Every year our staff vote for their favourite books of the past 12 months. From their votes, we build a list of the titles they loved most across six categories: Australian fiction, international fiction, nonfiction, picture books, junior & middle grade and young adult. But in addition to our list of 2024's Best Books, we wanted to know your opinon too! So we've tallied up the votes of our community to create this list of the Best of the Best.
Australian Fiction
The Readings community's favourite Australian fiction read was:
Dusk by Robbie Arnott
In the distant highlands, a puma named Dusk is killing shepherds. Down in the lowlands, twins Iris and Floyd are out of work, money and friends. When they hear that a bounty has been placed on Dusk, they reluctantly decide to join the hunt.
As they journey up into this wild, haunted country, they discover there's far more to the land and people of the highlands than they imagined. And as they close in on their prey, they're forced to reckon with conflicts both ancient and deeply personal.
Following close behind were Juice by Tim Winton and The Burrow by Melanie Cheng.
International fiction
The Readings community's favourite international fiction read was:
James by Percival Everett
James is an enthralling and ferociously funny novel that leaves an indelible mark, forcing us to see Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in a wholly new and transformative light.
The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new owner in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson's Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father who recently returned to town.
Thus begins a dangerous and transcendent journey by raft along the Mississippi River, toward the elusive promise of free states and beyond. As James and Huck begin to navigate the treacherous waters, each bend in the river holds the promise of both salvation and demise.
There was also lots of love for Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and All Fours by Miranda July, which received second and third place in the votes!
Nonfiction
The Readings community's favourite nonfiction read was:
The Season by Helen Garner
It's footy season in Melbourne, and Helen Garner is following her grandson's suburban team. She turns up not only at every game (give or take), but at every training session, shivering on the sidelines in the dark, fascinated by the spectacle.
She's a passionate Western Bulldogs supporter (with a rather shaky grasp of the rules) and a great admirer of the players and the epic theatre of the game. But this is something more than that. It is a chance to connect with her youngest grandchild, to be close to him in his last moments as a child and in his headlong rush into manhood. To witness his triumphs and defeats, to fear for his safety in battle, to gasp and to cheer for the team as it fights its way towards the finals.
It's no surprise that the incomporable Helen Garner topped the list, but honourable mentions also go to Australian Gospel: A Family Saga by Lech Blaine and Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia by Santilla Chingaipe.
Picture books
The Readings community's favourite picture book was:
Sky Country by Aunty Patsy Cameron, illustrated by Lisa Kennedy
An ancient story of creation that describes two Ancestral Beings who came down from the Milky Way to create the Trouwerner (Tasmanian) landscape.
Using some traditional language, this extraordinary children's picture book, filled with stunning illustrations, retells a captivating Ancestral memory dating back to the Ice Age – a period of time when Trouwerner was joined to the Australian mainland. Join Aunty Patsy Cameron as she generously shares the creation story of Trouwerner Country and its people.
Next up were two other great Australian picture books: The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel, illustrated by Danny Snell and Yanga Mother by Cheryl Leavy, illustrated by Christopher Bassi.
Junior & middle grade fiction
The Readings community's favourite junior or middle grade book was:
The Lost Book of Magic by Amelia Mellor
It's 1895, Melbourne is in crisis, and Pearl and Vally Cole's father has suggested the unthinkable: it might be time to close the grandest bookshop in the world.
When a ghostly visitor offers Pearl magic that could save her home, she seizes her chance. But her new friend is not what he seems, and the unstoppable magic in the palm of her hand comes at a terrible cost.
Vally can see just one way to save Pearl before she is lost forever. He must call upon the sinister magician who nearly destroyed the Cole family two years ago. But the Obscurosmith only performs the impossible for a price.
Second and third place went to Outlaw Girls by Emily Gale & Nova Weetman and Wurrtoo by Tylissa Elisara, illustrated by Dylan Finney.
Young adult fiction
The Readings community's favourite young adult book was:
The Skin I'm In by Steph Tisdell
A feisty, funny and poignant novel – about being 17; being Indigenous, navigating highschool with cultural and personal expectations and responsibilities – by proud Yidinji woman Steph Tisdell, writer, actor and one of the brightest stars of Australian comedy.
Layla is in her final year of school. It's the last year to make sure that the next major phase of her life begins correctly, because she's got big plans. All Layla wants to do is fit in and be a normal teenager, but when her troubled cousin Marley comes to stay, he unwittingly challenges everything she thought she was. Plus she's trying to work out what it means to be Indigenous, she's falling in love and her best friend Amy has a new best friend.
