The Club's Complete Book List 1997-2022
2023
The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See
Still Life, Sarah Winman
Room With a View E.M. Forster
Where You Come From, Sasa Stanisic
The Glass Pearls, Emeric Pressburger
Horse, Geraldine Brooks
Wifedom, Anna Funder
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan
Votes for best book of 2023: 1. Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan , 2. Still Life, Sarah Winman , 3. Wifedom, Anna Funder
2022
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
The Salt Path, Raynor Winn
Devotion, Hannah Kent
Labyrinth, Amanda Lohrey
Disappearing Earth, Julia Phillips
A Room Made of Leaves, Kate Grenville
Slowworm’s Song Andrew Miller
Scary Monsters, Michelle de Kretser
Votes for best book of 2022:
1 Slowworm’s Song, 2. Disappearing Earth, 3. Labyrinth
2021
The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Rodham, Curtis Sittenfeld
The Dead, James Joyce
Bruny, Heather Rose
The Secret Scripture, Sebastian Barry
The Transit of Venus, Shirley Hazzard
Votes for best book of 2021:
1. The Secret Scripture. 2. The Transit of Venus. 3. The Dead and Rodham (tied)
2020
The Weekend, Charlotte Wood
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
Ordinary People, Sally Rooney
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
The Used World, Haven Kimmel
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Paris in the Present Tense, Mark Helprin
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
Votes for best book of 2020:
1. Americanah, 2. The Weekend, 3. Normal People, 4 Pachinko
2019
Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie
Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger
Educated, Tara Westover
The Arsonist, Chloe Hooper
My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante
A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
Nineteen eighty four, George Orwell
Votes for best book of 2019: 1. A Gentleman in Moscow 2. Home Fire, 3. Educated
2018
Poum and Alexandre, Catherine Saint Phalle
Standard Deviation, Katherine Heiny
Exit West, Mohsin Hamid
Butterfly on a Pin, Alannah Hill
Extinctions, Josephine Wilson
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
Votes for best book of 2018: 1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, 2. Exit West, 3 Extinctions.
2017
Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel
Hag Seed, Margaret Atwood
Birthday Boys, Beryl Bainbridge
How Proust Can Change Your Life, Alain de Botton
The Eye of the Sheep, Sofie Laguna
Only the Animals, Ceridwen Dovey
Votes for best book of 2017: 1. Station Eleven, 2. Birthday Boys, 3.Hag Seed.
2016
All the Birds Singing, Evie Wild
H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald
A Guide to Berlin, Gail Jones
The Brooklyn Follies, Paul Auster
All the Light we Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
Votes for best book of 2016: All the Birds Singing. 2. H is for Hawk. 3. The Golden Years.
2015
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan
Nora Webster, Colm Toibin
Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro
A Possible Life, Sebastian Faulks
The Wolf Border, Sarah Hall
Votes for best book of 2015: 1 The Narrow Road to the Deep North, . 2. Wolf Border . 3. Nora Webster.
2014
Eyrie, Tim Winton
Franklin and Eleanor, Hazel Rowley
Burial Rites, Hannah Kent
Elemental, Amanda Curtin
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, Simon Mawer
Summer House With Swimming Pool Herman Koch
Love in the Time of Cholera , Gabriel García Márquez
Votes for best book of 2014: 1 Burial Rites, Hannah Kent. 2. Franklin and Eleanor. 3. Eyrie
2013
Sarah Thornhill, Kate Grenville
Restless, William Boyd
A Different Sky, Meira Chand
As the River Flows, Stephen Scourfield
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Rosie Project Graeme Simsion
The Young Desire It, Kenneth McKenzie
Votes for best book of 2013 1.Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion. 2. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald and A Different Sky, Meira Chand. 3. 7. Restless, William Boyd
2012
Caleb’s Crossing, Geraldine Brooks
The Secret Life of France, Lucy Wadham
The Tiger’s Wife, Tea Obreht
The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes
All That I Am, Anna Funder
Cutting for Stone, Abraham Vergese
A Far Cry From Kensington, Muriel Spark
Votes for best book of 2012 1. A Far Cry From Kensington and The Tiger’s Wife. 2. The Sense of an Ending. 3 All That I Am
2011
Possession A.S Byatt
Burying the Bones by Hilary Spurling
Passage to Juneau by Jonathan Raban
Five Bells by Gail Jones
Cloudstreet, Tim Winton
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
Good to a Fault, Marina Endicott
Votes for best book of 2011: 1. Passage to Juneau.. 2. Cloudstreet. 3 Possession.
