Last Monday, I shared the favourite Fiction and Poetry books that had been chosen by various critics and commentators in a select number of sources. I haven’t always shared the nonfiction choices, though I do think it’s worth doing – so this year I am! I won’t repeat the intro from last week, but I will re-share the sources, having edited them slightly to show those which included nonfiction … and remind you that I’ve only included the Aussie choices.

Here are the sources I used:

• ABC RN Bookshelf (radio broadcaster): Cassie McCullagh, Kate Evans and a panel of bookish guests, Jason Steger (arts journalist and former book editor); Jon Page (bookseller); Robert Goodman (reviewer and literary judge specialising in genre fiction): only shared their on air picks, not their extras which became long
• Australian Book Review (literary journal): selected across forms by ABR’s reviewers
• Australian Financial Review (newspaper, traditional and online): shared “the top picks …to add to your holiday reading pile.” (free briefly, but now paywalled.)
• The Conversation (online news source): experts from across the spectrum of The Conversation’s writing so a diverse list
• The Guardian (online news source): promotes its list as “Guardian Australia critics and staff pick out the best books of the year”.
• Readings (independent bookseller): has its staff “vote” for their favourite books of the year, and then lists the Top Ten in various categories, one of which is adult nonfiction, of which I have included the Australian results.

And here are the books …

Life-writing (Memoir/Autobiography/Biography/Diaries)

• Katherine Biber, The last outlaws (Patrick Mullins, ABR; Clare Wright, ABR)
• David Brooks, A.D. Hope: A memoir of a literary friendship (Tony Hughes-d-Aeth, ABR)
• Geraldine Brooks, Memorial days (Jenny Wiggins, AFR; Susan Wyndham, The Guardian; Readings)
• Bob Brown, Defiance (Readings)
• Candice Chung, Chinese parents don’t say I love you (Readings)
• Robert Dessaix, Chameleon (Tim Byrne, The Guardian) (on my TBR)
• Helen Garner, How to end a Story: Collected diaries (Ben Brooker, ABR; Stuart Kells, ABR; Jonathan Ricketson, ABR; Lucy Clark, The Guardian) (see my posts on vol 1 and vol 2 from this collected volume)
• Moreno Giovannoni, The immigrants (Joseph Cummins, The Guardian)
• Hannah Kent, Always home, always homesick (Kate Evans, ABC)
• Josie McSkimming, Gutsy girls (Amanda Lohrey, ABR)
• Sonia Orchard, Groomed (Clare Wright, ABR)
• Mandy Sayer, No dancing in the lift (Clare Wright, ABR)
• Lucy Sussex and Megan Brown, Outrageous fortunes: The adventures of Mary Fortune, crime-writer, and her criminal son George (Stuart Kells, ABR)
• Marjorie (Nunga) Williams, Old days (Julie Janson, ABR)

History and other nonfiction

• Geoffrey Blainey, The causes of war (rerelease) (Stuart Kells, ABR)
• Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson, Conspiracy nation (Joseph Lew, AFR)
• Liam Byrne, No power greater: A history of union action in Australia (Marilyn Lake)
• Anne-Marie Condé, The Prime Minister’s potato: And other essays (Patrick Mullins, ABR) (on my TBR)
• Joel Deane, Catch and kill: The politics of power (rerelease) (Stuart Kells, ABR) 
• Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein, The Mushroom Tapes (Donna Lu, The Guardian; Readings)
• Juno Gemes, Until justice comes (Mark McKenna, ABR)
• Alyx Gorman, All women want (Sian Cain, The Guardian)
• Luke Kemp, Goliath’s curse: The history and future of societal collapse (Tom Doig, The Conversation; John Long, The Conversation)
• Richard King, Brave new wild: Can technology really save the planet? (Carody Culver, ABR; Clinton Fernandes, ABR)
• Shino Konishi, Malcolm Allbrook and Tom Griffiths (ed), Reframing Indigenous biography (Kate Fullager, ABR)
• Natalie Kyriacou, Nature’s last dance: Tales of wonder in an age of extinction (Euan Ritchie, The Conversation)
• Melissa Lucashenko, Not quite white in the head (Glyn Davis, ABR; Michael Williams, ABR; Readings)
• Ann McGrath and Jackie Huggins (ed), Deep history: Country and sovereignty (Kate Fullager, ABR)
• Tom McIlroy, Blue Poles: Jackson Pollock, Gough Whitlam and the painting that changed a nation (Esther Anatolis, ABR; Alex Now, AFR)
• Mark McKenna, Shortest history of Australia (Patrick Mullins, ABR)
• Djon Mundine, Windows and mirrors (Victoria Grieves Williams, ABR)
• Antonia Pont, A plain life: On thinking, feeling and deciding (Julienne van Loon, The Conversation)
• Margot Riley, Pix: The magazine that told Australia’s story (Kevin Foster, ABR)
• Sean Scalmer, A fair day’s work: The quest to win back time (Marilyn Lake, ABR)
• Emma Shortis, After America: Australia and the new world order (Marilyn Lake, ABR)
• Don Watson, The shortest history of the United States of America (Emma Shortis, The Conversation)
• Hugh White, Hard new world: Our post-American future (Marilyn Lake, ABR)
• Tyson Yunkaporta & Megan Kelleher, Snake talk (Readings)

