It’s the end of the year and what a wonderful year it’s been for reading Australian women writers. There have been new books from some of my favourites, and I’ve been introduced to writers who I’m sure will be on my future lists of favourites.
But this is a wrap-up post for the 2014 Australian Women Writers Challenge—my second challenge year—and I have to confess that, while I have handsomely exceeded my AWWC commitment to read at least ten books by Australian women writers, I have fallen short of my goal to review at least six. But I’m recklessly going to call it challenge completed, anyway!
Here are the challenge books it’s been my pleasure to read in 2014, with links to my reviews and to new books by Australian women writers featured on the blog this year in my 2, 2 and 2 series.
Debra Adelaide, Letters to George Clooney (Picador, 2013)
Andrea Goldsmith, The Memory Trap (Fourth Estate, 2013) *reviewed here
Andrea Goldsmith, Reunion (Fourth Estate, 2009)
Catherine Jinks, A Very Unusual Pursuit: Book 1: City of Orphans (Allen & Unwin, 2013) *reviewed here
Tracy Farr, The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt (Fremantle Press, 2013)
Carmel Macdonald Grahame, Personal Effects (UWA Publishing, 2014) *reviewed here
Felicity Young, The Scent of Murder (HarperCollins, 2014)
Moira McKinnon, Cicada (Allen & Unwin, 2014)
Brooke Davis, Lost & Found (Hachette, 2014) *featured here
Dawn Barker, Let Her Go (Hachette, 2014) *featured here
Simone Lazaroo, Lost River: Four Albums (UWA Publishing, 2014)
Evie Wyld, All the Birds, Singing (Vintage, 2013)
Fiona McFarlane, The Night Guest (Penguin, 2013)
Inga Simpson, Mr Wigg (Hachette, 2013)
Deb Fitzpatrick, The Break (Fremantle Press, 2014) *featured here
Joan London, The Golden Age (Vintage, 2014)
Danielle Wood, Mothers Grimm (Allen & Unwin, 2014)
S.A. Jones, Isabelle of the Moon & Stars (UWA Publishing, 2014) *featured here
Annabel Smith, The Ark (self-published, 2014) *featured here
Paddy O’Reilly, The Factory (Affirm Press, 2014 edn)
Michelle de Kretser, Springtime: A Ghost Story (Allen & Unwin, 2014)
This year I also introduced eight Western Australian women writers with manuscripts that I hope we will have an opportunity to review, as books, in the future: Rashida Murphy and Kristen Levitzke, Amanda Gardiner and Emily Paull, Karen Overman and Kim Coull, and Michelle Michau-Crawford and Louise Allan.
I do intend to sign up for the 2015 challenge and already have a pile of books ready to go.
And as this is the last post from me this year, I’d like to acknowledge the AWWC bloggers who chose to review my own books in 2014. I really appreciate it—thank you!
Elemental
Sonja Porter, Sonja’s Bookshelf
Angela Savage
Monique Mulligan, Write Note Reviews
Danielle Burns
Bernadette, Reactions to Reading
Natalia ClaraThe Sinkings
Karen Has Things to SayInherited
Karen Has Things to Say
Happy New Year, everyone!
looking up/looking down 
Reblogged this on Sesquialtera.
Thanks, Will 🙂
Lovely wrap up Amanda – so sorry I’m not among your reviewers. You are on my list but that’s not much help I realise.
Anyhow, I reckon you can recklessly claim to have completed the challenge – I’ll defend you if need be agains the Internet Blog Challenge Police if need be. Your cred is good with me. (Particularly with your introduction of new writers!)
I look forward to seeing your reviews in 2015.
Ah, good to have you on my side, Sue, although I feel reasonably confident I won’t be thrown out of the challenge — as you know, readers are an eminently civilised lot 🙂 And no problem re my book: I know what a teetering TBR looks like!
Here’s to a happy new year of reading and reviewing!
You’ve supported the cause well, Amanda. Not only have you read Aussie women, but also supported those of us aiming for that elusive goal of publication. Thank you.
Thanks, Louise, and let’s hope we’ll all be reading Ida’s Children before too long!
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Oh, I think I’ll read all the books you’ve read this year, next year, Amanda. Except for The Ark, I haven’t read any, and they sound so eminently readable. I’ve not read much this year, having had my nose buried deep in theory. Hopefully, next year is looking good. And thank you very much for the generous feature. xx
I remember what that was like, Rashida—it was nothing but gender theory for me one year! I hope you enjoy some of my 2014 list. I loved many of them and wished I’d had time to review more.
It was my very great pleasure to feature you on the blog, and I’m sure I’ll be doing so again once The Historian’s Daughter finds its way into the world. xx
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