The Shiralee, D’Arcy Niland, 1955
- Australia, #11
- Paperback, bought from Alibris.com for $0.99
- Read October 2014
- Rating: 2.5/5
- Recommended for: light reading, transparent emotional manipulation
The Shiralee
The Harp in the South
The Harp in the South, Ruth Park, 1947
- Australia, #10
- Kindle, £4.35 for the trilogy (I only read the first book)
- Read October 2014
- Rating: 3/5
- Recommended for: People who like both John Steinbeck and Roddy Doyle
My Country
My Country, Dorothea Mackellar, 1908
- Australia, #7
- Free at dorotheamackellar.com.au
- Read October 2014
- Rating: 3/5 (a little sentimental for my taste, but I’m not a great judge of poetry)
- Recommended for: Anyone with an interest in Australia who’s willing to spend five minutes reading a poem about it.
The Fortunes of Richard Mahony
The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, Henry Handel Richardson, 1930
- Australia, #9
- Kindle, £2.68 from amazon
- Read October 2014
- Rating: 2.5/5
- Recommended for: Those willing to plod through a tedious middle section for the reward of some serious pathos at the end
Oceanic Mythology (Australia section)
Oceanic Mythology (Australia section), Roland B. Dixon, 1916
- Australia, #8
- Free at sacred-texts.com
- Read September 2014
- Rating: 1/5
- Recommended for: No one. Seriously, there are better books about Australian mythology.
Such is Life
Such is Life, Joseph Furphy, 1903
- Australia, #6
- Kindle, free from amazon.com
- Read September 2014
- Rating: 3/5
- Recommended for: People who like Henry Lawson’s subject matter, but want it presented with a plot and a little bit of comedy.
The Complete List
No new reviews today, but I have managed to hammer out the complete list of 2,108 books and it is available for your perusal. It is very much a work in progress, so if you’re browsing through it and you feel I’ve missed an important book–or conversely, if you see something that makes you think “what the hell is that doing there?”–let me know in the comments!
My Brilliant Career
My Brilliant Career, Miles Franklin, 1901
- Australia, #5
- Borrowed from Camden Library, London
- Read May, 2014
- Rating: 4/5
- Opening Line: “Boo, hoo! Ow, ow; Oh! oh! Me’ll die. Boo, hoo. The pain, the pain! Boo, hoo!”
- Recommended for: People who find “Happily ever after” a little bit suspect (especially those who have a sneaking suspicion that it’s the princess who’s getting the raw end of the marriage deal)
The Man from Snowy River and While the Billy Boils
The Man from Snowy River, Banjo Paterson, 1890
- Australia, #2
- Kindle, free from amazon
- Read September 2014
- Rating: 3/5
- Recommended for: cowboys, children, and lovers of folksy humor
While the Billy Boils, Henry Lawson, 1896
- Australia, #4
- Kindle, free from amazon
- Read September 2014
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Recommended for: Lovers of literature who don’t mind too much whether their stories come with a plot
Australian Legendary Tales
Australian Legendary Tales, K. Langloh Parker, 1895
- Australia, #3
- Digital, free download from sacred-texts.com
- Read April 2014
- Rating: 2/5
- Opening Line: Dinewan the emu, being the largest bird, was acknowledged as king by the other birds.
- Recommended for: Lovers of cultural anthropology with a high tolerance for boredom
Around the World in 2000 Books 