Cookbooks

• Helen Goh, Baking & the meaning of life (Sian Cain, The Guardian)
• Rosheen Kaul, Secret sauce (Alyx Gorman, The Guardian)
• Thi Le, Viet Kieu: Recipes remembered from Vietnam (Yvonne C Lam, The Guardian)

Finally …

One children’s book, as far as I could tell, was chosen, and I’ve not included it anywhere else so here it is:

• Rae White, with Sha’an d’Anthes (illus.), All the colours of the rainbow (Esther Anatolis, ABR)

A few books were named by two people, with two books named by three, Geraldine Brooks’ Memorial days and Melissa Lucashenko’s Not quite white in the head, and one named by four, Helen Garner’s How to end a Story: Collected diaries. Is it a coincidence that these authors have also written fiction? Or that in terms of my reading wishes, they are up there, though several others are in my sights.

Is there any nonfiction in your sights for 2026? After all, Nonfiction November isn’t that far away if this year is any indication!

Around this time of December, I have, for some years, shared favourite Aussie reads of the year from various sources. Those sources have varied a little from time to time. This year’s are listed below.

This is not a scientific survey. For a start, the choosers’ backgrounds vary. Depending on the source, they may include critics, reviewers, commentators, subject specialists, publishers and/or booksellers. Then, there’s the fact that what they are asked to do varies. For example, some pickers are “allowed” to name several books while others are limited to “one” best (or favourite). And of course, they choose from different sets of books, depending on what they have read, and they use different criteria. In other words, this exercise is more serendipitous than authoritative. But, it still has value.

As always, I’m only including the choosers’ Aussie choices, but I include links to the original article/post so you can read them yourselves, should you so wish.

Here are the sources I used:

• ABC RN Bookshelf (radio broadcaster): Cassie McCullagh, Kate Evans and a panel of bookish guests, Jason Steger (arts journalist and former book editor); Jon Page (bookseller); Robert Goodman (reviewer and literary judge specialising in genre fiction). I only shared their on air picks, not their extras.
• Australian Book Review (literary journal): selected from many forms by ABR’s reviewers
• Australian Financial Review (newspaper, traditional and online): shared “the top picks … to add to your holiday reading pile.” 
• The Conversation (online news source): experts from across the spectrum of The Conversation’s writing so a diverse list.
• The Guardian (online news source): promotes its list as “Guardian Australia critics and staff pick out the best books of the year”.
• Readings (independent bookseller): staff “vote” for their favourite books of the year, then Readings shares the Top Ten in various categories.

To keep it manageable, I am focusing here on fiction (including short stories) and poetry, with a separate post on nonfiction, to follow.

