Title: First Casualty Author: Michael Pryor In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Space, Young adult Dates read: 1st November 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: We didn’t get a chance to answer.
It’s a Space Gap Year. One that has some unexpected consequences and occurrences. But this will be amazing.
For starters, this short story is a great reminder to stop the “us versus them” crap. After all, it does nothing but damage everyone and everything involved. Something that we constantly need to be reminded of in my humble opinion. After all, we all have feelings, and that’s the important thing.
The space setting and Gap Year feeling throughout this story is fun. I never took a Gap Year, so the idea of one in space and the adventure that the lead characters go on… it was a lot of fun. There is so much future potential to this story! After all, their Gap Year is just beginning when this story ends.
Not only is this a fun little science fiction, coming-of-age story, but it’s also a wonderful story full of hints of romance. I love how Pryor is able to place out hints of the relationship that is developing, without bashing you over the head with it.
Title: The Stone Mage and the Sea Author: Sean Williams Series: The Change #1 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Elements, Fantasy Dates read: 29th – 31st October 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Fantastica Year: 2002 5th sentence, 74th page: “But my dad -“
In a world… where the huge, red-sanded deserts are ruled by Stone Mages and the vast coastlines by Sky Wardens, any child with magic ability is taken away to the Haunted City to be trained in the Change.
Fundelry is a small town much like any other in the Strand. The people have little tolerance for anyone who stands out, and Sal and his father are strangers, running from someone… or something. Sal is rescued from the local bully by Shilly and her teacher Lodo, a mysterious tattooed man who seems to know more about Sal than Sal himself. And, strangely, Sal’s father seems to want to stay put for a while.
But soon the Sky Wardens will come to Fundelry – before then Sal must uncover the connection between Lodo and the mother he never met, in order to escape a fate that seems to have been chosen for him before he was even born…
This has everything that a traditional fantasy novel should have. The fantasy novels that I grew up with and first introduced me to the genre had this same kind of amazing mystical feel to it. From the very first page, I was swept into Williams’ world and really, seriously didn’t want to leave. I could imagine this small town, the confused Sal and the immensity of the sea from the very beginning. Even now, when I close my eyes, I can picture it all in my mind’s eye.
The characters in this story are really strong and well thought out. Sometimes it can take me a little while to get attached to characters and find the rhythm of the story. Or, as the case may be, the world building that has constructed the story and characters. That’s not the case with The Stone Mage and the Sea. From that very first scene with Sal and his father driving into a town, you are there. Right in the moment. Pulled in, whether you like it or not.
Lodo is everything that a mysterious teacher should be. I’m hoping that he doesn’t just disappear off the face of the earth after this book. He is tattooed, enigmatic and completely impossible to predict. Partnered with his apprentice, Shilly, they are great duo that help to build Sal up and help him start on a new path in life. Which, considering how this novel ended, I think is incredibly and wonderfully important. Sal grows so much in this first novel, I can’t wait to see how he’ll grow in the next two novels.
The Stone Mage and the Sea is everything I haven’t realised I’ve been missing in fantasy novels. I have been reading a lot of urban fantasy and paranormal fantasy and all such. So picking up a novel that bought me back to the fantasy novels that first got me enthralled in the genre… well, I’m glad that I have the rest of the trilogy sitting on my shelves, ready to go.
Title: In a Heartbeat Author: Alice Pung In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Contemporary, Young adult Dates read: 20th October 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: ‘I’m going to vom,’ I croaked to Nancy, and she dashed me to the bathroom, and for the first time in this pregnancy, I had a big, long vomit and cry.
She has two heartbeats, and a life that is about to change drastically. But it’s alright, because she has a plan.
I really liked this short story. It took all of about thirty seconds to realise that the narrator was talking to their unborn baby, which was good otherwise this would have made zero sense. Not only is it a great way to show the future mother’s love for her child, but it’s also a good way to sshow the change in thought processes that the future mother is going through.
This short story is all about that moment where you say goodbye to childhood and hello to reality / adulthood. It’s admittedly kind of intense since it does deal with teenage pregnancy. But I thought it was also ridiculously, wonderfully realistic. Particularly when you mix in the fact that this story is also about Asian immigrants and the cultural practices they carry with them. Or at least, that’s why I got out of this.
I had such a great time reading this story, and I could actually hear the narrator’s voice in my head. Her voice was laced with attitude, sarcasm, love and a little fear. It left me smiling and happy when I finished it and wondering if I should find myself some more Alice Pung stories to fill my shelves…
Title: Bluebird Author: Malcolm Knox Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Contemporary Dates read: 9th – 18th September 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Novel Publisher: Allen & Unwin Year: 2020 5th sentence, 74th page: Sam let this pass, out of respect for the awkwardness of Gordon’s situation or because he saw a wave.
