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The COMPLETE LIST of survey results for the Most Popular Aussie Novels of All Time
by Clayton Wehner - December 24th, 2010
Here is the full list of results for the survey of the Most Popular Aussie Novels of All Time.
We’d love to hear your comments about the final listing:
- What do you think of the order?
- Any surprises?
- Any novels that you think missed the final listing?
- Are some of these books ‘novels’ or not??
Here’s the list (the % figure indicates the percentage of respondents in the survey who have read that particular book):
| 1 | GIBBS, May – Snugglepot and Cuddlepie | 47.20% |
| 2 | COURTENAY, Bryce – The Power of One | 46.50% |
| 3 | THIELE, Colin – Storm Boy | 45.20% |
| 4 | LINDSAY, Joan – Picnic at Hanging Rock | 38.50% |
| 5 | MCCULLOUGH, Colleen – Thorn Birds | 36.20% |
| 6 | MARCHETTA, Melina – Looking for Alibrandi | 35.90% |
| 7 | MARSDEN, John – Tomorrow When the War Began | 34.50% |
| 8 | MARSHALL, Alan – I Can Jump Puddles | 33.20% |
| 9 | PARK, Ruth – Playing Beatie Bow | 31.80% |
| 10 | SHUTE, Neville – A Town Like Alice | 29.30% |
| 11 | CAREY G./LETTE. K. – Puberty Blues | 29.00% |
| 12 | FACEY, A.B. – A Fortunate Life | 28.30% |
| 13 | WINTON, Tim – Cloudstreet | 27.70% |
| 14 | TURNER, Ethel – Seven Little Australians | 27.70% |
| 15 | COURTENAY, Bryce – April Fool’s Day | 27.00% |
| 16 | PARK, Ruth – The Harp in the South | 27.00% |
| 17 | FRANKLIN, Miles – My Brilliant Career | 26.30% |
| 18 | COURTENAY, Bryce – Jessica | 25.10% |
| 19 | MORGAN, Sally – My Place | 24.90% |
| 20 | CLARKE, Marcus – For the Term of His Natural Life | 22.80% |
| 21 | ZUSAK, Markus – The Book Thief | 22.70% |
| 22 | WINTON, Tim – Dirt Music | 22.50% |
| 23 | WINTON, Tim – Breath | 21.10% |
| 24 | MARSDEN, John – So Much to Tell You | 20.10% |
| 25 | CAREY, Peter – Oscar and Lucinda | 19.40% |
| 26 | JOHNSTON, George – My Brother Jack | 19.00% |
| 27 | MARSDEN, John – Letters from the Inside | 17.90% |
| 28 | GUNN, Jeannie – We of the Never Never | 17.70% |
| 29 | TSIOLKAS, Christos – The Slap | 16.80% |
| 30 | BIRMINGHAM, John – He Died with a Felafel in his Hand | 16.70% |
| 31 | SHUTE, Neville – On the Beach | 16.60% |
| 32 | REILLY, Matthew – Ice Station | 16.20% |
| 33 | KENEALLY, Thomas – Schindler’s Ark | 15.80% |
| 34 | CAREY, Peter – True History of the Kelly Gang | 15.40% |
| 35 | WINTON, Tim – The Riders | 15.10% |
| 36 | KENEALLY, Thomas – The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith | 14.80% |
| 37 | RICHARDSON, Henry Handel – The Getting of Wisdom | 14.40% |
| 38 | NYLAND, D’Arcy – The Shiralee | 13.00% |
| 39 | HARDY, Frank – Power without Glory | 12.10% |
| 40 | BOLDREWOOD, Rolf – Robbery Under Arms | 12.00% |
| 41 | GRENVILLE, Kate – The Secret River | 11.80% |
| 42 | BROOKS, Geraldine – The People of the Book | 11.70% |
| 43 | FLANAGAN, Richard – The Sound of One Hand Clapping | 11.20% |
| 44 | KOCH, Christopher – The Year of Living Dangerously | 10.80% |
| 45 | BAIL, Murray – Eucalyptus | 10.80% |
| 46 | GARNER, Helen – Monkey Grip | 10.60% |
| 47 | REILLY, Matthew – Temple | 10.00% |
| 48 | CAREY, Peter – Bliss | 10.00% |
| 49 | BROOKS, Geraldine – March | 9.70% |
| 50 | GARNER, Helen – The Spare Room | 9.60% |
| 51 | CARMODY, Isobelle – Obernewtyn | 9.30% |
| 52 | GAITA, Raimond – Romulus, My Father | 8.90% |
| 53 | COETZEE, J.M. – Disgrace | 8.70% |
| 54 | GREENWOOD, Kerry – Phryne Fisher series | 8.50% |
| 55 | ANDERSON, Jessica – Tirra Lirra by the River | 7.70% |
| 56 | WHITE, Patrick – Voss | 7.50% |
| 57 | MALOUF, David – An Imaginary Life | 7.30% |
| 58 | WHITE, Patrick – The Tree of Man | 7.30% |
| 59 | TEMPLE, Peter – The Broken Shore | 7.10% |
| 60 | JOLLEY, Elizabeth – The Well | 6.80% |
| 61 | ROBERTS, Gregory David – Shantaram | 6.80% |
| 62 | MORTON, Kate – The Shifting Fog | 6.60% |
| 63 | ZUSAK, Markus – The Messenger | 6.50% |
| 64 | MALOUF, David – Fly Away Peter | 6.50% |
| 65 | GOLDSWORTHY, Peter – Maestro | 6.50% |
| 66 | FURPHY, Joseph – Such is Life | 6.50% |
| 67 | FLANAGAN, Richard – Gould’s Book of Fish | 6.30% |
| 68 | PIERRE, D.B.C. – Vernon God Little | 6.10% |
| 69 | WILKINSON, Carole – Dragon Keeper series | 5.80% |
| 70 | CAREY, Peter – Illywhacker | 5.80% |
| 71 | REILLY, Matthew – Jack West Jr series | 5.70% |