Novels

• Randa Abdel-Fattah, Discipline (Zora Simic, ABR; Clare Wright, ABR)
• Shokoofeh Azar, The Gowkaran tree in the middle of our kitchen (Edwina Preston, The Conversation)
• Dominic Amerena, I want everything (Julian Novitz, ABC; Jon Page, ABC; Andrew Pippos, AFR; Jack Callil, The Guardian) (Kate’s review)
• Marc Brandi, Eden (Robert Goodman, ABC)
• Paul Daley, The leap (Julie Janson, ABR; Bridie Jabour, The Guardian)
• Olivia De Zilva, Plastic budgie (Jo Case, The Conversation)
• Laura Elvery, Nightingale (Readings)
• Beverley Farmer, The seal woman (1992, rereleased 2025) (Eve Vincent, The Conversation)
• Jon Fosse, Septology (Marjon Mossammaparast, ABR)
• Andrea Goldsmith, The buried life (Readings) (my review)
• Madeleine Gray, Chosen family (Kate Evans, ABC) (Brona’s review)
• Fiona Hardy, Unbury the dead (Jon Page, ABC; Readings)
• James Islington, The strength of the few (Tim Byrne, The Guardian)
• Brandon Jack, Pissants (Readings) (Kate’s review)
• Toni Jordan, Tenderfoot (Readings)
• Vijay Khurana, The passenger seat (Beejay Silcox, The Guardian) (Lisa’s review)
• Sofie Laguna, The underworld (Sian Cain, The Guardian) (on my TBR, see my conversation post)
• Charlotte McConaghy, Wild dark shore (Julia Feder, AFR) (Brona’s review)
• Jasmin McGaughey, Moonlight and dust (Allanah Hunt, The Conversation) (See my CWF post)
• Lay Maloney, Weaving us together (Melanie Saward, The Conversation)
• Patrick Marlborough, Nock Loose (Jared Richards, The Guardian)
• Angie Faye Martin, Melaleuca (Sandra Phillips, The Conversation)
• Jennifer Mills, Salvage (Robert Goodman, ABC; Alice Grundy, The Conversation) 
• Judi Morison, Secrets (Paul Daley, The Guardian)
• Rachel Morton, The sun was electric light (Readings; Seren Heyman-Griffiths, The Guardian)
• Omar Musa, Fierceland (Kate Evans, ABC; Readings; Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, The Guardian)
• Andrew Pippos, The transformations (Jo Case, The Conversation; Cassie McCullagh, ABC; Readings; Zora Simic, ABR)
• Nicolas Rothwell and Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson, Yilkari: A Desert Suite (Stephen Romei, ABR; John Woinarski, AFR) (on my TBR)
• Josephine Rowe, Little world (Felicity Plunkett, ABR; Readings; Geordie Williamson, ABR; Fiona Wright, The Conversation) (Lisa’s review)
• Craig Silvey, Runt and the diabolical dognapping (Jason Steger x 2, ABC and ABR)
• Jessica Stanley, Consider yourself kissed (Lauren Sams, AFR)
• Sinéad Stubbins, Stinkbug (Michael Sun, The Guardian)
• Lenore Thaker, The pearl of Tagai town (Julie Janson, ABR)
• Madeleine Watts, Elegy, Southwest (Steph Harmon, The Guardian)
• Sean Wilson, You must remember this (Jason Steger x 2, ABC and ABR) (Kate’s review)

Short stories

• Tony Birch, Pictures of you: Collected stories (Tony Hughes-d’Aeth, ABR; Julie Janson, ABR; Readings; Geordie Williamson, ABR; BK, The Guardian)
• Lucy Nelson, Wait here (Marjon Mossammaparast, ABR; Bec Kavanagh, The Guardian)
• Zoe Terakes, Eros (Dee Jefferson, The Guardian)

Poetry

• Evelyn Araluen, The rot (Tony Hughes-d’Aeth x 2, ABR and The Conversation; John Kinsella, ABR; Alison Croggon, The Guardian) (on my TBR, see my CWF posts 1 and 2)
• Eileen Chong, We speak of flowers (Seren Heyman-Griffiths, The Guardian) (Jonathan’s review)
• Antigone Kefala, Poetry (Marjon Mossammaparast, ABR)
• Luke Patterson, A savage turn (Felicity Plunkett, ABR; John Kinsella, ABR)
• Omar Sakr and Safdar Ahmed, The nightmare sequence (Jen Webb, The Conversation)
• Sara M. Saleh and Zainab Syed with Manal Younus (ed.), Ritual: A collection of Muslim Australian poetry (Esther Anatolis, ABR; Julie Janson, ABR)

Finally …

It’s encouraging to see the increasing diversity in these lists, including (but not only) several First Nations writers, compared with the lists I made just three or four years ago. It’s also interesting to see what books feature most. Popularity doesn’t equal quality, but it does indicate something about what has attracted attention during the year. One book (Tony Birch’s short story collection) was mentioned five times, and three others four times:

• Tony Birch, Pictures of you (short stories)
• Dominic Amerena, I want everything
• Andrew Pippos, The transformations
• Josephine Rowe, Little world

Of last year’s most mentioned books, several received significant notice at awards time – some winning them – including Michelle de Kretser’s Theory & practice and Fiona McFarlane’s Highway Thirteen.

This year, I read three novels from last year’s (2024) lists, Brian Castro’s Chinese postman, Melanie Cheng’s The burrow, Michelle de Kretser’s Theory & practice.

So, what has caught my eye from this year’s list, besides the one I have read – Andrea Goldsmith’s The buried life – and those on my TBR? Well, many, but in particular Tony Birch’s short story collection. And, I have read Josephine Rowe and Shokoofeh Azar before, so I am keen to read their new books.

If you haven’t seen it you might also like to check out Kate’s list of the top 48 books (from around the world) that appeared on the 54 lists she surveyed.

Thoughts – on this or lists from your neck of the wood?