anya4oz

I'm a real bookworm (read anything from thrillers, to biogs, to history, to economics and politics textbooks ) and am really looking forward to discovering all those excellent Aussie authors.

So let's have *your* recommendations: fave Aussie writers in any category of literature/reference.

Here's mine to kick it off: I'm currently reading 'Stasiland' by Anna Funder (a Melbourne Girlie), which is about life in Cold War Berlin. It's impressive - and scary.

TIA!
Anya.

Pollyana

Have you come across Bryce Courtenay? Some of his novels are amazing, mostly set in Oz, though I think he was South African originally. 'The Potato Factory' is my favourite - the story of the real-life Fagin, who was deported to Hobart, and the most moving is 'April Fools Day' - a biography of his son, a haemophiliac who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion.
Should be able to get most if not all of his books in the UK.

anya4oz

Thanks, Polly, I will look out for him. The Fagin one sounds especially fascinating - as we plan to visit Tassie & go see the convict settlements, it'd be interesting to read it first.

Cheers,
Anya.

Pollyana

It really does paint a stunning - and very realistic - picture of Tassie, and brings in a lot of the convict places and sights that you can visit. If you going there, its a must!

anya4oz

Excellent! I've also got Robert Hughes' 'The Fatal Shore' in the pile to read, so with any luck will become an armchair expert on the 'other' type of immigration!

Cheers,
Anya.

Bordy

Do non Aussies count? I'm not a great reader but my wife has just read "The Da Vinci code" & says its the best book shes read in years. Author is Dan Brown ( American I think)

Pollyana

'Fatal Shore' is brilliant, lots of detail, but very readable. Bill Bryson's 'Down Under' is well worth it, if you haven't read it yet. Other authors I like are Robert Drewe, Tim Winton, Kate Grenville & Patricia Shaw - more in the line of popular fiction, but shes still good.
One thing I like about Dymocks stores over here is that they have a section for Australian Fiction writers, so you don't have to keep taking things off the shelf and checking!

arnie2oz

Off the top of my head:-

Patrick White - The Vivisector

Peter Carey - Oscar & Lucinda, True History of the Kelly Gang

If you haven't read Bill Bryson's 'Down Under' suggest you do as it's very entertaining and informative.

That should keep you busy for a few days

ps We expect full reviews from you of all books suggested here!!!!

OzTennis

Try Out of Ireland by Christopher Koch. It's a story about Irish convicts who were transported from Ireland to Tasmania because of their political beliefs. It is based on a true story and real characters. I have lots of other recommendations and I'll post them in due course (just checking my emails before leaving on Monday!)

OzTennis

Pollyana

Yep, that was a really good read, OzTennis. Again, all the more interesting because its got the real convicts and prisoners in it.

anya4oz

Thanks everyone! Some excellent-sounding recommendations there!

Now all I need is a nice long 24-hour flight, so's I can read some of them uninterrupted

I discovered a really excellent thriller writer last time I was working in Sydney, but the book is in a box somewhere. As soon as I dig it out, I'll post details.

Cheers,
Anya.

JackTheLad

The Dig Tree - about the Burke and Wills expedition across Australia. Amazing true story. Its by an author Sarah Murgatroyd
who was English living in Sydney. Its a great book for anyone moving to VIC and wanting to understand a bit of their history, and why these two guys are so revered.

True history of the Kelly Gang is a great book if you can get used to the narrative style. But by the end of it I was thinking in the same unpunctuated, semiliterate way it was written.

JTL

MrsDagboy

Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes is a good one, as is the one by Manning Clarke, History of Australia. I have a few more like this in my bookshelf, titles escape me ATM though.

For fiction try Neville Shute, author of A Town Like Alice, Trustee From the Toolroom, On the Beach, The Far Country & Beyond the Black Stump to name a few. You probably wont find his stuff in Dymocks or QBD however, try any second hand aussie bookstores although some of the more popular ones may be available from bookstores if you order them (ie not on the shelf).

If you like the "old fashioned" yarn telling like Shute, also try FJ Thwaites, Broken Melody & The Melody Lingers are just 2 of his (those 2 are based on the station where my mum & dad lived when they first got married). Ditto re Dymocks, no longer in print & can be hard to find, try the second hand shops.

Lastly, you can always try Coleen McCullough - The Thornbirds, Tim, Morgans Run, An Indecent Obsession.

For the simple & childlike at heart, try any of the Silver Brumby Books by Elyne Mitchell .

helinuk

My Aussie authors are sitting on my bedside table read or in the middle of them.

Tim Winton- Dirt music- bought it from Gatwick airport opened it on the plane and found it was a signed copy:-)

Peter Carey - Kelly gang-
and reading -My life as a fake -

Murray Bail- Euchalyptus

Alex Millar- Journey to a stone counry- it starts off in Melbourne and moves to QLD , loved its outback descriptions & atmosphere

Bill Byson down under - a nice light relief from what my hubby calls my "bookgroup" type books!

Is that enough to keep you going Anya?
Hx

helinuk

yes agree great reads!