As always, in the lead-up to Invasion Day, I’ve been revisiting the books I could recommend that provide a better reflection of life in modern Australia (by which I mean the last 20 years).
Thanks to the input of some amazing pals, here’s what we’ve come up with so far… [last updated January 2021]. Please feel free to add your own.
Children’s Books
- Cheeky Dogs: to Lake Nash and Back by Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell
- The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan (recommended by Zoe)
- Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy (recommended by Sue)
- Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
YA Fiction
- Becoming Kirallee Lewis by Jane Harrison
- Between Us by Clare Atkins
- Calypso Summer by Jared Thomas
- Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard
- Laurinda by Alice Pung
- The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon
- When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Adult Fiction
- A Constant Hum by Alice Bishop
- Australia Day by Melanie Cheng
- Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas
- Benang by Kim Scott (recommended by Shauna)
- Common People by Tony Birch
- Dirt Music by Tim Winton
- Earthly Delights and the rest of the Corinna Chapman series by Kerry Greenwood
- Legacy by Larissa Behrendt
- Indelible Ink by Fiona Macgregor (recommended by Jacquie)
- Me, Antman & Fleabag by Gaelle Kennedy
- Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko
- Position Doubtful by Kim Mahood (recommended by Harriet)
- Taboo by Kim Scott
- The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser (recommended by Jacquie)
- The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta
- The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (recommended by Brien)
- The Yield by Tara June Winch
- Tiddas by Anita Heiss
- Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko
Non-fiction
- Am I Black Enough For You? by Anita Heiss
- A Rightful Place: A Road Map to Recognition, edited by Noel Pearson and Shireen Morris
- Australia Day by Stan Grant
- Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
- Down Under: Travels in a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (one of the few contemporary non-fiction accounts of Australia, though the writer is a US expat living in England who forgets to visit an entire state)
- Growing up Aboriginal in Australia, edited by Anita Heiss
- How to Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Sex and Teenage Confusion by David Burton (recommended by Kate E)
- Meet me at the Intersection, edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina
- No Friend but the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani.
- Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World by Tyson Yunkaporta
- The Family Law by Benjamin Law
- The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke
- Welcome to Country – A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia by Marcia Langton (recommended by StellaGlorie)
Poetry
- Blakwork by Alison Whittaker
- Contemporary Australian Feminist Poetry edited by Bonnie Cassidy and Jessica L Wilkinson
- Conversations I’ve Never Had by Caitlin Maling (recommended by Harriet)
- Drinking White Wine in the Sun and other songs/poems by Tim Minchin (recommended by Amanda)
- Smoke Encrusted Whispers by Samuel Wagan Watson
Not-so-modern books (set in the 90’s or earlier)
- FICTION: Blood by Tony Birch
- FICTION: Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
- FICTION: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
- FICTION: Goodwood by Holly Throsby (recommended by Ayan)
- FICTION: Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
- FICTION: Murray Whelan series by Shane Maloney (recommended by Jacquie)
- FICTION: My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
- FICTION: Rowland Sinclair series by Sulari Gentil (recommended by Jacquie)
- FICTION: The Battlers by Kylie Tennant (recommended by Shauna)
- FICTION: The Light between Oceans by ML Stedman (recommended by Shauna)
- FICTION: The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (recommended by Harriet)
- FICTION: True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
- FICTION (or is it?): Monkey Grip by Helen Garner
- FICTION: You Belong Here by Laurie Steed
- NON-FICTION: 1956 the year Australia welcomed the world by Nick Richardson
- NON-FICTION: A Fortunate Life by AB Facey
- NON-FICTION: A Secret Country by John Pilger
- NON-FICTION: Girt and True Girt by David Hunt (recommended by Shauna)
- NON-FICTION: My Place by Sally Morgan
- NON-FICTION: Tracks by Robyn Davidson
- NON-FICTION: Wanamurraganya : the story of Jack McPhee by Sally Morgan
- POETRY: Sometimes Gladness by Bruce Dawe (recommended by Shauna)
- POETRY: The Silo by John Kinsella (recommended by Shauna)
Any others?
