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The tyranny of distance need not stop you from enjoying these Down Under treats! Want to know more? Visit Goodreads "Aussie Readers" group
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1,069 books · 589 voters · list created January 2nd, 2010 by Jacobmartin (votes) .
137 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Jacobmartin 134 books
51 friends
Morgan 1419 books
1068 friends
Tracey 1367 books
44 friends
Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) 546 books
365 friends
Lobstergirl 5795 books
157 friends
Thom 6022 books
294 friends
Kathleen 324 books
84 friends
Lisa 7506 books
141 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-41 of 41 (41 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Tracey (new)

Tracey had to add Bottersnikes and Gumbles as it is a wonderful Australian children's book and a couple of others


message 2: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Trak, I think Austrslian children's literature is so outstanding it deserves a list of its own (instead of being swamped in an adult books list).


message 3: by Lisa (new)

Lisa In a Sunburned Country is not by an Australian author...


message 4: by [deleted user] (new)

Picnic at Hanging Rock is listed twice.


message 5: by Melisende (new)

Melisende Don't see any "Bony" books by Arthur Upfield either.


message 6: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Jun 11, 2011 10:17AM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads You could add them.

ETA: I made it "combine duplicates," so with any luck Picnic at Hanging Rock is no longer listed twice.


message 7: by Michelle (new)

Michelle Shantaram is brilliant


message 8: by Kirsty (new)

Kirsty The Book Thief is set in Germany as is Schindler's List. Mao's Last Dancer? I think this list should be checked in some way


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Don't know about Mao's Last Dancer, but Markus Zusak and Thomas Keneally, the authors of Book Thief and Schindler's List, are both Australian.


message 10: by Sarah (new)

Sarah Mao's Last Dancer is an autobiography of a man that was a Chinese national, but who now lives in Melbourne with his Australian wife and their children.


message 11: by [deleted user] (new)

But the list is about books set in Australia, and at least The Book Thief is not set there even though the author is Australian.


message 12: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jun 08, 2012 03:24AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Vernon God Little is not set in Australia and has been removed from the list. (Excellent book by the way but story is set in the USA).


message 13: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jun 08, 2012 03:59AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Kirsty wrote: "The Book Thief is set in Germany as is Schindler's List. ... I think this list should be checked in some way"

I agree with Kirsty: Although written by an Aussie author, Schindler's list is not set in Australia (and has been removed).

@Sofia & Kirsty
I haven't read The book thief, so I can't/won't remove that particular title. Sorry... :-)


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) What about Mary Poppins? I haven't read the book myself but thought it was set in London and not in Australia. Does anyone know for sure?


message 15: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Jun 08, 2012 03:58AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Lisa wrote: "In a Sunburned Country is not by an Australian author..."

The list is called "Best Books Set in Australia", so that's what this list is all about, as Sofia remarked earlier on.

Is In a sunburned country set in Australia? Sounds like it :-) but I have no idea one way or the other, as I have never read the book. Does any one know for sure?


message 16: by Joy (new)

Joy No 'He Died With A Falafel In His Hand'??


message 17: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Removed "The Book Thief" and "Bay of Noon," which is set in Naples, Italy, not Australia.


message 18: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Removed "Mary Poppins."


message 19: by Nell (new)

Nell The Great Fire is set in Japan not in Australia. Two of the characters are Australian and the author was born in Australia but it does not belong on this list.


message 20: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited May 15, 2014 09:43AM) (new)

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads The First Man in Rome(#110)? Certainly not set in Australia. (Excellent read, though.)

ETA: Ditto The October Horse, at #208.


message 21: by Paul (new)

Paul Bowes Checked for duplicates: 4 books removed.


message 22: by ☘ Erin K ☘ (new)

☘ Erin K ☘ #55 The House at Riverton by Kate Morton is not set in Australia. It is set in England.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Erin/Ginger wrote: "#55 The House at Riverton by Kate Morton is not set in Australia. It is set in England."

It has been removed from the list.


message 24: by Steven (new)

Steven Is there a reason Deltora Quest, a book serving a made up island called Deltora is in his list?


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Where on the list is it?


message 26: by Steven (new)

Steven Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "Where on the list is it?"

Its number 354


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads The book (or books) seem to be by an Australian author, but not set in Australia. Unless it's a fantasy kingdom these days?

I agree; they need to be removed.

Anyone else with an opinion?


message 28: by Jack (last edited Mar 01, 2018 05:45AM) (new)

Jack "Monkey Grip" at 138? I don't think any novel, before or since, has really captured the counter-cultural essence of Melbourne in the 70s: Whitlam, height of women's lib, live music, burgeoning immigration, new attitudes towards love/drugs/sex...seriously. It should be higher on this list.


Susanna - Censored by GoodReads Well, I hope you voted for it, then.


message 30: by Elizabeth (new)

Elizabeth My novel, Esme's Wish, somehow ended up on this list but isn't set in Australia. No. 348


message 31: by Chelsea (new)

Chelsea Rubenstein Anyone know of a novel called "The Site" set in the Australian outback. About a bar fly girl who was murdered and her ghost haunts a woman till the truth of her killers is revealed. Lead character named Lacey. Thanks.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) @Chelsea
Have you tried What's the Name of That Book??? on GR yet? The more you remember about a book, the more chance you have of the right book being found.

They've helped me out twice (they asked me questions and the more I thought about a book I was looking for, the more I remembered about it 😀)


message 33: by Chelsea (new)

Chelsea Rubenstein Booklovinglady wrote: "@Chelsea
Have you tried What's the Name of That Book??? on GR yet? The more you remember about a book, the more chance you have of the right book being found.

They've helped me out twice (they ask..."

@Booklovinglady Thank you! I will try now. You've given me hope!🌼


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Chelsea wrote: "@Booklovinglady Thank you! I will try now. You've given me hope!🌼..."

Just don't expect an answer straight away. Sometimes it can take weeks... (if they can help you at all of course, that is)


message 35: by Alicia (last edited Aug 17, 2020 09:57AM) (new)

Alicia Ellsworth Someone put all of Kate Morton in here and even tho she is Aussie, her books take place in England.

#s 17, 74, 98


message 36: by Fiona (new)

Fiona H Down Among the Women by Fay Weldon not set in Australia. Should be removed.


message 37: by Fiona (new)

Fiona H Not sure cookbooks should be included either - just noticed Home Cooking With Hayden by Hayden Bridger.


message 38: by Fiona (last edited Sep 26, 2021 09:13PM) (new)

Fiona H Sorry, another two - Grand Days by Frank Moorhouse has an Australian author and an Australian main character but it is wholly set in Europe, and Youth by J.M. Coetzee is set in South Africa and London (although Australia is now Coetsee's adopted home).


Elizabeth (Alaska) Removed All That I Am from the list. This is by an Australian author, but doesn't take place in Australia.


message 40: by Fiona (new)

Fiona H The three Kate Morton books - 15, 74 and 98 - are not set in Australia, even though Morton is Australian.


message 41: by Aquaria (new)

Aquaria Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "Don't know about Mao's Last Dancer, but Markus Zusak and Thomas Keneally, the authors of Book Thief and Schindler's List, are both Australian."

The category is for books set in Australia, not books by Australians.


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