Journal: 095

What is the best book I read this year. Undoubtedly the most important was Chelsea Watego’s Another Day in the Colony whose publication, in my opinion, marks the moment Aboriginal ‘public thinkers’ took control of the debate over Australian Black-white relations. I should say the ‘best’ was Voss, but that honour probably goes to James Baldwin’s Just Above My Head. And the most exciting? undoubtedly Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson.
I never read many new releases but was very pleased this year to have new books, new SF! (as was the Hopkinson), from Jane Rawson, A History of Dreams and Claire G Coleman, Enclave. I’ve also, belatedly ordered the latest from Jamie Marina Lau, Grunk Baby – I see on searching, it was released 1 Jan ’21, so I’m late!
On the non-fiction side, still in the area of Indigenous-relations, we also had Michelle Scott Tucker’s collaboration with Torres Strait Islander, Aaron Fa’Aoso for his memoir So Far, So Good and Claire G Coleman’s Lies Damned Lies. It is difficult to separate what I happen to notice and read from what is generally available, but it seems to me that both the quality and the quantity of arguments from Indigenous writers have reached the point where it is impossible for white society not to deal with them on equal terms, and I think Prime Minister Albanese recognises this, which is why he is spending so much political capital on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Then of course, still on the recent releases front, there was Nathan Hobby’s important biography of Katharine Susannah Prichard, The Red Witch, and some not so important general fiction because they came out as audiobooks and I happened to pick them up in the library. I wonder what I missed. I don’t really recall any Australian books making a splash, or is that just me not paying attention.

I should not overlook the relaunch this year of the Australian Women Writers Challenge as a site to discuss earlier AWWs – up to the 1950s – and to reprint long overlooked stories and articles from Trove – which this federal government will surely not defund, as is half expected (The Conversation, 23 Dec. 2022). Sue/Whispering Gums’ AWWC end-of-year summary (here).
For the year, I read 108 books, down from 145 last year, and 164 the year before. What is going on! My female/male (author) balance was 75/33; sadly, USA/Aust/UK/rest of world went 37/35/19/12. Category-wise I read Crime 26, SF 20, non-fiction 16, ‘literature’ 18, other 26. Looking along my date categories, a third of the books I read were from the last three years and only one was pre-C20th. My spreadsheet didn’t have a column for audiobooks, which was remiss of me, but the ratio of audio to real books was probably 80:20.
Counting this one, I put up 83 posts for the year, of which 15 were Journals, 4 were reposts of your contributions for AWW Gen 4 Week, and 11 reposts/intros for my reviews on AWWC. I guess the rest were reviews, including 10 for my North America First Nations/African-American project, which I really enjoyed.
For xmas, Milly, Ms 19 and I drove down to Denmark on the south coast, to Gee’s bush block, which is on a steep slope in dense forest. It doesn’t look like it in the top photo, but it is relatively clear around the house, though the undergrowth between the trees needs lots of work. I did two part days of slashing and two days of resting, and on our last full day we went to the beach – the coast along there consists of a series of protected inlets, backed by steep hills – and now I’m back home. Lou came down separately by plane and bus; Psyche spent the week moving house – there was a lot of that this year – with her new live-in carer; and Mum, and her travel companion, my cousin Kay, were in Sydney with Mr and Mrs B4. Hopefully, next xmas, we’ll all be together.
Recent audiobooks
Deborah Moggach (F, Eng), The Black Dress (2021) – Romance (I think) DNF
Dervla McTiernan (F, Ire), The Ruin (2018) – Crime
Neal Stephenson (M, USA), Termination Shock (2021) – SF (23 hours!)
Toni Morrison (F, USA), Paradise (1998)
Currently Reading
Jamie Marina Lau (F, Aus/Vic), Gunk Baby (2021)
Elena Ferrante (F, Ita), The Story of a New Name (2012)

Yes, that’s me heading for my chair (and Mr One, getting ready for a lifetime of kayaking). Milly must be holding the camera.
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AWWC Dec. 2022
Date | Contributor | Title |
Fri 02 | Stories FTA | “Tasma”, The Rubria Ghost (short story) |
Wed 07 | Elizabeth Lhuede | Mrs Bode and a Question of Irony |
Fri 09 | Stories FTA | Mrs J A Bode, Lubra (poem) |
Wed 14 | Bronwyn | Mary Gaunt (2) |
Fri 16 | Stories FTA | Mary Gaunt, Alone in West Africa (nonfiction extract) |
Wed 21 | Bill Holloway | Kylie Tennant, Ma Jones and the Little White Cannibals |
Fri 23 | Stories FTA | April Hersey, Back to the battling (nonfiction extract) |
Wed 28 | Whispering Gums | Bush Book Club |
Fri 30 | Stories FTA | Lady Poore, Bush Book Club (letter to the editor) |