2010
The Red Highway, Nicholas Rothwell
Ordinary Thunderstorms, William Boyd
Wanting, Richard Flanagan
Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey
The Other Side of You, Sally Vickers
Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
The Black Englishman, Carolyn Slaughter
Votes for best book of 2010. 1. Ordinary Thunderstorms. 2. The Other Side of You. 3. Olive Kitteridge
2009
Doing Life: a biography of Elizabeth Jolley, Brian Dibble
The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga
The Lost Life, Steven Carroll
Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
The Mitford Sisters, Mary Lovell
The Dragon’s Blessing, Guy Allenby
The Red Highway Nicholas Rothwell
Votes for best book of 2009: 1. The White Tiger. 2. Revolutionary Road. 3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
2008
The Broken Shore, Peter Temple
When Will There be Good News K Atkinson
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen.
Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy
Orpheus Lost, J. Turner Hospital
My Invented Country, I. Allende
What is the What, Dave Eggers
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Votes for best book of 2008: 1. Beloved. 2. The Broken Shore. 3. When Will There be Good News
2007
Suite Francaise, Irène Némirovsky
Ursula , Under, Ingrid Hill
A Fringe of Leaves, Patrick White
Two Caravans, Marina Lewycka
Careless, Deborah Robertson
Notes on a Scandal Zoe Heller
My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult
Black Girl White Girl, Joyce Carol Oates
Best books were judged by the group:
1.Black Girl White Girl, 2. Careless. 3. Two Caravans
2006
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
What I Loved, Siri Hustvedt
The Secret River, Kate Grenville
Old Filth, Jane Gardam
The Invisible Woman, Claire. Tomalin
Journey to the Stone Country, Alex Miller
Digging to America, Anne Tyler
Votes for best book of 2006: 1. Old Filth 2. The Book Thief 3. The Secret River
2005
Broken Book, Susan Johnson
The Turning, Tim Winton
The Good Doctor, Damon Galgut
For the Love of a Good Woman, Alice Munro
Joe Cinque's Consolation, Helen Garner
Small Island, Andrea Levy
Saturday, Ian McEwan
Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Best books of 2005: 1. Saturday . 2. The Turning . 3. For the Love of a Good Woman
2004The Life of Pi, Yann Martel
The Light of Day, Graham Swift
The Solace of Leaving Early, Havel Kimmel
Old School, Tobias Wolff
Tom Keneally. Tyrant’s Novel
The Great Fire, Shirley Hazzard
The Amateur Marriage, Anne Tyler
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Mark Haddon
Best books of 2004: 1. The Life of Pi, 2. Old School, 3. The Solace of Leaving Early.
2003
Dirt Music, Tim Winton
Truth about My Fathers, Gaby Naher
The Underpainter, Jane Urquhart
Atomised, Michel Houellebecq
Gilgamesh, Joan London
Skins, Sarah Hay
Family Matters, Rohinton Mistry
Oscar and Lucinda, Peter Carey
Best books of 2003: 1. Dirt Music, 2. Family Matters, 3. The Underpainter
2002
White Teeth, Zadie Smith
No Great Mischief, Alistair McLeod
The Idea of Perfection, Kate Grenville
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
The Age of Kali, William Dalrymple
Atonement, Ian McEwan
Unless, Carol Shields
Spies, Michael Frayn
The God of Small Things, Arundati Roy
Best books of 2002: 1. No Great Mischief, 2. Atonement, 3. The Idea of Perfection
2001
Thursday’s Child, Sonya Hartnett
Chocolat, Joanne Harris
On the Hills of God, Ibrahim Fawal
When I Lived in Modern Times, Linda Grant
The Twelfth Of Never, Louis Nowra
Intimacy, Hanif Kureishi
The Floating Brothel, Sian Rees
The Samurai’s Garden, Gail Tsukiyama
The Australian Fiance, Simone Lazaroo
Best books of 2001: 1. The Samurai’s Garden , 2. The Australian Fiance, 3. The Twelfth Of Never
2000
The Surgeon of Crowthorne, Simon Winchester
The Hours, Michael Cunningham Anne
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier
Drawn from Life, Stella Bowen
Disgrace, J.M. Coetzee
The Quiet American, Graham Greene
The Singing Line, Alice Thomson
Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
About a Boy, Nick Hornby
Best books of 2000: 1. Disgrace, 2. About a Boy, 3. Surgeon of Crowthorne
1999
The Reader, Bernard Schlink
Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels
Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes
Tasting Salt, Stephanie Dowrick
Armadillo, William Boyd
Lambs of God, Marele Day
Cod, Mark Kurlansky
The Travelling Hornplayer, Barbara Trapido
The Weight of Water, Anita Schrieve
Best book of 1999: 1. The Reader
1998
Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood
The 100 Secret Senses, Amy Tan
Dear Sun, Janine Burke
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
Snake Cradle, Roberta Sykes
Night Letters, Robert Dessaix
The Volcano Lover, Susan Sontag
Floating Life (film)
Best book of 1998: 1. Alias Grace, 2. Snake Cradle
1997
Morality Play, Barry Unsworth
Masons Retreat, Christopher Tilghman
Moo, Jane Smiley
Camille’s Bread, Amanda Lohrey
None To Accompany, Nadine Gordimer
Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, Peter Hoeg
Best book of 1997: 1. Camille’s Bread
