Aussie Readers discussion

With another year winding to a close here at Aussie Readers it's that time again to list your top 5 - 10 Aussie author titles of 2016. The books don't have to be released this year but only to be read.


My top 10 in no particular order

Fear Is the Rider by Kenneth Cook
Scared to Death by Rachel Amphlett
Red Dirt Odyssey by Kath Engebretson
The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy by Bob Irwin
Fearless by Fiona Higgins
The Chocolate Tin by Fiona McIntosh
The Art of Keeping Secrets by Rachael Johns
The Wife's Tale by Christine Wells
The Game You Played by Anni Taylor
Shadows Of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie

EDITED to add one I just finished! The Florentine Bridge by Vanessa Carnevale Outstanding!

My top 3 Aussie books for 2016 were 5★ reads:

Let Her Go by Dawn Barker
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
and Out of the Ice by Ann Turner

And I had 6 books that were 4.5★ reads as follows:
Rain Music by Di Morrissey
Spirits of the Ghan by Judy Nunn
The Beast's Garden by Kate Forsyth
Cold Grave by Kathryn Fox
Graveyard of the Atlantic by Helen Goltz
Scarecrow by Matthew Reilly

Always interesting to look back over one's year of reading to pick out the star performers. Particularly in December, and you can barely remember what you read in January! Here's my top Aussie Author reads for 2016, in no particular order:

The Soldier's Curse by Meg Keneally
Eleven Seasons by Paul D. Carter
The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
The Dry by Jane Harper
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
Nightingale by Fiona McIntosh
Life or Death by Michael Robotham
Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar
March by Geraldine Brooks

Some great books there Mary. I know I've read far more than 10 outstanding books in the year...actually it might be easier to list the books I didn't like!

I love looking at everyone else's reading to see which books I've been considering reading are ones that I should bump to the top of the pile! I can already see several in your lists, Brenda and Mary!

My top 3 books by Aussie authors were:
The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman
The Dry by Jane Harper
Out of the Ice by Ann Turner

also enjoyed
The Happiest Refugee: A Memoir by Anh [book:SuspectDo|2997895]
Whitethorn by Bryce Courtenay
The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots by Loretta Hill

My Top 5 Aussie Author reads for 2016

The first 2 also included in my Top 10 overall
Mistake Creek Rachel Amphlett
Secrets in Time Alison Stuart
The Other Side of Dawn John Marsden
Claiming the Rebel's Heart Alison Stuart
The Light Between Oceans M.L. Stedman

Kathryn wrote: "My top 3 Aussie books for 2016 were 5★ reads:

Let Her Go by Dawn Barker
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
and [book:Out of the Ice|29..."

I've read 6 of yours - great choices Kathryn!

Kathryn wrote: "I love looking at everyone else's reading to see which books I've been considering reading are ones that I should bump to the top of the pile! I can already see several in your lists, Brenda and Mary!"

Always the same - too many books, too little time!

Well done Steph! Great choices too :) I hope you can expand your Aussie author reads though I guess they're a little harder to get "over there" :)

My top five Australian books are a bit skewed toward non-fiction this year:

1. No Place Like Home. It made me cry in parts, it moved me!

2. Unna You Fullas This one really opened my eyes to a part of our history I was hazy on

3. Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms A sweet in some ways simple story itself but with an eye-opener of a setting

4. Making the Australian Male: Middle-Class Masculinity 1870���1920 Shows the patterns and changes in something that seem like unchanging "common sense"

5. God's Wisdom or the Devil's Envy: Death and Creation Deconstructing in The Wisdom of Solomon Thought provoking an intellectually demanding

Next year I would like to read more exceptional Australian fiction. I am not sure if few people are writing the sort of things I want to read or if it is just that so many people like very different things from me that that ends up being all I see but I will get proactive about trying to seek out some really good Australian novels hopefully to finish this year with or start next year!