A stunning new novel about longing, regret, redemption and the terrible legacy of decades of secrets buried in an Australian beachside suburb.
A house perched impossibly on a cliff overlooking the stunning, iconic Bluebird Beach. Prime real estate, yet somehow not real estate at all, The Lodge is, like those who live in it, falling apart.
Gordon Grimes has become the accidental keeper of this last relic of an endangered world. He lives in The Lodge with his wife Kelly who is trying to leave him, their son Ben who will do anything to save him, his goddaughter Lou who is hiding from her own troubles, and Leonie, the family matriarch who has trapped them here for their own good.
But Gordon has no money and is running out of time to conserve his homeland. His love for this way of life will drive him, and everyone around him, to increasingly desperate risks. In the end, what will it cost them to hang onto their past?
Acclaimed writer Malcolm Knox has written a classic Australian novel about the myths that come to define families and communities, and the lies that uphold them. It’s about a certain kind of Australia that we all recognise, and a certain kind of Australian whose currency is running out. Change is coming to Bluebird, whether they like it or not. And the secrets they’ve been keeping and the lies they’ve been telling can’t save them now.
Savage, funny, revelatory and brilliant, Bluebird exposes the hollowness of the stories told to glorify a dying culture and shows how those who seek to preserve these myths end up being crushed by them.
It took me a little while to truly get into this novel. To be honest, at first I didn’t think that I’d enjoy it all. I found the lead character, Gordon, a little difficult to feel sympathy for or bond with. But about two chapters in, that all changed. Somehow all of those little moments that made it difficult to feel bonded with Gordon suddenly became the very reasons why I wanted him to find his own happiness and bliss. It was completely unexpected and kind of exciting. Definitely a talented way to make you seriously feel for a character, whilst also highlighting all of their flaws (and who doesn’t love a flawed protagonist?)
Even though I did eventually feel somewhat attached to Gordon, he was still a fairly wishy washy and somewhat whinney feeling protagonist. Personally, I generally prefer my leads to have a bit of a backbone. And even though he does finally manage to do so, it’s still not the backbone that I would have liked to see. Yet, having said that. There is not a thing I would change about him – I feel like that’s a truly wonderful talent – creating a protagonist that I would normally kind of hate, and making me think that he was ultimately perfect.
The part of this story that I enjoyed the most was the constant familiarity throughout the story. There were so many scenes, moments and characters that felt like the people and places that I know in my everyday life. A small town that is stuck in its ways and impossible to forget. Difficult to let go of and hard to move on from? It was definitely the kind of story that plucked all of my nostalgic, Aussie heart strings. I’m not really sure how someone not from Australia would feel about all of this nostalgia, but I’ll certainly be recommending this to my overseas friends as well as my local friends!
This is a great and very intense story that focuses on the things we do for love – whether that’s staying or leaving. Keeping secrets or telling the truth. Love definitely governs all in this story, with a dash of secret keeping and the ties that bind us to family. It was intense and gorgeous. Definitely a book well worth reading!
Title: Tomorrow, When the War Began Author: John Marsden Series: Tomorrow #1 Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Dystopia, War Dates read: 6th – 11th August 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Novel Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia Year: 1993 5th sentence, 74th page: We agreed on total silence, and we left Kevin’s old corgi, Flip, chained up at the Mackenzies’.
TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN: The astonishing adventure begins
Ellie and her friends leave home one quiet morning, wave goodbye to their parents, and head up into the hills to camp out for a while; seven teenagers filling in time during school holidays.
The world is about to change forever. Their lives will never be the same again.
Would you fight? Would you give up everything? Would you sacrifice even life itself?
Tomorrow, When the War Began asks the biggest questions you will ever have to answer.
I first read this book when I was about ten years old. My mum probably didn’t quite realise what an intense story she was buying me. But it was certainly a great read, even back then. But, now? As an adult? Wow. I had actually forgotten just how damn good this book actually is! It’s brilliantly written, has a seriously intense storyline, manages to somehow be relatable in unrelatable circumstances, and, the part that I probably like the most… it has a great and strong character development / arc that makes you want to pick up the next book immediately and without reservation.
As with my first reading through of this when I was younger – it makes me incredibly grateful for the life I lead. Especially with the global climate right now. It just makes me more and more grateful for what I have in my own life. It’s definitely charmed living in Australia, and I just can’t imagine my life being torn apart in one moment as it is in this novel. It’s so lovely to read a book that highlights the good things in our lives by showing just how quickly things can go drastically wrong.
