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
1727 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
2024 Elizabeth Costello J. M. Coetzee 2003 South African English
2032 Cosmos Alexander von Humboldt 1845 German German
2299 The Getting Of Wisdom Henry Handel Richardson 1910 Australian English
2401 Remembering Babylon David Malouf 1993 Australian English
2519 Rites of Passage William Golding 1980 British English
2598 A Fringe Of Leaves Patrick White 1976 Australian English
2667 The Songlines Bruce Chatwin 1987 British English
2669 Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum 1900 Canadian English
2705 My Brilliant Career Miles Franklin 1901 Australian English
3065 The Secret River Kate Grenville 2005 Australian English
3123 Carpentaria Alexis Wright 2006 Australian English
3324 The Living and the Dead Patrick White 1941 Australian English
3442 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
3827 Cloudstreet Tim Winton 1991 Australian English
3855 Breath Tim Winton 2008 Australian English
3868 Monkey Grip Helen Garner 1977 Australian English
3888 Illywhacker Peter Carey 1985 Australian English
3934 One Hundred Poems Kenneth Slessor 1944 Australian English
4663 The Swan Book Alexis Wright 2013 Australian English
4724 Death of a Lake Arthur William Upfield 1954 Australian English
4724 The Bone is Pointed Arthur William Upfield 1938 Australian English
4743 The Commandant Jessica Anderson 1975 Australian English
4777 An Angel At My Table Unknown 1984 New Zealand English
4854 Melbourne David Cecil 1939 British English
4932 Running Jean Echenoz 2008 French French
4940 Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood 2023 Australian English
5138 The Story Of The Rainbow Serpent Unknown -2000 Australian Unknown
5190 Armadale Wilkie Collins 1866 British English
5356 Praiseworthy Alexis Wright 2024 Australian English
5360 The Treaty Of Waitangi Claudia Orange 1987 New Zealand English
5463 The Animals In That Country Laura Jean McKay 2020 Australian English
5486 Big Little Lies Liane Moriarty 2014 Australian English
5491 The Slap Christos Tsiolkas 2008 Australian English
5513 Riders In The Chariot Patrick White 1961 Australian English
5774 The Road from Coorain Jill Ker Conway 1989 Australian English
5939 The Turning Point Fritjof Capra 1982 American English
6125 Inland Gerald Murnane 1988 Australian English
6252 Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoğlu, James A. Robinson 2012 American English
6277 The Narrow Road To The Deep North Richard Flanagan 2013 Australian English
6322 A Fortunate Life A. B. Facey 1981 Australian English
6382 A Voyage Round The World Georg Forster 1777 German German
6402 The Last Inch James Aldridge 1958 British English
6445 Eaarth Bill McKibben 2010 American English
6544 Collected Poems Les A. Murray 1991 Australian English
6680 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
7194 Jasper Jones Craig Silvey 2009 Australian English
7212 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7213 Question 7 Richard Flanagan 2023 Unknown English
7216 Tamarisk Row Gerald Murnane 1974 Australian English
7622 Dropbear Evelyn Araluen 2021 Australian English
7656 Poems Of Judith Wright Judith Wright 1946 Australian English
7709 Moral Hazard Kate Jennings 2002 Australian English
7788 Cold Enough For Snow Jessica Au 2022 Australian English
7811 The Song Of The Dodo David Quammen 1996 American English
7820 On The Track Of Unknown Animals Bernard Heuvelmans 1955 Belgian French
7861 The Plains Gerald Murnane 1982 Australian English
7895 The Bone Clocks David Mitchell 2014 British English
7908 That Deadman Dance Kim Scott 2010 Australian English
7915 Musicophilia Oliver Sacks 2007 British English
7976 Kayang And Me Kim Scott 2005 Australian English
8007 The Eye Of The Storm Patrick White 1973 Australian English
8107 Coonardoo Katherine Susannah Prichard 1929 Australian English
8178 Poems Of A. D. Hope A. D. Hope 1955 Australian English
8188 Questions Of Travel Michelle de Kretser 2012 Australian English
8196 The Living Beach Silver Donald Cameron 1998 Canadian English
8212 Dark Emu Bruce Pascoe 2014 Australian English
8213 Landscape Of Farewell Alex Miller 2007 Australian English
8249 Always Unreliable Clive James 2001 British English
8297 Alec: The Years Have Pants Eddie Campbell 2008 British English
8309 How The Light Gets In M. J. Hyland 2003 Australian English
8357 Tracks Robyn Davidson 1980 Australian English
8490 The Dry Jane Harper 2016 Australian English
8510 The Broken Shore Peter Temple 2005 Australian English
8519 Into The Woods Anna Krien 2010 Australian English
8548 Down Under Bill Bryson 2000 American English
8557 The Tall Man Chloe Hooper 2008 Australian English
8643 Water Marq de Villiers 2000 Canadian English
8685 Miss Peabody’s Inheritance Elizabeth Jolley 1983 Australian English
8697 Too Much Lip Melissa Lucashenko 2018 Australian English
8714 Are We There Yet? A Journey Around Australia Alison Lester 2004 Australian English
8726 The Uninhabitable Earth David Wallace-Wells 2019 American English
8892 The Fatal Shore Robert Hughes 1987 Australian English
8911 The Night Guest Fiona McFarlane 2013 Australian English
8936 The White Girl Tony Birch 2019 Australian English
9049 The Sun Walks Down Fiona McFarlane 2022 Australian English
9066 The Tribe Michael Mohammed Ahmad 2014 Australian English
9066 A Million Windows Gerald Murnane 2014 Australian English
9131 Mutant Message Down Under Marlo Morgan 1991 American English
9152 Limberlost Robbie Arnott 2022 Australian English
9192 The Confidence Game Maria Konnikova 2015 American English
9230 Foal's Bread Gillian Mears 2011 Australian English
9235 Panthers And The Museum Of Fire Jen Craig 2015 Australian English
9235 The Natural Way Of Things Charlotte Wood 2015 Australian English
9242 Tirra Lirra By The River Jessica Anderson 1978 Australian English
9289 It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake Claire Christian 2020 Australian English
9301 My Place Sally Morgan 1987 Australian English
9324 Terra Nullius Sven Lindqvist 2007 Swedish Swedish
9375 Their Brilliant Careers Ryan O’Neill 2016 Australian English
9659 Brehm's Life Of Animals Alfred Edmund Brehm 2015 German German
9752 800 Horseman Col Stringer 1987 Australian English
9801 No Friend But The Mountains Behrouz Boochani 2018 Unknown Persian