ANZAC Author Reading Challenge- March 2015- Michelle De Krester and Elizabeth Knox

Welcome to March! I hope everyone is enjoying the Antipodean authors we've had so far.

Sri Lankan born Michelle de Kretser emigrated to Australia when she was 14. She's had a varied career working as a university tutor, an editor for Lonely Planet and as a book reviewer. She has had great success with her writing, being widely praised by critics and the broader reading public alike. The pinnacle of her career so far is winning the coveted Miles Franklin award in 2013 with Questions of Travel.

Wellington based Elizabeth Knox is the prize winning author of 11 novels, 3 autobiographical novella, and a collection of essays. Her best known novel is The Vinter's Luck which has been translated into several languages and was made into a film.

I didn't manage to read anythng for February, though I'm still intent on reading Shabolt's The House of Strife this month.
For March I'll be reading de Kretser's The rose grower and Knox's Wake, both have been on my tbr pile for more than a year.
I've read a few of Knox's novels and have enjoyed all of them. I read de Kretser's Questions of travel when it first came out and have always meant to read her earlier work.

I read Springtime: A Ghost Story last night. It is a really quick read. (Only 85 pages, and in large type.) While the writing was up to De Krester's usual standard, I was promised a ghost story. I was a bit disappointed on that score. I was waiting for the chills and thrills but didn't get any.

I finished up Wake by Elizabeth Knox and really enjoyed it. That said it won't be for everyone, it's light horror but with wonderful storytelling and firmly rooted in New Zealand's South Island just like her YA novels are.

Not sure if I'll get to The Rose Grower as I'm not reading particularly fast this month and I have lots of library books on the go. I'm definitely going to read it this year though.

Am reading The Lost Dog which I was not liking awfully well at the beginning, but it picked considerably after about the 75 page mark for me.

It's so quiet over here...

I've read Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox, which was interesting. It was a really creative story, but also had a lot of references to her Dreamhunter series. I enjoyed it.

Just finished The Hamilton Case as well and reviewed it. It was interesting. Heavy on the anti-colonialism and a little depressing with a bunch of really unhappy characters, but also beautifully written in spots.

The only book I could find for either author was de Kretser's The Lost Dog. It never grabbed me; ended up giving it 3 stars.