Welcome to Litsy!

I heard this novel being reviewed glowingly on an Australian radio book show and added it to my long #tbr list. Written in 2011, but set mainly in the 1920s & 30s, it is a beautifully written, rural family saga about horse jumping. It felt a little Grapes of Wrath to me 🤔. I thoroughly appreciated (rather than enjoyed) this harrowing, affecting #ozfiction.

Dual timelines, mirroring stories, truth telling, cultural learning, tragedy & humour feature in this brilliant book about early & modern Brisbane. I‘ve just come home from seeing Melissa Lucashenko at the Melbourne Writers Festival (I was too engrossed to take a photo) She spoke about humanising the statistics, reminding us that the atrocities were suffered by real people, with families, hopes & cares of their own. #ozfiction at its finest.

It‘s 1966 and the tea ladies find their jobs under threat from the new fangled Cafe Bar machines but it doesn‘t stop them from solving some new mysteries. I loved the use of the historical background - the confusion over decimal currency and the political shenanigans surrounding the building of the Sydney Opera House. I‘m so glad this has become a series. #Ozfiction

Well, that wasn‘t boring! 😧 It probably shouldn‘t surprise me that Bri Lee‘s foray into fiction is full-on.
Two ambitious young things on opposite sides of the globe get it on amidst the New York art scene.
Contemporary ethical issues abound as do evocative sex scenes. Lee did some things well and other things quite clunkily. The ending was disappointing.
A wild ride & all I can say is… strap yourself in! #ozfiction

Dalton really knows how to pull on your heart strings, even if most of the plot is far fetched.
I do feel like he romanticises homelessness and the writing is let down by him trying to include too many facts about these issues so therefore it comes across as not genuine conversation. #Ozfiction ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
It will make another great tv series, and I couldn‘t help but think that‘s exactly what he was thinking when he mentions Nicole Kidman etc

Starting on this one today. Went to see Bri speak about her debut novel last night. I have read two of her non-fiction books. Eggshell Skull is my favourite. #currentlyreading #ozfiction

I enjoyed this one a lot. A twisty murder mystery with an interesting cast of characters who all turned out to be not quite what they seemed. I didn‘t expect anything about the resolution, and I must have missed something because there was one aspect of it I still don‘t understand🤔 🤷🏻‍♀️ I realised part way through that I had read the author‘s debut, Greenlight, and didn‘t like it much. He‘s obviously improved 😆 #ozfiction

This month‘s Bookclub read was debut #YA #ozfiction & I loved it. Allegra lives with her grandma & her other grandma lives next door. They adore Allegra, but hate each other. Set in the 1970s, it explores the feminist movement of the time, particularly the emergence of ‘safe houses‘ for women & children escaping domestic violence.
It wasn‘t perfect and one character in particular felt like a caricature, but overall this was a very enjoyable read.

Stories like this one, told by a Goorie author about our colonial history are so important. I was deeply moved by the end. 🖤💛❤️ #Ozfiction
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