**Summer 2011-12 Reading Challenge**

The Aussie Readers group on Goodreads has the Summer Reading Challenge;

Summer is finally here, and we want to celebrate making it through winter, suffering from hayfever in the spring (even though the floral display was magnificent) and now getting ready for a New Year!

1. Celebrate Australia! Choose a book from one of our Aussie authors for this one.

James Hutchings – The New Death and others
Death gets a roommate…
An electronic Pope faces a difficult theological question…
A wicked vizier makes a terrible bargain…
44 stories. 19 poems. No whiny vampires. There’s a thin line between genius and insanity, and James Hutchings has just crossed it – but from which direction?

As you can see in the comments in this post, I am going to be reviewing James Hutchings – The New Death and others as part of this Summer’s reading Challenge. A big thanks to James for this opportunity

2. Lighten the load! We’ve all been complaining about it. Those mountainous TBR shelves! Choose one book from your TBR list.

*TBA*

3. Food! We all love food, and the summer fare is delightful! Choose a book relating to summery foods, salads, barbeques, pavlova, recipes, anything where summery foods might be a topic or even the title!

*TBA*

4. Choose a book with a word related to SUMMER in the title (e.g. summer, heat, beach, holidays etc., I‘m sure you can think of many examples) OR a book that the story is set during summer.

Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood?

5. Australia Day is on the 26th January, so find something relating to the First Fleet, a National Day, family bbqs and get togethers, even Anzac biscuits…anything relating to our special day.

As we are a nation built on immigration, I am going slightly left field with this book. The Melbourne Summer Reading initiative for 2012 is Nam Le – The Boat.

Nam Le – The Boat
A stunningly inventive, deeply moving fiction debut: stories that take us from the slums of Colombia to the streets of Tehran; from New York City to Iowa City; from a tiny fishing village in Australia to a foundering vessel in the South China Sea, in a masterly display of literary virtuosity and feeling. …
Brilliant, daring, and demonstrating a jaw-dropping versatility of voice and point of view, The Boat is an extraordinary work of fiction that takes us to the heart of what it means to be human, and announces a writer of astonishing gifts.

6. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held in February. It’s one of the largest festivals in the world and is a major draw card for Aussie tourism. So choose a book with a gay character or written by a gay author.

Oscar Wilde?

7. Christmas is almost upon us, and we will be hearing continual Christmas Carols from now on. Find a book about Christmas, but make sure there’s reference somewhere to Carols in the story!

*TBA*

8. New Release…choose a book which is released between 1st December, 2011 and 28th February 2012…it doesn’t have to be by an Aussie author! See if you can find a KIWI author for this one..it’ll give you a new author to try! (it’s ok if you can’t, as long as it’s a new release)

*TBA*

9. Have you checked out the excellent Literature Map website? Type in the name of a favourite author, choose the author closest to him/her and select one of their books to read.

Entering Dorothy L Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries) gives me Gladys Mitchell (The Mrs Bradley Mysteries)

Gladys Mitchell – The Saltmarsh Murders
Noel Wells, a curator of the sleepy village of Saltmarsh, likes to spend his time dancing in the study with the vicar’s niece, until one day the vicar’s unpleasant wife discovers her unmarried housemaid is pregnant and trouble begins.
It is left to Noel to call for the help of sometimes detective and full-time Freudian Mrs Bradley, who sets out on an unnervingly unorthodox investigation into the mysterious pregnancy, and investigation that also takes in smuggling, the village lunatic, a missing corpse, a public pillory, an exhumation and, of course, a murderer.
Mrs Bradley is easily one of the most memorable personalities in crime fiction, and in this classic whodunnit she proves that some English villages can be murderously peaceful.

10. It’s Valentine’s Day in February! Choose a book with a touch of Romance. But feel free to interpret ‘Romance’ however you want. Could be romance, love of family or friends, love of a cause, country or even God. As long as it’s a significant theme in the story it’s OK.:)

*TBA*

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