As I mentioned in my first paragraph, one of my favourite things about this novel is the way in which Ellie evolves as a person. At the beginning she’s a fairly typical teenager. Worried about boys, her friends and slightly rebelling against her parents. Even the first moments of the war are a little disjointed to her. But, as the story evolves, so does she. Quite drastically, but in a way that is entirely plausible. I love that her self-awareness and understanding of her own motives grows as she becomes a stronger, more independent woman. It means that I can’t wait to see how she further evolves as things get darker and darker…
I love novels that, when you’ve turned that final page, you constantly think about them. Either because of the emotions that they impart, or, as is the case with this book – a question that you ask yourself. In this case, I am constantly wondering what I would have done / would do in this situation. And whether I would even survive (I strongly suspect I wouldn’t… but it’s an interesting thought exercise). Now I have to weigh up the pros and cons of whether or not I want to read the next book just now… and whether my heart can bear the intensity of the storyline…
Title: The Outside Circle Author: Patti Laboucane-Benson Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Graphic novels Dates read: 31st July 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Graphic novel Publisher: Anansi Year: 2015 5th sentence, 74th page: Open Up!
Pete, a young Aboriginal man wrapped up in gang violence, lives with his younger brother, Joey, and his mother who is a heroin addict. One night, Pete and his mother’s boyfriend, Dennis, get into a big fight, which sends Dennis to the morgue and Pete to jail. Initially, Pete keeps up ties to his crew, until a jail brawl forces him to realize the negative influence he has become on Joey, which encourages him to begin a process of rehabilitation that includes traditional Aboriginal healing circles and ceremonies.
Powerful, courageous, and deeply moving, The Outside Circle is drawn from the author’s twenty years of work and research on healing and reconciliation of gang-affiliated or incarcerated Aboriginal men.
This is a seriously powerful graphic novel. Normally a graphic novel of this size, I’ll rip through in one sitting. One happy, intense and fun sitting. But, nevertheless, I don’t normally dwell over graphic novels as much. And I certainly don’t normally have to put it down at regular intervals to gain a better headspace because of intensity. It’s not just the storyline. The images in this are also incredibly potent, powerful and brilliant.
The colours throughout this graphic novel are absolutely gorgeous. I loved all of the natural tones that fill the pages and the way in which the different tones change. Particularly from beginning (more reds and angry colours) to end (natural, calmer colours). The imagery, partnered with the storyline and the colouring turned this from a story that I would have enjoyed anyway, but ended up being completely drawn into in an unforgettable way.
At the conclusion of this novel, I found out that the whole journey throughout is based on a real program that is available in Canada to their Indigenous Peoples. It seems like such a great program and I just loved the fact that this gave a nice level of realism to the story line. It also made me feel hopeful for the many, many, many Indigenous peoples who are in similar positions.
Not only did this make me seriously think about the Indigenous people of Canada and America, it also made me think about our own First Nations People. And the ways in which we could maybe have a similar program for them one day. Or… maybe we already do, and I’m just ignorant…
Title: Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse Author: Cassandra Pybus Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Biographies, History, Indigenous Australians Dates read: 2nd – 20th July 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Novel Publisher: Allen & Unwin Year: 2020 5th sentence, 74th page: She was grieving the loss of their youngest son nine months earlier, and it was also time to reconnect with his five surviving children.
Cassandra Pybus’ ancestors told a story of an old Aboriginal woman who would wander across their farm on Bruny Island, just off the coast of south-east Tasmania, throughout the 1850s and 1860s. As a child, Cassandra didn’t know this woman was Truganini, and that she was walking over the country of her clan, the Nuenonne, of whom she was the last.
The name of Truganini is vaguely familiar to most Australians as ‘the last of her race’. She has become an international icon for a monumental tragedy: the extinction of the original people of Tasmania within her lifetime. For nearly seven decades she lived through a psychological and cultural shift more extreme than most human imaginations could conjure. She is a hugely significant figure in Australian history and we should know about how she lived, not simply that she died. Her life was much more than a regrettable tragedy. Now Cassandra has examined the original eyewitness accounts to write Truganini’s extraordinary story.
A lively, intelligent, sensual woman, Truganini managed to survive the devastating decade of the 1820s when the clans of south-eastern Tasmania were all but extinguished. Taken away from Bruny Island in 1830, she spent five years on a journey around Tasmania, across rugged highland and through barely penetrable forests, with the self-styled missionary George Augustus Robinson, who was collecting all the surviving people to send them into exile on Flinders Island. She managed to avoid a long incarceration on Flinders Island when Robinson took her to Victoria where she was implicated in the murder of two white men. Acquitted of murder, she was returned to Tasmania where she lived for another thirty-five years. Her story is both inspiring and herat-wrenching, and it is told in full in this book for the first time.
This was an amazing, must-read for all Aussies. It was one though that I would read a chapter and then pick up another, happier book. There is this tragic feeling that runs all the way through. There aren’t happy moments. This doesn’t give you hope for the future. Instead, it reminds you of the many atrocities which we really should be condemned for… but it’s well-worth the read. And impossible to forget.
