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?