Back in January I pledged to do the 2012 Australian Women Writers Reading and Reviewing Challenge, and as of this morning, December 2012 I have completed the challenge!
I pledged to do the challenge as ‘purist’ reading in the science fiction/fantasy/speculative fiction genre. I pledged to read 6 books and review three. In actuality, I read 9 books and reviewed 3. The list of books I read are detailed below with links to the books on Goodreads and also to the author’s websites.
The Full List
The Reign of Beasts (Creature Court #3) by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Debris (Veiled Worlds #1) by Jo Anderton
The Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood
Diamond Eyes (Mira Chambers #1) by A.A. Bell
Finnikin of the Rock (Lumatere Chronicles #1) by Melina Marchetta
Froi of the Exiles (Lumatere Chronicles #2) by Melina Marchetta
Burn Bright (Night Creatures #1) by Marianne de Pierres
Angel Arias (Night Creatures #2) by Marianne de Pierres
Shine Light (Night Creatures #3) by Marianne de Pierres
The Reviews:
The Reign of Beasts by Tansy Rayner Roberts
The Courier’s New Bicycle by Kim Westwood
I had a marvellous time with the challenge, I read a whole lot of reviews and they certainly influenced my reading choices. I did find new authors to appreciate, and I got to have a whole lot of discussions with people about the books that I read. Two of the books I read for the challenge ended up being part of a tiny number of books that constituted my best reads of 2012, namely The Courier’s New Bicycle and Diamond Eyes.
I plan to take on the challenge next year too – I got so much out of the sense of community from the challenge, and also the fact that women writers and Australian ones were part of a constant conversation around me online for the whole year! So wonderful and I’m proud to be part of it.