Here at For Reading Addicts we wanted to create another reading challenge for ourselves and our followers, something a little different, something that perhaps takes us all out of our reading comfort zone and so we have decided that the For Reading Addicts reading challenge for 2017 will feature authors from around the world.
Each month we will select books written by authors who hail from a specific country and will then share that list on our Social Media pages and groups. We will then set up a discussion event for those who are taking part to chat about the books they read and to share their experiences of reading books from authors they may not ever have come across otherwise. We will also create a poll question asking for suggestions of authors for the next month’s country.
For our August challenge we asked our Cwts Book Club members for suggestions of authors from Australia. The list this vote produced was very long, these are the five books we have chosen, by the authors who received most votes, for our For Reading Addicts Reading Challenge 2017 August edition.
The Husband’s Secret – Liane Moriarty
Happily married and the mother of beautiful children, Cecilia has the perfect life . . . until she finds the envelope. Written in her husband’s hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death. Curious, she opens it – and time stops. John-Paul’s letter confesses to a terrible mistake which, if revealed, would wreck their family as well as the lives of others.
I Am The Messenger – Markus Zusak
Ed Kennedy is just your less-than-average Joe who is hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. But after he single-handedly manages to catch a bank robber, he receives a playing card in the mail: the Ace of Diamonds. This is the first message. Four more will follow. But before this particular card game can end, Ed will be changed forever.
The Lake House – Kate Morton
June 1933, and the Edevane family’s country house, Loeanneth, is polished and gleaming, ready for the much-anticipated Midsummer Eve party. Alice Edevane, sixteen years old and a budding writer, is especially excited. Not only has she worked out the perfect twist for her novel, she’s also fallen helplessly in love with someone she shouldn’t. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever.
Tim – Colleen McCullough
Forty-three-year-old Mary Horton lives in a quiet, middle-class suburb on Sydney’s North Shore. A straight-laced, emotionally distant spinster, Mary has worked hard to make a life for herself, but her idea of ‘life’ does not include personal relationships. With no partner and no friends, Mary has no plans to let anybody into her solitary life.
Burial Rites – Hannah Kent
Northern Iceland, 1829. A woman condemned to death for murdering her lover. A family forced to take her in. A priest tasked with absolving her. But all is not as it seems, and time is running out: winter is coming, and with it the execution date. Only she can know the truth. This is Agnes’s story.
This month we’ve chosen the books randomly and hope that you can find something from the list to read and enjoy. If you’ve already read a book, you can still join in the discussion in the middle of August over in the discussion group.
We hope our reading challenge for 2017 will introduce you to authors you’ve never heard of and writing styles you’ve not encountered previously. We have kept the challenge as simple as possible and hopefully, each month you will be able find at least one book that you will enjoy reading.