Australia’s Biggest Book Club

A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDERS/ORGANISERS OF THE NATIONAL YEAR OF READING

Australia’s National Year of Reading 2012 starts here, with the opportunity for you to vote for the book that you think should represent your state or territory as one of the eight on our national recommended reading list for 2012.  You can help decide the eight books that are the National Year of Reading 2012 collection.

The list of eight winning titles and the start of Australia’s biggest book group for the National Year of Reading will be announced at the launch of the campaign on 14 February, 2012, at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.  After that, existing book groups, new groups and individual readers can go online and register as a member of Our Story, joining in the discussion about the books the nation has chosen.

The state and territory shortlists, chosen by independent panels of readers, have been announced.  The shortlist is below. You can also read more about them here.

You can vote online here (or in participating libraries and book shops) between 1 November 2011 and 6 January 2012.

Shortlist for the ACT

· John Clanchy, Vincenzo’s Garden, University of Queensland Press

· Alan Gould, The Lake Woman, Australian Scholarly Publishing

· Marion Halligan, The Fog Garden, Allen & Unwin

· Jack Heath, The Hit List, Pan Macmillan Australia

· Dorothy Johnston, The White Tower, Wakefield Press

· Kel Robertson, Smoke and Mirrors, Pan Macmillan Australia

Shortlist for New South Wales

· Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen & Unwin

· Kate Grenville, Lilian’s Story, Allen & Unwin

· Ian Hoskins, Sydney Harbour: A History, New South Publishing

· John Hughes, The Idea of Home, Giramondo

· Ruth Park, The Harp in the South, Penguin

· Chris Womersley, Bereft, Scribe

Shortlist for the Northern Territory

· Ros Moriarty, Listening to Country, 2010, Allen & Unwin

· Daena Murray (editor), The Sound of the Sky, 2006, CDU Press

· Judy Nunn, Territory, 2003, Random House

· Alan Powell, Far Country: A Short History of the Northern Territory, 2009, CDU CDU Press

· Alan Powell, Shadow’s Edge: Australia’s Northern War (Revised Edition), 2007, CDU CDU Press

· Nicholas Rothwell, The Red Highway, 2009, Black Ink

Shortlist for Queensland

· Chloe Hooper, The Tall Man, 2008, Penguin

· Andrew McGahan, The White Earth, 2005, Allen & Unwin

· Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, 2002, Allen & Unwin

· Estelle Pinney, House on the Hill, Penguin

· Ian Townsend, Affection, 2005, Harper Collins

· Matthew Condon, Brisbane, 2010, New South Publishing

Shortlist for South Australia

· Max Fatchen, River Kings, Wakefield Press

· Kerryn Goldsworthy, Adelaide, 2011, New South Publishing

· Peter Goldsworthy, Three Dog Night, 2003, Penguin

· Scott Monk, The Never Boys, 2011, Random House

· Stephen Orr, Time’s Long Ruin, Wakefield Press

· Alastair Sarre, Prohibited Zone, Wakefield Press

Shortlist for Tasmania

· Richard Flanagan, Wanting, 2008, Random House

· Anna Krien, Into the Woods: The Battle for Tasmania’s Forests, 2010, Black Ink

· Julia Leigh, The Hunter, 1999, Penguin

· Kathyrn Lomer, What now Tilda B?, University of Queensland Press

· Peter Timms, In Search of Hobart, 2009, New South Publishing

· Rohan Wilson, The Roving Party, 2011, Allen & Unwin

Shortlist for Victoria

· Robyn Annear, Bearbrass, 2005, Black Ink

· Brendan Gullifer, Sold, Sleepers

· Barry Heard, Well Done Those Men, 2005, Scribe

· Alice Pung, Unpolished Gem, 2006, Black Ink

· Jeff & Jill Sparrow, Radical Melbourne, Vulgar Press

· Maya Ward, The Comfort of Water, Transit Lounge

Shortlist for Western Australia

· Elizabeth Jolley, The Newspaper of Claremont Street, Fremantle Press

· Sally Morgan, My Place, Fremantle Press

· Howard Pederson & Banjo Woorunmurra, Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance, Magabala Books

· Kim Scott, True Country, Fremantle Press

· Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones, 2009, Allen & Unwin

· Tim Winton, Cloudstreet, 1991, Penguin

Do you know who you’ll be voting for?