Aussie Readers discussion

With another year (2021! another COVID year!) almost over here at Aussie Readers it's that time again to list your top 5 - 10 Aussie author titles. The books don't have to be released this year but only to be read.

Here's the link to the mid-year top 5-10 where you chose the first half of the year's favourites. See how much, and if, they change :)

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

My top 10 AAs for 2021 in no particular order...

The Hush by Sara Foster
The Last Days of Dom Sebastian by Greg Barron
The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer by Ilsa Evans
The Wattle Island Book Club by Sandie Docker
The Missing Girl by Kerry McGinnis
Canticle Creek by Adrian Hyland
The Way it is Now by Garry Disher
Deception Creek by Fleur McDonald
Sisters of the Resistance by Christine Wells
The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

Here's mine:)

The Good Wife of Bath: A (Mostly) True Story by Karen Brooks

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

The Emporium of Imagination by Tabitha Bird

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

The Last Reunion by Kayte Nunn

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Aurora's End by Amie Kaufman

Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly by Adrian McKinty

Singapore Sapphire by A.M. Stuart

My top Australian reads for 2020 in no certain order:

Happy Hour by Jacquie Byron
Unforgiven by Sarah Barrie
The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer by Ilsa Evans
Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper

*The Hush & also anything by Garry Disher or Michael Robotham also right up there

Well an easy #1 this year, and one of the first books I read in 2021 at that! However, was otherwise not hugely impressed by AAs this year.

1. The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku (RIP)
2. The One Impossible Labyrinth by Matthew Reilly
3. Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
4. Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (I'm still reading this but loving it!)

Honestly they are the only real standouts! I enjoyed some others but they didn't really make an impact. But the year is not done yet! :)

I haven't read many released this year but still found some really engaging, interesting and meaningful AA texts.

1. Flames by Robbie Arnott
2. A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
3. The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke
4. The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader
5. The Yield by Tara June Winch
6. After Darkness by Christine Piper
7. Carpentaria by Alexis Wright
8. The Dressmaker's Secret by Rosalie Ham
9. Blueback by Tim Winton
10. Ironbark by Jay Carmichael

These are my 10 favourites from Australian writers this year


Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss
Providence by Max Barry
The Good Wife of Bath: A (Mostly) True Story by Karen Brooks
The Riviera House by Natasha Lester
Book of Lost Threads by Tess Evans
The Shut Ins by Katherine Brabon
The Bride of Almond Tree by Robert Hillman
Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser
The Naturalist's Daughter by Tea Cooper
Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas

My top 5:

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
A Song of Flight by Juliet Marillier

I have either had a shocker of a year with my book choices, or I've just been a grinch the whole year...!

I also didn't read as many Aussie authors as I usually do, so that gave me a smaller pool to pick from, but I didn't have any 5★ or 4.5★ Aussie author reads :-(

So my 4★ Aussie author reads for this year were:

Thursdays at Orange Blossom House by Sophie Green
Araluen by Judy Nunn
A Distant Journey by Di Morrissey
Four Fires by Bryce Courtenay

So many good books to choose from this year!

A Million Things by Emily Spurr
The Emporium of Imagination by Tabitha Bird
The Other Side of Beautiful by Kim Lock
When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham
The Family Doctor by Debra Oswald
The Hush by Sara Foster
Wild Place by Christian White
Unforgiven by Sarah Barrie
The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer by Ilsa Evans
The Second Son by Loraine Peck

Gosh, this is really hard! I've got some oldies, and a couple of newer releases. Here are my top 10 Aussie fiction reads of 2021, in reading order:
Fortune by Lenny Bartulin (14/2) 5*
The Performance by Claire Thomas (27/2) 5*
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak (20/3) 5*
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (28/3) 5*
The Morbids by Ewa Ramsey (22/5) 5*
Digging Up Dirt by Pamela Hart (1/6) 5*
The Second Son by Loraine Peck (6/9) 5*
The Tribute by John Byron (20/9) 5*
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss (30/9) 5*
Unforgiven by Sarah Barrie (3/12) 5*

My top 5 Aussie non-fiction reads for 2021 are as follows:
Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark by Julia Baird (5/9) 5*
Emotional Female by Yumiko Kadota (31/10) 5*
Witness by Louise Milligan (19/11) 5*
The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do (12/12) 5*
The School: The ups and downs of one year in the classroom by Brendan James Murray (28/12) 5*

My top reads for the year
Love Objects
Scary Monsters
My body keeps your secrets
Room for a Stranger
A Constant Hum
The Performance

Half of these came from A&U giveaways!

My standout Aussie reads for 2021 are:

Gilgamesh
Returning to Carthage
The Believer
Fortune
The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen

I was surprised and happy to see how many Australian books I rated 4★ this year (many nominated by others above) - we are spoiled with great writers!

My Top Australian Author reads for 2021 were:-

The Lake House by Kate Morton
The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon
The Family Across the Street by Nicole Trope
The Survivors by Jane Harper
The Lullaby Man by Anni Taylor
Cruelty's Daughter by Anna Willett
Peace by Garry Disher
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
The Inheritance by Gabriel Bergmoser
The Chain by Adrian McKinty

My top reads for 2021.




Just an Ordinary Family by Fiona Lowe
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
A Home Like Ours by Fiona Lowe
Daughter of Mine by Fiona Lowe
After Story by Larissa Behrendt
Home Fires by Fiona Lowe
Birthright by Fiona Lowe
The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer by Ilsa Evans
The Dry by Jane Harper

I think you might be a big fan of Fiona Lowe Rachel ;) She writes lovely novels!

Brenda wrote: "I think you might be a big fan of Fiona Lowe Rachel ;) She writes lovely novels!"

😂😂😂