The whole journey in this book is somewhat heartbreaking. But the very end of it… that was just a whole other level. Particularly considering Truganini feared her body being taken for science and begged someone to bury it in the deepest water she knew… only to find out that when she passed… her body was taken and mounted in a museum. I just couldn’t believe the horror of that and the cruelty. There was just something so incomprehensible and… just… no… about the whole situation.
I’m always trying to find out as much as I can about Australian history. And for me, this was a fantastic piece of that. I knew next to nothing about the plight of Indigenous Australians in Tasmania when the settlers came. Although I still feel like I know next to nothing… I felt like there was so much more that was revealed in this novel. Alright, it probably wasn’t’ my favourite biography, Pybus has a slightly drier writing style than what I prefer. But overall, it was somewhat amazing and a great way to highlight the plight and true journey of one well-known Indigenous Australian.
I received this book at the beginning of the year. And my biggest regret? That I didn’t read it sooner. This is a book that I think all Australians should read. One that is amazing and impossible to forget. Definitely at the top of my suggestions pile…
What does it mean to be queer? What does it mean to be human? In this powerful #OwnVoices collection, twelve of Australia’s finest writers from the LGBTQIA+ community explore the stories of family, friends, lvoer and strangers the connections that form us.
This is an amazing collection. A great taste of some of the amazing talent that Australia has to offer. And a unique theme – LGBTQI+. It’s definitely a theme that is slowly filling more and more of my shelves. But it’s one that I’m definitely actively hunting for more of. I now have all twelve of the authors in my collection on my wishlist…
Each and every one of the stories in this collection are thoughtful and intriguing. They ran the gamut of emotions – some had me in tears, others had me hooting with laughter. But, what they all had in common? They had a great, thought-provoking theme that drew me in from the very beginning.
This is my first #LoveOzYA collection. And when I bought this, I did buy a few others. Now, I am exceedingly grateful for the fact… I can’t wait to enjoy more of the beautiful Qussie work on my shelves!
Title: Questions to Ask Straight Relatives Author: Benjamin Law In: Kindred (Michael Earp) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Australian authors, Contemporary, LGBTQI Dates read: 17th July 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Walker Books Year: 2019 5th sentence, 74th page: “Why?”
Those questions that we all like to ask people who are a little bit “different”. Well, what if they start questioning things you think are normal? Maybe it isn’t as simple and normal as you thought it was…
I picked this up at a fantastic time. It was a short story that I read as I was reading my psych textbook – a chapter about gender and the assumptions that we make. So reading a short story which was more like an essay and focused on the assumptions we make about “normalcy”… it was just fantastic, karmic, worldly timing. That I thoroughly enjoyed.
Not only does Law’s writing force you to think about assumptions around gender and sexuality. But there are also many issues of race and culture that are bought up too. In a way that makes it completely obvious that Law himself is constantly battling these multitudes of identity throughout his life. It left me questioning all of the assumptions that I make. Well, about everything…
Not only am I completely in love with this short story. But it also rounded out the Kindred collection perfectly. The whole journey in this collection was about making you think more deeply about others, or at least, it was to me. But after reading this, it also made me question many of the assumptions in my own life…
Title: One Small Step… Author: Amie Kaufman In: Begin, End, Begin (Danielle Binks) Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves:Aliens, Australian authors, LGBTQI, Science fiction, Young adult Dates read: 30th June 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Year: 2017 5th sentence, 74th page: Only a few people have ever returned from Mars to Earth, but it’s possible, just very expensive.
She’s the first born Martian. And rightly famous for it. But what if what she wants isn’t the life that has been mapped out for her? How can she figure out how to take that first, small step into her own future?
This was such an amazingly cute, engaging and brilliant short story. It also perfectly encompassed the theme of “beginning” which is featured in the Begin, End, Begin collection. After all, it is about a girl on the precipice of adulthood, trying to decide what she wants to do with her life and her future. The fact that she was the first person born on Mars and is somewhat of a celebrity just helps to add to the potency of the storyline.
There are two coming-of-age battles that are fought and dwelt upon beautifully in this short story. The first is the decision about whether or not to go to college on earth. What one wants to actually do with their lives in the future. And, ultimately, how much of this decision is based upon your own needs, and how much is based upon the desires of those who love you. I know that it was a battle that I constantly had to fight when I was trying to make decisions about my future.
Secondly, there is the little fact that the lead narrator is actually LGBTQI+. Her constant battle with not knowing how to reveal this fact and desire to do so… it’s kind of precipice-feeling. And so, when she finally makes a decision about her life at the end, you are just so damn happy. It really made my heart swell two more sizes.
This is a fantastic, perfect coming-of-age story that takes you to that precipice of the future. That will either make you think of your own potential future, or those moments like this that feel so important and all powerful… just ready for you too to jump of that cliff and start your own reality.
Earth and Skye 