Hi everyone! Sorry I’ve been in absentia – work has been completely insane.

I now have a break, just in time to get my crap together for the new year. One of the things I’ve taken up in 2017 is bullet journalling – nothing fancy like you will see if you search Pinterest but it’s keeping me organised which is great.

So this morning I was organising my reading challenges for the new year into my bujo so I could track them – I’m going to be doing the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge and the Reading Women challenge this year, as well as continuing my Reading Around the World kick. I was a little irritated at how US centric the challenges were – which is a dumb reaction. The challenges are put together by people in the US (mostly) so of course they are focussed there. I had only been talking to a Litsy friend (hi marchpane!) a couple of weeks ago who mentioned she was wanting to read more from the Aussie market, which I’ve been trying to do myself as well this year.

So with full credit to Rachel Manwill from Book Riot especially, and credit also the the Reading Women, I would like to present to you the Aussies Rule Reading Challenge.

This list is designed to help you to move outside your comfort zone when choosing Aussie books.

1. A biography about or a memoir by an Aboriginal Australian.

2. An Aussie classic by a woman.

3. A book about an Aussie true crime or tragedy.

4. A mystery or thriller by a female writer.

5. A non-fiction book by an Aboriginal author.

6. A book which features a character with a chronic illness or disability (can be non-Fiction).

7. A classic by an Aboriginal author.

8. A book from your home state.

9. A book from a state you haven’t visited.

10. A recent book about colonisation/white ‘exploration’. (Can be Fiction)

11. A book that features Aboriginal spirituality (by an Aboriginal author).

12. A book by an Aussie of colour who is an immigrant or refugee.

13. A book by an Aussie of colour who is not Aboriginal and was born in Australia.

14. A book of poetry released in the last 10 years.

15. A YA book with LGBT+ representation (extra points for #ownvoices).

16. A book published by a University press.

17. A book by an LGBT+ author (bonus points if also a person of colour).

18. Some Aussie sci-fi.

19. An Aussie debut novel.

20. An Aussie author writing about a different country or culture.

21. A book set in the outback or a small country town.

22. A winner of the David Unaipon Award.

23. A book by an Aussie NY Times Bestselling author.

24. A book that was shortlisted for the Stellas, the Ned Kellys, or the Miles Franklin award.

What do you think of my list? If you have any questions or want to discuss what books will fit each category, drop me a note in the comments.

Do you feel like joining me? Use #aussiesrule2018 if you do!

Have a safe and Happy New Year. I hope 2018 is totally awesome to you.