I’m a little late with this… but, better late than never. The year of 2017 was rather busy for me and while I didn’t do much blogging, I did a lot of reading. I may not have managed to keep up with all the new releases that I wanted to read (I still have a few key ones on my to-be-read stack), but I did get around to enough of them to do my annual top reads list.
So here goes…
PICTURE BOOK
I didn’t read all that many picture books this year. Both my kids have out-grown them. I keep telling them that you’re never too old to enjoy picture books, and I hope that one day they will return to them. But for the moment… I’m just reading them myself. So I’m not reading as many as I used to. My favourite for 2017 is…
The Fix-It Man, written by Dimity Powell, illustrated by Nicky Johnston
I defy anyone to read this book and not tear up. It’s about a young girl and her dad, the Fit-It Man of the title. He can fix anything and everything, and she relies on him to do so. Until… Mum dies. And things are not so easy to fix anymore. This is not a situation Dad can repair on his own. It’s going to take the two of them together. This is such a lovely book, that says so much, even with pages where there are no words. Dimity Powell weaves this story with grace and gentleness, supported by gorgeous, whimsical illustrations from Nicky Johnston.
KIDS BOOK
I write kids’ books. So I read a lot of kids’ books. And I have a clear favourite for 2017…
Bronze Bird Tower by Carole Wilkinson
This is the sixth and final book in the amazing DragonKeeper series. Full of adventure and heart, fantasy and history, it is an absolute joy. Tao, former novice monk and now DragonKeeper, and his dragon Kai complete their journey of discover begun two books earlier. I read it with mixed emotions. I loved it, but was so sad that there will be no more in the series.
YA BOOK
Tough competition for 2017. Real tough! I read LOTS of amazing books, and even so, I didn’t get around to Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner’s Unearthed or Release by Patrick Ness or The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman. They’re still in my to-be-read stack. So keep that in mind. I’m going to start this section with two honourable mentions…
Gap Year in Ghost Town by Michael Pryor
Teenage ghost hunters in Melbourne! Quirky, charming, exciting and utterly delightful, it is a perfect balance of character interplay and engrossing story. I adore the Melbourne setting, which had me going “Oh, I know where that is” almost every chapter. It is thoroughly contemporary and yet manages an old-school charm as well. I love Pryor’s take on what ghosts are – it makes them kinda sad, but also really frightening when necessary. I feel there is so much potential in the characters to go further. I’m desperately hoping there will be more books about Anton, Rani and the other ghost hunters.
Harlequin’s Riddle (Book 1 of the Tales of Tarya) by Rachel Nightingale
This book weaves together the Commedia dell’Arte form of thearte, bits of history and fantasy into one of the most original ideas I’ve seen in a long time. Mina has an amazing talent for storytelling, which means so much more than she realises. Leaving her small town, she sets off with a troupe of travelling actors in the hope of finding her missing brother, who left with a similar troupe ten years earlier. Ahead of her, is adventure and intrigue as she discovers that her storytelling ability can lead her to the amazing realm of Tarya. I am so looking forward to the remaining books in this trilogy.
But top spot goes to…
Pride by Lazaros Zigomanis
Luke Miggs lives in Ulah, a small town that loves its football. When the mysterious Adam Pride literally walks out of the night to join the local team, everything changes. Ambitions are kindled. Dreams are chased. Choices are questioned. And the past is revealed. This book is not just about football. It’s about small-town life (its ups and its downs). It’s also about friendship and choices and racism… and the past refusing to stay buried. Vivid characters, and an intriguing story, make this an absolutely gripping read.
GROWN-UP BOOK
I don’t read a huge number of grown-up books. I tend to be VERY choosy and stick with books from writers I’m friends with, writers whose work I know and love, and books recommended to me by people whose opinions I value. Also, keep in mind that Just Another Week in Suburbia by Lez Zig (alternate name for Lazaros Zigomanis, author of Pride) is still on my to-be-read stack. Having said that, I have a very clear favourite for 2017…
Call it a short novel or a novella or whatever you want… I call it brilliant! It is tense, imaginative, edge or your seat stuff that is hard to put down. Without giving away too much… it’s about a man whose wife goes missing. She simply doesn’t come home from book club one night. Not willing to leave things to the police, he investigates and discovers that it was no ordinary book club that his wife belonged to. I love the way Baxter reveals the characters’ twisted back-story, then weaves it into the main plot of the club and disappearance. I read this is 2017, and it’s still buzzing around in my head a month in to 2018.
NON-FICTION BOOK
As a writer of educational books, I read a lot of non-fiction for research. But I also read a bit off my own bat. Interestingly, I didn’t read anything that was published in 2017… it was all older. So, my favourite non-fic book written prior to 2017 but read in 2017 is…
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out (2014), by Susan Kuklin
This is a book of interviews with and photographs of transgendered young people. It’s very common for people to dismiss or ridicule or fear or even hate people who are different. Books like this promote understanding. And once you understand the difference, and understand that people who are different are still people, and that they have hopes and fears and dreams just like you… well, it gets hard to dismiss or ridicule or fear or hate. And that’s why this book (and others like it) are so important. Quite apart from that, this book is also a really fascinating insight into the lives of six interesting and diverse people. This is the sort of book that really should be on the shelves of every high school library.
ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTION
I love short stories, but for some reason didn’t actually read all that many of them in 2017. But out of the collected works I did read, this is my favourite…
Begin, End, Begin, edited by Danielle Binks
This book is the result of the #LoveOzYA movement and features some of this country’s best YA writers. Such a variety of styles and genres and topics… and every story in this anthology is a gem. My personal favourites are Lili Wilkinson’s hauntingly beautiful tale of drain exploration, “Oona Undergraound”; and Gabrielle Tozer’s bus trip story of the past being revealed and understood, “The Feeling From Over Here”.
OVER ALL FAVOURITE
Very difficult decision, but I’m going with Alan Baxter’s The Book Club. As I said, it’s still vivid in my memory. And even now, I can feel my heart begin to race and a niggle of panic at the back of my mind as I recall those first moments when the main character realises that his wife is missing.
WRITING
2017 was another good writing year for me. I had three new You Choose books released (Creepy Crawly Chaos, City of Robots and Footy Fever), as well as a bunch of school readers. And I spent the year working on a new series of kids’ books called OTHER WORLDS. The first two, Perfect World and Beast World are coming out on 26 February.
A big part of my writing life revolves around speaking about writing. In 2017 I did 161 individual sessions that included festivals, school visits, library visits and promotional tours. You can read about some on my experiences in these blog posts:
And to cap it all off, my story in The X-Files: Secret Agendas was nominated for a SCRIBE AWARD and I won an Honour Award at the KOALAs for You Choose: Alien Invaders From Beyond the Stars. I couldn’t attend the awards ceremony, so I sent them this schlocky alien abduction vid, the making of which I enjoyed way too much…
Catch ya later, George
Honoured beyond words, George. Not only do I love your pb choice and kind words but your 2017 list of faves positively sparkles, too. Good on ya! Can’t wait to read more of you this year, as well. Dim
I shed a tear or few after reading it a few times.