the story. Told through the eyes of outsiders, it shows the whole situation from different angles and perspectives - which I thought actually worked really well. The main voice is that of a man in his sixties, who as a character I thought was absolutely spot on. You could imagine this man easily, right down to his old man wardrobe and what he has for dinner each night.

Book Review No 31: Stronger Now by Nicole MacLean

Back in 2002 Nicole MacLean was just an average twenty three year old. From a close knit family in suburban Melbourne, she had a job she loved, a wide circle of friends and enjoyed a busy social life. Having previously been to Bali, she was happy to go back for a relaxing break with some friends. Touching down on the afternoon of October 12th 2002, she hadn’t even finished unpacking when she made the fateful decision to go out to the Sari Club. Enjoying the music on the dance floor one minute, her life as she knows it is altered forever when the bomb goes off.

Book Review No 30: Shallow Breath By Sara Foster

Growing up on the beautiful West Australian coast, all Desi ever wanted to do was work with dolphins. As a teenager that dream comes true when she gets a job at the Atlantis marine park near her home town. Devastated when the park is closed, she is thrilled to meet Connor, a young American who is just as passionate about dolphins as she is. Their relationship is passionate but brief when he is tragically killed, leaving her pregnant and alone. She works hard to provide a living for her daughter Maya, but is forced to leave her own passions behind for the sake of practicality. Then one impulsive action on Desi’s behalf results in her spending time in prison, leaving behind a splintered family and a community that ostracises her.