We have an ace tv show in Australia called the First Tuesday Book Club. It’s essentially a televised book group. I like it because it’s not always agreeable (just like book group).

To celebrate the National Year of Reading, First Tuesday Book Club has compiled a list – the Ten Aussie Books You Must Read Before You Die. Everyone had a chance to put in their two-cents during the year and the results are now in.

1. Cloudstreet – Tim Winton

2. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

3. A Fortunate Life – A.B. Facey

4. The Harp in the South – Ruth Park

5. The Power of One – Bryce Courtenay

6. Jasper Jones – Craig Silvey

7. The Magic Pudding – Norman Lindsay

8. The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas

9. The Secret River – Kate Grenville

10. Picnic at Hanging Rock – Joan Lindsay

I have lovely memories of reading many of these books.

There was a time when it seemed that everyone was reading The Power of One. Everyone. On the train, tram, at uni, my mum, my friends…. I suspect many late nights were clocked up as we all fell under the Courtenay spell.

Picnic at Hanging Rock was one of the first ‘grown-up’ books I read. Of course I wasn’t terribly old but the story is haunting. And the 1975 movie – wow.

Some of my earliest reading memories are thanks to The Magic Pudding, read to me by my dad. The Harp in the South also won me from a very young age.

Regular readers of this blog know how much I love The Slap and The Book Thief. I’m glad The Book Thief was included on the list, given that it is not set in Australia.

I should note that there are two books on the list that I have not yet read – Jasper Jones and The Secret River. Both have been sitting on my Kindle for far too long. They will be read in 2013. In fact, I’m flirting with the idea of a complete read/ re-read of the whole list…