Not sure what you’d like to read next? Whether you’re in the mood for romance, mystery or a compelling true story, we’ve got some suggestions for you.
Romance
Looking for the satisfying ending that only a romantic story can bring? Try The Rosie Project and its sequels, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice [B0210] (compare with Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible [B2244] and Fiona Palmer’s Matters of the Heart for an interesting discussion!) For more contemporary Australian romance, check out Rachel Johns’ Just One Wish.
Mystery
Want to know whodunit? Go classic with The Moonstone or The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.
If you’re looking for a modern mystery, check out Jock Serong’s Rules of Backyard Cricket, Emma Viskic’s Resurrection Bay [B2232], or Chris Hammer’s Scrublands for some enthralling outback noir.
History within fiction
Like to learn more about history while reading fiction? Look at March [B1888], and Little Women for a comparison. Toni Jordan’s Nine Days [B2172 shows different periods of history from the same family.
Tony Birch’s The White Girl [B2333] is a stunning portrayal of stolen generation and family. Kim Scott’s That Deadman Dance [B2118] also tells a story of the early interactions between the indigenous Australians and European settlers.
Futuristic
Thinking about the future can be alarming and enlightening in equal measure. Check out Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things [B2237]
Kate Mildenhall’s The Mother Fault is eerily close to the world we are in now, as is Claire G Coleman’s Terra Nullius for a world not too dissimilar to our own.
Nature
Andrew Darby’s Flight Lines is a delicate portrayal of how science is saving the natural world and coming to the rescue of the critically ill.
For a literary perspective on how the environment intertwines with our own stories, check out the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Overstory by Richard Powers.
True stories
For a harrowing investigation, check out Chloe Hooper’s The Arsonist [B2291], or Jess Hill’s harrowing investigation into domestic abuse, See What You Made Me Do [B2327]. Helen Garner delves into troubling true crime, including This House of Grief [B2223].
Keen on the history of literature? Try Susan Orlean’s The Library Book or Joshua Hammer’s The Bad-Ass Librarian of Timbuktu [B2264]
Looking for more recommendations? Get in touch on bookgroups@cae.edu.au