The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Australia

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
765 The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough 1977 Australian English
767 The Tree of Man Patrick White 1955 Australian English
826 Voss Patrick White 1957 Australian English
879 A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute 1950 British English
1036 The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson 1917 Australian English
1096 The Transit of Venus Shirley Hazzard 1980 Australian English
1154 True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey 2000 Australian English
1252 Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari 2011 Israeli Hebrew
1259 The Female Eunuch Germaine Greer 1970 Australian English
1344 The Emigrants W. G. Sebald 1992 German German
1561 Oscar and Lucinda Peter Carey 1988 Australian English
1728 The Voyage of the Beagle Charles Darwin 1839 British English
1818 Barbarian Days William Finnegan 2015 American English
1844 The Sixth Extinction Elizabeth Kolbert 2014 American English
2023 Elizabeth Costello J. M. Coetzee 2003 South African English
2031 Cosmos Alexander von Humboldt 1845 German German
2298 The Getting Of Wisdom Henry Handel Richardson 1910 Australian English
2399 Remembering Babylon David Malouf 1993 Australian English
2517 Rites of Passage William Golding 1980 British English
2597 A Fringe Of Leaves Patrick White 1976 Australian English
2666 The Songlines Bruce Chatwin 1987 British English
2668 Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum 1900 Canadian English
2704 My Brilliant Career Miles Franklin 1901 Australian English
3063 The Secret River Kate Grenville 2005 Australian English
3122 Carpentaria Alexis Wright 2006 Australian English
3324 The Living and the Dead Patrick White 1941 Australian English
3441 In Search Of The Castaways Jules Verne 1867 French French
3469 The Story Of English Robert McCrum 1986 British English
3509 Joe Cinque's Consolation Helen Garner 2004 Australian English
3828 Cloudstreet Tim Winton 1991 Australian English
3856 Breath Tim Winton 2008 Australian English
3869 Monkey Grip Helen Garner 1977 Australian English
3889 Illywhacker Peter Carey 1985 Australian English
3934 One Hundred Poems Kenneth Slessor 1944 Australian English
4661 The Swan Book Alexis Wright 2013 Australian English
4722 Death of a Lake Arthur William Upfield 1954 Australian English
4722 The Bone is Pointed Arthur William Upfield 1938 Australian English
4741 The Commandant Jessica Anderson 1975 Australian English
4775 An Angel At My Table Unknown 1984 New Zealand English
4852 Melbourne David Cecil 1939 British English
4929 Running Jean Echenoz 2008 French French
4937 Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood 2023 Australian English
5135 The Story Of The Rainbow Serpent Unknown -2000 Australian Unknown
5187 Armadale Wilkie Collins 1866 British English
5354 Praiseworthy Alexis Wright 2024 Australian English
5358 The Treaty Of Waitangi Claudia Orange 1987 New Zealand English
5460 The Animals In That Country Laura Jean McKay 2020 Australian English
5483 Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty 2014 Australian English
5488 The Slap Christos Tsiolkas 2008 Australian English
5510 Riders In The Chariot Patrick White 1961 Australian English
5771 The Road from Coorain Jill Ker Conway 1989 Australian English
5935 The Turning Point Fritjof Capra 1982 American English
6122 Inland Gerald Murnane 1988 Australian English
6249 Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoğlu, James A. Robinson 2012 American English
6274 The Narrow Road To The Deep North Richard Flanagan 2013 Australian English
6319 A Fortunate Life A. B. Facey 1981 Australian English
6379 A Voyage Round The World Georg Forster 1777 German German
6399 The Last Inch James Aldridge 1958 British English
6442 Eaarth Bill McKibben 2010 American English
6542 Collected Poems Les A. Murray 1991 Australian English
6679 A Fraction Of The Whole Steve Toltz 2008 Australian English
6967 The Boat Nam Le 2008 Australian English
7009 The Trial Of The Cannibal Dog Anne Salmond 2003 New Zealand English
7134 Slow Man J. M. Coetzee 2005 South African English
7193 Jasper Jones Craig Silvey 2009 Australian English
7211 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7212 Question 7 Richard Flanagan 2023 Unknown English
7215 Tamarisk Row Gerald Murnane 1974 Australian English
7621 Dropbear Evelyn Araluen 2021 Australian English
7655 Poems Of Judith Wright Judith Wright 1946 Australian English
7707 Moral Hazard Kate Jennings 2002 Australian English
7786 Cold Enough For Snow Jessica Au 2022 Australian English
7810 The Song Of The Dodo David Quammen 1996 American English
7819 On The Track Of Unknown Animals Bernard Heuvelmans 1955 Belgian French
7860 The Plains Gerald Murnane 1982 Australian English
7894 The Bone Clocks David Mitchell 2014 British English
7907 That Deadman Dance Kim Scott 2010 Australian English
7914 Musicophilia Oliver Sacks 2007 British English
7975 Kayang And Me Kim Scott 2005 Australian English
8006 The Eye Of The Storm Patrick White 1973 Australian English
8105 Coonardoo Katherine Susannah Prichard 1929 Australian English
8176 Poems Of A. D. Hope A. D. Hope 1955 Australian English
8186 Questions Of Travel Michelle de Kretser 2012 Australian English
8194 The Living Beach Silver Donald Cameron 1998 Canadian English
8210 Dark Emu Bruce Pascoe 2014 Australian English
8211 Landscape Of Farewell Alex Miller 2007 Australian English
8247 Always Unreliable Clive James 2001 British English
8295 Alec: The Years Have Pants Eddie Campbell 2008 British English
8307 How The Light Gets In M. J. Hyland 2003 Australian English
8355 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
8485 The Dry Jane Harper 2016 Australian English
8506 The Broken Shore Peter Temple 2005 Australian English
8515 Into The Woods Anna Krien 2010 Australian English
8544 Down Under Bill Bryson 2000 American English
8553 The Tall Man Chloe Hooper 2008 Australian English
8639 Water Marq de Villiers 2000 Canadian English
8681 Miss Peabody’s Inheritance Elizabeth Jolley 1983 Australian English
8693 Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko 2018 Australian English
8710 Are We There Yet? A Journey Around Australia Alison Lester 2004 Australian English
8721 The Uninhabitable Earth David Wallace-Wells 2019 American English
8888 The Fatal Shore Robert Hughes 1987 Australian English
8907 The Night Guest Fiona McFarlane 2013 Australian English
8932 The White Girl Tony Birch 2019 Australian English
9045 The Sun Walks Down Fiona McFarlane 2022 Australian English
9061 The Tribe Michael Mohammed Ahmad 2014 Australian English
9061 A Million Windows Gerald Murnane 2014 Australian English
9126 Mutant Message Down Under Marlo Morgan 1991 American English
9147 Limberlost Robbie Arnott 2022 Australian English
9188 The Confidence Game Maria Konnikova 2015 American English
9226 Foal's Bread Gillian Mears 2011 Australian English
9231 Panthers And The Museum Of Fire Jen Craig 2015 Australian English
9231 The Natural Way Of Things Charlotte Wood 2015 Australian English
9238 Tirra Lirra By The River Jessica Anderson 1978 Australian English
9284 It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake Claire Christian 2020 Australian English
9296 My Place Sally Morgan 1987 Australian English
9319 Terra Nullius Sven Lindqvist 2007 Swedish Swedish
9370 Their Brilliant Careers Ryan O’Neill 2016 Australian English
9656 Brehm's Life Of Animals Alfred Edmund Brehm 2015 German German
9749 800 Horseman Col Stringer 1987 Australian English
9798 No Friend But The Mountains Behrouz Boochani 2018 Unknown Persian