It’s
nearly Christmas Day as I’m writing this.
And I’m not organised, except for camping – we’re leaving on our annual
family camping trip on Boxing Day, which I’m excited about because it means a
nice long time out, and lots of writing done on a camp chair at the cliff near
our camp site when everyone else is asleep (and I am weirdly awake – old habits
die hard, I guess). I’ve printed up my
manuscript, I’ve got all my little exercise books full of squiggly notes, and
I’m taking a Melina Marchetta book with me, as a good luck talisman J
Lots
of people put up their ‘Best of 2015’ book lists at this time. I’ve read many many amazing books this year,
but I’m not going to list them all because I don’t like to rank books (I find
it really hard to do, actually) and also because my memory is so poor that I’d
probably leave out all the crucial ones.
Instead, I’m going to list the books that I’m taking on holiday with me
(in hard copy or e-book format), to give you an idea of the kinds of worlds I’ll
be living in while I’m away.
Some
of these books have been recommended, some just looked interesting, some are
books I’m curious about because they correspond in some way with the book I’m
currently writing. But for whatever
reason these titles grabbed me, so I’m hoping to get through them all in the
next fortnight. And here they are:
The
Rest of Us Just Live Here – Patrick Ness
The
Natural Way of Things – Charlotte Wood
Hope
Farm – Peggy Frew
Clancy
of the Undertow – Christopher Currie (lots of people reckon this is awesome)*
Gated
– Amy Parker
The
Murder Complex – Lindsay Cummings
Spark
– Rachael Craw*
Risk –
Fleur Ferris*
Pieces
of Sky – Trinity Doyle*
Ghost
River – Tony Birch
Lair
of Dreams – Libba Bray (because I’ve been waiting for a chance to sink my teeth
into this)
Nona
& Me – Clare Atkins*
A
Thousand Lives – Julie Scheer
Saving
Francesca – Melina Marchetta (my lucky charm)*
Wolf
by Wolf – Ryan Graudin (on Amie Kaufman’s strongest recommendation)
Black
Spring – Alison Croggan*
The
Interrogation of Ashala Wolf – Ambelin Kwaymullina*
(*
#LoveOzYA for the win!)
What
do you reckon? I’ve also been promising
to read Grapes of Wrath for about
three years and never getting around to it, so this could be the time it happens…if
I don’t get distracted by all the other shiny things.
I also
wanted to let you all know that I won’t be answering emails or texts or phone
calls during the holidays. We’ll be gone
for two weeks, and in that time I will be enacting radio silence (actually,
it’s not like I have a non-radio-silence option: there’s no phone and internet
reception where we’re going). So if
you’re trying to get in touch, please be patient, and I promise to get back to
you around mid-January next year.
And on
that note – happy holidays! Whatever
your religious affiliation (or not), or plans for the season (or not), I hope
you have a lovely time between now and the New Year. May all good things come your way, may you
stay safe from bushfires and mozzies, may the sunburn (or cool freeze) steer
clear, and may your books (and writing, if you’re that way inclined) be
plentiful! All best wishes from me and
my family to you and yours, and see you in 2016 J
xxEllie
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