Here are mine:)

The Dry by Jane Harper
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
Lord Somerton's Heir by Alison Stuart
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna

Also a notable series which I loved this year:-
The Tribe by Ambelin Kwaymullina

Best books of 2016 by Aussie authors (no particular order):

Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman
Eyrie by Tim Winton
The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion
Nest by Inga Simpson
The Secret River by Kate Grenville
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple

MaryG2E wrote: "Always interesting to look back over one's year of reading to pick out the star performers. Particularly in December, and you can barely remember what you read in January! Here's my top Aussie Auth..."

Good to see Salt Creek is on your list Mary. I'm about to start it soon :)

My Aussie 5 star reads and favourites are:

1 Out of the Ice by Ann Turner
2 Love Song by Nikki Gemmell
3 Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder
4 Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan
5 The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane
6 The Engagement by Chloe Hooper

Michael wrote: "Great list Mish. Stasiland, in particular, was a mind boggling read."

Thanks Michael - It was an unbelievable. Still quite shocked by what I read.

I can't remember if I told you this Michael. When I saw Anna Funder at the MWF she mentioned she's putting together a new edition of Stasiland with photo's. That would be a good one to buy. :)

That's the trouble with doing these lists before the end of the year! I just edited my post to add the book I just finished - The Florentine Bridge by Vanessa Carnevale Exceptional!

Valerie wrote: "Best books of 2016 by Aussie authors (no particular order):

Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman
Eyrie by Tim Winton..."

I had Seven Types of Ambiguity on my list for this year and never got around to it! Maybe I'd better make it a priority for next year!

The Best five books 2016;

1. Shadows Of Hunters Ridge Sarah Barrie
2. Sunset Shadows Bronwyn Parry
3. The Debt Collector Chris Taylor
4. Red Earth Tony Park
5. Dark Past Catherine Lee

This will be a good thread to refer to next year when I am looking for good Aussie books for challenges:)

I'm so glad to have participated in the Aussie Authors challenge this year - I've ended up with a decent number of titles to choose from. Also, thanks to Mish and Elaine for encouraging me to go to the Melbourne Writers' Festival this year to discover a whole heap of new writers for 2017.

My outstanding Australian book for this year was Nine Days by Toni Jordan.

The rest of my top Australian reads were:
Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
Breathing Under Water by Sophie Hardcastle
Cairo by Chris Womersley
The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally
Fields of Gold by Fiona McIntosh
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
Nest by Inga Simpson
Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar
Why You Are Australian: A Letter to My Children by Nikki Gemmell

Plus two standout picture books:
I am Doodle Cat by Kat Patrick * and
The Cat With The Coloured Tail by the late Gillian Mears
(* actually NZ, but hey Crowded House, Russell Crowe, Doodle Cat...)

Phrynne wrote: "This will be a good thread to refer to next year when I am looking for good Aussie books for challenges:)"

You're definitely right there Phrynne - a great referral tool :)

Phrynne wrote: "This will be a good thread to refer to next year when I am looking for good Aussie books for challenges:)"

Thanks, Phrynne. I agree with Brenda this is a great thread to find books to read in 2017.

Hi, Here are my top five for Aussie Authors. I'm loving reading the other lists to get ideas for reading in 2017. Thanks Merie.

Top 5
'My Place' by Sally Morgan
'The Shack by the Bay' by Lea Davey
'When the Night Comes' by Favel Parett
'People of the Book' by Geraldine Brooks
'The Light Between Oceans' by M.L. Stedman

Merie wrote: "Hi, Here are my top five for Aussie Authors. I'm loving reading the other lists to get ideas for reading in 2017. Thanks Merie.

Top 5
'My Place' by Sally Morgan
'The Shack by the Bay' by Lea Dave..."

My Place by Sally Morgan
The Shack by the Bay by Lea Davey (good to see you loved this one - on my wish list!)
When the Night Comes by Favel Parrett
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Some great reads there Merie! I have read and loved most so agree wholeheartedly with you!

Thanks - I forgot to add 'Holy Cow' by Sarah MacDonald - also one of my favourites. I really need to update 'My Books'.

Merie wrote: "Thanks - I forgot to add 'Holy Cow' by Sarah MacDonald - also one of my favourites. I really need to update 'My Books'."

Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah Macdonald

I haven't heard of that one :)

Just so you know how to link your books (we love to check them out for adding to our own TBRs!) - in the comment box, click on "add book/author" then go from there :) Let me know if you need some help...

Brenda wrote: "Merie wrote: "Thanks - I forgot to add 'Holy Cow' by Sarah MacDonald - also one of my favourites. I really need to update 'My Books'."

Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by [author:Sarah Ma..."

Two of my favourite topics are India and Travel and this book brings them both together. Sarah was an ABC journalist who went to live in India for a year as her husband was a foreign correspondent there. I've had mixed reactions from others who I've loaned this book to, but for me it's up there as one of my favourites. Thanks for the advice on how to link the books I was wondering how that worked. So many books - not enough time to read them all!!

Something we all feel I think Merie :)

My top five, in no particular order


Island Home by Tim Winton — a quintessentially Australian book
Damned Whores and God's Police by Anne Summers — essential for understanding how Australia's colonial past has shaped who we are
The Killing Season Uncut by Sarah Ferguson
Big Little Lies — this was my first Liane Moriarty, and is my favourite of hers to date
Flesh Wounds by Richard Glover

Here are my top ten for Aussie authors in no particular order:

Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar
Sunset Ridge by Nicole Alexander
Ronan's Echo by Joanne van Os
Paper Daisies by Kim Kelly
All That is Lost Between Us by Sara Foster
Poet's Cottage by Josephine Pennicott
Spirits of the Ghan by Judy Nunn
The Dry by Jane Harper
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
March by Geraldine Brooks

Great choices Odette!

My Top Ten Aussie Author reads (in no particular order):

The Things We Keepby Sally Hepworth
Room 46 by Helen McKenna
Summer Harvest by Georgina Penney
Running Against the Tide by Amanda Ortlepp
The Recipient by Dean Mayes
Raelia by Lynette Noni
The Fence by Meredith Jaffe
Southern Ruby by Belinda Alexandra
The Better Son by Katherine Johnson
Third Time Lucky by Karly Lane

Phrynne wrote: "Here are mine:)

The Dry by Jane Harper
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Nevernight by [auth..."

Phrynne, I have 'The Tribe' high on my list for 2017. Recently discovered this young indigenous Australian author.

I read a lot of Aussie authors and I thought this task would be easy - but then I realised I'm still remembering some great books but I read them last year! (Time flies...)
This year hasn't been quite as good. I'm not sure I can find 10 but I should be able to find a few that were 5 stars for me, or really strong 4s.






Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham

I have a book on my TBR called by Dean Mayes - and interested to see it on Marcia B's list up above.

I have that one on my TBR too Lily :)

My top five in order:

The Good People
Lost & Found
The Natural Way of Things
Ruins
Sister Heart

My husband recommended so I read these and enjoyed them :) both by Matthew Reilly
The Six Sacred Stones
The 5 Greatest Warriors

My top 10 Aussie Authors books for 2016 in the order I read them.

Darkest Place by Jaye Ford
The Doctor Calling by Meredith Appleyard
Out of the Ice by Ann Turner
The Ties That Bind by Lexi Landsman
The Falls by B. Michael Radburn
Legacy Of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie
The Fence by Meredith Jaffe
The Family Secret by Fiona Palmer
Shadows Of Hunters Ridge by Sarah Barrie
Daintree by Annie Seaton

and so many other great aussie books I really enjoyed!

I've read almost all of those Marlin and completely agree with you!

My top five Aussie books for 2016:

The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian by David Dyer
The Dry by Jane Harper
Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil by Melina Marchetta
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
The Secret River by Kate Grenville

And highly recommended:
Until I Met Her by Natalie Barelli
Where the Trees Were by Inga Simpson
The Crossing by B. Michael Radburn
Out of the Ice by Ann Turner
Devour by L.A. Larkin

Some great choices there Carolyn!

I'd probably say that these are the five stories that stayed with me the longest after I'd finished reading them:

Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins
Out of the Ice by Ann Turner
Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale
The Bird's Child by Sandra Leigh Price
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

Great list Kim, especially the last one :)