This past weekend, ABC Radio National had a countdown of their Top 100 Books. There weren’t many that I have read, or wanted to read, and those I had, I didn’t love.
I thought I would share some of the books that stood out to me since I started tracking the books I read in 2011. These are in no particular order, just ones that come to mind when I think of books that have stayed with me. For this list, I have picked books by Australian authors, many are indie, and kept to novels rather than kids books. They will be in a future post.
- The Greenfield Legacy by Rose Dee, Amanda Deed, Meredith Resce, and Paula Vince – an Australian story that tells a story through the eyes of four women. This is set against a backdrop of the Vietnam War & forced adoption, along with the consequences in more modern times. I read this one shortly after it came out in 2012.
- The Last of the Bonegilla Girls by Victoria Purman – I listened to this one on audiobook and chose it as my dad was in Bonegilla when he and his family first came to Australia. A lot of the story is also set in Oakleigh, where I was living and working at the time. A great story about a slice of Australian history that not many people know about.
- The Peppercorn Project by Nicki Edwards – a story set in regional Australia featuring a single mum, a rural romance. I really enjoy the books by Nicki Edwards and it was hard to choose one to put on this list.
- Carry Me Home by Dorothy Adamek – a historical romance set in Phillip Island. I found this story fascinating and there were many aspects of Australian history I had no idea about. Phillip Island was a place I visited often as a kid.
- The Colour of Broken by Amelia Grace – a powerful story that should come with a packet of tissues. I read this one shortly after it came out and loved it.
- View from a Barred Window by Katharina Fares – set shortly after World War 2, this is the story of a little girl trying to make sense of her life after being sent to live in communist East Germany.
- Miss Lilly’s Lovely Ladies by Jackie French – a fascinating story about the mysterious Miss Lilly and how young ladies were taught to influence the world around them.
- A Recipe for Disaster by Belinda Missen – a fun romance set in Australia. It was great reading about places that I recognised.
- Colours of Death by Robert New – a collection of short stories where each story has a colour of the rainbow. These stories are fascinating and this book was a good read.
- Maternal Instinct by Rebecca Bowyer – dystopian isn’t usually my genre, however this book drew me in and had me hooked. Every now and again it pops up in my mind.
There’s ten books! There are so many more, I’ll have to continue this list another day…
It was fun going back through the books I’ve read since 2011. According to GoodReads, I’ve read 882 books since I started tracking them, so I have plenty of books to use to create posts with book recommendations.
Have you read any of these books? If not, go and look them up. You can also request them in your local library.
