Over recent years, I’ve shared favourite Aussie reads of the year from various sources, with the specific sources varying a little from time to time. This year, my main sources are The Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Reads of the Year chosen by writers, Readings bookshop’s Best Australian fiction, and ABC RN’s Bookshelf panel. As last year, the picks ranged far and wide, but in this post I am focusing on their Aussie fiction choices. All being well, I’ll do the Aussie nonfiction and poetry picks next week.
For what it’s worth, last year, I noted that five of the “favourite” novels were on my TBR. I can report that I did manage to read two of them, Larissa Behrendt’s After story (my review) and Anita Heiss’s Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (my review). I’m pleased with that!
Novels
- Robbie Arnott’s Limberlost: “a lovely assiduous book, which explores language and narrative with an old-fashioned joy” (Tom Keneally); “dignified and surprisingly conventional … gem” (Michael Winkler); “calling it (hopefully not cursing it) for next year’s Miles Franklin shortlist” (Jennifer Down); “further underlines his mastery of nature writing” (Jock Serong); “another gem” (Readings); (Cassie McCullagh); (Jason Steger) (on my TBR) (Lisa’s review)
- Jessica Au’s Cold enough for snow: “a meditative, mesmerising novel” (Anna Funder); “all composure … the elegance of its composition … its meditative contemplation of a mother-daughter relationship” (Hannah Kent) ; “loved the voice and pace (and, well, everything)” (Victoria Hannan); “stayed with me for weeks after I finished it … quietly brilliant” (Robbie Arnott); “more like mists … atmospheres you move through” (Miles Allinson); “exquisite prose and hypnotic pace” (Readings); (Jason Steger) (Lisa’s review; mine coming soon)
- Isobel Beech’s Sunbathing: “sensitive and lyrical work” (Readings)
- Gabriel Bergmoser’s The hitchhiker: (Dani Vee)
- Emily Bitto’s Wild abandon: “such lyricism and dead on the money imagery” (Tom Keneally)
- Brendan Colley’s The signal line: “speculative gothic fiction … nails it” (Bram Presser)
- Sophie Cunningham’s This devastating fever: (Emily Bitto); “triumph of tone and lightness” (Miles Allinson); (Jason Steger) (Brona’s review)
- Paul Daley’s Jesustown: “just loved” (Anna Funder); “scarifying tale of missionary colonialism” (Jock Serong)
- Rhett Davis’ Hovering: “original and blackly funny story” (Toni Jordan)
- Robert Drewe’s Nimblefoot: “a bag of picaresque fun” (Tim Winton) (on my TBR)
- Kate Forsyth’s The crimson thread: (Dani Vee)
- Peggy Frew’s Wildflowers: “confronting, generous, infectious, acutely observed” (Craig Silvey)
- Sulari Gentill’s The woman in the library: (Felix Shannon)
- Michael Winkler’s Grimmish: (Kate Evans)
- Chris Hammer’s The tilt: (Dani Vee); (Kate Evans)
- Jane Harper’s Exiles: “captivating read” (Readings)
- Jack Heath’s Kill your brother: (Dani Vee)
- Adriane Howell’s Hydra: “genre-busting” (Bram Presser)
- Pirooz Jafari’s Forty nights: (Emily Bitto)
- Gail Jones’ Salonika burning: “Dazzles again” (Readings); (Kate Evans) (Lisa’s review)
- Yumna Kassab’s Australiana: (Emily Bitto); “lyrical, intimate” (Readings)
- Hannah Kent’s Devotion: “aching and illuminating” (Trent Dalton)
- Tracey Lien’s All that’s left unsaid: “gripping drama with unforgettable characters” (Readings)
- Kate McCaffrey’s Double lives: “a really interesting hybrid-transcript format” (Felix Shannon)
- Scott McCulloch’s Basin: “brutal, apocalyptic” (Miles Allinson)
