Top 50 (Australian) Books to Read Before you Die

In preparation for AusReading month in November I will be posting lists of books & awards to help those of you on the other side of the world with your book selections.

The above link will take you to the master post. You can add links back to your own blog posts about your experiences during AusReading Month.

There aren't many Australian book lists that don't have Tim Winton's Cloudstreet sitting at the #1 position. This particular poll was no different!

To celebrate The National Year of Reading in 2012, the First Tuesday Book Club gave all Australians a chance to vote for their favourite Australian book.

They counted the votes and compiled a list of the " 50 Aussie books you must read before you die."

I've highlighted the books I've read from this list in red. Sadly I've only reviewed one of them on this blog. I'll try to add a few more as Friday Flashbacks between now and then.

The Top 50 books were -

Cloudstreet – Tim Winton
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
A Fortunate Life – A.B. Facey
The Harp in the South – Ruth Park
The Power of One – Bryce Courtenay
Jasper Jones – Craig Silvey
The Magic Pudding – Norman Lindsay
The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas
The Secret River – Kate Grenville (reviewed)
Picnic at Hanging Rock – Joan Lindsay
Seven Little Australians – Ethel Turner
My Brother Jack – George Johnston
My Brilliant Career – Miles Franklin
True History of the Kelly Gang – Peter Carey
Eucalyptus – Murray Bail
Power Without Glory – Frank Hardy
The Broken Shore – Peter Temple
Monkey Grip – Helen Garner
The Riders – Tim Winton
The Tree of Man – Patrick White
The Fatal Shore – Robert Hughes
Unreliable Memoirs – Clive James
The Tall Man – Chloe Hooper
The Man Who Loved Children – Christina Stead
The Dressmaker – Rosalie Ham
The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney – Henry Handel Richardson
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith – Thomas Keneally
Capricornia – Xavier Herbert
Wake in Fright – Kenneth Cooke
Ransom – David Malouf
The Year of Living Dangerously – C.J. Koch
The First Stone – Helen Garner
Gallipoli – Alan Moorehead
Maestro – Peter Goldsworthy
The Monkey’s Mask – Dorothy Porter
Wanting – Richard Flanagan
Come In Spinner – Dymphna Cusack & Florence James
Grand Days – Frank Moorhouse (brief review)
1788 – Watkin Tench
It’s Raining in Mango – Thea Astley
Riders in the Chariot – Patrick White
Carpentaria – Alexis Wright
The Tyranny of Distance – Geoffrey Blainey
That Deadman Dance – Kim Scott
For Love Alone – Christina Stead
An Intruder’s Guide to East Arnhem Land – Andrew McMillan
The Life – Malcolm Knox
The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony – Hal Porter
Here’s Luck – Lennie Lower
Visitants – Randolph Stow

The First Tuesday Book Club has now changed it's name to The Book Club. They review contemporary and classic books as well as International and Australian titles. Click on the link above to see their reviews.