2017 on Goodreads

I was blessed with some superb fiction this year.
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James and The Sellout by Paul Beatty both won the Man Booker and long may, in my opinion, that award provide such profoundly brilliant reading. I also read some wonderful Australian literature that left me impressed in a manner that had me salivating for more. Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson, Harlands Half Acre by David Malouf, A Descant For Gossips, Wake in Fright by Kenneth Cook and To The Islands by Randolph Stow showed my native literature at its finest. Add to that a play by David Ireland called Image in the Clay that I found profoundly interesting.

Honourable mentions include The Harp of the South by Ruth Park. If not for slight surgery sweet writing this would also have been mentioned above.

Last but not least is the magnificent Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. For me a masterpiece.

On the nonfiction front this year was a letdown. The best was probably The Vandemonian Wars by Nick Brodie. This book was in fact a laborious read but had a significant story to tell. The Cultural Revolution by Frank Dikotter was of the standard of the previous 2 in his trilogy on China and a must read for anyone that has an interest in the subject. One book I really enjoyed was Everett Ruess : A Vagabond For Beauty that was a fascinating local tale of a young traveller who went missing in the Utah desert in 1934. A link to what I read in 2017. https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6852430-4triplezed?read_at=2017

This year I am making no promises to myself on what I read. Let what I am in the mood for be how it is.