Dusk ~ Robbie Arnott

 

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone ~ Benjamin Stevenson

 

The Suns Walks Down ~ Fiona McFarlane

 

*

Almost a DNF, only finished because we were heading to SA.

Wordage, more wordage and blah blah blah.

Story development is painfully slow and overloaded with characters.

Limberlost ~ Robbie Arnott

 

*** LIKE

An outstanding Aussie writer : I liked it ... a lot ... but, there was a "but"

It has a great sense of place and time but lacks the magic realism of the previous two that I loved.

Devotion ~ Hannah Kent

 

* NO

In my new coding system this would be a WOT or a WMLB

(Waste of Time or Want My Life Back)

Wordy drivel

The Survivors ~ Jane Harper

 

All Our Shimmering Skies ~ Trent Dalton

 

Boy Swallows Universe ~ Trent Dalton

Red Herrings For Breakfast ~ Annabet Ousback

The Women In Black ~ Madeleine St John

Bitter Wash Road ~ Garry Disher

Silver ~ Chris Hammer

** OK **

No shine, A little bit tarnished

I didn't care for it.  Having loved Scrubland I was looking forward to a great Aussie pageturner set in my neck of the woods.  I found the sense of location very forced; the plotline was very muddy.  The relationship between the two main characters was tediously angsty.  In fact, all relationships seemed to be tediously angsty.  There were too many characters who all needed their own backstory but were superfluous to the plot.  Some seemed to be there so that there could be expositionary conversations to lead the plot along.

Scrublands ~ Chris Hammer

**** RECOMMEND ****

Oppressive location, page turning read

Flames ~ Robbie Arnott

Dark Emu ~ Bruce Pascoe

The Lost Man ~ Jane Harper

This Is Not A Drill ~ Paul Carter

Nemaluk ~ Ion Idress

I Can Jump Puddles ~ Alan Marshall

****RECOMMEND ****


I could say it no better than words taken from the book :

Marshall says :

"I wanted to do so much more than record the experiences of a little boy faced with the problem of crutches; I wanted to give a picture of a period that has passed."


The publisher's note at the end says :

"In his later life, Alan remarked that being on crutches from this time forced him to be an observer, an onlooker, and a more compassionate person - all qualities of a successful novelist.  His work is characterised by his astute eye for detail and his ability to illuminate life's small but meaningful things...  Life in the country - on the land and in the bush - features prominently in his work, which celebrates the camaraderie of Australian working-class life."

This was a delight!

The Husband's Secret ~ Liane Moriarty

** OK **