| 72 | HERBERT, Xavier – Capricornia | 5.70% |
| 73 | SOUTHALL, Ivan – Hills End | 5.50% |
| 74 | STEAD, Christina – The Man Who Loved Children | 5.30% |
| 75 | MORRISSEY, Di – The Silent Country | 5.30% |
| 76 | MALOUF, David – Remembering Babylon | 5.20% |
| 77 | SILVEY, Craig – Jasper Jones | 5.20% |
| 78 | HARTNETT, Sonya – Of a Boy | 5.10% |
| 79 | WHITE, Patrick – Eye of the Storm | 5.10% |
| 80 | MALOUF, David – Ransom | 5.00% |
| 81 | TEMPLE, Peter – Truth | 5.00% |
| 82 | WHITE, Patrick – The Aunt’s Story | 4.80% |
| 83 | TOLTZ, Steve – A Fraction of the Whole | 4.70% |
| 84 | RICHARDSON, Henry Handel – The Fortunes of Richard Mahony | 4.60% |
| 85 | CAREY, Peter – My Life as a Fake | 4.60% |
| 86 | MILLER, Alex – Journey to the Stone Country | 4.60% |
| 87 | SOUTHALL, Ivan – Josh | 4.30% |
| 88 | MCGAHAN, Andrew – The White Earth | 4.20% |
| 89 | CAREY, Peter – Jack Maggs | 4.10% |
| 90 | DENTON, Kit – The Breaker | 3.60% |
| 91 | HARTNETT, Sonya – The Silver Donkey | 3.60% |
| 92 | HAZZARD, Shirley – The Transit of Venus | 3.60% |
| 93 | GRENVILLE, Kate – The Idea of Perfection | 3.40% |
| 94 | WHITE, Patrick – Riders in the Chariot | 3.10% |
| 95 | WHITE, Patrick – The Vivisector | 2.80% |
| 96 | HAZZARD, Shirley – The Great Fire | 2.70% |
| 97 | ASTLEY, Thea – Drylands | 2.70% |
| 98 | DE KRETSER, Michelle – The Lost Dog | 2.60% |
| 99 | PERLMAN, Elliot – Seven Types of Ambiguity | 2.60% |
| 100 | WRIGHT, Alexis – Carpentaria | 2.50% |
| 101 | DREWE, Robert – Our Sunshine | 2.50% |
| 102 | STEAD, Christina – For Love Alone | 2.40% |
| 103 | CARROLL, Steve – The Time We Have Taken | 2.30% |
| 104 | HARTNETT, Sonya – Surrender | 2.30% |
| 105 | HYLAND, M.J. – Carry Me Down | 2.20% |
| 106 | KOCH, Christopher – Highways to a War | 2.10% |
| 107 | CAREY, Peter – Parrot and Olivier in America | 2.00% |
| 108 | STOW, Randolph – To the Islands | 2.00% |
| 109 | HYLAND, M.J. – How the Light Gets In | 1.90% |
| 110 | COETZEE, J.M. – Life and Times of Michael K | 1.80% |
| 111 | MOORHOUSE, Frank – Dark Palace | 1.60% |
| 112 | ASTLEY, Thea – The Slow Natives | 1.60% |
| 113 | KOCH, Christopher – The Doubleman | 1.10% |
| 114 | MCDONALD, Roger – The Ballad of Desmond Kale | 1.00% |
| 115 | ASTLEY, Thea – The Acolyte | 0.90% |
| 116 | ASTLEY, Thea – The Well Dressed Explorer | 0.70% |
| 117 | SCOTT, Kim – Benang: From the Heart | 0.70% |
| 118 | HAZZARD, Shirley – The Bay of Noon | 0.60% |
| 119 | KENEALLY, Thomas – People’s Train | 0.60% |
| 120 | FOSTER, David – Glade within the Grove | 0.60% |
Connect with the Author:
December 24th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I’ve been waiting for the number one for weeks now! and I have to admit to some disapointment – Snugglepot et al are really cute but they’re not on my list as great literature, or even a great read (they’re a bit silly). Still, I plan to read my way through most of the rest of the list – and looking forward to it.
January 18th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Unlike Brenda, I am pleased to see Snugglepot & Cuddlepie top the list! Sure, it’s a kid’s book but it’s a great one. I can still remember the emotions I felt reading that book when I was young… it was an amazing adventure and the illustrations added to the wonder of it.
Great to see some of my all time favourite books on the list – Storm Boy, Playing Beatie Bow, A Town Like Alice and Seven Little Australians, to name a few.
I have a feeling that school reading lists probably influenced this list! I recognise a few titles that we studied at school. Playing Beatie Bow is one of them. I would not have thought it was a commonly known book, but the school list could explain it being so close to the top.
Interesting to note that I have read all the top 10 books, and the 12 others I have read, all except one are in the top 50! The only title I have read between 50 – 120 is The Shifting Fog by Kate Morton and she’s a relatively new author. A great one too, by the way!
January 18th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
I enjoyed the Aussie Novels list and I used the list to buy gifts for German friends about to return home. The kids each received Snugglepot & Cuddlepie and Storm Boy. It was great inspiration! I now plan to start reading my way thru the list myself – Breath was a great introduction to Tim Winton.