Adventures in Australian fiction

I have been reading mostly Australian writers.

Picture books:

Gibbs, May. Found Tales from the Gum Tree sickeningly cutesy.

Lester, Alison, Elizabeth Honey, and the children of Gununa. Our Island is great! The children did the artwork, using crayons and food dye.

Oliver, Narelle. Fox and Fine Feathers was fantastic, gorgeous artwork.

Owen, Lindsey, ill. by Matteo Grilli. Poss in Boots was funny, about a young possum who tap dances on the roof of a house of jazz musicians.

Found the book about the Aboriginal cricket team in the 1800's illuminating.

Juvenile:

Brinsmead, Hesba: lovedThe Honey Forest

Hall, Leanne: Iris and the Tiger - set in Spain but with an Australian protagonist - really terrific!   

Lindsay, Norman: I read about half of The Magic Pudding - it is funny.

Pascoe, Bruce: Mrs Whitlam (Aboriginal, girl and horse) was ok but the writing wasn't that good.

YA:

• Brinsmead, Hesba: I felt that Isle of the Sea Horse was boring, sort of an Aussie retelling of Swiss Family Robinson so didn't finish it.
• Fitzpatrick, Deb. Have you Seen Ally Queen?  I guess I'm tired of sad YA novels: didn't finish it.
• Gough, Erin: I found The Flywheel by (lesbian) difficult and sad until the very end, when it came round right.
• Winch, Tara June: Swallow the Air (Aboriginal) was beautifully written but so very sad.
• Wrightson, Patricia: liked A Little Fear and A Wisp of Smoke. Did not finish Shadows of Time.

Adult:

Slatter, Angela. I just finished the compelling Vigil (urban myth, Brisbane setting) and have been thinking about it ever since. Corpselight was also compelling! Next is Restoration, due out in 2018.

Greenwood, Kerry. Enjoyed Earthly Delights - loved it right up until the ending! Next is Heavenly Pleasures, only in print format at KDL (as are the others in this Corinna Chapman series). I placed a request for the large print of Devil's Food (#3) from Brisbane Library.

Hodgson, Anthea. The Drifter -  not your typical Western Australia romance - an excellent story!

Nunn, Judy. Enjoyed Spirits of the Ghan - historical and contemporary fiction, set in cities and the Outback.  

Fergus, Lara. Tried to read My Sister Chaos (about a lesbian cartographer with OCD, obsessed with mapping her house, and her twin) but couldn't stand it.

Hawthorne, Susan. Falling Woman is about a lesbian with epilepsy, told in 3 ways - as a child, Stella, as an adult with her partner, Estella, and there's a mystical part with Estelle. I'm enjoying it and am simultaneously bored with it.

Mears, Gillian. Foal's Bread. 2012. - fiction about a young woman, set in New South Wales between WWI and WWII. Great writing but sad, and I didn't finish it.

Van Neerven, Ellen. Read Heat and Light (Aboriginal, lesbian short stories); it too was beautifully written but sad.