Australian artists, writers and readers share the Australian books they love most

On this special edition of The Bookshelf, ahead of the Top 100 Australian Books Countdown, Kate Evans speaks with historian Professor Martyn Lyons about the history of reading in Australia and what our reading lives can reveal about the nation. Plus, crime fiction expert Sue Turnbull traces the evolution of Australian crime writing before sharing three books she loves. Singer-songwriter Fanny Lumsden and artist-performer Maeve Marsden also reveal their top three Australian reads. And in the podcast edition, music journalist Stuart Coupe joins us with three Australian books he can't live without.

Guests

• Martin Lyons – Emeritus Professor of History and European Studies in the School of Humanities and Languages at UNSW
• Sue Turnbull – Honorary Professor of Communication and Media at the University of Wollongong, with expertise in crime fiction, television and popular culture
• Maeve Marsden – Theatre maker, performer and Creative Director of Varuna, the National Writers' House in the NSW Blue Mountains
• Fanny Lumsden – ARIA Award-winning country singer-songwriter whose fifth studio album, Traditions, is due for release on 30 October
• Stuart Coupe – Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and record label founder

Books mentioned and Guest Recommendations

Literary Foundations

• Martyn Lyons, The Uses of Literacy in Colonial Australia
• Jane Austen, works
• Walter Scott, works
• Henry Kendall, poetic works
• Adam Lindsay Gordon, poetic works
• A B ‘Banjo’ Paterson, works
• Henry Lawson, works
• Charles Dickens, works

Classic Australian Fiction 

• Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms
• Eleanor Dark, The Timeless Land
• Miles Franklin, My Brilliant Career

Crime & Mystery

• Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes stories
• Fergus Hume, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab
• Lucy Sussex, Blockbuster!
• Peter Corris, The Empty Beach
• Marele Day, The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender
• Sharon Kernot, Night Swimming
• Dorothy Porter, The Monkey’s Mask
• Peter Temple, The Broken Shore
• Garry Disher, Bitter Wash Road
• Jane Harper, The Dry
• Peter Corris, The Dying Trade

Contemporary Fiction 

• Geraldine Brooks, Horse
• Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words, The Bookbinder of Jericho
• Helen Garner, Monkey Grip
• Eda Gunaydin, Root and Branch
• Evelyn Araluen, The Rot
• Jane Harrison, The Visitors
• Jessie Tu, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous thing

Children's Literature

• Alison Lester, Kissed by the Moon

Music, Culture & Memoir

• Colin Talbot’s Greatest Hits
• Garrie Hutchinson, From the Outer
• Renee Geyer, Confessions of a Difficult Woman
• Stuart Coupe and Toby Creswell, Sounds Like Teen Spirit: The Anarchic Unauthorised Story of Triple J & Double J