30 Best Australian books of the 21st century
This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.
About this list
Readings, 30 Books
Another reaction to that NYT list of best books of the 21st Century, this time from the Australian book retailer Readings.
"As fierce advocates for Australian literature we were disappointed not to see any of our own remarkable writers on the(NYT) list... We reached out to members of the Australian literary community, from writers to publishers and our own passionate booksellers, asking them to nominate their favourite Australian books, published since 2000. The result is this list of the 30 best Australian books of the 21st century." Over 600 votes were cast.
The exact number of voters was not specifically mentioned, but based on their summary, I am going to guess at least 20. If anyone has a more accurate count please let me know.
This list was originally published in 2024 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5490 | The Slap | Christos Tsiolkas | 2008 | Australian | English | |
| 1085 | The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | 2005 | Australian | English | |
| 6310 | Burial Rites | Hannah Kent | 2013 | Australian | English | |
| 3855 | Breath | Tim Winton | 2008 | Australian | English | |
| 9151 | Limberlost | Robbie Arnott | 2022 | Australian | English | |
| 6276 | The Narrow Road To The Deep North | Richard Flanagan | 2013 | Australian | English | |
| 3065 | The Secret River | Kate Grenville | 2005 | Australian | English | |
| 7788 | Cold Enough For Snow | Jessica Au | 2022 | Australian | English | |
| 8557 | The Tall Man | Chloe Hooper | 2008 | Australian | English | |
| 7622 | Dropbear | Evelyn Araluen | 2021 | Australian | English | |
| 6967 | The Boat | Nam Le | 2008 | Australian | English | |
| 1154 | True History of the Kelly Gang | Peter Carey | 2000 | Australian | English | |
| 7212 | Boy Swallows Universe | Trent Dalton | 2018 | Australian | English | |
| 5352 | Stasiland | Anna Funder | 2002 | Australian | English | |
| 4382 | How To End A Story | Helen Garner | 2021 | Australian | English | |
| 8697 | Too Much Lip | Melissa Lucashenko | 2018 | Australian | English | |
| 10227 | The Museum Of Modern Love | Heather Rose | 2018 | Australian | English | |
| 7194 | Jasper Jones | Craig Silvey | 2009 | Australian | English | |
| 8935 | The White Girl | Tony Birch | 2019 | Australian | English | |
| 6482 | Year Of Wonders | Geraldine Brooks | 2001 | Australian | English | |
| 3508 | Joe Cinque's Consolation | Helen Garner | 2004 | Australian | English | |
| 5462 | The Animals In That Country | Laura Jean McKay | 2020 | Australian | English | |
| 8212 | Dark Emu | Bruce Pascoe | 2014 | Australian | English | |
| 10544 | The Yield | Tara June Winch | 2019 | Australian | English | |
| 8095 | The Dictionary Of Lost Words | Pip Williams | 2020 | Australian | English | |
| 10933 | Bodies Of Light | Jennifer Down | 2021 | Australian | English | |
| 8490 | The Dry | Jane Harper | 2016 | Australian | English | |
| 9229 | Foal's Bread | Gillian Mears | 2011 | Australian | English | |
| 8510 | The Broken Shore | Peter Temple | 2005 | Australian | English | |
| 8309 | How The Light Gets In | M. J. Hyland | 2003 | Australian | English |