- Fiona McFarlane’s The sun walks down: (Emily Bitto); “mesmerising … inclusive … electrifying” (Michelle de Kretser); “best novel I’ve ever read about 19th-century Australia” (Geraldine Brooks); (Jason Steger); (Kate Evans)
- Fiona Kelly McGregor’s Iris: “The most extraordinary evocation of 1930s Sydney” (Hannah Kent); “vivid and compelling” (Lucy Treloar); “a luscious read” (Readings)
- Meg Mason’s Sorrow and bliss: “unique and improbable: a witty novel about depression” (Geraldine Brooks) (Kimbofo’s review)
- Gillian Mears’ Fineflour: “revisit” (Jennifer Down)
- Paddy O’Reilly’s Other houses: “powerful and captivating depiction of class” (Lucy Treloar); “as gripping as a thriller and yet so tender” (Toni Jordan) (on my TBR) (Lisa’s review)
- Adam Ouston’s Waypoints: “a literary spectacle” (Bram Presser); “ambitious, Lissajous-curved” (Michale Winkler); “hypnotic and intricately layered … very funny” (Robbie Arnott)
- Caroline Petit’s The natural history of love: “historical pick” (Toni Jordan)
- Hayley Scrivenor’s Dirt Creek: “a brilliant take on its varied perspectives” (Felix Shannon); (Kate Evans)
- Jock Serong’s The settlement: “powerful evocation of colonialism with a reverberant message” (Michael Winkler)
- Holden Sheppard’s The brink: (Dani Vee)
- Inga Simpson’s Willowman: “will almost certainly become a new Australian classic” (Readings); (Kate Evans)
- Steve Toltz’s Here goes nothing: (Cassie McCullagh); (Kate Evans)
- Emma Viskic’s Those who perish: “writing as immaculate as ever” (Lucy Treloar)
- Chris Womersley’s The diplomat: “fabulous” (Miles Allinson)
Short stories
- Kevin Brophy’s The lion in love: (Emily Bitto) (Lisa’s review) (on my TBR)
- Bryan Brown’s Sweet Jimmy: “frequently hilarious collection of crime yarns” (Trent Dalton)
- Else Fitzgerald’s Everything feels like the end of the world: (Emily Bitto); “standout post-human climate fiction” (Laura Jean McKay); “inventive and humane” (Craig Silvey)
- Chris Flynn’s Here be Leviathans: “keeps giving with stories that entertain and make you think” (Pip Williams) (on my TBR)
- Katerina Gibson’s Women I know: “sardonic, surprising” (Miles Allinson)
- Mirandi Riwoe’s Burnished sun: a realist beauty that decentres dominant narratives” (Laura Jean McKay)
- Ben Walter’s What fear was: “a hymn of place, a bravura display of sentence-smithing…” (Michael Winkler)
Finally …
It’s interesting to see what books feature most. Popularity doesn’t equal quality, but it does provides a guide to the books that attracted the most attention in the year. One of last year’s most frequent mentions was this year’s Miles Franklin winner, Jennifer Down’s Bodies of light. Will the same happen to one of this year’s most frequently mentioned books?
Several books were mentioned twice, but these received three or more mentions:
- Robbie Arnott’s Limberlost; Jessica Au’s Cold enough for snow (7 each)
- Fiona McFarlane’s The sun walks down (5)
- Sophie Cunninghma’s This devastating fever; Else Fizgerald’s Everything feels like the end of the world; Fiona Kelly McGregor’s Iris; Adam Ouston’s Waypoints (3 each)
Another interesting thing about lists is discovering new books. There are several in the above lists that I’ve never heard of, because they are genre books. That’s the serendipity that can happen in lists like this. However, there are some here that I hadn’t heard of but that grabbed my attention, like Pirooz Jafari’s Forty nights, Adam Ouston’s Waypoints, and Else Fitzgerald’s Everything feels like the end of the world. You?
Thoughts, anyone – on this or lists from your neck of theod