50 Books You Must Own – Books Alive

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THIS BLOG POST IS NO LONGER UPDATED. PLEASE VISIT www.booksalive.com.au for the latest details about the Books Alive campaign

The Books Alive campaign is a great idea. The 2006 list is below (® = I’ve already read this title)

How long has it been since you’ve read a great book—one that you just couldn’t put down? One you had to take on the train with you and pick up again at lunchtime? How long since you’ve read a book that kept you awake well into the night, saying ‘just one more chapter before I turn out the light’?

Enjoying a good book is the perfect way to relax, unwind and escape. Enjoying a great book is an unforgettable experience! Every time we read a book we want that unforgettable experience. But for most of us, finding that book every time is the hard part… until now.

The Books Alive Great Read Guide is full of great books and unforgettable experiences. It is a guide to 50 of today’s most remarkable books, ranging across general fiction, crime, romance, cooking, history, biographies, war and books for children of all ages, including the very young.

Hundreds of books were carefully reviewed by a panel of Australian book industry experts to arrive at this fantastic selection. The diverse interests, tastes and attitudes of the panel ensure there is a great read in here for every Australian. All the books are available right now at participating booksellers.

The 2006 list is below (® = I’ve already read this title)

CRIME

• Malicious Intent, Kathryn Fox
• The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly
• The Lighthouse, P.D. James
• The Broken Shore, Peter Temple

THRILLER

• Lost, Michael Robotham
• One Shot, Lee Childs

FICTION

• A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby®
• Weapons of Choice, John Birmingham
• The Omega Scroll, Adrian d’Hagé
• Labyrinth, Kate Mosse
• Heritage, Judy Nunn
• Past Secrets, Cathy Kelly
• What Price Love?, Stephanie Laurens
• Girls Night In, Various

CHILDREN – Picture Books

• I Will Not Ever, Never, Eat a Tomato, Lauren Child
• Pete the Sheep, Jackie French
• Where is the Green Sheep?, Mem Fox & Judy Horacek
• Share Said the Rooster, Pamela Allen
• In the Bush, Roland Harvey
• When I Was Little, Like You, Mary Malbunka

CHILDREN – Junior Fiction

• Boyz Rule! Park Soccer, Felice Arena & Phil Kettle
• Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White®

CHILDREN – Middle Fiction

• The Book of Lies, James Moloney
• Dragonkeeper, Carole Wilkinson
• Judy Moody, Megan McDonald
• Kid’s Night In 2, Various Authors

CHILDREN – Teen Fiction

• The Recruit, Robert Muchamore
• Does My Head Look Big In This?, Randa Abdel-Fattah
• Operation Red Jericho, Joshua Mowll

FANTASY

• Odalisque, Fiona McIntosh

LITERARY

• Grace, Robert Drewe
• Sixty Lights, Gail Jones
• Rhubarb, Craig Silvey
• The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
• The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
• The Secret River, Kate Grenville

HISTORY

• A Bastard of a Place, Peter Brune
• A Short History of the 20th Century, Geoffrey Blainey

MEMOIR & BIOGRAPHY

• The Bookseller of Kabul, Åsne Seierstad
• Don’t Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, She Thinks I’m a Piano Player in a Whore House, Paul Carter
• A Man’s Got to Have a Hobby, William McInnes
• In My Skin, Kate Holden
• Hoi Polloi, Craig Sherborne
• Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs
• Margaret Olley, Far From a Still Life, Meg Stewart

POPULAR SCIENCE

• Collapse, Jared Diamond
• The Weather Makers, Tim Flannery
• Dis Information and Other Wikkid Myths, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki

TRAVEL

• When in Rome, Penelope Green
• The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt

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