New Year’s 'Reading Resolution' – Have you kept yours?

This year I didn’t make any reading resolutions (other than one imposed upon me, to “weed” our home library). I did think of trying the Book Riot challenge until I decided what I was doing was fitting what I was reading to the challenge not choosing books to read because of it.

The best of this year’s reads so far:

Laurinda Alice Pung (reading copy supplied by Black Inc)

Shortlisted for the INDIE Book Awards 2015

Lucy is an inaugural scholarship girl at a prestigious private school. This is a story about bullies who are popular yet universally disliked, teachers who care more about achievement than about their students; people from impoverished suburbs who have more dignity than those who judge them - an exceptional story about a first generation immigrant.

 

Nona and me Clare Atkins (reading copy supplied by Black Inc)

Rosie and Nona had been friends/sisters as young children. Now it’s year 10 and they meet again. A remarkable debut about family, kinship, country, racism and identity.

All the bright places Jennifer Niven (reading copy supplied by Penguin)

I don't like the many comparisons to Fault in our stars or Eleanor & Park though I believe many fans will "enjoy" this book about suicide and mental illness told from the points of view of the main characters. Finch, who refuses to accept “labels”, is suffering from bipolar disorder and living in a dysfunctional family; Violet, the former perfect girl, is a grieving and depressed survivor of an accident that killed her beloved sister. Heartbreakingly realistic.

Egg and spoon Geoffrey Maguire (reading copy supplied by Walker Books)

A fantasy about an impoverished peasant girl and a rich girl as their lives collide with Baba Yaga, witch of Russian folklore, in her ambulatory house perched on chicken legs. At times slow (like Mother Russia) but delightfully funny and insightful.

The jewel Amy Ewing (reading copy supplied by Walker Books)

At age twelve, Violet was taken to a holding facility to learn how to control her augury abilities and to be groomed to be sold at auction as a surrogate (a necessary commodity) for the rich women of The Lone City. This first in a series about power, political intrigue and survival has more layers than the pretty cover reveals.

The scandalous sisterhood of Prickwillow, Julie Berry, Piccadilly Press

A Victorian farce in the true sense of the word. Murder, mystery, school girls and romance - action packed humour.

How are your 2015 Reading Resolutions?
Nella Pickup